Chapter Twenty Seven

The Delicate Cherry Blossom

He sat quietly on the floor with a large smirk on his face. He rubbed a small dagger against a whet stone. It was almost too easy for him, but he still relished the thought of running the blade through her body. He was the very definition of evil—evil incarnate. Within the flattery and sweet talk was nothing but treachery and deceit, but that was what made it so sweet. He would weave his webs of lies then entrap her like a little fly only to devour her. He sharpened the blade, stroking it against the stone sitting only in the silence. He looked up, sensing her presence, and tucked the blade under his mattress.

A knock came to the door. He cleared his throat and spoke sweetly to her. "Come in." The door slowly slid open. Through the crack, one violet eye peered in on him. Half of her smile, one of her eyes, and a few locks of her hair appeared in his doorway. He smiled—she truly was a beautiful creature, but she would have to die.

"Are you ready to go to the park?" She slid the door open, revealing her entire body.

He looked over her. She was wearing make-up and an old dress of her mothers. He smirked—she was trying to impress him. Everything he was doing was working perfectly. "You look wonderful."

The girl blushed deeply. "Thank you, Ryujin."

Ryujin stood up from the floor. He walked over to the doorway and held out his arm for the lady. She took it, and he escorted her down the hallway. He was still grinning—all the lies he told her about himself were flawless and perfect. He was a master of deception. He could keep his lies as straight as the truth, and he could hide his true appearances. He marveled at himself sometimes. Even the Priestess Sailor Mars could not feel his true spirit—the spirit of evil. He almost wanted to laugh as he looked over at the girl. She thought he was an orphan from Crystal Tokyo who dreamed of having a family, but in reality he was an evil shape-shifting dragon employed by Queen Beryl.

They walked out of the temple and headed down the stone sidewalk through the courtyard. As they approached the stairs, a top of a head appeared in the distance. Wild dark green hair appeared then as they approached, they saw it was the head of Kazuki. They started to descend the stairway as he was almost finished ascending. Ryujin kept his eyes straight forward, leading Sakura down the stairs. Kazuki kept his eyes forward too, but as he passed them, his arm brushed against Sakura's. She looked up at him.

His eyes turned, locking with hers for a brief moment. As he finished passing, he tore his eyes away and looked forward again. She turned her head, trying to keep her eyes in contact with his, and watched him walk away. As she descended down the stairs with Ryujin, Kazuki disappeared from her sight.

He smiled as she stepped out of her bedroom. She closed the door behind her then turned around to see him smiling. She was dressed simply—jeans and a light sweater, but she was absolutely beautiful to him. He reached for her hand, and she took it. It was a cool day—he wore jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. They made a quick stop into the house to grab a blanket and a picnic basket.

They had the day off from school. It was the Annual Cherry Blossom festival. Everyone was going to the festival; however, they were going to be spending the day alone. With all their friends, Sailor business, and schoolwork, they rarely had time to spend alone. She had been looking forward to this day for weeks—a day she could spend alone with him.

They walked to the park carrying the blanket and basket. They met the crowds in the park doing the same thing that they were. As they weaved through the crowds, they would occasionally see people they knew—a teacher, a frequent guest to the temple, Ami and Hayate, a girl Raye knew from class. Raye gazed over the crowds. Her eyes lay on a certain brown haired boy. Kyoji looked over at what she was staring at.

"Oh, him," Kyoji said, sternly.

Raye squeezed his hand tighter. "The sight of him still makes me sick sometimes."

"Do you want to leave?" His anger flared at the sight of Daita Atsuji, the boy who hurt Raye.

Raye shook her head. "Let's just go over this way." She turned and started walking the other direction. Kyoji followed her but looked back at the other boy. He secretly wished that he could punch him again.

