disclaimer- still don't own anything

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((Nephrite))

It was worn down. The paint was chipping, the wood seemed noticably older, and I think I saw broken glass on the left side. There were weeds everywhere, dead pines, some collapsed others still standing. There were tall vines growing up the walls, completely covering some of the windows.. In short, it was a giant crap heap.

But for that moment it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

And I was beaming like an idiot.

"JeSUS, how long has it been since we died!" Jadeite stepped up beside me, laughing half-heartedly at the mansion's misfortune. Trying to keep his humor up. At least he was trying to act normal. I didn't have the strengh to, emotionally or physiclly. Everything just hurt to much.

I couldn't see Kunzite yet, but his footsteps had disapeared, so he must have either stopped behind us or split off. I didn't care to look back. It wouldn't make that much of a diferance if we were all going to collapse into a (hopefully) dreamless sleep as soon as we stopped walking. I'm more worried about Zoisite then our fearless leader. His body seemed to have taken the brunt of whatever hit us.

"Congratulations Nephrite.." his voice, he followed after all. ".. you found a dump."

"Hey, it's standing isn't it?" I half-glared. My entire being not quite into the act of reprimanding some one who really has more power then I do. It's not like he was wrong, the place really did look like crap, but it's mine. "And it's not a dump.." I mutter to myself. ".. it's beautiful.." Jadeite half snorted, half laughed and started on ahead of me.

"Whatever you say."

We started off again. It was a good hundred yards to the door, so Jadeite hand plenty of time to keep ragging on my house. Sometimes I wonder if he just loves hearing his own voice or if it's just habitual for him to not shut up.

Over the years I've formed an imunity to him and am therefore able to tune his speach out at the drop of

a hat, I think Kunzite has too. But he's come to ignore all of us, with the possable exception of Zoisite, depending on his mood. And of course I've never seen Zoey ignore anyone.

I wonder if my bank account is still up..

The door openned silently as Jadeite pushed it open. No cracking, no squeek, no falling off it's hinges. It contarsted with the house because the door seemed to be in good condition. How disapointing. Jed looked back at me oddly, as if thinking the same thing. I shrug.

Maybe the weather had just been particularly harsh, because as bad as it looked outside, not much seemed to have changed as soon as you went in. The house was pretty empty, there hadn't ever been much of a need to furnish it since I had been the only one there and rarely used anything besides the chapel and my room. But what little was there hadn't seemed to have rotted at all.

I led the way to what used to be, what was still, my sitting room. Like every other room in the house, sparcely decorated but comfortable. Jadeite was imediately poking around the two items of furniture.

"Exactly how much furniture do you have.."

"Not much." The room looked exactly how I'd left it. So no one had found the place and cleaned it out, good. I dropped down on one end of the couch. "Keep in mind, up till about five minutes ago I was the only one living here." Kunzite shifted his weight and hold on Zoisite.

The message was silent, but easy to read. I gave him directions to my bedroom (my bedroom, Zoey so owed me for this), and looked over at my remaining companion as Kunzite quietly exited the room.

Jadeite had decided the couch was comfortable and layed claim to the other half. The man was currently dosing peacefully, curled up on his side on the other end. One arm supporting his head, the other crossing his chest and hanging of the cushen.

I know it sounds tacky, but you've heard that when some one's asleep they look totally different? Like an angel, I guess. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Jadeite looks like an angel. He's anything but, and I've known him too long to ever think that. But it did make you forget for a second that he was a frighteningly energetic man, who's only spoken language was sarcasim.

I leaned back, crossing my arms behind my head and gazed up at the ceiling.

Let's review what we know.. we're in Tokyo, and we have aparently been reborn/regeneratied/I don't know what.. I'll have to discuss that with Kunzite later.

As for the things we didn't know.. the date (I'd like to know how long I've been out, thank you), what time it was, and if my company was still intact. If it was still up and running, and they haven't assumed I'm dead, we might actually have a source of income. God help us if we ever have to get real jobs. But what if the senshi are still around, they could label us as enemies again. What would we do then..

The list was endless, but not imposible to figure out. For instance, I'd go down town as soon as I could. It wouldn't be hard to figure out the date there. I could call Yoko (does my cell phone still work?), probably give the poor girl a heart attack, and get information about my investments. As for the senshi.. we'll just have to take that as it comes.

Life seemed to have slowed down for us. There was time to relax. I hadn't sensed even the slightest wisp of Metella's influence, and my memories had dulled out my old desire to murder Zoisite in his sleep..

