Legal Disclaimer: We aren't the owners of Sailor Moon, someone else beat us to it. So please don't think this is in any way their fault. This story is ours, and we would truly appreciate some e-mail about it.
by: Cynthia and Emerald J
"Coming?"
The hawk didn't look very impressed; for some reason he wasn't overly thrilled with her plans. "Yes."
Lita sighed as she adjusted a glove's fit. "We have to do this now, or miss the storm."
"All right." Zeus looked as if he would far rather be doing..anything....as long as it wasn't this."
The Jovian Senshi frowned. "What is it?" He didn't appear to know what it was she was talking. "What's wrong with me doing this?"
Zeus flapped his wings a little. "Do you really have to ask that?" he appeared upset, and slightly confused.
"Yes!"
"Why?"
Lita frowned. This was going absolutely nowhere! "Because I don't know!" she tried to tell him. He just looked at her, as if uncertain why she didn't, and she sighed. He's as infuriating..as...as a man!! With a grump and a growl, she grabbed the rest of the things she needed and headed out to the woods as fast as she could.
The spot had been selected the previous day, and as she dug into the soft earth, she heard faint footsteps coming towards her. "Help me with this," she said without looking up, and was rewarded by a second shovel digging in next to hers. Together, she and Neflite dug a nice deep hole. Once it was ready, she turned to one of the other objects she had brought with her.
"A pretty sapling," she smiled warmly down at the small oak tree. She'd always liked trees, and oak trees in particular. For a moment, she thought she saw herself twirling about, with small particles of energy around her, and shouting something like Jupiter Oak Evolution! She shook her head briefly, then started to slide the tree into the earth.
"I wonder why Zeus is so opposed to this," Lita wondered. She knew he was around somewhere, he just hadn't shown himself since she had arrived here. She wanted to have a long talk with her new guardian, but he never seemed to want to have it with her.
"I don't know," Neflite shrugged, as confused as she was. As the last bit of earth was tamped back down around the tree, and the two of them glanced at each other, Neflite could feel himself becoming more and more solid. He could actually feel the earth beneath his feet, the air around him, the sunlight shining on him. A broad smile lit his face, and he opened his mouth to say something.
Before he could get the first syllable out, however, something, or to be one hundred percent accurate, someone interrupted him. A shimmer of silver-white light formed, shaping itself into a form they both recognized.
"Greetings." Serenity, Queen of the Moon, said with a smile. Lita's eyes lit up.
"Queen Serenity??"
The ancient monarch nodded. "Yes, Princess." It wasn't often that Lita remembered she was as much a princess as Serena, though of a different realm.
"Why are you here?"
Serenity smiled....serenely. "You need to know certain things."
Lita raised one eyebrow. "Like?"
"Such as why Zeus refuses to accept what you are doing."
Lita nodded. "And why the Jupiter Kingdom has been statues since the Silver Millennium?" Serenity nodded. "Why?" That was something she had been wondering for a while now.
Serenity sighed briefly. "Your father froze them all."
Lita raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"It was the only way he could think of to save them all," Serenity told her. "And as for Zeus..he believes in the old laws of Jupiter, to the exclusion of everything else."
The brunette warrior sighed. "That the Sailor Warrior of Jupiter cannot be married while holding the powers."
"Exactly."
She glanced first at Neflite, then to Serenity, sighing. She felt so torn...she knew that Zeus had a point, at least for the old ways. Neflite spoke her name quietly and she looked at him.
"We aren't on Jupiter anymore. We can make our own rules. And just because a rule exists, doesn't make it right."
Lita sighed. "You're right. I know that."
Serenity agreed. "That is right, and that is what Zeus should learn. Good luck with you both, and farewell. I wish you happiness together." She smiled briefly at the both of them. "Farewell."
As the two of them returned to fixing up the sapling, Serenity vanished. Lita glanced up to the black clouds overheard. "It's going to rain in a couple of hours. If not sooner." Neflite nodded, and she glanced at him, her fingers brushing across his hand lightly. "I can touch you...barely."
"I know," Neflite smiled. "I can't wait for it all to be real...forever."
Lita nodded. "I haven't told the others yet, though." He knew what she meant, and raised an eyebrow in query. "How would you explain that their families from the Silver Millennium are all dead, and mine isn't?"
