By Yohann DeSabrais
a.k.a. Technuma Saturn
This story happens some time during the Sailor Moon R serie, just
after Alan and Ann left earth but before Chibi-Usa dropped in on
Usagi and Mamoru. Something pretty big DID happen in between
the battles with the doomtree and the wiseman!
Before I begin, one little note concerning my first version of this
story: every instance of the word "vengence" was misspelled as
"vengeance" wich is really the FRENCH spelling of the word. This
is the kind of error a french speaking man such as myself would make
while writing in english. There are probably more of these in my
stories, but I`m doing my best to erradicate them.
Now, on with the show!
* * *
CYCLES OF LIFE: EPISODE TWO
FINAL VENGENCE
After Queen Beryl`s defeat at the hands of Sailor Moon, Usagi and
her one great love Mamoru lost all of their memories of the dark
kingdom and so did the other sailor scouts. For a short while, they
returned to their normal lives blissfully unaware that they ever
fought the evil of Beryl and her sinister henchmen Jedite, Nephryte,
Zoisite and Kunzite. When a new threat arose from the forces of
evil, Luna restored Usagi`s memories to enable her to fight Alan and
Ann`s energy sucking cardians. Luna then did the same for the other
scouts when Sailor Moon couldn`t do it all by herself. Mamoru, for
some strange reason, just didn`t remember any of this, not even his
love for the now very lonely Usagi.
For weeks she chased him, trying to revive his memory and force him
to remember, to no avail. Ann did her best to snatch him away for
herself while Alan attempted to seduce Usagi, both of them failing
miserably. After a brutal encounter with the angry aliens and the
raging doomtree, Mamoru recovered completely- with his love for
Usagi reborn and the alien menace gone, the two of them were finally
free to be a young couple in love.
A full moon glithered over Tokyo as Usagi and her boyfriend enjoyed
their romantic dinner at Mamoru`s appartment. They had just finished
eating and admired the night sky so full of gleaming stars from the
balcony. Usagi seemed to be lost in her thoughts.
"Penny for your thoughts, meatball head." he said.
"This is all very wonderful, muffin, we`re together, the earth is
safe, our lives are beginning in a world full of promise..."
"But...?"
Mamoru looked deep in her eyes and she knew that he understood her
completely. No matter what might happen, he`d always be there for
her.
"Well..." she said softly, "I miss being Sailor Moon. It`s been so
long since I`ve been the champion of love and justice, fighting
against evil with my dream protector by my side, defeating the dark
kingdom at every turn."
He smiled at her in that special way that always made her heart sing.
"Then why not do it right now?" he suggested.
"Transform? Here?"
He nodded to tell her yes. She smiled and carefully opened her
brooch, revealing the silver crystal entrusted to her by her mother
Queen Serenity.
"MOON CRYSTAL POWER... MAKEUP!"
Usagi`s clothes faded away in a soft glowing light to be replaced
by the sailor uniform she had put on every time she fought evil.
Mamoru never got tired of watching her transform, as she looked like
an angel when she did. It felt wonderful to her, becoming Sailor
Moon once more if only to feel the surge of power in her body. By
her side, Mamoru changed himself into the seductive Tuxedo Kamen.
He handed a blooming red rose to Sailor moon. She smelled its
delicate aroma, sweet as her loving boyfriend.
"Soft and blooming with a delightful smell that has inspired poets
and musicians for millenias, yet strong and capable of inflicting
terrible wounds when defending itself from the most dangerous foes.
However, touch it with tender care and never will you forget its
gentleness. This rose is you, my dearest Sailor Moon."
"Thank you, my Tuxedo Kamen. You filled my dreams for so long and
now you are here with me."
The dream hero dressed in tuxedo lifted the moon princess in his
arms and leapt swiftly into the night, a cool breeze softly
brushing their skin. Jumping from roof to roof, they stopped on
the deserted rooftop of a high building where Tuxedo Kamen gently
put Sailor Moon down on her feet. All around them and for a dozen
miles, they could see thousands of scattered lights that breathed
life in the sleeping city. From a distance, soft music made its way
to their ears from no discernable direction. Tuxedo Kamen removed
his mask and extended his open hand to Sailor
Moon.
"May I have this dance?" he asked.
"I would love nothing more." she answered.
Letting the music flow through their bodies, they danced away the
rest of the evening knowing that never would they be alone again,
for they had found true love with the one person they could call
their soul mate.
* * *
Miles and miles away from Tokyo, a cutting wind was badly bruising
a frozen and unforgiving wasteland devoid of life. As far as the eye
could see, nothing but snow and ice. Under this barren land somewhere
laid a huge block of solid crystal so evil in origin that no living
soul would dare approach it. Hidden from view, it had been meant to
remain there until the end of time.
When princess Usagi clashed with Queen Beryl who was infused with
Queen Metallias`s power, a huge amount of dark energy was released
at once.
Nothing is ever lost.
The unleashed energy floated in a chaotic fashion until it found its
way to the crystal wich resounded with harmonic vibrations,
accumulating this energy. This solid chunk of crystal had a single
molecular flaw upon its creation, microscopic in size. Slowly
building up in power, the molecular flaw turned into a tiny crack.
The crack kept growing in size as the sailor scouts fought Alan and
Ann`s evil cardians, turning into a rather large fissure. At the
very moment the doomtree went mad, the crystal cocoon shattered,
liberating its prisoner. Digging slowly his way up through feets of
tightly packed snow, the forsaken henchman of Beryl emerged into
the bitter cold night.
Jedite was free at last.
Weakened by his captivity, he had lost all of his dark powers.
Although the frozen blizzard could not kill his dark kingdom body,
he could feel pain just as well as humans did. He wondered what he
would do now that he was no longer trapped in his crystal prison;
should he crawl back to Queen Beryl, she would surely kill him for
good. Centuries of service to her had taught him that she never
forgot nor forgave. On the other hand, he could run away with his
life... but to go where? Beryl`s eyes where impossible to hide from,
she would hunt him down mercilessly like a rabid dog. His choice was
clear: he would walk back to his mistress who would then undoubtebly
proceed to end his miserable existence in a single blast of pure
rage. At last, he would get his final rest.
So he walked, broken and cold, back to the palace that witnessed his
fall from grace.
* * *
How long had Jedite walked? So weak he was that day and night seemed
to blend together into a meaningless kaleidoscope fueled by his own
despair. And then, just before he gave up on this endless walk, he
finally reached the destination of his last voyage: the secret
entrance to Queen Beryl`s fortress. He looked back upon his broken
life for a moment; deeming himself ready to die, he entered. Surely
Beryl had been aware of his escape from the very moment his jail
released him; how much she must have enjoyed viewing from a distance
his pathetic return in the desolate wastelands.
He was surprised at the silence of the dark fortress; he did not
remember the palace to be so quiet and empty.
"Beryl, my queen, it is me, Jedite. I have returned to accept my
punishment for escaping my crystal prison!" he yelled.
No answer came to his servile request. Then again, why would she
lower herself to talk to him, Jedite the disgraced, the failed one?
He kept on walking, going deeper inside towards the throne room.
"Nephryte, I`m back..."
No answer. No Nephryte to taunt him and laugh at his fate. Maybe he
was out on an energy gathering mission somewhere. If that was so,
where were all the youmas that should have been guarding the
fortress? He should have been intercepted by now. Or at least, he
should have met someone. Anyone.
"Kunzite, are you there?"
Still no answer. Jedite was beginning to worry. At this point, he
would have been happy to hear the tauntings of that little twerp
Zoisite. Without meeting anyone at all, he made it to the throne
room. It then struck him that his calls would go unanswered. Beryl`s
crystal ball laid smashed on the floor amidst the remains of a black
crystal and a long dead rose. Queen Metallia`s awesome presence was
gone for good as well. Jedite was truly and utterly alone, the
last remnant of a fallen empire.
He fell to his knees and wept in agony.
Sailor Moon had taken his away his life and his freedom already-
now she had denied him death. Oh, how much he despised this little
sailor brat. How much he wanted to tear off those blonde ponytails
to strangle her with, to rip off every ounce of flesh from her
bones and remove her still beating heart with his bare hands. If
he was denied death, he would settle for savage, bloody vengence.
While Usagi and Mamoru celebrated their love for each other, Jedite
cried in terrible, tearing pain.
* * *
Although there was no real need for the sailor scouts anymore, they
still enjoyed to meet every day at the Cherry Hill temple after
school. These meetings were the ideal occasion to talk and have fun
as well as plan activities.
"So, Usagi, how did your date with Mamoru go yesterday?" asked
Makoto.
"Yeah, tell us everything with a lot of details!" Rei added.
"You are SO curious, you guys! Can`t a girl have a single date
without all of you begging for a detailed account?" protested Usagi.
"NO! " answered all at once the other girls and both cats.
"Well, if you must know, it was simply wonderful and romantic,
that`s all I`ll say." she said.
"Hey, how about we go out for a milkshake at that new place? They
have an exterior terrasse!" Minako suggested.
"I`d love to, Minako, but Mamoru`s meeting me later." said Usagi
with a look that spelled out "I`m really sorry".
"Greg is coming home to study math, latin and calculus." said Ami.
"I promised Yuuichiro I`d go to a movie with him. It was the only
way to stop him from singing in the temple this week." added Rei.
"Well, Minako, looks like it`s you, me and the cats!" Said Makoto
with a smile.
* * *
Fortunately for Jedite, the remains of Beryl`s crystal ball still
contained a very small amount of residual energy, just enough to
teleport to Tokyo and set up a way to gather more. He carefully
absorbed every last bit and concentrated on the city where he knew
Sailor Moon lived. In an unholy fashion, he disappeared from the
palace, never to return.
He rematerialized in an empty downtown store wich he then remodeled
according to his twisted needs. The humans would not realize what
he was doing until it was too late to stop him.
* * *
The sun started its slow descent to the horizon as Luna, Artemis
and Makoto discussed the many merits of actor/martial artist Jackie
Chan and his contribution to action movies over a milkshake. For
some reason, Minako had barely touched hers and paid no attention
to the conversation whatsoever, her gaze vaguely staring at her
glass.
"You know, Minako, he does all of his own stunts!" said Makoto who
tried to pull her into the conversation.
"Huh uh." she absent-mindedly replied.
"He never uses any computer special effects." added Luna.
"Huh uh."
"Your hair is on fire." said Artemis.
"Huh uh."
"Earth to Minako! Come back down with us for a moment!" said Makoto.
Artemis knew her well and immediately reckognized she wasn`t feeling
good.
"What`s the matter, Minako? Chocolate shakes usually quiver at the
very mention of your name and you haven`t taken more than two sips
on yours so far. Something`s eating you up, I can tell." he said.
Minako looked at the white cat, her face blank of expression.
"Artemis, would you and Luna leave for a moment so I could talk with
Makoto? It`s a bit personal..."
"Oooooh, guy problems, huh? Come on, Luna, let`s give the girls some
privacy."
The cats jumped off the table and scampered away promptly. Minako
stared at Makoto; she looked as if she was on the verge of breaking
down in tears.
"Do you know how long it`s been since my last date? Since ANY guy
has paid any attention to me at all?!?"
"So THAT`s what`s been working you up?"
"Yes! Usagi`s madly in love with Mamoru, Ami has Greg and I strongly
suspect Rei of not telling us everything that`s going on between her
and Yuuichiro. Bottom line: everyone`s in love except me."
"I don`t have a boyfriend either, it`s not the end of the world or
anything."
"So you say. I feel so lonely right now, it`s all I can think of.
Like my love life is some huge, monstrous, gaping sinkhole
swallowing all it touches."
"Whoa, how long have you been feeling this way?"
"A long time, I guess. Being Sailor V and then Sailor Venus kept me
distracted. While we were running around after Zoisite and those
other maniacs, I didn`t have time to think about it. Now that`s it`s
over, it seems worse than it ever was before."
"Maybe you`re just trying too hard to find love, Minako. Love is not
something you can find by looking everywhere for it, I know from
experience. Give it time, you`ll meet a great guy for sure."
"I don`t know, I simply don`t feel guys find me attractive anymore."
"Are you serious? I`d kill to look as gorgeous as you! You`re so
beautiful, I`m sure you`ll meet prince charming when you least expect
him. Let`s face it, Minako, you have it all!"
"Maybe you`re right..."
"Not maybe, I AM right! "
"Thanks, Makoto, I feel better now."
"Wanna go see a movie? No romantic stuff, just hunky guys beating
each other senseless and blowing up the whole screen to bits!"
"Yeah, that sounds good. Let`s pick up the cats and go right now."
