All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or copied in any form by all means. Sailor Moon is a product of Bandai, Toei, and Naoko Takeuchi. All the other character and this story is property of Lady Jupiter and Co. You can take this fic and put it on your page, but please mail me and just tell me you did it. Just as long as I get the credit for my story and this story stays in tact. All other standard fanfic disclaimers apply. ************************************************ * Visit my homepage at: * * http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/temple/9286 * ************************************************ Thanks to: JillMako-you inspired me and showed me at least some people read my fics. Artemis&Luna-for posting my fics up and for their small comments. And reminding me when my mind isn't in the right place. Lord Talon-I know you hate this fic. JayDee Archer-for posting my fic. All the other fanfic authors who inspired me and the fanfic homepage creaters because without them, I would have never found the joy in fanfics. Flames, comments, questions and other things go to Lady Jupiter at Ladyjupiter@sailorjupiter.com Please put the fanfic name as the subject if you do actually mail me. I'm already confused as it is, you don't need to drive me even more off the cliff okay? FYI: FYI means For Your Information FYI: POV stands for Point Of Veiw, sometimes I use it to change perspectives. FYI: I know that I'm spelling Jedite as Jadeite and it's wrong, but I like it that way. Beside, it's my story. Jedite reminds me of Jed from the Beverly Hill Billies. Serena...........Serena Tsukino Amy..............Ami Mizuno Raye.............Rei Hino Lita.............Makoto Kino Mina ............Minako Aino Darien (Prince Endymion)...........Mamoru Chiba I'll be using the NA version if that's okay... (this picks up right after chpt 3.) REVOLUTIONS OF THE MOON Part Four Ancient Grudge Lita frowned. She waved a hand infront of Nephryte, getting no reaction. "Hello?....Nephryte? Are you still here with me?" Nephryte looked blankly infront of him. Lita snapped her fingers infront of his eyes finally getting a reaction. Nephryte blinked, then shook his head to clear his thoughts, "What were you saying?" He asked. "You tell me. I've been talking for the last fifteen minutes and you were totally out of it." Lita replied, "Whatever I said, it wasn't important. Was I boring you?" "No, ofcourse not, Lita. I just have a lot on my mind. I'm sorry." Nephryte apologized. "Oh, excuse me. I've been an awful host. Would you like something to drink?" Lita looked at the empty platter of sandwiches, "You'd have to be thirsty after all that sandwiches." "Sure, thank you." Nephryte said graciously. "C'mon in. I'll fix you some lemonade." Lita said. Nephryte nodded and took the empty platter with him. Lita took it out of his hands, "I'll wash that for you." "No need to. I can wash it when I get home." Nephryte held on to it. "Please, let me. It's the least I could do. Afterall, you came all the way here and brought me a scrumptious lunch. I could at least wash it for you." Lita insisted, pulling the platter from him. "No, but this is to repay you for the great dinner last night." "No, I insist!" Lita grabbed the platter from him and rushed off to the sink. Nephryte chuckled at how foolish they probably looked, fighting over who was going to wash a plate. A couple minutes later, Lita came out with a shiny clean platter. She handed it to him after drying it. "Here. See, didn't take too much time. The lemonade is on it's way." Lita told him. Nephryte took the plate and put it on the coffee table so he would remember to take it home. "How do you like your knew apartment?" Lita asked. "It's great. Plus, it came with furniture. You can't get any better than that. It's a great neighborhood." "I'll go pour the lemonade. Would you like regular sugar or sugar free imatation sugar?" "Regular is fine with me," Nephryte called after her. Lita went into the kitchen to fix up the lemonade, then came out with two tall pitchers. She handed one to Nephryte, then sat across from him on a seperate arm chair. "Those are really nice earrings," Nephyrte told her. He noticed that she wore it everytime he saw her. Maybe it was sentimental value or something. Something from her parents perhaps? "Thanks," Lita said, touching them. She smiled when she remembered who had given them to her. "Why are you smiling? They must be special to you, since I've seen you wear it all the time." Nephryte asked. Lita thought it was a weird comment. She had only seen him about three or four times since they met. Why would he say that he saw her wear it all the time. Unless he was spying on her? "Yes, they were a gift to me. It's my favorite pair of earrings." Lita nodded. "From who?" Nephryte asked, then laughed nervously, "Am I being nosy again?" "No, not at all." "So who's it from? A boyfriend?" Nephryte asked, hoping it wasn't. "No, not exactly. My best friend gave it to me." Lita answered. "Mina?" Nephryte asked. Back in the Silver Millenium, Princess Jupiter and Venus were very close. The best of friends. He remembered Jupiter as