He found her sitting on the other side of the building, her legs over the edge of the raised porch, back straight and tense. He was sure the cup she held in her hands was no longer filled with hot tea, but coming closer Jake saw that she had barely drank anything at all. He quietly sat next to her, mimicking her position. He took the cup from her hands and placed it beside him, the porcelain cold to the touch and confirming his suspicions that she had been sitting here long enough for the drink to cool down.

They both sat there in silence, neither of them ready to speak what was on their minds. Rei once again let her gaze wander over the back garden, listening to the sound of wind in the trees, the morning song of the birds and the stray sunbeams occasionally peeking through the tree branches. It was peaceful.

"You saw it too." Just like that, with few simple syllables the peace was gone. The reluctance to remember their shared vision almost tangible in his voice. Rei nodded. She placed her hand on his and their fingers intertwined, the feeling of touch familiar but also novel. Now she had memories she could compare it to.

Rei replied, her fingers clenching Jakes, "Yes, I did. The others were still sleeping and I did not want to wake them. So I came here, hoping to gather my thoughts."

"Did you?"

"Now that you are here, I did." She smiled at him, and Jake leaned in, a gentle peck on her lips soothing both their nerves.

"Come, they are all up and having breakfast. We should tell them as soon as possible, as I think Darien will be bringing Serena here."

"Of course he will."

When they returned to the common room where their friends were just finishing their breakfast, Rei noticed how comfortable they were with each other, already the pairs closer to each other and freer with their affections. All, except for Ami and Zachary.

Rei served herself a portion, knowing that the food today will serve only as a source of energy, the upcoming events making everything taste bland and unappetizing. She sat next to Mina, and with careful pointing towards their friend asked a question without speaking. Mina didn't hold back the eye roll and Rei just raised an eyebrow, prompting their blonde diva to elaborate.

Mina simply sent her a smirk and in a very casual manner asked Ami, who seemed to be done with her meal, to check if everything will be ready for them in the underground Command centre. Ami's simple but a bit too cold 'yes' made even Lita look at her friend, thus stopping her conversation with Nathan.

Moments after Ami left the room, Kenneth spoke from behind Zachary, his earlier quick discussion with Mina on how to resolve the lovers problems already delivering them means of quick resolution of all current issues between their resident geniuses.

"Well, I think you should go now, we can give you about –" he looked at Rei and Jake, sensing that they had something important to say, "fifteen minutes give or take."

Zachary hurried after Ami without a word, his smile the only affirmation his friends needed to know how grateful their friend was for the opportunity. While leaving, he did hear the beginning of Jakes monologue, "Darien will be coming, with Serena. But it won't be a pretty sight-" Zachary knew that he had indeed little time for Ami tell him what was upsetting her.


Zachary caught up to Ami just as she was entering the training building.

"So this is where Nathan found out about Jupiter?" Zachary asked as he entered the building, locating a small distance away from the main Temple, another attempt to make her speak with him. Ami nodded an agreement, "She actually kicked his injured side. Well previously injured side. Talking about going for the kill. The girl sometimes is too competitive."

She moved to the far side of the building and was about to reveal the entrance to their command centre when a gentle hand turned her away from the wall to face the man she knew was about to confront her.

"Ami." It was not a question or an appeal. It was a whispery adoration expressing the love and happiness of a thirsty man finally finding an oasis. He gently traced her arms with his fingertips, all the while looking over the bluenettes features as if memorizing something no artist could ever reproduce. He clasped her hands and brought them to his lips, slowly kissing each fingertip, his eyes locked on hers.

"How can you not hate me? After what I said the last time… the last time millennias ago. I chose my duty over you and the way I did it.."

"Maybe the way you chose to freeze me before I could have my say was a bit too much for a last goodbye, but we all chose our duty over our loved ones. Everyone understood what our relationships would not have the freedom we wanted. Still, we all took the risk and we are here, together, again." He replied calmly, with a knowing smile.

"But they were not…" he stopped her with a finger on her lips, gently tracing her lower lip.

A faint blush bloomed in Ami's cheeks and he heard a hitch in her breath when he, in the same gentle way, put her hands on his chest, his hands now cupping her face. Ami blinked and a tear escaped her eye, soon to be brushed away by a loving thumb.

"I never knew I missed you so much… Zoi. I don't want to lose you again."

His murmur before he leaned in and kissed his water nymph was a simple 'you will not'. He intended the kiss to be a simple declaration of love, but once again tasting her lips and feeling the love that was once lost was more than he was prepared for. He deepened the kiss, Ami responding in kind and soon it was wet lips, hot tongues, bodies pressing together and hands wandering.

