Taking Over Me

By: Zarabeth McGregor

Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon; this includes the plotline, the characters and the situations. If I did, I wouldn't be writing non-profit fanfiction.

You took my heartbeat from me,

This is the saddest story...

What was wrong with my love...?

Get Along With You

Kelis

She was just vaguely aware that her life's blood flowed as a steady river, forming a large pool beneath her, its source being a gash in her side, clean and long and quite deep. She struggled to take deep, cleansing breaths, to momentarily try and ignore the pain. Her body protested every attempt, shuddering dangerously before issuing a fresh stream of red, so endless she couldn't help but wonder where it all came from. The floor below her was hard and cold, adding to her discomfort, but in mild comparison to the greater pain of her mortal wound.

From his vantage point a few feet away from her, she looked to be some macabre marionette fallen from grace, carved of the finest ivory, her slender limbs sprawled around her; arms outstretched and reaching for nothing, her long, bare legs unable to provide much modesty, fixed almost unnaturally, curved under and around. Her senshi uniform, looking regal and stately as she had challenged him earlier that evening was now limp and wrinkled around her, almost looking like peasant's garb. Her long, sable locks, blacker than midnight itself, was spread behind and beneath her like a curtain, the darkness contrasting sharply with the pristine white marble floor, much like the growing pool of dark red blood issuing from her.

She heard his slow, deliberate footfalls as he walked towards her and slowly cursed the fact that she was currently immobile. She took a breath, trying to deepen it as her pain had subsided somewhat. All at once, she started to choke and had to issue several barking coughs to clear her throat, the pain starting to rise all the more viciously this time. Her throat was cleared and she tasted blood. She could not do much to prevent it from escaping her lips, as she did not want to swallow it again. It was vaguely noted that there was music still playing, music that had accompanied the dancing and merriment that filled the ballroom only a few hours before. She could still make out the now subdued strains of a singular, haunting violin that would have been used to attend a tango.

His shadow fell over her form.

He stared at her, transfixed by the brutality of her appearance, the rising bruises along her jaw line and cheek discolouring her pale face. Her full red lips were grey and parched, a rivulet of blood, though smaller than the original one flowing gracefully down her neck, to pool at that hollow between her collar bones.

But it was her eyes that caught his full and undivided attention, further punctuated by the violin that was playing on somewhere in the room. Their large, violet depths that were notorious for their almost hypnotic lure were now dead, starting to become slightly glazed. He could tell she was quite unable to see anything at this point in time. But he knew she felt his presence.

The aura that filled the room was deep and intense, so heavy, it was almost tangible. There was a sort of grotesque calm and serenity. They both felt it, these two souls alone together in the vast ballroom, and had felt the urge to do nothing to upset the strange, but no less delicate peace.

Slowly, he kneeled next to her form, careful not to disturb her position. By the grimace on her face, he could tell she was in more than just moderate pain. He picked up her gloved hand and held it in his, feeling the tension in her small hand, a hint at what she might be experiencing physically. Instinctively, she tightened her grip. Her face was still turned from his.

"Kelis..." he whispered, as he stroked her hair gently, unable to feel its softness through his gloves, but taking pleasure in it all the same. He could feel the tension in her hand lessening, but the grip was still strong. She did not answer him; she could not. Drawing breath alone was torture for her; that much was evident. He gazed down at her battered and beaten form, her beauty marred, but somehow not lessened by her beating. He looked at her as she struggled to just breathe, his vision suddenly blurred. She was dying before him and he knew it.

He had done this to her. He was the reason why she lay broken and limp. He had administered every single blow, caused each bruise blooming on her ashen skin. He had used his sword and cut that wound deep in her side.

At this moment he lay completely naked before her; this was the real him. He stripped away the cocky and often intimidating impression he gave the general public, he forgot the bold, and sometimes just plain frightening approach he took with his courtship of her. For this moment, he was just himself, without any fronts or illusions. For the first and last time of his life, he honestly regretted his allegiance to the Dark Kingdom.

She could feel him next to her, she knew exactly where, but she could not see him; her eyesight failed her ages ago, it seemed. But she felt his every movement, almost experienced his every emotion. If frowning didn't cause her so much pain, she would. She seemed to detect sorrow and sadness in him.

He surely didn't seem regretful when he was landing blow after blow onto her a few short minutes ago.

She winced and drew a sharp breath against her will as she felt him reposition her neck onto what seemed to be his lap. His grip on her hand never flattered and his touch against her face was soothing, although she was slowly losing feeling...

He looked down into her lovely face, watched the agony so vividly displayed on her every feature and his heart dipped. He started to stroke her face with his free hand, taking care not to touch any of the more serious bruises and cuts. Her breathing was shallow and rapid. She would not last long.

He knew exactly what he needed to do.

"Kelis..." he whispered her name again and she moaned at the sound of her name on his lips. She loved the way his voice caressed it, played with it, almost taunting her. But there was no taunting tonight. Only pure and exquisite suffering. His grip on her hand tightened to the point of pain.

