AN And now Nephlite thoughts from the hereafter.

~~~~~~

Makoto. My Mako. You are by far the strongest woman I know. And the thing is, everyone

would agree with me, should I say that out loud. But it is not you physical strength that I

admire, it is your resilience.

Here, in the realm of the dead, I can see you. Not only now, waiting for the Dark Kingdom

to attack and preparing for the final battle, but also in the past. I saw what you went through.

You never had an easy life. It is a well known fact, well at least it was, that the Jovian

were feared. Their dominating strength made them awesome warriors, yet lonesome people. But you...

At first, I only saw you as a guardian of the princess. A tall, proud woman, capable of

fending for herself. That's why I was so surprised to find you in the kitchens, wearing an apron

and mixing something or other.

I had always considered the kitchen to be my territory and I had planned on making something

very Earthy, because the meals we were served on the Moon were far too light to my taste. And there

this lanky brunette foiled my great plans. Maybe I overreacted. I was much more the guest than you

were. Even though you were not Lunarian, you lived at the palace. I overstepped myself and I

apologized

It took me about an hour to realize I loved you. Normally I don't take decisions in such a

short amount of time, but now it made perfect sense.

You changed. I think the others noticed as well. You were inclined to laugh more often. I

felt proud to be of help in your change. And then I betrayed you.

I let that terrible woman dominate me. She made me turn her back on you, attack you, kill

you. But that is no excuse. I should have been stronger, more confident in our love. But I'm weak

and I know it.

At least I got to see you for real in your new life, even if it was only for a moment. You

looked so strong again. I'm sorry to have deceived you with the powers of that youma. Now I know

it was wrong. But under the spell of Beryl right and wrong blur and become indistinguishable.

I love you. More than my life. Though I guess those words don't mean much coming from a

dead man.

Our fight in the Silver Millennium was worse than all our sparring sessions combined. I'd

never seen you fight like that. It made me realize just how much you always held back during our

training. At the time it angered me. Now, I love you for it. You didn't want to hurt me, physically

or mentally by proving to be my superior. But there was no need to. I knew you were stronger than

me. I just never knew how much.

I think in the end, that worked to your advantage. I didn't know what you could do, so you

could surprise me. I was afraid, I truly was. Your powers kept rising while we fought. They seemed

endless.

I'm glad you found your fellow Senshi again, Mako. You need friends. You need your princess.

Please look after her. She is the only one who can defeat Metallia. Aid her to the best of your

abilities and take revenge for the wrongs done to you by the Negaverse. You deserve a happy life,

not the one fate dealt you.

I'm sorry I couldn't help you with that.