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 2:  Waiting for You



"Sshh, listen," Zoisite suddenly interrupts Jadeite.

"Listen to what?" Jadeite asks with a raised eyebrow.  "I can't hear 
anything."

"Well, if you would just shut your trap then maybe you can hear the music."

Jadeite frowns with annoyance and keeps quiet.  Straining his ears hard he 
tries to catch the sounds that Zoisite told him he just heard.  <<Humph, 
he thinks, I can't hear anything.  Maybe lamebrain here is just going wacko 
on me.>>  Giving an irritated glance over to Zoisite he sees his friend 
with eyes closed listening intently to sounds, it appears, only he can 
hear.  A small sad smile seems to dance at the corner of his mouth.

"I still can't hear anything," Jadeite announces to his bewitched friend.  
Zoisite does not reply.

Curious, he asks, "What is it that you *think* you are hearing?"

"Music," Zoisite whispers in reverie, "The gentle sounds of a lovely lyre 
being played."

"Lyre?" <<Now this is interesting, Jadeite mused, he actually imagines an 
instrument to go along with his invisible musical notes.>>  "Ummm…Zoisite…I 
think you've gazed at the moon a little bit too long tonight.  Maybe you 
should get some rest."

Zoisite's eyes snap open as he exclaims, "What the hell are you talking 
about? Can't you hear the music of the lyre?"

His friend shakes his head.  He frowns in confusion.  <<Strange, he 
thinks, I swear the sound is quite loud, loud enough for him to hear it, 
and yet he doesn't.  Am I the only one to hear it?>>

"Hey, Zois, you okay there?"

Zoisite brakes from his thought and quickly replies, "Y-yeah.  Yeah I'm 
fine.  Are you *sure* you didn't listen hard enough, Jadeite?"

"Yeah! If I listen any harder, my eardrums will soon be drumming," he 
responds, then quickly adds, "Hey, where are you going?" when he sees his 
friend making for the door.

"I'm going to find out who is playing that music," Zoisite replies without 
glancing back.

"He's lost it," Jadeite says to himself once Zoisite disappears around a 
corner.

"Hey, I heard that!" His friend's yell races back to him.

The music continues to lure Zoisite down the dark hallway.  The pale 
moonlight filters through grand windows draped with fine silk curtains 
creating faint beams of light across the hall like cascades of water down 
a ravine.  Like the capes of lost souls, the silver draperies dance in the 
vast hallway as if it too can hear the gentle voice of that mysterious 
lyre.  Through the darkness lit only by the pale light of the silvery moon, 
he catches the colors of blue and gold swirls on the dark marble floor.

Slowly, he drifts down the hall allowing the soft humming of the music to 
direct him towards its hidden player.  Suddenly, barely escaping his 
attention, the music changes from soft luring notes to mournful sounds that 
reflect the forlorn surroundings of a place that he now finds himself 
trapped in.  "W-where am I?" he manages to whisper before his mind wholly 
succumbs to the unknown force now invading it.

[flashback]

She was waiting for him.  He knew that somehow, but he wasn't sure.  Once 
he departed for the Moon Kingdom, a strange feeling kept nagging at the 
back of his mind.  When his feet touched the hard cold surface of the 
glaciers that covered the northern region of the Moon, he instinctively 
knew that she was waiting for him.

His dark blue eyes scanned the vast white sheets of the glacier, 
looking…searching…for her.  She was out there.  She was waiting.  His brows
knitted in frustration as he wondered, <<Where can she be? How could she 
possibly hide from me in a barren place like this?>> Indeed, the vast land 
consisted only of a blanket of pure white with bluish crystals of ice 
rising here and there.  No bushes.  No forests.  Not even grass could grow 
in this incredible desert of ice and snow.  A thin mist drifted into the 
land covering the open area in a sheet of ashen-white, obscuring a shadow 
that stood only a short distance away from him, just barely beyond his 
piercing gaze.

