Info:  A little briefing on what this story is about.  Gemstone's Oath, if you can
         tell from the title, is about the four generals, Kunzite, Zoisite, Nephrite, 
         and Jadeite.  This story takes place in Crystal Tokyo with Rini after the
         Dark Moon Kingdom and is related to the manga.
         This story focuses on all four Generals, so you would
         find the narration switching from one general to another quite often.

Feel free to e-mail me any comments you may have.
E-mail: ml_eclipse@hotmail.com

Disclaimers:  Sailor Moon and all its characters and likeliness 
belongs to its creator Naoko Takeuchi and respective companies. 

<< >> = thoughts

==========================================================================
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>    GEMSTONE'S OATH    <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
========================= << By Cosmos >> ==================================

Chapter 3:       Love thy Enemy

Part 1:  Past Invasions



"Whooo…Whoohoo!" an owl screeches nearby awakening them all from their 
entranced state.  The images of the battle quickly disappear.

"W-what the--" Jadeite cries.  "What just happened?"

"We just remembered a piece of our past," Kunzite responds, his voice is 
unsteady from the emotional turmoil this recollection has left in him.  He 
looks down at his hands in surprise.  He finds them clenched tight revealing 
white knuckles.

"So that was what happened," Zoisite whispers from his place still beside 
the window.  None of them have moved since the strange occurrence.

They realize that this is something beyond their control.  They did not try 
to remember what was hidden in the past, but the past instinctively came to 
them.  Almost like an unknown force has driven them back to relive the fears 
and pains they have wanted to forget.  A nagging feeling deep within their 
heart tells them that this is only the beginning of their ordeal.  There 
will be more to come, but in the meantime this unknown force has left them 
and their minds at peace, at least for now.

"So is it over?" Nephrite asks, but he already knew the answer to his 
question.  There is so much of the unknown…and so much confusion.  It seems 
that he just needs someone to confirm these feelings in him.  He needs 
something definite, something real right now.

"I'm afraid it is only the beginning," Kunzite replies, giving Nephrite the 
reality he needed.  Kunzite gives a tired sigh and stood up.  He begins to 
drift toward the door, but before he opens it he hears Jadeites voice 
floating toward him.

"Where are you going Kunzite?"

"I don't know," he responds.  "Anywhere and nowhere in particular.  Just 
need some time to think."  And he left.

The long hallway is dark and ominous.  Large shadows seem to be waiting to
 pounce on him from every corner.  The atmosphere feels thick and suffocating.  
<<Strange, he thinks.  I have never felt this way in the Crystal Palace 
before.>>  Suddenly he feels dizzy.  The hallway spins before his eyes like 
a twister.  He closes his eyes and falls to his knees with his head between 
his hands.  <<No not again, he cries.  I-I don't want to…remember anymore.  
All this…is too…painful.>>

But this unknown force is relentless.  It does not pay any attention to his 
cries for mercy, but simply takes him back to the pains of the past once 
more.  <<This is something you must remember, it seems to say.  This is the 
path you have chosen long ago…there is no turning back now.>>

[Flashback--Silver Millenium.]

"General Kunzite!" A dark voice commanded through the shadows of the empty 
throne room.  A tall young man stepped out from among the crowd of soldiers, 
the gray-blue lining of his long white cape outlined his handsome figure and 
enhanced his cold gray-blue eyes.

"Yes," Kunzite spoke in a flat, emotionless voice, "my Queen."

"The time has come," the dark voice stated, "I want you to leave now.  You 
and the other three Generals will each take a battalion of ten thousand 
soldiers.  Your attack on the Moon Kingdom will be swift…and merciless."  
She paused for a moment and licked her lips as if to savor the blood of her 
enemy that was about to be spilled by the very hands they have once trusted 
and loved.  "Queen Metallica is growing impatient with each passing moment. 
I demand that the Moon Kingdom and Queen Serenity be destroyed before 
tomorrow's dawn, is that understood?"

"Yes Queen Beryl," he replied in an icy tone, "Consider your command as good 
as done."  He turned and began to strode back toward his soldiers when he 
heard her dark voice floated to him again with a single phrase that brought 
a cruel smile to his cold lips, and a deadly spark of amusement to his dark 
eyes.

