AN: Sorry, took forever again. I was writing a bunch of other stories, most are still unpublished and I have not had much motivation for the sailor moon fandome in general. Sorry to everyone who has been waiting.
Disclaimer: of course I don't own Sailor Moon….duh!
Misunderstanding-
When Nephrite woke up the next morning, Amy was still asleep. Sweet child, she was snuggled up to him in her sleep, her full lips curled into a small pout. His eyes swept over her lovely form. She had curves in all the right places and was thin and elegant in all the other right places. In short she was beautiful and Nephrite realized for the first time, clearly realized, how much he wanted her.
The young general had to force himself to turn away. Over the few short weeks him and Amy became close, but not that close. He would not yet dare to suggest a deeper relationship unless he was sure she wanted it for one. He might be a merciless monster on the battlefield, but he was no rapist of young girls in his own bedroom. The fact that she safely slept in his bed suggested to him that she trusted him, trust was so precious that he would not dare destroy it.
There was of course another reason why he turned away. He had work to do. Now was the worst time to realize how lovely the woman he spent the night with was. Nephrite disappeared out of the room not waking Amy up. There was no need to wake her for one, and she was probably used to waking up by herself by now. Did he feel guilty about that? Not really, but he did wish he could watch her awake sometimes soon.
Not too long after Amy woke up. Not on her own of course. She has been feeling so good last night that her sleep was peaceful and deep and she would not have naturally awoken for a long while. Amy's sleep was rudely interrupted by an angry messenger.
"Wake up mercury brat!"
Amy found herself on the floor and shivering from the cold. Some other time she would have been scared and sad, right now though, she actually got angry.
"Zoicite!" she didn't care much that her ice-shard attack missed him completely, it gave her satisfaction to be able to fire it without worrying at all whether it would hit or not. With her friends, she could never vent frustration so freely. Of course he only laughed at her and she ended up freezing under a sheet of ice on the floor again, but it was worth it al the same.
It appeared that Malachite had some measure of control over Zoicite after all because at the moment the youngest of the four generals was not openly trying to kill her. In fact, he almost seemed to be enjoying himself with just seeing her suffer. Getting ready took longer because of him partially because she had to dry herself and partially because he would not be modest and leave while she cleaned up and changed outfits. Jerk. If she didn't know that he hated her guts, she might've actually been embarrassed.
Amy was quite irritated that morning because of Zoicite. Maybe Malachite counted on that and sent his pet after her on purpose. The more irritated Amy was usually, the more naturally she seemed to fit into the negaverce grand makeup. If she was to fool Beryl this morning, she needed to look like she fits in.
Despite being irritated Amy had butterflies in her stomach. She was going to meet Beryl/the/ queen Beryl! That, and also, she was almost on a mission, her, Zoicite and Malachite had a secret plan that no one else knew, they had their roles and they had to fool everyone to gain control of the entire planet Earth! It was mind-boggling. Every time Amy thought of just what she was going to do, her stomach did a flip-flop.
Well, there was no backing out of it now, she had to go through with it. It was the last thing she could do for Earth now. Deep down in her heart Amy still felt like it was her fault that the Earth was practically doomed, it was up to her to make sure that it was not doomed too badly. And then there was Malachite.
Amy felt nervous, there was a bad feeling inside of her about all this. Nephrite told her to be careful around Malachite. There was something in the general's eyes yesterday, something that she was not used to seeing there: some kind of interest, a concern, something personal that hasn't been there before. When he looked at her last night, she could not look back at him in the eyes. She had to look away and when she did, she could not read his gaze any more. It unnerved her. She really should be more careful. She had to remember, no matter how she seemed to fit in here now, she was still an outsider, this was still the negaverce, they were not friends! And Nephrite knew Malachite better, longer, he must have a reason to warn her, right?
Ignoring the turbulent feeling in her gut Amy finished cleaning up and followed Zoicite out of the room, matching swirls of icy mist and two disappearing figures were the last traces of them there. There was still so much to go over and not too much time, now that Zoicite was filled in on what was happening and convinced to cooperate they needed to work out how they would go about convincing Beryl. They needed to present a strong case, something to which she would not object logically, and they also needed to please her enough so that she would not object on a whim. Amy had faith in Malachite though, he seemed to know Beryl and know what he was doing. If anyone knew how to fool her, she was sure he did.