Neflite sighed. "Of all of them, you deserve a family the most."
"It doesn't make it right, though." Lita shook her head, and Neflite took her hand, as best he was able.
"You had nothing to do with it." he reminded her, and she sighed.
"I did tell them about Zeus, though."
Her boyfriend looked curious. "What did they say?" She shrugged, indicating not a lot, and then curled up under a nearby tree, her eyes flicking every now and then to the sapling, and the skies above.
"I'm nervous." She murmured as Neflite put his arms around her. "About us. About you, coming back to life."
Neflite tilted his head. "Why are you nervous?"
"I'm scared, more or less, about losing you again."
The ex-general was very serious. "You won't."
"What's to stop someone from trying to break us up? What's to stop Zeus?" Lita could feel the worries and fears striving to overtake her again. The two of them laid where they were for a few moments, and Neflite whispered softly in her ear.
"They can try all they want to, but it's not going to happen, Lita. I love you, and nothing is going ever break us up again: not even death."
The two of them kissed slightly, and Lita glanced up again. "It's going to rain...soon." They were nearing the end of the list, and each thing was more unusual than the last. The next item was something almost too bizarre..but they had to do it.
Lightning began to flash from here to there in the stormclouds, the rain pattering down upon them quietly. Lita watched it for several minutes, feeling the surge and play of a power she was most intimately connected to. "It's starting to get bad," she murmured. Neflite nodded quietly, his arms tightly around her for warmth. "Let's go."
Together the two of them left the woods, heading for an abandoned building that was one of Neflite, or Maxfield Stanton's, recent purchases. Lita stood out in the center, Neflite slightly to the side, his eyes all on her. She glanced over at him. "You coming out here?"
He smiled, just as lightning began to swarm all around them. As the two of them stood together, they didn't flinch as a thunderous bolt of lightning shot down from almost directly above them, hitting them both as they stood waiting for it.
To someone watching, they would have been completely obliterated from view. To the two of them, they were simply briefly blinded. As their sight came back, Lita realized something: she could feel him. Really feel him in her arms. She looked up at him, tears of joy suddenly blinding her.
"You're...I....You're...you're real!" she gasped, staring at him as those joyous tears began to fall. "You're real! I'm so happy! We did it...we really did it!"
Neflite smiled, kissing her softly. "I love you." It contained everything he had ever wanted to say to her, and then some. The two of them stared at one another for several long moments, then kissed again slowly. They might have stayed that way for who knows how long, had a battle screech not sounded, and they looked up to see Zeus soaring towards them, claws extended viciously, without a doubt heading directly for Neflite.
"Zeus!" Lita shouted. "No!!!"
There was no way to stop the great bird from the attack, but Lita could and did do one thing: she pushed Neflite out of the way and screamed as Zeus' talons ripped into her. Zeus pulled up, staring down at her with horror in his golden eyes as she screamed and fell to the ground.
"No...." the hawk breathed. This was not how it was supposed to be! The Negaverse slime was supposed to have been destroyed, those pretty boy looks ruined forever, possibly even killed, not his beloved princess!! The hawk could barely comprehend what he had done as Neflite slowly picked her up and carried her to the nearest hospital. Then, slowly he spread his wings and soared into the sky.
"Me," Neflite, or Maxfield as he was being called here now, replied. "And some close friends."
The doctor nodded. "Would you like to call them, or give the numbers to the nurses?" Neflite had no intentions of leaving Lita, so he quickly gave the numbers of Darien and the Scouts to a nurse. He pulled up a chair, taking Lita's hand gently, and watching her for any sign of recovery or consciousness.
"Hello, this is Nurse Hallen," an unfamiliar female voice spoke. "Is there a Darien Shields there?"
He frowned. "Yes, this is me."
"I'm calling to inform you that your friend, Lita Kino, has just been admitted to our ICU today," she gave the name of a hospital, and Darien felt just a little faint.
"What?? What happened?"
The nurse told him, "She was attacked by her hawk. She has several deep wounds from it, but we think she might be all right, in time."
"I'll be right there."
"Thank you," the nurse said. "I'm sure she'd be glad to see you."
