Chapter Six

Does truth sound bitter as one at first believes?

-Robert Browning

"If I have to listen," Rei started irritably, "one more time about how Kai's eyes sparkle like grape candy or that Alexei's kiss would put Romeo to shame, I'm going to take both of you right now by the hair and toss you out."

She certainly looked serious, her scowling face lit by long rays of evening sunlight that streamed into the temple, but the downgrade from earlier threats of murder only made Makoto and Minako laugh.

"I don't care," she continued heartily, "what you made Kai for lunch, or even if Alexei could bench-press an entire elephant. You're in love. We get it."

"You're just jealous. Don't take it out on us because you don't have someone to talk about," Minako responded cheerfully.

If anyone was capable of giving a look that was ablaze with fire, it was Rei. Ami had been looking up curiously, but at the sight of Rei's eyes, she hastily retreated behind her textbook. Minako and Makoto turned their backs and continued their conversation, but further raptures about their boyfriends were delivered in whispers. For some reason, rather than focus her annoyance on them, Rei turned the look on Usagi, as if daring her to make some comment about Mamoru's biceps. She needn't have bothered. For once, Usagi's mind wasn't focused on Mamoru. It was more than enough occupied with Jenny.

Usagi rested her chin on her knees with a sigh and glanced at the still empty doorway. Surya had promised to meet them half an hour ago. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised, considering that the cercaphor had been half asleep when he agreed to meet the other senshi. But after his pompous speeches about how important it was to guard the princess, she had expected a little more effort from him. She scowled and played with the pink laces on her sneakers. In the week since he had appeared, she had been the one looking out for Jenny. While he ate Luna's food and spent the day napping, his stubby legs sticking up in the air, she had tailed Jenny to and from school and in between classes to ensure she never found herself alone in a dark corner. The least he could do was bother to show up and explain what was going on.

"Where is he?" Ami asked suddenly, looking up from her book. "He did say he was coming?"

The earnest sound of her voice distracted Makoto and Minako from their boyfriends' merits, and they looked at Usagi expectantly. Usagi glanced out the window, her mouth drooping into a frown. Streaks of red were already starting to color the horizon, but no golden head appeared coming up the path. "He said," she began gloomily, "but he probably forgot and is asleep somewhere."

"And you're sure this isn't… I don't know, a joke?" Makoto started tentatively. "I'm sure he's harmless, but… honestly, Jenny-san? She's so…" Makoto waved her arms ambiguously, but apparently she was either unable to come up with a fitting adjective or unwilling to say the one she had in mind. Usagi understood. She had watched Jenny closely in the past days, but there was nothing about her appearance or manner to suggest anything extraordinary.

"Not that she isn't nice," Makoto amended quickly. "It's just hard to believe, that's all."

Usagi snorted. "Nice isn't the word I have in mind."

"You know, I resent that," an arrogant voice commented from the door. The inner senshi jumped and turned to stare open-mouthed as Surya pranced into the room. "It's very rude to gossip about someone who isn't there to defend herself."

"Rude like showing up to a meeting an hour late?" Usagi asked angrily. She had sprung to her feet at his entrance, and now sat down hastily, trying to look as though his sudden appearance hadn't sent her pulse racing.

"Forty-two minutes," Surya corrected calmly. "And it was necessary. I had someone to collect." He stopped and looked at them importantly, but if he expected a reaction to his statement, he was disappointed by the blank faces surrounding him. "Oh, don't tell me you weren't curious about her. I would have thought you'd ask to meet her long before this."

For a moment, Usagi was baffled, thinking he meant Jenny, but then she inhaled sharply. "Oh!"

"Yes, oh," he said bitterly. "I wish we could discount the lot of you the way you do us, but unfortunately, I have a feeling we'll be needing you."

While the inner senshi exchanged glances and tried to recover from the shock of this greeting, Artemis strode forward warily. "Hello, Surya. My name is Artemis. We hope-"

"I know who you are," Surya interrupted, giving him a thorough look that was thoughtful rather than disrespectful. "My memories, unlike yours, are fully intact, and since you all seem to know who I am, further introductions are unnecessary."

