Disclaimer: I don't own sailor moon.

Chapter four

Mina woke to feel someone drawing a damp cloth across her forehead. she blinked owlishly as light from somewhere streamed into her eyes.

" Hello there, how are you feeling?" Lita's voice was soft.

" Like I've been trapped in some dark spot for the last couple of days and am finally seeing the light again." Mina replied.

" That might be because you have been trapped in a dark spot for the last couple of days. Hiding under that dilapidated old cart would have stopped you from seeing any of the sunlight." Lita said.

" Oh my gosh, Serena! Where is she? I have to see her!" Mina said, suddenly remembering why she was there and why she was only just seeing daylight for the first time in the last couple of days.

"She's right next to you." Lita said, pointing to the other bed that occupied the room.

" Is she alright?" Mina asked hesitantly.

" At the moment she's doing fine. She's very strong and won't give into death without a fight." Lita said.

" At the moment?"

" She's been having a bit of a rough time of it. Her back was pretty badly infected and we had to do some pretty extensive work to get her in a stable condition. We're not sure that she's out of danger yet. If I had to guess I would say she's got a lot to go through yet before she's back to her normal self."

" Why are you doing this for us?" Mina asked, hopping out of bed to pad across to Serena.

" Wouldn't you help someone who was in need of help?" Lita sounded expectant.

"Yes, but you're not me. And I got the feeling that you had been looking for us." Mina said, checking Serena's temperature by placing a hand to her forehead.

" Astute aren't you?" A new voice asked.

Kunzite walked into the room and stood at the foot of Serena's bed.

" Only with great effort." Mina said, looking up at him.

Kunzite and Lita threw their heads back and roared with laughter. Mina looked at them for a moment then shrugged and went back to tending Serena. Her temperature was up and her nightgown was plastered to her body. Mina pulled it away from her skin gently, so she didn't stretch it across her back. She was lying on her side so that her back didn't touch the bed in any way, with a rolled up blanket supporting her. Mina stood up and went round the other side of the bed to have a look at the damage and had to stifle a cry when she saw just how bad it was. Torn flesh had been sewn back into place as best as was possible, but there were still gaping gashes along her back and shoulders. Pus was oozing from some of them and the skin still present looked bruised and distorted. Mina looked up to find Kunzite and Lita looking at her with sympathy. " Has she woken up yet?" " Once, but it wasn't for very long, the pain made her pass out again." Lita said gently. Mina looked back down at Serena. She couldn't hold the tears that came to her eyes back and they fell down onto the pillowcase, next to Serena's head. She ached for her friend, for the pain she must be feeling, anytime she woke up. Her body shook with the force of her sympathy, forcing her to her knees.

Lita and Kunzite were at her side instantly, wrapping her in their arms and whispering soothing words into her ear. She couldn't control the force of her sobs, or stop the screams that emanated from her mouth. She couldn't stop blaming herself for what had happened to Serena. She felt the hard chest as Kunzite picked her up, still screaming and crying, and carried her over to a chair in the corner of the room. She fought him, beating her fists against his chest and kicking her feet, but he held onto her tightly. He sat her in his lap, and cradled her still fighting form against his body. She eventually calmed down enough to stop fighting him, but she still cried. The tears wouldn't stop. It wasn't until she heard a soft crooning in her ear that she even became aware of her surroundings again. It was a child's lullaby, a song to sooth fears and erase hurts. Kunzite and Lita were singing to her. And amazingly, Serena as well. Lita was sitting by her bed, gently stroking the hair from her face, while Kunzite sat with Mina in his lap, singing into her ear. She closed her eyes and listened to the words, let the sooth away the pain as they were meant to do and let them carry her into sleep.

"Poor little thing!" Amy said looking down on Mina.

She and the others had been drawn from their chores by Minas screams, and now stood around in the room checking everything was all right.

" Whose idea was the lullaby?" Rei asked.

" Kunzites." Lita said.

" Nice thought." Amy said, impressed. " I'm glad it worked."

" So am I." Kunzite said, bending down to brush the hairs at Mina's temple.

"You going soft on us Kunzite?" Rei asked.

" He was soft to begin with. He just didn't let you women see it, cause you would have been all over him." Jadeite said.

" What's wrong with a girl wanting a guy to treat her gently?" Amy asked.

" Nothing, you just can't expect it to come easily to us." Zoicite said.

Mina stirred in the bed and turned over, and they all decided it was about time they left and went back to work. Kunzite elected to stay for the next watch as Lita had already done hers. For the last couple of days they had all been taking it in turns to watch the two to make sure they weren't alone when they woke up.

" How are they doing?" Amy asked, looking up from sharpening a blade when Kunzite came down the stairs into the kitchen to swap shifts with Jadeite.

" The little one's still not woken up again, and Mina's stirred a couple of times but not woken yet."

" She must have got quite a shock when she saw how bad little Serena's back was." Lita said, walking in from outside.

" I think it was more from the fact that she felt she had failed the little one in some way. She kept on murmuring, I'm sorry into my shirt." Kunzite said, sitting at the table.

" Sorry? I wonder why?" Lita said, sorting through a basket of vegetables.

" You'll have to ask when she wakes up." Amy said.

" How's the little ones back healing?" Amy asked.

" It's healing better than I had hoped. It'll look terrible when she's fully healed, but there's nothing I can do about that." Lita said.

" Will she have any restricted movement?" Kunzite asked.

" She will definitely have some, but I couldn't even begin to guess how much." Lita replied.

" Have you found any of the markings yet?"

" I'm looking, but no, I haven't found any markings yet."

" Do you think it's possible for this to be the wrong girl?" Kunzite asked.

" No, she has her family birthmark. Mole on the inside of her right wrist. Unmistakable and completely impossible to copy. Only a member of her family would have one." Lita said.

" Why impossible to copy?" Amy asked.

" The mole is the exact same size and in the exact same place on every member of the family. But the thing is it's not completely a circle, nor is it completely any other shape." Lita said.

" Weird!" Amy said.

As was usual the Lords met in the middle of a large party, thrown to disguise their dealings with each other. During the course of the ball, all Lords would slip away and meet in one of the rooms, allocated before the event so that all members were aware of the arrangements. Tonight's ball was a debutante ball, held by Lord Darien, for his charge Rini, who at 14 was beautiful, smart and completely unaffected by her protector's wealth and title. The room allocated to the Lords was a small study off the main hallway. More than twenty men filled it when Lord Darien entered and motioned for them to sit. Servants offered cigars around, then left, shutting the door firmly behind them.

" Now gentlemen, that we are alone, shall we get down to business?" Lord Darien asked.

" Is it true that the girls has been found by the rebels?"

" It is." one Lord said, leaning forwards in his chair.

" How do we know this?" Lord Darien asked.

" Well we have been unable to find her, and so must assume she has been picked up by the rebels." Another Lord said.

" But we have no solid proof?"

" None as yet."

" So why have the searches been called off?"

" There is no point in searching any more. We have turned this city upside down in search of the girl and found nothing." A Lord at the back said harshly.

" Then we must search outside this city." Lord Darien said coldly.

" There is no point. Grivock got nothing out of her in the last four years, why would we get anything out of her now?"

" Because there's still the chance that she will remember, and if she' is in the hands of the rebels, then she's going to tell them isn't she?" Lord Darien said sarcastically. There was a general murmuring around the room.

" I suggest you all have your men start searching outside the city." Lord Darien said before turning on his heel and stalking out the door, leaving it open as a sign for the Lords to leave the room.