A/N: "Last Updated: 09-28-07" ... All I can say is SOOORRRYYYY :( Honestly, I have no excuses (well, I kinda do... my life in general has become seriously pretty freaking busy). But HERE IT IS! The next chapter, with some fluff here and there!

But seriously. Can you BELIEVE it? I updated it! I told you I wouldn't abandon it! And I promise I won't ever! :D All that aside, I want to dedicate this long overdue chapter to everyone's encouraging reviews and especially to my awesome new beta, Kris Black. Thanks chica! You freaking rock! XD

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize... i.e. The Beatles' lyrics, Godzilla, etc. Quotes are by David Brin, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Paul Gauguin.

Crescendo

Chapter 9: With All My Heart

It is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.

"Strawberry fields forever…" Lita hummed as she played around with an arrangement of flowers in a vase. She loved flowers, and it had always been one of her greatest joys to spend a beautiful day outside, tending to her garden. Then she had died.

Just as it would've for most people, it had put quite the damper on things.

"RAWRR!" The ferocious animalistic growl startled Lita out of her reverie. She looked down and saw a little green monster attached to her leg.

"Oh my! Now what is this? It seems as if the fearsome creature Godzilla has escaped! Whatever shall we do?"

Godzilla blew a raspberry, and then giggled. "It's me mama."

She looked at her daughter's green-smeared face. "Is it now? I could've sworn it was the Godzilla from the movie we watched last night."

"RAWRRRR!"

Lita removed Lapis from her leg and swung her up into her arms, and even with her unnatural vampire strength, she could tell that her little girl was growing.

"Now what are you still doing up? I thought I put you to bed an hour ago!"

"I want goddamn daddy!" she chirped.

"Now Lapis, what did I tell you about saying that word?"

"Daddy word! Daddy word!"

Nephrite you are so dead, Lita thought with a grimace. "Right sweetie, so only daddy is allowed to use that word."

"Oh…" She looked crestfallen for a moment, and then she perked up. "Daddy?"

Lita turned around Nephrite standing before them, looking tired, but smiling.

"Daddy!" Lapis began to squirm like mad and when Lita put her down, she ran as fast as her short, chubby legs would carry her towards Nephrite.

Nephrite knelt down, his arms open wide. He looked from his daughter's delighted green face and shot a puzzled look to Lita.

"She got into her finger-paints again," she said dryly.

"I'm Dogzilla!" Lapis crowed.

"I think that's 'Godzilla' sweetie," Nephrite said as he swung her up into his arms. "And why aren't you in bed?"

"I want see daddy!"

"I wanted to see you too, but now, it's time for bed. Godzilla needs lots of rest if she wants to destroy Tokyo tomorrow."

"But daddy!" she whined, using the best puppy-face her green face could muster up.

"No buts young lady! I promise I'll see you tomorrow after sunset."

"Promise?" Her pout faded.

"Cross my heart-" he began.

"-noooooooooo! Don't hope to die!" she wailed.

"Then it doesn't make sense you know," Lita said wryly.

"But it's the consheep mama," Lapis said with a dead serious look on her face.

"Concept dear, concept."

Lapis gave a smooth Gallic shrug which looked entirely like a move that the French-born Zoicite was prone to give.

We really need to find her a few friends of her age- hell, while I'm at it, I really need to find a few friends of my age. Which really wasn't an easy feat, considering the fact that she was nearing her 104th birthday. It was difficult to make close friendships, since it was too risky to become too close to a human and most of her kind generally lived rather spread apart.

Vampires were rather territorial creatures, especially when it came to feeding. This worked fine for the King, who used this to his advantage by having the vampires report back the doings of each of their respective areas to him. This kept any hostile vampires or threats to the vampire populace at bay, and allowed for ample feeding. The King had long since forbidden vampires to completely drain their prey- a violation punishable by death.

Lita thought about Raye, the beautiful black-haired woman she had met a few days ago. If Raye was turned (and somehow she severely doubted that she wouldn't be- a full grown vampire as old as Jadeite was sure to have quite a few tricks up his sleeve to convince his reluctant mate), then she sincerely hoped that they got along well. As fun and exciting New York might be, it really got pretty old after 80 years or so.

"Well now, I've finally put the little green monster to bed."

"She's missed you. We've missed you. Is everything good yet? Has Darien returned?"

"I know love. It's been a long week for me too. But it should all be back to normal soon." Together, they sank into the deep plushy couch.

"GAH!" Lita yelped. She leaped up, holding her bottom. She looked down to see what offensive object had poked her right in the left cheek. Nephrite picked up the plastic dragon, upon whose sharp spikes and rigidity tail Lita had so unceremoniously plopped her unsuspecting butt on.