"Take no prisoners."  Her cruel phrase echoed throughout the room by the 
dark stone walls as if the room itself was chanting it in a hypnotic rhythm.

He did not reply, but instead began to issue orders to his warriors.  But in
his mind he spoke, <<Don't worry Queen Beryl, no one will be spared…there 
will be *no* survivors.>>
Once his troops were prepared, he turned around and took a slight bow to his
 dark Queen.  His eyes suddenly flashed with a bright white light and his 
entire army, including himself, disappeared from the dreary palace.

"Queen Beryl," a strange voice hissed from behind her, "What are you going 
to do if something happened to the four Generals of Earth?"

"What does it matter?" she replied nonchalantly, "They are only pawns in 
this game, easily maneuvered and easily replaced."

[end flashback]

"Venus!" a voice sliced through his thoughts, releasing him from the cold 
grip of the painful past.

A soft yellow light filters through his closed lids causing him to quickly 
open them.  He jerks his head towards the light and his eyes widen in 
surprise.  He sees the dark silhouette of a tall young woman standing in the 
bright doorway.  The light from behind her blinds him preventing him from 
seeing her face.  Yet, somehow, he knows that she is beautiful, within his
heart he knows.  Besides, he knows that she is one of the Royal Guardians, 
whom he fought against when he was still under Beryl's control in Tokyo, 
but memories of that battle is now vague.  His rebirth as a gemstone must 
have destroyed some of that memory, but he does not regret its loss though.  
It would only make him feel guilty for fighting against a friend of his 
King.

"I'm coming, stop yelling Mars!" She cries.  "Jeez, that woman will never 
change."  The figure quickly strolls down the hallway passing right through 
his crouching form on her way.  He closes his eyes as he feels her warmth 
flow through him when she passes by.  For just that split second, their 
souls meet once again.

She halts in her track for a brief moment as she feels a strange spark of 
energy shoot through her body like lightning through a stormy sky.  Her fair
brows knit together in confusion, but she simply shook her head dismissing 
it as a figment of her imagination and continues on her way.

"Venus…," he whispers her name.  His voice sounds like the murmurs of the 
night breeze calling to her, but unlike to the other voice, she does not 
come to him.  Instead, he watches in heavy silence as the darkness of the 
long hall slowly envelops the last golden thread of her long silky hair, 
leaving not a trace of her behind for him to put into his heart.  Suddenly
he feels it again.  That unknown force has now come back to reclaim him once 
more.  <<NO! he screams.>> In his agony he unknowingly stretches a hand out 
in the direction where she had receded, pleading to her to come back and 
save him from this torturous journey to a forgotten and unwanted past.

[flashback to Moon Kingdom]

Once the light from his powers died down, a magnificent sight met his dark 
gaze.  A splendid city made of a strange silvery material unfolded before 
him, shining like the starry heavens beneath the pale light of the setting 
sun.  Only a short distance away, the tall golden gates of the Moon Palace 
stood in their path.  Much like the soldiers of this realm, the gate 
appeared delicate with slim golden railings and bars, yet its powers and 
strength should not be underestimated simply by its appearance.  And Kunzite
knew this.  He raised his hand before him as dark light gathered in them 
with increasing intensity.  Focusing the strongest points of his powers at 
the very center of the gate, he attacked the barrier.  With a single mighty 
blow, the gate was thrown open with pieces of it flying haphazardly around 
him.

Once the smoke and debris cleared, his eyes widened in slight surprise at 
the figure that stood before him with soldiers in equal numbers as his own 
army.  Her pale yellow hair floated around her slim form like the waves of 
a mighty ocean graced by the golden dawn.  He had seen images of the Moon 
Kingdom's guardian warriors before, but seeing her standing at such a short 
distance from him was an experience far different than simply staring at a 
two dimensional picture.  She was a beautiful sight, delicate and radiant, 
but strong and defiant.  For a moment, he almost forgot why he was here.  
Her appearance before him stirred a strange, foreign emotion deep within 
him, but that moment was brief as the dark energy polluting his soul quickly 
overcame the power of that emotion and took control of his mind once more.  
His fiery gray-blue eyes narrowed to mere slits as he gave her a sinister 
smile.

"Well, well, well," he drawled, "did Queen Serenity send a mere child to 
fight me?"