being pretty much of a loner, except for Princess Venus, who was about her only friend. "No, Mina's a close friend. But she didn't give it to me." Nephryte gulped down the last of his lemonade and looked at the empty glass. "Would you like more?" Lita asked, getting ready to get up. "No, that's okay. I'll go wash it in the sink myself." Nephryte said. This time, Lita didn't protest and let him go do it himself. She swirled the straw around her cold glass, mixing some of the undesolved sugar grains. Nephryte came out of the kitchen and started walking back to the living room. He stopped at the wall with most of the picture frames hanging from it. "Are they your parents?" Nephryte asked, pointing to a large wedding picture encased in a silver frame. Lita walked up to where he was standing and looked at the picture. It had been a long time since she really looked at it. When she was dusting, she just took a quick glance at it, but never really saw it. Now that she saw it, she noticed something. There was no resemblence between her and her parents. Then she thought, "Yes. That's their wedding picture. Kind of obvious," Lita smiled. Her mother looked beautiful and young. At least now, she would be able to remember her parents when they were young, and not when they were old and retired. "Who's that?" Nephryte asked, pointing to another picture of a small girl about the age of four. "That's me," Lita blushed. It was one of those embarassing pictures that her parents insisted to keep up on the wall. She wanted to take it down, but couldn't get herself to do it. It was like her mother would turn around on her grave if she did. In that picture, her two front teeth were missing and she was smiling a wide smile. "You look cute," Nephryte smiled. "Thanks. Everyone does when they're babies." Lita tried to shake off the compliment. "Who's that?" Nephryte pointed to another picture. This one had a picture of Lita when she was younger standing next to a boy wearing a baseball hat. "That's Ken, my best friend." Lita told him, "He's the one who gave me these earrings." "Is he your boyfriend?" Nephryte asked nervously. "Kind of. He's on a foreign exchange program in China. He use to be my boyfriend. But we agreed to date other people while we were apart." Lita said. She didn't mention the fact that he was Jupiter Knight, protector of Sailor Jupiter in future Tokyo. (Which was all that Sailor Pluto ever told her.) Nephryte almost fainted. He cursed at himself. "Nephryte, are you okay? You look kind of sick," Lita waved her hand infront of his face, "Don't blank out on me again." Nephryte attempted a futile smile, "I'm okay. I should be going home." He walked slowly to the door, hoping to make it there before he went out of control. "Are you sure? You don't look too good." Lita asked. "I'm fine. It's a pleasure having lunch with you." Nephryte said and picked up the clean silver platter. "Thanks for the lunch," Lita called after watching him walk out the door. "No problem," Nephryte waved and walked down the stairs to his apartment. When he got in there, he saw Jadeite watching TV on the couch. He slammed the door shut and threw down the silver platter. "What's your problem?" Jadeite asked, jumping at the noise of the two slams. Nephryte didn't answer. He punched the wall angrily. "Hey, don't knock down the house. We just bought it." Jadeite tried to calm him down. "Damn! How could I be so stupid!" Nephryte cursed at himself. He walked to the punching bag on the other side of the room and punched it to death. "Are you okay, Nephryte? Didn't lunch go well?" Jadeite asked, walking cautiously up to him. He didn't want to get beat up in one of Nephryte's tantrums. "Yeah, it went well." Nephryte said sarcastically, "It went well until I found out she has a boyfriend!" "Lita has a boyfriend?" "Yes! It should be obvious. I mean, you could practically see the boys lining up just to talk to her. Why didn't I think of it before?!" Nephryte kicked the punching bag so hard it swung towards Jadeite and hit him on the head. "Ouch, no need to kill it." Jadeite said, rubbing his forehead. "Damn! Damn! Damn!" Nephryte cursed, "Now what am I suppose to do?" "Hey, Neph. Just calm down. Once she realizes that you two were meant to be, all the other guys will be just dumb weight to her." Jadeite reasoned. Nephryte's eyes lit up, "You're right! We were meant to be. Thanks Jade. You're a real pal." "Don't call me JADE!" Jadeite said and kicked the punching bag hard enough for it to knock Nephryte down. "Ouch! What was that for?" Nephryte asked from the ground. "Revenge," Jadeite smiled wickedly. Lita cleaned up the rest of her apartment and plopped down on the couch. "Wow! I'm pooped!" Hera curled up next to her, "I don't understand why you have to clean so much. Your apartment looks spic and span to me." "Please, Hera. You're a cat. You wouldn't understand it." Lita sighed. "What? Are you saying that cats are dirty? Regular cats may be, but not me. I'm cleaner than soap." Hera stated. "Really?" Lita asked doubtfully. "Fine, if you don't believe me, then don't. I guess you don't want to know what I heard while I was in Nephryte's