Calm.  Serene.  It was incredible how placid she was from her mind…to her 
soul…to her heart.  Control.  It was the very objective she had been 
striving for in the past twenty-four hours.  Finally, enduring the pain in 
her heart and through the tears that blinded her, she has finally reached 
this objective…control.  Now, standing before him, she feels at one with 
the cold desolate environment…an environment that gave birth to her…that 
harbored her true strength, her true power…the power of a merciless 
winter…the power of ice.

She could feel the true strength of her nature fuse with the dismal world 
surrounding her.  The coldness of the frozen land seeped into her soul and 
captured her heart.  A sense of sudden serenity overwhelmed her as clear as
the crystallized water beneath her feet.  She waved a hand aside commanding 
the mist to retreat.  It did, revealing to him a large battalion on par 
with his.  His emotionless gaze took in the silver armors of the Moon 
soldiers with their crystal swords blazing before them, but what held his 
attention was the prominent figure standing defiantly in front of him.  
Her ice blue uniform was a sharp contrast to the silver background.  It was 
unmistakable who she was…a Sailor Guardian of the Moon.  His eyes widened 
in surprise at her stealth, at how well she managed to sneak up on him 
without him knowing.  He smiled in mock amusement.  He had underestimated 
this young soldier in blue.

She focused her eyes, a reflection of the ruthless environment around 
her-and of one that has been betrayed-on the one whom have betrayed her.  
Unflinching, he returned her coldness with his own hard challenging blue 
storms.  The tension rose in the atmosphere cracking and snapping under 
the strenuous weight of the hatred between these two.  How ironic that a 
battle between two frozen hearts should take place in a land imprisoned in 
ice.

No words were spoken.  No mocking laughter was exchanged.  They were both 
here for one reason and one reason only…the spilled blood of the other.

[end flashback]

"STOP!" He screams as tears flow down his pale cheeks in an unrelenting 
river of sorrow mingled with guilt.  "Please stop," he pleads to the dark 
hall, "I can't take this.  I just can't…I don't want to see anymore.  I 
know I've done horrible things, but it wasn't my fault.  So *stop* 
torturing me!"  An indescribable feeling of sorrow invades his soul, 
tearing it to pieces.  He clutches at his chest as if attempting to rip 
out his heart in order to stop the emotional turmoil that is raging within 
it.

During his struggle against his soul, the faint sound of the mysterious
music drifts into his ears once again.  The gentle caresses of the sound 
soothe his delirious mind and stop his rain of tears.  His heartbeat slows 
to a rhythmic pulsing in sync with the faint notes of the lyre being played 
by unseen fingers.  Strangely he feels a sense of determination to seek out 
the player of this instrument…the creator of this music that has so 
entranced him.

He struggles to his feet and begins to stumble off into the darkness 
allowing his heart to lead him toward the source of this sound.  Like the 
lovely voices of the Sirens, this music lures him to an unseen destiny and 
an unknown fate.  Whether it be death or life, he does not care.  To 
everyone around him, he is already dead, both in body and in spirit.  
There is nothing else for him to fear, or is there? His mind struggles to 
find the answer to that.  Is there something out there waiting for him…or 
someone? <<There is that strange force, his mind told him, and the past.>>  
But the past can't harm him…can it?

He sees a soft yellow light of a desk lamp cross his path as it floated out 
through a small opening in a beautiful oak doorway.  The music is from this 
room.  He hesitates for a moment as his mind screams to him of the possible 
danger of this investigation, but he simply shakes his head and steps 
through.  He has to find this person.

The beautiful room opened before him like a book.  A luxurious bed of pale 
blue satin and silk stood at one corner close to a grand balcony on the 
other side of the room.  Thin silk curtains cascade down from the bed's 
roof-like fixtures to cover the object like a beautiful tent woven with 
crystal beads of water.  Through the opening facing him, he notices that 
the gentle undulations of the fabric on the bed create the illusion of soft 
waves on the surface of a beautiful lake.  The faint light of a crystal 
lamp nearby along with the blueness of the room provides a strange 
peacefulness to the overall atmosphere that greatly effects him.  He has 
never before felt so at ease and so relax.