She did not reply.  She did not move.  He gazed intently at her face for 
any signs of reaction to his words, but her face revealed nothing to him.  
Only a slight dilation of her pupils when she first saw him through the dust 
of the explosion was the only reaction he received from her.  Whatever
weaknesses she may have, he could certainly not see it.  She was good.  He 
admitted it with admiration that she was an opponent worthy of his skills.  
He was going to enjoy taking this lovely warrior down.

Unbeknownst to him was that her appearance was only a façade, a mask to 
hide the pain and turmoil that was destroying her inside.  Witnessing the 
death of her Princess…her friend, had devastated her world.  It sent her 
reeling to the very pits of hell without a single hope of ever returning.  
And Hermes, the Royal messenger, brought the final blow when he informed 
them days before that the Earth Generals were now working for Queen Beryl. 
Even hell crumbled to pieces then.  All that was left for her now was the 
cold dark void of emptiness.  He did not know that it took her infinite 
hours of training…and crying…to put on the mask that he now sees.

She knew that Beryl would attack the Moon.  In fact, they all knew, but they 
must also realized that they could not let their emotions control them.  She 
had a duty to fulfill, and in the name of Venus, she would fulfill it to the
bitter end.

She had allowed her tears to completely wash away all her emotions, leaving 
her heart bare like the desert that now covered much of the once lush 
Kingdom of Earth.  She had sealed her heart into a block of eternal ice to 
never again be melted…and be hurt.  So now she stood before him, only the 
shell of what she once was.  Her blue eyes burned with hatred, an emotion 
so foreign to her.  <<He will pay for this, her mind cried, the traitor will 
pay dearly for his treachery.>>  Her soul burned with intense fury for 
vengeance, and her heart demanded blood…his blood.

Kunzite stood there in silence.  Neither of them made any move to attack.  
Each stood with blazing icy gazes directed at the other.  Slowly, quietly, 
like the setting of the sun, she spoke,
"Come for your funeral, General Kunzite?"

He gave her a cynical smile and responded with daggers, "More like yours."

Silence.

The only peace that now occupies this world was the terrible silence that 
enveloped them.  The air felt heavy with great anticipation of the battle 
that was to come.  So thick was the atmosphere that he felt it hard to 
breathe suddenly.  Within his mind, he thought he heard the dark air cracked 
with lightning and rumbled with thunder, but he shook it off assuming that
it was only the apprehensive mood unfolding before him.

Suddenly, like the crack of a whip to break the tension of the atmosphere, 
he bellowed out his command, "ATTACK!"

"ATTACK!" She echoed him.

Both of their armies ran toward each other like merciless tidal waves 
ramming against the shore.  Yells and screams of pain and agony, as well as 
cries for the blood of the other, rang through the dark air like the screams 
of banshees.  Adding to the bloodied scene of the battle, the red glow of 
the setting sun reflected in heaven the crimson tide on earth.

Kunzite faced Venus, sometimes on the offensive and sometimes defending.  
They were equal opponents, matching in fighting skills and power.  His eyes
 narrowed as he saw her golden whip lashed out at him.  He ran toward her 
and vault over her head, barely missing the dangerous bite of her attack.  
Upon landing on his feet, he immediately let go of his light blades at her, 
but she was swift.  She turned around quickly and blocked his attack with 
her Meteor Shower.  Multitudes of thin sharp beams of orange light were 
released directly at him.  His blades got tangled in the strips of light 
while the rest of the beams raced toward him.  This attack was unexpected 
and he dodged it a bit too late.  Immediately he felt the consequence of 
his miscalculation as several of those thin beams ripped through his left 
arm leaving horrendous wounds behind.  A scream of pain rose in his throat, 
but he bit it back.  He would not let her enjoy seeing him suffer.  She 
would be the one to suffer once he was through with her.  She attacked 
again, leaving little time for him to recover.  But much like her, his 
reaction was quick despite his injury.  He created an energy field around 
him, which absorbed the laser beam she sent to him.  Her eyes widen 
slightly in surprise…and perhaps fear, but *that* she made sure he did not 
see.  He felt the strength of her energy flow swiftly into him.  His powers 
twisted her pure energy into that of a dark beam of light.  He released this
at her.  In her surprised state, she was slow to react to his sudden 
attack.  The beam hit her right in the chest, sending her several feet from 
him.