Maybe there was some hope for us after all.

My memories.

Damn.

Well, there's not much I can do about it. Have to deal with the concequeces. But right now, until everything is worked out, I'm going to swear to myself that I wont think about them. No more brooding or guilt. I have my house, another chance at life, and.. and I have my friends back.. If I can't live for my prince then I'll live for them.

Why should I be depresssed? It wont do me any good.

A light snore brings me back from my thoughts. Jadeite had spread out more, his foot pressing against my thigh with the subcontious message 'if you don't move I'm using your lap as a foot rest.' I slide off the couch slowly and walk around the room to avoid sleep.

"One of us should probably stay with him in case he wakes up." A voice came from the enterance. Kunzite leaned on the frame of the door, his cape was gone. It didn't really have any significance, and I have no idea why the thought came to me. There was probably some sort of symbolism that was eluding me at the moment, or he could have just taken it off because it was ripped and muddy and slowing him down.. you never know.

God. I'm rambling about a cape. Must be more tired then I thought.

He took a step in and ran a hand through him hair, tugging at something, then coming back with what apeared to be a small twig. For a split second an mix of shock and irritation passed over his face. It wasn't much, but it was enough to break the ice that had blanketed the room. I glanced back at Jed for a second before deciding to reply.

"Which one?"

I was rewarded with a small smile as he flicked the twig away. Kunzite looked over at Jadeite who, having fully and haphazardly spread out, was now taking up the entirety of the couch.

"Both I guess," his gaze swept around the room and settled over the other item of furniture. "If it's alright with you, I'd prefer to be upstairs. Either way, we'll both end up sleeping on a chair."

"Right. So I'll wake up by being shoved onto the floor."

"Come now Nephrite, don't be so bitter. He only did that once."

"Yeah, yeah.." He turned and walked back out.

It was childish, I know. But I followed a few yards behind him out of the room. I watched his retreating back until he turned around the corner at the top of the steps. I sigh deeply and rub my eyes.

It was safe to sleep now, I could talk to him in the morning (evening, whatever time it would be when we woke up). I began my not-so-long trek back to the sitting room. The prospect of sleeping sitting upright in a chair wasn't exactly apealing, but there was no chance of getting Jadeite of the couch.

So, unless I wanted to sleep on the floor I didn't have a choice.

Regeneration, if that's really what it was, was exausting. Both physiclly and mentally. I think it took and hour or so to walk here, which would normally be nothing for me, but my limbs were so tired I couldn't stand anymore. I sat down on the chair and, no sooner had I come into contact with the material, my mind blanked.

- - - - - -

I jerk up, eyes wide open, and regreted it imediately. Completely blinded, I wince away from the beam of light hovering over the chair. I squint, block the window out of view and make to stand up. Needles pierce my legs and I drop back down, rubbing the muscles to help the blood flow.

"Itai.."

I stayed that way, hunched over to block the sun, for God only knows how long. The beam moved away inch-by-inch, until it rested over one of the arm rests and was on it's merry way to the other side of the room. I started to sit up when I heard a growling noise.

My stomach.

K'so, that's right. We had to eat now.

I remember keeping a wine cellar, though I only used it once or twice. But was there food? There had to be something lying around, even when we had Metella's powers steaming through us we still had to eat. I rarely used my residence in the Dark Kingdom, and I don't think I ate out for every single meal.

I managed to push myself into a standing position and wobble through the house, holding myself up by leaning on the wall. It took longer then I would have liked to get to the kitchen, but I got there. As I looked around I realized that this was posablly the only well funished room in the house, having multiple counters and cabnets. The room was quite large for a kitchen and there would have been plenty of moving room had I ever actually used it. Away from the "cooking" area was a large rectangular bay window, running lenghwise, about two and a half feet above the floor.

I cruised around for something edible. Knowing that if I actually found any it would probably too old or hard to think of eating, but it couldn't hurt to look. We'd probably end up eating it anyway if we got desperate enough..

The fridge was empty, no surprise there, the stupid thing wasn't even plugged in. But in one of the many cabnets I found a can with no label and a few boxes. I had no idea what was in the can, along with no desire to find out. Maybe I can convince Jadeite to eat whatever it was.. I set it on the counter.

I have better luck with the boxes. One of them had an unopened sleeve of crackers, which, as it turned out, weren't that bad.