However, his attention is quickly caught again by the music that floats to 
him ever louder from the balcony on the other side.  He slowly drifts 
toward the large frame draped with beige colored curtains leading to the 
balcony.  The curtains float into the room like gentle arms motioning him 
to follow.  As he strides toward the music, he chances to glance through 
another room to his right.  To his amazement, he sees shelves upon shelves 
filled to the brink with books of various kinds, sizes, and ages.  The bold 
color of the red oak shelves enhances the soft brown leather bindings of 
the books giving the room a most elegant appearance.  At the center of this 
place stood four cinnamon colored velvet seats surrounding a marvelous 
mahogany table upon which a handcrafted vase of a strange crystal blue is 
placed.  The beautiful bright color of the iris flower within the vase 
stands sharply against the darker color of the wood dominated room.

A soft sigh suddenly invades his mind quickly jerking his attention back to 
the balcony.  He steps through the curtained doorway and his eyes befell 
unto a sight that makes him intake a sharp breath.  There, before him on 
that milky white balcony sits a lovely woman dressed in an azure satin 
nightgown with a v-shaped neck and two thin straps on her shoulders, 
allowing the pale moonlight to fall across her bare shoulders highlighting 
her velvety skin.  The dark sky with its multitudes of stars surrounds her
on all sides completing the ethereal picture that now enthralls him.

Her eyes are closed as her delicate fingers move effortlessly through the 
silver strings of a small lyre she holds in her hand.  <<So this is the 
player of this lyre, he thinks.>> The strange material of which this 
peculiar lyre is constructed appears to glow with a mysterious icy blue 
light casting a bluish shadow onto her lovely face.  Under the light, she 
looks so sad.  His heart becomes restless as he gazes at her beautiful 
face with its lush lips and long thick lashes gracing her rosy cheeks.  
Completely unaware of his spirit watching her, she continues to play her 
sad song.  The song slowly weaves its enchantment around his heart 
covering it with warmth he has never before known.  <<So familiar, he 
thinks.  I…have heard…this song before,…but where?>>

As if to answer his question, the silent force awakens from within him 
again.  Its cold fingers begin to probe his mind and he feels himself drift 
back to the unknown once more.  <<No, he thinks, no! Not now! I do not 
want to leave her.  I want to stay here and continue listening to this 
lovely song she plays.  Please, let me stay just a little longer.  Hold 
back the pain just a little longer.>>  But the force is unsympathetic.  It 
does not know the emotional turmoil that it causes in these men by doing 
what it has been ordered to do.  Thus, his plea goes unheard.  <<I wonder 
what she calls this song she plays>>, his mind thinks as the vision of the 
lovely woman slowly blurs from view and is replaced by another woman, much 
younger, who was also playing a lyre, but the song she plays is far 
different.

[flashback]

Suddenly he notices a swirl of ice and snow forming between her fingers.  
He narrowed his eyes and his body grew tense preparing for her attack, but 
to his surprise she did not.  Instead, a small delicate object of ice 
crystals forms before his eyes.  Her subtle fingers wrapped itself around 
the object, which he realized was a lyre made entirely of ice and snow.  
He lifted his gaze up to her emotionless face raising an eyebrow in 
questioning.

A mocking smile plays on her small pink lips, while her cold eyes never 
left his face.  Her fingers slowly plucked the white strings of her lyre, 
playing a forlorn sound that seemed to reverberate throughout the desolate 
land like a lost echo in the expanse of space.  With each note, her lyre 
begins to glow in increased power and upon the last sound a large 
unexpected blast of ice was released hitting him dead center, sending him 
a few feet from his former position.  Her attack signaled the beginning of 
the battle.