This prompted another brief silence, until Luna's disgruntled voice came from beside Rei. "I told you he was rude."

"I don't believe in wasting time when I know what is at stake," Surya countered in a voice that was almost apologetic, but not quite. "What is important now is the princess and finding-ah! Here she is now."

Standing in the doorway, silhouetted in shadow against the backlighting of the sunset, was a figure, tall and majestic as a visiting queen. Usagi wasn't the only one who involuntarily gasped. Shadow obscured the face, but the very essence of the newcomer radiated power and magnificence.

"Did I miss anything?" The voice that spoke was husky, almost masculine, but when the girl stepped into the temple and light illuminated her body, her figure was purely feminine. She was unquestionably another senshi. Her uniform was similar to their own, with a yellow skirt and collar and black bows on her chest and back. Two thin horizontal stripes of black accented her collar, and a black garter rested on her thigh an inch below her skirt's hem. The white fabric of her bodice attached to her skirt only at her sides, revealing small triangles of skin on her stomach and back.

Her boots reached her knees; her gloves ended at her wrists; and the ornaments she wore included a black choker, with a strange symbol like a dangling teardrop, and a silver tiara with a glittering yellow gem at the center. Dark hair fell to her shoulders, but other than that it was difficult to focus on any particular aspect on her face - much, Usagi supposed, as she and her friends appeared to others. She was simply tall and dark and beautiful, and Usagi suddenly wasn't able to blame Jenny for not coming up with a better description than "the warrior in the yellow suit."

"Girls, meet Sailoranteros, although I don't recall asking her show off."

The girl scowled. "All right, Surya. I just thought appearing like this would avoid questions about what I'm doing here. Look, I'm toning it down. See?" And with that, she lifted her hand and a bright flash of light enveloped her body, temporarily blinding them. Usagi raised a hand and blinked against the light and dark splotches that appeared before her eyes. Once the flashes faded, she lowered her hand and gaped at the girl in the black leather jacket now standing there defiantly.

It was Kelly Virida.

Usagi realized her mouth was hanging open and closed it with a snap. Only Rei and the cats were looking at the new addition without recognition; the others were staring in a kind of horrified wonder. Unconcerned, Kelly flicked her dark hair out of her eyes - her green streaks were back - and went to sit against the wall. Both knees poked through holes in her jeans as she crossed her legs. Usagi's eyes were drawn to the silver ring, set with a yellow jewel, that she always wore on her right middle finger: the apparent source of her power.

"All those times we had lunch together. You never said a word." It was difficult for Usagi to keep the accusation out of her voice.

Kelly shrugged. "What did you want me to say? I had a job to do. Nothing more."

"Wait, you know her?" Rei asked incredulously. Her eyes flickered from Usagi to the others in bewilderment.

"She goes to school with us. Kelly Virida. She's friends with Jenny."

"But you're not… she's not…" Rei trailed off and looked around the room suspiciously, as if expecting someone to yell, "April Fools!"

"She's another exchange student. From New York City." Ami appeared to be having difficulty keeping her eyes off Kelly as well. The page of the textbook lying open in her lap was neatly shredded around the edges.

"Queens, if you want to know. Can we get on with this? Any questions you have about me can wait. This is supposed to be about Jenny."

Makoto was watching her rather shrewdly. "You speak Japanese much better than you let on at school."

"I should. I've been studying it since I was twelve. I knew I'd need it someday."

"Kelly has the gift of Vision," Surya explained, "as did all from the royal Anteros bloodline. She knew about her past life and had discovered her powers long before I found her last summer. She was quite useful in directing me towards Jenny's whereabouts. But she's right. This isn't about her. We-"

"But why pretend if you were able to understand?" Makoto interrupted, frowning.

"It gave me an excuse to stay close to Jenny," Kelly said reasonably, stretching out her long legs and picking a piece of dust off her jeans. She focused a stern look on the group. "Someone has to keep an eye on her."

"I'm protecting her," Usagi said rather sulkily. "I follow her outside of school."

"Yeah? Who do you think's been following you?" While Usagi tried to digest this, Kelly added fiercely, "Look, I'm sure you have good intentions, but I don't trust anyone but myself to do it. I won't let that girl out of my sight."