Darien nodded and hung up, leaning back with a sigh. "What's wrong?" He wasn't overly surprised to hear Serena's voice; she had a key to his apartment and generally came over whenever she liked.
"Lita's hurt."
Serena's eyes widened. "How?"
"Zeus."
"Why would Zeus hurt Lita?" Serena was confused, and got even worse as she looked towards the balcony. Zeus was perched outside, head hung low, and looking every bit as depressed as a hawk could.
Darien frowned lightly. "What did you do?"
"I attacked Neflite."
"You have put Lita in the hospital!" Darien growled. Zeus flapped his wings a little.
"She pushed him out of the way; I didn't have time to stop!" If he'd known that was going to happen, he would've never attacked!
The prince wasn't so easily dissuaded, however. "Why did you even try to attack him?"
"She has no legal right to be with him!"
Darien shook his head with a deep sigh. "She has the only right she needs. She loves him, and he loves her."
"Did she tell you about what else she found on Jupiter?" Zeus wondered, looking at them with a golden eye.
Tuxedo Mask, or rather his human form, didn't look particularly interested. "Does it matter?" He failed to see how this affected what they were talking about.
"The Jupiter Kingdom...all the people...are still there. Frozen, alive, but unmoving," Zeus told them. Darien still wasn't impressed, or interested.
"And your point would be?"
Zeus sighed. "She is the princess of Jupiter and as such she must follow Jupiter law."
"And what does the law say about someone who injures someone of the royal house?" Darien asked bluntly.
The hawk shook his head. "That is why I came to say goodbye." The penalty for harming one of the Jovian blood was either exile or death, and since he didn't want to die so soon, he would sentence himself to exile.
"Do you know what the phrase, 'you've got a stick up your rump' means?" Darien growled. The stiff and stodgy hawk was beginning to get on Darien's nerves. Luna and Artemis were never like this! Then again, Serena and I aren't exactly dating someone from the Negaverse.
Zeus spread his wings. "I hurt the princess. I must pay the price."
"All right." Darien pinned the hawk with his eyes. " Could you do me a favor first?"
"Yes."
Darien drew himself up royally. "Explain to me why keeping the laws of a dead world is so much better than doing what the Senshi have always done: fight for love and justice."
"Her world isn't dead. It's just frozen."
The prince growled. "It makes no difference. I suppose you Jupiter people are so much better than the rest of us that your rules always apply, no matter what."
"This is how I was raised!" Zeus explained quietly. " To follow and obey. To make sure that the royal princesses of Jupiter do the same. Is that wrong?"
Darien shook his head. "Do you believe in free will? In doing what's right over what's been done before?" He would've loved Serena even if their past lives didn't bring them together. The fact they had a past together only meant that they had loved each other longer than they knew.
Zeus sighed. "I do, but she has her duties, and one of those duties is to revive her people, as she revived me."
"That was a mistake." Darien's voice was as cold as ice itself. Colder.
Zeus shook his head. "This is my duty, as Luna and Artemis' is to protect and train the Princesses of the Moon and Venus. It has always been the duty of the guardians!"
"Then you're failing it by leaving," Darien stated. "And I think I just might know why the Jupiter King froze his people. So their outside will mirror his own icy heart: and yours." He remembered a few things from his past, and one of them was how he had always disapproved of the Jovian monarch's way of putting everything ahead of his family.
The hawk mantled briefly. "It was to protect them from Beryl! He froze me so I would be here for Lita, he knew she would find me first! He love her very much!"
"I can't imagine why he'd want a total stranger, whose only concern is laws, not how things have changed to be near her if he loved her so much." Darien's tone of voice made the very concept of Lita's father loving her seem ridiculous.
Zeus dropped his head. "I am sorry you don't understand." Without another word, he spread his wings and soared away in the general direction of Lita's apartment. Darien sighed.
"Serena...I hate our past. I hate with all my heart." He glanced towards her. "Let's go see Lita."
She smiled as she hugged him. ""Not all of it you don't!"
"One thing it gave me, I don't," He hugged her back. "But a lot of the rest of it I do. Mainly because it wants to keep putting rules that no longer have any meaning on people who don't need it?"
"Molly was telling me what she remembers of the Jovian times," Serena said quietly. "Something about the women."