He grabbed his chest in pain as his dark eyes pierced her frigid form a 
distance before him.  Without a sound, like the shadow he has become, he 
raced toward her releasing a great blast of dark energy at her.  She 
easily dodged it and created a fog to hide herself but he could only be 
fooled once.  While she looked for him in the fog, she suddenly felt cold 
fingers wrap themselves around her delicate throat with great strength and 
ferocity.  He yanked her up to his eye level leaving her feet dangling 
several inches above the Earth's surface.  Pain ripped through her as her 
air was quickly cut off.  Her hands instinctively came up to clutch his in 
her desperate attempt to free herself, but he was too strong.

He gazed into her eyes expecting the hatred he saw in them only moments 
before, but to his amazement the hatred was completely gone.  Instead he 
found himself staring into the most beautiful bright azure eyes he has 
ever seen.  Soft glistening tears formed at the corner of her eyes adding 
to its sad beauty.  He was taken aback by this sudden change in her.  His 
grip around her neck loosened and she took in a sharp breath to ease her 
burning lungs.

Quietly, almost like a whisper from the icy wind, he demanded, "What is the 
name of that strange song you've just played?"

Unexpected, she smiled at him with all the warmth that she hid deep within 
her heart.  His eyes widen in surprise.  "It is called," she whispered back 
to him, her voice as sweet and as sad as the music she played.  Her 
forehead begins to glow with a strange blue light.  He looked up in 
amazement when he saw the sigil of Mercury shining brightly on her 
forehead.  "It is called…" her voice captured his attention once more, 
"Mercury's Rhapsody."  And that was the last thing he heard before she 
released her full power sending them both into the eternal sleep of death.

[end flashback]

"Mercury's Rhapsody," her soft voice echoes in his mind.  "What is the 
name of the strange song you've just played?  It is called…Mercury's 
Rhapsody."  The scene between them keeps replaying in his mind, "What 
is the name of the strange song you've just played?  It is 
called…Mercury's Rhapsody."

"STOP!" he screams into the darkness.  Grabbing his head, he cries, 
"Please stop! I-I can't take this anymore! I would rather face Beryl 
then endure this kind of agony.  Who is so cruel as to torture me like 
this? Of all the pains that could be brought unto me, the truth from my 
past creates the deepest wounds…wounds that will never heal."  Through a 
vision blurred both with tears and renewed passion, he looks at her still 
playing on the small lyre the very same song she played over two thousand 
years ago, but the tone of this song is not cold and hateful, only sad and 
forlorn.

Deep within his mind, he hears a familiar exchange of words:

"Promise me that you will return," she asked
"I promise," he whispered.

He realizes as he watches her delicate fingers move over the thin silver 
strings, as tears escape her closed eyes that she is still waiting for 
him…after all this time.  She is still waiting.

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

"Great," he mumbles under his breath, "I've been ditched."  Giving a tired 
sigh, he stands up and strolls toward the door.  "I might as well take a 
walk instead of sitting around here waiting for my friends, one of which 
thought he heard music being played." Clicking his tongue and shaking his 
head he whispers, "Pitiful."

The silent hall greets him like a long lost friend.  He turns and begins 
to stroll down another hall much more different than the one his friends 
have taken previously.  His light turquoise gaze barely makes out the 
faint images on the walls hidden in shadows.  He drifts down the hall 
slowly, his gaze never leaving the beautiful portraits of a time long 
forgotten.

Pegasus and holy grails.  Stone swords and black roses.  Such eerie yet 
unbelievably beautiful pictures depict a time that he does not know…cannot 
remember.  He is enraptured by the strange tales that these images weave 
around him.  Suddenly, he sees soldiers with silver uniforms brandishing 
blazing crystal swords locked in an eternal conflict on an ancient 
battlefield.  He stops in this track.  There is something familiar about 
this picture.  A strange force seems to tug at his mind demanding him to 
remember, but he cannot.  His turquoise eyes skim over the large portrait 
and come to rest on a particular soldier standing in front of the silver 
army.  Her long raven colored hair swirls around her in an invisible wind 
while her raging violet eyes gaze at the battle before her.  He is 
awestruck by her beautiful features that are both delicate and strong.  
Her fiery red outfit appears like a blazing inferno finely etched against 
the backdrop of silver and black.  <<Whoever this artist was, he thinks, 
has truly painted a magnificent masterpiece when he painted her.  
He seemed to have caught the very light and life of her spirited soul and 
trapped it into this incredible mural.>> He stands there for a long time 
entrance by the image of this Goddess of War.