"Aren`t you going to finish your shake first?"
Minako picked up the glass and swallowed it all in one huge gulp.
"All done now, let`s go!" Minako said before she slammed down the
empty glass.
Makoto was happy that her friend felt better; to her, being a sailor
scout not only meant saving the universe from evil but also having
the greatest friends in the world.
* * *
In downtown Tokyo, shops open and shut down their operations every
day at a hectic pace with new stores replacing those that went out
of business the day before. In such an ever-changing marketplace,
no one noticed that an empty shop was turned into a top-class dance
club overnight, litteraly. "Club Crystal" opened its doors to the
public that evening and the turnout was quite positive.
Good music, a superb dance floor, lasers, strobe lights and even an
authentic american mirror ball gave the place a feeling like no
other. On top of this, add a disc jockey with a seductive voice who
gave it all to the public all evening long and the final result was
the hotest new dance club in town. At the stroke of midnight,
everyone went home unbelievably tired but content from their evening
of wild dance. Club Crystal was a rousing success.
Now that the club was closed for the night, the DJ decided it was
about time to slip in something comfortable; he switched from his
jeans, jacket and running shoes back into his purple and grey dark
kingdom uniform and leather boots with the wave of a hand.
"I can`t stand human clothes." said Jedite.
He quickly counted the money he made from the admitance fee- he
had to make his. club look real, after all; a nice sum, he could
even make a good living from out of it... if it wasn`t just a cover
for his revenge.
"Now for the REAL profits." Jedite said with a large grin on his
face.
He slowly floated above the dance floor and hovered next to the
mirror ball. It started to glow dark red at his presence and
reemited the energy it leeched off the people who danced all evening.
Jedite absorbed every bit of power and felt quite revitalized from
it. With all the energy he would get from this setup, he would
easily crush those who had destroyed his life: the sailor scouts
and their little caped protector. He would track them down and kill
them all... unless, of course, they found out his hiding place
before then, as they always did in the past.
That would greatly simplify matters.
The stolen lifeforce completely absorbed, he had no business in the
club until the next evening. He looked at the money he made; what
would he do with it?
"I might as well use it, I suppose. It could help me in my search
to locate the scouts and preserve my powers until the appropriate
time comes." he thought.
He reverted back to human clothes to his great discomfort and
locked up his place. He checked in a hotel room for the night and
tried to figure where to look to find the scouts; he remembered their
faces, etched forever in his mind, but ignored their names. By
finding out more about them, he could create a better, crueler plan
to exact his vengence.
* * *
The following day, Jedite spent walking around searching for the
three girls he hated so much. In doing so, he went through several
parks, shoping malls, restaurants, shops and many, many other places
young girls might go to on a saturday afternoon. Despite walking
down more streets he knew existed, the girls where nowhere to be
found.
Since he had another hour to kill before he opened his club for the
evening, he decided to save his strenght and relax. Over the course
of the day, he had seen countless people eating strange foods of
all sorts- he knew it was essential for human survival but couldn`t
understand WHY they enjoyed it so much; if Jedite had such a grave
physical weakness, he certainly wouldn`t make such a big deal over
it, quite the opposite, he`d keep it secret. Still, he wanted to
know so he was going to try some food for himself. For his first meal
ever, he chose a small terrasse restaurant and sat down at an empty
table. The menu was filled with strangely named items such as *pizza*,
*hamburger* and *onion rings*. He had heard many of these words
pronounced by humans, though he never quite understood what they
meant. He chose a "cheeseburger" because it reminded him of a
lunarian word in a poem he once read on the moon kingdom where he
shortly served as an ambassador for Beryl before Queen Metalia
turned it into a smoking ash heap. He told his selection to the
waitress.
"It comes with a soda and french fries." she said.
"That will be fine " he coldly answered.
His food arrived a few minutes later. Most of these items he had
seen the humans eat, but what effect they would have on his system
he wasn`t sure. As he mustered his courage to start eating, he
caught movement in the corner of his eye and he lifted his head up;
turning her back to him, a girl with long blonde hair was sitting
at the table in front of his. Could it possibly be HER? Had he
found Sailor Moon by sheer dumb luck?
Rage awakened inside of him and boiled intensely; Jedite tried to
remember his original plan and calm down but anger chased every
ounce of self-control out of him. He stood up quietly and walked
up to her, his hands ready to crush her neck and end her life on
the spot. Minako felt his presence and turned around. Jedite realized
immediately that this WASN`T Sailor Moon, nor was her brunette friend
Sailor Mercury or Mars. Minako stared at the stunningly handsome guy
who just stood there saying nothing.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
He had to think fast- any suspicious behavior on his part could
endanger his efforts to blend in and ruin his plan; he needed to
say something mundane and appropriate for the situation.
"May I borrow the salt, please?" he said in a soft, hushed tone.
Yes, that was good, it was innocent and meaningless.
"Sure, here you go." she said, handing him over the salt shaker.
He went back to his meal, relieved not to have done any damage to
his cover. Jedite added a little salt to his food in order to look
more convincing; humans did this often, for no apparent reason. His
first bite was a revelation of sorts- a mix of texture and taste that
made him want to continue eating. He swallowed the bite and
discovered he enjoyed the way food felt going down to his stomach.
As he continued eating, he swore silently to control his anger until
he could unleash it all on Sailor Moon. As far as he could remember,
Jedite had trouble controlling the boiling rage in his heart; getting
crushed under the landing gear of a jumbo jet during his last battle
with the scouts did nothing to improve his character, either.
Patience and focus always win the battle, Kunzite liked to say.
"Say, Makoto..." whispered Minako, "did that guy`s request sound as
transparent as I think it did?"
"It sure did. He`s already got salt on his table!"
"He`s very handsome..." commented Minako.
"Why don`t you go talk to him?"
"I don`t know..."
"You saw the way he was looking at you! He obviously wanted to talk,
but he was too shy to do it; I can tell by the way he froze up when
you turned around, I`ve seen it a thousand times." explained Makoto.
"I love shy guys, they`re always so sweet." said Minako, peeking at
Jedite.
Jedite ate the last bite on his plate and washed it down with the
sparkling drink; his meal had been a very unusual combination of
sensory experiences. No wonder humans liked it so much! The blonde
girl he almost killed a few minutes earlier came to him and sat at
his table. Why was she doing this?
"Hello, my name is Minako, what`s yours?" she asked.
"My name is..." he uttered.
A name! He needed a human name pronto- he couldn`t just say Jedite,
he had to come up with something in a second.
"... James." he finished.
James?!? What kind of a name was that? She was going to see right
through him right away!
"That`s a nice name." she told him, a delicate smile on her lips.
She was being so friendly to him, it made no sense! Whenever Tidas
was nice to him, she always had some ulterior motive, but this girl
had never met him before! What could she want from him? Maybe it
was because Queen Beryl had threatened his life every time she spoke
to him in the past that Minako made him feel so uncomfortable...
like a huge darkbeast smiling before ripping your head off.
"What do you do for a living?" she asked.
"I just opened a new dance club. What about you?" replied Jedite. He
was carrying on with the chit-chat as best he could without showing
his tremendous unease.
"I`m still a high school student." she answered.
It then occured to Jedite that this girl could be useful to him,
serve as a guide to the city and facilitate his search. Plus, she
had a beautiful smile.
"Look, I have to go to work now, you don`t suppose we could meet
again tomorrow?" he asked.
Minako`s eyes brightened up when he said this.
"Sure! How about at twelve o`clock?"
"That would be great. Would you like to meet me at the amusement
park I saw a few blocks down the street?"
"Okay, see you there James!"
"Goodbye, Minako." said Jedite as he paid his bill and left.
A few instants later, Minako and Makoto left too.
"So, how did it go?" asked Makoto with excitement.
"I`m seeing him again tomorrow! You were right, he was a bit shy at
first but he opened up."
"Good for you! He`s a nice catch, cute and all. He reminds me of my
ex-boyfriend."
"Somehow, I`m not surprised." Minako said, giggling.
* * *
Minako arrived home where a very impatient Artemis had been expecting
her for a while.
"About time you got here! I thought you girls would never stop
talking. Good thing you were with Makoto, too; if it had been motor
mouth Usagi, you`d still be there!" he said.
"Oh, stop complaining. You know I wouldn`t let you sleep out in the
cold, don`t you?"
She unlocked the door and Artemis zoomed in faster than a door to
door salesman. Minako hummed a joyous tune as she prepared a meal
for the hungry white cat.
"I`ve seen that smile on your face before." he said, smirking at
Minako. "You met a guy, haven`t you?"
"That`s none of your business, little mister." she answered.
"Ha ha! You called me little mister! You never call me like that
unless you`re trying to keep something from me!" he replied.
"You know me too well, Artemis. Sometimes it can get annoying."
"That`s why you love me, Minako!"
She started to scratch Artemis`s stomach; he dropped on his back
and purred like a jet engine.
"I know you very well too!" she said.
* * *
Around midnight, Club Crystal closed its doors after another full
night. About sixty patrons left the place so tired they could
barely walk straight. Even though they didn`t remember much of the
evening, they were all convinced they just had the greatest dance
experience of their life.
Jedite grew stronger from their energy each passing night.
As he walked to his hotel, he thought of the human girl, Minako.
He thought of her gentleness and how she had tried to touch his
emotions. It was reassuring to him that his dark kingdom warrior
training had made him immune to such blatant attempts to reach into
his innermost self. Why did humans spend so much time and energy
expressing their emotions, anyway? Maybe that was something he could
use to his advantage, an extra ace up his sleeve. He could certainly
use one more.
* * *
Rei lit up several incense sticks around the temple, filling the
altar room with the delicate aroma. She then opened the large
windows to let both the sunshine and the light morning breeze in,
caressing her skin with gentle warmth and moving the wind chimes
in a beautiful concert of soothing bell tones. She sat down in a
rigid lotus position in an attempt to align her being with the
whole of existence, her ultimate goal in life.
A metallic noise disrupted her concentration; she opened her eyes
to see a samurai in golden armor standing in front of her. A youma`s
mask was hiding his face.
"Why are you here?" Rei asked.
The warrior removed the mask, but shadows concealed his face from
view. For some reason, Rei was convinced this was a demon from her
past.
"To claim what is due to me." he answered.
He unsheated his katana and plunged it in Rei`s chest before she
could react, spilling her blood all over her traditionnal garbs and
on the wooden floor. she fell over on her back, clutching the sword
in a vain attempt to remove it from her body. The cold metal blade
dug deep in the soft flesh of her hands, spreading even more of her
precious life giving blood. As she struggled to breathe and the
world turned black in front of her eyes, she heard the warrior laugh.
"Your friends are next." he claimed.
Rei woke up screaming in terror, shocked by the sheer horror of her
terrible nightmare. This was certainly a vision of things to come,
but what did it mean? Wich demon from her past couldbe coming back
to haunt her and the scouts?
The dark kingdom? It had been totally erradicated by the scouts.
Alan and Ann? They left earth in love with each other, determined
to rebuild their lives in peace.
If only she had seen the face of the samurai warrior, she could try
to avoid the fate her vision had revealed. After carefully verifying
she wasn`t bleeding from any part of her body, she went back to a
now dreamless slumber.
* * *
"I kept trying to pull it out of my chest, but my hands slipped on
the blade and were deeply wounded. He laughed and said that my
friends would be next; after that... I died." explained Rei to Makoto
and Ami, leaving out not even the smallest detail.
They listened carefully, not sure as to what to make of this mystical
warning.
"It sems someone wishes to see us come to harm." said Ami.
"I haven`t been a sailor scout as long as you guys have; as anyone
you fought escaped without being moondusted by Usagi? Or did you
provoke someone who wants to even things out?" asked Makoto with
concern.
"Not that I can think of. All of our KNOWN enemies have been
destroyed or returned to the side of good." said Rei.
"But if we don`t know that enemy yet, how can it be a demon from our
past like your vision said?" asked Makoto.
"I might be on to something." said Ami. "In the past two days, my
computer detected a few minor energy disturbances that I discarded
as random electrical surges in the city`s power grid. In light of
Rei`s vision, I think it might not be so random after all; I`ll
write a program to track them down and identify them when they occur
but I`ll need to pick up a couple of these disturbances if I am to
make a good comparison search in my data bank."
"So all we do now is wait, I guess." said Makoto.
"And be careful! We have no idea what we`re up against. We`ll have
to warn Usagi and Minako as soon as possible." said Rei.
"Yeah, we`ll tell them when they`re back from their dates."
concluded Makoto.
"Say, Makoto, you`ve met Minako`s guy, haven`t you? Why don`t you
tell us more about him?" asked Rei.
