A/N: Starting from this chapter, artwork will be added on the AO3 version of this fic. Check out the awesome artworks by teamvanessacloud over there, guys!
~-0-~
Chapter 2
Despite their suspicions about the little café, it was hardly enough to keep Zen away from the delicious baked goods and excellent drinks. Besides, they were residing in Crystal Tokyo right now, and other cafés might've already caught wind of who were former rebels and needed constant supervision.
Not that Jun blamed Zen. He himself had already visited Old Oak Tree a couple of times within the last two weeks.
He was so accustomed to the bubbly mask on Minako's face that the day he witnessed it shatter came as a complete shock to him.
The rain came out of nowhere and Old Oak Tree was just around the corner.
"Good afternoon, Jun-chan!" Minako chirped from the register. She peered through the window. "Big rain, eh?"
"To think that the weather forecast said it was supposed to be clear skies today," Jun sighed.
Minako shrugged. "At least that's one thing that would never change."
Jun raised an eyebrow at her.
"Always assume the weather forecast is lying to you," Minako replied with a wink, causing Jun to laugh.
"I suppose I can't argue against that."
"So … would you like anything while you wait?" Minako asked. "We have your favorite apple cinnamon cake today."
After ordering a slice of cake and a cup of coffee, Jun went over to a table near the window and took a seat.
He wasn't certain what caught his attention in the first place. By the time his mind registered that he was staring, the man with long platinum blond hair had already crossed the street. A soft jingle alerted Jun that the man had entered the café.
For some unknown reason, Jun's eyes flickered over to the counter, where Minako had been standing moments before. The platinum blond-haired man soon walked into Jun's line of sight. Though Jun was, by no means, a short man, he could tell that the man easily towered over him. The stranger wore a simple button down shirt and black slacks, yet Jun felt that there was nothing simple about him. Just his mere presence demanded attention.
Silver eyes narrowed ever so slightly when they met with Jun's gaze, and Jun thought he saw recognition flit across that indifferent gaze. Before he could be certain, however, the door to the kitchen swung open, and one long-haired blonde appeared, a bag of what Jun presumed to be coffee beans in her arms. The sunny expression on her face flickered when her eyes landed on the stranger.
The stranger looked towards Minako, and that was when Jun let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding.
"What are you doing here?" Minako demanded, her eyes on the stranger.
Her voice was low, and Jun had to strain his ears to hear what she was saying.
"When are you going to let me see him?" the man asked.
Minako's lips curved upwards into a smile as a steely glint appeared in her eyes. It was an expression that was both so out of place and well-suited on her that it caused a shiver to go down Jun's spine—it was a look that Jun hoped would never be directed towards himself.
"When you prove yourself to be trustworthy," she replied, her voice much calmer than her expression.
The answer caused the man to stay silent as Minako proceeded to prepare Jun's order. Jun almost thought he was going to silently stand there until Minako changed her answer.
Just as Minako passed by the stranger, however, the silver-eyed man grabbed her arm.
That is not a good idea.
Just as that thought flashed through his mind, the lights flickered, almost as if they were going to go out any second, and the door to the kitchen slammed open with a loud bang, causing Jun's eyes to snap over to the figure that appeared at the doorway.
The loud roar of thunder outside should've surprised Jun, but for some reason, it didn't, almost as if he'd anticipated it the moment the tall brunette appeared.
The stranger didn't so much as look at the brunette, opting to keep his eyes on Minako instead.
"Let go," Minako said, her voice soft but authoritative.
"You can't keep me away from him forever," the stranger said.
Minako's lips pulled into a derisive smile as she tilted her head to one side. She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Is that a challenge?" she asked, her voice poison-sweet.
The stranger laughed, a bitter tone that pierced Jun's eardrums and slashed a wound somewhere deep within him, though he had no reason why.
"Am I in a position where I can challenge you, Aino-san?" he asked, sarcasm lacing her surname. "Didn't you already destroy that possibility a thousand years ago? Didn't you and your sisters already burn every possible way back for me the day after I arrived at your Princess's doorstep?"
"Don't you dare blame this on me!" Minako hissed. "You know what you did. And need I remind you that you didn't do it once or twice, but three times!"
"Three?"
"... Fine. But don't act like twice is anything to laugh about. You're lucky we didn't—"
She abruptly stopped, her gaze flickering over to Jun as if she just remembered he was there.
The stranger followed her line of sight, and a slight frown appeared on his face. "Sit down, Jadeite."
As if in a haze, Jun followed his order.