He traced hot kisses along her neck, stopping at the juncture with shoulder and Ami let out a throaty whisper, "Zoi… Zach… I don't even know… know how should I call you.." Zachary raised his head to look into her eyes and the raw lust in them made Ami shiver with want she only knew in another lifetime. "The one word that's only yours, forever and ever."

"Husband."

It was the last word they both needed, the last word that fired up their need and Zachary kissed her hard on the lips, both of their hands itching to release them of their clothing, their bodies in want of feeling each other's hot skin. But he knew that this was not the time, nor the place. He eased away from their embrace and hot kisses.

"Wife." Zach gently traced her face with his fingertips, and with one last tender kiss on her forehead, he stepped away from Ami. His stance a bit awkward, and Ami blushed even more on noticing his situation with the arousal, with a small chuckle hurried away to enter the underground facility.


Ami was working on her Mercury computer, and Zach quietly waited for the rest of their friends to come and bring with them the bad news he was certain Jake and Rei would be elaborating upon. The look on their faces when they finally arrived meant that they would be facing some not so small problems in the immediate future.

"I talked to Luna and Artemis, they found nothing in the Moon database, and for some reason they are unable to return to Earth. Something is blocking the teleporter, so they rely on us to fix the problem." Ami did not wait for questions or for Mina to prompt her disclosing information. She, just as her lover, had seen the grim looks on their faces and decided they had no time for a chit-chat.

Rei shared her bit of information, "whatever is blocking the teleporter's signals is also the one that has possessed Serena. While I am still gaining my strength back, Jake and I, we had another vision on the night, and I had one yesterday. We need for the Prince to find the Golden Crystal. And for both of our royalties to fully awaken, just as we have. But I'm afraid Princess will need to undergo an expulsion ceremony. We will need to go to the mountains. My family has a remote shrine there, we would be far away from civilians and prepared to fight with whatever that's taking over Serena."

"I'm sure with our memories back we all aware that Darien is Prince Endymion and Serena is Princess Serenity." Kennet's deep voice commanded the room. The silence told him that everyone's suspicions have finally been confirmed.

"While we all know about the dreams Serena is having, I doubt we know half of what is actually happening. It seems to be some sort of gory manipulation, forcing her to see blood and playing with her emotions. She is a sensitive person." They all listened to Rei. "But during the night we both saw a bit more, I think it might be due to my powers coming back. We all know that we need the Prince and Princess to awaken in order for us to reach our full potential." She stopped, the knowledge of Serena's dreams painful.

"I think whatever is manipulating her is making her think that she is not needed. I would guess that the entity managed take hold on her during that first attack here in the Temple. It was when she also lost her powers to transform into Sailor Moon. The strange power we experienced in Arctic and during that attack was done without clear intention on Serena's part, most likely the Crystal was just reacting to her wishes. After all, we do not know how the Crystal actually works, the secret known only to the Lunar royalty. We just know is it powerful. Very, very powerful."

"The Crystal went dormant, my guess, to hide from the entity. And also stripping Serena of her Senshi powers as a means of protection. After all, there has never been a Moon Senshi, she has no need to turn into Sailor Moon when there are four planetary Senshi guarding her. That would also follow logic that the Crystal is responsible for speeding up or reawakening our powers, it knows that Serena is in danger."

"Her nightmares are filled with blood and words making her doubt herself, and most importantly, her guardians. I spoke with Jake and he saw the same sword I did, it's Endymion's sword. The sword of Earths Kings that can only be summoned by the wielder of the Golden Crystal."

Everyone turned towards Ami after hearing her swear under her breath, "But that means that the enemy has knowledge of our history, our past. Quite possibly, it knows Serenity. All my data shows that this is a new adversary, not Beryl or Metaria, but I never thought that it's something who might know more about us than we do at the moment. This is more dangerous than I thought."

Jake stepped into the information sharing process, "I think whatever the enemy is planning, it's coming close to being completed and ready to execute. Darien hasn't quite managed to hid it from us as his powers are growing uncontrolled, but this morning his distress levels were through the roof, and Rei and I, we are expecting to him arrive here any moment now. Bringing Serena."

"That's why we have to do it today, as soon as he arrives. I hope we can teleport to the shrine and finally start fighting back."

No sooner had Rei finished her sentence, and Jake looked back to the entrance, "He's here. I'll take him and Serena. You can go ahead, we already talked about this with Rei. It will drain the Shitennou strength considerably, all the distance we have to travel. But we hope that the Golden Crystal and a bit of rest will soon have us back to full capacity."