"Yes, you`re the only one who saw him, tell us what he`s like!"
added Ami.
"He`s nice! Tall, blonde hair, athletic, a real looker. Plus, he`s
got a voice that could make you melt in a second! He didn`t say
much, though, because he`s really shy, but he seems very smart.
I`m happy for her, she found someone special." described Makoto.
"I hope we can see him soon!" Ami said with a smile.
The brutal encounter would come only too soon.
* * *
Unaware just how dangerous a man Jedite was, Minako entered the
Tokyo amusement park with the fallen henchman of Queen Beryl by her
side for an afternoon of fun; not that Jedite actually knew what
that meant.
"I`ve never been here before." he said.
"Never?"
"No. I had little time to myself in my previous employ. I`d come
to Tokyo on business for a short while and leave right after. I did
plan to come here a few months ago, but my employer... shall we say,
terminated my career." said Jedite, thinking of an energy
gathering scheme in the amusement park he never got a chance to
implement.
"That`s too bad, there`s so much you missed. Today you don`t have to
leave right away so you`ll enjoy yourself, okay?" Minako asked.
"Okay." answered Jedite who kept alert in case he`d see one of the
sailor scouts.
She dragged him along on every ride she could find, beginning with
the smoother ones to give him a chance to get the hang of it before
they went on the bigger ones. Minako was pleasantly surprised to see
that he showed no discomfort or fear, even in the most terrifying
roller coasters.
"Are you SURE you`ve never been here?" she asked, laughing.
"It`s true. I did go to the fantasy land on the other side of town
to meet one of my business associates, but I didn`t have time to try
any rides." he answered, laughing. After all, an evil mecanical doll
running a poison candy castle wouldn`t reckognize a good time if it
bit her in the wireframe.
For the first time of his life, Jedite laughed not out of cruelty
but out of happiness- this human girl was really starting to get to
him. He`d have to be more careful to conceal his plans for revenge,
otherwise the scouts might find him out too soon.
A game stand attendant behind them decided that these two might be
potential customers and tried to get them to play his game.
"Hey, mister, wanna try your skill? Real easy, you throw these rings
on this empty bottle, here. Anyone can win one of these beautiful
toys! How about winning a prize for the lovely lady? Only a hundred
yens per try!" he said in a speech he yelled a thousand times each
day.
(author`s note: 100 yens equals about one US dollar)
Jedite noticed how Minako was looking at the plush toys and made the
irrational decision to get her one. It didn`t make sense, but he felt
it would be a good idea to make her happy. Minako`s eyes glithered
when he asked for the rings.
"I`ll give this a try." he said.
"Here you go, sir. If you place all three on the bottle, you win a
prize of your choice."
explained the attendant.
Jedite observed the bottle two meters away and the three little red
plastic rings. This was going to be SO EASY! He looked Minako
straight in the eyes as he threw the first one without aiming. She
was stunned to see the ring land right on target.
"There`s one." he said.
He then threw the second one from behind his back, over his
shoulder. Bullseye again. Minako was mesmerized by such an amazing
display of dexterity.
"There`s two." he said.
Jedite stared at the last ring in his hand and squinted slightly,
discreetly charging it with a tiny amount of dark energy.
"That`ll impress her. Just a little less energy won`t make much of
a difference anyway." he thought.
He threw the ring at the back wall of the stand with all of his
strenght, bouncing it to the side wall and unto the bottle. Both
Minako and the surrounding people were speechless.
"And there`s three. Wich one do you like, Minako?" he said, smiling.
She stood there amazed for a few seconds, dazed by what she just
saw. When she snapped out of it, she chose a cute stuffed panda.
"Thank you, James, it`s beautiful!"
A minute after they left the stand, the attendant picked up the
rings for his next customer; as he did so, the bottle crumbled
into dust and the table underneath it collapsed.
* * *
Ami`s computer emitted a sharp beep just as she finished programming
her energy signature analysis routine. The strange power surge had
just occured again; much weaker than the previous occurances but
strong enough still to register on the laptop`s detection systems.
"There it is again! Now I can analyse this energy disturbance, it
will only take a few moments. Afterwards, I`ll even be ready to
track it down!" said Ami.
Artemis and Luna, who had kept quiet until then, joined in the
conversation.
"By the time Usagi and Minako are back you should have results,
right?" asked Artemis.
Ami nodded to agree. The blue computer ran its program, comparing
the energy readings it just got to all of those it got in the past.
"Good thing too. A little serious business will help Usagi get her
head out of the clouds for a change." commented Luna.
"I don`t know about that. Even when Beryl was at her strongest,
Usagi was still a bit spaced-out." said Artemis.
* * *
After their full afternoon at the amusement park, Minako and Jedite
were getting ready to leave. Even though Jedite did find out any
information about the scouts as he had hoped, he considered his day
to be a good one. As time went by, he was starting to appreciate the
company of this human girl.
"This was fun." he said.
"There`s a lot more to do in Tokyo, you know. Now that you have time
to yourself, I`d like to show you if you like." Minako offered.
"That would be nice." Jedite replied.
"I have something for you..." she said.
With her toy panda tucked under her arm, she searched through her
purse to find something. She pulled out a pen wich she used to write
a short message behind a picture. Minako then handed the picture
of herself to Jedite.
"I`m thinking about you! Minako." read the message. Under her name
was also her phone number.
She moved in close to Jedite and gave him a soft kiss.
"Thank you for a wonderful day, James. Call me!" she said before
leaving.
The sinister man touched his lips, unsure what to make of the strange
sensation he felt when Minako`s lips made contact with his. Like a
miniature lightning bolt going through his mouth. At this point, he
noticed another picture on the ground; Minako must have dropped it
from her purse by accident while she was going through it for a pen.
As he picked it up, he realized that this was a group picture of
Minako, her friend from the restaurant and the three sailor scouts
in plain city clothes!
Minako was actually a friend of the scouts... now THERE was
something he could use. He wasn`t quite sure if he`d be capable of
using her as bait for the scouts, though... nonetheless, he was on
the right track to finding the girls he hated with all his being.
In the meantime, he would have to learn to use a telephone.
* * *
ANALYSIS COMPLETE:
DATA INSUFFICIENT
ENERGY SIGNATURE PROFILE- INCONCLUSIVE
"Sorry, Rei, I`m going to need more data in order to get a reliable
result." said Ami.
"Too bad. I HATE having to wait with a sword hanging by a thread over
my head." said Rei.
"Are Minako and Usagi home yet? They should be returning soon now."
said Makoto.
"You know, Artemis, she`s right. We better be on our way too." said
Luna.
The cats hopped out the window and ran to their homes to wait for
the girls.
* * *
Minako unlocked her front door and Artemis arrived at that moment.
"Hello, Minako, how did your date go?"
"Really great. Look at what James won for me at the amusement park!"
"Nice panda. It`s bigger than me and Luna put together!"
"Oh, Artemis, I`m so happy... I think I`m in love!"
* * *
Rock music filled Club Crystal once again as the crowd got larger
than the previous nights. Word of mouth worked in Jedite`s favor and
brought more people with every evening. The mirror ball slowly
charged itself as the hours went by, draining precious energy from
unsuspecting clients. Much to their surprise, the evening left them
very, very tired.
At midnight sharp, he closed for the night and proceeded to charge
himself up from the stolen lifeforce. It felt good as usual, yet
something was missing; he wasn`t getting the total satisfaction he
always got from stealing human energy.
He felt empty inside, like a part of himself was missing.
* * *
Ami woke up suddenly, disturbed in her sleep by a loud beeping sound.
For a minute or so, she looked around in a catatonic stupor,
incapable of connecting her thoughts in any meaningful fashion. It
then occured to her where the sound was coming from. She picked up
from her nightstand a small blue box adorned with the alchemical
symbol of mercury, a powerful computer given to her by Luna. Ami had
set it up so it would warn her when it picked up another power surge
and locate its most likely source. Having finally obtained the data
she needed, Ami turned on the computer and punched up the results:
ANALYSIS COMPLETE:
DATA COMPARISON- DONE
ENERGY SIGNATURE PROFILE- IDENTIFIED
SOURCE: DARK KINGDOM WARRIOR
NAME: JEDITE
MATCH PROBABILITY: 98.6%
The percentage was blinking on and off, indicating a conclusive
result.
"Oh dear, it really IS a demon from our past!"
She picked up her communicator and called Usagi.
"Hmmmm.... (yawn).... who`s ... calling... (yawn)... so late?" Usagi
tried say.
"Usagi, it`s Ami. I`ve got the results of my computer analysis and
it`s not good!"
"Can`t this wait `till... (really big yawn)... tomorrow?"
"Usagi... JEDITE IS STILL ALIVE!!! Chances are he`ll be coming after
you, me and Rei! That`s what Rei`s dream meant, he wants revenge and
our lives are in danger!"
* * *
The next day at school was no ordinary monday as the sailor scouts
were very careful not to attract undue attention to themselves; if
they did so, they might be noticed by the dark kingdom who was most
likely hell-bent on vengence. The fact that he hadn`t manifested
himself yet only made them more nervous as it probably meant he was
cooking up some kind of plan.
They immediatelt met after school to discuss the situation.
"So Jedite`s back. This is very bad." said Usagi.
"Hum, could you tell us more about Jedite?" asked Makoto.
"That`s right, we joined the sailor scouts some time after he
disappeared; we only got to fight Kunzite and Zoisite but you guys
tangled with that Jedite freak before that, from what Ami told
me." said Minako.
The three sailor scouts who fought Jedite went on to explain what
they knew about him:
"Jedite was the very first one of the dark kingdom warriors sent by
Queen Beryl. His specialty was to gather energy from large crowds to
feed Queen Metallia. He is VERY powerful! I had to fight him one on
one before I met Ami and Rei and he actually STOPPED my tiara in
mid-flight!" described Usagi.
"He sent one of his youmas to my computer class; every time we
turned on a terminal, we`d be drained of our energy. It`s more than
likely he has some energy gathering ploy in the works even as we
speak." said Ami.
"He`s a sly one. On more than one occasion he tricked people in
serving him and then enslaved them to do his dirty business.
The first time I met him, he managed to use the temple to kidnap
our visitors." concluded Rei.
"What are we going to do about it?" asked Usagi.
"My computer wasn`t capable of pinpointing the location of the
energy surge, so the next move is his." said Ami.
The cats jumped in the discussion at this point.
"Jedite knows the faces of Usagi, Ami and Rei but hasn`t attacked
yet, so my guess is he doesn`t know your names. He saw you girls
transform into the sailor scouts, not go home after the battle."
said Luna.
"You should lay low for a while until Ami detects his location.
Stay home, that will keep you from bumping into Jedite by accident.
Although Minako and Makoto have never met him, I think it would be
safer if they kept to themselves too. Remember, until we know what
he`s up to, we`re all in danger!" explained Artemis.
"Usagi, call Mamoru and warn him as well; I`m pretty sure Jedite
will come after Tuxedo Kamen when he goes for Sailor Moon." added
Luna.
"I wanted to take James to a movie tonight; I guess we`ll have to
watch one on TV." said Minako, a bit disappointed.
"It`s safer this way. Don`t worry, I`ll give you lovebirds some
privacy." said Artemis.
* * *
"I`m bored." said Usagi.
"You have homework to do, so get cracking." replied Luna.
"You know, I`d like to meet Minako`s new boyfriend."
"You also have a test next week."
"I bet he`s really cute."
"Get serious, Usagi."
"I`m going right now!" said Usagi.
"Have you forgotten about Jedite? If he reckognizes you, he`ll kill
you!" argued Luna.
"You`re right- I`ll just use the luna pen so he won`t be able to
reckognize me at all." said Usagi.
"That`s not what I mean!!!" protested the black cat.
"LUNA PEN TRANSFORM!!! Turn me into a totally cool girl who doesn`t
look a thing like me!"
In a flash of light she was transformed into a teenage girl straight
from the high-rating television shows targetted at the 16-25 years
old viewer group with great clothes, fabulous hair and more sensual
appeal than Marylin Monroe.
"Bye, Luna, I`ll say hi to Minako for you!" said Usagi as she skipped
out of her room.
"Oh, that girl will kill me yet." said Luna in exasperation.
* * *
"I can`t wait to see his face." thought Usagi as she knocked on
Minako`s door.
Minako answered and was quite surprised to see Usagi was using the
luna pen to come to her house against both cats`recommandation.
"Usagi? Why did you come here... like this? Is there anything new
about... well, you know?" she
asked.
"Not yet, Ami`s still working on it. Soooo... is James here? I`m
curious to see if he`s as cute as Makoto told us!" she answered.