Minako leaned forward, Alexei's six-pack forgotten for the moment. "Why? Usagi-chan hasn't told us anything."

"There's nothing to tell," Usagi said defensively. "You know everything that Surya told me. Lord Ahriman is back, Jenny-san is some kind of princess, he must be stopped… but if he's back, why hasn't he done anything? It's not like last time when he was showing off and making clear demonstrations of his power."

"You call attacking Jenny nothing? You wouldn't be so cold if it happened to you," Kelly snapped, her green eyes flashing furiously.

Usagi blinked, feeling the words like a slap. "I didn't mean-"

"But it won't happen to her. She's not the one he wants." Surya's voice was laced with frustration.

"Oh really? Lord Ahriman kidnapped and brainwashed her. If she wasn't important to him, why didn't he kill her instead of keeping her around?" Luna's whiskers twitched as she strode forward to present Surya with a challenging look, but he wasn't bothered.

"Because he knew it would be easier to get to Jenny if he had Usagi under his power. He knows their connection."

"Connection? What connection? That happened long before my family knew we were getting that horror of an exchange student!" Usagi wasn't angry about Jenny so much as upset over Surya implying that Lord Ahriman had abducted her for nothing. A slow heat spread across her face at the mention of the incident, but her friends were too interested in what Surya was saying to remember that this was a touchy subject with her. Only Kelly was watching, and the knowing flash of pity in her eyes made everything worse.

"But he knew," Surya said smoothly. "Usagi, even if she wasn't your exchange student, you two would have met somehow, somewhere, sometime."

"Why?" Usagi forced her face into a look of detached curiosity. Her skin felt revealingly warm.

The cercaphor sighed. "I'll start at the beginning. I think it will help you understand. It's cliché to start with 'Once upon a time,' but what would you say if I told you that once upon a time this conflict you face now, that you feel is solely your own, was being fought by your parents and grandparents and every single one of your ancestors since the universe began? You see, something went wrong at the beginning of all things that split the Universe into two powers: the Light and the Darkness. Maybe this was never intended to be. I wouldn't claim to know. But the fact is you've inherited the fight and are the last remaining warriors of the Light, born to help your princess defend this world."

A strange hush fell over the room as he spoke. The golden beams of light coming from outside had progressed into a soft crimson, coloring the room with a deep calming wash. Surya looked at them each in turn, his gaze lingering last and longest on Usagi.

"Many years ago, long before any of you were born in your past lives, there was a battle between the two powers. Your parents were teenagers, and, without going into particulars, they managed to seal the Darkness away into another dimension. All creatures of fear, male, female, young, old, were sent away… except one. The smallest of their children whom Queen Celestia couldn't bear to see banished or harmed."

"Queen Celestia?" Minako asked and immediately blushed at Surya's stern look.

"Queen of the Athene system, the star of Athena. My former mistress and Jenny's mother. Long story short, the queen felt sorry for the little boy and convinced the others to let him stay free. She felt that he shouldn't be blamed for the actions of his family and wanted to raise him as her own. She thought she could change him."

"What stupidity!" Kelly said heatedly, causing the others to start at the reminder of her presence. "I don't care how good her intentions were, she should have known that children of the Darkness can't change. They have no hearts to warm. She may have treated him like a son and given him the wealth and status of a prince, but he never gave a damn about her. You know how the bastard repaid her kindness? By blowing up our home as soon as he was old enough to gain his powers!"

"It was undoubtedly a mistake, but the queen was a great women, though her sympathies sometimes made her actions foolish." Surya gave his champion a warning look. "She was forgiving of those others condemned as irredeemable and she loved without prejudice… A family trait, I'd say." Kelly didn't respond, but reddened at that and looked furious. She bowed her head and returned to cracking her knuckles.

Something flashed through Usagi's memory. "He destroyed your home?" she asked gently, for she had seen a look of pain cross the cercaphor's face at Kelly's words. "That was when you came to my kingdom, right?"

"We did. Very few of us. It happened so fast that only our eight princesses and myself were given time to escape. We thought we were the sole survivors, but when we came to your Moon we found him there charming Queen Serenity's court. He had conveniently been away at the time of the explosion." Surya's mouth twisted without mirth.

