Legal Disclaimer: These characters aren't ours, we aren't saying they are, we're just saying we have too much time on our hands. Go read Dawning Dream first. We'll wait.
by: Cynthia and Emerald J
Every few moments, Molly, who was still a little uncomfortable with the thought of being a Sailor Senshi, would glance from the door to her watch and back again. She was glad to be fully in the secret that Serena had hidden from her, with good cause, for so long, but at the same time, she was scared of some of the things that were going on. At least I know why those monsters were always attacking me now! Her lips twitched at the thought. Strangely enough, with all the things that had went on, that really didn't seem like that big of a deal any more. Her heart was at ease; she had a sister that she cared deeply for, and new friends who were old friends at the same time.
"Something wrong?" Serena asked, and the new Senshi of Lightning shook her head briefly.
"Lita promised that she'd be here!" Molly missed her near-sister, and wanted her around as much as possible. They all knew that Lita was spending as much of her time as she could on Jupiter, though. Most of them didn't know why, but they did know that was what she was doing.
Mina shrugged. "I'm sure she will be!"
Everyone fell silent at a sudden motion from Raye as she began the ceremony, focusing her mind and spirit on the ritual. Slowly she repeated the ancient words, driving her mind to discover the location of the man she loved, who needed her help, who needed her. So deeply was she into it that she didn't even notice when Lita slipped through the door and took up her seat next to Molly, who smiled warmly at her sister.
"I hope she's having some luck." Serena muttered some minutes later. Lita motioned her to silence, and everyone fell absolutely still, waiting and watching. Nearly two hours passed since it's beginning before Raye sat back with a sigh, the energy seeming to drain out of her.
"Nothing." The exhaustion was plain in her voice, but none of them seemed to have anything to say. Truly, what could be said that wasn't meaningless platitudes?
Luna, who had been watching from the sidelines, walked over and placed a comforting paw on Raye's leg. "Maybe Amy can try locating him with her computer?" She had hoped that the fire would at least give Raye some clues, but nothing had come of that.
"Could you try?" the fire warrior looked at the maiden of water with hope in her eyes flaring.
Amy thought it over, her mind shifting into analytical mode. "I'd have to get some information from Neflite about the kind of spell that was used, if possible, but I think I can. It would be hard, but I think I can do it, at least."
"Thanks."
Lita shook her head a little. "You'll have to wait a while. Neflite's staying on Jupiter for the weekend. He's having an argument with the king."
"Over what?" Serena flinched back from the look that Lita sent to her and wished she hadn't asked.
"Things."
Mina broke the suddenly tense moment, or perhaps added to it. "When are you coming back to the team?"
Their friend's eyes narrowed briefly as she raked them over the others. She had changed somewhat since the coming of Neflite, becoming somewhat more secretive, more inclined to keep things to herself, as well as more confidant in her emotional relationships. But that didn't mean she was going to blab everything to them.
"I don't know."
Amy gave her a look. "Why aren't you coming back yet?" She took care of the medical scans for the team, and she was wondering if perhaps she should give Lita another one, for her emotional shifts. The thought died in her mind as Lita gave her a penetrating look of her own. "Oh."
Lita stood up. "I hope you find what you're looking for, Raye," she wished her friend a heart-felt good luck, then swept out the door silently. There was a moment of stillness, then Amy turned to Serena.
"Spill it now." There was unaccustomed steel in the Senshi of Mercury's tone.
"No." Steel or no steel, Serena wasn't going to betray a confidence. Especially not after everything she and Lita had went through, and all the horrible things she'd said. She still was convinced she'd gone temporarily insane. "I made a promise, Amy. If I break one to her, could you trust me to keep any I made to you?"
Mina sighed. "She's right, but it's annoying."
"I'm sure Lita will tell you when she's ready." Serena offered. Mina's blue eyes darkened in their own turn.
"When? Twenty years from now?" There was a bite to Mina's tone, and Serena felt herself reminded that the blonde myth wasn't true in all cases.