Abruptly, he doubles over in pain.  His mind is reeling with images and 
his ears are pounding with roars and cries of the past.  His brows furrow 
in confusion as perspiration cloaks his pale face.  "W-what is happening?" 
he manages to whisper before his mind goes numb and he is sent back to a 
battle that raged over two milleniums ago.

[flashback]

It was an ambush.  <<How the world did those Moonlings know that I'll be 
attacking them here? his mind growled with frustration.>> He looked around 
him.  His Mediterranean blue eyes saw fire.  Bright burning infernos 
surrounded his army on all sides, trapping them within a wall of fire like 
rats.

"Damnit!" he growled, "They will not defeat me that easily."  He closed his 
dark eyes and began to concentrate his powers into his hands.  A large ball
of blazing dark energy gradually appears increasing with incredible 
intensity.  He quickly opened his eyes and released his attack.  The 
swiftness of his power being released created a whirlwind of dark air that 
killed the flames within minutes.

As the smoke cleared, he could see through the slight haze a tall figure 
barring his path.  Her violet eyes burned with incredible hatred like two 
small beacons in the dark, while small red flames danced around her 
clenched fists.  She gave him a mocking laughter and spoke in a low icy 
tone, "Did you enjoy the fireworks?"

He growled a reply at her as he released a blast of energy straight for 
her.  She easily dodged it and disappeared behind the tall dark trunks of 
the trees.  He quickly left his fighting men to finish the battle while he 
went out to seek a dancing flame that he was determined to put out.

[end flashback]

"Huh!" he gasps as he gradually awakens from the enchantment.  His eyes 
quickly glance back at the figure and immediately he recognizes her as the 
same girl he just saw in his brief glimpse of the past.  "Sailor Mars," he 
whispers.

"Yeah?" a voice drifts to him, "who's there?"

The voice jerks his attention to the white oak door at the end of the 
mysterious hall.  <<W-what? he thinks.>>

Slowly, he drifts toward the door but is stopped abruptly by a lovely face 
appearing through the opened frame.  He is met with spirited violet eyes 
that shines like the stars.  He takes in a sharp breath, surprised by her 
sudden appearance.

"Yeah?" she calls again, "Hey, who the hell called for me?"

No one replies.  "Venus, was that you?"

"What?" another voice sounds far down the hall.

"Did you just call my name?" she yells with annoyance.

"Why would I call you? I just talked to you."

"That's strange," she mumbles under her breath, "I thought I heard someone 
call me."

"Hey Mars, you okay?" her friend asks her.

"Yeah, yeah!" she replies quickly.

"You want to talk to me about something?" Venus' voice drifts through the 
darkness toward her.

"No!" she exclaims, "Never mind, just go back to bed."

"Alright, but don't stay up too late okay Mars? Goodnight then."

"Goodnight!" and she retreats back into her room.  He follows her.

<<W-where did she go? he suddenly asks himself when he noticed that she is 
not in the room.>> He glances around and finds another door leading to 
another room, which he assumed must be her bedroom.

