You Had Me From Hello
fanfiction by: melissa
written: 04.11.01
bssm © takeuchi naoko
"You Had Me From Hello" © Mark Chesney

~~~*~~~

The sun was setting over the Moon Kingdom, it's rays stretching like fingers over the horizon as if to embrace the couple still gazing at it. Makoto turned to Nephrite and asked with a tear stained face;

"Please! I have have to know... don't avoid the question this time either... just tell me... do you love me?"

*Flashback*

[One word, that's all you said]

Nephrite was wandering through the empty halls of the Moon Palace. It appeared that he was in for another boring night patrolling. Behind him, he heard something, or someone following him. He turned a corner and waited for whatever it was to make an appearance. He watched as it rounded the corner and when it was in range, threw a punch... which to his chagrin, was dodged and answered with a swift kick to the stomach.

"What the hell do you think you're doing in this hallway?" a high, feminine voice asked.

[Something in your voice caused me to turn my head]

Nephrite looked up and found himself staring into green, that suddenly blinked. Regaining his composure, he stood and silently appraised his opponent. Tall, auburn hair, green eyes, satisfied smirk.

[Your smile captured me.
You were in my future as far as I could see]

"I am General Nephrite, second in command to Prince Endymion." He waited for her reaction, and it came quickly.

"Ara! Gomen nasai! However, you still haven't told me what you're doing in this hallway."

Nephrite looked at this spitfire, anger still evident in her face. "I'm on patrol."

"That requires observance, does it not?"

"Of course."

"Then how could you have missed *that*?" She asked, gesturing towards a sign behind them.

'Women's Baths. No Men Permitted'

Nephrite turned an interesting shade of red and quickly left that particular hallway, not before hearing the young lady he'd run into start giggling.

*End of Flashback*

[And I don't know how it happened, but it happened still]

[You asked me if I loved you? If I always will?]

As Nephrite's mind returns to the present, it recalls what she had just asked him. The shock in his face relaxes as he recalls more memories.

[Well, you had me from "Hello"]

*Flashback*

They were in the Moon training facility. The four generals were all leaning against various walls, watching the clock as the minutes went by.

"This is a waste of time. They're not going to show up." Jadeite said impatiently.

"We were told to wait for them here, so here is where we'll stay." Kunzite answered.

Nephrite blew his hair out his face. They were supposed to be sparring with the defenders, namely the princesses of the four inner planets of the solar system; and they were late.

*BANG*

All four turned their heads in the direction of the noise. Standing in the open doorway, were four girls.

"You're late." Kunzite replied.

His only answer was a curt nod from the blonde before all four attacked. Nephrite watched in surprise as the brown haired one came towards him. He smirked as he recognized her. 'This might be fun after all.' he thought to himself.

[I felt love start to grow]

Punch after punch was blocked by the other. A carefully planned leg sweep was just as nimbly avoided. Nephrite watched as the girl quickly became frustrated.

[The moment that I looked into your eyes]

Nephrite carefully worked through her defenses, still smirking, as he noticed that angered her even more. Her green eyes were full of fire as she launched an attack that was easily blocked...

[You won me.
It was over from the start]

... and countered. Nephrite sent a punch into her abdomen, causing her to fold over into his arms.

[You completely stole my heart,
and now you won't let go]

He waits for her to regain her equilibrium, still holding her. After catching her breath, the girl glared up at him.

"That was payback for yesterday my dear." Nephrite said with a smirk. "Now that we're even in that sense, you're still one step ahead of me. What's your name?"

"Makoto." She said, still scowling.

"Makoto, let's start over. Hello." Nephrite said, noticing her small smile as he offered his hand to help her off the floor.

"Hello."

[I never even had a chance, you know?
You had me from "Hello"]

His memory raced forward a few weeks to when he was standing one of the bridges on the moon, debating whether or not to leave home for earth, whether or not to leave Makoto. He turned at the sound of footsteps behind him, and there she was. In a pink dress that fell to the ground and the earrings he had given her; the ones that were shaped like roses.

[Inside I built a wall,
so high around my heart I thought I'd never fall]

She silently walked towards him and followed his gaze to his home planet.

"You have to leave?" Makoto asked tentatively.

"I was ordered to do so."

He watched as she started to remove an earring. He tried to refuse as she offered it to him.

[One touch,
you brought it down]

He watches her smile as he finally accepts the gift, the shock on his face contradicting the growing warmth in his heart that she should ask him to promise that he would return.

[Bricks of my defenses scattered on the ground]

As Nephrite makes this promise, he tries to ignore the feelings welling up within him. This relationship can't happen. She was... and he was... it could never happen, but why did it feel so right?

[And I swore to me that I wasn't going to love again,
That last time was the last time I'd let someone in]

Before he left, he embraced her and tried to convey all he was feeling in that single gesture. Stars twinkled above them as he explains his reasons for leaving. Still, she tries to convince him to stay.

[But you had me from "Hello"]

Nephrite walked away. He didn't turn back, knowing that if her saw her sorrow, her tears, his resolve would crumble and he would stay.

[I felt love start to grow
the moment that I looked into your eyes]

As he returns to Earth, he discovers that she has followed him. When he asked why she left her station on the moon just to follow him home, her reply was;

"I just wanted to see you."

[It was over from the start,
you completely stole my heart]

Nephrite thought back to his return to the moon months after that exchange. She was waiting for him. She had run to embrace him as he had exited his transport. He looked into her expectant eyes and withdrew her earring from his breast pocket, carefully he brushed her hair away from her ear and put the earring where it belonged.

[And now you won't let go,
I never even had a chance, you know?]

*End of Flashback*

Now, as his mind returned to the present, once again, he was looking into her expectant emerald eyes. The eyes that were filled with some undescribable emotion.

[You had me from "Hello".
Girl...]

Once again, he embraced her, hoping that in that simple gesture, he would convey all of his feelings. He whispered in her ear;

"I've loved you from 'Hello'."

~OWARI~ Authors Notes:
hmmm... well, i guess i should have forewarned anyone reading this of the complete *fluff* this fic turned out to be. ~can hear irrate otaku screaming~ "melissa! country and anime DO NOT go together!!!" i picked the song for the words guys ;D btw, i did leave out some of the song. it keeps going and i was running out of things for nephrite to have a flashback about before it just got more tedious than it already is. C&C are gratefully accepted to melissa_chan@cephiro.com. please mention which fic your C&C-ing on (not that i have that many to begin with...)