"Nephrite, where are you?"
Agony. longing and pain filled her heart as tears spilled down from her green eyes. She missed the other half of her soul so intensely that it hurt to breathe without him. She prayed they would find each other soon.
"Lita?" A soft gentle voice asked. "Are you ok?
Lita snapped out of her daze, coming back to her surroundings. She was with the other inner scouts at the Crown Arcade and Fruit Parlor. They usually met up there on Saturday mornings to catch up on life and decompress from fighting to save the universe. Here they could be normal young adults; girls who were boy crazy and dealing with jobs for income while juggling college.
Amy was lightly touching her arm, a concerned look on the bluenettes face. Two blondes that could almost be twins and a raven haired girl all watched her with quiet eyes. Lita felt herself flush.
"I'm fine, honest." The brunette waved their concern off, glancing around to see if anyone was listening. "Just had bad dreams last night is all."
"Was it that cotton candy rainbow striped youma from the other night?" Serena asked, shivering comically. "'Cause it sure gave me the creeps."
"Serena!" Hissed Rei. "Not in public."
"Rei, you are always so mean to me!" The meatball headed petite blond wailed. No one would have thought by looking at her that she was actually the Moon Princess who was destined to inherit the Universe in the time of Crystal Tokyo. While the girls laughed Lita sighed.
"Can we go to my place, I'll cook soup and dumplings."
The girls couldn't leave the arcade fast enough.
In the back of his mind a voice whispered.
"Nephrite, where are you?"
Cobalt blue eyes glanced around the observatory, trying to figure out who had said his name, but there was no one close enough for him to determine the voice came from them.
"Spill, what's wrong?" Rei asked as they sat around Lita's kitchen table. Lita, apron tied around her, puttered at the stove, dishing up the soup and dumplings. She knew if she could keep busy she would be able to tell them about her dream which were really memories from a life over a thousand years gone.
"I dreamed of Nephrite." The Jovian princess admitted while she piled buttery biscuits on a plate. Turning she placed the food beside the rest of the goodies on the table. She saw the sympathy and understanding in the others eyes. "And the night we died."
Mina reached out and grasped Lita's hand, stopping her. Her cornflower blue eyes were sharp as ever, always the leader. She knew the price and pain of such rememberings. Malachite had tortured her before killing her all those years ago.
Serena stopped eating and stood to wrap her slender arms around the lighting guardian.
Amy bowed her blue head, remembering her own love and how Zoicite had taken the easy way out. He had blindsided her, nearly beheading her before she even knew what had happened. Just remembering hearing the soft spoken princess tell them what happened make Lita's stomach curl into a knot.
It was Rei though that Lita knew she needed to be careful around. The fire priestess wasn't someone to trifle with. Her passion and power were tightly bound to her mastery over fire. She was quick to temper and slow to forgive. If Jedite were to ever re-enter her life, Lita suspected there would be fireworks and pain all around before Rei would ever take her husband back. Her husband who raped her while he gutted her.
"It was different this time though." Lita draped her free arm around her Serena's shoulders. She was surprised that she was able to talk so calmly about the entire situation. She made sure to look each of them in the eye as she continued her tale, wanting them to believe in something more.
"It was right before the end. Nephrite had just run his sword through my stomach." She squeezed the odango haired girl before leaning back on the kitchen counter. There was an eerie calmness in the room.
"Suddenly his eyes lost that evil back cloud. I saw the eyes of the man I loved and was supposed to marry. It was then that I knew he hadn't really turned; he'd been tricked and bewitched. While we lay there, I promised him something. If we were ever born again, I would find him and we would live the life we were meant to have."
There were several seconds of silence before Rei and Mina let loose.
"Are you mad!? That man murdered you!" Rei stood shouting, black hair beginning to flint red in the sunlight coming through the sliding glass doors leading to the balcony.
"You're just gonna let him waltz back in here after that?" Mina raged. "He's a threat and a liability. It's better they all remain dead."
"Mina!" screeched Serena. "I can't believe you said that. You're the goddess of love!"
"Love has nothing to do with this." The leader of the scouts waved her hands madly.
"What about Dairen?" Amy asked suddenly. Everyone stopped to look at her. "Shouldn't this be his decision?"
Lita cocked her head. Amy was right. Nephrite was Darien's general, it should he up to him whether this knights come back. If the man they had sworn to protect with their lives would let them come back, then so should they.
"Darien should be finishing up his last class." Serena dug her cell phone out of her purse. "I'll see if he can come over and we can talk about this more."