"Since you`re here, I might as well let you in. Would you like a
glass of soda?"
"Do I ever say no to any kind of food or drink?"
Usagi sat at the dining room table while Minako got the soda bottle
and three glasses wich she lined up on the table and filled. She
called someone in the living room:
"James, I`d like you to meet my friend Usagi! Would you like
something to drink while you`re coming here?"
A voice answered from the living room, a voice familiar to Usagi.
"Yes, please, that would be nice."
Why was Usagi feeling chills in her spine?
She was horrified to see Jedite walking in the dining room and kiss
Minako who obviously enjoyed his presence. Usagi`s stomach twisted
into a triple knot from the mind crushing fear she felt.
"James, this is my good friend Usagi. She..." Minako hesitated.
"...she`s been doing something different with her hair today,
haven`t you, Usagi?"
"Hello, Usagi. Say... haven`t we met before?" asked Jedite who
vaguely remembered seeing the power of the luna pen in action.
"NO! I mean, no, I`d remember you... hum, Minako, can we talk?
Private? NOW?!?" uttered Usagi in a single breath.
"Would you mind, honey?" asked Minako.
"Sure, I`ll be in the living room." he said before leaving.
Minako wondered wondered why Usagi was suddenly hyperventilating.
"What`s on your mind?" she asked.
"James... James... is that what he told you his name was?"
Minako looked at Usagi as if her friend had just declared that
spheres had sharp edges.
"What`s that supposed to mean?"
"Minako, this man has been lying to you... he`s EVIL! You have to
get away from him, fast, before he hurts you!"
Minako`s expression of confusion was quickly replaced by one of
anger and burning rage. Her eyes shot lightning bolts at Usagi.
"Minako, did you hear what I said?"
Usagi got her answer when Minako`s glass, wich she was holding
tighter and tighter in her hand, shattered to pieces. Several shards
plunged in her tender skin, drawing blood in the process.
"How DARE you, Usagi? How dare you go around showing off your
perfect boyfriend while I suffer silently from loneliness and then,
when I finally find a nice guy, say those HORRIBLE things about
him?!?" yelled Minako.
"Minako, your hand is bleeding..."
"Get out of here, Usagi."
"But your hand..."
"GET OUT NOW!!" Minako screamed loud enough to wake up the dead,
tears filling her eyes.
Usagi had no choice but to leave. Jedite walked in afterwards,
concerned about what he heard.
"I heard you screaming, what happened?"
She tried to answer but could only cry. Jedite noticed her wounded
hand.
"Your hand is cut; let me take care of it." he said.
How could Usagi say such terrible things about James? Such a caring
man could not possibly be evil, thought Minako. She was surely lying,
Minako couldn`t believe this could be true...
* * *
On her way home, Usagi opened her communicator unsure wether or not
she was dreaming this whole situation. She called Ami.
"Usagi, you look pale, what`s going on?" asked Ami.
"Ami, it`s about Minako... I`m afraid she`s in more trouble than we
could have ever imagined!"
* * *
"This is a nice place you own, James."
"Thank you, Minako, I decorated Club Crystal myself."
Jedite turned on the lights of the dance floor; it seemed strange
to see all those colored lights and lasers spinning around in total
silence, the entire club still waiting for its nightly allowance of
customers.
"I`d like you to sit by my side when the party starts. It would be
much more fun that way." he said.
"Of course, I`ll be there." Minako answered, halfway lost in her
thoughts. "James, if someone you knew did something to hurt you, do
you think you could find it in yourself to forgive that person?"
"It`s about that Usagi, isn`t it? "
"She`s been my friend for a while and we helped each other through
a lot, I don`t want to lose her!"
"You should listen to your heart, it will tell you what to do. Trust
me, I know what you`re going through right now. A woman once did the
same to me, willfully destroyed everything I was, turned my whole
life into a smoking rubble heap. This is why I came back to Tokyo,
to reclaim what she`s taken from me."
"Did you ever forgive her?"
Jedite avoided the question altogether.
"You should rest a little before I open up. You can rest in my
office, back there."
Minako agreed and went into the small office. She sat at the desk,
rested her head on her arms, careful not to crush her bruised hand
in doing so. She went to sleep almost immediately. Soon after Jedite
went to tell her the action would begin shortly; she was sleeping so
peacefully, however, that he couldn`t bring himself to wake her up.
"Sleep well, Minako, you have many wounds to heal." he whispered as
he quietly closed the office door.
* * *
With her blue high-tech glasses strapped on, Sailor Mercury followed
the trail of Jedite by his specific energy signature. It had been
especially difficult and it was only around midnight that the scouts
where able to reach the dark kingdom warrior at a place called Club
Crystal.
"He`s here." said Sailor Mercury.
"He wants us all dead, you know." said Sailor Moon.
"It doesn`t matter to me." said Sailor Mars.
"Minako needs us right now, that`s what counts." said Sailor
Jupiter.
"Then let`s go in, shall we?" concluded Sailor Moon.
* * *
Inside the club, Jedite stood in front of Minako who had slept
through the entire evening despite the loud disco action that had
ended only minutes before. Jedite felt a strong emotional connection
to this girl, something special he had never felt in his life. He
remembered Kunzite and Zoisite- was this what brought them together?
Was this the true love he had heard so much about?
No, it couldn`t be. A warrior such as himself couldn`t feel love.
He had a long time ago turned his back to such foolish behavior.
Minako talked earlier about forgiving to Usagi... it forced him to
wonder if he should try to find it in himself to forgive Sailor Moon,
to put his dark past behind him and start a new life in this city.
Could he really do this? Swallow his hatred and let go of his thirst
for vengence? So many questions that were left unanswered...
An explosion ripped the club`s front door, loudly announcing the
arrival of Sailor Moon and the sailor scouts. Disturbed in her
slumber by this noise, Minako mumbled incoherently as she was slowly
trying to wake up. Jedite kissed her on the cheek.
"Sleep, my love, while I take care of my unfinished business. All I
have to do now is claim what is due to me. I`ll be right back."
Jedite left the office quietly, closing the door behind him.
* * *
Sailor Moon walked in the dark dance club first, followed by the
three scouts; all were staying on guard for god knows what trap
Jedite had set up for them.
"JEDITE! Come out here! We know you are holding our friend and we
want her back!" said Sailor Moon in a bold, commanding voice.
His voice replied promptly, resounding out of everywhere and nowhere
at once.
"You must be either very courageous or extremely stupid to come here
on my home turf, sailor scouts. I have been waiting a long time for
such an occasion to put an end to your pathetic lives... and I see
you even have a new recruit! I do not know who you are yet, but I
will make you regret teaming up with the scouts!" he said.
The disco lights turned themselves on and flashed wildly, adding
stress to the already nervewracked scouts who still didn`t know what
their old nemesis was up to. The lasers and colored lights were no
longer joyous but gloomy; the strobes made it difficult to gauge
their own movements and combat would certainly be difficult at best.
The mirror ball began to glow dark red- as if the gravity had
increased a hundredfold, all four scouts collapsed on the floor,
incapable of any movement.
Jedite appeared floating high above the dance floor, wearing his
full uniform. Bathing in the dark sphere`s crimson light, the effect
was quite dramatic.
"Can`t move, can you?" he said in triumph.
"You won`t get away with this!" said Mars.
"I already have." he replied.
"We won`t let you hurt Minako, you monster!" said Jupiter.
"I`m not going to, she`s here of her own free will. Besides, you
little brats are TRESPASSING, so in the name of the law, I`ll punish
you! " said Jedite, mocking Sailor Moon`s usual heroic speech.
A strong blast from the sphere crushed the scouts the scouts even
further, making them wish this pain would stop soon, regardless that
it would mean death. They couldn`t take it anymore.
"You will all DIE here!" yelled Jedite.
A red streak of blurry light shattered the sphere into smithereens;
the projectile came to a halt on the floor next to Sailor Moon.
It was a blooming red rose.
Standing on the ledge of a high window, Tuxedo Kamen looked upon the
battlefield.
"Your evil must be stopped, Jedite. I thought you had been destroyed
all those months ago, but this time one of us will not live to fight
again." he said in his soft voice.
"Well said, cape boy!" said Jedite as he sent an overwhelming blast
of dark energy at Tuxedo Kamen.The caped hero could not tolerate
such a great amount of raw power fueled by burning hatred and stolen
lifeforce; he fell to the dance floor with a loud thump.
"Tuxedo Kamen, predictable as ever. Welcome to your final
destruction! Look here, Sailor Moon, your little boyfriend has
arrived!" said Jedite who didn`t know he was right on target about
Usagi`s love for Mamoru.
The sailor scouts were beginning to recover their strenght; they
stood up but could not fight just yet.
"Why are you doing this?" asked Sailor Moon.
"To see you suffer as much as I have." he coldly answered.
He blasted Tuxedo Kamen again, ripping a blood curdling scream of
pain from the helpless hero.
"Please stop this! It`s me you want to hurt, not him!" pleaded Sailor
Moon.
"That`s right, I want to make YOU suffer- wich is why you will
witness the death of those you love!" said Jedite, an evil glint in
his eyes.
Sailor Moon could not let Jedite do this; summoning all of her
remaining strenght, she pulled out her scepter and activated its
power. She had to go on fighting.
"MOON PRINCESS HALATION!"
The bright beam of purifying light was easily deflected by Jedite
back unto Sailor Moon who fell down from the blow. Had her heart
been tainted by evil, her entire body would have been consumed by
the white burst of light.
"This is so much fun!" laughed Jedite, jubilating from the thrill
of seeing his enemies in pain.
* * *
Minako woke up during the fight and realized that the scouts were
fighting someone- JEDITE! He must have followed her to the club
somehow and now the scouts needed her!
"VENUS POWER... MAKEUP! "
In a few seconds, Minako left her place to the mighty warrior Sailor
Venus. Jedite wanted to kill her friends? Over her dead body! She
opened the office door and could barely see through the whirling
lasers and pulsating strobes. She managed to see Tuxedo Kamen lying
unconcious on the floor and the scouts preparing a massive counter
attack on a floating man dressed in a dark kingdom uniform. Turning
his back to her, he couldn`t see he had one more opponent to contend
with behind him.
Help was on the way.
A string of small golden energy pulses shaped as hearts surrounded
Sailor Venus; catching it by the tip of her finger, she redirected
it at the warrior without noticing that she was using her wounded
hand to do so. Her deep cuts resumed bleeding as the golden chain
soared towards Jedite.
"VENUS LOVE-ME CHAIN!"
The chain immediately trapped the surprised Jedite in a golden halo,
leaving him defenseless from the incoming onslaught of special
attacks.
"MOON PRINCESS HALATION!"
"FIRE SOUL!"
"JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!"
"MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!"
In the few moments it took for the scouts` blasts to reach Jedite,
Minako recognized the face of the warrior whom she had just rendered
helpless: it was her boyfriend! She was in love with Jedite and
didn`t know about it until now!
"NOOOOOO!" she yelled in despair.
Too late. Unble to raise his energy shield, Jedite was engulfed in
white-golden flames that threw him to the ground, horribly burnt.
The flames died down, leaving a crippled Jedite to die from his
fatal wounds. Minako ran to him and took him in her arms.
"No! Jedite, don`t die please! You can`t leave me alone!"
She took his hand in hers and her bleeding palm soaked his glove in
warm blood. He saw her wounded hand and recognized her despite her
scout uniform.
"I`m sorry, Minako, but I can`t hold on much longer. Your friend
Usagi was right, you know, you would have been better to avoid me."
But you could change, see the light! Nephryte did!" she said. tears
rolling off her cheeks.
"No, you`re wrong. You offered me a chance at redemption and I chose
the path of darkness. I really AM evil." said Jedite who was getting
weaker every second.
"I love you, Jedite!"
"I never knew love before I met you, Minako, but I do know I love
you with all my heart."
Minako kissed Jedite for what would be the last time. His body began
to glow bright white; soon
he would be gone.
"Remember me always, as I will." said Jedite with a tender smile.
His body slipped out of Minako`s arms, completely turned into a
gleaming sphere of light. The sphere silently zoomed away into the
night sky, leaving nothing behind. Minako cried uncontrollably,
unable to do anything else. She cried for the rest of the night;
there was little her friends could do to help her stop.
In time, the pain she felt diminished but never really went away. It
left a deep scar in her heart, one quite similar to the scar in her
palm that reminded her each day of her tragic loss.
* * *
To this day, a portrait of Jedite that Minako painted herself hangs
in her bedroom. It showed him in the way she remembered him, as the
tender, caring man she one day fell in love with.