Eventually, they found and clear space and laid out the blanket over the grass. They sat down and enjoyed the early spring day. After a while, they ended up lying down on their backs to stare up at the sky. They were a considerable distance away from everyone else, and they liked it that way. Everyone else was up close to the cherry trees to stare at their beauty, but Kyoji and Raye kept their distances from the crowd.

He had closed his eyes as the warm sun heated his body. She was doing the same. The gentle breeze tickled his face, but he didn't finch until he felt something scrape across his face. He fluttered his eyes open. A cherry blossom landed on his face. He picked up the delicate blossom in his fingers and held it up to the sky. "Sakura," He uttered gently.

Raye opened her eyes to see him holding the blossom in his hand. She smiled at the word. It was such a beautiful word to her—the beautiful blossom, her mother, and her future daughter. That little delicate blossom held a lot of meaning to her. She sighed and pondered for a moment. He sat up and handed her the blossom. "Here. You keep this."

She took it from him then looked up at him. "Are you afraid of the future sometimes?"

He nodded. "Well, yes, who isn't?"

She sighed. "I suppose."

"What's wrong?" He asked, lying back down.

"I don't know. It's just that I…" She paused. "I mean, what in the world is going on? What does Beryl want with us? Why is Sakura here? I mean, it is such a miracle that she is even alive let alone here in the present."

Kyoji nodded. "Yes, it is difficult to believe." He looked up into the sky. "Long ago and far away we loved each other on the Moon Kingdom." He looked over at her. "I was your husband, and you were my wife…" He paused. "And you were with child."

She looked over at him. "Will destiny really be kinder to us this time around?"

He stared up into the sky. "I don't know."

"They're so beautiful," Sakura uttered gazing over all the cherry trees. The cherry blossoms were one of the few things that always remained the same in throughout the ages. "I'm afraid the blossoms in Crystal Tokyo are much more beautiful, don't you think?"

"What?" Ryujin shook his head for a moment. "Ah, yes, Crystal Tokyo is much better." He looked away. The dragon had never actually been to Crystal Tokyo before. He knew very little about the place. He looked over at Sakura. "But not as beautiful as you."

Sakura flushed completely red, but didn't say anything. She looked away from the crowds towards the empty hillside. From a distance, she could see her future parents lying on their blanket ignoring the crowds.

She shifted, putting her arm around him. He let out a deep contented sigh as she snuggled against him to keep warm. He tilted his head down, rubbing against her soft black hair.

"Kyoji?"

"Hmmm?"

"What do you think of Kazuki?"

Kyoji thought for a moment. "He seems kind of moody to me."

"Well…" Raye sat up, leaning over his body as he lay on the ground. "…your daughter likes him."

"Does she?" He sounded a little surprised. "By the way it looks to me she's been taking to that Ryujin the last few days."

"That's another thing. What do you think about Ryujin?"

Kyoji shrugged. "I don't know what to think."

Raye sighed for a moment. "I didn't tell you this, but when we saw Daita earlier, I had a vision."

Kyoji sat up. "A vision?" He asked, very concerned.

She kept his arms on him. "When I saw Daita, an image of Ryujin flashed before my eyes." She shook her head. "I don't know why it happened, but something inside me tells me not to trust him."

"Don't you think that if he was evil, we'd notice by now?"

Raye pondered. "I can't read him. It's like he isn't good or evil. I just feel this neutral haze."

"Well, I don't feel anything, you don't feel anything, and Hayate didn't sense anything either." Kyoji put his arm around Raye. "We three are the most discerning of us all, and we aren't feeling anything."

Raye nodded. "I suppose you're right."

He sat upon the rock silently for hours. His face was expressionless and emotionless. His eyes would lazily draw back and forth around the landscape. His elbow was pressed against his knee, and his fist against his cheek. He would barely move, only to breathe. The gentle wind fluttered his green locks of hair across his face, while his black cape flapped behind him.

He stared hard into a swallow pool of water. Suddenly, a delicate cherry blossom landed in the water and floated gently along the surface of the water. He stared hard at the little blossom for a few moments then slid down off the rock and left.