apartment." Hera held the carrot over her. Too bad for Hera, Lita wasn't interested in the bait. "Hera, I didn't send you outside to be my spy. I don't want to know what you found out while spying in their apartment. Please, give them some privacy. If someone trusts you enough to let you into their home, the least you could do is to respect their privacy." "But it's really intersting! Don't you want to know what I found out?" Hera asked. "No, not really." Hera sat up and looked at her with wide cat eyes. They sat there like a staring match, looking at each other. "Okay, fine. You win. What's so interesting that you can't wait to tell me? I know you won't let me sleep until you tell me." Lita asked. "Nephryte likes you," Hera said like a juicy peice of gossip. Lita laughed, "Ha! Where did you hear that from?" "It's true. I can just feel it." Hera said seriously. "Oh? Why would a twenty year old guy like me when there are probably hundreds, no thousands, of ladies waiting to date him? Why would he choose a sixteen year old girl?" Lita asked, taking it all as a joke. Hera thought, thinking about the way things were in the Silver Millenium. Lita sighed, "Even if he did like me, which he certainly doesn't, I'm not romantically interested in him." "What?!" Hera leaped up. "What's wrong with you? Playing match-maker during your free time? I'm not interested in Nephryte. I have my own guy, okay?" Lita asked, "Don't go around setting people up." "You have a boyfriend?" Hera asked, surprised. She wasn't there earlier when Lita told Nephryte that. "Yes. I thought you knew EVERYTHING?" Lita asked. "How am I suppose to know about your love life?" Hera asked. "Well, you might as well know, that he's not just part of my, *love life*." "What's that suppose to mean?" "Don't you know, dear Hera? He's Jupiter Knight. Sworn protector of Sailor Jupiter." Lita told her. She thought that Hera already knew that. "What?!" Hera demanded. She had never heard of Jupiter Knight before. "How did that happen? When did that happen?~!" "I guess you were in that travel capsule for way too long, Hera. Time went by. I've known him my whole life. I guess that all the Jupiter aura rubbed off on him, giving him about the same powers I got. I don't know. Why don't you ask Sailor Pluto. She's the only other person that knows everything from the Silver Millenium to Crystal Tokyo." Lita said. "Pluto? The guardian of Time?" Hera asked. "Yup, that's her. I don't know if she'll actually tell you anything, but it's worth a try." Lita shrugged. "Why haven't I seen him before?" Hera asked, referring to Jupiter Knight. "What do you mean?" "Well, he wasn't at the Senshi meeting and I never saw him around. Wouldn't I be able to see him around if he plays such an important role in your life?" Lita sighed, "Yeah. I don't see him around as much either. He's in China for the foreign exchange program. He won't be home for about a month or so." "So how is he suppose to protect you if you're in danger?" Hera asked. "Hera! I don't need a bodyguard. I can fight perfectly fine without him. But I do miss him a lot." Lita had a dreamy look in her eyes. Hera puzzled over it. Lita jumped up from the couch, "Hey, you want to look at pictures of him?" "I don't know..." Hera started. "Come on, it'll be fun. I haven't gone through the pictures in a long time." Lita insisted. She picked the small cat up and walked to her bedroom. Before she got there, she stopped at the wall with the picture frames. She pointed to one that Nephryte had noticed earlier. "See, that's him and me about three years ago." Hera eyed the picture suspisciously. Hera thought. She could see what attracted Lita to him. Lita put Hera on her bed and went to the closet. She brought out a three inch thick photo album. She plopped down next to Hera and opened it. Embossed in thick black letters infront, it read, "Lita Kino and Ken Shinosaki." In smaller letters, it read, "Started on 1983, December." Lita fingered the raised black letters, "My parents and Ken's parents started this when I was three. They were good friends." "Ken?" "Jupiter Knight. His name is Ken." Lita explained. She flipped to the first page. There was a picture of her as an infant playing blocks with Ken. On the next page was another picture of them at a slightly older age on the swings. "You guys are pretty good friends," Hera commented. All the pictures in there had them together playing with each other or near each other. "Yup. He's my best friend. He helped me through some tough times," Lita nodded. Hera thought to herself. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ "So, anything new on Princess Mars?" Nephryte asked Jadeite over dinner. "Her name is Rei and she hates all men," Jadeite stated. Nephryte laughed, "You have got to be kidding!" "No, really. I met her on the bus downtown. And she really hates men." "How about you?" Jadeite looked taken back, "What do you mean me? I don't hate men. I don't like them either. Don't think of me that way!" Nephryte frowned, "I wasn't implying on that. Does she hate you? That's what I meant." "I really can't tell. It's like she has a tolerance for me, which I guess is good since she hates most men. At least I'm on the plus side." "What made her hate men so much?" Nephryte asked. "Well, I had to practically pry it out of her on the bus and I had to risk her temper. But I think it's because most of the men who played an important role in her life let her down. First, her father abandoned her after her mother died giving birth to her. He thought it was Rei's fault. Then, he was dissapointed that she wasn't a boy and resented her even more. Man, when I find this guy, he's going to get it from me." Jadeite made a fist with his hands. "Okay, calm down." Nephryte reasoned with him. "Calm down?" Jadeite chuckled, "I'm hearing this from a guy who just an hour ago almost knocked the bedroom wall down. And you're telling ME to calm down?" "Hey I was just mad okay? You know I'm usually not like that." "I don't really know anything right now," Jadeite admitted. Then he continued about Rei, "Then, Darien, you know Prince Endymion dumped her for the Moon Princess, Sailor Moon." "What?!" "This was before they knew who he was. Rei use to go out with him. Then, when they found out Darien was Tuxeedo Mask, he dumped her for Sailor Moon." Jadeite explained. "Another point to Sailor Moon," Nephryte mumbled. "Don't you think it's weird?" "What's weird? That Sailor Moon is a totally different person than we remember?" Nephryte asked. "Exactly. They're all talking about Sailor Moon as a whiny crybaby with much less powerful fighting skills than we remembered. Do you think it's a different person?" "No," Nephryte shook his head, "It's probably just one of her clever schemes to get the Silver Crystal." "But she already has it!" Jadeite exclaimed, "Why hasn't she unleashed it's full power yet?" "Maybe she can't remember." "Remember what?" "Maybe when she was reborn like the others, she forgot her instincts. She forgot what the Crystal was for. Don't you remember what happened with Metallia? She wanted the Silver Crystal from Queen Serenity. With the help of Sailor Moon, Princess Serenity," Nephryte said her name with disgust, "She almost got it." "Oh, I remember that! Then Queen Serenity thought the best thing to do was to send all the girls to the future, hoping that they'll start new lives and forget their past. Even Sailor Moon. But when the Negaverse reached it's peak, they remembered what they had to do." Jadeite nodded. "Yes, that's probably what happened." Nephryte agreed. "Do you think they know about the Golden Crystal?" Jadeite asked. "No, probably not. Should we tell them?" "No, not until we really have to." Jadeite decided. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Darien rung the doorbell to Serena's house. Here he was, risking his life with her dad just to see if she was feeling okay. Luckily, her little brother opened the door. "Hi Darien. You're lucky dad's not here. He left five minutes ago." Sammy said. "Oh, thanks Sammy. Is Serena home?" Darien asked. "No, she left about thirty minutes ago. And guess what, she didn't trip or run into anything since she got home." Sammy said. He knew his sister couldn't walk five steps before getting into an accident. "Really? Wow, it's really not like her." Darien muttered, "Well thanks anyway Sammy." "Bye," Sammy closed the door in his face and went to play video games. Darien turned and walked down the street. He tried to think where Serena would be. "Darien!" A hushed voice called from above him. He looked up ontop of the high wall and saw Luna there. Luna jumped down onto the sidewalk and walked besides him. "Hi Luna. Do you know where Serena is?" Darien asked. "No. She rushed off after she changed into shorts." Luna said. Then she asked, "Do you notice anything strange about her?" "You too? Yes, she's not acting like herself. She's being mean and inconsiderate." Darien said, "Really not like Serena at all." "Yes, I know what you mean. When she came into the house and I asked what she was doing, she called me a know-it all cat. That's really not like the usual Serena I know." Luna said. "Do you know what's wrong with her?" "No, do you?" "I haven't got a clue," Darien shook his head. "And Ami told me that Serena's been acting strange too. Just last week, she got a 42 on her test. Then, this Monday, when she took another test in the same class, she got a 95!" Luna said, astonished. "No way! Serena ever getting more than 60?" Darien asked. "Impossible right?" Luna asked. "Very." "I just wish what's wrong with her!" Luna sighed. "Maybe it's just a temporary thing. Maybe she'll be her usual self in no time." Darien tried to cheer both of them up. "Maybe," Luna said, not really believing it. * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * "Prince Endymion, I would like your permission to court someone, please." General Jadeite asked, bowing down to Endymion. "Prince Endymion? You must be really serious about this. You never call me that." Endymion said. "May I?" Jadeite asked again. "May you what?" "May I have your permission to court someone, possibly to marry?" Jadeite's ears turned pink at the tips. "What?! You're going to be wedded?" Endymion exclaimed. Jadeite's head snapped up, "No! Not