He stood where he was, carefully observing her slump form on the cold 
ground.  She did not move and he could not tell if she was breathing, 
either.  <<Humph, he thought, she must be dead.  I guess I overestimated 
her.  She was too easy to kill.>>

He walked over toward her crumpled body and looked down with cold 
emotionless gray-blue eyes.  He noticed that her chest was moving slightly. 
<<Still breathing are we? Well, not for long.>>  He bent down to grab a 
handful of hair and pulled her up to meet him face to face.  He wanted the 
pleasure of seeing the pain in her lovely face when he destroyed her.

He pulled her up.  His cold eyes roamed her face taking in her creamy skin, 
dark thick lashes gracing her cheeks, and lush pink lips barely an inch from
his.  Suddenly, her eyes flew open and he found himself drowned in the 
brightest blue sky he has ever seen.  An unexpected rush of emotions her 
eyes stirred in him knocked him back slightly, causing him to loosen his 
grip on her hair.  He tried to let go of her, to look away from her 
beautiful gaze, but he found that he could do neither.  He stood there 
imprisoned by the innocent gaze of this beautiful soldier.

Strangely, he saw her eyes go from dark cold blue to a lighter softer 
shade.  He finally realized that she was now looking at him with unknown 
warmth and love.  <<How could this be? he questioned.  Why would she look 
at me that way? Doesn't she know that I will kill her at any moment now?>>

She saw the confusion flood his dark gray-blue eyes.  She saw him fight with
his inner self, but most of all she saw the darkness that was polluting his 
pure soul.  She heard past words whispered in her mind, "Do not worry my 
love after this war is over, I will return to you."  <<My love…my love,>> 
the two words rolled around her grieving mind.  <<No, she thought as she 
continued to look into his dark soul, he no longer loves me.>>  She 
realized then as she continued to gaze at his cold dark eyes that she had 
lost him.  He would not return.

<<Stop looking at me like that, his mind screamed at her.  Stop gazing at 
me with those eyes!>>  His grip on her tightened as the chaotic emotions 
storming within him increased in intensity.

A single pristine tear escaped her eye.  His eyes widen in surprise at 
this strange reaction.

<<Of course, he thought.>>  "You are afraid to die, aren't you?" he hissed.

She did not respond.  Instead, she grabbed onto his arms and her hands 
began to glow in a strange orange light.  "What the--" he cried out in 
fear.  He began to struggle under her grip as he felt a strange warm energy 
pierce into his soul, but her calm sad voice brought his attention back to 
her, again.

"This is one promise I fear you won't be able to keep, my beloved," she 
whispered to him, her voice full of warmth and love, "but I forgive you".  
Suddenly a bright light flashed in his eyes and darkness enveloped them 
both.

Her final attack slammed their limp bodies hard into the ground only a 
slight distance apart.  Their blood flowed from them to be mingled with the 
already red land.  His hand lay only inches from her face as a small 
crimson tide trickled from his wounds.  His blood flowed like a small river 
toward her hair soaking her orange bow in its path, forever changing its 
color of lovely orange to crimson red.

[end flashback]

"NO!" he cries.  His agonizing scream reverberates down the dark hallway.  
But his cry goes unheard by the many slumbering forms around him.  To them, 
he is only a shadow of the night, a lost soul that can never find peace.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>                   <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

A sigh escapes his lips.  "Where is Kunzite?" he asks.  "He is sure taking 
his time to think."

"Let him be, Jadeite," Nephrite says.  "This is all a great strain on us.  
He needs his time alone."

"I know," Jadeite mumbled, "but I want to ask him something."

"Well, you can ask him when he comes back," Zoisite says.

"Yeah," Jadeite grumbled, "if he comes back before dawn.  Hey, I don't have 
all night waiting here for him."

"Then don't wait," Nephrite says with slight irritation in his voice.  "You
know? I'm going to follow Kunzite's example and take a stroll myself.  I 
think I'll go to the garden, I need some fresh air, and besides the air
would do well to clear up my mind."

"I don't think you need any air to clear up *that* mind," Jadeite whispers 
mockingly.