"Not a word!" Lita said pointedly at Nephrite's amused smirk. She carefully examined the sofa before sitting back down.

"I wasn't gonna say a word," he replied with an almost convincing straight face (she hadn't been married to him for more than 70 years for nothing).

Suddenly, quick as a flash, Nephrite loomed over her, his hands on either side of her head, his legs straddling her body, and his lips an inch from hers. "Want me to kiss it and make it all better?"

"You'd better."

Amy generally tried to live her life according to schedules. Schedules allowed her to be organized, and organization did not leave room for surprises.

This blond Adonis, otherwise known as Zoicite, most definitely fell under the category of a surprise.

Her plans had been perfect. From pre-school to high school, every moment had been set. Piano lessons, extra tutors, ballet, clubs- all this and so much more had been her life during her teens. Then came college, during which her plans were supposed to come to an end with a man, marriage, and kids, all by 23.

And she'd done her best to stick the plan which she had never decided on for herself. Had it been up to her, it wouldn't have ended at college; no college would've just been the beginning. She would've seen the world, lived and breathed all of its music.

But no, it all screeched to a halt at the name Howard Lanson.

But the worst part wasn't meeting him; no the worst part was for believing herself to be in love with him.

It had been too easy to fall for him. He had been handsome, intelligent, charming, and also had an incurable case of infidelity.

She should've learned to be wary of blond men by now. They never seemed to do her any good. After all, look where she was now, in some strange room she didn't recognize.

And look! Now that man Zoicite was walking towards her. The man that bit her! And drank her blood! Fucking A! A vampire? She bit down a hysterical giggle that was bubbling up in her throat.

The vampire was coming closer.

Without a shirt on.

Oh dear.

Serena woke up feeling the best she had in days. Her stomach was full, her body well rested; it was just so warm and comfy, she just wanted to snuggle deeper into Darien and keep sleeping.

Darien. Oh damn.

How did she always end up in this situation? She tried to carefully wiggle herself out of the bed so she wouldn't cause a scene, but couldn't seem to budge an inch. Darien's arm was wrapped gently around her waist, yet it kept her as immobile as if it were a steel band, not an arm. She tried one more time without success to escape, but his arm wouldn't budge.

Frustrated (in more ways than one), she threw her head back against the pillow and blew out a breath. She turned her head and watched Darien sleep. Or at least she thought he was; she couldn't feel his breath nor see his chest rise.

He lay on his side, facing her, his face peaceful and still. It was beginning to unnerve her, his lack of breath and heartbeat. Still, his body was warm and it took all her self control not to just bury her face into his hard chest.

As she stared at his perfect face, she wondered how on earth this was all happening to her. Everything just seemed so surreal.

After all, it was only just a few days ago that she'd had a perfectly normal life, with no idea that things like vampires or demons existed. Now she was half vampire, half D-word (she absolutely refused to refer to herself as a – well, you know what), she had wings, and she was married. To a vampire king of all people.

Jeez. It was like a bad B-movie.

Still, Serena had to admit, it was getting harder to stay angry. She never could keep a grudge (Mina always said that she was like a burnt marshmallow when angry – bitter and tough on the outside, but still too soft and sweet on the inside).

But it was just so hard to stay mad! First with the piano, then with last night…

He was making it too easy to fall for him.

Damn it! But what sane, red-blooded women could resist? It's a perfectly normal reaction, Serena argued with herself. Anyone else would feel the same.

It was a weak argument she knew, considering her initial vehement hatred and resentment, but at this point, she had to admit, however grudgingly, that she was falling for him.

He treated her as if she were the most precious gift to mankind, and loved her just for simply existing. Not quite just a love at first sight, but more like… love at the sound of her laughter, love at her every smile, love of holding her in his arms, love of the perfect fit of her body against his, love for her kiss, and love. Just love for her.

Sometimes it rather frightened her. No, damn well terrified her. The intensity of his feelings that were being directed towards were just completely mind blowing.

Oh sure, she'd had men "love" her before. They had loved her face and written odes about it, they swooned over her music and cried about it, they saw the steadily accumulated wealth she'd obtained and reached for it...

Serena prided herself on being a practical person, not overly romantic like her cousin Mina. Mina, who had no qualms about zipping across the ocean, determined to save the world. Falling in love with men only to be later heartbroken, only to once again fall in love.

Except, Serena thought drowsily, she's been pretty down for the past year. The next time Darien took her out, she'd demand to be taken to Mina. She was the only family Serena had left, and was closer than a sister. Along with Amy and Raye, they were probably getting worried. But for now she'd sleep for just a little longer.