"Come with me, Kelis," he said, his voice urgent, almost pleading. "You're about to die. If you come with me, I swear, you'll live and I'll never leave your side. I'll never..." he faltered slightly. "I'll never hurt you again."

Her breathing picked up in its quick pace, so now she seemed near to hyperventilation.

"Wha...what...you're..." she could not find the words; her brain was slowing down and it hurt to talk. His grip went even tighter around her hand.

"I'm saying that you should come with me; come over to Dark Kingdom with me."

There. He said it. He had been yearning to ask her this question since the first time he laid eyes on her. Of course, at that time the answer was certain; she was Princess Serenity's guardian. That made in him enemy by default. She would've never agreed and would probably even fry him with her powers on the spot.

But now, things were different. Her very life was ebbing from her with each drop of blood that left her body. She was at her most vulnerable and was undoubtedly scared out of her wits. She could not possibly have any desire to die like this, at the prime of her life; she was just fourteen.

She heard him. She knew that was exactly what he wanted to ask, even before she tried to clarify. The side of Darkness, the very threat that they had been trained to fight against at all costs.

She had paid the ultimate price and she knew it.

They were the chief of all their enemies, from since the time of her mother's mother, when she had guarded Queen Serenity's mother. It had been engrained into her very psyche, her very genetic makeup even before she was born into this world. From the time she could walk, she was trained and taught everything that was felt she would need to know to protect the Princess and to defeat the side of Darkness.

So why did his offer seem so tempting?

He waited for her response, holding her head delicately in his hands, cradling it on his lap. He buried his hand into her thick locks, his other hand still clasped onto hers. Her breathing was so faint he could barely see the rise and fall of her chest.

"Jad...Jadeite..." she tried to talk, but it was proving too much for her.

"Don't talk."

"I...I...w...I...don't...want...wan...to...ooo..." before she could make herself any more coherent, a spasm of pain seized her entire body cruelly, sending tremors through her small frame. She arched her back and managed a short, yet chilling scream, which echoed loudly throughout the vast, empty room, off the marble walls. She was about to die.

"Kelis!" he clutched her hand like it was his very lifeline. And she clutched back.

They stayed like this for an indeterminable amount of time; a few seconds or half and hour, it was impossible to tell.

However, her grip did finally slacken, and her hand fell away from his.

She was gone.

As he felt her grip loosen, he knew. He instinctively knew that this was the end. But this did nothing to lessen the pain he felt. He had killed her. He had caused her slow and agonizing death. And he could've saved her. He could've healed her wounds, made her whole again. And then he could've given her eternal life. They would've been together forever.

If only he hadn't wasted so much time.

All these thoughts filled his head, as well as memories. Memories of first setting his eyes upon her on that blessed day, that very moment changing his life. He knew without a doubt that he would not rest until he possessed her. Until he made her his.

He had, for the first time in his life, fallen in love with someone.

So there he sat, with her lifeless form, cradling her head in his lap, willing himself not to cry. He would not cry, though his felt this loss to the very marrow of his soul. The violin, which had gone entirely unnoticed, now finished its story with a soft, dying note.

He stroked her hair, the only thing about her that was not entirely lifeless. It still had its lustre, it's violet highlights shining and shimmering in the light of the room. His other hand, now freed from its grip trailed the line of her swanlike neck. The tears slowly made their way down his cheeks. He was quite unaware that he was being watched very closely.

"You're a highly interesting person, Jadeite..." came a loudly, mocking voice from some way ahead of him, shattering the atmosphere of loss and regret. He looked up viciously, angry at the one who dared interrupt this moment. Passionate, flaming blue eyes rested upon the stoic, regal frame of the man striding slowly down the grand staircase. He saw the sinister smile curve up the dark-haired man's full lips.

"You tease the girl, taunt her, before you beat her to her very death. And then..." he paused for dramatic effect, a hand sarcastically resting against his cheek in awe, his eyes widened in artificial surprise.

"Then you cry over her corpse," Nephrite ended simply and dryly, his cool green eyes never leaving his partner. He did not know too much about the man kneeling on the floor away from him, cradling a dead girl in his arms as if there was some hope she would come back to life. After all, they had only met a few months ago. And yet, as he looked into the angry blue depths, he identified something else there; pain. Jadeite was suffering emotionally what this girl probably experienced physically during the last pathetic moments of her life. Nephrite had only seen this haunted look once before: in the eyes of his leader just a few minutes before, the man's sword stained magnificently with crimson blood. Nephrite looked away from Jadeite as a mark of respect, making certain he did so in such a way that the mourning man interpreted it as a mocking gesture.

"Then again, beautiful women are a very intriguing weakness..."

Ah! My first pure Sailor Moon fic chapter written! Yes! I've been waiting two years to do this! First of all, let me thank two very important people: Apsara and Snow Raven. Snow Raven's fic, 'Wings', inspired this idea over a year ago. Apsara's fic 'Change' resurrected it. Both can be found on my favourites page. And these two have helped answer some very important questions that could not be left unanswered if this fic is to be plausible. Thanks again to these two.

So, yes, read and review! Ja!