She had to say what she did next, though. "Don't you trust her?" At Mina's nod, she continued, "Then stop asking."
"Has anyone seen Zeus recently?" Mina changed the subject deftly with her next question. Raye shook her head.
"The last time I saw him was before Lita and Neflite left the last time."
Mina shrugged; who could tell how a hawk thought or why a hawk did what they did? "Weird." Was her only real comment on the matter.
Amy poked around on her computer for a few minutes, then looked up. "I'm going to Jupiter to chat with Neflite." She announced. Why wait for him to come to her when she could just go to him? "Artemis, can you take me there?" She looked at the white cat who had been cleaning himself by the fire and shooting what she guessed were supposed to be romantic looks at Luna.
"What? Oh, sure!" He hopped quickly over to her shoulder. "Ready?"
"Ready!"
One moment they were standing in the temple at Cherry Hill; the next they were in a broad expanse of green grass that lay before a magnificent castle. "Whoa...." she almost breathed the word out reverently, then hurried inside, the guards letting her go without comment since she was recognized as the Senshi of Mercury. It only took her a few moments to track down Neflite, and he helped her in a way by shouting out something at the top of his lungs that very nearly sent her into shock. She stood at the door to the room that Neflite and the Jovian King were in, staring at them.
"Lita's pregnant?" She gasped as they both turned to look at her. "She is, isn't she?" That explained everything!
Neflite frowned. "That's really not your concern."
"She's my friend!" Amy sputtered, then shook her head. "I didn't come here to talk about Lita, anyway. I came to talk about Jedite."
"What about him?"
Amy quickly explained what Raye had been dreaming. "Raye wants him brought back."
Neflite's eyebrows twitched lightly. Somehow, he could not find himself surprised. "I thought she would." He knew what else was going to be happening in the future, too. It didn't bother him: he wanted his old friends back.
Amy nodded. "I have to find him, and the only way that I can think of to do that is to use the spell that's on him to locate him. He should be the only being in existence that has this sort of spell around him."
"What do you need from me?"
"The spell used, and everything you know about it." Amy declared. Neflite nodded, then began to describe the spell in all the detail that he could remember. As he uttered each word, Amy typed it in, and as he finished, she smiled. "Thanks. I'll start searching right away." She glanced over to the king, who had remained silent the whole time. "You might want to consider this child a blessing." She smiled, then left.
The king shook his head slowly. "I don't consider my daughter refusing to marry a blessing, though."
"She has her reasons."
The King nodded. "But she will keep her promise to me, though." He was certain of it.
"Lita always keeps her promises."
"Good." The King smiled firmly. "Then back to our argument!"
Neflite nodded; he was actually enjoying this! "Naturally."
"The baby shower should be here, on Jupiter!" the king declared. Neflite shook his head sharply.
"Earth, more of her friends could attend would sacrificing her secret!"
The Queen, watching silently from a corner, shook her head. Men! "So have two! One on Jupiter where her subjects can find out about the pregnancy of their future Queen, and one on Earth for her friends there."
"Two?" Neflite and the king glanced at each other. That was something that had honestly never occurred to them!
"Why not?" Lita's mother asked. "It's only fair!"
Neflite and the king both shrugged. "All right."
"The scouts must be informed before the one on Jupiter." The Queen declared. "That gives her three months to tell them."
Neither the king or Neflite looked very thrilled over that, but knew there wasn't much they could do. Both of them looked up as Lita's voice came from the door.
"Hello!" Lita smiled at them, then looked to her mother. "Three months to tell the scouts?"
"Well..." Neflite tried to answer, but his love shrugged casually.
"I can do it." Lita declared, then kissed him. "I'm going to bed."
Neflite smiled and nodded. "Good night."
She glanced back at him coquettishly. "Oh, here I thought you'd come with me." She was expecting what happened next, as a familiar voice cried out, "He will not!"
Zeus had been snoozing on top of a perch, but the minute she'd uttered those words, he'd snapped awake. Lita chuckled. "Just to hold me, Zeus, that's all. You can even come along to make sure that's all if you like!"