When the time for the gathering came, Nephrite made sure to be there right on time and make sure that Jaedite was on time too. Beryl didn't like to be bothered with early arrivals, but she did not enjoy lateness either, punctuality, that's what she wanted and that's what she got. Nephrite wanted her in the best mood for his sudden proposition. He wished that he had thought of it earlier, perhaps then he would have had more time to get Beryl more used to the idea. Earth was such a wonderful place indeed, Molly showed him more about what a wonderful place it was, it was a wonder that he has never thought of it.
All the legions belonging to the four generals were also in assembly. Malachite's and Zoicite's troops were there, but where were the two partnered leaders of those troops? Either there was trouble, and emergency that perhaps Zoicite caused and Malachite had to fix, or they were plotting something. Whatever it was, it was uncharacteristic of Malachite to be late.
Nephrite frowned, Zoicite was supposed to be the first one to present his troops and plan and he was not there. That alone put Beryl in a horrible mood and that didn't bode well for Nephrite. With luck though, he could turn the situation around and use her displeasure against Malachite for his own cause. Next was Jaedite and thankfully he displayed uncharacteristic for him efficiency. His plan and his troops seemed flawless, for once. That was good because now, it was his turn to speak and thankfully he actually put a lot of thought into his preparation. As he spoke though he noted how queen Beryl's earlier temper, first soothed by Jaedite, now by him, started to wane. Nephrite took his time explaining, practically praying for Malachite to arrive. Beryl was just getting back into the good mood, if Malachite's absence spoiled it now, it would be highly not beneficial.
A murmur passed through the crowd when Nephrite finished. The queen seemed pleased but what Nephrite realized, the rest realized too. Malachite was still not here and the queen was not going to stay pleased for a moment longer. This was her most powerful and reliable general, he absolutely had to be here. Just when it looked like Beryl's temper was going to explode, Malachite arrived, as always, with flair.
"How kind of us to join us Malachite!" her voice was icy cold "Do not bother rising, you are not in our favor now!" she stared at his bent over back. He was in the shadows, bowing before her. Nephrite smirked, he must realize he was in trouble, what better reason would he have to stay where he could barely be seen?
"Where were you Malachite!" she spoke again and a murmur once again passed over the crowd, faceless creatures that at all times gathered around her throne, her countless minions.
"Your majesty will be pleased." Malachite was smirking as he bowed yet. This was a dangerous game he was playing, as always, but he believed he knew how close he could get to the fire without getting burnt.
"I am not pleased! Explain yourself!"
"Your majesty commanded me to complete a difficult task, and it was completed. I know your majesty will be pleased with the results."
Nephrite's heart froze. What was that madman talking about! The only special task that Beryl gave him, he abandoned, why in the world would he remind her about it! Did he want to die!
"The scouts? You have succeeded in bringing one of the sailor brats to our side? One of the proud millennium princess will bow here before my throne! Stand on her knees and swear loyalty to me because you told her to!" she seemed amused, very amused. Beryl remembered the old times, the times of the Silver Millennium, of the prod queens of the four planets of the inner galaxy. Those proud rulers who fell to no magic and would rather chose death then submission. The idea of one of those royals at her feet did indeed thrill her, just like Malachite counted it would.
"Yes your majesty. Your wish is my command and your command is my life. What you commanded is done."
"Rise! Come forward!" her eyes sparkled as she watched Malachite's figure do as she says.
To the side, Nephrite was getting more and more worried, he was having a bad feeling about this too. Malachite had the spotlight, whatever it was he did. Maybe he went down to earth and recaptured Jupiter, or maybe he had some trick up his sleeve. In any case, at this rate, there won't be time for him to mention his desire to stay on Earth to Queen Beryl.
"Your Majesty, I present to you, fully obedient, your new servant, your loyal slave, former enemy….."
As Malachite spoke, Amy could feel the feeling of panic rising inside of her. She couldn't see Nephrite from where she was and couldn't be comforted by the sight of him. Everywhere she could feel cold negaverce energies, her skin was crawling with them. She couldn't even see Jaedite, even his presence would have been comforting now. Instead, there was only the cold hostile presence of Zoicite at her back, making her edgy, defensive.
