Part Three
-by Delilah-

Zoisite sighed as he breathed deeply of the flowers he had carried home
with him. General Malachite had been very gracious and had patiently
answered all his questions. He reached out and pulled a vase full of water
closer to the side of the bed. He took a few moments to arrange the flowers
and place them in the sunlight. He opened a packet of dirt from Venus and
added it to the water. The nutrients in the dirt would allow the flowers to
continue growing in the water. He cocked his head and smiled. He never knew
that so many colors could exist in one breed of plant. He rose and walked
to the plants he had brought from his home, his old home. He checked the
leaves to make sure they were still well despite the trip and smiled as one
of the plants shook itself and vibrated at his touch. He always loved
feline fennoras. Too bad none grew on this planet. Assured that the plants
would live without him he stood and began to carefully unpack his easels
and paints. He had found a wonderful place for painting with enough natural
light and the peace he craved when he painted. Malachite had shown it to
him never realizing what the place meant to the young man. He was in the
middle of setting up some of the paintings when there came a knock at his
door. Curious he opened the door and found himself staring at a red hair
girl who looked at him shyly. 

"Yes?" He asked sure she had gotten the wrong room. 

She smiled brightly. "I'm Naru. I heard you had just moved here so I came
to ask you if you wanted to do anything. It gets awfully boring around here
without anyone to talk to." She said quoting the speech she had used for
two other off-worlders who had moved here. 

Zoisite seemed taken aback by her straight-forwardness and she frowned
slightly wondering if she had offended him or come off as too strong but
her fears were pushed aside when the young man opened the door a little
wider and allowed her to enter. She smiled her thanks and walked in. She
gasped as she looked about. Plants filled almost any space that was not
taken up by books or paintings. She caught sight of one painting and she
glanced at him for permission to go and observe it up close. Zoisite
hesitated but finally nodded. She walked up to it and gasped. 

It was a painting of a palace that was made entirely out of crystal.
Standing before it was a city that seemed to be flourishing. Nine shadowy
figures stood about it as though guarding it. It was perhaps the most
beautiful thing she had ever seen. She could tell by the trees and the
large moon that stood out in the sky that it was a representation of Earth.
"Where is this place?" She breathed. 

Zoisite shook his golden locks. "I don't know. It just came to me in a
dream so I painted it." 

"It's beautiful," Naru looked about herself again. "You did all of these
paintings?" she asked. 

Zoisite nodded and turned away so she wouldn't see his blush. "Yes. I paint
things I dream." 

Naru walked up to another painting, this one of a tall dark-haired woman
holding a strange staff standing before a gateway. "You must have
interesting dreams." 

Zoisite stiffened but when he noticed that she didn't mean it as an insult
he forced himself to relax. "I read a lot. It probably comes from that." He
waited as she examined all of his works in detail. 

When she was finished she turned her bright face back to him. "You will be
coming to the banquet tonight won't you?" She asked. 

Zoisite sniffed. "Considering how it's in my father's honor I don't see how
I can get out of it." 

Naru laughed. "You sound just like Nephlyte and Endymion." 

Zoisite blinked at her casual mention of Nephlyte. He immediately became
suspicious. So the auburn haired general was setting him up. He should have
known. "Do you know Nephlyte and Endymion well?" He asked casually. 

Naru seemed to blush but she turned away before he could catch it. "Oh,
Endymion is my cousin so of course I know him well and I know Nephlyte
because of his duties as a general." She went back to studying one of the
paintings. 

Zoisite smiled knowingly. He could tell she had more than casual feelings
for Nephlyte but because of her relation to the king it was probably not
allowed for her to act on the feelings. He was beginning to like this place
indeed. "So, Naru. Why don't we go find something to do?" He asked. 

----<----<@ 


Nephlyte caught sight of Rowan and Malachite lounging in one of the side
rooms. He barged in and walked up to the silver haired general and crossed
his arms. Malachite looked up at him with hooded eyes. "Well look who came
to join the party." Malachite said gesturing for Nephlyte to take a seat. 