"Conveniently!" Kelly was unable to hold in her anger any longer. She leapt to her feet and started pacing the room with folded arms. "He destroyed our home, his home, without a bit of regret. I was the only one who saw through him. I tried to tell you all, but you were too stupid to believe me. It would have saved a great deal of trouble if you had." She kicked the wall furiously before swinging back to face them, coaxing a protesting squeal from Rei.

"Fine," Surya said impatiently. "You were the Cassandra of our group. You were right; we were wrong. I had my suspicions - we probably all did - but I was unwilling to believe that Queen Celestia could have been so wrong about him."

"You and everyone else," Kelly said bitterly. "Oh yes, he can be very charming. But he was only there to do the same to his adoring new friends as he'd done to us."

"You forget." Surya's sharp red eyes landed on Kelly with a scornful look. "He had another reason for being there that had nothing to do with destruction."

Kelly stood very still. Usagi leaned back warily, wanting to get out of the way if she was going to scream or start kicking things again. But Kelly surprised her by walking slowly to sit back at her place against the wall. "That's your opinion," she said darkly as she lowered to the floor and drew in her knees. "Whether he meant it or not, that's how it ended."

"I wasn't defending him. It isn't possible for anyone to hate him more than I do. But facts are facts, and he was there because Princess Celestia was there. He loved her. Yes, love," he added fiercely as Kelly snorted at the word and many of the others blinked in surprise. "He loved her, as much as it was possible for one of the Darkness to love another. She was one of the few who gave him kindness, not out of respect for Queen Celestia but because she truly cared for him as a brother. His feelings for her weren't exactly brotherly. He asked Queen Serenity for permission to marry her and it was granted. Lord Ahriman knew she would agree because-"

"Lord Ahriman!"

"Yes." Surya shot a surprised look at Usagi, who had suddenly turned ashen. "Who did you think we were talking about? He didn't get to marry her, for he foolishly started his takeover on earth. But you know that story. So, here we are ten millennia later and you wanted to know what interest Lord Ahriman has in Jenny. There it is. But believe me, he has a reason for wanting to find her other than satisfying some long-running sexual fantasy."

"Like what?" Usagi asked sourly. The news that her most recent enemy and cause of shame was in love with the girl sharing her room who snored and glared and stared quietly into space unsettled her more than anything else she'd heard.

"Well, you and your friends are forces of the Light. Jenny is… not exactly."

"She's evil, I knew it." Usagi imagined Jenny and Lord Ahriman sitting together, locked in some sappy lovers' embrace. No doubt they'd make a perfectly evil little family together.

Surya gave her a stern look and then turned the same on Kelly, who had stiffened at Usagi's comment and opened her mouth to say something nasty in defense of her friend. "No, she is not, and I know you don't believe that. She's beyond the reach of either Light or Darkness. If Jenny were ever to be revived as Sailorathena, her power would be the force of the wild cosmos. The final battle is coming, and it has been foretold that whatever side she is on will be victorious. She will have a choice to make, and whatever her decision, Sailoranteros and the other six will fight with her."

"That's stupid. You're telling me they're prepared to kill us all if Jenny-san is dumb enough to listen to Lord Ahriman?" Makoto asked roughly.

The question was intended for Surya, but Kelly answered first. "We don't have a choice. It's not like I'm looking forward to it, but we have to follow the laws. She's my princess - I'd follow her anywhere. You've got to understand that at least. But look, there's no reason it has to come to that. We need to protect her so he doesn't get anywhere near her."

"And we have the advantage," Surya added quickly, since many of the senshi were exchanging wary glances and looking downhearted. "Lord Ahriman does love her, and anything that weakens him is good for us. Besides, Jenny is not stupid. She knows the difference between right and wrong, and I don't think she'd vote to kill you. My biggest concern is what he'll do to her when he learns she won't fight with him."

"So that's the answer." Rei laughed dryly and shook her head. "Wow. What gave this girl the power to decide our fates?"