at all. I just want your permission to date Princess Mars." Endymion smiled, "Princess Mars? Why General Jadeite, I never knew you had an interest in her. I always thought it was Princess Venus." Jadeite shook his head, "We're just good friends, Prince." "Isn't Princess Mars kind of hot tempered?" Endymion asked. "Yes." "Are you sure you can handle her? I mean, I'd hate to get into an arguement with her." Endymion said. "Yes, but underneath, she's a regular softie." Jadeite said, "I can see through her tough outer shell." "And why are you coming to me for permission? You are your own man. You don't need my permission to date anyone. Court as you please. Just as long as you keep dignity to the royal name." Endymion said. "Thank you, Prince." Jadeite said and walked out of the room. A few minutes later, General Nephryte walked in with a large roll of paper in his hand. "Endymion, I have found some new constellations and I was wondering if I can name it myself." Nephryte unrolled a huge map onto the large oak table. Endymion thought. "Prince Endymion! Are you listening to me?" Nephryte asked sternly. "Neprhyte, don't snap at me. I'm at a higher rank that you. You should learn a thing or two from your buddy Jadeite. At least he adresses me properly." Endymion said, only half meaning it. "Rank shmank! I told you, I don't care for rank unless they are truly earned through hard labor. We are all peers here so why all this formality?" Nephryte shrugged. Endymion sighed, "Well, anyway. What was it that you were saying? A new constellation?" "Yes, if you were listening, you would have known that already." Nephryte mumbled. "What? Do you have something to say to me?" Endymion asked. "Yes!" Nephryte said louder, "If you were listening, you would have known that by now." "And where are the new constellations?" Endymion asked. Nephryte pointed to a cluster of dots on his map, "These are to scale perfectly. This cluster here is just behind planet Jupiter, but as soon as it turns it's orbit, we will be able to see them. I calculate that they are a new addition to our galaxy, as there are no records of them in the past. I will have to check with Jadeite to make sure." "So they just got too close to Jupiter's orbit and got pulled in?" Endymion asked. Nephryte wanted to roll his eyes. Endymion never was a very good astronomer. Even when they went to school together for the first few years. "Yes, Endymion. That's what happened, in summary. Chances are that they will be with planet Jupiter for a long time." Nephryte said. "Oh, and what would you like to name it? It is obvious that you are the first discoverer of this cluster of astroids." Nephryte sighed, "Endymion, they are not a cluster of astroids. They are actually very small planets. For now, they are satellites around Jupiter, much like the Moon goes around Earth." "Have you detected any kind of life on the moons?" "No. There once was life, but that vanquished years before we were born. I was running some tests on the soil on the moons and it seems that whatever life use to live there have died off." "What kind of life lived on them?" "All four of the moons discovered are different in surface. The largest, is completely covered with a thick sheet of ice, so it is difficult to observe what life use to live on it. The brightest moon that I've discovered around Jupiter is mostly rust dirt. It gives off a burning red light in the sky. There is and never was any life on that. There is no atmosphere on that moon. "The smallest of the moons is much like Earth. Except that the atmosphere is mosty helium. Helium cannot support our kind of life, but it supported another kind a long time ago. There hints that some sort of plant life use to be there. The last moon, which I save for last because it is the most strangest moon, has a thick atmoshpere. That moon is completely liquid. Liquid metal. It is three thousand times hotter on that moon than on Earth because of the liquid metal, which produces friction, which in turn makes heat. The most incredible thing about this is that there is life on that planet. There is only one species of life, if you would call them that. They are micriscopic crab like creatures with absolutely no intellegiance. It seems that the main purpose of them being there is to feed off the liquid metal, which is 50 percent iron, and give off nitrogen gas into the atmosphere." Nephryte read all of that off of his notes that he took out from his pockets. "How did you learn all that?" Endymion exclaimed. "Last week, I was on planet Jupiter doing some astrological mapping with the other astrologers there. I noticed all four moons on the last night there and made my claim. Now, I want permission to name it. Unless you have some names in mind." Nephryte said, dreading the thought. "No, I don't care for naming the moons. You can name them yourself. But when you do, inform all the historians and astrologers of it." Endymion said. "Thank you," Nephryte started to roll up the large map again. "What were you thinking of naming them?" Endymion asked. Nephryte said after much thought, "I will name the largest one Ganymede. The liquid moon will be