"…former Sailor Mercury, now your servant Amy." Malachite smirked at the slightly shocked, slightly suspicious look on Beryl's face.
On cue, Amy teleported. There was a pretty swirl of sparkling ice and she judged by the reactions of those present that they expected Zoicite, they edged away. Instead, like Malachite said, in front of all appeared the former princess of Mercury. Amy felt terrified, completely terrified. All color drained from her face and she was glad almost that she was required to fall before queen Beryl on her knees, that way at least no one would see the fear in her eyes that was not supposed to be there. She needed a moment to compose herself, a moment to become calm and distant, get in touch with her element.
Hard, smooth and cold like ice, remember the ice, feel the ice inside of you. A heart of ice doesn't beat in fear. Strangely enough, Zoicite gave her that advice. He must've been mocking her weakness, making fun of her weakness, but all the same, his advice was precious to her now. Just like ice, she had to been like ice.
"Your Majesty, my queen." She fell lower, her voice came out perfect, rehearsed almost, it relayed none of the shakiness, uncertainty and fear that she held inside.
Yet another murmur passed through the crowd, all eyes were on her, Beryl's scrutinizing gaze was on her. Amy has never felt so much in the spotlight. Most of all, she knew that Nephrite, wherever he was, was looking at her too.
"Princess Mercury, what a surprise!" she could hear the pleased purr in the voice of the snake, she must be rejoicing to see her on her knees! No! She must stay as she is, she must show neither rebellion nor fear, this was not betrayal, this was the last sacrifice she could make for the benefit of her home, her friends, the human race even. "What will you say to me, Princess Mercury?" Amy could hear the poison in Beryl's tone.
"I am here to serve you my queen. Your wish is my will, and the wish of anyone your majesty chooses to place above me." She could predict at least a little, she hoped she could, that Beryl will place Malachite above her. That was fine, so long as it was no one that she didn't know, no one who could blow her cover. Even Zoicite would have been fine so long as it was someone who would know about her and would not betray her.
Malachite measured Amy's voice, Beryl's reaction, the reaction of the crowd, everything was going perfect, except Nephrite. For a moment his eyes met with those of Nephrite and he felt triumphant. Nephrite saw through his game, saw further then Amy did, but not even Nephrite saw through all of it. No one, not Zoicite, not Amy and not Nephrite, of those who knew what was going on, saw to the very core of what he planed. What Nephrite saw was that he manipulated Amy and led her away from him, what he didn't see, was that Amy was never aware of being used. What Zoicite saw was that Amy was being manipulated, that she was not aware, but even Zoicite didn't know that there was more to it then just getting a planet to rule. And Amy saw the minimum, she just thought that he was helping her because he was good and wanted the Earth. No one but him knew the extent of his plans.
"Wonderful!" the Queen was thoroughly pleased. She could tell right away that a sailor scout infused with nega-energy was a very powerful being and paired with himself, would add a great force to whatever attack. Beryl still expected there to be fighting, like in the Silver Millennium. "Then hear my first command, my soldier!"
Beryl was watching her, Amy knew that the eyes of the Queen, when she was watching your face could be very perceiving. There were times when Beryl was useless, there were times when Beryl was very dangerous, Malachite warned her of that. She must not show any hesitation, even a flicker of hesitation in her eyes would be caught by this queen.
"You are to serve under general Malachite, and you are to go down to earth, and conquer it by his side for me! And lastly, you are to destroy those meddling teachers of yours, the guardians!"
Queen Beryl struck right home with her request, but not in the way she was aiming for. She saw no pain in the former scout, no hesitation, no deceit, on the contrary! Queen Beryl's request awakened in Amy a desire she didn't know was there before. All humans were not perfect. All humans could feel love, hate, happiness, sadness, jealousy, compassion and a myriad other emotions. All humans could feel all emotions unless they were ill. Amy was not ill, she was good, pure of heart, but every pure heart knows a limit. Her pure heart just didn't know where that limit was until Beryl practically told her where it was.
When Beryl told her to kill those who are responsible for her only pain now, Amy realized something she would have never realized on her own: She wanted to do it.
Beryl's eyes widened when Amy looked up at her.