Night had fallen. High in the sky, the tiny rockets that were shot off exploded into vast colors of gold, pink, green, blue, purple, red, and every other color imaginable. High above them, the stars twinkled brightly, shining down from heaven. The moon was brighter now that it was returning. The cool breeze gently scraped across her skin. She looked over at him—he was watching the fireworks.

After a few moments, he noticed her staring. She smiled. "I've never been so happy in my entire life," She whispered in his ear. He rolled over to his side, touched her chin, and kissed his future wife.

He broke away for a moment. She gripped onto him tightly. "Don't ever leave me."

He looked a little shocked. "I won't."

She buried her face into his chest and hugged him. He was still confused, but he hugged her back.

Most of the crowds had cleared from the park. It was virtually empty as they walked through the park that night. He held her hand tightly. "Sakura, I want to show you something."

"Okay," She uttered sweetly.

He smiled has he led her away. He was going to use the dagger, but that was too common—too simple. He had a much more sinister plan that would make her suffer. Taking her through a small patch of trees, he led her into a more secluded area of the park. After a few moments of walking, he led her to a place where there was a tiny lake within the trees. It was beautiful as the moon reflected against the waters. Sakura walked up to the edge. "How did you know about this place, Ryujin? It's beautiful!"

"I asked where a good spot would be," He lied.

"A good spot for what?" She asked.

He took her by the wrist, smiling, and slowly pulled her close to himself. Her heart skipped a beat. Nervously she bit her bottom lip ten moistened her lips. It was the moment every girl waited for—her first kiss. She shivered as Ryujin put his hands on her shoulders, leaning in closer. His lips were ready, but what she didn't know was his mouth was full of poison.

Raye laid in his arms with her eyes closed. Kyoji was almost asleep too until she suddenly fluttered her eyes open and jerked away. "Sakura!" Her senses were screaming at her.

Gently, she stretched her neck out, wanting to receive his lips. His hand went up to her cheek. It was almost there.

"Get away from her!" A fire flew down from the shadows. Sakura glanced up, seeing the moon light reflect off of flashing metal. Ryujin held out his hand. A blue shield of energy blocked the attacker and sent the attacker flying into a tree. Sakura tried to jerk away from Ryujin's grasp, but he pulled her back. He jerked her up against his body and sunk her into a kiss. She couldn't push back, and she couldn't move. Hot liquid poured into her mouth. A numbing pain shot into her stomach and quickly through her limbs. She finally fell backwards. He let her go. Her body collapsed to the ground.

"SAKURA!"

She lay on the ground, tears forming in her eyes. All she could see was the trees towering above her, and the blurry light of the stars. Suddenly, a face appeared before her eyes. The forming tears rolled down her face, making her vision more clear. She had never seen any facial expression from him let alone this one. He was terrified. It was the last thing she saw when she closed her eyes. "Kazuki," She uttered gently.

He screamed, louder and more painfully than anyone had ever heard before or will ever hear again.

Ryujin started to laugh. By this time, Kyoji and Raye had found the scene.

"Sakura!" Kyoji ran over to the girl. "What happened?" He picked the girl up in his arms. Ryujin kept laughing. Kazuki stood up and looked behind him at Ryujin.

"You!" Raye shook with anger. "I should have known better than to trust you!"

Ryujin smirked. "Yes, you should have trusted your apparitions."

"What did you do to her?" Kyoji screamed. She shook Sakura's lifeless body.

"Poisoned her," Ryujin smirked.

"You're a monster!" Raye hollered.

Ryujin laughed even more. "Quite right you are, my dear Princess of Mars." Before their eyes, he started shape-shifting back into a dragon.