called Europa. The red and dead moon will be called Io. I was thinking about naming my favorite moon, the smallest, Jupiter, after Princess Jupiter, but it seems that there would be confusion seperating it from planet Jupiter. Is there any chance you can get them to rename planet Jupiter into something else so I can name my newly discovered Moon after her?" Endymion laughed, "Nephryte, my friend. You are too much! Ofcourse they will not rename the second largest of the planets just for you. I think you would be better off picking another name." Nephryte sighed, "Very well then. I will name my favorite moon Leda." *Boom* Darien fell out of his bed onto his hardwood floor. He stayed there for a while, sorting out reality from his dreams. He opened his eyes to find that it was sunrise. He sat up and put his head on the bed, thinking about his dream. Should he believe it or just pass it off as just another weird dream? "Princess Mars and Jadeite?!" Darien mumbled to himself. Darien shook his head. But it all had felt so familiar. It was like him looking back into a seperate life. But it felt so true, so right. Darien bolted to the set of encyclopedias on his book shelf. He looked up Jupiter and scanned through the article, looking for the names of it's moons. All he knew what that Jupiter had 16 moons going around, but not the names. "A-hah!" Darien exlcaimed and read the article aloud, "Out of Jupiter's many moons, Ganymede is the largest while Leda is the smallest." He knew that the dream was for real, since he could have never knew any of the names of the moons. He went through the dream in his head, trying to remember every little detail he could. He would go to Jadeite's and Nephryte's apartment and find out how much they knew about it. * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Nephryte! Wake up you lazy bum!" Jadeite tugged on Nephryte's blanket. He had come into Nephryte's room to see if the lazy bum was awake yet. "Later," Nephryte mumbled. Jadeite pulled the blanket off the bed, "Wake up you bum! We have a guest out waiting!" Nephryte sat up and rubbed his eyes, "Liar. Why don't you go do whatever you do in the morning and call me at noon." "Stupid, it's 11:30 in the morning. Wake up already!" Jadeite yelled, hitting him on the head. "Ow!" Nephryte swung his hand to hit him back, but his coordination wasn't with him this morning. "Ha! You hit like a girl," Jadeite laughed. "Shut up. I'm going to sleep, don't bother me anymore." Jadeite had a plan to make him get up, "There's a certain SOMEONE waiting for you outside." Nephryte's ears perked up, "Lita?" Jadeite shrugged and headed out the door, "I'd go look in the mirror before I go out if I were you." Nephryte bolted out of bed and headed for the bathroom connected to his bedroom. He combed his hair and took a cold shower to wake himself up. "He think's you're Lita," Jadeite said to the guest in the living room. "What?" Darien looked up from the magazine he was reading. "I had to make him think you were Lita just to get him up. Usually, he sleeps until noon. Lazy bum." Jadeite shook his head. "Same thing with Serena. She can't get up for school at eight in the morning, but she can manage to come to my apartment at five in the morning." "Interesting," Jadeite remarked. This certainly didn't sound like the Moon Princess he had grown to know and hate. "What's interesting?" "Nothing." Just then, Nephryte 'casually' strode in looking well groomed. He looked first at Darien, then at Jadeite. Jadeite was smiling like a cat who just caught a yellow canary. "Hey! This was a trick!" Nephryte exclaimed, after figuring out what happened. "Yup." Jadeite smiled. "That's not fair! You never let me sleep." Nephryte exclaimed. "For a trick to work, you need two people. The tricker and the sucker. Since I'm the tricker, then you must be-" Jadeite started to say. "Shut up!" Nephryte yelled and made contact with the back of Jadeite's head. "Hey, what was that for?!" Jadeite asked, rubbing the back of his head. "Revenge is so sweet," Nephryte said and sat on the other end of the sofa Darien was on. Jadeite kicked him on the shin and smiled smugly. Nephryte got ready to kick him back when Darien cleared his throat. "Nephyrte, we have a guest," Jadeite said. "I know," Nephryte said, "Hi, Endymion." Darien wrinkled his eyebrow before remembering that Endymion was him, "Just call me Darien." "So what are you doing here?" Nephryte asked. "I wanted to ask you two something," Darien started but was interupted by Nephryte's protesting. "For the last time! We are not working for the Negaverse anymore!" "Shut up Neph!" Jadeite snapped, "He wasn't going to ask us that. Now stop being rude and jumping to conclusions." Nephryte growled at Jadeite but kept his mouth shut. Darien thought to himself. Almost like Serena and Rei most of the time. "I wanted to ask if you could tell me a little more about the Silver Millenium." Darien continued. "What do you mean more?" Jadeite arched an eyebrow. "Last night, I had a dream about the past. You two were in it." Darien told them about the dreams and waited for their reaction. "Yes, that happened just the