A magnificent sight meets his bewildered gaze.  The dancing light of the 
burning flames within a grand crystal fireplace creates a strange, but 
cozy atmosphere in this lovely room.  He notices a velvet vermilion colored 
sofa and loveseat placed around the burning fire place with a small red oak 
coffee table between.  A splendid vase made from an unknown crystal stood 
at the center of the oak table with the beautiful blossoms of snow-white 
Casablancas spilling over its round mouth.  Another table with short 
sturdy legs made of dark blue marble and a top made of mahogany stood at 
the far end of the room close to a balcony.  His observant eyes catch the 
smooth surface of a package of tan colored paper with a beautiful silver 
pen placed diagonally across its flat surface.  He can barely make out 
small letters and symbols written across the surface of the paper.  
Curious about the writing, he quietly drifts over to the low table and 
kneels down to look.  To his surprise it is a poem written in lovely 
calligraphy by her very own hands:


Yes, I will be thy priest, and build a fane
In some untrodden region of my mind,
Where branched thoughts, new growth with pleasant pain,
Far, far around shall those dark-cluster'd trees
Fledge the wild-ridged mountains steep by steep;
And there by zephyrs [winds], streams, and birds, and bees,
The moss-lain Dryads [sprites] shall be lull'd to sleep;
And in the midst of this wide quietness
A rosy sanctuary will I dress
With the wreath'd trellis of a working brain,
With buds, and bells, and stars without a name,
Who breeding flowers, will never breed the same:
And there shall be for thee all soft delight
That shadowy thought can win,
A bright torch, and a casement ope at night,
To let the warm Love in!  *

<<Beautiful, he thinks, I never knew that Sailor Mars could write poetry.  
What an amazing…>> but his thoughts are quickly interrupted when he hears 
her bedroom door open.

Mars steps out dressed in her priestess outfit with graceful satin pants 
and a white silk shirt.  Her hair drifts around her slender form like a 
dark cloak.  She strolls silently toward a small rug she laid earlier in 
front of the sacred fire.  She closes her eyes and simply sat there in 
deep meditation.  Her dark hair surrounds her like the petals of her 
flowers.  The soft warm light of the fire illuminates her beautiful 
features with its thick dark lashes and lush lips.  The gentle night breeze
floats in through the balcony and plays with the dark locks in front of 
her closed eyes.

<<She is so beautiful, he thinks.>> Then his eyes darken with feelings of 
guilt.  He knows, from what he was told, that he had fought against her in 
Tokyo under Beryl's spell.  He wishes that he could have gotten to know her 
better instead of fighting against her.  He wishes that they were not 
enemies.  <<But you are not enemies now, his mind whispers to him.>> He 
shakes his head dejectedly, <<No, he thinks, it is too late now.>> He is 
nothing but a mere shadow to her.  It is too late.

He continues to gaze at her longingly.  His hands ache to caress her soft 
skin and silky long hair.  "Sailor Mars," he whispers to her, "I wish we 
can be together."

Suddenly her eyes flew open.  She turns around and stares directly into 
his.  He notices the shock, and fear, reflecting in her lively violet 
eyes.  "W-who's there?" she cries out to the shadows.

<<What? he cries, she can hear me? B-but that is…impossible! I am only a 
ghost, how the…>>

"Who is there?" she questions the air around her, "Who are you?"

He does not reply, confusion and hesitation rising into his eyes.

"I know I heard someone say something," she mumbles to herself as she 
pulls out a scroll of paper.  "Whoever is out there show yourself or
else?" she warns, her violet eyes flashing dangerously.  "And," she adds, 
"if you're a ghost, then be gone!" and pulls a strip of the paper from the 
scroll powering up for her attack.

"No wait!" he cries out in shock.

"Who *is* this?" she whispers in a suspicious tone, "Who just said that?"

"Mars," he whispers to her again.

"Who's there?" her voice is now high and frightened.

"Please, calm down," he soothes her, "I won't hurt you, not that I can 
anyway."

"Who is this 'I'?"

"Umm…you won't believe me but….uhh well…" he hesitates.

"Spill it!" she orders, "I don't have all night!"

He smiles at her.  Her spirit is so much like his own, fiery and 
mischievous.

"I am…," he hesitates briefly, "…Jadeite."

Her eyes widen in shock.  Her mouth falls open in disbelief.  
"Y-you…you are…you're Jadeite?"

"Yup!" he confirms.
 
"Then how come," she asks, "I can't see you?"

