Legal Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all related characters aren't ours and never will be. Since we've only seen the DiC version, all names will be those used in that. This takes place in an alternate timeline that branches off after Ann and Alan leave Earth, but before Rubius and all the rest of them show up. Please feel free to e-mail us with flames, praise, or just 'hi'. The praise will be framed, the flames will be used to line our cat litter boxes.
by: Cynthia and Emerald J
Hack, hack, hack! The sound of her coughing and sneezing were muffled just by the handkerchief she managed to bring up to her face in time and she sighed. So much for the mighty Soldier of Thunder. I can take on Beryl and her generals, Ann and Alan, and who knows what else, and I don't get so much as a hair out of place. What does it take to get me down? A flu bug. There is no justice.
She sighed again, closing her eyes briefly and pondering trying to sleep. Not just for the rest, but for the chance that she might dream again. Dream. . .of him. Dream of the handsome young man who had filled her mind for years. I really need to stop thinking about him. He's just a dream. It was because of him that jerk Freddy broke up with me. She bared her teeth mentally at the thought of her ex. Freddy hadn't liked the idea of competing with a dream-guy. Lita was honest enough with herself to admit that she hadn't really loved him anyway. As many cute guys as she followed around, and she had followed around quite a few, she couldn't really find any of them that compared to the one she dreamed of on a regular basis.
She yawned a little, stretching out in bed and reaching for the book she'd been perusing for the last few nights. One Hundred and One Meanings to Dreams. Maybe if she found out what her subconscious was trying to tell her, then she'd stop having the dreams and could get on with her life. Of course, if it tells me that I should go find this guy. ..she chuckled to herself. She'd be out of her house like a streak, flu or no flu.
"Lita." The voice was soft, musical, and caressed her ear. Her head came up as if on a string, seeking the corner where it had emanated from.
He was flawless. Tall, with dark hair that came to his shoulders and wearing casual clothing. He was also transparent, as if he wasn't actually there. But Lita couldn't stop staring at him, her eyes nearly popping out of her head.
"Y. .you?" he nodded slowly and she slid out of bed to stare at him. The first question that came to her mind was one she'd wondered forever. "What is your name?" As often as he had been in her dreams, he had never been able to tell her that, and she wanted to know. Silently he came over to her, gazing into her eyes without speaking for long moments.
The moment, such as it was, was ruined when she was suddenly overcome by a spasm of coughing. He frowned. "You're sick."
Lita shrugged. "It's just a cold. I'll be fine." She reached out, wonderingly, her eyes wandering over to him and her hand touched his face gently. The moment contact was made, a sort of ripple passed over him and flesh replaced spirit beneath her fingers.
"Oh." He smiled a little foolishly, obviously knowing not the first thing about disease. Whatever it was he was, it was not a doctor.
She curled up, leaning into him as he held her. "If I rest, I will get better." Lita smiled at last, warmth rippling through her at the touch of him on her at last. She didn't question what was going on; she had seen far stranger things in her lifetimes than a ghost who became solid with a touch. She turned her head to look up at him. "I like this. I just wish I knew what to call you."
He took a long breath. "Neflite."
"Neflite?" he nodded at her uttering, and seemed to be looking at her for something. She smiled. "I wish you were real."
"I am." he chuckled a little at the wistful tone in her voice, and tightened the embrace around her. He had waited for so long for this. For her.
"I meant alive." Lita chuckled, and Neflite looked at her for a moment, then looked away. "What is it?"
"It can be done." He told her. "It isn't easy, but it can be done."
Lita frowned. "What? How?" The words tumbled out of her as she turned to look at him, her eyes bright and strong. "How???"
Neflite sighed. He hadn't meant to say anything. Since his death at the hands of Zoicite and her assassins, he had spent his time not just observing the humans and the minions of the Negaverse, but Lita. He remembered how much he had loved her in the Silver Millennium, before Beryl had torn his heart and soul away from him and twisted him into the monster he had become. But I'm free now. Free of those lies. Free to choose what I do. Free to choose who I love. He smiled briefly at the memories that had come back to him. He would have to talk to Molly when he had a chance. But for now, he had Lita to be with.
"It isn't easy. Six things have to be gathered, certain tasks performed, and then a rite performed at the proper time to unite their power and I will live again."
She frowned, looking at him with concentration, thinking. "I can do it. I may need help from Raye, but I think I can do it." Neflite flinched back just the tiniest bit at the uttering of that name. Though Raye hadn't had anything to do with his death, he still had a healthy respect for the Sailor Scouts. "She's my friend. She's going to be a priestess."