To be honest, he couldn't even remember when he'd stood up. Maybe it was the moment when the stranger grabbed onto Minako's arm, but it felt more like the moment when the tall brunette appeared. Logic told him that he should be siding with Minako, but for a split second, he was ready to fight alongside the stranger.
He was in so much confusion that he didn't quite register when the man left. However, he did snap out of his stupor soon enough to catch the contemplative stare that tall brunette shot him before disappearing into the kitchen again.
Unfortunately, it took him until nighttime, when he was lying in bed, that something crossed his mind, something that he should've thought of earlier: Who was Jadeite?
~-0-~
To say he had been scared off by what happened at Old Oak Tree would be a lie, but he had to admit that he was both subconsciously and consciously avoiding that small shop for the next couple of weeks.
There were too many questions he had about what happened that day, but he doubted those who were involved would tell him anything even if he did ask.
He didn't immediately tell Zen what happened, though he didn't know why, and thankfully, he managed to rectify that mistake two days later, when the latter caught him staring off into the distance.
A light scowl appeared on Zen's face after he'd wheedled the full story out of Jun. "Well, we did notice something strange about the café in the first place."
Jun nodded. For a short moment, silence took over as the two young men reorganized their thoughts.
"He …" Jun said, causing Zen to look up at him. "That stranger … he called me 'Jadeite'."
Zen stared at him for a heartbeat before saying, "Sounds like a good name for you."
"I'm being serious," Jun said.
Zen shrugged. "So am I." He paused as if to choose the right words before saying in a soft voice, "It sounds … kind of familiar."
"It does," Jun replied. "I … didn't even realize he called me that name until I came home, almost as if I'm used to people calling me that name." He ran a hand through his hair. "Am I going nuts?"
"Well, that would be a bit anticlimactic, surviving the Great Freeze only to end up going insane," Zen answered, raising an eyebrow.
Jun rolled his eyes before leaning back into the couch he was sitting on. A frown appeared on his face when he took a closer look at Zen's face.
"What's wrong with you? You look like you haven't slept for days."
"That's because I haven't," Zen said offhandedly.
It wasn't the first time Jun had seen Zen stay up for nights, and the strawberry-blond usually managed to look impeccable despite the lack of sleep. But judging from the bags under Zen's eyes, this was probably one of the longest streaks.
"Why?"
As if to answer his question, a low screech came from Zen's bedroom. The strawberry-blond jumped up from his spot and rushed into the room. Confused, Jun got up and followed him.
That was when he noticed that Zen's room had become something that reminded Jun of those command centers in old time movies where they had multiple computer screens each displaying different things.
"What did you do to your room?" Jun asked.
"Shhhh …" Zen mumbled offhandedly as he concentrated on typing commands into the computer.
It looked like it would be a while, so Jun went out, grabbed a chair to sit on, and went back inside, careful to not tug on any cables or break anything.
After around thirty minutes, Zen let out a little cheer.
"Ha! Beat that, Mercury," he said, fist-pumping the air.
"Mercury? As in Sailor Mercury?" Jun asked, blinking at the screens in front of him.
Zen shrugged and rubbed his eyes. "I'm actually not sure if it's her, but I'd heard rumors that she's behind the intelligence and computer systems of Crystal Tokyo … or basically anywhere where they have bases, which is probably the whole world."
"So you're in a hack war with someone who may or may not be one of the guardians of the Queen? Why?" Jun asked, alarmed.
"They're spying on us anyway. Just thought it would be fair to return the favor and annoy them for a bit," Zen replied. "And it's not like I'm doing anything to them."
"We were part of the rebellion. They would see most of what we do as illegal. Not to mention hacking into government systems is probably still illegal in the first place," Jun said.
"Who told you I'm hacking into the government system?" Zen asked, casting him a look.
"You're not?"
"Of course not," Zen scoffed. "I'm bored, but it doesn't mean I need the Sailor Senshi breaking down my door yet."
"Thankfully," Jun replied wryly. After a pause, he asked, "Then what are you doing?"
Zen tilted his head to the right side, indicating the screen there.
"You're spying on Old Oak Tree?" Jun asked, surprised when he saw what was on the screen.
"Well, when you put it that way," Zen said.
"So you saw what happened that day?"
Zen frowned. "You mean when that stranger entered the café? No, unfortunately, the person on the other side blocked me at that moment—"
He stopped in his words, his eyes taking on a faraway look at that moment, almost as if something just dawned on him.
A thought flashed through Jun's mind, and he stared at Zen. "You don't think—?"