Nephlyte dropped himself into one of the chairs but never took his eyes
from the older general. "Well?" He asked. 

Malachite glanced over at him. "Well what?" 

"Well, what happened? I heard that you were escorting Metternich's son away
from Tyers' tower." He snapped impatient for information. 

"Really?" Rowan asked sitting forward. 

Malachite locked eyes with the younger general. "Ah, yes. I do recall
passing Naru on our way down the hall. I was under the impression she
didn't want to be seen. I should have known." 

Nephlyte looked away. Rowan shook his head in disappointment. "You know
better then to be meeting with her, boy. When the king finds out that
you've stolen his niece's heart it won't matter that you were chosen to be
a general. He's going to strip you of rank and fling you to the wolves." 

"Besides, don't you know you're going to destroy her life? She should be
married to some wealthy prince who will take care of her. Not a general
who, chances are, won't live to forty." Malachite added scornfully. 

Nephlyte sat in silence as the two reprimanded him. It wasn't the first
time and more then likely wouldn't be the last. He waited it out as he
always did and tried to push the guilt he felt deep down inside. He
couldn't allow them to know what he felt. If they knew they would probably
have the king send Naru to Serenity's court for a few years to keep them
apart. It tore his heart to think about it but his mind wished for them to
do it. It would be the best thing for Naru. He was so deep in thought that
he didn't notice that the other two men had fallen silent until he felt
something cold blow in his face. He jumped slightly and turned annoyed eyes
to the oldest of the generals. Rowan put down his hand and dissipated the
Arctic air he had summoned with the help of his medallion. "Welcome back,
boy. Now as you were saying what is this about someone near Tyers' tower?"
He asked turning his attention to Malachite. 

Malachite made a show of straightening his uniform. "Nothing serious.
Zoisite just got lost and I helped him back to the gardens." 

Nephlyte raised an eyebrow. "Zoisite? That boy wouldn't let me get within
three feet of him. I get the feeling he's holding a grudge." 

Malachite nodded. "He is unhappy that his parents moved him here." 

Rowan nodded slowly. "But he was in Tyers' tower." He said hoping to prod
more information out of the man. 

"Yes. When I go there he was reaching out to touch Tyers' medallion. He
stopped himself though and the medallion itself gave him a warning." 

Nephlyte sighed. "So he's not a general then." 

Malachite shook his head. "No." 

Rowan seemed to be deep in thought. "But he reached out for the medallion
and it didn't blast him? That's odd." 

Malachite nodded. "Yes, that's why I didn't stop him when he reached for
it." 

"But, it doesn't make any sense," Nephlyte muttered under his breath, "I
feel something when I'm near that boy, rather like what I feel when I'm
near one of you yet the medallion rejects him but doesn't blast him like it
would had anyone else reached for it." 

"Yes, it is very odd. I'll have to meet this boy for myself." Rowan replied
then shook himself. "But enough of this business, we have another problem.
How are we going to convince everyone that nothing is wrong when we don't
have a full company to present before Queen Serenity when she shows up
tomorrow?" 

----<---<@ 


Zoisite repressed a chuckle as he watched Naru balance herself upon a pile
of chairs. He could hardly believe that he was seeing her do such an
unladylike thing. She hissed something under her breath and waved
frantically. The waving tipped the chairs and she fell with a surprise
shriek. Zoisite managed to catch her before she hit the ground but he
winced at her weight. She was almost as tall as he was and he was willing
to bet they weight closed to the same thing. He helped her to her feet and
she began to straighten her dress. She paused at the sound of feet coming
towards them. Jupiter and Mercury slid to halt and looked at the mess. 

"Are you alright, Naru?" Mercury asked. 

Naru nodded. "Fine. Zoi here caught me." 

