"Please don't leave, you're still hurt!"

"I need to hurry so I can warn him."

"But if you were to go in that condition…"

"Petz, please-."

"If something were to happen to you.."

"I have to go. Prince Demande is my only brother."

"But-"

"Don't worry, once things are settled, I'll come back here. Please hold onto my jacket until then."

"Saphir-sama..

Memories of a distant past echoed through Saphir's mind as if only to remind him of a future that could never be. With no destination in mind, he roamed through streets of Juuban, still crowded with noisy pedestrians, feeling completely hopeless on what to do. He couldn't have been more than 20 feet away from Petz when he saw her exit her building, but she was so enthralled with the man on her arm that she didn't even so much as shoot a glance in his direction.

'It shouldn't matter.' He tried to keep telling himself. 'The fact that she's well and happy should be all that's important.

But it wasn't helping at all. Jealousy, a feeling that had never been felt before, gnawed at his heart adding to the uncontrollable anger he was feeling for his brother. The dark energy from the Jakokusuishou surged inside of him, sending chills all throughout his body. Something needed to be done before he could potentially hurt someone in the same way he had Demande, but was unsure about where to go or what to do.

A neon sign lit up in the corner of his eye that caught his attention. It was the sign to the bar that he and Demande had visited just the other night. Saphir recalled the feeling the alcohol had given him and came to the conclusion that it could provide the temporary relief he was in need of.

When he walked inside, he noticed the bar wasn't as crowded as it had been those few days ago. There was plenty of seating both at the tables and the bar area where he took a seat on one of the stools and patiently waited for the bartender while cold sweat dripped down his temple.

"What'll it be?" a friendly voice asked him.

"Whatever you recommend for someone who's having a horrible evening." He replied without making eye contact.

"Sorry to hear that, how about I start you off with something to warm you up from the chilly weather outside?" The bartender offered.

"Sure." Saphir said indifferently while fidgeting in his seat.

The bartender presented him with a white flask that had steam escaping from the top, poured the hot contents it contained into a small cup and handed it to Saphir while placing the flask on the counter in front of him for refilling.

Saphir placed the cup warily to his lips, not knowing that there were alcoholic beverages that were served in such warm temperatures. He took a sip of the liquid and winced when it was hotter than anticipated.

The bartender took notice of his confusion.

"If I may make a suggestion sir since this must be your first time drinking hot sake, it's best to down it all in one gulp."

Saphir gave a nod and did just as he suggested.

His throat felt as if it were on fire for a split second, causing him to cough. It didn't have much of a taste, however, he didn't know if it was supposed to be that way or if he just was incapable of being able to taste anything at that moment with how he felt. He poured himself another drink and repeated the action, then another, then another. In less than 10 minutes he had already finished the flask by himself yet didn't feel any different other than a warmer body temperature.

"Can I get refill?" he gestured, holding up the empty flask.

"No problem." He replied.

The bartender returned with a new bottle and soon enough, Saphir emptied it's contents once again. The warmth felt throughout his body, was soothing, but he wasn't even remotely close to feeling a buzz.

"Need another?" the bartender asked.

"I'll actually have a brandy this time." Saphir requested.

The bartender nodded in acknowledgement then, brought it to him.

He gulped it down and listened to the calming lounge music that was playing in the background before letting his mind wander off. For the first time since their arrival, he started to feel homesickness for Nemesis. Things had been so much less complicated back when he was unaware of his feelings for her. The life on Earth that had held so many wonders and opportunities seemed to have lost all of it's appeal. He had always imagined that one day, he and Petz would eventually reunite and start a life together while on the other hand his brother would eventually find himself a woman of his own; not the Queen, but a regular, Earth woman that could help guide him down the right path, a normal path.

Saphir sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He had to come to terms that the dream he had was unobtainable at this point and had to accept it for what it really was, just a dream. He took another sip from his glass, only to discovered that he had emptied all of it's contents as he preceded to flag down the bartender for another.

The as he down it once again, the euphoric effects of intoxication slowly started to overtake him as he finished the last drops of his glass and the pain he felt in his heart from Petz mixed with the betrayal he had felt from his brother started to lessen more and more as the minutes passed by. The bar was starting to bring in more customers, but didn't take notice of any of them as their voice became inaudible background noise.