"Yes my queen, it will be as you command." Amy was not afraid to look up because she meant what she said. She had her own reasons that Beryl didn't know and didn't need to know. What Beryl saw in Amy's eyes was a determination, a determination to kill. What Malachite saw in Amy's eyes was vengeance.
'Interesting.' No creature was completely pure at heart, probably not even princess serenity. Not even Serenity could forever forgive all the pains caused to her. The whitest canvas is the easiest to mark, the purest is the easiest to taint, it has only been a matter of time before Amy realized it too. Realized that there was only so much pain she could forgive. She needed something to trigger the realization, but in the end, she was just like Zoicite. They truly were alike. How long would it have been before Amy became just like the present Zoicite, wicket, corrupted, merciless? If the pain didn't stop, she would have, it was inevitable. Malachite smiled more, here was his chance to prevent it. He could finally do for her, what he didn't manage to do for Zoicite.
Pleased with herself beyond measure, Beryl dismissed Amy and the former scout, now, a new negaverce soldier took her place by the side of her new master. Her heart was pounding and she felt faint. She felt like she would collapse but there could be no support for her from anyone now, she had to stand as if nothing was wrong even if she felt sick to her stomach from all the nervousness she has just been through. It was not over yet. If Malachite did not manage to convince Beryl now, then all this was in vain, worse yet, she would probably be called on by the queen now.
Beryl moved on to the matter Malachite and Nephrite wanted to discuss now. Very smoothly, before Nephrite could even say anything Malachite once again made his proposition. The queen was considering, carefully so. She did not want to leave one of her best soldiers behind. This could have been Nephrite's chance, he could have stepped in, but he felt frozen, rooted in place where he was, mute and crippled it seemed.
When Malachite first announced the words, that it was Amy he was going to present there was a moment of denial for Nephrite, then a realization and then a horrible sense of betrayal overtook him when Amy appeared before Beryl. To think, to even conceive in his mind that Amy would ever bow before something so loathsome as this queen! It was inconceivable! Why! Why would she do something like this!
As the events unfolded before Nephrite like a silent movie Nephrite started to realize Malachite's cunning. Cruel ambitions man, Amy must have had no idea at all about how she was used. What Nephrite realized when he glimpsed the triumph in Malachite's steel eyes was that he was outwitted. To go head to head with Malachite in power was almost madness, in wit, it seemed too. He felt defeated. But still, the question remained, why did Amy do this? Of course Malachite played a hand in it, he was pulling the strings, but even he needed to give Amy a reason to consent so willingly to something like this.
Nephrite thought his question answered when he saw anger in Amy's eyes. She looked up straight at Queen Beryl and he realized, she wanted to go down to earth, she wanted to fight and she wanted to kill. If it was anyone else, he would not have blamed them. When the kingdom abandoned him all that time ago, he was glad to go and fight them, vengeance was on his mind. Why did he think that vengeance would not consume Amy like it did the rest of them? He had believed Amy too good for vengeance, too pure. That was where he was wrong and where Malachite saw through her deeper then he did.
The queen was speaking again, she was calling upon her old argument that sending Zoicite down to earth was unacceptable. Nephrite missed his chance and he didn't care. He had wanted Earth so he could be happy together with Amy. Now, he was almost sure that he lost her. She served officially under Malachite now, he commanded her. Furthermore, Nephrite was sure she would follow him just like she did just now because Malachite gave her something he himself failed to: a chance at vengeance that Nephrite didn't even know she had wanted. As for love, he had given her love but he had a bad feeling that Malachite was willing to give that to her too. It was just a feeling, a hunch, just because she was so much like Zoicite.
'But she is not Zoicite! Malachite, whatever you think you feel, you will only break her heart.'
Unnoticed by all, Nephrite left the gathering, there was nothing left for him to say. Malachite presented a lovely argument, Amy is a lovely bait to keep Zoicite occupied and Nephrite was sure Beryl would love to see the former scout suffer, even if she was on their side now. Malachite had the planet in the bag, all he had left to do was give up.
He stood with his troops ready to attack, just waiting for the last signal to move out. His mind should have been on the battle, but it wasn't. Instead, it was back on the face of the beautiful blue haired, blue eyed woman whom he was sure now, he loved. Amy, he could remember her image as he saw her just that morning. Sleeping so peacefully in his bed, so lovely, so desirable, then, when he was sure she was his. No matter how hopeless it seemed, he did not want to abandon that vision. More startling then the desire though, was the worry. His will to fight for her was not motivated purely by selfish desire.