"I'm a ghost," he says matter-of-factly, "Apparently you've killed me 
about a thousand years ago, or don't you remember?"

"How?" she stutters, "Why are you here now? When did you return?"  Turning 
to face the fire, she cries out, her voice full of confusion and slight 
distress, "What the *hell* is going on here?"  Whether she directed the 
question to him or the fire, he is not sure.

"Didn't Endymion tell you?" he asks.

"Tell me what?"

"Apparently not," he says, "I…all the generals have been reincarnated as 
gemstones, where we continue to guard our Prince, now King."

"So you're saying you've be born as gemstones?"

"If you please, I'd prefer the word reincarnation, not born," he says a 
little irritated, "I did not start out as a stone you know."

"Uh huh," she says.  "So what were you…"

But a cry of pain interrupts her in mid-sentence.  "Jadeite?!" she cries, 
"what's happening? Are you hurt? Come on, say something!"  Her voice rings 
with distress and apparent concern for her former enemy.

<<Why does she care?>> he wonders, <<Was I not her enemy? Why does she 
sound so concerned for me?>>

"Aaaahhh!" he screams out in pain as his mind grows numb and his heart 
grows colder.

"Oh God! Jadeite!" Mars yells, waving her hands wildly in the air in the 
direction of the sound, hoping that she may be able to feel him.  "Hang on 
Jadeite! I'll get help!"  She quickly scrambles to her feet, but before she 
could even stand she hears him cry out.

"NO!" he cries, "Mars *please* don't leave me alone! Please…," he pleads.  
"I don't want to go through this alone, not again."

"Through what?! What is happening to you?"

"Just…" he cries in desperation, "stay with me! Please."

"I-I-I'll stay," tears of pain rises in her violet eyes.

He looks at her with great confusion as he struggles against the dark force 
that is striving to take over his mind and soul.  <<She is actually staying 
her with me, he thinks.  She is actually shedding tears for me…but why?>>

"Jadeite please hang on," she pleads to him, "whatever it is, fight it! I 
know you can do it! Just stay with me, don't leave me…please…"

"W-w-why do you…care?" he manages to ask her.

"B-because," she whispers, her throat tight with the pain in her raging 
heart, "B-because I…I love you."

His eyes widen in surprise.  <<What?!>> Yet before he has the chance to ask 
any further strange images flood his mind and he looses his grasp on the 
real world and enters a nightmare he wishes would end.

[flashback]

His raging turquoise eyes searched desperately for the red outline of her 
uniform.  <<She is somewhere around her,>> he thinks, <<I know she is 
hiding behind one of these damn trees!>>  Suddenly, almost answering his 
thoughts, a bright ball of fire flashes toward him.  He jumps out of the 
way narrowly escaping its burning path.  His eyes quickly dart toward the 
source and he saw her bright uniform swiftly retreating into the depth of 
the forest.

"You can run," he yelled at her, "but you can't hide! I'll find you 
wherever you are little firefly!" And he added in a whisper, "And when I 
do, I will extinguish your pesky little flame!"

"Who's hiding numbskull!"

"Wha-"

He feels a sharp stab of pain shoot up through his sides as he whirls 
around to grab a handful of dark silky hair.  He pulled her face close to 
his as his grip tightened painfully.  His raging sea-green eyes stared 
deep into her challenging violet gems of fire.  Without letting her go, he 
gives a quick glance down at his side and found that half of his lower body 
was burnt by her surprise attack.

He gave her a cynical laughter and whispered in her ears, "Nice try firefly,
but now you will die!"

"W-well, aren't we a little poet here," she managed to whisper in a mocking
 tone between her clenched teeth.  "If I die, then I will take you with me."

"Really? I don't think so.  You have used all of your strength in our 
little game of cat and mouse."