However, a sudden drop of coin into the tip jar next to him brought him out of his daze when something dawned on him. He reached into his jacket pockets and to his horror, found that they were completely empty. Grabbing money was the last thing he had thought of when he stormed out in such a rush.

"Is there something the matter, sir?" the bartender asked noticing Saphir's look of panic.

"Yes." His hands felt clammy. "I don't know how to say this but I seem to have accidentally left my wallet at home…" he answered nervously.

The bartender eyed him suspiciously but still remained calm.

"Okay..do you have other people living with you?" the bartender questioned.

"I do, but-"

"And are they at your home where your wallet is?" the bartender asked interrupting him.

"Yes, but-"

Before Saphir could answer, the bartender brought him a shiny black phone that had a long, thin cord hanging off of it and placed it in front of him.

"No problem, just call up whoever it is and have them bring it up here." He said politely.

"No!" he called out raising his voice, taking the bartender aback. "I-I'm afraid I can't do that. Is there any way I can just bring the money up here tomorrow?" Having his brother see him like this was the last thing in the world he wanted right now.

The bartender sighed. "I'm sorry sir, I'm afraid it's against policy to do so. I don't want to have to do this but, if you can't come up with the money, I'm going to have to contact the authorities and let you work this out with them."

Saphir opened his mouth to speak, however, nothing came out as he could couldn't think of any excuses to get out of paying. With this, the bartender picked up the receiver and brought his finger to turn the rotary numbers on the phone to dial. As he placed the receiver up to his ear, a voice spoke up in the space next him,

"I believe we can help with that."

Both Saphir and the bartender looked up to two women that neither of them had noticed come in. They were the women Demande and Saphir met there just days before, Yukiko and Natsumi.

Yukiko smiled at him deviously with satisfaction, "Looks like you'll be having that drink with us after all."

Left without any other options, Saphir reluctantly accepted her offer and joined them at their table.

Hours Later:

Saphir, now completely intoxicated, walked through the deserted alley ways trying to not to stumble on the curbs and cracks in the street. He was finally able to sneak away from Yukiko and her friends after being stuck inside with them for hours into the early morning. She had kept a watchful eye on him all night and made sure he was unable to stray away too long and, if it not her, than her obnoxious friend who continuously asked about his brother all night even though he was last thing he wanted to talk or think about. The more alcohol they force fed him, the more his inhibitions seem to go down. He was so drunk that he was only able to recall bits and pieces of what had happened, but what he did remember made him feel so disgusted with himself he shuddered.

The drunken vertigo began to set in before he quickly stepped aside in one of the alleyways to vomit. Besides the slight ache he felt from the violent clenches of his stomach, it was a much needed relief. His shaky legs made it hard to keep balance as he then slid down the wall he was holding onto so that he could sit down. As much as he hated to admit it, he wanted to return home but, was completely lost and had no idea where he was. Saphir knew he needed to get up and going before a cop spotted him but, his eyelids were so heavy that he moved further into the shadows as they fell shut. After what only felt like seconds later of calming solitude, he could hear footsteps coming towards him.

"I don't believe it…" a voice called out in what he thought was a dream.

He rustled in his sleep.

"It can't be…" it spoke again.

Consciousness was slowly returning to him.

"Master…Saphir-sama?"

Saphir opened his tired eyes. His vision was still very blurry and couldn't yet distinguish the figure standing over him.

A hand grabbed onto his shoulder, shaking him slightly.

"It is you, isn't it, Saphir?" it was a woman's voice.

After blinking several times, the image of the woman became clear. It was Berthier, the second youngest of the Spectre Sisters who wielded the power of dark water and ice, or at least had in the past. Although her clothing was different than the style she wore on Nemesis, she still wore her hair in the signature braid she always had.

'This is not good. Of all the times to run into any of them, why did it have to be now?' he thought in a panic.

"I'm sorry, you have the wrong person, we've never met before." Saphir tried to convince her.

She then bent down and was now eye level with him.

"Although your color has changed, there is no denying it, I would know you anywhere." She said.

Saphir turned to hide his face, but damage had already been done.

"How is this possible?" she asked in amazement.

Saphir hesitated with his answer.

"It's honestly too long of a story to tell on a cold evening in the dead of night." Saphir said as he looked around his surroundings for the first time with sober eyes.