Nephrite glares at him.  Zoisite rolls his eyes but a small smile dances on 
his pale lips.  "I see someone is finally back to normal," he says to 
Jadeite.

"Normal?!" Jadeite cries.  "You're saying being a gemstone is normal? I 
think not!"

"It is very normal, for us anyway," Zoisite argues, "because we are born 
this way."

"Born?" Jadeite cries, "A rebirth yes, reincarnation sure, but born? No way! 
Hey, I am no hunk of stone lying around on some damn terra firma, okay? I am 
me, Jadeite a human."

"More like Jadeite a moron," Nephrite snickers.

"I heard that!"

"Whatever," Zoisite waves his hand in a gesture of hopelessness…hopeless of 
ever believing that his psycho friend here can ever be normal.

Nephrite lets out an exasperated sigh and left the two babbling idiots to 
their own endeavors.

"Hey Nephrite," Jadeite pipes behind him, "tell the stars that I want to be 
handsome and rich for my next reincarnation okay?"

Nephrite growls in reply.  He steps out into the hall and lets out a breath 
of relief as silence fell around him.  Quietly, he drifts toward the large 
white marble doorway down the hall and reaches his hand out to open the 
large object, but he suddenly stops in midair.  <<Wait a minute, he thinks, 
why do I need to open this door to go through?>> He recalls that Kunzite 
had opened the door earlier.  Oh well, he is going to try something 
different.  He quietly drifts through the door like the ghost he is.  
Giving a light chuckle of amusement, he thinks <<I have to remind Kunzite 
that he doesn't need to open doors to go through nowadays.>>

Suddenly his smile left his face and his laughter died in his throat when 
he senses a strange and familiar force stir in him.  He feels dizzy and his
vision became blurry.  <<W-what is…happening to me?>> The nameless force 
increases in strength until his entire being is at its mercy.  "Aaahh," he 
screams, but his scream gets lost in the darkness of the garden around him.  
His mind feels numb as the force quickly spread through it gaining control 
of him entirely.  He drops to his knees and buried his face into the soft 
warm ground.  Unknown tears begin to drift down his face as images of a 
forgotten time flood his soul.

[flashback]

"You heard Queen Beryl's command," he bellowed, "Take no prisoners and 
destroy anything and everything that bars your way.  I want this battle to 
be swift," and he paused before adding with a cruel smile dancing on his 
pale lips, "but not too swift, I want to make sure that those Moon brats 
feel the sting of our swords before they die."

He observed his troops with icy emerald eyes.  <<Finally, he thought, it is 
high time we pay those Moonlings a visit.>>

"We are ready, General Nephrite," a young soldier informed him.

"Good," he replied between clenched teeth.  "Let us depart…to our victory."  
In a flash of emerald green light, his entire army and himself disappeared 
from the charred land of Earth.  In the wake of his powers, the black 
dusts lifted to the dark dry wind and floated over the dead land.  If 
Endymion had survived and returned to see what had befell his Kingdom, 
he would have choked with grief.  Once a beautiful green realm with lush 
forests and sparkling brooks and streams, the Earth Kingdom now looked 
like a realm of the dead.  The green hills were charred to dust, and the 
forests burnt to the very roots.  The clear blue sky was covered with 
ominous gray clouds that loomed over the land like deadly poisonous gases.  
The mighty ocean, once the colored reflection of his eyes of a deep rich 
blue, was now dark crimson red as if the sun had truly bled onto its
surface forever staining its beautiful face.

So much has changed, so much was gone.

Appearing upon the gentle hills west of the Moon Palace, he found that he 
had a welcoming committee already waiting for him.  An army equal in number 
as his awaited for his appearance.  <<They must have known we are coming, 
he thought.  Perhaps these Moonlings are better than I had thought.  Good.  
I was afraid this battle would be boring.  Now the fun begins.>>

"What is this?" he cried in mock distress, "A welcoming committee, but no 
host?"

In answer to his question, a tall figure of a young Sailor Soldier, one of 
the eight Moon Guardians, appeared.  She was an incredible sight of strength 
and beauty.  The soft warm wind blew gently around them, lifting her long 
chestnut colored hair to flow and ebb like the tides of the ocean behind 
her.  She stood gazing at him with challenging emerald green eyes.

