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.

All right, this is the last chapter to this tale.  A bit of caution
for those weak of heart.  This story does not have the fairytale happy ending
many might have read in the first two fan fictions of mine.  I decided to
make this one a bit on the sad side, but I hope that you will still fine a
single ray of light at the end.  I never like to end stories completely
without hope.  Hope is an important thing to have and hang onto in life,
and I try to keep that in my stories no matter how it ends.

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

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


Chapter 8:  Once again...



Never is a thing so tragic as to lose the one you love.  And it is this
tragedy that has befallen the four women within this very room…

"You will die and they will live, " Saturn's words echo in their minds.

"Either way, you will lose…." Uranus' words ring like a bell in the hollow 
silence of their grieving hearts.

To lose.  To be defeated.  Fighting against the hands of fate is to gain a 
losing victory.  But why must this happen to them? To live an existence 
forever engaged in an ongoing battle has brought enough misery, must there 
be more?  Is there no end to this river of sorrow? Is there no peace, no 
light at the end of this dark tunnel?

What cruel hands are dealing the cards of this merciless game? To place a 
pawn against a King knowing full well he shall be defeated.  What cold soul 
has so unkindly brought false hope to young hearts in order to break them 
when the hope is gone? There are so many unanswered questions and so many 
broken dreams.

One can blame it on fate, one can blame it on destiny, one can blame it on 
chance, but whomever the blame falls unto, their future has been set…and 
this life they must lead.

Mars sits there in misery gazing with dry eyes at the pale face of Jadeite.  
Unlike her friends, she refuses to shed these tears threatening to escape 
its violet prisons.  <<What good will it do to cry,>> she thinks.  
<<Only more misery is all these damn tears will bring.>>  How empty her 
soul feels, like a large portion of it have died along with him.  Tears 
once again push against the gates of the spheres that held them, but she 
is determined not to let them flow.  There is nothing she or anyone can do 
for them now.  Neptune is right; they are gone.  It is something she must 
live with and something she must learn to accept.  There is no reason to 
cry.

'We have returned, why can't they?' Mercury's earlier question echoes in 
her grief stricken mind.

<<Because they were never meant to,>> she answers mentally.

She knows there is only one thing left for her to do…one thing she must 
do…they all must do if they truly love these men.  She looks up to catch 
three mournful gazes directed at her and each other.  Without a word, they 
understood each other's thoughts.  Without the slightest gesture, an 
agreement is made among them.

Mars returns her gaze to her fallen lover.  Slowly her pale lips part in a 
heartbroken whisper,  "I free you of your promise…my love."

Upon the last sound of her voice, the Generals' body begins to glow and 
slowly fades from their embrace.  It is as if the Generals were still 
holding on to any remaining trace of life they had in order to be with 
Inner Soldiers as they have promised.  But now that Mars has released them 
from this binding oath, their souls are at last at peace…and free.

Before Kunzite's body completely vanishes from her view, Venus whispers, 
"I will always love you."  A single, pure tear slips from her pale face, 
falling…
         falling…
                  falling…
                           falling…
                                   falling toward him….
only to pass right through his faded form to be absorbed by the silent 
floor below.

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

Time continues to flow neither pausing nor stopping in its persistent 
journey toward eternity.  No pleas or sorrows of any kind can cause it to 
cease in its path; and as with time, the shifting of dawn and dusk comes and 
goes in the blink of tear adorned eyes.

The nightmare that had occurred now rests uncomfortably in a cushion of 
faded memories created over the course of five years.  Yet even time cannot 
ease the pain of the heart as one might hope.  It only smoothes out the 
jagged ridges to leave a clean sharp edge behind, an edge that prevented 
these four hearts from healing.

Must they always lead a hopeless life with desires forever unmet? Is there a 
lesson to be learned from this? If so then life has a harsh way of teaching 
it.

Yet, what can they do but continue on this path and hope that perhaps one 
day it will cross again with those they have once loved.  You may wonder 
after all that has happened why they still believe in this.

As Venus and Jadeite once said, "You must believe," because that is all you 
have when you have nothing else.

                         ........................

Pale beams of moonlight pierces the shadow in a beautiful dark room and 
placed its enchantments on four lonely stones upon a pedestal.  Forlorn 
sighs escape from pale lips in echo of the chilled reclusive twilight.  
The moonlight marks the dawn of night and their awakening once again…


===============>>>>     >>>>   The End    <<<<      <<<=====================

<<Cosmos 1999-2000>>