'He will break your heart.' That was what truly motivated him. Somehow, even if not with him, he just wanted Amy to be happy. Not with him and unhappy though, he couldn't, wouldn't allow that to happen!
Back on Earth, a certain someone was preoccupied with certain things too. Lita took Darien's words to heart and avoided being spotted in the open by anyone. She went out as a sailor scout only hiding and running constantly. Darien's account of Artemis' and Luna's power highly disturbed her and it was only half of her worries. In the time when they were dealing with the missing Amy and the suicide mission into the heart of the negaverce there were seven reports of missing people. Lita couldn't possibly know if those missing people were the holders of the seven crystals, but since there was no sighting of the negaverce, she could only guess that they were. If only Amy was here, she could find out more about those victims, unfortunately, Amy's disappearance was what started this whole thing.
As it was, Lita was stuck with her portable laptop sitting in a café wearing poor disguise and quickly scanning the latest news on the internet. That was her only, and best bet to find out if anything out of the ordinary was happening. The only things she kept coming across was strange weather patterns occurring all over the world, there was a change in the cycle of the tides and apparently heavenly bodies were being realigned. All of this was causing a panic all over the globe, humans, as ignorant as they were, couldn't stay completely blind.
'Wish that they could!' there was only one good thing about the ever-increasing global panic, it was easier to get lost in it.
Lita typed in the next keyword and just then her connection was interrupted. She could feel her heart jump, it was probably nothing. She couldn't hope wireless connections to be very secure, but at the same time, it could be very dangerous. In her situation, she would not take a risk, she remembered how good both Luna and Artemis were with computers. Looking around not to be suspicious she spotted what she was searching for.
Artemis was no where to be seen, he was a little more distinguishable in the crowd and perhaps smartly chose to stay out of it. A few tables down Luna was sitting at a table sipping a drink. Lita quickly dropped her eyes back to the screen and to keep her act up tried refreshing the page a few times never hoping it to come back online. If Luna was out in the open then they didn't expect her to know about them yet. Pretending that she got frustrated with the connection Lita stood calmly paying for the drink she never finished and started to walk away at a leisurely pace.
She could feel eyes on her back. 'Stay calm, don't show that anything is wrong!' she needed to seem as natural as she could. She knew that when she rounds the corner Luna would stand up to follow her. Lita had two options. She could turn into a really busy street and try to get lost in it, she didn't think the guardians would cause a commotion in public. They would not want casualties, they would want to get her alone. Or she could transform the moment she turned the corner and take Luna by surprise, perhaps even taking her out. The first choice was more sensible because she could not forget that Artemis could be anywhere and watching her. On the other hand, she might not get a chance like this again.
She moved into the crowd. Tokyo was always a busy city, especially when there was excitement amongst people, normally, a person would be easily lost in a crowd like this. Unfortunately for her, Lita was tall and stood out in the crowd, further-more, the eyes watching her would not be easily distracted. She knew she was still being followed.
'Artemis must not be below with Luna' Lita caught a glimpse of her, Luna was fallowing her even when she could not see her in the crowd, Artemis was guiding her.
'When rats are chased, they run down, dogs run straight and cats run up…' Where would a cat perch himself to watch his pray? 'Don't look up!' she could not afford to give herself away by a careless peak searching for someone she should not know was there. 'I'm like a rat.' Lita spotted the entrance to the subway station and went straight for it. Below the ground, where he could not see her. She sped up just a little, nothing special about that either, in this crowd she could navigate better then Luna and she needed a head-start.
She broke into a spring the moment she was sure neither Artemis nor Luna could see her. Thank goodness for the complicated underground passageways, she could hide here! She ran until she spotted a place where she could not be seen and from where she could see the entrance clearly.
"Jupiter star power!" she transformed quickly and the moment she was done she crouched behind the corner watching the entrance and the swarms of people for the bright yellow and black dress.
'Careful now, don't let her sense you…' she planted her little bag out of sight, if she lost, hopefully they would not find it here. 'Just a little closer…' she could not have Artemis spot the fight, it had to be sudden and quick. A surprise attack like this was incredibly low, this was not how the scouts were taught to fight, but this wasn't a fight. She was a haunted mouse ran into a corner, if she messed it up, she didn't stand a chance.