Zoisite blushed slightly at the use of his nickname. Only his mother ever
called him that. He soon became aware of the two girls' stares as they
sized him up. He shifted slightly and looked away wishing he could find an
excuse to leave. Apparently the one named Jupiter noticed the shyness and
quickly nudged Mercury to get her to stop staring. "I don't remember seeing
you around here before." Jupiter replied hoping to calm the skittish man. 

He was about to reply but Naru beat him to it. "Oh! Zoi's new here. He came
with his parents from Venus." She replied. "Zoi, this is Mercury and
Jupiter." 

He nodded to them. "You're part of Serenity's court, aren't you?" he asked.


The two women seemed surprise but nodded. "How did you know?" they asked. 

Zoisite shrugged. "I know Venus. We met when my father was at the court
back home and she was there for a visit. She spoke very highly of you all."


Mercury blushed. "Well Venus does go on." 

Naru smiled. "Come on, let's go find Endymion and make him take us
shopping." Jupiter's eyes seemed to light up and Mercury sighed. 

"You don't seem very enthusiastic about this." Zoisite said as he walked
next to Mercury. 

She shook her head. "When those two get going they're impossible to stop.
Since you know Venus you should know how obsessed they are." 

Zoisite pretended to wince. "That bad?" 

"That bad." 

----<---<@ 


Endymion sighed as another one of his calculations failed. It was hopeless.
There was no way he was going to be able to get these dimensions right. He
couldn't lower the roof any farther and pushing one of the walls back would
only lessen the space below the requirement. He frowned and dropped the
calculator on the table with a clang and dropped his head in his hands. A
hand on his shoulder squeezed sympathetically. 

"Don't give up, Endymion. You'll get it." 

Endymion shook his dark head. "It's no good, Jade. I suspect the problem is
in my original equation. That's why I can't get it to work." 

"Then start over again." 

Endymion raised his head and glared at the man across from him. "That's not
even funny." He snarled. 

Jadeite shook his head. "It wasn't meant to be. If you start over again
maybe you'll find a new approach. That's what I did." 

"You started over? I thought you flew through this problem with ease." The
prince said eyeing his friend. Jadeite was at the top of their class and as
a result spent most of his time helping the prince get through the lessons.
Endymion tended to miss class, a lot, due to royal thises and thats that
his father kept sending him to. As a result he was beginning to fall behind
in his work. That was where Jadeite came in. 

"I realized early on that my approach was wrong and started over. Just
because I flew through it doesn't mean I did it with ease." Jadeite
carefully peeled an orange and began separating it into small pieces. 

The prince sighed and returned to the problem. He absently began scrawling
a name across the page and doodling at the outer edges. Jadeite watched in
amusement. Endymion finally pushed the paper away from him and sat back.
"This isn't going to work." He muttered. 

"Oh?" Jadeite asked. 

Endymion gave his friend a glare and using a new technique that Malachite
had shown him early in the week toppled Jadeite out of the chair he was in
and grabbing the orange at the same time. He straightened his shoulders and
headed for the balcony. "How can you sit there and not think about her
coming tomorrow?" He asked. 

Jadeite muttered something under his breath as he peeled himself off the
ground. "If you wanted an orange you could have just asked you know. And
why can't I sit here and think of her?" 

Endymion gazed up at the pale moon in the sky. The sun was blocking most of
the view but he could see the whispy outline of it. "I can barely wait.
It's been what? A year and a half?" 

Jadeite smiled. "Actually one year, seven months, and four days." 

The prince looked at his friend in surprise. "And you have this memorized?"


"Of course. You know how Mars is. She's going to ask and if I don't know
she's going to blast me to kingdom come." 

Endymion laughed at his friend. "You're begging for trouble going with that
woman. She's quite the spit fire, " he noticed Jadeite's dirty look and
quickly added, "no pun intended." 

Jadeite shook his head. "I suddenly feel the need for a walk. You want to
come?" 

Endymion shook his head. "No, I'll be here, daydreaming." 

Jadeite laughed and bowed mockingly. "Anything my prince commands." He was
out the door and almost fell over Naru and her friends before Endymion
could rebuke him for his actions.
 


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