Darien sat across the table from a lovely young woman that he'd been set up with by a friend at work. It had been a long time since he'd actually gone out on a first date, and he was pretty sure that it showed. He felt awkward and he couldn't help it but the entire time that the woman was going on about a project at work, his mind wandered. He kept thinking back to the flash of light that he'd seen earlier that morning. Of course, he couldn't tell his date what he was really thinking about. He could just imagine her reaction to his confession that he was concerned that a new evil had come to Earth. She'd likely look at him as if he were completely mad.

After taking his date home, Darien decided to walk for a while. He strolled past various stores, some were closed while others were still open, and did his best to clear his head after what had ended up being a torturous evening.

"Darien?" He heard his name being called just ahead of him and looked up to see a familiar figure approaching him after he passed the local movie theater.

"Wendy, I wasn't expecting to see you downtown at this time of night."

"I went to see a movie." Wendy smiled at the man whom she had met more than six months ago on perhaps the most unsettling night of her life.

She had been kidnapped by the enemies of the Sailor Scouts and used as leverage against her brother, Kyle. Not that she had understood why she was taken at the time since she had no clue just who the Sailor Scouts were, nor of her brother's connection to them.

Kyle was engaged to Serena at the time, whom Wendy learned was Sailor Moon, and had been granted magical powers as well. When the Scouts had gone to where each of the hostages were, Darien had been there and had helped to rescue her. In fact, he had even gone back to the Negaverse and retrieved Kyle when he had been left behind in a cave in. In effect, she owed both her and her brother's lives to him.

Wendy knew that the relationship between her brother and his ex-girlfriend had to be hard for Darien. Still, after the initial shock of it, Darien appeared to have come to terms with the fact that Kyle and Serena were now married.

"Alone?"

"What other way is there?" Wendy laughed. "So why are you downtown all dressed up?"

Darien grimaced as he replied, "I had a date."

"By the look on your face, I believe it didn't go well." Wendy and Darien began to walk together toward the parking garage nearby as they spoke.

"Not really. I don't know. Maybe even trying was a mistake." Wendy gave Darien a questioning glance, to which he added, "I keep imagining trying to have a normal relationship with a woman only to have to skip out without being able to tell her that Tuxedo Mask was needed."

Wendy tried to imagine how she'd react to a man disappearing during their dates with little to no explanation and nodded as she could see that being a problem. "So, I'm guessing you never had to worry about that before."

"Before Serena, I had a girlfriend, but she broke up with me after a couple months of wondering what I did at night while I was off looking for the Silver Moon Crystal. But then, at the time, I didn't really care much."

"Well, look on the bright side, maybe the Shadows will be the last enemy that Tuxedo Mask will have to face," Wendy said in hopes for both the man before her as well as for her brother. She didn't relish the idea that he could at any time be needed to fight the forces of evil, either. Perhaps now especially with the fact that Serena had her own powers striped from her after her last battle against the Shadows.

"If only we could be certain of that." Darien would love to know that he could try to move on with his life. Particularly since he would forever be tied to Serena as long as he needed to take up the mantle of Tuxedo Mask. By now, the two had arrived at Wendy's car so Darien took her keys and unlocked her door and opened it for her. "You know, this probably isn't the safest area for a woman alone to walk around at night. Especially carrying such an expensive purse and dressed the way you are."

"Well, maybe the next time I decide to take in a movie, I'll give you a call so you can be my personal bodyguard," Wendy laughed as she took her keys back from Darien. "After all, it seems that you'll be available if tonight's date is any indication. Thanks for walking me to my car, Darien."

"No problem." Darien stood back to allow Wendy to climb into the car and then shut the door for her. He then waited for her to start the car up before waving to him before driving away. He gave a wave back before heading back to his own apartment feeling slightly better than he had only a few moments before.

Jed stared out of his window while standing in his small studio apartment. He couldn't help but think about what he'd learned that morning. Did he really believe in magic now? Well, he supposed that he kind of had to after seeing Hatsu's display. That or believe that he was going crazy. Of course, that was still a possibility.

Here he had been convinced that the dark-haired woman was suffering from some sort of psychosis to honestly expect an attack by these creatures that he had assumed she had created out of thin air. Now he was beginning to second guess their lack of existence. Maybe he needed to call up the area mental hospital and check in both himself and Hatsu.

"The Benu. A missing prince. Generals from another time. Magic." He ran his hands through his blond, curly hair. "Jed, you are losing your mind. I think you've been working at the shelter for too long."

Jed then turned away from the window and sat on his bed before he began to pull his socks off and prepared for bed. He hoped that he'd wake up to learn that the whole day had been a dream. He wasn't sure what he'd do if he found out that it wasn't.

Hatsu waited outside of the shelter for Jadeite to show up for work. She knew that he had needed a bit of time to process everything after she revealed her magic to him the day before, but she really couldn't afford to give him more than a day to come to terms with his new reality. Time was no longer on their side. Every moment more was a moment that the Benu had to find the prince. Something that she could not allow to happen.

When she saw Jadeite arrive at the shelter, she tried to approach him to discuss the next step in their mission to protect the prince. Unfortunately, he seemed to be determined to not give her that chance. He kept himself occupied with other employees as well as the other homeless individuals who relied on the shelter for assistance. She did her best to be patient, but Hatsu was beyond irritated when it was after his daily shift when she was finally able to approach him alone.

Following him as he walked home, Hatsu reached out her hand and used her magic to stop Jadeite in mid-step once they were in an alleyway vacant of other pedestrians.

"Hey, what is this?"

"Jadeite, we need to talk."