So, I ended up walking out of the kichen holding a box of old, but decent, Saltines. Go figure. I don't even remember buying them, hell, I don't really care. When I got back to the room Jadeite was some what awake and looking around groggily.

".. the fuck am I.."

"My house."

"No shit." His eyes focused up on me, then traveled slowly down my arm and to the crackers. Taking a few more out, I gave him the box and sat on the arm of the couch. I was about to suggest saving some for the others, but when I looked back over at him they were almost entirely gone. I reached out, took them back, and was thrown off of my seat in his atempt to retrieve them.

Within seconds, Jadeite was crouched over by the edge of the couch with the crackers. Again. At a certin point I found injuring myself further wasn't worth it and had relinquished the food. After muttering 'jerk' he continued eating.

Aside from the sounds of Jadeite crunching on the crackers, there was a few minutes of blisfull silence as he completely woke up. Kunzite walked in around this time and looked down at us. His hair was a little damp, probably used my shower, the lucky bastard.

He walked over and sat down on the couch without saying anything. I almost got up from the floor but decided that moving was momentarilly over-rated and the floor was more comfortable. Jadeite shook that crumbs from the bag onto his hand and dropped them in his mouth.

We sat in silence. There really wasn't much to say besides our guesses on what was going on. It wasn't bad at first. Just eachother's company was enough. But after a time, the quiet became increasingly uncomfortable, and I felt the urge to break the quiet, so I spoke.

"Is Zoisite awake?"

A minute for the words to sink in.

"No," Kunzite rubs his temples. "I don't think he will for a few more hours actually." He traced a seam on the couch. "It hit him a lot harder then us. He's recovering slower." A brief pause, barely a heartbeat but it felt like a lot longer. "Have either of you felt Metella's presence?" And it comes out. I glance over at Jadeite, who just shakes his head .

"I haven't felt a thing."

"Same."

"We should ask Zoisite when he does wake," Kunzite tapped his finger. "It had the strongest hold on him." He tappered off, the last phrase hardly distinguishable from our breathing. There was another pause, each of us facing the troment of our own minds. Jadeite looked from Kunzite to me and back with an expression remarkably like a like a lost child's. He was the one to first voice the question that had been haunting us since we'd awakened.

"Do you think we're free?"

The question hung in the air.

"I'm not sure." Kunzite closed his eyes. "I don't know what we should do either. Until we find out the truth we might as well hide out.." Jadeite leaned back on the base of the couch and looked up at him. His brows knit together with a hint of irritation.

"We do nothing.." Kunzite openned his eyes and looked at Jadeite, who was still gazing up at him.

"No, we wait."

"I hate waiting."

The conversation dropped. Kunzite leaned back and closed his eyes again, he rubbed his forehead as if to nurse an on-coming headache.

"D-demo.. we're going to need food." Kunzite looked over at me, Jadeite glanced at the empty cracker bag. "There's nothing left.. and, I'm not sure if the referidgerator still works." The white haired man sighed and leaned back, looking up at the ceiling.

"Some things are more important then food.." he repremanded lightly, but let it slid. All of us secretly relieved to be off of the topic. Jadeite kicked at the plastic bag and watched it scoot about an inch and settle back down.

"One of us should go get something.."

"I'll go," resting my arm on the side of the couch, I started to stand up. "I'm pretty sure I can dig up some cash, and one of my cars should still work. After all, the damage outside looks mostly like it's from the weather." Both their eyes followed me to the door.

"I'm going up to find a change of cloths and shower first." I offered. "There's a closet full of them upstairs, you can borrow some when I'm finished. But I don't know if they'll fit you." Kunzite nodded and waved his hand, signaling dismisal. I bowed my head and left.

I climbed slowly up the steps slowly. Going one at a time when I normally would have taken two or three. There wasn't a real need to rush was there? It's not like we were all starving. Besides, I might as well think about what I was going to get. It was never my job to plan meals before, so I hadn't the slightest idea where to start (once again, Zoi owes me..).

Making a mental note to grab some cleaning supplies, I pushed the door open to my room. I stopped as soon as I walked in. Right.. right, Zoey was still sleeping. I almost forgot about that.

If what Kunzite had said about him being deep under then it wouldn't make a difference if I'd shoved over the table next to the bed, but it couldn't hurt to be considerate. Being carefull not to make much noise, I grabbed a clean set of pants and a shirt and slipped into the bathroom. Throwing them over stool by the wall, and turning on the water. After a moment, the air in the room was warm and humid with the steam.