'There will be casualties!' her heart clenched in fear, was she really going to kill people! She was trembling, she was afraid but she didn't want to die for them.
"Jupiter thunder- CRASH!" she closed her eyes concentrating everything in the momentary attack. She had to take out everything and she had to do it instantly, she could not have Artemis alerted.
"Aaah!" Luna screamed. She was not dead, with a painful looking crash she was slammed into a wall. The electricity paralyzed her.
More out of panic then any conscious thought Lita moved. From the outside she looked mad, angry and determined, on the inside she was barely thinking from how scared she was. Not for her life, never that during a fight, simply scared of what she was actually doing. Once stunned, Luna was no fighter. She might've been a powerful and intelligent spell caster, but she was no warrior. Lita relied on her strength and speed and fighting skill to take her out. Goodness! It was actually working. When her fist and her kick hit home and met no resistance, her heart flipped, she was actually doing it!
Lita saw blood, Luna was like a rag doll to push around when it came to physical strength. It probably looked like Lita was beating down on her but she did not dare ease up her assault for a moment. She could not risk another lightning attack so close to the entrance and she was afraid of what Luna might be able to do if for at least a moment she would be allowed to get her bearings.
"Aaaaaaah!" the cat woman got her bearings enough to scream covering her face with her arms. Lita felt sick, blood! Blood was too real! Why couldn't Luna turn into a pile of ash, or sand, or just disintegrate into moondust! Why did she have to bleed? Why did she have to look like a human, just like the old fights? She couldn't fight till death like this!
"Ugh!" something slammed Lita in the back and not waiting to see what it was she just jumped up and ran as fast as she could. There was another exit! She failed after all, she never finished her! She ran as fast as her legs could carry her forgetting about all warriors pride. It wasn't really Artemis she was running from, she was proud enough to face him. She was running from the blood staining the cement floor of the subway station. When was the last time she cried after a fight!
"Crescent saber FLASH!" (this is an invented attack, I don't know anything about Artemis' and Luna's abilities in their human forms). Lita jumped, the shockwaved from the attack that crashed where she was a moment ago knocking her off her feet.
As much as she tried to scramble to her feet as fast as she could, it was not fast enough. Two more golden shining crescent-shaped spinning blades, like boomerangs came slicing through the air almost instantly. "AAAAAaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!" she clenched her eyes ready to be sliced in half.
With a near-life-saving swoosh and a crash just behind her Lita felt herself airborne. The wind was knocked out of her as she doubled over the hard gauntlet on a powerful arm as that arm yanked her from the place she has been just a moment ago. Every time Serena was snatched right from under attack it looked lovely and stylish, smooth, perfect and romantic. When Lita was snatched so abruptly off the ground, the pull winded her so much that she retched her guts out on the roof the moment she was set down.
She stumbled up trying to establish a foothold, but there was no need. The entrance to the subway station was a gaping dark hole and no one was coming out of it. Even for a guardian on a mission, a fanatically loyal guardian, there were still some things more important then duty.
Lita's legs felt shaky as she walked over to the edge of the roof. Falling to her knees she folded her arms and cried silently. More like shivered repeatedly with her gloves soaking the occasional tear that sipped out from her clenched eyes. It was just shock, reality hit hard when it did. What would she not give now for the stability and comfort and a sense of fanatical, comic-book, hero-style purpose that the guardians gave them before. She almost wanted the feeling of invincibility, the belief that they could not loose because they were the force of good, the romance of battles that ended in their victories.
The fairy-tale ended for her. It ended the moment she was alone, her friends were dead, they were actually dead and just now she nearly died. She actually nearly died! Suddenly, this fourteen-year old girl didn't feel like a super-hero at all.
"They'll be busy for a while, you must've messed Luna up pretty badly for him not to follow you." After they were sure there was not going to be any further fighting Lita and Darien returned to her apartment.
"Shouldn't I go back after the bag?" there was always a possibility that they didn't follow her because they found it where she hid it.
Darrien shook his head. "With luck, they will think that you still have it, for now, we will pretend that you do. Then perhaps we can pay a random bystander to look for it and carry it out if it's still there."