Her love smiled, holding her hand. "I would be glad to hold you, Lita." With a slightly smug grin at Zeus, the two of them walked off towards her room. The hawk waited for a moment, then soared after them.
"I missed you."
"I missed you from the moment you left." Jedite told her teasingly. They leaned against each other for a few moments, basking in the silence of love.
Raye glanced up at him for a moment. "Where are you?"
"I don't know." She sighed as she leaned back up against him, and he held her. "I'm sorry.
"Not your fault."
Jedite sighed. "I wish I could help you more." He wanted to be found, he wanted to be with her, but he couldn't do anything to help them be together.
Raye took his hand and smiled. "You've helped all you could."
"I know you'll find me."
"I hope it's soon." Raye smiled as he brushed his lips against her fingertips. After a few other assorted tender moments, the two of them leaned back in one another's arms. "This is nice."
"I know."
Her lips quirked. "I wonder if this is something normal between boyfriends and girlfriends?"
"Her seeking out his frozen body? I'm not really sure. I'm rather new to this dating thing." Jedite smiled and she whacked him lightly on the arm.
"No! This...." she motioned all around and he shrugged.
"I really don't know. But does it matter?"
Raye looked up at him. "A little."
"Why?"
"I don't know. It just does."
"Oh."
Raye smiled. "I'm also kind of curious." She'd never seriously dated anyone before this, and she wasn't positive on how things worked. She wanted to be sure they didn't screw anything up.
Jedite looked down at her. "So why don't we make our own normal things to do?"
"Sounds good!" she grinned. "What would you like to make our normal thing?"
"Anything we do." Raye laughed, and Jedite smiled. "Well, nothing else in our lives is what 'normal' people would call normal so why should anything else?"
She nodded. "True. Just look at Lita and Neflite." The two of them practically defined not normal! A few moments passed, then she felt something going through her hair. Her eyes flicked back a little to catch a glimpse of Jedite running a brush through her long raven locks. She smiled. "That feels nice."
"I love your hair." That was only the smallest part of what he loved about her, but it would do to begin with.
"I love that you're doing." She smiled. "So relaxing....I'm going to fall asleep."
"You're already asleep."
Raye giggled a little as he worked out the last tangles, and wondered if that would reflect when she woke up. To wake up without a single tangle would be amazing! Normally it took her an hour or so to get all the knots out of her hair. I wonder if I could persuade him to do this on a regular basis once we have him back.
Once all the knots were out, she turned around and began to kiss him. Other things happened, and then suddenly Raye stiffened, a vision appearing before her eyes and hers alone. A lawn of beauty, obviously well taken care of, with a house at the far end. She felt as if she'd seen it somewhere, but wasn't certain just where. Just as it faded, she saw Jedite looking at her. "Raye?"
"I..I saw a lawn..." she murmured. "Beautiful....I think it's where you are!"
Jedite smiled, his arms tightening around her. "I hope you can find me." He'd long since had enough of the deep freeze treatment.
"Me too." Whispers of love were exchanged, and then the same sensation that had always told Raye she was about to wake up went through her. She sighed. "I'll come back. Soon."
"I know." He smiled and kissed her again. They would be together, soon. He knew it.
Quickly she hopped up and hit the shower, changing into her regular clothes once she was done. After letting her grandfather know where she was going, she headed out into town. A few purchases later, she very nearly fainted as on a magazine cover, she saw the very image of the lawn and mansion she'd seen in her vision.
"Can I help you, miss?" it was the store clerk. Raye glanced up, then seized the magazine.
"How much is this?" It was only a small amount, and with it tucked neatly into her bag with the rest of the purchases, Raye headed for home. She did her best not to reveal her growing agitation until after all the groceries had been put away and she could get to the phone to call the others. "I think I found him!" she shouted it to Serena. "I think I found him!"
That got the blonde's attention. "Where?"
"Come on over to the temple," Raye commanded. "I'll explain everything there." She called the others as quickly as she could, then waited in her room for the others to show.