"It's tied to the circumstances of her birth. Everything in this universe has a balance. Light and Darkness, up and down, old and young, man and woman. Every planet and star in the old days was ruled by a king and a queen. This was the way since the beginning of time. But the balance was thrown off in Athena, for Queen Celestia never married."

Ami glanced up sharply, trying to conceal the surprise in her eyes. "Then Jenny-san was…"

"Yes. The queen was in love with a man she could never have and paid for her passion with a child. Of course, she didn't love her daughter any less for being illegitimate, but many of the close-minded viewed the child as a curse for disrupting the balance. Some predicted great disaster would come to them because of this, and perhaps that was true considering what happened. Anyway, this change is why Jenny's power is different. She was not born to serve the Light or the Darkness, but rather to tip the scale either way."

"That's kind of sad," Usagi admitted, feeling a wave of emotion after the story. "Why couldn't the queen be with the man she loved?"

Surya looked at her and said nothing.

"Well, I still won't feel sorry for Jenny-san," Usagi continued. "Doomed princess or not, she has no excuse for being so rude to me. But Surya… I don't understand why my mother agreed to let Lord Ahriman marry her. Surely she must have known how bad he was!"

"She knew his origins, yes, but not what he had done. She consented because she hated Bryn - Jenny's name at the time - and wanted her gone from the Moon Kingdom."

"My mother obviously had good taste."

This time Kelly didn't need to leap up in a rage - Surya beat her to it. "Let's get one thing clear. I don't know what is going on between you two, but if we're going to be working together, it ends now. Bryn was a loyal friend, one of the sweetest girls I've ever known, and she never judged anyone harshly without cause. The reason Queen Serenity hatred her had nothing to do with her. Your mother only resented the fact that she had been born! Say what you will about Jenny now, but Bryn did nothing to deserve your contempt."

Usagi was taken aback and shut her mouth.

After the ensuing silence and more bewildered looks exchanged amongst the senshi, Luna asked the logical question: "Why did Queen Serenity hate Jen – Bryn – so much? I think we agree that our queen also never judged without cause."

Kelly arched an eyebrow and snorted again from her place against the wall, but left it at that. Surya was silent for a moment before turning to Usagi with a strange flash of pity in his eyes.

"It wasn't Bryn she hated, not really. The thing is… Jenny's mother and Usagi's father were lovers. He married Queen Serenity, but his first love was Queen Celestia. The laws prevented them from being together - no marrying was permitted outside one's solar system. But it didn't prevent them from loving each other. He loved her until the day he died. With his last breath, he asked for her. Queen Serenity couldn't help hating the child that was born from her husband and her once best friend. How would you feel?"

The silence inside the temple was a tangible entity, broken only by the cawing crows outside. The truth was apparent… to everyone, that is, except Usagi, who kept staring at Surya with a look of expectation, denying it all, unable to believe.

Surya sighed. "Jenny is your half-sister, Usagi. Haven't you guessed that?"

Usagi felt as if a gong had been struck against her head. Things indeed seemed to be taking a turn for the worst.

0 0 0

"Care for a drink?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Jenny looked up from her sketchbook and was startled to see Max standing beside her. Instinctively, she pulled the book to her chest to conceal the drawing and gave him an apologetic grin. Last she had seen he was lounging in a chair across the room, reading glasses on and legs crossed as he frowned and studied a pile of papers on the desk beside him. Jenny had been perfectly content to drift and dream as she copied images of him onto the paper, so much that part of her had forgotten he was a living being and not another still life.

His lips twitched. "A drink. You know, something wet, possibly sweet. You've been at it nearly an hour. I thought you could use a break."

"Oh. Yes, thank you." Jenny shook her head to clear it and stuck her pencil in the wire binding of her sketchbook as Max proceeded to the bar at the far corner of the room.

"Let's see…" His voice was slightly muffled as he knelt behind the bar and examined the contents of the small refrigerator below. "You have a choice of water, orange juice, some weird banana-flavored green tea drink - stay away from that, if you want my advice - Coke…"

"Coke would be fine."

"Coke it is." Max's dark head reappeared and he set the can on the bar before reaching for a bottle of wine. "You don't mind if I indulge?"

Jenny shook her head as he uncorked the bottle and let the red liquid splash into a wineglass. She wouldn't have been surprised if there were diamonds in it. His opulent way of living no longer shocked her, although when she first came to his mansion the sheer size of the place and lavish decorations had been stunning. She had been so nervous that first day while he gave her a tour, unsure how to act in such luxurious surroundings. But she soon learned that it was impossible to be uncomfortable around him. The way he made her feel was refreshing. He never treated her like a kid or an inferior, and Jenny found herself admiring him more every time she was with him.

Max came towards her and Jenny held out her hand for the can. For a moment, their fingers brushed. "Thanks," she said and popped the top before taking a long drink. It took her a moment to realize that Max had not returned to his chair, but stood hovering over her, sipping his wine with a little frown. "What?" she asked self-consciously.

"Are you okay? You don't seem yourself today."

Jenny smiled. "I'm fine."

That wasn't entirely true. Something had been at the back of her mind all day, slipping in and out of her waking awareness. Last night she had dreamed she and Usagi were running through a meadow, laughing and spinning each other around in the dizzy slow motion of dreams. The air was filled with the smell of spring; and wildflowers covered the ground with a rainbow of colors. It would have been a beautiful dream if it had stayed that way. But the sky turned black, and the ground rumbled and cracked between them. She could still hear Usagi's screams as a smoky hand reached up from the chasm and pulled Jenny into the hole.

Down, down she fell, into an underworld of hatred and lies. Something was waiting for her at the bottom. A demon that wanted her and reached for her, filling her with darkness until she was just like it. But while Jenny was succumbing to its power, she had noticed Usagi floating nearby… and Nick. Looks of terror were on their faces and their voices mingled together, pleading with her to be strong and not give in. But they were too late. Jenny was trapped in an eternal night.

Mercifully, she had awaken, but the terror stayed with her. Her frightened brain saw shadows creeping along the walls and ceiling, and for a frightened moment she thought something really had come for her. She had wanted so badly to call out to Usagi, breathing evenly on the other side of the room, but she choked back the urge. She couldn't let Usagi know, just as she was unable to confide in Max now, that she was childish enough to be frightened by a dream.

Max appeared to take her word for it. He took another sip from his crystal glass and gestured at the notebook she gripped protectively in her lap. "May I see?"

"See?" Jenny echoed stupidly. "Um, it's not that great. Really just a work in progress. Nothing you'd be interested in." She didn't know why she was being so protective of her drawings, since he was paying her, or even why she was still doing preliminary sketches after two weeks of meeting him. Her conscious excuse was that she had never done a portrait before and wanted to be familiar with his every angle before starting the painting. The real reason was more complicated. Being with him was the only time she felt peace in Japan, and she felt no desire for it to end.

"I would like to see." Max's voice dropped to a low authoritative level that was clearly meant to remind her that he was, after all, her employer. He placed his wineglass on the small table beside Jenny's chair and held out his hand. She sighed and handed him the book. His smile was indulgent as he opened to her most recent drawing but the look soon disappeared. Shock passed over his face and then disbelief.

Jenny's heart sank. "You hate it." Her voice was filled with dejection. If he'd wanted perfection, he should have hired a real artist. She could hardly stand the thought of his disappointment.

"On the contrary. I had no idea you were so… Jenny, this is amazing. It's like I'm looking in a mirror." Max turned back the page and looked at the previous drawing with the same wonder. Jenny glanced at him, hardly daring to believe it. He wasn't disappointed. Not even close. Instead, she began to wonder if she should feel insulted by the depth of surprise he was showing at being impressed despite his expectations.

She grimaced. "Thanks, but you're just saying that."

"Believe me. I wouldn't lie to you." He looked up from the page and met her eyes. She saw the truth of his words as he gazed down at her, as well as something new in his expression. But before she could work out the meaning, he closed the sketchbook with a snap and handed it back to her.

"Well, I had a feeling about you, and you've certainly confirmed it." He walked over to the beautiful carved cedar table beside the sofa and plucked a yellow rose out of the ceramic vase. "For you, my lady," he said gallantly, sweeping into a bow as he presented it to her. Jenny took the flower, smiling. She brought it to her nose and breathed in, closing her eyes.

"How about another drawing?" she asked shyly, setting the flower carefully on the floor next to her backpack.

"Shall I pose this time, my dear artisan?" He winked at her, his golden eyes twinkling, before thrusting out his arms and a leg like a superhero about to take flight. Jenny laughed and flipped to a clean page in her sketchbook. She curled her legs beneath her and settled into a more comfortable position, but before she could detach her pencil from the wire spirals, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Max said, only his lips moving as he held the pose. The door swung open and a head poked in. Jenny recognized Sera, Max's personal assistant. She was the only one of Max's employees that she had met, and while Jenny liked her, she found herself feeling oddly resentful at the interruption. Sera seemed to recognize the sentiment and tossed her short, light blue hair over her shoulder with a smile of apology.

"Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt, but your new intern is here."

Max dropped the pose and turned towards the door with a frown. "Now? I forgot that was today. Damn. Well, send him in." He looked annoyed as Sera bowed her head and left. Jenny watched him with concern.

"Should I go?"

"I'd rather you didn't," he said honestly. "You can continue your work while we talk. I hate this kind of thing, but it's something my father always did. I guess it made him feel big to play mentor to some college kid with big dreams. Now I get to follow in that grand tradition. I promise this won't take long."

Jenny nodded uncomfortably. She felt she should leave if Max was going to have a business meeting, but couldn't go without being rude after he'd specifically asked her to stay. She made a formless doodle on the paper while Max went over to his desk and pulled a few papers out of a folder to examine. A few minutes passed and Sera returned with the intern following close at her heels.

"Mr. Gordon, Mr. Kestrel," she introduced before bowing slightly and leaving the room. Jenny paled and looked up, hoping she had misheard. She hadn't. Nick, looking handsome in a suit and eager to please, strode across the room with an outstretched hand. Jenny gripped her pencil so hard that it snapped, and immediately bent to pick up the pieces. She was grateful for an excuse to hide her face. The shock of seeing him, especially after his appearance in her dream the night before, was debilitating. Luckily neither man took notice of her as they shook hands.

"Thank you for having me, sir. This is truly an honor." Nick's voice was different; it disconcerted her. He sounded professional, appreciative and a little subservient, not at all the self-assured cocky bastard she knew. Max replied in a pleasant but slightly mocking imitation of the tone. As they exchanged polite greetings, Jenny looked at the door, judging the distance, and wondered if she could slip out before they noticed her.

Unfortunately not. Her ears perked up and she froze when Max said, "I'd like to introduce you to someone…" Horrified, fighting her will, Jenny looked up and saw that Nick had finally seen her and was staring with the same stunned expression she had worn.

"My artist, Miss Jennifer Thomas," Max continued, oblivious to the tension in the room. "She is very talented."

"I know," Nick said faintly. He looked deflated, all the positive energy he had brought with him fading away.

"What do you mean, boy?" Max asked and Nick faced him, studying him with an entirely different expression than the obsequious employee of before. Max's golden eyes looked thoughtful. "I see. It was you in the park a few weeks ago. Well, isn't this a merry little coincidence." His deep voice sounded oddly amused, but Jenny swallowed heavily. Coincidence didn't cover it. It was as if some unwanted Fate was determined to run her life, never allowing her to escape what she wanted to forget. Crossing an ocean had done nothing to solve the problem. He was everywhere.

An awkward silence followed that statement, which Max broke with a curt, "To business." Although Nick was still eyeing him suspiciously, he seemed anxious for a distraction, and the two went to sit beside Max's desk, Max speaking about company policy and what duties he expected Nick to perform. Jenny sat very still. The crackling flames from the fireplace behind her were nothing compared to what she felt. She was grateful beyond imagining that Nick was ignoring her, but when she tried to relax and start another drawing she found herself staring at the blank paper without inspiration.

She wanted to leave, but was afraid of what Nick would think. She twiddled idly with the remaining stub of her pencil. Max was holding up a chart and Nick nodded earnestly, both absorbed to the point of forgetting she was in the room entirely. If Nick could so quickly become indifferent, why not she? She let out her breath and shifted position, moving her half-numbed legs out from beneath her. Probably Nick was laughing at her reaction and lack of cool. If he thought he had gotten to her, he was mistaken. She had to show him just how cold she could be.