"You gotta be kidding me," Zen said, scrunching up his face. "Minako-san does not remind me of Sailor Mercury."
"That's not the point, Zen," Jun sighed.
"No, it is," Zen contradicted. "You were wondering if those girls at Old Oak Tree are the Sailor Senshi, weren't you? Judging from the way she held herself, I wouldn't be surprised if Minako-san was a Sailor Senshi, but she just doesn't seem like Sailor Mercury to me."
"Should that really be what we're concentrating on?" Jun asked.
"Okay, so maybe Mercury doesn't care that I've hacked into their system at Old Oak Tree and only blocks the connection when something she deems important happens," Zen said with a pout. "I'm guessing something happened during that confrontation between that guy and Minako-san that Mercury doesn't want us to know."
"That's … that's not really what I'm talking about either," Jun said, a bit exasperated.
"Then what are you talking about?" Zen asked.
"I'm—" Jun stopped and then sighed. "You know what? I don't even remember anymore now."
Zen snorted. "You worry too much."
"You don't worry enough. You always go into these things, thinking that you'll find a way to get out of trouble when the time calls for it, some way somehow," Jun grumbled.
"Cheer up and quit acting like my grandfather," Zen said, whacking him on the head with a notepad.
"When you stop acting like a child," Jun retorted, batting away the notepad when Zen attempted to whack him with it again. At that moment, he remembered what his worry was. "Why do you think the Sailor Senshi would set up a café though?"
"As a hobby?" Zen asked with a shrug. "It's right across from the search department anyway, so maybe it's easier for them to track former rebels that way?"
"Don't they have more important things to do?" Jun questioned with a frown.
Something just seemed off about the whole thing, though he couldn't put his finger on what. For some strange reason, the image of the silver-eyed stranger kept popping up in his mind, as if it were trying to nudge him in the right direction.
"Who knows?" Zen yawned. "I'm going to sleep for a while. If you want to spy on Minako-san—"
"Pray tell, why would I want to spy on her?" Jun asked.
Zen shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe you've developed stalker needs after getting attracted to her pretty looks."
"She's pretty, but she's not my type," Jun said with a frown.
Zen shrugged again. "Whatever. If you want to spy on Old Oak Tree, go ahead, but don't touch anything. Close the door on your way out."
"If you have that blaring screech signal thing, why didn't you get some sleep during the downtimes?" Jun asked.
Zen looked thoroughly offended. "Go to sleep while I'm at war? That's for the weak. Do I look like the weak?"
Jun finally rolled his eyes. "You literally just said you're going to sleep."
"That's because I now know that she hardly takes me seriously," Zen said, a tinge of annoyance in his voice. "A new battle plan has to be enacted and I can't do that until I get enough proper sleep."
Zen then shuffled over to the bed, crashed on it, and pulled the blanket over his head. Jun sighed and shook his head, hoping that his friend knew what he was doing and wouldn't bring the wrath of the Sailor Senshi down on all of them.
~-0-~
Autumn announced her arrival with the changing of colors of the leaves, but the heat of summer had yet to fall back. In fact, it seemed even warmer during daytime, though the nights were much cooler.
It had been months, and Jun had yet to receive any information from the search department. Surprisingly, when Jun brought this up in front of Zen, the latter didn't answer with something snarky. Then again, Zen still sported bags under his eyes.
"Perhaps you can go check with them," Zen had muttered something as he shoveled ramen into his mouth.
Jun momentarily wondered if Zen even knew what he was eating.
"Maybe there were too many people and they just didn't get to you yet. Or maybe they need more information," Zen said with a shrug as he wiped his mouth with a tissue and placed the ramen container on the table. "Sometimes, you just need to nag at people to get them to do their work."
Jun bit down on his tongue to avoid making another sarcastic comment about their "utopia". Instead, he peered at Zen.
"I thought you'd already figured out that they're not blocking you whenever nothing important is going on. Why do you still look like you're about to keel over and faint any second?"
Zen paused for a split second before he waved his hand. "I'm just working on a project. I'm fine."
Jun frowned and stared at him.
Picking up the chopstick wrapper, Zen crinkled it up before throwing it at Jun. "Stop looking at me like I'm about to die. You're not getting rid of me any time soon."
To be fair, Jun couldn't even be sure why he'd gotten so close with Zen. Everything seemed to fall into place so naturally that he hadn't even given it much thought. While Jun was friendly and polite with everyone, he knew he had trust issues that needed working out. However, he didn't even hesitate for a moment before saying "yes" when Zen offered to come with him to Crystal Tokyo and share an apartment. He couldn't remember the last person he'd placed so much trust into without a second thought.