Jed furled his brows at Hatsu's insistence on using the ancient name that apparently was his in another lifetime. "Jed. My name is Jed. Now why can't I move?"

"Fine, Jed. And considering that you've conveniently made yourself unavailable all day, I figured that this was the only way I could speak with you. But now that I have you alone," Hatsu waved her hand once more to release Jadeite from the magic hold on him as she spoke. "There."

"Thanks," Jed muttered. He eyed the woman before he continued to walk to the end of the alleyway before turning in the opposite direction of his apartment. There was no reason to let the woman know where he lived, after all. He then asked her one question that had ran through his mind for more than a day. "Why me? Why did you have to come to me first? Didn't you say that there were four generals? Couldn't you have gone and tracked them down before coming to me?"

"You are the only one that I've been able to find. I need your help to find the others."

"I thought you said you knew who one of the others is."

"I do, but he isn't in the country right now. As for the other two, I hope to be able to find them soon since we'll need all of them to fight the Benu."

Jed breathed out heavily as he continued home by way of taking the long route. "So, what do we do now?"

Hatsu raised a brow as she heard the man's resignation. "First, I need to try to revive your memories of the past. Once I do that, you should remember your training; both of fighting and of the use of magic."

"Wonderful. Well, will I at least be able to pull that stunt that you just pulled with making it where I couldn't move?"

"Possibly." Hatsu had to smile as she remembered watching some of the training sessions where a young Jadeite had first learned to use magic. "In your former life, your powers manifested themselves through illusions and telekinetic manipulation."

Jed shook his head at the madness. Still, he reminded himself of the fact that it was either being this magical general or checking himself into the nearest mental institution. If he went with the latter, he knew he'd have a difficult time finding and keeping a job for the rest of his life. So, he supposed he should hope that he really was a general from another time.

"Alright, so how do we retrieve my memories so none of this sounds so ludicrous?"

"I've been looking for the correct magical components needed for the memory potion. I believe that I should be able to find the last of them at the exhibit at the arboretum tomorrow."

"The arboretum?"

"Yes, there is an exhibit of rare and endangered plants being held there. Hopefully the missing plants that I still need will be on display."

"So, I guess this means that we're going to arboretum tomorrow, then."

Hatsu smiled as she nodded. She knew that Jadeite wanted to fight everything that she had told him but a part of him was already believing her. That was a start. One that had been a long time in coming, but a start, nonetheless.

Jed stepped out of his apartment building and saw Hatsu, or who he assumed was her, standing across the street. She no longer looked as if she was belonged on the streets. Instead, she looked well-groomed and wore clothing similar to other women on the street as they headed out to go to work or shopping for the day. Not sure how she had changed her appearance so drastically nor how she found him at his home, he waited for cars to pass by before walking across the street to join Hatsu.

"You look like you cleaned up well. How did you find me?"

"I've known where you lived from nearly the first day that I found you."

Jed eyed the woman since knowing that she had known where he lived for so long felt more than a bit creepy to him. "Of course, you have. So, if you knew where I lived this whole time, why stay at the shelter? Why not use your magic to get yourself an apartment or something?"

"By staying at the shelter, I was able to stay close to you to try to convince you of everything that I came to prevent. Plus, it was by going to the shelter and having you work with me that I was able to learn more of your language and culture." Hatsu purposefully ignored the suggestion that she should have used her magic to give herself a place to stay.

"Alright, well, since you seem to know so much about me already, I guess that means you know today is my day off. Should I assume that we're heading on over to the arboretum?"

"The sooner we go the sooner I should know if I can complete my potion."

Jed motioned toward the bus stop and walked with Hatsu knowing that at least with others around she wouldn't openly discuss her mission with him; or his part in it. Anyone else looking at them might even assume that the two of them were a couple preparing to spend the day together.

The two of them waited until the bus pulled up outside of the arboretum and got off together where they then began to stroll through the elaborately laid out greenery.

"So," Jed glanced around to see to it that they were somewhat alone before he continued. "You've told me some about these generals, even the prince, but you haven't told me who you were in the past."

Hatsu raised a brow at Jadeite before turning back to the fauna in search of the plants that she needed. "I was the palace oracle. I had rooms deep in the heart of the castle where I lived."

"Were we friends?"

"I had no friends." Which was mostly true. Once she moved into the lower levels of the palace, the few relationships she had seemed to fizzle out over time. "I left my rooms only when I felt I needed to, and people only came to visit me when they needed my help."

Jed considered what Hatsu was saying before commenting, "Sounds kind of lonely."

Hatsu never thought of her life as that way before, but she could see how someone else might. In truth, back at the palace, her isolated rooms were a sanctuary away from the gossip around the court. After all, she was the daughter of an unmarried chambermaid. She was well aware of what was said about her as well as her mother. Not only had the wall kept her safe from gossip but the magic there protected her from far more dangerous, physical attacks as well.

"It suited me at the time," Hatsu said while reaching forward to a plant that caught her eye. "Here is one of the plants that I need."

"Really? So, what do you need from it; a leaf or two?"

"The whole plant."

Jed was surprised to hear that. "And how do you propose that we walk out of here with the entire plant under our arm without being stopped?"

Hatsu waved her hand over the plant and Jed watched as it vanished from sight while feeling his jaw drop. "You were saying?"

"I... uh..."

"Now, hopefully we can find the last one as well. Then I'll have everything I need for the potion."

Jed glanced around to make sure that no one had seen the disappearance of the rare plant that had been on display. One thing that was for sure, the two of them needed to put some distance between themselves and the display before someone came around the corner and noticed the plant gone.

"Wonderful... Then let's keep looking for it."