"Hmmm…," he hummed in mockery, his verdant eyes travelling from her face 
down her body, taking in her strong slim form.  "I see that they have sent 
a hostess, instead of a host," and he gave her a cynical laughter, "how did
 you Moon weaklings guess what was on my mind?"

She has had enough of his mockery.  She has had enough of him.  He was a 
traitor to his kingdom…and to her.  At first, when she heard of him siding 
with Queen Beryl, it broke her heart.  For that entire day, she cried until 
her friends feared that she would go blind with her bitter misery.  She had
strolled around the Moon Palace like a lost soul.  She saw her friends 
trained hours upon hours to build up the wall of hatred that the Generals 
now faced.  She knew she must do the same.   And so on that night, all 
senses of emotions, which she now regarded as signs of weaknesses, were 
quickly drained from her heart.  All that was left in her was the burning 
desire for revenge, revenge for the death of her Princess…and revenge for 
his betrayal.

"You want me?" she hissed, "Then come and get me…if you dare, coward!"

Her taunting words ignited intense green flames of hatred in his dark eyes.  
"You're going to regret you have ever called me a coward, Lightning bug!  
Dark Soldiers, ATTACK!"

"Silver Army, DESTROY THEM!"

The two armies charged each other.  The clangs of metal against metal rang 
through the dark air mixing with the screams of agony from either side.

[end flashback]

"NO!" a voice screams like one of the dying soldiers of the past.  The cold 
night air absorbs the sound like a sponge, allowing no one to hear his cry 
of pain…his cry of guilt.

Slowly the driving force loosens it grip on him.  <<No, he cries.  If I must
remember then let me remember it all now! Do not stop then begin then stop 
again.  Why are you torturing me like this? he asks the unknown force.>>  
What did he do to deserve such a cruel fate as this?

"HA!" He hears someone shout.  "Yeah!" The hidden voice sounds again.

<<Who is out here at a time like this? he wonders.>>

Somehow, he manages to get up and, with unsteady feet, begins to follow the 
voice hidden in the darkness just beyond his reach.  He follows the voice 
to the very edge of the beautiful rose garden.  What he saw stops him dead 
in his track.  The tall figure of a beautiful woman in a forest-green 
Eternal Sailor Soldier uniform held his surprise gaze.  He realizes that 
she is practicing her fighting skills here in the dark garden, all alone.

"Heeyaah!" She yells again giving a splendid karate kick high in the air.

<<Magnificent, he thinks.  Sailor Jupiter is far better in real life than 
from the multitudes of images and descriptions I have seen or heard of 
before.>>

Jupiter spins around giving several powerful kicks in the process.  She 
thrusts her bent arm up in front of her face in a blocking position while 
her other hand punches the unseen enemy in the abdomen.  She gives several 
tornado kicks, spinning wildly in the dark garden.  Her yells and heavy 
breathing are the only sounds heard in the silent air.

She takes a determined step forward and about to slam her fist at the 
invisible opponent when something stops her.  Suddenly, he sees her drop to 
the ground with her hands groping its green surface desperately searching 
for something.  Her face darkens with distress.  Finally, after several 
minutes of scrambling around on the dark earth, her hands touch something 
and wrap its fingers around the unseen object like a child holding 
desperately onto the collars of her parent.  She gives a small sigh of 
relief as her face lightens up, enhancing her beauty even further.  Curious 
he steps closer to her and kneels down beside her crouching form.  He looks
down at her hands.  She does the same and begins to open them slowly.  His 
eyes widen in surprise when he sees the object, which she was desperately 
searching for only moments before, to be a simple earring made of a 
beautiful pink gem curved in the shape of a rose.