way I recall." Nephryte nodded. "Me too," Jadeite agreed, a little red in the face because now another person knew about him and Princess Mars. "So you guys WERE involved with the Princesses in the Silver Millenium?" Darien asked. "You could put it that way," Jadeite said slowly. Nephryte glanced at the clock and kicked Jadeite in the shin. "Ouch! Quit it!" Jadeite demanded. "You're going to be late for your job, you idiot!" Nephryte told him, pointing to the clock. Jadeite looked and saw that he only had fifteen minutes to get there. "Aw shoot! Sorry to leave like this Darien, but I really have to go. Nice meeting you, hope to see you again." He turned to Nephryte, "Don't be stupid while I'm gone." He rushed out the door faster than the speed of light. "Do you remember anything else?" Nephryte asked after Jadeite left. "No. I was hoping you could tell me." Nephryte shook his head, "I don't think I can. It's not my job to do that. What do you want to know?" "I wanted to know about me and Serena. You know, the Moon Princess," Darien said while his cheeks colored a little. Nephryte's mind asked. "I would rather not tell you and you would rather not find out." Nephryte stated. "But-" "Trust me. It's better left in the past. Let dead dogs sleep or something." Nephryte said wondering if that was the right saying. Darien looked confused at first, then caught on. "The saying is, Let sleeping dogs lay." "Whatever," Nephryte waved it off and reached for a cupcake Jadeite had obviously brought out of the kitchen, "Would you like one?" "No thank you, I already ate two." Darien politely refused. "I know they're not as good as Lita's. These are store bought," Nephryte could just taste Lita's cupcakes right now. The dinner two nights ago that she invited him and Jadeite to proved that she was a superb cook in all areas. "You've tried her cupcakes?" Darien asked, suprised. "Yes. They're delicious." Nephryte said. "I know what you mean. She's an excellent cook. I'm pretty sure that she'll own a whole chain of resturaunts one day." Darien said. "I hope so," Nephryte said softly. "Were you and Princess Jupiter an...item or something in the Silver Millenium?" Darien asked shyly. "An item?" Nephryte didn't quite understand what he was implying. "You know, a couple?" Nephryte closed his eyes and sighed. "No, we weren't." He said bitterly. "You weren't?" Darien repeated. He had dreamt that Nephryte and Princess Jupiter were really serious about each other. "No. Princess Jupiter had a duty to protect the Moon Princess," Nephryte said in such a nasty tone it made Darien jump. "What do you have against her?!" Darien demanded, "Everytime I mention Serena or Sailor Moon or any other of her alter egos, you act as if she was the lowest scum of the universe." Nephryte shook his head and glared at Darien, "You really don't remember, do you?" "No! And I would like to know what's so bad about her!" "I see she really has tricked you," Nephryte said sadly. "What are you talking about? Serena is the nicest sweetest girl I know. She doesn't think like that. I don't know who you think is the Moon Princess but that certainly doesn't sound like her!" Darien defended. His mind flashed back to the other day when Serena had turned nasty and ran away from him. He pushed that into the back of his mind. "Serena may be *sweet*, but you don't know the Moon Princess very well." Nephryte said. "You're right!" Darien exclaimed, "I don't know the Moon Princess! But I'm sure that she's not half as cruel as you are making her sound!" "Oh really? How can you be so sure?" Nephryte asked. "The only time I've ever met her was in my dreams when she was asking me for the Rainbow Crystals and she was just was she was. A princess." Darien insisted. "Typical. Always telling others to do her dirty work for her." Nephryte mumbled. "Take that back!" Darien was really getting steamed. "Why should I?" "Because you have no idea what you're saying! I don't know why you hate her so much when you don't even know her." That was the last straw that broke the camel's back. Nephryte was going to keep the past in the past, to protect the Senshi who seemed to adore their Princess, and let Darien live his little fairy tale. But now, he had enough. He didn't want to protect the Princess's image anymore. "Do you want to know why I hate her so much?!" Nephryte demanded. "Why?!" Darien shot back, "You owe at least an explanation if you're going to cap on her so much." "Okay, I'll tell you why. It's because of her that none of the senshi have a life!" Nephryte let it out. Darien was about to say something else, but closed his mouth. He thought about it, "What?" "You heard me. It's because of HER that none of the others have a life. Think about it. Half of their lives are to protect her." "But that's their job!" Darien stated. "What about you? Half of your life is to protect her. Tell me the truth, would you rather be doing something else?" "No, I wouldn't! I love her and she loves me. We look out for each other. It's what real friends do! Sailor Moon would do the same for us!" "Has she?" Nephryte accused. "Yes! She's done it lot's of times before." Darien