Eyes still closed, Darien smiled as he felt Serena shift her small, soft body against his. Her head was fast asleep on his arm (it was times like this Darien was grateful he wasn't human - if he was, his arm would probably be asleep by now and burning like hell) and one arm was thrown over his waist, the other tucked under her chin.

He pulled her listless body closer against his, hugging her to him and did something he hadn't done in nearly three thousand years.

"Thank you God."

She considered swooning. Then she could pretend to be unconscious and buy some time, at least until she came up with a plan to implement.

Gah! Too late! He was already standing before her at the foot of the bed. Doing her best to mask her seriously growing panic, she said in her most casual voice, "So, you're a vampire? How's that been going for you?"

She had to try really, really hard not to look at piece of sculpted masterpiece also known as Zoicite's Naked Chest. But it was really hard.

Like, really. Speaking of hard... Ohhhh, bad train of thought there...

He didn't say anything for a few moments. She could tell that she had caught him off guard with her off-hand, casually placed comment. And then he smiled.

Oh, that smile.

Amy heard of the phrase "killer smile" before, but this was the first time she'd ever been the recipient of that deadly curve of the lips. His teeth were straight and white, and Amy briefly had to wonder if most dentists were actually vampires... Because then that would explain a lot about about Dr. Schlesinger and his evil, evil drill.

"You know, lately it's been pretty slow, but going. In any case, I have a feeling that things are going to be a lot more... fun from now on."

"Fun?" Amy squeaked.

"Yeah. Fun." He stared at her for a few moments, his head cocked to the side as if pondering something deeply. Then he shrugged and began to unbutton his jeans.

"W-what are you doing?" Amy cried. She tried to keep her eyes from following the movement of his hands but it was if she were hypnotized. He was wearing a pair of black briefs and... good lord. That had to be a sock or something.

Zoicited snorted and smirked, but didn't say anything. "I'm going to sleep. It is my bed after all. And I'm tired."

"But- You- This isn't-" she stammered, her mind racing in a dizzy rush of thoughts and... images.

Insert smirk.

"Fine!" Amy threw off the covers and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, only to discover to her dismay that all she wore was the pale blue slip she had underneath her dress suit. She quickly dove under the covers again and pulled the dark red coverlet over her head. "Whesh mhpf cooths?" Her muffled voice emerged from beneath the sea of pillows.

"Hm?"

Amy poked just her head from beneath the covers. She took a deep breath and said as calmly as possible, "Where did you put my clothes?"

He looked at her as if she were crazy. "In the closet of course, my dear. Where else would your clothing be?"

He was right; looking to the right of the bed she saw the open closet and her clothing hanging neatly inside.

Zoicite wanted to laugh aloud at the quick and deadly glare she threw at him, right before she caught herself and masked it with her usual calm and serene face. She looked even smaller than she already was, dwarfed by the huge and heavy blankets, only her head reveal to him. She thought to hide herself from him, but he'd already seen it all.

And what a neat, tidy, and delicious looking package it was.

Her face was small and angular, and almost pixie like with her large eyes and short inky bob. She was of too small a stature to be ripe with curves, but was instead blessed with legs that made up for most of her height and a soft, delicate roundness that just begged to be stroked.

Amy didn't like the way he was staring. "Okay, then go ahead and sleep. I'm going to leave. Good night!" she chirped, as she carefully slid from the bed, making sure the blanket covered her body fully. Both her feet had just barely touched the ground before she felt the blanket being yanked back. She tripped over the tangle of blanket around her legs and fell backwards, following the momentum of the blanket. Right back into to bed.

How convenient.

Still bundled tightly, Zoicite hugged the Amy Burrito and flung his leg over her, wrapping his arms around her. "You can't leave yet!" he implored dramatically. "I can't find my body pillow, so you'll just have to do the job for now until I find it."

"Let. Me. Go!" The Amy Burrito wriggled and squirmed about, trying desperately to at least free her arms from the constraint of the blankets, but with Zoicite hugging her and her arms and legs firmly entrapped within the fabric, she was stuck. She let out a very unladylike huff of annoyance and finally stopped wriggling about. It was getting hot under the thick blanket, and all the moving around wasn't helping.

And neither was Zoicite.

"Well, as amusing as that was, it's almost daybreak and I'm getting pretty darned tired myself. So how about we take a short nap, hm my dear?" He gazed into Amy's navy blue eyes innocently, as if he hadn't just kidnapped her and wasn't holding her prisoner in a jail of blankets.