Instantly, Kyoji transformed into Tuxedo Samurai. He was ready to charge forward, but Kazuki beat him to the charge. The black dragon and Kazuki clashed in battle. Raye had taken the lifeless Sakura into her arms and tried to wake the girl up. It was to no avail. As much as Raye shook her, the girl would not wake up. Now Tuxedo Samurai and Kazuki were tag teaming the Dragon, but the Dragon's strength was too powerful. Immediately, Raye transformed into Sailor Mars to help defeat the enemy. Soon, there were three warriors attacking the Dragon.

With his long claws, Ryujin struck out at Kazuki. Across Kazuki's back, three long claws dug into his flesh and scratched him. Kazuki screamed from the pain. The claws also were a catalyst of the deadly poison that Ryujin controlled. The boy fell to his knees coughing and choking. Sailor Mars dropped to the ground, wrapping her arms around the boy. She tried to pull him away from the fight to keep him from getting trampled. Tuxedo Samurai was left to duel with the Dragon.

Tuxedo Knight and Sailor Mercury came running onto the scene. Combining their powers, Sailor Mercury called upon a water attack while Tuxedo Knight used his powers of Ice to freeze her attack. The attack stunted Ryujin for a moment, but it wasn't powerful enough to immobilize him. While Ryujin was busy with the ice attack, Tuxedo Samurai stabbed him in the back. The Dragon howled greatly, flailing his arms everywhere. He immediately turned around and started venting his anger on Tuxedo Samurai. With one great swat, Tuxedo Samurai was hit over the head. He fell to the ground.

"KYOJI!" Sailor Mars screamed. She ran over to Ryujin, but the Dragon stretched out his hand and created a force-field. With his claws, Ryujin grabbed a hold of Tuxedo Samurai's jacket and raised him above the ground.

Sailor Mercury and Tuxedo Knight tried to charge, but they were also blocked. Before Sailor Mars could get back up, Ryujin evaporated into the air with Tuxedo Samurai. Sailor Mars leapt at the fading image of the Dragon and Tuxedo Samurai, but missed and felt into the dirt. Kyoji was gone. The Negaverse had taken him. Sakura and Kazuki were poisoned. On her knees and covered in dirt, she started to sob madly. It appeared that fate would be just as cruel as it was the last time.

"Quickly! Lay her down!" Hayate carried Sakura into Raye's bedroom and laid her down in the bed. Immediately Ami started examining her. Her skin was starting to turn a faint green color. Next, Hayate helped the half-conscious Kazuki into the bedroom and laid him down on the floor. Apparently, Kazuki was exposed to much less poison than Sakura since he was somewhat conscious and still breathing normally. Sakura, on the other hand, was turning colors and struggling to breathe normally.

Soon the other Sailor Scouts arrived. Kanejiro and Trista immediately went to the care of their son's back by cleaning and dressing his wounds. Hayate and Ami watched over Sakura's breathing.

Hayate watched the young girl somberly. "It's shutting down her body, isn't it?"

Ami nodded silently.

"Will she live?" He asked.

Ami was still silent for a while. "I hate to think the worse, but I'm afraid Sakura's body might be just too delicate to handle the poison." She checked Sakura's pulse. "How is Kazuki?"

From the other room, a scream emerge. She had her answer. His mother and father worked on cleaning the deep scratches from the nails of the Dragon. "He should be alright," Hayate uttered. "He'll just be in a lot of pain for a while."

Ami looked towards the doorway. It was cracked open slightly, revealing the night. She pondered for a moment. "Is Raye alright?" She wondered to herself.

The raven haired girl sat silently on the rock in the middle of the courtyard. Her face was dirty and disgusting from dried tears. She sat there, almost numb.

"Raye?"

She didn't move.

"Raye, are you alright?" Serena asked. Serena walked up to her friend and took a seat next to her. "Raye, please."

Raye didn't move for a while, but after a few moments, slowly the girl reached out for Serena. Serena took her friend into her embrace, and the raven-haired girl started to sob.

"Raye, I'm so sorry." Serena uttered, not knowing what to say.