"Whenever they open the subway station again you mean." The news reported the incident as a terrorist attack by an unknown group for an unknown purpose. No demands made. Perhaps though, if her box was found after all, she just might make a phony demand to get it back. Lita could not bare to hurt anyone else, she knew that the image of the people, their names in the obituaries, the death count was still making her ill. Or was it the fact that she didn't have the transformation stick any more that was making her sick?
Darien nodded. "We shouldn't stay here, you know. Vengeance can be as good a motivations as duty."
Lita agreed. She had not intended to go back to this apartment. She was not at all surprised to find it in shambles when they returned, but when she was sick up on that roof, there really was no where for them to go.
"Darien…" she started, but hesitated. She has thought of this for a while. She has thought of this since they returned actually and what she came up with was that she couldn't do this alone. The fighting was not over. The war, it seemed, was just beginning and she couldn't fight alone.
"Yeah?" was he thinking the same thing? Their eyes met for a moment, a moment of hesitation and uncertainty and then a moment of truth.
"Will you stay with me?" she swallowed, there, she did it, she asked Darien of all people for help because she couldn't do it alone.
He looked startled, was startled. He was so confused, all the memories, everything that was happening, he couldn't trust another person to be near him. It was just not his style. "Sorry kid, I work al…"
Even before he finished Lita slapped him across the face completely surprising him in both that she would do something as uncontrolled as this and that she would actually manage to hit him.
"Don't say it! You can't!" Darien stared at the strong, powerful, independent Sailor Jupiter. "You can't leave me alone, you can't because I have no one else. You have no one else either and you don't want to leave me. But most of all, you can't leave me because I'm weak, I'm alone, and I'm scared." She choked on every word she said, they didn't want to come out. Those words were not her words. Those words were the words of a scared fourteen year old little girl, not a fighter for the good of the universe. Those words sounded so weak in Lita's ears that she was ashamed to say them. In fact, she was probably very strong to say them. She was so weak that she was strong, so ashamed to speak that when she said it all, she was proud that she managed to say anything at all.
"Lita…." There was nothing that could melt a man's heart like a strong woman in distress. If she had known that, perhaps she would have tried to use that on purpose to manipulate them, or maybe not. Maybe it would not have worked if she had planned it. As it was, it was so spontaneous, so unexpected, that it just had to work.
Darien let out a deep sigh, he was the one whom she wanted to rely on, who had to be strong for her, of whom she demanded to take charge but somehow, her request made him feel weaker.
"Yeah, I'll stay." Maybe he would, just because she was right, he didn't want to be alone either. If he could trust her, then maybe having her around when he is confused would be ok after all. It should be ok, so long as she stayed as confused as he was.
Purely upon impulse Lita wrapped her arms around Darien's form from behind leaning her face against his strong back. There was nothing at all romantic about their situation, or their non-conservative hug. There was something hopeless and desperate in the scene. His back, it was so strong, he was just the support that she needed to reassure her, even if he didn't return her hug, there was an understanding in that he didn't push her away. His was not a negative reaction, it was passive acceptance, a comfortable silence. Maybe, they would be friends after all. From now on though, they were partners. They would fight together, or something like that.
AN: Ah yes, finally finished this chapter. It really, really, really took me a very long time and I'm sorry about that. Well, you know the routine, reviews make me happy. You never know, if I get a very large number of them at once, perhaps I'll update again before I loose inspiration for this fandome again. I realize that as this fic progresses, Amy becomes more and more OOC and all canon freaks who hate me, feel free to flame of course, maybe I'll even listen to you. Just a note thought, it's the environment and the situation she's in that's causing the psychotic change, if everything was back to normal and ok again, she would have been more like her usual self, though no one can be the same after an experience like this.
On another note, it's 2 am in the morning and I have a biology exam in exactly seven hours and I haven't quite started to study for it. I couldn't concentrate on it until I finished this so appreciate my sacrifice and tell me that you do because it's been really, really hard to write Sailor Moon fics lately.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter by the way, it may seem like I don't care or don't respond to your reviews, but really, your reviews to matter, if I didn't have so many reviews for this fic, I would not have updated it at all, gave up on it long ago because of the lack of inspiration, so thank you all. Till next time!