He didn't think he was even this close to his family members.
But the possibility of Zen dying on him wasn't what Jun was worried about. Jun couldn't help but feel that Zen was hiding something, though he wasn't sure what.
"Now seriously, instead of staring at me, it's probably in your interest to go check up with the search department sooner than later later," Zen said before shuffling into the kitchen to throw out the leftover soup from the ramen and stopping any more questions that might come from Jun.
~-0-~
Surrrre, Zen. Checking with the search department would be oh so helpful.
Jun turned his head and gave the search department behind him the stink eye. Both the receptionist and the "specialist" had been utterly unhelpful and had given him no further information about his sister, only asking him to be patient and wait for another two weeks.
If he hadn't been patient, he would've burnt down the building.
Heaving a sigh, he waited for the light to turn to cross the street when the wooden sign bearing the words "Old Oak Tree" caught his eyes. His gaze never left the small shop as he crossed the street until he was standing in front of the door. Minako was nowhere in sight, and he supposed she was in the kitchen, running some errands. Nonetheless, if anyone were to ask him, he would bet that his movements were monitored by the spy system they had in place.
He wondered if it were the same person who was involved in the hack battle against Zen.
Was it really Sailor Mercury? Or someone else?
Taking one last look at the shop, he continued to walk down the street, away from the café.
The temperature was cooler today, and perfect for a light stroll, so Jun decided to walk back home, enjoying the view along the way.
Lines of maple trees decorated the streets, and though the leaves had already turned an awesome shade of red, there were hardly any fallen leaves on the ground. Jun momentarily wondered if there were people hired to sweep the streets, though he hadn't seen any so far.
It reminded him a bit of old movies, or maybe even dramas, and in the distant future, he would recall this scene and come to the conclusion that he might remember this moment until the day he died.
He wasn't even quite sure what had refracted the sunlight into his eyes, causing him to look away, but the moment he looked up again, there she was, almost as if she'd appeared out of nowhere.
I know her.
I don't know her.
I've seen her before.
I would remember if I'd seen her before.
Jun didn't have perfect memory, but if there were one thing he prided himself in, it was his ability to remember a person and never forget it. Right now, he couldn't decide whether he'd seen the beautiful, raven-haired woman in front of him before or not.
He could only watch as she walked past him, as if she hadn't noticed him at all.
And it was absurd, but at that moment, he had the strangest feeling that she should know him.
That she did notice him.
But she just chose to neglect him.
A dull pain erupted in his chest.
He whirled around before he realized he didn't know what to say to her. He didn't even know why he'd turned around. She was just a stranger—it didn't matter what his instincts were telling him. He had no reason to want to call out to her.
Had it been under other circumstances, he would've marveled, even laughed, at the urge that rose in him—the urge to shout after her.
The urge to act in a childish manner that was far more Zen's style than his. To approach her and wave his arms above his head for her to just notice him.
Instead, he watched as she entered Old Oak Tree, his body as still as if his feet were stuck to the pavement.
~-0-~
He walked through the white-pillared hallway, his hand gripping firmly to the sword that hung on his side.
It wasn't his first time here on the moon, yet there were still things that surprised him regardless of how many times he'd been here.
The land was a lot quieter than he was used to. Perhaps it was because there wasn't a natural atmosphere, or perhaps it was because there was some form of magic in the air. Nonetheless, it was just one of the many things Jadeite wasn't accustomed to.
However, foreign didn't mean that it was necessarily bad. For instance, he'd never seen the stars as clearly as he did right now, and he was certain that there were ones he wouldn't have been able to see with the naked eye back on Terra.
No wonder Nephrite jumped to his feet when Endy mentioned about visiting the moon tonight.
His thought process was brought to a halt when a sharp "Who's there?" broke the silence.
He turned around and found a woman—a Sailor, judging by her uniform—standing a few feet away from him. Too close. Much too close for it to be safe for him, if the rumors about their powers were real. And her posture and facial expression did little to reassure him that he wouldn't be chopped up into pieces if he said something that insinuated that his intentions were less than honorable.
The small part of his brain that wasn't worrying about being killed then and there found comfort in the fact that at least Kunzite wasn't there to witness the scene. The fact that someone had snuck up on Jadeite without him noticing was enough for a berating of a lifetime, not to mention the punishment that might follow.
Clearing his throat, Jadeite allowed a gentle smile to appear on his face, hoping that it would make him appear harmless enough to buy him more time with the green-eyed beauty standing in front of him.