She held out a hand to him, "You're right, let's get out of here, my shop's just a couple of streets down, we can talk there. The night air will help with the effects of the alcohol."

His eyes widened and she immediately answered, "I can smell it on your breath."

Hesitantly, he grabbed her hand and clumsily got to his feet.

They walked in silence together until they reached a building that was brightly colored with mannequins shown in the window display along with large photos of made up women.

'Beauty Quartette' was above the door in large, black calligraphy.

Berthier unlocked the door and let Saphir in to the dark, empty store. She motioned for him to follow her to the room in the very back.

When she turned on the lights, his eyes stung in pain momentarily but, once adjusted, saw they were in a room with a desk that had a computer on top of it. He took a seat in one of the chairs that was available while she grabbed two cups of water from the water jug that sat in the corner. When she handed it to him, he gulped it down realizing for the first time how dehydrated he was. When he noticed that she was staring at him, intently waiting for him to start talking, he took longer sips from his water cup as a way to buy time to carefully think about what all he should say to her. When the loud ticking of the wall clock became unbearable to listen to anymore, he finally made eye contact with her causing her to straighten her posture and lean in further.

"So…this is your shop?" was all he could say.

"Yes, partially. My sister's and I created this cosmetics line when we first began living on Earth and opened this store not too long ago. Normally we rotate who operates it, sometimes having two of us here running it at a time. It was actually supposed to be Petz here tonight but, I had to cover for her because she was….." Berthier paused and tried to pick her words more carefully. "She was busy. The paperwork took me longer than I had anticipated which is why I was out so late but, that ended up being most fortunate indeed." Berthier smiled at him.

"I don't understand, how you could help me after the way the Black Moon treated you and your sisters." Saphir said.

"Now, now, none of that was of your doing and besides, you had already worked out everything with Petz that…last time we saw you." She looked at him awestruck again. "How is it possible that you're here? The sailor senshi told us they saw you…" it pained her too much to finish the sentence.

"it's not important." Saphir said before trying to rush to his feet so that he could avoid the answer by escaping. "Thank you for helping me, but-" he started to raise himself out of his seat before Berthier immediately stood up and interjected, "Please, it's important to me!"

Saphir could see the desperation in those blue eyes of hers and slowly lowered back onto his chair.

He sighed, looked into his empty water cup and then to her.

"Alright." He then handed her the cup. "You mind getting me some more? This is going to take a while."

She smiled in relief, taking the cup.

He began to tell Berthier all about the events that had occurred back on Nemesis when he and his brother had woken up from the comatose state they had been in, completely revived. Describing how the palace was abandoned and wasting away unlike the last time they had seen it, narrowly escaping to this time before the entire planet withered away to nothing.

"I can't believe it." Berthier gasped. "It was a miracle the portal was still able to work after all that time. What happened when you and Prince Demande arrived to Earth?"

He told her a modified version of what occurred, leaving out the encounter with those men, having possession of the black crystal, and the gems carrying the life essence of Rubeus and Esmeraude. Besides starting university, Saphir revealed very little about his and his brother's personal life.

Berthier hung on to every word of his story, letting the cup of water she had gotten for herself go untouched.

After he finished the story, Berthier let out a sigh and said, "I knew it."

"Knew what?" he asked not knowing what she was talking about.

"I must apologize, the first thought that crossed my mind after I saw you was that maybe you had abandoned us all this time, leaving Petz alone." Her eyes started to water.

"If only…"she continued. "If only you had come sooner."

The sinking feeling had returned that he had tried so hard to distract himself from.

"I know." He said.

"You know?" Berthier asked, suddenly confused.

"I saw her earlier, with that man."

Berthier was now the one trying to avoid eye contact with Saphir.

"I see." Was all she could say before she continued, "It wasn't easy for her, losing you. After that last time she saw you, Petz became merely a shell of her former self. We, as her sister's did our best to try and help her cope with the loss, but we knew she would never fully recover from it. Our business seemed to provide the best means of distraction from it all as we all worked tirelessly towards building our cosmetics line which eventually became very successful." She gleamed with pride when finishing.