As much as she wanted to retain her (ladylike) indignant hostility, her curiosity got the best of her and she asked, "So vampires really are affected by the sunlight? What about all those other myths having to do with garlic, holy water, and stakes and so on?"

He snuggled her closer and snuck a hand inside the covers (What the? Where the hell did that come from?) to wrap around her back. "Vampires do get burned under the sunlight. For newborn vampires, the young ones, direct sunlight is fatal and even when there's an overcast it can cause severe burns. They take quite a long time to heal, as opposed to most injuries, which is why vamps try to avoid it all costs. However, the older you get, the more powerful you are and therefore the more immune you get to the sun."

"How about you? How old are you?"

"Now that's a question I'm rather sensitive about, so we'll save that for our second date."

Amy fought the urge to pout childishly. "Well then, how much sunlight can you stand?"

"Like most vampires, I tend to get tired when the sun rises. Fortunately, I don't immediately pass out as most young vampires are prone to do as soon as the sun comes up. Direct sunlight still burns like hell, but I hold up pretty well under cloudy and rainy days."

"Oh." Amy wondered again how old he was. He looked about 30 or so, but if vampires really were immortal... Then maybe... A hundred or so? Maybe a hundred and fifty years?

Zoicite smirked again, but Amy was too absorbed in her thinking to notice. "So you're taking this pretty well; I mean, most people get pretty freaked out by the whole vampy thing."

She looked up at him again, dark blue facing against bottle green. He didn't show it, but he was rather taken aback by the calmness of her eyes. It was like staring into an calm, endless ocean that stretch on forever, without a single turbulent wave to interrupt.

"Well, other than the part where you drank my blood and I passed out and woke up here in my underwear and then got stuck in these blankets because you wouldn't let me go..." she took a moment to breathe. "Other than that, you've been kinda... nice," she said, her big eyes serious.

He'd been called a monster, a demon, freak, and even sexy as hell, but never anything like nice. Nice. He was a nice person.

Yeah. That felt kind of good.

He swiftly changed his position, his legs straddling hers and his arms on either side of her head. "Well don't start counting your blessings yet, cherie. I'm not always this nice," he growled, his lips hovering an inch above her neck.

Strange, but despite the dangerous tone in his voice and his suggestive position, Amy was thinking more about his slight French accent, rather those flashing fangs currently gliding along the smooth expanse of her neck. "No, maybe not, but you're not a monster either. If you were going to hurt me, you could've already done so. And besides-" She let a small moan when he nipped her gently. " -you hung my clothes up," she finished breathily.

Those eyes, so serious, so calm; he felt as if they stroked him, soothing his body, his heart.

Amy felt him freeze above her, his forehead resting on her shoulder. "Zoicite? When will you let me go?" she asked tentatively. He lifted his head and smiled at her, not one of his predatory or lady-killer smiles, but a real smile- one where his eyes crinkled slightly in the corners and the dimple in his left cheek popped out.

Oh... Dreamy... The thought slipped out before she caught herself.

"Just sleep for now." Amy agreed silently. As dangerous as it was to fall asleep defenseless in a stranger's home, she felt... safe. And she was beginning to feel increasingly drowsy. Besides, he'd already proved he wouldn't hurt her while asleep, and somehow, everything was just right. "-and I promise to explain everything tomorrow night. For now, please, just stay with me."

It was such a simple request, and Amy couldn't fight that slightly desperate but hopeful question.

"Okay."

Zoicite slept without dreams for the first time in seven-hundred and eighty years.

Amy felt content with her life for the first time in twenty-five years.

"Who is she?"

"We are quite certain she is Serena Lennox, the pianist. She was reported missing a few days ago."

"She is beautiful."

"Yes, and she is also quite famous, especially in the music industry."

"When were the pictures taken?"

"Just last night. One of our people happened to see them unexpectedly. Since it was Shields, we wanted to notify you right away."

"You did well to do so." Cold eyes took in the glossy pictures. "You did very well."

He shivered at the look in eyes of man seated before him. They just weren't the eyes of someone… sane. He'd dealt with the worst of the worst, some of the darkest people that many prayed to never meet. But still… No matter how evil or twisted, they always had the empty eyes of a doll – calculating, but sane.

These silver eyes swirled with something unidentifiable, but something very closely akin to insanity. At least with calculation one could predict danger, but with one as unstable as this… He was going to just finish this job as soon as possible, and get the hell out of there, before his insanity consumed them both.

"Stay on this. I want you to continue following Ms. Lennox and her doings. Update me daily."

"Yes sir."

Silvers eyes like shards of ice glimmered in the dark. He stroked one long, pale finger over the glossy finish of the photo. "Hm... Serena..."

So the snake slithered.

Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one.

Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge.