Chapter 20

This night is one of the darkest that I've seen in a long time. I remember the way Endymion looked at me when his wife made her way to him. I could see the questions forming in the back of his mind and yet I was the one who turned away to avoid them. My anger has gotten the better of me many times before and the moment I struck Serenity was no different, but there was some relief in the act.

Still, it was Pluto's words that brought me out here in the dark abyss of a battlefield. Nephrite stands alone looking up at the sky. I honestly don't know what it is that I'm expecting him to do, but each step I take is slow and heavy. He doesn't look at me, but I know that he can sense my presence.

"Neph?" I speak just louder than a whisper and he turns to me.

His eyes are dark and I know that I have seen this before. "I was worried about you."

I step forward. "What's going on?"

A tear falls from his eye. "I understand now, what it is that I have done and what it is that I will do. There is no use fighting fate when it has a grip on your throat."

"I don't understand."

He nods. "But you can sense it; the darkness in my heart. I know that you have seen Jadeite and Kunzite."

I shake my head. "I refuse to believe that you would betray me again. I know you-"

"Do you, Makoto? Do you really know me?"

"I do."

In that moment he pulls the dagger from the back of his belt. "Do you know why we fought for the destruction of the Silver Millennium? The stars told me."

I step back. "Nephrite..."

He throws the dagger to the ground. "It's because of her; Metalia. She has our souls. She will always have our souls." He turns away. "Take it... please. I don't want to hurt you."

"I still don't understand."

He smiles. "There is a shadow of rage that I let consume me with the war. I know that the others were taken as well. If Endymion didn't have the golden crystal then he would have fallen with us."

I reach down and pick up the dagger. "I can help you."

He shakes his head. "This was our fate when we let that witch touch our hearts. I feel it now. There is a voice whispering in my ear. It's so seductive."

"That's enough."

He closes his eyes. "She may not have a body, but Metalia still exists within us."

Sparks start dancing around my fingers. "Don't you dare give up! I saw Zoicite. He fought for us."

Nephrite steps back. "His tranformation was inevitable. He thought as I do now. We would rather die than kill those we loved."

"Do you listen to everything the stars tell you?"

"You listen to Jove. I listen to the stars. We all have our faith invested in something."

"You're giving up."

He shakes his head. "No, I have seen the Empress that you will become, but I am not the Emperor that will sit at your side."

"You're letting a vision of the future cloud the present!"

"No I'm not!" He's crying now. "I love you, Makoto. I always will, but this point in time is inevitable. I am going to go and seek the others out-"

I tuck the dagger into the back of my belt. "You're asking me to let myself kill you again."

"If I could do it myself then I would, but... she won't let me!" The dark aura is rising around him. "You can do it. I know you love me and that is why it will be easy."

Love. Even now, thousands of years later, it is still as cruel as ever. He clenches his chest and looks back up to the stars. Suddenly all those promises of returning, of taking me away from this place, mean nothing. I am numb and I wonder if he can see that. I'd be lying if I said that I can't feel the darkness growing between us. I don't even realize that I have tears in my eyes until he bows his head.

"Makoto, please don't cry. I want you to smile."

I close my eyes. "If there is darkness then it can be healed with the silver crystal."

"Always so optimistic." He then turns his back to me. "Don't worry, Makoto. You will be happy. I've seen at least that much. I'll try to kill one of them before I turn completely."

The moment I watch him disappear is the moment when I know that he's gone. He looks back one last time and I see the light fading from his eyes. I should have struck him down while he was standing right there. Damn it. It has been three lifetimes and with each one he's let the darkness consume his soul. If it is Metalia then she can be beaten, but can I beat her on my own? I have never been one to listen to prophecies, but there was something in what Nephrite said that made no sense. An Empress?

"Jupiter." Pluto walks beside me.

I am too shocked to move. "Did you see this coming, Setsuna?"

She nods. "This is a fixed point in time. There was nothing that could stop this from happening."

I turn. "Then you knew that even if I forgave him, he would leave me in the end."

"It is not my place to reveal one's future."

I look in her eyes. "But we could have stopped this. We could have saved them if... if I had known that-"

"Makoto. It wouldn't have made a difference."

I shake my head. "Even when this is over, the time of Crystal Tokyo will have passed. Am I wrong?"

"Yes, you are. Crystal Tokyo will always exist."

I nod. "Then it will have been the time of senshi that will pass."

There is a brief moment of silence as both Pluto and I hear the footsteps behind us. I turn and see Endymion standing with his daughter. There is a sadness in his eyes that seems to shine prominently in the night.

Rini runs towards me and I kneel down to meet her. "Lita, Papa says you might need a hug."

I look over to Endymion. So he knew as well. "Does he? Well, a hug wouldn't hurt."

The King of Earth slowly walks towards us. "Jupiter, we need to talk."

"Do I look like I am in the mood to talk?" My eyes are red. I can feel the air brushing against my cheek.

Endymion bows his head. "Please."

There is a moment when all I want to do is disappear just like Nephrite did. I hate it when people feel sorry for me and that is exactly what I see in Endymion's eyes. I pause and wipe the tears from my face. I can't afford to be weak like this. There is a moment when I think back to how Endymion and I were back in the Silver Millennium. The two of us have always had a mutual understanding of what it is that must be done. I nod and let go of the young princess. "Fine, when?"

He looks up at the stars. "Right now."

Pluto smiles. "Princess, there is something I must show you."

Rini looks to her father. "Can I go, Papa?"

Both the King and the Senshi of Time exchange glances. "Yes, that would be fine."

"I didn't think that he would actually go." Endymion's words are spoken just above a whisper.

I pause. "I was a fool."

"Is that what you really think?"

I nod. "Yeah, it is."

He continues forward. "You need to stop blaming yourself for things that cannot be changed."

I look him in the eye. "What would you do if that was Serena that faded away? What would you do if you knew that the next time you saw her would be on the opposite side of a battlefield? I don't understand why I didn't see this coming."

"Because you love him."

"I wish I never did, not in the Silver Millennium and certainly not here."

He pauses. "You don't mean that."

"Yes I do."

He turns. "You're stronger than this. The Lita Kino I know would just carry on, and find someone else."

"But I'm not the Lita Kino you knew. I don't even think she exists anymore. Don't kid yourself, Darien. I know exactly what cards are in my hand. That is why I can't bring myself to look up to Serena like I once did. Is it wrong of me to see her as the selfish naive little girl that our enemies saw?"

He hesitates. "Lita-"

I stop. "I'm sorry, that wasn't fair of me. She's still your wife."

"And I love her."

I nod. "That is why I know where you will always stand. I also know that she won't let the people of Nemesis stay here so I'm going to do something that I don't want you to argue with me about. I have had enough of fighting with her. Promise me that there will be peace between us."

He smiles. "I'm not one for war."

"Then we agree."

"Yeah I think we do."

I pull out Nephrite's ring. "He gave this to me before he went back to Earth. Look at me. I'm doting over something that means nothing in this time. I just..."

He steps forward. "Lita."

"I don't need your comfort. I'm sorry I even brought it up." I drop the ring onto the ground.

Endymion picks it up. "Wait-"

I shake my head. "No, I can't. Too much time has been wasted as it is. I'm going to make sure that this comes to an end."

"Jupiter..."

I walk away with my head held high. The King of Earth seems to do nothing but watch as I turn towards the palace. Him and I, no matter how much he may or may not understand, are still from different worlds. It is his Queen that will always stand between us. I hope that is the happy ending that he can live with.

Sapphire paces the small room with hands behind his back. Even though I've only known him for a short amount of time, I can tell that he's analyzing every inch of the scenario that I had proposed. "How are you so sure that this will work?"

I push off the wall. "I'm not, but I'm asking you to trust me so that I can keep my promise."

He pauses. "And what about these Shitennou?"

"I will take care of them."

He shakes his head. "If we are going to enter into this partnership then I think we should take care of them together."

"Does that mean you trust me?"

He smiles. "There is something about you, Jupiter. I can tell that I'd be mistaken not to put the fate of my people in your hands."

"Then we have an agreement." I extend my hand.

He takes it without hesitation. "Yes we do."

We both hear the light scraping sound from the hall. I turn and see Mina in the doorway struggling to turn her wheelchair. Sapphire lets go of my hand and moves to help her. I just stand while a wave of sadness comes over me.

"There you are, Lita. I hope I wasn't interrupting something." She winks and I can't help but smile.

"Can nothing get your spirits down?"

She shrugs. "Not that I know of, but I'll let you know if that changes."

Sapphire pushes her in then walks back to the door. "Makoto, come find me when you're ready to look for them."

I nod. "I will."

He bows once to the both of us before exiting the room. Mina sits there with with a smile on her face. "So, are you going to tell me what that was about?"

I lean against the wall. "No, not this time."

Her expression changes. "Lita, what's going on?"

"Nothing that you need to worry about."

She shakes her head. "Don't give me that. I've seen that face before. You're going to do something stupid aren't you?"

"Stupid? Hardly."

"I'm serious."

I nod. "So am I."

She reaches out and grabs my hand. "I thought we were past this. You don't have to shoulder the responsibility yourself."

I smile and kneel down to her level. "Yes I do. Look at us, Mina. Cut me and I heal within seconds. Break my arm and the bone fuses instantly. An arrow is-"

"I get it. You don't have to keep going with the analogies. But you have to remember that we are senshi. We always knew this could have happened to any one of us."

I clench my fists. "It should never have happened."

"But it did so there's no use dwelling on what we can't change. Besides, even if you don't bleed I know you're still hurting. Don't think I haven't noticed."

I sigh. "Mina... there's-"

"I knew from the moment he kissed you."

I look into her eyes. "What?"

She leans forward. "When we were in court, the day Serenity resurrected them. I knew there had to be some history. You can't hide the affairs of the heart from the Goddess of Love. Endymion told me what happened. Are you just going to let him go?"

She looks at me with sad eyes. I try the best I can to smile. "That is the nature of our relationship. Fate does not mean for us to be together. I am a Queen and that means I put the people before myself. My happiness would be nothing in a world of misery. That is why I can kill him. I'll slit his throat and let his blood soak into the planet that he betrayed. I have done it before and I know I can do it again."

She pulls me into a hug. "Serenity will help you; we'll help you. God, I'll help you if they don't."

I stand. "You have done enough for a lifetime. Don't worry, I'll finish this and then it will be over."

"Lita."

But I turn and start walking to the door. "I'll see you later." I'm surprised to see Sapphire leaning against the wall just outside the door. "It's rude to eavesdrop."

He nods. "I know, but I just learned a great deal about you."

I turn away. "Don't do it again."

He ignores my comment. "Shall we go then?"

I say nothing as I continue down the hall and he follows knowing that my silence says yes.

Sapphire and I walk in perfect sync. The air is stale and I know that we can both feel the pulsing of dark energy. We reach the gate separating the palace grounds and the outer city, but the difference is minimal to me. I push it open, but Sapphire doesn't walk through with me.

He continues to look at the path we had just come from. "There is someone coming."

I turn. "I don't sense anything."

He nods. "Neither do I, but I can hear small steps."

"Lita!"

I see the Princess running towards us with Luna P trailing behind her. Sapphire shrugs and steps back. "We shouldn't take her with us."

I nod. "I agree."

The two of us wait until she collapses on the ground in front of us. Her white dress is now covered in a combination of dirt and grass. "Princess, you shouldn't be out here."

She pauses to catch her breath. "Why are you going alone? Mina is worried."

I kneel down. "Tell her that I'll be fine, but it's dangerous out here."

"But I wanted to help."

I sigh. "Someone needs to take care of the others. That would be the biggest help to me."

She reaches into her pocket. "But I brought this."

Both Sapphire and I widen our eyes at the sight of Silver Crystal shining so bright in her hand. "Rini, you can't just take this."

She hands it to me, but the glow dims to a minimal shine. "Mama says that it wasn't working. I thought that you could get it to work."

It's so dull in my hands. This isn't a power that I was ever meant to wield. I place it back in the Princess' palm. Its shine returns to its prominent luster. "Thank you, Rini, but this is your mother's. I shouldn't touch it."

She bows her head in defeat. "But mama's not even using it. She won't know."

I smile. "Then give it to your father. He'll know what to do with it."

Sapphire steps towards us. "Princess, I can take you back to the palace."

She looks to me. "Lita..."

"Go with him and give the crystal to your father." She nods and I extend my little finger. "Pinky promise?"

She smiles. "Pinky promise."

Sapphire offers the Princess his hand, which she takes. He then looks to me. "I will be quick."

And with those words he disappears leaving me with a moment of silence. I start walking past the gate to the ruined city on the other side. A storm slowly forms over head. About a minute passes before Sapphire returns. His stride matches my own.

"She's a quite a cheerful child."

I nod. "She is."

He looks up at the sky. "Why did you make her promise to give the crystal to the King? Why not Serenity herself?"

I sigh. "I was hoping that Endymion would see what I did."

"And that was..."

I stop and look at him. "How bright the Silver Crystal had shone in her hands."