answered. Nephryte thought. He hadn't counted on that answer. He decided to aim for something else. "You probably can't remember, but it was worse in the Silver Millenium." "What do you mean, worse?" "She forbade any of the Senshi to have a life. She wanted their whole lives devoted to protecting her. Those words came directly out of her mouth." Nephryte said dead calm. "But that's their job!" Darien said again. "Wrong! Their job is NOT to protect the HER! I don't know what gave you that idea! Their job is to protect the Silver Imperium Crystal!" Nephryte shouted. He decided not to tell him about the other crystal. "But she is the holder of the Silver Crystal so naturally they protect her!" Darien shouted back. "She's NOT the holder of it! It's not suppose to exist in physical form! Any idiot would know that. There's suppose to be a little part of it in each of the four scouts!" Nephryte said. "So why is it in physical form right now?" Darien demanded, "Tell me!" "How should I know. I was dead the past year!" Nephryte yelled. "Well, it seems that you know everything else." Darien said in a tone dripping in sarcasm. "You wanna know what I also remember? Do you?" "I'm dying to find out," Darien rolled his eyes. "It's because of her that I couldn't marry Princess Jupiter!" Nephryte yelled at him. Darien's mouth fell open. He didn't have a retort for that. He wasn't even expecting that. "Yes, it's true," Nephryte said, calmly now, "None of the senshi were allowed to marry or even date because SHE forbade it. She wanted them to devote their whole life to her!" "But-" "But nothing! The only reason Queen Serenity had all the girls reincarnated into the future, including the Moon Princess was so that they could forget all that cruelty and abandonment. Queen Serenity thought that they would be able to work together to fight the Negaverse instead of against each other." Nephryte took in a deep breath. There. That was the whole story. "So why can't you just forgive her?" Darien asked calmly. "Because she ruined my life and she ruined Princess Jupiter's!" Nephryte said, tears in his eyes. He blinked them away, hoping no one saw. "Endymion sent us to the Moon on a errand. All four generals. We never came back because the Moon Princess trapped us and sold us to the Silver Millenium in return for more strength. Sold off like property. No, that's not the main reason I hate her. I hate the Moon Princess because she was the reason Princess Jupiter was never happy. Princess Jupiter was yanked off her planet that she loved so much to serve the Moon Princess on the Moon right after I met her. She was taken from her family, from the greenery she loved, from everything she loved. Sure, she said she was happy and honored to serve the Moon Princess, but that was mandatory. I saw all those times she ran off, tears in her eyes. I saw all those times the Moon Princess yelled at her and all she did was sit there and take it. My heart broke for her every time I saw her. She would lock herself in her room and cry herself to sleep. I knew that. She even told me once. That's why I hate the Moon Princess so much! Look at what she did to Princess Jupiter. And I'm sure that the other princesses didn't like it either." Darien now understood why Nephryte had so much against Sailor Moon. He didn't try to deny it because the ancient part of him was saying it was true. All true. "But Sailor Moon, the new Moon Princess, she's a whole different person. Why don't you just forget about it and forgive her?" "Forget about it? How can I?" Nephryte couldn't get the words to express all the hatred he had for her. "She's not who she use to be anymore, Nephryte. I'm asking you, man to man, to forgive her. Please? Once you get to know her, you'll see that she's not who you remember." Darien asked. "Why?" "As a great man once said, 'Can't we all just get along?'" Darien quoted. "Okay, I'll try, but I'm not promising to like her." Nephryte said. "Great. So you'll put the grudge behind you?" "Sure," Nephryte said softly. "So, tell me about Lita. Has she changed?" Darien was glad that they had stopped fighting. "I don't know. I can't remember her being anyone but Lita." "She live by herself, doesn't she?" "Yes, her parents died a long time ago. But she's pretty much over that." Darien said. He could see how much Nephryte really liked her. Just then, one word popped into Darien's head. He cursed himself for not thinking it sooner. That word could change everything about Nephryte and Lita. Ken. *************************************************** Did I leave you hanging again? Sorry, I tend to do that a lot. I know that I promised that Ken wouldn't be in here. But sorry, I just HAD to write him in. For those of you not familiar with Jupiter Knight, you should check it out. It should be where ever you found this. SAILOR MOON OTAKU'S OF THE WORLD, UNITE! "On behalf of Jupiter, I shall write to right wrongs and triumph over evil. With my friends, Sailor Venus, Mars, Mercury and Moon. We'll make the world a better place for all people!" -Lady Jupiter Ladyjupiter@sailorjupiter.com **********Copyright 1997 Lady Jupiter (All Rights Reserved)*************