"I promise that I mean no harm. My name is Jadeite. I am one of Prince Endymion's Shitennou," he replied.
Though the frequent meetings between the Moon Princess and Endy were to remain a secret, he recalled Serenity mentioning that her Sailors were in the know. He hoped that she'd remembered to mention to them that Endy had four personal guards.
The hostility on the Sailor's face ebbed slightly after his straightforward answer, though a hint of suspicion remained.
"I've never seen you before," the woman said, tilting her chin slightly upwards as if daring him to refute her words.
Jadeite inclined his head. "This is, indeed, the first time I've visited."
"So you're here with the Prince," she said to which he nodded. "I thought it was supposed to be—"
Her sudden halt in words made him curious, and his interest was further piqued when she bit down on her lower lip, as if just catching on that she nearly let something slip. He maintained a look of polite attentiveness.
"He got caught doing something … unknightly by none other than our leader, General Kunzite," Jadeite said.
"... Unknightly?"
"Yes … such as stealing roses from his majesty's garden," Jadeite replied.
To his surprise, a blush appeared on the Sailor's face, and a thought flashed through his mind.
~-0-~
The scene fogged, as if he'd been dumped into a pool of murky waters. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew none of this made sense, but his dream self seemed to know what he was doing.
His vision cleared and he was strung along the story in his dreamworld like a puppet on a string.
~-0-~
They'd told him that the gravity on the Moon was different than on Earth.
Occasionally that thought would linger at the back of his head, such as right now, while he watched the water fall down the pillars. He couldn't tell if the speed was any slower than waterfalls on Earth. He'd wondered before if it were because of magic, but to be honest, he had never been curious enough to ask.
Technology and what not had always been Zoisite's forte, not his.
Never mind the question of where the water was coming from. But at least the bioluminescent flowers in the nearby garden seemed to enjoy the irrigation they received from this water. The pale, glowing flowers had always delighted Jadeite, and the gardens had always been one of his favorite places on the moon.
Hearing footsteps behind him, he turned around. The person in question immediately stopped in their steps when they saw him.
"General Jadeite?"
"Good evening, Princess," he said, a gentle smile appearing on his face.
"Are you following me?"
The question seemed to have slipped out of her mouth before she could stop herself, judging by the frown and frustration that appeared on her face immediately after she spoke.
A familiar pain uncurled in the pit of his stomach. He masked it away with a cordial smile—façades had never been a problem for him, but it didn't mean he hadn't been hurt by this short interaction.
Nor did it mean that the pain would go away.
"Of course not," he said in a quiet voice. "Your messengers left no doubt in regards to what your stance is in this matter."
She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped herself.
He'd lifted the veil of courtesy by pointing out the fact that she'd sent the other Sailors to tell him what she felt he should know.
The other Sailors had never mentioned that they had been sent by the beautiful woman standing in front of him, but Jadeite wasn't a fool. He could read between the lines just as well as he could tell from the discomfort the other Sailors had displayed when telling him about why the princess of Mars wasn't someone he should think about courting.
"Had I irritated you so much that we'd arrived to a point where you can't even bear the sight of me?"
Wise men from his land warned others about how seeds of sin could be sown at any moments in time, and before you knew it, it would grow into a tree as tall as the skies, veiling the sunlight and covering one's eyes.
He hadn't meant for things to become like this. Yet, the more he stayed away from her, the more he thought about her. The seeds of obsession grew like an untamed weed, and before he realized it, it had taken root in his heart, festering into an urge that haunted his waking moments as well as his dreams.
"Is it too much for me to ask, to plead for the permission to just stay beside you?" he asked.
He didn't need for anything to come out of this. He didn't even need her to harbor any amorous feelings towards him.
Time seemed to stand still as they looked at one another. And suddenly, Jadeite felt desperate as he drank in the princess's features, from her silk-like raven-black hair to her violet eyes, almost as if it would be his last chance to do so.
The light from the flowers cast a gentle glow on her face, and he thought he saw sadness on her face.
"Yes, it is too much," she said, her voice as cold as ice and shattering any illusions he might've had. "Most people are the same. Once you've given them an inch, they would expect to be given a mile, if not more. I'd rather have the problem nipped at the bud. I can never reciprocate your feelings and … it is becoming a burden to me. Please. Do not come near me anymore."
~-0-~
A/N: Many thanks to my betas, Nerys and ff9moonie! Huge thanks to those of you who've read, faved, and added to alerts. Huge, huge thanks to Valkyrie Celes for reviewing!