Stroking the schoolboy's head, she chuckled, turning her attention back to Master Zoisite again. "Do you think Queen Beryl will allow me to turn this boy into a youma, once she's finished with him?"

"I suppose she might, if the boy survives," Master Zoisite said, not seeming particularly interested in the conversation.

Turning back to the boy on her lap, she reached down to trace the roots hidden in his hair, down to the flower buds she'd tucked into his ears. He'd be deaf to any voice but hers, but she was already imagining just what she would be able to do, once Queen Beryl had finished draining the schoolboy's energy. She could almost feel the network of roots growing into the boy's skin; she'd bury him up to his hands in her garden, she'd pour nectar down his throat and feed him pollen to make him strong.

She'd plant special seeds in his eyes, and she'd cultivate thick, wooden armor over his fragile flesh. She'd cultivate him to bloom into a powerful youma, obedient to her and Master Zoisite, once Queen Beryl had finished draining the energy that had drawn her attention to him in the first place. But, for the moment, she'd have to be content with preserving the boy as best she could.

Opening the boy's mouth, she slipped a Devil's Tongue seed under his own tongue; as it grew, it would give the boy the strength to survive after Queen Beryl was done with him.

Settling the boy's head against her chest, she waited with Master Zoisite for Nephrite or the Sailor Guardians to come to them.

~SM~

Meeting up with Usagi and the other Sailor Senshi, Mamoru found himself startled to see Nephrite standing between Usagi-chan and Naru-chan as they made their way up to where he, Rei-chan, and Ami-chan were all standing.

"What's he doing here?" Rei-san asked, folding her arms and glaring at Nephrite where he was standing.

"Nephrite wants to escape from the Dark Kingdom, and he volunteered to help me rescue Trevor-nii," Usagi-chan said, as their two groups met up.

"What's Osaka-san doing here?" he asked, curious and more than a bit concerned; not only because one of the men who seemed to have taken Jadeite's position in the Dark Kingdom had followed Usagi to their meeting site, but because Usagi seemed to have revealed her identity to him.

She also seemed to have revealed it to Naru-san, but since she was an old friend of Usagi-chan's, he wasn't so worried about that.

"I told Naru-chan about me," Usagi-chan said, standing firm in a way Mamoru hadn't seen from her in all the time the pair of them had known each other. "The rest of you can do what you want, but Naru-chan is my friend, and I've decided to trust her."

"Oh, and you've just decided to trust Nephrite, too?" Rei-chan demanded, folding her arms and glaring in a completely unimpressed way.

"Well, he was standing right there, and Naru-chan trusts him," Usagi-chan said, pausing for a moment as Rei-chan glared at her. "He's also trying to escape from the Dark Kingdom, so don't look at me like that."

"We should get going, Trevor-kun is still in danger," he said, bringing their attention back to what they needed to do; back to where they were all headed, in the end.

The rest of the Sailor Senshi quickly agreed, though Nephrite was still watching him.

~SM~

He truly didn't know what to make of the situation, but somehow Nephrite had found himself amidst the group of Sailor Guardians who had already caused so much trouble for Queen Beryl and the rest of the Dark Kingdom, while all of them were intending to mount another attack on the mansion he had been using as a base of operations. Another attack on Zoisite, who was currently holding the schoolboy who had turned out to be the older brother of Sailor Moon herself.

And, while the familial connection served to explain at least some of Sailor Moon's determination to rescue the boy from Zoisite and the Dark Kingdom as a whole, it did little to explain why she would be so concerned about Naru Osaka.

Still, as there was little chance of him escaping the Sailor Guardians – surrounded as he was by the three of them, not to mention their ally Tuxedo Kamen – Nephrite was going to give them the chance to confront Zoisite. From there, he would decide his next course of action. Whether he would support the Sailor Guardians, or attempt to return to Queen Beryl's service once again.

~SM~

Narrowing her eyes as she kept pace with Nephrite, Rei made a promise that she would also keep an eye on him. She'd make sure that, whatever he was planning, he would never make it back to the Dark Kingdom.

Once she, the rest of the Sailor Senshi, Tuxedo Kamen, and Nephrite had all made it to the mansion where Trevor-kohai was being held captive, Rei narrowed her eyes as the evil aura of the mansion washed over her.

"This is where Zoisite will be waiting for us," Nephrite said, as the five of them all continued on their way up to the mansion that at least some members of the Dark Kingdom had been taking shelter in.

Now, they would have to concentrate on rescuing Trevor-kun, but Rei wasn't about to forget that Nephrite had been an enemy since they had all met for the first time in the wake of Jadeite's defeat. Zoisite might have been the one currently holding Trevor-kun, but she wasn't just going to let Nephrite do whatever he wanted. Not after everything he'd already done.

Not when she didn't know just whose side he was going to be on, when they all made their move against Zoisite and whatever youma he'd brought along to reinforce him.

Kicking the doors open, alongside Tuxedo Kamen, Rei ground her teeth at the sight of one of the Dark Kingdom's youma standing over Trevor-kohai. She could also sense an evil aura hovering around Usagi's older brother like some kind of miasma, so Rei gathered her spiritual power into an ofuda and quickly slapped it onto Trevor-kohai's forehead. His eyes cleared up, as the evil aura burned away, and the youma who had seemed to be standing guard over him threw itself back as he stood up.

She and Tuxedo Kamen took up guard positions on either side of him, as Trevor-kohai transformed into Golden Kamen again.

~SM~

Once they'd managed to rescue Trevor-nii, Usagi let herself breathe more easily. Zoisite had retreated, at least once she and Rei-chan had managed to destroy the youma he'd brought with him, but only after he'd made some kind of a threat against Nephrite. Nephrite hadn't seemed to care about it, at least not until Zoisite had suggested that he might go after Naru-chan. He'd stepped forward and made threats of his own, after that.

Naru-chan slipped out of the circle of Usagi's arms, throwing herself into Nephrite's arms, and Usagi couldn't quite manage to stop herself from laughing.

She was glad that Naru-chan was happy again, but she was also worried about what Zoisite and the rest of the Dark Kingdom – whoever they actually were – might do. So, as Naru-chan hugged Nephrite, already beginning to make plans to go out for a chocolate parfait with him, Usagi turned to the rest of the Sailor Senshi, and she even tried not to be so annoyed when Mamoru-baka came over with Trevor-nii.

Together, all of them made plans to protect Naru-chan, at least as well as any of them could without completely upending their own lives; not any worse than they'd already had to when they'd all started fighting the Dark Kingdom in the first place, anyway.