The End.
a.k.a. Technuma Saturn
This story happens some time during the Sailor Moon R serie, just
after Alan and Ann left earth but before Chibi-Usa dropped in on
Usagi and Mamoru. Something pretty big DID happen in between
the battles with the doomtree and the wiseman!
Before I begin, one little note concerning my first version of this
story: every instance of the word "vengence" was misspelled as
"vengeance" wich is really the FRENCH spelling of the word. This
is the kind of error a french speaking man such as myself would make
while writing in english. There are probably more of these in my
stories, but I`m doing my best to erradicate them.
Now, on with the show!
* * *
CYCLES OF LIFE: EPISODE TWO
FINAL VENGENCE
After Queen Beryl`s defeat at the hands of Sailor Moon, Usagi and
her one great love Mamoru lost all of their memories of the dark
kingdom and so did the other sailor scouts. For a short while, they
returned to their normal lives blissfully unaware that they ever
fought the evil of Beryl and her sinister henchmen Jedite, Nephryte,
Zoisite and Kunzite. When a new threat arose from the forces of
evil, Luna restored Usagi`s memories to enable her to fight Alan and
Ann`s energy sucking cardians. Luna then did the same for the other
scouts when Sailor Moon couldn`t do it all by herself. Mamoru, for
some strange reason, just didn`t remember any of this, not even his
love for the now very lonely Usagi.
For weeks she chased him, trying to revive his memory and force him
to remember, to no avail. Ann did her best to snatch him away for
herself while Alan attempted to seduce Usagi, both of them failing
miserably. After a brutal encounter with the angry aliens and the
raging doomtree, Mamoru recovered completely- with his love for
Usagi reborn and the alien menace gone, the two of them were finally
free to be a young couple in love.
A full moon glithered over Tokyo as Usagi and her boyfriend enjoyed
their romantic dinner at Mamoru`s appartment. They had just finished
eating and admired the night sky so full of gleaming stars from the
balcony. Usagi seemed to be lost in her thoughts.
"Penny for your thoughts, meatball head." he said.
"This is all very wonderful, muffin, we`re together, the earth is
safe, our lives are beginning in a world full of promise..."
"But...?"
Mamoru looked deep in her eyes and she knew that he understood her
completely. No matter what might happen, he`d always be there for
her.
"Well..." she said softly, "I miss being Sailor Moon. It`s been so
long since I`ve been the champion of love and justice, fighting
against evil with my dream protector by my side, defeating the dark
kingdom at every turn."
He smiled at her in that special way that always made her heart sing.
"Then why not do it right now?" he suggested.
"Transform? Here?"
He nodded to tell her yes. She smiled and carefully opened her
brooch, revealing the silver crystal entrusted to her by her mother
Queen Serenity.
"MOON CRYSTAL POWER... MAKEUP!"
Usagi`s clothes faded away in a soft glowing light to be replaced
by the sailor uniform she had put on every time she fought evil.
Mamoru never got tired of watching her transform, as she looked like
an angel when she did. It felt wonderful to her, becoming Sailor
Moon once more if only to feel the surge of power in her body. By
her side, Mamoru changed himself into the seductive Tuxedo Kamen.
He handed a blooming red rose to Sailor moon. She smelled its
delicate aroma, sweet as her loving boyfriend.
"Soft and blooming with a delightful smell that has inspired poets
and musicians for millenias, yet strong and capable of inflicting
terrible wounds when defending itself from the most dangerous foes.
However, touch it with tender care and never will you forget its
gentleness. This rose is you, my dearest Sailor Moon."
"Thank you, my Tuxedo Kamen. You filled my dreams for so long and
now you are here with me."
The dream hero dressed in tuxedo lifted the moon princess in his
arms and leapt swiftly into the night, a cool breeze softly
brushing their skin. Jumping from roof to roof, they stopped on
the deserted rooftop of a high building where Tuxedo Kamen gently
put Sailor Moon down on her feet. All around them and for a dozen
miles, they could see thousands of scattered lights that breathed
life in the sleeping city. From a distance, soft music made its way
to their ears from no discernable direction. Tuxedo Kamen removed
his mask and extended his open hand to Sailor
Moon.
"May I have this dance?" he asked.
"I would love nothing more." she answered.
Letting the music flow through their bodies, they danced away the
rest of the evening knowing that never would they be alone again,
for they had found true love with the one person they could call
their soul mate.
* * *
Miles and miles away from Tokyo, a cutting wind was badly bruising
a frozen and unforgiving wasteland devoid of life. As far as the eye
could see, nothing but snow and ice. Under this barren land somewhere
laid a huge block of solid crystal so evil in origin that no living
soul would dare approach it. Hidden from view, it had been meant to
remain there until the end of time.
When princess Usagi clashed with Queen Beryl who was infused with
Queen Metallias`s power, a huge amount of dark energy was released
at once.
Nothing is ever lost.
The unleashed energy floated in a chaotic fashion until it found its
way to the crystal wich resounded with harmonic vibrations,
accumulating this energy. This solid chunk of crystal had a single
molecular flaw upon its creation, microscopic in size. Slowly
building up in power, the molecular flaw turned into a tiny crack.
The crack kept growing in size as the sailor scouts fought Alan and
Ann`s evil cardians, turning into a rather large fissure. At the
very moment the doomtree went mad, the crystal cocoon shattered,
liberating its prisoner. Digging slowly his way up through feets of
tightly packed snow, the forsaken henchman of Beryl emerged into
the bitter cold night.
Jedite was free at last.
Weakened by his captivity, he had lost all of his dark powers.
Although the frozen blizzard could not kill his dark kingdom body,
he could feel pain just as well as humans did. He wondered what he
would do now that he was no longer trapped in his crystal prison;
should he crawl back to Queen Beryl, she would surely kill him for
good. Centuries of service to her had taught him that she never
forgot nor forgave. On the other hand, he could run away with his
life... but to go where? Beryl`s eyes where impossible to hide from,
she would hunt him down mercilessly like a rabid dog. His choice was
clear: he would walk back to his mistress who would then undoubtebly
proceed to end his miserable existence in a single blast of pure
rage. At last, he would get his final rest.
So he walked, broken and cold, back to the palace that witnessed his
fall from grace.
* * *
How long had Jedite walked? So weak he was that day and night seemed
to blend together into a meaningless kaleidoscope fueled by his own
despair. And then, just before he gave up on this endless walk, he
finally reached the destination of his last voyage: the secret
entrance to Queen Beryl`s fortress. He looked back upon his broken
life for a moment; deeming himself ready to die, he entered. Surely
Beryl had been aware of his escape from the very moment his jail
released him; how much she must have enjoyed viewing from a distance
his pathetic return in the desolate wastelands.
He was surprised at the silence of the dark fortress; he did not
remember the palace to be so quiet and empty.
"Beryl, my queen, it is me, Jedite. I have returned to accept my
punishment for escaping my crystal prison!" he yelled.
No answer came to his servile request. Then again, why would she
lower herself to talk to him, Jedite the disgraced, the failed one?
He kept on walking, going deeper inside towards the throne room.
"Nephryte, I`m back..."
No answer. No Nephryte to taunt him and laugh at his fate. Maybe he
was out on an energy gathering mission somewhere. If that was so,
where were all the youmas that should have been guarding the
fortress? He should have been intercepted by now. Or at least, he
should have met someone. Anyone.
"Kunzite, are you there?"
Still no answer. Jedite was beginning to worry. At this point, he
would have been happy to hear the tauntings of that little twerp
Zoisite. Without meeting anyone at all, he made it to the throne
room. It then struck him that his calls would go unanswered. Beryl`s
crystal ball laid smashed on the floor amidst the remains of a black
crystal and a long dead rose. Queen Metallia`s awesome presence was
gone for good as well. Jedite was truly and utterly alone, the
last remnant of a fallen empire.
He fell to his knees and wept in agony.
Sailor Moon had taken his away his life and his freedom already-
now she had denied him death. Oh, how much he despised this little
sailor brat. How much he wanted to tear off those blonde ponytails
to strangle her with, to rip off every ounce of flesh from her
bones and remove her still beating heart with his bare hands. If
he was denied death, he would settle for savage, bloody vengence.
While Usagi and Mamoru celebrated their love for each other, Jedite
cried in terrible, tearing pain.
* * *
Although there was no real need for the sailor scouts anymore, they
still enjoyed to meet every day at the Cherry Hill temple after
school. These meetings were the ideal occasion to talk and have fun
as well as plan activities.
"So, Usagi, how did your date with Mamoru go yesterday?" asked
Makoto.
"Yeah, tell us everything with a lot of details!" Rei added.
"You are SO curious, you guys! Can`t a girl have a single date
without all of you begging for a detailed account?" protested Usagi.
"NO! " answered all at once the other girls and both cats.
"Well, if you must know, it was simply wonderful and romantic,
that`s all I`ll say." she said.
"Hey, how about we go out for a milkshake at that new place? They
have an exterior terrasse!" Minako suggested.
"I`d love to, Minako, but Mamoru`s meeting me later." said Usagi
with a look that spelled out "I`m really sorry".
"Greg is coming home to study math, latin and calculus." said Ami.
"I promised Yuuichiro I`d go to a movie with him. It was the only
way to stop him from singing in the temple this week." added Rei.
"Well, Minako, looks like it`s you, me and the cats!" Said Makoto
with a smile.
* * *
Fortunately for Jedite, the remains of Beryl`s crystal ball still
contained a very small amount of residual energy, just enough to
teleport to Tokyo and set up a way to gather more. He carefully
absorbed every last bit and concentrated on the city where he knew
Sailor Moon lived. In an unholy fashion, he disappeared from the
palace, never to return.
He rematerialized in an empty downtown store wich he then remodeled
according to his twisted needs. The humans would not realize what
he was doing until it was too late to stop him.
* * *
The sun started its slow descent to the horizon as Luna, Artemis
and Makoto discussed the many merits of actor/martial artist Jackie
Chan and his contribution to action movies over a milkshake. For
some reason, Minako had barely touched hers and paid no attention
to the conversation whatsoever, her gaze vaguely staring at her
glass.
"You know, Minako, he does all of his own stunts!" said Makoto who
tried to pull her into the conversation.
"Huh uh." she absent-mindedly replied.
"He never uses any computer special effects." added Luna.
"Huh uh."
"Your hair is on fire." said Artemis.
"Huh uh."
"Earth to Minako! Come back down with us for a moment!" said Makoto.
Artemis knew her well and immediately reckognized she wasn`t feeling
good.
"What`s the matter, Minako? Chocolate shakes usually quiver at the
very mention of your name and you haven`t taken more than two sips
on yours so far. Something`s eating you up, I can tell." he said.
Minako looked at the white cat, her face blank of expression.
"Artemis, would you and Luna leave for a moment so I could talk with
Makoto? It`s a bit personal..."
"Oooooh, guy problems, huh? Come on, Luna, let`s give the girls some
privacy."
The cats jumped off the table and scampered away promptly. Minako
stared at Makoto; she looked as if she was on the verge of breaking
down in tears.
"Do you know how long it`s been since my last date? Since ANY guy
has paid any attention to me at all?!?"
"So THAT`s what`s been working you up?"
"Yes! Usagi`s madly in love with Mamoru, Ami has Greg and I strongly
suspect Rei of not telling us everything that`s going on between her
and Yuuichiro. Bottom line: everyone`s in love except me."
"I don`t have a boyfriend either, it`s not the end of the world or
anything."
"So you say. I feel so lonely right now, it`s all I can think of.
Like my love life is some huge, monstrous, gaping sinkhole
swallowing all it touches."
"Whoa, how long have you been feeling this way?"
"A long time, I guess. Being Sailor V and then Sailor Venus kept me
distracted. While we were running around after Zoisite and those
other maniacs, I didn`t have time to think about it. Now that`s it`s
over, it seems worse than it ever was before."
"Maybe you`re just trying too hard to find love, Minako. Love is not
something you can find by looking everywhere for it, I know from
experience. Give it time, you`ll meet a great guy for sure."
"I don`t know, I simply don`t feel guys find me attractive anymore."
"Are you serious? I`d kill to look as gorgeous as you! You`re so
beautiful, I`m sure you`ll meet prince charming when you least expect
him. Let`s face it, Minako, you have it all!"
"Maybe you`re right..."
"Not maybe, I AM right! "
"Thanks, Makoto, I feel better now."
"Wanna go see a movie? No romantic stuff, just hunky guys beating
each other senseless and blowing up the whole screen to bits!"
"Yeah, that sounds good. Let`s pick up the cats and go right now."
"Aren`t you going to finish your shake first?"