"What?"
lot more than they had before finding out Molly was Lita's reborn sister, catching up on things that her friend had missed out on because Serena couldn't tell her Senshi things. "It's very easy for them to get pregnant. That's why the rule was made! To ensure that the child wasn't harmed in any sort of battle!"
Darien shook his head. "That's meaningless now! We have birth control. Very effective too."
"We don't know if that still applies to Lita or Molly, and birth control doesn't always work," she reminded him. She's given thought to things like that since she had realized the depth of her emotions for Darien, and had long since come to the decision she wasn't ready for that sort of thing. "So don't be so hard on him."
Darien sighed. "So why are we even bothering?"
"Let's just help Lita get better," Serena suggested. "And maybe then we'll all be calmed down enough to figure out why he did this."
"We already know why," her boyfriend sighed as he grabbed his jacket. "Let's go."
Quietly they headed out to the car, Serena sliding into her seat and staring out the window without a word as they headed down the road. "What is it?" Darien asked finally. Serena sighed and shrugged.
"I'm just confused about this whole situation."
Her boyfriend raised an eyebrow. "What's confusing? Lita's being forced to follow old-fashioned, outdated rules without even being asked about how she felt about it by someone who doesn't even know her."
"He did it to protect her." Serena murmured.
"I guess talking is outdated, too." Darien half-groused. Serena glanced at him.
"If that's what you want to think."
Darien sighed. "I meant he could've talked to her about why she isn't supposed to get pregnant and maybe come to some sort of compromise."
Serena shrugged. "Maybe because that's too easy to think of?"
"Yeah," Darien snapped the words out. "And it might work. If he cared!"
The blonde sighed. "He does. I can tell that he worries about her."
"Because she's the "princess"."
"Even if she wasn't, I think he would."
Darien shrugged. "Ask him." The tone of his voice didn't exactly bode all that well.
"When I see him next, I will!"
"Don't hold your breath."
Serena tossed her head. "I have a feeling I will!"
For the rest of the trip, both were silent, Serena thinking and Darien driving. As they arrived at the hospital, Serena looked over at him. "Darien?"
"What?" He was caught by surprise as she wrapped her arms around him. She hugged him quickly, and he returned it with all the love he'd always had for her, even before knowing who she was. "I love you, Serena."
"Why is all this happening?" she wondered. Darien shrugged.
"Who knows." Darien murmured as they leaned against each other for a moment. Age had never mattered for them; they felt in their hearts they were meant for one another, for all time."
Serena sighed for a little. "I hope she's okay."
"Let's go find out."
Together, hand in hand, they headed inside to meet up with their friend, and find out just what had happened when they weren't looking.
"I don't know." Neflite said quietly. Lita nodded slowly, weakly.
"I want to talk to him."
Her boyfriend wasn't going to argue. "I'll let him know, if I see him." Which I doubt that is going to happen!
Lita sighed. "I want to forgive him." She understand the why he had done it, she thought. He didn't approve of her liaison with Neflite. But she wanted to know why that disapproval existed. Queen Serenity's statement hadn't quite satisfied her. She groaned a little in pain, and Neflite took her hand. "How bad is it?"
"You've got around fifty stitches or so," Neflite told her. She would most likely heal scarlessly, but the pain was going to be rather intense for a long time.
"What else?"
Neflite slowly detailed out the injuries; most of those were to her face and shoulders, as Zeus had struck there. Lita slowly nodded, and the two of them gazed at each other in pure and sweet silent for a time.
After a few moments, Lita glanced over at the window and her eyes widened briefly. "Zeus?" Indeed, the hawk was hovering out there. "Open the window."
Neflite quickly did so, and Lita sat up. "Come in, Zeus." she asked softly. He flapped in, carrying a bag in his beak that he sat down by her. "What's this?" When he said nothing, she opened it peering inside to find snacks, a couple of her favorite books, and some night outfits. "Oh...thanks." She glanced over at the hawk. "Why?"
"You have to follow the law." Zeus said quietly. Lita shook her head.
"The law of Earth. This is my home now, understand that, please."
The hawk didn't look convinced. "You are the princess of Jupiter."
"Who died and was reborn on Earth," Lita told him. "That's why it's my home now." She couldn't help having some feelings for Jupiter, however. It had been her home, after all, and it was from there that she drew her powers. But it wasn't what it had been to her, even knowing that it's population still existed.