She knew they were there even before she could see them; Serena's voice made it all plain. "I've never seen you with your hair down before, Lita!"
"Raye sort of woke me up," Lita's voice responded. "I didn't have time to put it up."
As they were coming down the hall, Raye heard, "Where's Neflite?"
"He had to fly out of town for a while, I don't know when he'll be back." That was said just as they entered Raye's room and Lita glanced at once to her friend. "So what's so important, Raye?"
The Senshi of fire smiled. "I think I might know where Jedite is." She spread out the magazine, letting the pictures show. Lita's eyes widened.
"That's the Stanton estate!" That was where she spent most of her time, when not on Jupiter! Raye nodded, indicating she knew. The article had said in detail just what it was, and she did recognize it now. "There's a small problem. The yard's being sprayed for bugs, no one can get onto the property for a week!" At Raye's stricken expression, Lita pulled out a small cellphone and quickly dialed up to the estate, hoping to get one of the servants. A very familiar voice replied, however. "Neflite! I thought you'd left already!"
"I forgot some of the papers I needed and had to come back for them. What's up?"
Lita blinked, then shrugged. "Have they started in on the lawn yet?" She waited as he went to check, then felt joy spurting through her when he told her, "No, not yet, it looks as if they're about to start, though."
"Stop them!" It was a tribute to the trust they had in each other that he didn't ask why until after he'd stopped them. "Jedite could be on the estate somewhere. We're on the way."
"I'll be here." Meetings could wait. This was far more important.
"How do you do it?" Serena grumbled as Lita helped her up. "How do you walk like that??"
Raye smiled. "Put one foot in front of the other without tripping."
"I wish I could!" Serena gave her friend a slightly peeved glance. Molly just shook her head; she knew what the problem was.
"She was a klutz whenever she visited Jupiter, because of the heavy gravity. Her body was made for a lighter gravity."
Serena shrugged casually. "I'm a klutz everywhere." She had gotten used to it.
"Not on the moon you weren't." Lita told her as they got on. Serena smiled faintly.
"But we're not there now." The small group seated themselves, with Raye very nearly bouncing out of her seat in excitement that everyone noticed.
"How long until we get to the estate?"
Lita glanced to her dark-haired friend. "Not long."
"Good!"
Mina chuckled. "Anxious?" Of course, that was rather obvious, but she wanted to ask anyway.
"Here we are!" Lita piped up, and almost before the echo of the words died away, Raye was off the bus and heading out to the estate gates. "Raye!!!"
"What?"
"The guard doesn't know you." Lita explained, then hurried up to talk to him. The doors swung open to let them in, and Lita lead them around to the backyard, the view of which was what Raye had seen in he vision. "Do you see him, Raye?" As the others looked around, Lita saw Neflite coming towards them, just then passing one of the many modern art sculptures that were placed carefully around the gardens and lawn. She'd never liked that particular one for some reason and frowned as she went over to him. "Can't you get rid of that thing?"
"Why?" Neflite liked it, though he couldn't say why, any more than she could say why she didn't like it. "Don't like it?"
Lita shrugged. "Is this a love me, love my lousy taste in statues argument?
"No, I just wanted to know why you don't like it."
Lita shrugged. "Something about it...I'm not really..." Her voice drifted off as she stared at it, then jerked her head over one shoulder, calling for Raye. "I think I found him!"
Raye almost broke a leg coming over and stared at the statue, her eyes slowly widening as she saw something underneath the plaster and paint. "It...it's him."
At a motion from Neflite, the gardeners moved the statue to the garage as soon as she named it as Jedite, and Raye watched silently. "We have to get him out of that." She whispered softly.
"I'll have your father's workers get him out. I've got to go now." Neflite told her. After exchanging kisses with Lita and having Jedite's statue sent to Jupiter, he went on his way. Raye stared after him.
"I hope he's back soon, and free."
Mina laid a hand on her shoulder. "He will be."
"I'll take you there later," Lita promised with a smile, and the whole of the universe was lit by the answering smile on Raye Hino's face.