Minako picked up the glass and swallowed it all in one huge gulp.
"All done now, let`s go!" Minako said before she slammed down the
empty glass.
Makoto was happy that her friend felt better; to her, being a sailor
scout not only meant saving the universe from evil but also having
the greatest friends in the world.
* * *
In downtown Tokyo, shops open and shut down their operations every
day at a hectic pace with new stores replacing those that went out
of business the day before. In such an ever-changing marketplace,
no one noticed that an empty shop was turned into a top-class dance
club overnight, litteraly. "Club Crystal" opened its doors to the
public that evening and the turnout was quite positive.
Good music, a superb dance floor, lasers, strobe lights and even an
authentic american mirror ball gave the place a feeling like no
other. On top of this, add a disc jockey with a seductive voice who
gave it all to the public all evening long and the final result was
the hotest new dance club in town. At the stroke of midnight,
everyone went home unbelievably tired but content from their evening
of wild dance. Club Crystal was a rousing success.
Now that the club was closed for the night, the DJ decided it was
about time to slip in something comfortable; he switched from his
jeans, jacket and running shoes back into his purple and grey dark
kingdom uniform and leather boots with the wave of a hand.
"I can`t stand human clothes." said Jedite.
He quickly counted the money he made from the admitance fee- he
had to make his. club look real, after all; a nice sum, he could
even make a good living from out of it... if it wasn`t just a cover
for his revenge.
"Now for the REAL profits." Jedite said with a large grin on his
face.
He slowly floated above the dance floor and hovered next to the
mirror ball. It started to glow dark red at his presence and
reemited the energy it leeched off the people who danced all evening.
Jedite absorbed every bit of power and felt quite revitalized from
it. With all the energy he would get from this setup, he would
easily crush those who had destroyed his life: the sailor scouts
and their little caped protector. He would track them down and kill
them all... unless, of course, they found out his hiding place
before then, as they always did in the past.
That would greatly simplify matters.
The stolen lifeforce completely absorbed, he had no business in the
club until the next evening. He looked at the money he made; what
would he do with it?
"I might as well use it, I suppose. It could help me in my search
to locate the scouts and preserve my powers until the appropriate
time comes." he thought.
He reverted back to human clothes to his great discomfort and
locked up his place. He checked in a hotel room for the night and
tried to figure where to look to find the scouts; he remembered their
faces, etched forever in his mind, but ignored their names. By
finding out more about them, he could create a better, crueler plan
to exact his vengence.
* * *
The following day, Jedite spent walking around searching for the
three girls he hated so much. In doing so, he went through several
parks, shoping malls, restaurants, shops and many, many other places
young girls might go to on a saturday afternoon. Despite walking
down more streets he knew existed, the girls where nowhere to be
found.
Since he had another hour to kill before he opened his club for the
evening, he decided to save his strenght and relax. Over the course
of the day, he had seen countless people eating strange foods of
all sorts- he knew it was essential for human survival but couldn`t
understand WHY they enjoyed it so much; if Jedite had such a grave
physical weakness, he certainly wouldn`t make such a big deal over
it, quite the opposite, he`d keep it secret. Still, he wanted to
know so he was going to try some food for himself. For his first meal
ever, he chose a small terrasse restaurant and sat down at an empty
table. The menu was filled with strangely named items such as *pizza*,
*hamburger* and *onion rings*. He had heard many of these words
pronounced by humans, though he never quite understood what they
meant. He chose a "cheeseburger" because it reminded him of a
lunarian word in a poem he once read on the moon kingdom where he
shortly served as an ambassador for Beryl before Queen Metalia
turned it into a smoking ash heap. He told his selection to the
waitress.
"It comes with a soda and french fries." she said.
"That will be fine " he coldly answered.
His food arrived a few minutes later. Most of these items he had
seen the humans eat, but what effect they would have on his system
he wasn`t sure. As he mustered his courage to start eating, he
caught movement in the corner of his eye and he lifted his head up;
turning her back to him, a girl with long blonde hair was sitting
at the table in front of his. Could it possibly be HER? Had he
found Sailor Moon by sheer dumb luck?
Rage awakened inside of him and boiled intensely; Jedite tried to
remember his original plan and calm down but anger chased every
ounce of self-control out of him. He stood up quietly and walked
up to her, his hands ready to crush her neck and end her life on
the spot. Minako felt his presence and turned around. Jedite realized
immediately that this WASN`T Sailor Moon, nor was her brunette friend
Sailor Mercury or Mars. Minako stared at the stunningly handsome guy
who just stood there saying nothing.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
He had to think fast- any suspicious behavior on his part could
endanger his efforts to blend in and ruin his plan; he needed to
say something mundane and appropriate for the situation.
"May I borrow the salt, please?" he said in a soft, hushed tone.
Yes, that was good, it was innocent and meaningless.
"Sure, here you go." she said, handing him over the salt shaker.
He went back to his meal, relieved not to have done any damage to
his cover. Jedite added a little salt to his food in order to look
more convincing; humans did this often, for no apparent reason. His
first bite was a revelation of sorts- a mix of texture and taste that
made him want to continue eating. He swallowed the bite and
discovered he enjoyed the way food felt going down to his stomach.
As he continued eating, he swore silently to control his anger until
he could unleash it all on Sailor Moon. As far as he could remember,
Jedite had trouble controlling the boiling rage in his heart; getting
crushed under the landing gear of a jumbo jet during his last battle
with the scouts did nothing to improve his character, either.
Patience and focus always win the battle, Kunzite liked to say.
"Say, Makoto..." whispered Minako, "did that guy`s request sound as
transparent as I think it did?"
"It sure did. He`s already got salt on his table!"
"He`s very handsome..." commented Minako.
"Why don`t you go talk to him?"
"I don`t know..."
"You saw the way he was looking at you! He obviously wanted to talk,
but he was too shy to do it; I can tell by the way he froze up when
you turned around, I`ve seen it a thousand times." explained Makoto.
"I love shy guys, they`re always so sweet." said Minako, peeking at
Jedite.
Jedite ate the last bite on his plate and washed it down with the
sparkling drink; his meal had been a very unusual combination of
sensory experiences. No wonder humans liked it so much! The blonde
girl he almost killed a few minutes earlier came to him and sat at
his table. Why was she doing this?
"Hello, my name is Minako, what`s yours?" she asked.
"My name is..." he uttered.
A name! He needed a human name pronto- he couldn`t just say Jedite,
he had to come up with something in a second.
"... James." he finished.
James?!? What kind of a name was that? She was going to see right
through him right away!
"That`s a nice name." she told him, a delicate smile on her lips.
She was being so friendly to him, it made no sense! Whenever Tidas
was nice to him, she always had some ulterior motive, but this girl
had never met him before! What could she want from him? Maybe it
was because Queen Beryl had threatened his life every time she spoke
to him in the past that Minako made him feel so uncomfortable...
like a huge darkbeast smiling before ripping your head off.
"What do you do for a living?" she asked.
"I just opened a new dance club. What about you?" replied Jedite. He
was carrying on with the chit-chat as best he could without showing
his tremendous unease.
"I`m still a high school student." she answered.
It then occured to Jedite that this girl could be useful to him,
serve as a guide to the city and facilitate his search. Plus, she
had a beautiful smile.
"Look, I have to go to work now, you don`t suppose we could meet
again tomorrow?" he asked.
Minako`s eyes brightened up when he said this.
"Sure! How about at twelve o`clock?"
"That would be great. Would you like to meet me at the amusement
park I saw a few blocks down the street?"
"Okay, see you there James!"
"Goodbye, Minako." said Jedite as he paid his bill and left.
A few instants later, Minako and Makoto left too.
"So, how did it go?" asked Makoto with excitement.
"I`m seeing him again tomorrow! You were right, he was a bit shy at
first but he opened up."
"Good for you! He`s a nice catch, cute and all. He reminds me of my
ex-boyfriend."
"Somehow, I`m not surprised." Minako said, giggling.
* * *
Minako arrived home where a very impatient Artemis had been expecting
her for a while.
"About time you got here! I thought you girls would never stop
talking. Good thing you were with Makoto, too; if it had been motor
mouth Usagi, you`d still be there!" he said.
"Oh, stop complaining. You know I wouldn`t let you sleep out in the
cold, don`t you?"
She unlocked the door and Artemis zoomed in faster than a door to
door salesman. Minako hummed a joyous tune as she prepared a meal
for the hungry white cat.
"I`ve seen that smile on your face before." he said, smirking at
Minako. "You met a guy, haven`t you?"
"That`s none of your business, little mister." she answered.
"Ha ha! You called me little mister! You never call me like that
unless you`re trying to keep something from me!" he replied.
"You know me too well, Artemis. Sometimes it can get annoying."
"That`s why you love me, Minako!"
She started to scratch Artemis`s stomach; he dropped on his back
and purred like a jet engine.
"I know you very well too!" she said.
* * *
Around midnight, Club Crystal closed its doors after another full
night. About sixty patrons left the place so tired they could
barely walk straight. Even though they didn`t remember much of the
evening, they were all convinced they just had the greatest dance
experience of their life.
Jedite grew stronger from their energy each passing night.
As he walked to his hotel, he thought of the human girl, Minako.
He thought of her gentleness and how she had tried to touch his
emotions. It was reassuring to him that his dark kingdom warrior
training had made him immune to such blatant attempts to reach into
his innermost self. Why did humans spend so much time and energy
expressing their emotions, anyway? Maybe that was something he could
use to his advantage, an extra ace up his sleeve. He could certainly
use one more.
* * *
Rei lit up several incense sticks around the temple, filling the
altar room with the delicate aroma. She then opened the large
windows to let both the sunshine and the light morning breeze in,
caressing her skin with gentle warmth and moving the wind chimes
in a beautiful concert of soothing bell tones. She sat down in a
rigid lotus position in an attempt to align her being with the
whole of existence, her ultimate goal in life.
A metallic noise disrupted her concentration; she opened her eyes
to see a samurai in golden armor standing in front of her. A youma`s
mask was hiding his face.
"Why are you here?" Rei asked.
The warrior removed the mask, but shadows concealed his face from
view. For some reason, Rei was convinced this was a demon from her
past.
"To claim what is due to me." he answered.
He unsheated his katana and plunged it in Rei`s chest before she
could react, spilling her blood all over her traditionnal garbs and
on the wooden floor. she fell over on her back, clutching the sword
in a vain attempt to remove it from her body. The cold metal blade
dug deep in the soft flesh of her hands, spreading even more of her
precious life giving blood. As she struggled to breathe and the
world turned black in front of her eyes, she heard the warrior laugh.
"Your friends are next." he claimed.
Rei woke up screaming in terror, shocked by the sheer horror of her
terrible nightmare. This was certainly a vision of things to come,
but what did it mean? Wich demon from her past couldbe coming back
to haunt her and the scouts?
The dark kingdom? It had been totally erradicated by the scouts.
Alan and Ann? They left earth in love with each other, determined
to rebuild their lives in peace.
If only she had seen the face of the samurai warrior, she could try
to avoid the fate her vision had revealed. After carefully verifying
she wasn`t bleeding from any part of her body, she went back to a
now dreamless slumber.
* * *
"I kept trying to pull it out of my chest, but my hands slipped on
the blade and were deeply wounded. He laughed and said that my
friends would be next; after that... I died." explained Rei to Makoto
and Ami, leaving out not even the smallest detail.
They listened carefully, not sure as to what to make of this mystical
warning.
"It sems someone wishes to see us come to harm." said Ami.
"I haven`t been a sailor scout as long as you guys have; as anyone
you fought escaped without being moondusted by Usagi? Or did you
provoke someone who wants to even things out?" asked Makoto with
concern.
"Not that I can think of. All of our KNOWN enemies have been
destroyed or returned to the side of good." said Rei.
"But if we don`t know that enemy yet, how can it be a demon from our
past like your vision said?" asked Makoto.
"I might be on to something." said Ami. "In the past two days, my
computer detected a few minor energy disturbances that I discarded
as random electrical surges in the city`s power grid. In light of
Rei`s vision, I think it might not be so random after all; I`ll
write a program to track them down and identify them when they occur
but I`ll need to pick up a couple of these disturbances if I am to
make a good comparison search in my data bank."
"So all we do now is wait, I guess." said Makoto.
"And be careful! We have no idea what we`re up against. We`ll have
to warn Usagi and Minako as soon as possible." said Rei.
"Yeah, we`ll tell them when they`re back from their dates."
concluded Makoto.
"Say, Makoto, you`ve met Minako`s guy, haven`t you? Why don`t you
tell us more about him?" asked Rei.