Zeus looked at her. "Then why do you use your powers?"
"To protect my friends and Earth."
"Only the princess of Jupiter has those powers," he told her. If she would not accept part of her heritage, then she should not accept all of it, he felt.
Lita sighed. "What do you want me to do? Give them up?"
"Be what you are." He answered promptly. "The Princess of Jupiter. Which means following the laws of it."
"The rules need to be changed," Lita murmured, then looked at her guardian. "I am the princess, correct?" Zeus agreed. "Then while my father is frozen, I am in charge?" Again Zeus nodded. "Then I say that the Sailor Senshi of Jupiter can marry, once she is ready, and can keep her powers." Zeus mantled just a little in anger, but Lita wasn't finished yet. "I'm not ready yet. Not for marriage. I'm still in junior high!"
She sighed as Zeus headed back to the window. "Is that why you attacked?"
Zeus glanced back over to her. "Let me know if you have any orders....Your Majesty."
"How about being my friend?" she tried to ask quietly. Zeus bowed his head.
"As you command, your Majesty." His voice sounded very distant and full of pain.
Lita sighed. "Why are you being so negative all of a sudden?"
Zeus's eyes were full of tears. "If I may be excused?"
"I care for you..." Lita whispered. Zeus lifted his head, an icy calm touching his words.
"You are the Interim Queen of Jupiter. It is your job to care for all your subjects."
"Even you."
The hawk spread his wings. "Whatever you say is the law. I had hoped the throne would come to someone who cared for the people, not for herself, however."
Lita bit her lip. "I do care."
"Then if you're so 'not ready' why are you rushing to say you can marry him?" Zeus was confused; her words were saying one thing, while her actions said other things altogether.
She told him, "So that when I am ready, I won't have to battle for it!" the Jupiter Princess held up her arm. "Zeus, I think you and I...need to talk."
"There is nothing that needs to be talked about," Zeus stated. " You've made your command, and I obey. My personal feelings don't matter."
"They do!"
Zeus sighed. "I am a servant of the Royal House of Jupiter, and I obey. That is all I do."
"Really?" Lita shook her head. " That's not all Luna and Artemis do!" She spoke with a note of triumph in her voice.
Her guardian spoke quietly. "They serve Earth's moon and Venus. Not Jupiter."
"But they also follow their hearts."
Zeus shook his head again, ready to fly at a moment's notice. "Their laws are not ours."
"Who said that the guardian and princess can't be friends?"
"For Jupiter, they can't be," Zeus said softly. It was something he had grown used to over the eons. It was what was, and that was all it was.
Lita frowned. "Why does it seem like Jupiter has something stuffed up it's rear that died, then?" Zeus appeared taken aback by her words, and she kept going. "Doesn't it seem like that? I mean, if you and I aren't allowed to talk, to be friends, to think for ourselves...both of us?"
Zeus lifted his head. "That is the way it has always been on Jupiter."
"Can't you and I change it?" she asked. Zeus's shoulders {or whatever a hawk has that passes for shoulders} slumped.
"If that is your command."
Lita felt like screaming. "Do you want things to change for the better?"
"There's nothing wrong with the way they are now."
"I wish we could be friends. You're a very caring bird!" Lita declared. Even though you are so old-fashioned I want to scream.
Zeus looked at her, old age very evident in his eyes. " You can change any law you want, but does that mean you should?"
"Maybe we could have a long discussion about this when I get strong?" Lita suggested. "About maybe changing the law that says I cannot marry and keep my powers."
Zeus shook his head. "You can do whatever you want. You are the only member left of the Jupiter Clan that is active."
Lita raised one eyebrow with a grin. "My sister is alive." Zeus looked absolutely floored at that. A voice from the door surprised the both of them.
"How about this for an idea?" Darien asked. He and Serena stood there, both obviously having been listening for quite some time. Zeus turned to him.
"Prince Darien," he spoke in his most superior and annoying tone, only used when he really didn't like someone. "I have already said all that needs saying. Princess Lita is the oldest surviving member of the Clan. Her word is law. If she commands me to kill myself, I will. If she wants to sleep with a thousand men, I cannot stop her. There is nothing I can do."