Neflite nodded quietly. "How admirable."
"Do you know her?" Lita asked, bending her gaze briefly to him. Neflite shrugged just a little.
"We crossed paths before. It's hard to explain." Lita wasn't taking no for an answer, however, and insisted on hearing what was going on. Finally he sighed. "It's kind of a long story. Could we save it for another time?"
She frowned. "Okay. But I might just have to ask Raye!"
Neflite shook his head. "Please, don't." His voice was soft, pleading and careful. He really didn't want her knowing this. At least not yet.
"Why not?"
He sighed deeply, looking around her room. "Because it wasn't under the best of circumstances that we met." He went stiff suddenly as he saw the pen sticking out of her purse and sighed to himself. To say the least.
"Was it because of Beryl?" Lita said softly. The name had struck a chord with her, and then she remembered what the others had told her. When she had told the others about her dreams, Raye, Amy, and Serena had fallen all over themselves telling her about Neflite, and how he had died. She took his hands gently. "I forgive you. Luna explained that you guys were brainwashed."
His eyes went very wide. If they'd gotten much wider, Lita would have started to bet herself when they fell out of his head. "You. ..know?"
Lita nodded. "I fought against Zoisite and Malachite," she told him. Then a smile teased at her lips. I also know that when you guys were reborn, Zoisite was born the wrong sex."
Neflite chuckled. When they had fought against the original Silver Millennium, Zoisite had been a man. In their current incarnation, he had become a she, and had hated it from the moment she became aware of her past. "She always hated that too."
"I can imagine." Lita smiled a little. She would've been somewhat annoyed if she were reborn as a man herself. "They told me that you were good at the end. That you died trying to protect Molly."
Neflite nodded, smiling. "She woke the good up in me again. She's very special."
"There is something in her," Lita murmured. She'd felt many times that there was more to Molly than met the eye. She glanced over at the man holding her.
"Is something wrong?" he shook his head and Lita smiled, cuddling back against him. "Maybe Raye would be open to trying to help me bring you back."
Neflite smiled weakly. "I don't know." He watched as Lita reached over and picked her phone up; it wasn't too late, thank Jupiter. She quickly dialed the number and waited for her friend to answer.
"Hello," Raye spoke quietly on the other end of the phone. Lita coughed a little.
"Gotta problem I need your help with," Lita told her. Quickly she explained what was going on, and she could almost see the blood draining out of Raye's face.
"What's going on?!? Are you okay?" Raye asked, practically jumping up. Lita coughed again.
"I'm fine, except for the flu. It's his ghost here, and we've been talking."
Raye looked around. "I'm coming over."
"Thanks," Lita sounded very happy, and Raye was just hoping that she knew what she was doing. "I'm needing your help badly."
Despite not having changed to her superheroine form of Sailor Mars, Raye made it over to Lita's in under two minutes, complete with everything she normally took along for casting out evil spirits. She knew what Lita had said, but she wasn't going to take any chances. As she came in, thankful Lita had given her a key because of her illness, her fellow Scout smiled at her.
"Hi!"
Raye nodded quietly. "What's going on?" the two of them were holding one another on the bed, both fully clothed, with Lita still looking somewhat rough around the edges due to her illness.
Lita smiled. "Raye, this is the guy that I've been having the dreams about."
"Huh?"
Jupiter's Scout smiled as she held Neflite's hand. "Remember those dreams? He's the one." She turned to gaze into his eyes, and Raye couldn't help both being glad for her friend, and somewhat jealous. Lita handed her a list. "I have to do all of these things to bring him back." As Raye looked down at it, Lita sighed. "It's number four that worried me. I don't have a sister in this life!" The fourth item was to rebuild the bond with Lita's sister, and that truly worried the young woman. "She could be anyone. ..and maybe even a he!"
Raye nodded. "Maybe Luna and Artemis can help us find whoever they are."
"I hope so." Lita smiled. "We can do the others, can't we?"
Raye glanced over the list again, then looked back at Neflite. Despite all he'd done, she had seen how he had changed at the end, and she couldn't deny the looks of love between her and him. "We'll give it our best." Lucky her. Lucky him. Lucky Darien and Serena. Why can't I find someone? Guess I'll have to settle for helping them get together.
"Everything has to be done after I return to being a ghost," Neflite told her. Raye nodded.
"We'll see what we can do to get things set up," she promised. Lita leaned back, cuddling into Neflite's arm as if she were afraid to let go. The beautiful moment was spoiled suddenly an explosion of coughing from her.