"Not all of my strength," she whispered in a deadly tone.  She grabbed both 
of his shoulders in a tight grip and pulled his face even closer to hers 
as the symbol of Mars appeared on her forehead.  "You of all people should 
know that…" and to his surprise, she kissed him passionately.  Her lips
felt warm…so very warm…extremely warm…in fact it was burning!  Suddenly he 
felt her power enveloped them both in a blazing ball of fire.  All he could 
see was the inferno that now surrounded them both.  All he could feel was 
the intense heat burning his flesh…And all he could sense was the 
overwhelming peace sheltering his dark soul by her tender kiss.  But as 
soon as her powers were released, it was gone…and gone with it was her 
love.  Now he could only sense the utter darkness of despair and loneliness 
brought on by death.

[end flashback]

As sudden as the images came, it is now gone; but the emotional turmoil it 
created in its wake deep within his empty soul still remains…and it shall 
always remain with him, he knows.  Not only was his past revealed to him 
in that minute moment in time, but his heart was shown to him as well.  
Now, as clear as the crystal tears in her violet eyes, he knows what he 
must do…what he should do…what he needs to do.  He must fulfill the promise 
he had made to her more than two thousand years ago.  He must seek a way to 
return to her and hold her as his heart desires him to do.

"But how?" he whispers to himself.

"Jadeite?" her small voice close beside him makes him suddenly aware of her 
presence.  She is still here just as he had asked; she did not left him 
alone.

"Jadeite?" she calls his name again, her eyes looking wildly at the vacant 
air in front of her.  "Jadeite, are you all right? Please answer me! Say 
something!"

"I-I'm fine," he whispers.  He lets his tired gaze fall upon her lovely 
tear stained face.  The small violet flames deep within her eyes reminds 
him of her strong fiery nature, a unique trait he had fallen in love with 
so long ago.  He realizes as he gaze into her concern face that it was not 
her beauty he loved; it was not her powers or her status as a Moon Guardian 
that intrigued him.  It never was, nor is it now.  He loves her for her 
kind nature, her undying loyalty and trust.  He loves her for her fiery 
spirit, a beautiful flame that will never die.  And it is that flame that 
warms his now cold and empty soul.

"Jadeite what is going on here?" she asks the empty air.  A tone of command 
rings in her voice.  "Jadeite?" she asks, slightly irritated by his 
silence, and with hidden concern for his well being.  "Will you tell me 
what is going on? You can trust me.  I…I know we…we're not friends," and 
here she gives a slight pause, "but you can trust me, Jadeite.  Let me 
help you."

Her slight pause did not go unnoticed.  He realizes that she may probably 
think that he is still the evil commander of Beryl, not the Jadeite she 
once knew and loved.  This realization quickly dampens his spirit and 
cracks his newly mended heart.  <<No, he thinks, things can never be what 
it once was.  What was lost is now gone forever.>>

He stood up and begins to drift toward the door.  "It is nothing," he says 
in an emotionless voice, his back towards her.

"But…"

"No Sailor Mars, there is nothing…nothing you can do.  Goodbye…," he 
quickly interrupts her and once outside he adds, "…my love."

"JAADDEEEIIITTTE!" he could hear her scream his name as she stumbles to 
her feet, scrambling for the door.  He could not stand her heart-wrenching 
cry anymore; he quickly drifts away back toward his room.  <<It is better 
this way>>, he thinks as tears rain down his face.  Though he may have 
forgotten how to love, surprisingly, he never forgot how to cry.  And cry
he does as the world around him crumbles to dust.  <<I must let her go,>> 
he thinks <<she must go on with her life.  I-I-I can't be with her…I'M 
DEAD, for heaven's sake! I'm nothing to her but a mere shadow, a voice 
without a body…without a beating heart.  But…but I love her so much…too 
much to let her be hurt again.  No…it is better this way, better that she 
forgets me.>>

Yet he does not know that she will never forget him, or the promise he had 
given to her so long ago.  And another power will also not let him forget 
that promise, either.  A promise made is a promise kept.
============================================
[* That little poem of Mars is called Ode to Psyche written by 
a famous poet named John Keats.

Chapter 4 is coming!]

<<Cosmos 1999>>