"It was in those humble beginnings though, when we spent all those hours together planning, laughing, crying, getting to truly know each other for the first time that were the best for me. When the cosmetics line began to do incredibly well, bringing in revenue like you couldn't imagine, we were eventually able to open up more than one store which was great..except it began to take time away from each other. As time passed, Koan, Calaveras and myself had eventually found love of our own. The problem was that we all felt guilty for this since Petz lost the one she had loved and was still in mourning.

Saphir continued to listen.

"Eventually both Koan and I moved out of the apartment we all shared when we first came here, each finding our own place. Calveras, who was always the closest with Petz, wanted to stay with her and tried to convince her to move into a nicer place with how much money we were making. She refused to, however, always holding onto the possibility of you coming back to her someday. After many failed attempts at convincing her to move on, it seemed like she was never going to get over you and find happiness ever again. Our busy lives prevented us from having that same closeness we had before, which we knew weren't helping matters with her. That is until we held the launch party for the newest store we opened; the one we're sitting in right now. It was there when she met Keisuke."

His insides couldn't help but churn at the mention of the man's name.

"All of our boyfriends came out to support us among all the many customers. Calaveres's boyfriend brought a friend with him who was looking for a gift to surprise his mother for her birthday. We insisted for Petz to be the one to help him out with the gift, they hit it off, and it went from there. To be honest, it was in all of our intentions for this to happen yet were all surprised it had actually worked. As her and Keisuke started to develop a relationship, she finally seemed happy again, like how she was when she first came here. We were all just glad we finally had our sister back."

Saphir sat in silence staring down at his feet.

"I'm so sorry. I feel so responsible for this state you're in right now, if I had known there was a chance you'd still be alive, I…" tears started to fall down her cheeks.

Saphir avoided looking at her feeling bad for being responsible for her crying. The noise of a telephone reciver being lifted up, brought it back before she said, "Don't worry, this can all be made right again." Berthier began to dial a phone number.

Before she was able to complete the call, Saphir grabbed the receiver away from her and placed it back down.

She looked at him in shock. "Why did you that?"

"I had no idea she was in such pain because of me."

"But you're here now, everything is going to be okay now for both of you. Nature can finally take it's course." She pleaded with him.

"No, I can't guarantee that." He thought of the possible outcomes for what would happen to him if Sailor Moon or her guardians ever found out about them harboring the Jakokusuishou. If Petz were to have to go through what she went through all over again, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself, as her happiness was the most important thing to him, even if it was at the cost of his own.

"What do you mean?" she asked with suspicion.

"I mean that I need your word that you will keep our meeting a secret for the time being."

She looked back at him in bewilderment.

"Please, just trust me on this. It's what I think is best for now." He said with a sullen expression.

"Are you sure?" she asked him.

He simply nodded. "I'm sure."

Tears started to pour down once again, "If only you had come just three months sooner. Before the night of that party."

A sigh let out as his heart sank even further. "Three months, huh."

That was around the time he and his brother had arrived on Earth. If only he would've gone to see her immediately, it would be him taking her on that date tonight.

"It's getting pretty late, I must be getting back now while I'm starting to feel better." Saphir then said.

"Let me walk you back so I can be sure you made it home safely." She replied.

"No." he said flatly. His brother could be waiting for him to come home and couldn't risk the chance of them being spotted together. Besides, he didn't think it'd be wise to let Berthier know where he lived.

"Well, then how about walking me to my place to make sure I get home safely at least? It's only a couple of blocks away and it'll give us a little more time to chat before we part ways." She smiled.

"Alright." Saphir smiled back to her for the first time.

Berthier checked the front entrance to make sure she had locked it correctly before she led him in the direction of her home.

They walked down the street in an awkward silence at first.

"It's funny." Berthier giggled. "I think this is the first time we've spoken more than two words to each other, yet I feel such a kinship to you since that day you came to us. "

"I know what you mean." Saphir replied. "We're all that's left of our planet, our clan. You and your sisters made me realize in those last hours of my life, that I had a family aside from my brother. If only the lives we had back then hadn't blinded us to that."

Berthier's expression softened at the mention of his brother with her cheeks gaining a rosy color.

"How is Prince Demande dealing with it all? I can imagine it must have been very difficult, in fact, the most difficult to leave his former life behind."

