Disclaimer: None of the characters in this story belong to me. The song is not mine either.

A.N: The song is a translated version of 'Starlight ni Kisu Shite', Makoto's image song.

Heart's Songs - Makoto's Song

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She kept her eyes trained on her opponent as they slowly circled the mat, each wanting to test out the other's skill. She had heard from rumors that he, Third General Nephrite, was one of the best fighters in non-weapon combat. She had challenged him to a friendly match on their tour of the Moon Kingdom, and much to her delight, he had accepted. Of course, she didn't challenge him just because of the fact that she wanted to see if the rumors were true, she also wanted to be the one to win, to prove to the visiting five Earthlings that the Senshi were no pushovers.

It didn't hurt that this General Nephrite was one of the more handsome men she had ever seen, and taller than her as well, which was a delightful rarity.

Kiss the starlight,

kiss the moonlight

Kiss the starlight,

kiss the moonlight

They had been sparring for well over half an hour, and neither could get an edge over each other. It impressed him greatly, as did Princess Jupiter's skills in hand-to-hand combat. She was just as strong and as fierce as the rumor mill had made her out to be, and also very compassionate and caring, something he hadn't expected from a warrior or princess alike.

The stars had told him, on his way to the Moon, that all of the Planetary Princesses were absolute paradoxes, walking contradictions. On one hand, they had said, the Princesses were royalty to the bone. However, they had also told him that they were experienced warriors, able to match the Generals at every turn if they so chose. He had seen, after the first few minutes, that the first fact was more than true, but the second fact seemed a little out there. It wasn't until Princess Jupiter had asked him for a friendly match that he had begun to realize that it was true, and it was barely ten minutes into the sparring match that he had come to respect the Princesses and how they kept the delicate balance.

Of course, the fact that she was quite lovely didn't hurt the fact that he was enjoying his time with her.

Under the arch of the light

I gazed into your eyes

The distant seasons

"Stars."

"Excuse me?" he asked the tall Jovian, giving her a blank stare.

She flashed him a quick grin, and he couldn't help but smile back at her in return, caught in her charisma.

"You are rumored to like stars," she clarified, opening a large door that led into what seemed to be a darkened room. "Are the rumors true?"

"Ah," he nodded. "Yes, the stars are my Guides."

She whipped her head around to look at him, obviously startled. He blinked in shock as he realized that she had recognized the word, and wondered where she had heard it before.

"Guides," she repeated, a surprised smile lighting her face. "I wasn't aware that Earthlings had Guides."

"Most don't," he admitted. "I've always been a special case, or so they tell me."

"Who tells you?" she asked. "The stars themselves?"

"Yes," he nodded, smiling fondly. "They are quite mysterious, to the point of frustration, but I've learned to understand the more I talked with them."

She nodded in understanding, "All of the Senshi have Guides."

"Really?"

It was his turn to be shocked. He had grown up on a world where there wasn't another person who had a Guide like he did. And here he found that there were at least four people who knew what it was like to grow up knowing things that others did not.

"Yes. Our elements speak to us sometimes, and Guide us in battle. It happens to the Outers more than it happens to us when we're detransformed, for they have greater powers, and therefore a greater connection," she explained. "And Mars, because she has more spiritual powers."

"Greater powers?" he repeated, again surprised.

These women were powerful enough, and the Generals were hard pressed to match them, but if what Princess Jupiter was saying was true, then there were four Senshi out there who were better than they.

"Yes. Senshi Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto," she said, walking into the middle of the room. "The first three guard the galaxy from intruders, and Pluto guards the Gates of Time."

If he squinted, he could make out the shape of a large computer console. Its large size became more prominent when his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"What is this room?" he asked, glancing up and seeing an arching ceiling.

She turned her head to him and flashed another grin before she went back to typing something on the console.

"The Moon Kingdom's observatory," she answered simply.

Suddenly you appear

within the corner of my heart

I have to stop and stand still

He smiled briefly at her as she took out more ingredients from the large cooler and placed them on the long counter. She had surprised him this morning when she asked him to come help her cook for the farewell ball the Queen was throwing tonight in honor of the Earthlings. It wasn't the first time she had thrown him off balance, and he found himself hoping that this wouldn't be the last.

"I've never met royalty that wanted to cook before," he remarked to her as he surveyed the kitchen, keeping an eye on the cake that was already baking in the oven.

She paused in gathering the food and stuck out her tongue at him in a friendly manner, "That was Earth, this is not."

"True," he then grinned as he scooped up a handful of flour. "But on Earth, when someone sticks out their tongue at someone, that's being rude."

"Really?" she snorted, rolling her eyes. "I hadn't the slightest idea."

She then squawked in surprise as the flour hit her on her squarely on her shoulder, showering her dress and apron with white powder. She tried in vain to brush off the offending flakes without staining the dress even more, but finally gave up for a much more gleeful task. She eyed Lord Nephrite, who was laughing uncontrollably at the look that had been on her face, and then smiled wickedly as she caught sight of the yolk of the eggs that she had purposely left out from her pastries.