She gazes at the small object tenderly and lets out a sad sigh, which is 
quickly lost in the night breeze, but not soon enough to escape his 
attention.  He looks up to gaze at her sad face.  With the pale light of the 
moon to aid him, he notices a single tear trickling down her rosy cheek.  
He looks down at the rose earring she still held in her hand and wonders 
why such a small, seemingly insignificant object, can have such an 
incredible effect on a strong woman like her.  <<Must be given to her by 
someone she loves dearly, he thinks.  But I have never heard of any of the 
Sailor Soldiers as having a lover.  They have always been known to be alone, 
especially since the creation of Crystal Tokyo.  They seemed to have 
distanced themselves from other people even further, with the only exception 
being each other.>> He looks back up at her face again.  His gaze takes in 
her verdant eyes and lush pink lips.  <<She looks familiar, he thinks, and 
so beautiful.>>

He raises his hand and gently caresses her face.  At his touch, she feels a 
strange jolt of energy zap through her.  Her head jerks up and turns to look
directly into his eyes, but of course she does not see him.  Her brows knit 
together in slight confusion.  He gazes back at her.  He sees through the 
strong barrier she places around her, through the mask she wears and into 
her soul.  He sees the sorrow and loneliness that she hides deep within, 
but he also notices something else.  He sees a strange soft light hidden in 
the depth of her heart.  A light, which he realizes, is dying, but of which
 she desperately tries to keep alive.  He frowns in frustration.  
<<This light, he thinks, what is it? And why is she trying to retain this 
small light? Why is this small thing so important to her?>>

Suddenly, he feels a strange pain rip through him and he doubles over in 
agony.  It is that strange force again.  It has returned for him once more.  
He tries to cry out for help…for her help, but nothing escapes his mouth.  
Besides, she cannot hear him anyway.  <<Might as well get this over with, 
he manages to think.  I sure don't want to drag her into this with me.>>

"Please," he pleads through clenched teeth, "finish it.  Don't prolong this 
agony, I beg you.  I can't stand this pain…this guilt…anymore."

[flashback]

Among the fighting bodies of soldiers, she desperately searches for him.  
Her cold green eyes swept the bloody scene before her without as much as a 
flinch of emotion.

"Looking for me," a cold voice whispered behind her.

Her eyes widen in surprise as she quickly turns around to face her attacker, 
but she was too late.  She could feel the cold edge of his blade slice 
through her arm sending incredible pain throughout her body.  She cried out 
in agony and fell to her knees.

Slowly, as the pain died down, she notices a pair of black leather clad 
legs standing before her.  She lifts her icy gaze to look at his mocking 
face.  "Tsk, tsk," he clucked, "I was hoping for a better fight then this, 
Sailor Jupiter.  You disappoint me by being such an easy prey."

Her eyes narrowed to mere green slits as she looked up at him through soft 
thick lashes.  Suddenly, she launched a hand out and grabbed his in a tight 
fist.  He looked at her a bit surprised by her action.  He could feel 
something in his hand, but he could not free it from her grip to see the 
objects.  He looked at her face with confusion shining brightly in his 
emerald eyes.  She gazed back, the painful look on her face completely gone.  
She looked utterly calm.  Her eyes reflected a strange light that shines 
brightly in the depth of her heart.  His look of confusion increased with 
every moment he gazed into the depths her verdant gaze.  "Why are you 
looking at me like that?" he asked her.  She did not respond.

Suddenly a bright green sigil shines on her forehead revealing the symbol 
of Jupiter.  Her power increased with intensity until it enveloped them 
both.  As soft as the silky petals of a rose, her voice drifts up to him, 
"Goodbye, my love."  And her power increased even further.  A bright 
explosion was the last he would see and her lovely gaze before darkness 
claimed his eyesight.

Their bodies fell heavily down onto the ground with a loud thud.  The 
impact of their bodies on the ground broke the grip she had on his hand 
and the unknown objects flew out to land between them.  The dying light 
of the sun catches on these small items causing them to shine brilliantly 
with the lovely pink color of a rose in which they were shaped.

[end flashback]

Slowly, the numbness in his mind eases as the unknown force releases him 
from its grip.  He breathes heavily into the ground.  He raises his gaze 
in the hopes to find her still sitting there beside him, but she is gone.  
She must have left immediately after he slipped into a trance.  <<So it is 
she, he thinks.  It is she whom I have fought against toward the end of 
the Silver Millenium.>> He pauses for a moment to analyze his emotions 
carefully.  No, there is no mistaking it.  His past is now so clear to 
him…and so is his heart.

"You are my other half," he whispers to her, hoping that the night wind 
will carry his words to her ears wherever she may be, "You are the one I 
love."

============================================
Next part of chapter 3 coming soon!

<<Cosmos 1999>>