Darien shook his head. "We don't know much about the Silver Millennium. And it's rules. Maybe all of us can sit down after Lita gets out of the hospital and discuss them, so we know what they are."
Zeus made a sound that was like laughter. "You have no need of it's rules. They've already been changed, haven't you been listening?"
Lita spoke quietly. "I retract it."
"Why? You have what you want now. Make the rules you want for your new world." Sarcasm and hatred were thick in his voice, as well as grief for a world he no longer had.
"If I order you to do something, then you have to do it, right?" Lita asked, an idea forming in her mind. Zeus nodded.
"I already told you that. Do you have a preference for which river I should drown myself in, or can I pick my own?"
Lita smiled. "Then I order you think for yourself and do what you feel is right!" There! That should do it!
"The laws of Jupiter are what's right."
"Then that's your choice." She stated. "But I agree with Darien."
Zeus looked at her, then spread his wings again. "You're not the Princess of Jupiter. You're just a copy of a dead soul." With no more than that, he flew away, the conversation finished, so far as he was concerned, at least.
Lita sighed, as Serena came over to hold her hand, not showing the slightest bit of revulsion for the wounds her friend had suffered. "He did what he thought was right," Lita murmured. "And he is right."
Serena shook her head. "No, he's not."
"I think I just want to sleep," Lita sighed. Serena nodded. "Alone. I'll be fine."
Her leader smiled. "If you're sure." Lita nodded, and Serena bent gently to give her a friendly kiss on the forehead. "Feel better, then. We'll see you later."
As Lita pulled her blankets, up, a single tear fell down her cheek. Serena squeezed her hand quietly. " We love you, Lita."
"I know." She smiled as the two of them, left, then raised her head to glance at Neflite. "You too. Please."
Neflite smiled quietly; he'd hoped she would let him stay while she rested. That wasn't an option, apparently. A quick kiss later, he was out the door. He had a lot of things to do, at any rate, and he might do them much faster from somewhere that didn't have her beautiful face to distract him.
Lita lay there quietly as things fell silent around her, wondering just what was going to happen. Everything was so still...and so quiet around here, she almost could forget she was in the hospital. She could almost forget the agonizing pain of her guardian's attack...and refusal to accept her love with Neflite.
I love him with all my soul, and yet Zeus won't see that. Why? She might well have wondered forever, had a slight noise not alerted her to something going on outside. She turned to see Zeus outside the window, rain pouring down still, looking at her. "Hi."
"Greetings." He bowed as formally as if they were in a throne room together.
"Do you have to be so formal?"
"Yes."
She nodded. "Okay, just wondering. Would you like to come on, it's pouring outside. I wouldn't want you to get sick."
Zeus shrugged. "I'll be all right."
Things were silent for a moment, then she asked, "Is it wrong for me to fall in love?" The air had a surreal feel to it; perhaps now answers could be achieved.
"No." Zeus responded. "But it is not remitted to act upon it."
Lita tilted her head to one side. "What is the law...exactly?" She'd heard a lot about how she couldn't or shouldn't break it, but she had no idea just what the law was in the first place.
"That while the Solar System is under attack, the Senshi cannot indulge in carnal actives or marry," he told her. Lita's eyes lit up with joy. "Then I can be with Neflite!" she told him. Zeus shook his head again, and she smiled. "We're at peace at the moment!"
Zeus' eyes widened, and he quite nearly fell off the sill! "But...but..you're...you..you know who you are!" He had it on the best of authority that unless the Senshi were under attack, they would not know who they really were. How could this be?
Lita grinned. "We've already taken care of Beryl, and we just finished up with the Doom Tree. Right now, we're just waiting and doing the occasional crimebusting." Zeus nodded slowly, in shock. "So...I can be with Neflite?" Hope filed her voice.
"I..believe so." Zeus said, hardly able to believe what was going on. His entire universe had just turned upside down and inside out in under a moment.
Lita smiled. "You'll have to train me in the laws," she said quietly. "On one condition."
"What?"
"Can we be friends also?" she wondered. Zeus did a small gaping of his beak, a hawk's version of a smile.
"I believe so."
"Good." With that, she closed her eyes and laid her head back down. The last thing she heard was Zeus flying away on silent wings, and then the patter of the rain as it lulled her to healing sleep.