"Yes, you`re the only one who saw him, tell us what he`s like!"
added Ami.
"He`s nice! Tall, blonde hair, athletic, a real looker. Plus, he`s
got a voice that could make you melt in a second! He didn`t say
much, though, because he`s really shy, but he seems very smart.
I`m happy for her, she found someone special." described Makoto.
"I hope we can see him soon!" Ami said with a smile.
The brutal encounter would come only too soon.
* * *
Unaware just how dangerous a man Jedite was, Minako entered the
Tokyo amusement park with the fallen henchman of Queen Beryl by her
side for an afternoon of fun; not that Jedite actually knew what
that meant.
"I`ve never been here before." he said.
"Never?"
"No. I had little time to myself in my previous employ. I`d come
to Tokyo on business for a short while and leave right after. I did
plan to come here a few months ago, but my employer... shall we say,
terminated my career." said Jedite, thinking of an energy
gathering scheme in the amusement park he never got a chance to
implement.
"That`s too bad, there`s so much you missed. Today you don`t have to
leave right away so you`ll enjoy yourself, okay?" Minako asked.
"Okay." answered Jedite who kept alert in case he`d see one of the
sailor scouts.
She dragged him along on every ride she could find, beginning with
the smoother ones to give him a chance to get the hang of it before
they went on the bigger ones. Minako was pleasantly surprised to see
that he showed no discomfort or fear, even in the most terrifying
roller coasters.
"Are you SURE you`ve never been here?" she asked, laughing.
"It`s true. I did go to the fantasy land on the other side of town
to meet one of my business associates, but I didn`t have time to try
any rides." he answered, laughing. After all, an evil mecanical doll
running a poison candy castle wouldn`t reckognize a good time if it
bit her in the wireframe.
For the first time of his life, Jedite laughed not out of cruelty
but out of happiness- this human girl was really starting to get to
him. He`d have to be more careful to conceal his plans for revenge,
otherwise the scouts might find him out too soon.
A game stand attendant behind them decided that these two might be
potential customers and tried to get them to play his game.
"Hey, mister, wanna try your skill? Real easy, you throw these rings
on this empty bottle, here. Anyone can win one of these beautiful
toys! How about winning a prize for the lovely lady? Only a hundred
yens per try!" he said in a speech he yelled a thousand times each
day.
(author`s note: 100 yens equals about one US dollar)
Jedite noticed how Minako was looking at the plush toys and made the
irrational decision to get her one. It didn`t make sense, but he felt
it would be a good idea to make her happy. Minako`s eyes glithered
when he asked for the rings.
"I`ll give this a try." he said.
"Here you go, sir. If you place all three on the bottle, you win a
prize of your choice."
explained the attendant.
Jedite observed the bottle two meters away and the three little red
plastic rings. This was going to be SO EASY! He looked Minako
straight in the eyes as he threw the first one without aiming. She
was stunned to see the ring land right on target.
"There`s one." he said.
He then threw the second one from behind his back, over his
shoulder. Bullseye again. Minako was mesmerized by such an amazing
display of dexterity.
"There`s two." he said.
Jedite stared at the last ring in his hand and squinted slightly,
discreetly charging it with a tiny amount of dark energy.
"That`ll impress her. Just a little less energy won`t make much of
a difference anyway." he thought.
He threw the ring at the back wall of the stand with all of his
strenght, bouncing it to the side wall and unto the bottle. Both
Minako and the surrounding people were speechless.
"And there`s three. Wich one do you like, Minako?" he said, smiling.
She stood there amazed for a few seconds, dazed by what she just
saw. When she snapped out of it, she chose a cute stuffed panda.
"Thank you, James, it`s beautiful!"
A minute after they left the stand, the attendant picked up the
rings for his next customer; as he did so, the bottle crumbled
into dust and the table underneath it collapsed.
* * *
Ami`s computer emitted a sharp beep just as she finished programming
her energy signature analysis routine. The strange power surge had
just occured again; much weaker than the previous occurances but
strong enough still to register on the laptop`s detection systems.
"There it is again! Now I can analyse this energy disturbance, it
will only take a few moments. Afterwards, I`ll even be ready to
track it down!" said Ami.
Artemis and Luna, who had kept quiet until then, joined in the
conversation.
"By the time Usagi and Minako are back you should have results,
right?" asked Artemis.
Ami nodded to agree. The blue computer ran its program, comparing
the energy readings it just got to all of those it got in the past.
"Good thing too. A little serious business will help Usagi get her
head out of the clouds for a change." commented Luna.
"I don`t know about that. Even when Beryl was at her strongest,
Usagi was still a bit spaced-out." said Artemis.
* * *
After their full afternoon at the amusement park, Minako and Jedite
were getting ready to leave. Even though Jedite did find out any
information about the scouts as he had hoped, he considered his day
to be a good one. As time went by, he was starting to appreciate the
company of this human girl.
"This was fun." he said.
"There`s a lot more to do in Tokyo, you know. Now that you have time
to yourself, I`d like to show you if you like." Minako offered.
"That would be nice." Jedite replied.
"I have something for you..." she said.
With her toy panda tucked under her arm, she searched through her
purse to find something. She pulled out a pen wich she used to write
a short message behind a picture. Minako then handed the picture
of herself to Jedite.
"I`m thinking about you! Minako." read the message. Under her name
was also her phone number.
She moved in close to Jedite and gave him a soft kiss.
"Thank you for a wonderful day, James. Call me!" she said before
leaving.
The sinister man touched his lips, unsure what to make of the strange
sensation he felt when Minako`s lips made contact with his. Like a
miniature lightning bolt going through his mouth. At this point, he
noticed another picture on the ground; Minako must have dropped it
from her purse by accident while she was going through it for a pen.
As he picked it up, he realized that this was a group picture of
Minako, her friend from the restaurant and the three sailor scouts
in plain city clothes!
Minako was actually a friend of the scouts... now THERE was
something he could use. He wasn`t quite sure if he`d be capable of
using her as bait for the scouts, though... nonetheless, he was on
the right track to finding the girls he hated with all his being.
In the meantime, he would have to learn to use a telephone.
* * *
ANALYSIS COMPLETE:
DATA INSUFFICIENT
ENERGY SIGNATURE PROFILE- INCONCLUSIVE
"Sorry, Rei, I`m going to need more data in order to get a reliable
result." said Ami.
"Too bad. I HATE having to wait with a sword hanging by a thread over
my head." said Rei.
"Are Minako and Usagi home yet? They should be returning soon now."
said Makoto.
"You know, Artemis, she`s right. We better be on our way too." said
Luna.
The cats hopped out the window and ran to their homes to wait for
the girls.
* * *
Minako unlocked her front door and Artemis arrived at that moment.
"Hello, Minako, how did your date go?"
"Really great. Look at what James won for me at the amusement park!"
"Nice panda. It`s bigger than me and Luna put together!"
"Oh, Artemis, I`m so happy... I think I`m in love!"
* * *
Rock music filled Club Crystal once again as the crowd got larger
than the previous nights. Word of mouth worked in Jedite`s favor and
brought more people with every evening. The mirror ball slowly
charged itself as the hours went by, draining precious energy from
unsuspecting clients. Much to their surprise, the evening left them
very, very tired.
At midnight sharp, he closed for the night and proceeded to charge
himself up from the stolen lifeforce. It felt good as usual, yet
something was missing; he wasn`t getting the total satisfaction he
always got from stealing human energy.
He felt empty inside, like a part of himself was missing.
* * *
Ami woke up suddenly, disturbed in her sleep by a loud beeping sound.
For a minute or so, she looked around in a catatonic stupor,
incapable of connecting her thoughts in any meaningful fashion. It
then occured to her where the sound was coming from. She picked up
from her nightstand a small blue box adorned with the alchemical
symbol of mercury, a powerful computer given to her by Luna. Ami had
set it up so it would warn her when it picked up another power surge
and locate its most likely source. Having finally obtained the data
she needed, Ami turned on the computer and punched up the results:
ANALYSIS COMPLETE:
DATA COMPARISON- DONE
ENERGY SIGNATURE PROFILE- IDENTIFIED
SOURCE: DARK KINGDOM WARRIOR
NAME: JEDITE
MATCH PROBABILITY: 98.6%
The percentage was blinking on and off, indicating a conclusive
result.
"Oh dear, it really IS a demon from our past!"
She picked up her communicator and called Usagi.
"Hmmmm.... (yawn).... who`s ... calling... (yawn)... so late?" Usagi
tried say.
"Usagi, it`s Ami. I`ve got the results of my computer analysis and
it`s not good!"
"Can`t this wait `till... (really big yawn)... tomorrow?"
"Usagi... JEDITE IS STILL ALIVE!!! Chances are he`ll be coming after
you, me and Rei! That`s what Rei`s dream meant, he wants revenge and
our lives are in danger!"
* * *
The next day at school was no ordinary monday as the sailor scouts
were very careful not to attract undue attention to themselves; if
they did so, they might be noticed by the dark kingdom who was most
likely hell-bent on vengence. The fact that he hadn`t manifested
himself yet only made them more nervous as it probably meant he was
cooking up some kind of plan.
They immediatelt met after school to discuss the situation.
"So Jedite`s back. This is very bad." said Usagi.
"Hum, could you tell us more about Jedite?" asked Makoto.
"That`s right, we joined the sailor scouts some time after he
disappeared; we only got to fight Kunzite and Zoisite but you guys
tangled with that Jedite freak before that, from what Ami told
me." said Minako.
The three sailor scouts who fought Jedite went on to explain what
they knew about him:
"Jedite was the very first one of the dark kingdom warriors sent by
Queen Beryl. His specialty was to gather energy from large crowds to
feed Queen Metallia. He is VERY powerful! I had to fight him one on
one before I met Ami and Rei and he actually STOPPED my tiara in
mid-flight!" described Usagi.
"He sent one of his youmas to my computer class; every time we
turned on a terminal, we`d be drained of our energy. It`s more than
likely he has some energy gathering ploy in the works even as we
speak." said Ami.
"He`s a sly one. On more than one occasion he tricked people in
serving him and then enslaved them to do his dirty business.
The first time I met him, he managed to use the temple to kidnap
our visitors." concluded Rei.
"What are we going to do about it?" asked Usagi.
"My computer wasn`t capable of pinpointing the location of the
energy surge, so the next move is his." said Ami.
The cats jumped in the discussion at this point.
"Jedite knows the faces of Usagi, Ami and Rei but hasn`t attacked
yet, so my guess is he doesn`t know your names. He saw you girls
transform into the sailor scouts, not go home after the battle."
said Luna.
"You should lay low for a while until Ami detects his location.
Stay home, that will keep you from bumping into Jedite by accident.
Although Minako and Makoto have never met him, I think it would be
safer if they kept to themselves too. Remember, until we know what
he`s up to, we`re all in danger!" explained Artemis.
"Usagi, call Mamoru and warn him as well; I`m pretty sure Jedite
will come after Tuxedo Kamen when he goes for Sailor Moon." added
Luna.
"I wanted to take James to a movie tonight; I guess we`ll have to
watch one on TV." said Minako, a bit disappointed.
"It`s safer this way. Don`t worry, I`ll give you lovebirds some
privacy." said Artemis.
* * *
"I`m bored." said Usagi.
"You have homework to do, so get cracking." replied Luna.
"You know, I`d like to meet Minako`s new boyfriend."
"You also have a test next week."
"I bet he`s really cute."
"Get serious, Usagi."
"I`m going right now!" said Usagi.
"Have you forgotten about Jedite? If he reckognizes you, he`ll kill
you!" argued Luna.
"You`re right- I`ll just use the luna pen so he won`t be able to
reckognize me at all." said Usagi.
"That`s not what I mean!!!" protested the black cat.
"LUNA PEN TRANSFORM!!! Turn me into a totally cool girl who doesn`t
look a thing like me!"
In a flash of light she was transformed into a teenage girl straight
from the high-rating television shows targetted at the 16-25 years
old viewer group with great clothes, fabulous hair and more sensual
appeal than Marylin Monroe.
"Bye, Luna, I`ll say hi to Minako for you!" said Usagi as she skipped
out of her room.
"Oh, that girl will kill me yet." said Luna in exasperation.
* * *
"I can`t wait to see his face." thought Usagi as she knocked on
Minako`s door.
Minako answered and was quite surprised to see Usagi was using the
luna pen to come to her house against both cats`recommandation.
"Usagi? Why did you come here... like this? Is there anything new
about... well, you know?" she
asked.
"Not yet, Ami`s still working on it. Soooo... is James here? I`m
curious to see if he`s as cute as Makoto told us!" she answered.