Saphir had almost forgotten what drove him out into the night in the first place and that he was still mad at his brother. If Berthier finds out that there is a connection with Sailor moon's civilian form and Prince Demande's disguised self then she might get suspicious of his motives and reveal his identity to the senshi. He needed to reveal as little as possible about him.

"It's been an adjustment for both of us but, were just trying to live quiet lives now." he replied.

"I'm glad for both of you. It's a blessing that we were all granted this second chance. The Jakoquishisou was such an evil and dangerous thing and I'm glad that both it and Wiseman are gone forever."

Saphir suddenly stopped walking, "Wiseman. He was able to be defeated then?"

"You mean you still don't know? Sailor Moon was able to revert Black Lady back into Chibi-Usa, you know, the Rabbit, and combined the power of their Guizuishou's to defeat the Death Phantom. Even more threats have troubled Earth's safety since then but, Sailor Moon has been able to defeat them all and grows stronger each time; she is invincible. It's thanks to her that we can live normal, happy lives."

Even though it was assumed that Wiseman was dead and gone, it was still a weight off his shoulders to finally have confirmation on it.

"Oh, we're here now." Berthier announced.

They stopped in front of an apartment building that Saphir bet carried much more expensive and spacious apartments than the one they lived in. They both lingered in front of the entrance, unable to come up with the last words to say to one another.

"Thank you for helping me earlier, I really mean it. If you hadn't of come along, this night would have probably taken a turn for the worse for me." Saphir said.

"Is this really what you want?" she asked.

"It's not what's best for me, but what's best for Petz." He replied.

"Will we ever see you again?" she asked with a somber tone.

"Perhaps. Who knows, one day you might just have a customer that bears a familiar face come into your shop in need of a new cologne" He smiled.

Berthier giggled, "I hope that day will come soon."

She bid him a farewell and goodnight before walking inside, leaving Saphir to make the long, dreadful walk home.

30 minutes later:

It was a quarter of 3 when Saphir quietly walked back inside their apartment. He was hoping that he'd be able to go straight into his bedroom without running into Demande, however, the living room that was lit with a single lamp said otherwise. Demande had fallen asleep on the couch, still wearing his day clothes and in sitting position. The creaking of the door jerked him awake, bringing his tired eyes slowly onto Saphir.

"Brother, you're home, I'm so glad." Demande leapt to his feet and turned on the main light.

"I'm so sorry about everything brother, I promise to set everything right. If you want me to, I'll quit the librarian job and never see her again. We'll move and go somewhere else, where we can be sure to never be found out by any of them." Demande belted out sounding rehearsed.

But without acknowledging him in return, Saphir simpley removed his jacket and placed it on the coat rack next to the front door.

Demande moved even closer towards him and made another attempt of trying to get a response from his clearly agitated brother.

"We could go to Okinawa and live close to the ocean which is supposedly the exact same color as the sky with white, sanded beaches unlike anything we've ever seen."

Saphir continued to ignore him.

"No, wait, we could go to Europe, I've read many things about it in the geography books in the library. We'll be thousands of miles away from here, and I wouldn't even be against you bringing Petz with us-"

Saphir finally turn to face him, giving him a look that silenced him. The pathetic attempts on trying to win back his forgiveness was making him nauseous again. "Not tonight. Right now I need to be alone and think about things, so I ask that you not press further more on this matter until I'm ready discuss it."

With the main light turned on and Saphir's removal of his jacket, Demande couldn't help but notice the red blotches that were covering Saphir's neck causing him to look alarmed.

Saphir realized what he was looking at and covered them with his hand ashamed at what he must be thinking. His now reddened face, looked to the ground before he walked to his room without saying another word as he calmly shut the door behind him.

Demande stood there with his mouth still halfway open trying to contemplate what he just saw. Those marks...what did he do while he was out there? Recalling the look of humiliation in his brother's face that he had never seen before, he decided that it'd be better for him not to ask him about it as he was sure Saphir wouldn't want him to know. It would be the best thing to just follow Saphir's terms and as an extra precaution, avoid seeking out Usagi at school for a while. Hopefully with this, he'd be able to win back his brother's trust again.

The clock chimed from across the room reminding him of the few hours left for him to rest before he had to be at work, after he had been out searching for Saphir all night.

'This is going to be the longest day of my life' he groaned.