"Why?" was the only question that came to mind to ask. "Why did she make me love her then hurt me like that?" "Who knows?" Aurelia answered as she reached his side. "Young ones often do odd, inexplicable things. What I do know is that Molly loved you. But I also know that she wasn't right for you, no matter what Rei has to say about past lives or destiny. I see destiny as something you make for yourself, not something you fall into simply because you may have been with someone in another life. Take fate by the horns, Neph. Make your own destiny." Aurelia inclined her head in the direction of Zoycite and Malachite, who were sitting on her couch, Zoey's head in Mal's lap. "I know you want what they have, a bond strong enough to weather any storm. You have to work to get it. Are you ready?" "Of course I'm. . ." he trailed off, and in moments the other cheek was as green as the one that had been slapped. He grinned sheepishly. "I've started lying to you now. No, I'm not ready to work that hard. But I am ready to learn. Before that, though, I have to learn to live among these people, to move among them as if I'd been born into their world." "You're staying then?" Malachite asked, his voice as deep as Nephlite's but finer, smoother. "Where else am I to go? Not back to the Negaverse, surely. Beryl would see me dead before I could blink. Here, at least, I am accepted. I have a life and an identity, false though they are. What about you and Zoey?" Malachite smiled, revealing two rows of perfectly white, even teeth. "Yes, we're staying, and I have a feeling Jadeite will be joining us once Beryl wakes him, which you can be sure she will, as he is all she has left of her command staff. He was beginning to get just as sick of Beryl's shit as the rest of us. Oh, and I have a favor to ask of you, Neph, my friend. Could you set up identities for Zoey and I here?" "I'll do it because you ask me to. I think I ought to do the same for Jade, as well, while I'm at it." And so Zoycite became known to the world as Zoey Waters, and Malachite as Malcolm Andrews. Two weeks passed. It was on that summer Saturday that Aurelia got a call from Diane, her American friend. "Hi, Di," Aurelia greeted her friend cheerfully. "Hey, Auri. Remember when you asked me a few weeks ago to find someone for you. I think I found him." "Where?" the excitement was evident in Aurelia's voice. "In the county jail. Couple of guys beat him up in a bar, and *he's* the one who gets arrested. Don't you just love the American judicial system?" Aurelia chuckled. "Why do you think I moved to Japan? Oh, give him the phone. There are a few people here who'd like to speak to him." "Hello?" the voice on the phone was a firm yet musical tenor. Malachite took the phone Aurelia handed him. "Hello, Jadeite." "Lord Malachite? Where in the Hell are you?" It didn't take Aurelia but a minute to see what Zoycite saw in him as a genuine smile slowly spread across his face. "About 5,000 miles worth of ocean away from you." Mal could hear a slight rustling on the other end of the phone, then Jadeite speaking to someone on his end of the phone. "Sorry," the younger man said, "the woman I've been staying with here has an eighteen-month-old daughter that seems to have become a bit attached to me." Malachite put Zoycite on, simply because he was laughing hard enough to render him speechless. "Dammit, Diane, would you please remove this little youma from my leg?" Jadeite sounded to Zoycite's trained ears as if he was very embarressed. Her raucous, banshee-wail of a laugh sounded in his ear. "Well, I can see some things haven't changed. Hello, Lady Zoycite." "Hello, Jade. Beryl sent you to bring the three of us back, right?" "Yes, I am sorry to say. Gods, I hate that woman." Another rustle, and a child's voice came over the phone. "Hi, my name is Lucia. Are you Jadeite's friends? I like Jadeite. He makes Mommy laugh." Zoey laughed again as she heard her compatriot yelling desperately for Lucia to give him back the telephone. "By the Negaverse! That child is more annoying than that damndable Sailor Moon. Oh, do be quiet, Zoycite. It's just like you to find someone else's misfortune funny. You just wait until you and Malachite have to raise a family." That silenced her immediatly. "Now, if we can get serious. I wanted to warn you. Beryl is *pissed* with a