Jenny looked down at her sketchbook and then up at the two men. Slowly, she stood.

0 0 0

Nick saw her coming before Mr. Gordon did. His boss was droning on about company dress code, but the instant Nick saw movement in the corner of his eye, all his energy was spent watching her near while still pretending to be interested in what Mr. Gordon had to say. It was challenging. The entire experience was baffling. Just when he had resigned himself to never seeing her again, knowing it was for the best, there she was in the house of a billionaire, the very man he had discovered her with in a compromising position only weeks before.

The fact that he had gotten the internship in the first place was surprising. After seeing a notice on the bulletin board outside his Economics classroom, he had applied on a whim, not expecting anything because of his lack of experience. But a few days later the letter had arrived, saying that the famous Maximilian Gordon had personally selected him as his new intern. Nick had been so proud of himself. He had spent all day preparing for the meeting, pestering Mamoru with so many questions about how he looked that his roommate had had to leave. Now a large part of him wished he'd never applied.

Jenny's shadow fell over them. Nick looked up, but she didn't so much as glance at him before going to Mr. Gordon. He stopped his lecture when she touched his shoulder, but didn't look cross at the interruption. Quite the reverse, the look he gave her was pure tenderness. It make Nick's insides squirm.

"Oh, don't mind me," she said brightly. "I just thought I'd do a different sort of picture for once. Something casual, if you don't mind."

Mr. Gordon shrugged and continued his lecture, but Nick couldn't even pretend to listen anymore. His eyes narrowed as Jenny removed Max's tie, her fingers undoing the knot a little too skillfully. She helped him shrug out of his jacket, an even more intimate gesture, for after tossing it aside she smoothed out the wrinkles on his shirt without the slightest sign of embarrassment. By the time Jenny unbuttoned the ends of his sleeves and the top few buttons on his chest, Nick wanted to leap out of his chair and pull her back. Luckily for his future career, he was able to restrain himself.

Nick was so focused on Jenny that it took him a moment to realize that Mr. Gordon was very interested in what she was doing as well. It had been nearly a minute since he had spoken at all. His gaze was steady as he watched her, golden eyes peeking out from beneath heavy eyelids. Jenny didn't notice. If she had an ulterior motive, Nick couldn't see it. She was frowning slightly, studying her model with an artist's eye, as impassively as if he was a block of wood. She didn't see the tense way Mr. Gordon sat or the quick rise and fall of his chest. But Nick did.

"It's not quite right," she muttered, and to the surprise of both men, she walked to the back of Mr. Gordon's chair and removed the elastic band he wore to gather his long hair at the back of his neck. Jenny ran her fingers through his hair to loosen and smooth it out, and brought some forward to fall over his shoulders. With one last light touch to brush some hair from his eyes, she stood back to examine him with a satisfied look.

"Perfect," she said softly. "Could you hold that for me?" Mr. Gordon, frozen as he was, looked incapable of movement anyway. Nick had a feeling he was willing to do much more than hold a simple pose for her, but to this, Jenny seemed oblivious. She walked back to pick up her sketchbook and curled up in her chair, perfectly content to return to her naive world of angles and shapes.

Mr. Gordon cleared his throat and resumed his speech as if there had never been an intermission. Nick watched him bitterly. He had recognized the look in his boss's eyes; he had used it himself in the past, in the aftershock of seeing a girl almost too beautiful to believe. There was nothing about Jenny's appearance, in her overly large jeans and a sweatshirt with a screen print of a pissed-off Cartman, to suggest even 'pretty', so it was obviously not her looks that had provoked him. It had been her touch.

It shouldn't have bothered him, but it did. He had no claims to her; she was allowed to do as she wished, but he couldn't help feeling protective. From the casual look on her face and the lip caught between her teeth as she concentrated on her drawing, Nick knew that she had no idea what she had done. She was too innocent to consider the possibility, which made the situation even more dangerous. She may as well have thrown dynamite into a fire. One thing was certain: if she didn't get away soon, she was sure to get burned.