"Take medicine." he advised, looking over at the pile of cough remedies by the bed.
She half-glared at him. "I did!" she was practically stuffed to the gills with the various liquids! She was surprised she could even talk, since most of them made one drowsy. It was possible that being in love did that sort of thing, she guessed. She twisted herself around to gaze into his eyes for long moments, replete with peace and happiness at last.
Raye cleared her throat briefly. "I'll get everything set up. Maybe the others can help me."
"Would they?" Neflite wondered. He knew that Serena and Amy might believe in his reformation, but Darien and Mina might have a more difficult time, since they had not participated in any of the events surrounding it.
Raye shrugged. "Doubt it, but I can try." Without another word, she left, her mind focused now on doing what she had to do. She would do anything to make her friends happy. She always had.
Lita smiled, and after an extended bout of kissing with Neflite, curled up with her head in his lap. "Tell me what you did when you were reborn?" she asked. "Before you were found again by Beryl."
"All right." Neflite began to tell her about the life of a young Maxfield Stanton, the name he had not just used in his illicit adventures in the human world, but which was his name in his current life, the name the parents of his physical body had given him, as Neflite was the name that the parents of his last life had given him. As it grew late, Lita yawned, her exhaustion starting to catch up with her.
"Let's get some sleep." She suggested and he nodded slowly. "Only one problem, though. I've only got one bed."
Neflite stretched, standing up. "I can sleep on the floor." He offered. It wasn't the most comfortable place in the world, but it would do nicely enough.
"No," she shook her head. "Come on." At the look in his eyes she smiled. "Come on!" she arranged them both on the bed, her under the blankets and him on top of them. Both of them closed their eyes, but Neflite had one last thing to say.
"Thank you."
"For what?" she wondered.
"Being you."
Raye sighed. "She's going to try and bring Neflite back to life. She's in love with him."
"She can't possibly be serious!" Serena shook her head and looked at Darien, who had come with her to the meeting. They stole every possible chance they had to be together, feeling they'd been apart for too long.
Raye shook her head. "She is very serious."
"She does know how dangerous Neflite is, right?" Amy asked, frowning slightly. She had come close to their enemy's power quite a lot, and remembered it vividly. Raye nodded.
"I think so."
Darien listened intently. He had not known Neflite that well, being too involved in fighting him, but he had heard from Raye, Amy, and Serena how he had seemed to change before his death. "Maybe she feels that he's changed?"
"Could be." Raye nodded, remembering the look in Lita's eyes, one of purest love. "He was kind of different towards the end, anyway."
Mina shrugged. "I say give him a chance." The Scout of Love was always all for love!
"He's still dangerous in my opinion," was the surprising remark from Serena. Raye gave her a look.
"I thought you were the one who always believed in giving people second chances," she said. Serena nodded, then yawned. Raye chuckled to herself; Serena always got a bit peckish when she was tired!
"I know. And I will. I'm just worried that she's not thinking straight because she's sick."
Raye shrugged. "We'll all keep an eye on him, just in case." She wasn't wholly convinced of Neflite's sincerity, but she did believe that Lita believed in it.
Darien's suggestion to Serena's worry was simple. "Why don't we wait until she gets well and then see what she feels?"
"It'll be too late for him by then." Raye explained. Darien frowned.
"Then we'll do what we can for him, and hope."
Amy nodded. "It's all we can do." Raye sighed, and Amy turned her mind towards business. "First thing we do is figure out how to do the first thing on the list, or rather, how Lita does it." She looked over the list as Raye held it out again, and blushed a fiery shade of red. "How would you do that?!"
The priestess shrugged. "Darned if I know."
"Part of it is kind of gross," Amy knew all about the biological process behind the requirement, but the thought of doing it, at their age, was simply impossible! Serena took a glance at it, then turned even deeper red than Amy was. Darien read over her shoulder, and chuckled.
"That should be interesting."
Raye was controlling her own blushing just by sheer will. "To say the least!"
"I don't even want to get that far with Serena!" he added an unspoken 'yet' to that. One day, when they were married, perhaps. ..and he fully intended on marrying her. "The dancing, maybe, but the rest of it is going to wait till we're married." Serena agreed emphatically.
"Let's sleep on this one," Amy decided. "And we can meet with them tomorrow and tell them what we came up with, if anything. Maybe my computer can figure something out."
Raye nodded, getting up. "That sounds like a good idea. See you later, guys!"