Cycle of Our Souls (7/7)
by M is for Mars
E-mail: MCW717@hotmail.com
Rated: PG
Disclaimers: Sailor Moon and company don't belong to me, blahblahblah. I'm
broke, damn it, completely broke, so don't sue me!
Been a while, hm? Sorry it took me so long to get this section out, but I've
been stricken with a terrible case of writer's block. I went through a
major creative phase, which was when this story was begun, so I guess this
is the backlash. :)
This is the last part of *this* section of the story. I've been toying with
the idea of doing a part for each of the Scouts (except Serena, of course,
because we all know where *her* soulmate is), but I don't know if it's worth
the effort. Basically, I'm saying if you'd like to see more, write me and
tell me so. The next one I do would probably be Lita, since she's my second
favorite, but if I get a whole bunch of people telling me, "Oh Mina!" or "Oh
Amy!" then that's what I'll do. See how flexible I am? Ask and you shall
receive. Any ideas on plotlines, characters, etc would be appreciated as
well.
Regardless, I'm not very happy with leaving it here because of all the
unanswered questions. I'm sure there will be a sequal to this somehow, I'm
just not quite sure *how* yet. So write me and tell me what you think!
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"There are two of us,
There are two of us -
It's the cycle of our souls.
Yet we try and change and rearrange the story goes.
That's the way the story goes."
-from "Cycle of Our Souls" by Shawn Mullins
---------------------
Cycle of Our Souls (7/7)
Next afternoon the girls were all sitting around Lita's apartment - well,
except for Raye, who was pacing back and forth like a caged lion - waiting
for Jay Dalinger to arrive. "We should just destroy him. Jadeite can't be
trusted, as he proved back in the Silver Millenium," the miko said for the
umpteenth time.
"Raye, will you just relax?" Serena gently told her friend. "Everyone
deserves a second chance, and besides that, we don't know what Beryl did to
them back then. Torture can be very persuasive, you know."
"Or she could have used brainwashing," Amy added. "That's what she did to
Darien, remember."
"I don't see why we're all so worried about this," Lita said casually. "If
he tries anything, we outnumber him five to one. He'll be toast before he
can say 'Kami-sama'."
Mina frowned. "Well I hope we don't have to destroy anyone today. I like
Jay."
"You didn't know Jadeite," Raye pointed out mildly just as the doorbell rang.
Lita ran to the door and threw it open. "Jay, hi! I'm so glad you could
make it. Come on in!"
Jay smiled wanly at Lita's enthusiastic greeting and allowed himself to be
led into her apartment. What was all this about, anyway? Raye had made
herself perfectly clear yesterday: for whatever strange reason, the sight of
the ring had infuriated her and she wanted nothing more to do with him. It
seemed strange that Lita - the thought stopped midway through and Jay gaped
at the sight before him. He vaguely noticed the other girls, each greeting
him warmly, before his gaze settled on one, one who would not meet his eyes.
"Lita, what is this? I thought you invited me over here for lunch."
Amy had her handheld computer out and was rapidly scanning him. "It's
negative, minna," she said.
"Negative for what?"
"Why don't you sit down, Jay," the brunette invited, gesturing to the couch.
"Not until someone tells me what's going on here. I feel like I'm being
ambushed," he said, his voice rising in anger.
"Relax, Jay," Serena said brightly, "we aren't ambushing you, we just want to
ask you a few questions."
"Questions? About what?" He was beginning to feel like an idiot, parroting
everything they said like this.
All five girls shared a glance, and Mina looked back at him with a grin.
"Are you Jadeite?" she demanded cheerfully.
"Am I *jadeite*? What kind of question is that? How could I be a rock?"
"Jadeite isn't a rock," Raye said quietly, "he's a person... a very evil
person. Amy just did a scan on you, and it seems there isn't any Nega-energy
remaining in your system, but that doesn't mean you aren't..." she trailed
off and looked away quickly.
He frowned in confusion and sat down hard on the couch. "Raye, what are you
talking about? 'Jadeite'... that's what you said when you saw the ring. Do
you think I'm this Jadeite person? Don't you trust me?"
She shook her head. "It isn't that, Jay... it's just..."
"Jadeite gave her a ring just like that one a long time ago," Serena supplied
helpfully.
"NANI?!? I thought you said this guy was evil! What were you doing..." Jay
trailed off as though suddenly realizing something. "You were involved with
him? Are you still in *love* with him, Raye? Is that what this is all
about?"
"Nai! You don't understand! Jadeite is my enemy... but he wasn't always."
Raye took a deep breath and shook her head. "It's no good, guys," she said
to her friends, "why should he believe me?"
"He'll believe you because it's *true*, Raye," Serena said gently.
Rising from her chair, Raye crossed the room and knelt in front of Jay,
resting her hands on his knees. "I'm going to tell you something impossible
to believe, Jay, but you have to know it's the truth. There are things about
us, and about yourself, that you don't even realize, and I didn't until you
gave me that ring." She pulled it out of her pocket. "When I saw this, I
was reminded of something that happened between you and I a long, long time
ago."
"But Raye, we just met a few weeks ago!" he cried, completely confused.
"Iie, we've known each other much longer than that. A thousand years ago a
grand kingdom flourished on our moon, Jay, and Serena was the princess of
that kingdom. I was a princess of Mars, Lita of Jupiter, Mina of Venus and
Amy of Mercury. You, my dear, were a prince of Earth and a protector of the
High Prince, Endymion. You, your comrades and Endy - Darien - traveled to
the Moon to meet with Queen Serenity in the hopes of forming a peaceful
understanding between the long-estranged kingdoms.
"That is when we met, for I was a protector of Princess Serena. You were
known then as 'Jadeite', and I loved you as truly then as I do now. I was,
and still am, Sailor Mars. My friends," she said with a gesture to the other
girls, "and I are the Sailor Scouts."
"But... how...?" he stammered, wondering how she could know... he thought,