"Since you`re here, I might as well let you in. Would you like a
glass of soda?"
"Do I ever say no to any kind of food or drink?"
Usagi sat at the dining room table while Minako got the soda bottle
and three glasses wich she lined up on the table and filled. She
called someone in the living room:
"James, I`d like you to meet my friend Usagi! Would you like
something to drink while you`re coming here?"
A voice answered from the living room, a voice familiar to Usagi.
"Yes, please, that would be nice."
Why was Usagi feeling chills in her spine?
She was horrified to see Jedite walking in the dining room and kiss
Minako who obviously enjoyed his presence. Usagi`s stomach twisted
into a triple knot from the mind crushing fear she felt.
"James, this is my good friend Usagi. She..." Minako hesitated.
"...she`s been doing something different with her hair today,
haven`t you, Usagi?"
"Hello, Usagi. Say... haven`t we met before?" asked Jedite who
vaguely remembered seeing the power of the luna pen in action.
"NO! I mean, no, I`d remember you... hum, Minako, can we talk?
Private? NOW?!?" uttered Usagi in a single breath.
"Would you mind, honey?" asked Minako.
"Sure, I`ll be in the living room." he said before leaving.
Minako wondered wondered why Usagi was suddenly hyperventilating.
"What`s on your mind?" she asked.
"James... James... is that what he told you his name was?"
Minako looked at Usagi as if her friend had just declared that
spheres had sharp edges.
"What`s that supposed to mean?"
"Minako, this man has been lying to you... he`s EVIL! You have to
get away from him, fast, before he hurts you!"
Minako`s expression of confusion was quickly replaced by one of
anger and burning rage. Her eyes shot lightning bolts at Usagi.
"Minako, did you hear what I said?"
Usagi got her answer when Minako`s glass, wich she was holding
tighter and tighter in her hand, shattered to pieces. Several shards
plunged in her tender skin, drawing blood in the process.
"How DARE you, Usagi? How dare you go around showing off your
perfect boyfriend while I suffer silently from loneliness and then,
when I finally find a nice guy, say those HORRIBLE things about
him?!?" yelled Minako.
"Minako, your hand is bleeding..."
"Get out of here, Usagi."
"But your hand..."
"GET OUT NOW!!" Minako screamed loud enough to wake up the dead,
tears filling her eyes.
Usagi had no choice but to leave. Jedite walked in afterwards,
concerned about what he heard.
"I heard you screaming, what happened?"
She tried to answer but could only cry. Jedite noticed her wounded
hand.
"Your hand is cut; let me take care of it." he said.
How could Usagi say such terrible things about James? Such a caring
man could not possibly be evil, thought Minako. She was surely lying,
Minako couldn`t believe this could be true...
* * *
On her way home, Usagi opened her communicator unsure wether or not
she was dreaming this whole situation. She called Ami.
"Usagi, you look pale, what`s going on?" asked Ami.
"Ami, it`s about Minako... I`m afraid she`s in more trouble than we
could have ever imagined!"
* * *
"This is a nice place you own, James."
"Thank you, Minako, I decorated Club Crystal myself."
Jedite turned on the lights of the dance floor; it seemed strange
to see all those colored lights and lasers spinning around in total
silence, the entire club still waiting for its nightly allowance of
customers.
"I`d like you to sit by my side when the party starts. It would be
much more fun that way." he said.
"Of course, I`ll be there." Minako answered, halfway lost in her
thoughts. "James, if someone you knew did something to hurt you, do
you think you could find it in yourself to forgive that person?"
"It`s about that Usagi, isn`t it? "
"She`s been my friend for a while and we helped each other through
a lot, I don`t want to lose her!"
"You should listen to your heart, it will tell you what to do. Trust
me, I know what you`re going through right now. A woman once did the
same to me, willfully destroyed everything I was, turned my whole
life into a smoking rubble heap. This is why I came back to Tokyo,
to reclaim what she`s taken from me."
"Did you ever forgive her?"
Jedite avoided the question altogether.
"You should rest a little before I open up. You can rest in my
office, back there."
Minako agreed and went into the small office. She sat at the desk,
rested her head on her arms, careful not to crush her bruised hand
in doing so. She went to sleep almost immediately. Soon after Jedite
went to tell her the action would begin shortly; she was sleeping so
peacefully, however, that he couldn`t bring himself to wake her up.
"Sleep well, Minako, you have many wounds to heal." he whispered as
he quietly closed the office door.
* * *
With her blue high-tech glasses strapped on, Sailor Mercury followed
the trail of Jedite by his specific energy signature. It had been
especially difficult and it was only around midnight that the scouts
where able to reach the dark kingdom warrior at a place called Club
Crystal.
"He`s here." said Sailor Mercury.
"He wants us all dead, you know." said Sailor Moon.
"It doesn`t matter to me." said Sailor Mars.
"Minako needs us right now, that`s what counts." said Sailor
Jupiter.
"Then let`s go in, shall we?" concluded Sailor Moon.
* * *
Inside the club, Jedite stood in front of Minako who had slept
through the entire evening despite the loud disco action that had
ended only minutes before. Jedite felt a strong emotional connection
to this girl, something special he had never felt in his life. He
remembered Kunzite and Zoisite- was this what brought them together?
Was this the true love he had heard so much about?
No, it couldn`t be. A warrior such as himself couldn`t feel love.
He had a long time ago turned his back to such foolish behavior.
Minako talked earlier about forgiving to Usagi... it forced him to
wonder if he should try to find it in himself to forgive Sailor Moon,
to put his dark past behind him and start a new life in this city.
Could he really do this? Swallow his hatred and let go of his thirst
for vengence? So many questions that were left unanswered...
An explosion ripped the club`s front door, loudly announcing the
arrival of Sailor Moon and the sailor scouts. Disturbed in her
slumber by this noise, Minako mumbled incoherently as she was slowly
trying to wake up. Jedite kissed her on the cheek.
"Sleep, my love, while I take care of my unfinished business. All I
have to do now is claim what is due to me. I`ll be right back."
Jedite left the office quietly, closing the door behind him.
* * *
Sailor Moon walked in the dark dance club first, followed by the
three scouts; all were staying on guard for god knows what trap
Jedite had set up for them.
"JEDITE! Come out here! We know you are holding our friend and we
want her back!" said Sailor Moon in a bold, commanding voice.
His voice replied promptly, resounding out of everywhere and nowhere
at once.
"You must be either very courageous or extremely stupid to come here
on my home turf, sailor scouts. I have been waiting a long time for
such an occasion to put an end to your pathetic lives... and I see
you even have a new recruit! I do not know who you are yet, but I
will make you regret teaming up with the scouts!" he said.
The disco lights turned themselves on and flashed wildly, adding
stress to the already nervewracked scouts who still didn`t know what
their old nemesis was up to. The lasers and colored lights were no
longer joyous but gloomy; the strobes made it difficult to gauge
their own movements and combat would certainly be difficult at best.
The mirror ball began to glow dark red- as if the gravity had
increased a hundredfold, all four scouts collapsed on the floor,
incapable of any movement.
Jedite appeared floating high above the dance floor, wearing his
full uniform. Bathing in the dark sphere`s crimson light, the effect
was quite dramatic.
"Can`t move, can you?" he said in triumph.
"You won`t get away with this!" said Mars.
"I already have." he replied.
"We won`t let you hurt Minako, you monster!" said Jupiter.
"I`m not going to, she`s here of her own free will. Besides, you
little brats are TRESPASSING, so in the name of the law, I`ll punish
you! " said Jedite, mocking Sailor Moon`s usual heroic speech.
A strong blast from the sphere crushed the scouts the scouts even
further, making them wish this pain would stop soon, regardless that
it would mean death. They couldn`t take it anymore.
"You will all DIE here!" yelled Jedite.
A red streak of blurry light shattered the sphere into smithereens;
the projectile came to a halt on the floor next to Sailor Moon.
It was a blooming red rose.
Standing on the ledge of a high window, Tuxedo Kamen looked upon the
battlefield.
"Your evil must be stopped, Jedite. I thought you had been destroyed
all those months ago, but this time one of us will not live to fight
again." he said in his soft voice.
"Well said, cape boy!" said Jedite as he sent an overwhelming blast
of dark energy at Tuxedo Kamen.The caped hero could not tolerate
such a great amount of raw power fueled by burning hatred and stolen
lifeforce; he fell to the dance floor with a loud thump.
"Tuxedo Kamen, predictable as ever. Welcome to your final
destruction! Look here, Sailor Moon, your little boyfriend has
arrived!" said Jedite who didn`t know he was right on target about
Usagi`s love for Mamoru.
The sailor scouts were beginning to recover their strenght; they
stood up but could not fight just yet.
"Why are you doing this?" asked Sailor Moon.
"To see you suffer as much as I have." he coldly answered.
He blasted Tuxedo Kamen again, ripping a blood curdling scream of
pain from the helpless hero.
"Please stop this! It`s me you want to hurt, not him!" pleaded Sailor
Moon.
"That`s right, I want to make YOU suffer- wich is why you will
witness the death of those you love!" said Jedite, an evil glint in
his eyes.
Sailor Moon could not let Jedite do this; summoning all of her
remaining strenght, she pulled out her scepter and activated its
power. She had to go on fighting.
"MOON PRINCESS HALATION!"
The bright beam of purifying light was easily deflected by Jedite
back unto Sailor Moon who fell down from the blow. Had her heart
been tainted by evil, her entire body would have been consumed by
the white burst of light.
"This is so much fun!" laughed Jedite, jubilating from the thrill
of seeing his enemies in pain.
* * *
Minako woke up during the fight and realized that the scouts were
fighting someone- JEDITE! He must have followed her to the club
somehow and now the scouts needed her!
"VENUS POWER... MAKEUP! "
In a few seconds, Minako left her place to the mighty warrior Sailor
Venus. Jedite wanted to kill her friends? Over her dead body! She
opened the office door and could barely see through the whirling
lasers and pulsating strobes. She managed to see Tuxedo Kamen lying
unconcious on the floor and the scouts preparing a massive counter
attack on a floating man dressed in a dark kingdom uniform. Turning
his back to her, he couldn`t see he had one more opponent to contend
with behind him.
Help was on the way.
A string of small golden energy pulses shaped as hearts surrounded
Sailor Venus; catching it by the tip of her finger, she redirected
it at the warrior without noticing that she was using her wounded
hand to do so. Her deep cuts resumed bleeding as the golden chain
soared towards Jedite.
"VENUS LOVE-ME CHAIN!"
The chain immediately trapped the surprised Jedite in a golden halo,
leaving him defenseless from the incoming onslaught of special
attacks.
"MOON PRINCESS HALATION!"
"FIRE SOUL!"
"JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!"
"MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!"
In the few moments it took for the scouts` blasts to reach Jedite,
Minako recognized the face of the warrior whom she had just rendered
helpless: it was her boyfriend! She was in love with Jedite and
didn`t know about it until now!
"NOOOOOO!" she yelled in despair.
Too late. Unble to raise his energy shield, Jedite was engulfed in
white-golden flames that threw him to the ground, horribly burnt.
The flames died down, leaving a crippled Jedite to die from his
fatal wounds. Minako ran to him and took him in her arms.
"No! Jedite, don`t die please! You can`t leave me alone!"
She took his hand in hers and her bleeding palm soaked his glove in
warm blood. He saw her wounded hand and recognized her despite her
scout uniform.
"I`m sorry, Minako, but I can`t hold on much longer. Your friend
Usagi was right, you know, you would have been better to avoid me."
But you could change, see the light! Nephryte did!" she said. tears
rolling off her cheeks.
"No, you`re wrong. You offered me a chance at redemption and I chose
the path of darkness. I really AM evil." said Jedite who was getting
weaker every second.
"I love you, Jedite!"
"I never knew love before I met you, Minako, but I do know I love
you with all my heart."
Minako kissed Jedite for what would be the last time. His body began
to glow bright white; soon
he would be gone.
"Remember me always, as I will." said Jedite with a tender smile.
His body slipped out of Minako`s arms, completely turned into a
gleaming sphere of light. The sphere silently zoomed away into the
night sky, leaving nothing behind. Minako cried uncontrollably,
unable to do anything else. She cried for the rest of the night;
there was little her friends could do to help her stop.
In time, the pain she felt diminished but never really went away. It
left a deep scar in her heart, one quite similar to the scar in her
palm that reminded her each day of her tragic loss.
* * *
To this day, a portrait of Jedite that Minako painted herself hangs
in her bedroom. It showed him in the way she remembered him, as the
tender, caring man she one day fell in love with.
The End.