capital P. If I don't bring you back, she'll come herself with enough youma to obliterate the entire Eastern Hemisphere. We are in trouble." "Shit!" Zoycite swore. She'd accidentaly turned on the speakerphone when she took the receiver, which meant all heard what he'd told her. They blanched. Diane took the phone back. "Now," she said, "you do realize that all of you will have to put aside your diffrences if you wish to survive." Zoycite sputtered angrily, then calmed as she realized the girl was trying to help. "I'm going to fly Jade here to Japan tommorow," Di continued, "I'm coming with him, so I'll need a place to stay." "Here, talk to Aurelia about that." "Di, you don't have to come. In fact, I'd prefer you didn't. This fight is a dangerous bussiness." "Listen to me, Auri. When have I not been able to handle myself in a fight? Besides, I care about Jade. Any fight of his is one of mine." That was one line of reasoning none of them could argue with. The next day, Aurelia's two visitors arrived. She raced over and hugged the older woman tightly. She then gave Jadeite a once-over that brought a crimson blush to his face. All the Scouts were gathered in their Sailor fukus, ready to fight for the displaced Generals, old enemies that had somehow become friends. Suddenly, a symbol flashed on Di's forehead and disappeared. "Serena," Luna spoke in a hushed whisper, "that's the symbol for Lady Titan, Princess Saturn's maid-servant and bodyguard." "Me? Sailor Titan?" Diane breathed. "It can't be." "It is," Luna told her. "Just as the Sailor scouts were the royal guard for Princess Serena, and Queen Serenity before her, so the satellite Senshi were to the Scouts. It is your destiny, Diane." "I can't be Sailor Titan. For one, I'm too old. Besides, I have a young child.Since Mike died, I'm all she has. How can I care for her and still perform my duties as a Sailor Scout?" "Age is no issue," Artemis, Mina's white feline advisor, told her gently, "After all, Lady Titan herself was nearly thirty when she became Princess Saturn's protector." "But what of Lucia? If something happens to me, she will have no one." "She will have us," it was Zoycite that spoke. "Malachite and I will raise her if necessary. Hell, Jadeite and Nephlite would help, too, I'd bet." She took Diane's hands in hers. "Please, Di, we need you."
Diane nodded resignedly. She took the transformation pen from Luna, speaking the words "Titan power!". Her street clothes vanished, a Sailor fuku that was white on top, with a rust-trimmed burgundy skirt in their place. White trimmed burgundy boots that matched the fuku encased her feet, burgundy-trimmed white gloves on her hands. On her brow was a tiara of beaten gold that had a burgundy carbochan in its center. In her ears were little opal teardrops, the matching pendant on a rope chain around her neck. "So," her voice was warm with surpressed laughter," how do I look?" Jadeite sucked in a quick breath "Beautiful. And dangerous." "I'll be back in a few minutes. I want to try out these new powers." Cries of "Titan Hurricane Strike" could be heard from the backyard, followed by the sounds of rending metal. Ten minutes later, she came back in, a bit sweaty, but smiling. "Wow!" "You're as bad as Jupiter," Luna sighed. The sky outside Aurelia's window darkened. "She's here," Malachite's voice was toneless. Diane let loose a mirthless chuckle,"Her Youma and one of her higher ranking Commanders, more likely." "Let's go." As soon as they stepped outside, they were completely surrounded by Beryl's foot-soldiers. "Titan Hurricane Strike." Diane's attack took out half a dozen of the Dark Queen's youma. Jadeite's and Malachite's energy-fire attacks eliminated several dozen more. Nephlite was in his element, he and Zoycite fighting side-by-side without so much as a nasty word spoken between them. His star-fire joined with one of Zoey's ice-daggers to nearly decapitate one particularly vicious attacker. Unfortunatly, they were but eleven defending against hundreds. It was not long before they began to tire. WHERE THE HELL IS DARIEN WHEN WE NEED HIM? Serena thought fiercly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Neph take a blow to the shoulder that had been impaled six months before. "Nephlite!" Aurelia screamed. "Prepare to die, bitch." back to the fanfiction page back to the main page