The mirror fogged up, which was good, because I really didn't want to see how bad I looked at the momment.

The dirt-covered, bloody uniform stuck to my skin as I stripped it off, how I'd managed to sleep in it I'll never know. I stepped into the shower.

The hot water felt absolutely wonderful.

I brushed off a rivilet of dirty water running down my shoulder and reached my arms up so they were completely covered in the spray. I stood like that, letting the what dirt hadn't rubbed off onto the chair wash off, and stepped under the water directly.

Running my hands through my hair several times, I squinted through the running water in search of the shampoo. I grabbed the bottle, squirted some onto my hand, worked the lather into my hair, and repeated the process.

When the last of the shampoo washed out I grabbed the soap and worked on cleaning the rest of my body.

I reached down and turned the water off, but stood under the shower head until the last of it dripped out.

Thank God the water still works.

I shivered as I stepped out into the open air, grabbing for a towel and drying off. The heat from the water already starting to fade. Finally gathering th courage to look in the mirror, I wrapped the towel around my waist and stepped up to it. I rubbed the mirror with a hand towel and turned so I could examine the knotted brown mess on my head that had formally been my hair.

"Well, there's not too much damage." I muttered, digging around for a brush. It wasn't until I'd managed to make myself look somewhat presentable when a sense of familiarity sank in.

"Baka, come on.. let me help.."

"Iie, I can do it myself."

"God, we're absolutely filthy!"

"Ri-chan, you've got a leaf in your hair, stop moving.."

Any relaxation I'd felt in the warmth of that humid room fell away. The tension began to inch back into my muscles as I shook the thought from my head. It wouldn't do me any good. Just finish up, get your butt outside, and buy some food.

I threw on my cloths and was buttoning the shirt when I remembered I hadn't brought any normal shoes in with me. With a shrug I openned the door and burrowed around the closet. Zoisite shifted in bed but didn't wake as I stood up.

What struck me was that his hair was down, the band sitting on the small bedside table next to a pitcher filled with water and a cup. His hair was brushed and cared for, but hadn't he been sleeping?

Did Kunzite..?

"Gomen, I'm going to need this.." I took the elastic band from the table and winked at the sleeping figure. Then stepped back out into the hall and, borrowing Zoisite hairstyle as well as the hairband, pulled it back into a loose ponytail.

In the midst of searching for tennis shoes (only to find i didn't have any), I'd dug up one of my wallets with a fifty, a ten, and some smaller bills. Along with a set of car keys. From the shape, I think they're for my convertable.

"W-wait!"

I looked behind me and saw Jadeite jogging after me.

He too had taken a shower, it must have been a quick one if he'd managed to meet me down here. His wet hair hung in his face, obscuring some of his right eye. He was still wearing his uniform pants, although they looked a lot cleaner and no worse for wear, along with one of my button up shirts, the sleaves rolled up to his elbows. I hung back to wait for him.

It didn't take long, and we were soon walking side by side. I'd half expected him to speak right off the bat, he normally does, but we traveled in silence. It seemed like he'd escaped Kunzite's silent, thinking presence, which had always driven him insane, to be in my company before I left. I found that I didn't mind the thought. We'd gone through too much crap recently to be alone.

The walk to the garrage wasn't a long one. We didn't even have to go outside, it connected through the empty room by what might have been a patio. Still, nothing was said as we entered to garage. I pulled out the keys that I'd managed to find and unlocked the door. Yep. Right car.

"Gomen.. Nephrite?"

"Ne?" I turned and looked back at him. Jadeite shifted uncomfortably and pushed the sleeve that had managed to slid lower back up to his elbow.

"Should we.." he stopped, searching for the right words, shook his head lightly and continued. "should we do something?"

"Well," I paused thoughfully. "You can see if you can get the fridge to work.." The change was instintanious. He smiled brightly and practiclly bounced back into the house. As long as he had something productive to do he was happy.

He hadn't changed at all.

I slid into the convertable and turned the keys. Thanking what ever God there was when the engine turned over without a hitch. I dialed Yoko's number in my car phone and started pulling out. According to the screen it was 10:46, so if the company was still up then some one should answer the phone.

About five rings later, when I was about to hang up, a familier voice came on the line with the typical 'may-I-help-you' routine.

Yes!

I'm still rich!

"Hello Yoko, great to hear you're voice again."

"San..Sanjouin! But you-"

"Yes dear, it's me. Could you do me a big favor and fax the past month's reports to my home?"