"That," she snickered, taking careful aim. "Was a big mistake."

He recoiled instinctively as the yellow glob hit him full on, dripping in his long auburn hair. Pushed beyond the decisive point, he snatched up a bottle of chocolate syrup, and advanced on his foe.

The shining starlight rain,

looking at me

Even the lonely nights are fitting for me,

look, so you can change

She heard someone coming down the path to the gardens, and banished the sadness from her thoughts as she turned to see who it was. She knew that if it were someone other than the one she would be meeting here, she would be in a lot of trouble.

"Nephrite," she sighed in relief. "You startled me."

He smiled at her - it was strange how just one look from him could make her feel so...so...elated, but it did, and she was glad for it - and walked up to her silently. She almost melted into his arms, smiling softly and closing her eyes as she felt his arms encircle her in return.

"How are things?" he asked her, his voice low and soothing.

She sighed, this time in weariness, answering truthfully, "Tense."

"Here as well," he murmured. "The threat of the Dark Queen is too near to ignore, yet too damn far to take action."

She nodded in understanding, "All we can do is wait for the enemy to strike first...always a disadvantage."

He closed his chocolate brown eyes, and then opened them again, a content smile coming onto his face as he planted a light kiss on her lips.

"Being with you makes me forget everything..."

"I know what you mean," she whispered, closing her eyes as he kissed her again. "I just don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing-"

"Shh," he stopped her by placing a finger on her lips, and hugged her tightly. "Let�s just ignore everything else. We have each other, and right now, that's all that matters."

Releasing her from his embrace, he retrieved something from his pocket at presented it to her with a flourish.

She gasped slightly, the moonlight catching the glint of the tiny gifts enticingly. The earrings were extremely well carved, the rose a perfect shade of pink, and every petal formed to perfection, framed by delicate green leaves.

"They're beautiful," she whispered.

He smiled in delight, and watched as she immediately put them on. His smile faded when hers did, and he wondered what was wrong.

"Neph?" she asked, in a frightened tone.

His brow furrowed with worry as he asked, "What is it Mako?"

"What do the stars tell you about the pending war?" she inquired, her green eyes wide with fear of what could happen.

He closed his eyes, and reached out with his senses, 'hearing' the constant song of the stars. It took him a few moments to interpret their meaning, but he did.

"They say that it's not for me to know," he told her.

"Doesn't that hurt you?" her question surprised him, as she always did.

He took her hand, and kissed her palm, replying honestly, "No. Not when you're here with me. When I am with you, you are my guide, you are my Starlight."

The wondrous moonlight rain,

falling down on my back

Rushing out into the rain,

dazzling, waiting for the time

Her eyes were clouded with anger, but the same anger fueled her as she pushed the hurt into a far corner of her mind and charged once more at her foe. He met her blow for blow, as she knew he would, as he always had, but this time, the battle was real, not just a friendly spar.

He narrowed his cold brown eyes, concentrating on the stars briefly before focusing wholly on the fight. It was very strange, but the stars had refused to give him an answer when he asked how he would defeat this Senshi Jupiter.

"Die," she growled, lunging at him with abandon, foregoing all defenses.

He met her reckless charge with a smirk, confident that he could easily overpower her. He was wrong, and found himself being pushed back, even as he strained with all his strength. Mentally hitting himself for overlooking the fact that she was Jovian, and therefore stronger than even him, he let himself fall to the ground suddenly, using the ground and her momentum as leverage to throw her over his head.

He immediately got up, just in time to see her flip to her feet easily with no trouble at all.

He scowled.

In response, her gaze turned colder, if possible.

There was a moment of inaction, and they both charged.

That glance of yours,

not giving in to the winds

of a selfish future

I will not forget it

She hissed quietly in pain as she shifted on the ground, uncomfortable. Her arm was broken, no doubt about that, and one of her legs was fractured, at the very least. Bruises lined her body, and an impressive cut marked its way down her cheek to her jaw. As she lay on the ground, lips dried and cracking with blood, her only satisfaction came with the fact that her opponent had just as many injuries as she did, if not more.

Jovian strength was not to be messed with, she smiled proudly before wincing as a sharp pain shot through her torso; perhaps a broken rib.

A muffled groan of pain came from General Nephrite, and she forced herself to ignore him, reminding her worried nurturing instincts that it was she who had given him those injuries in the first place.

That thought brought unbidden tears to her eyes, and she turned away, not wanting him to see and declare her a weakling. She tore her mind away from her painful past, and thought of the others; she wondered if they had to face their counterparts as well.

*Bitch,* she growled inwardly, thinking of Beryl. *She did this on purpose.*

It was a given that the traitorous snake would use the Inner Senshi's only well known weaknesses against them. She coughed, and watched with morbid fascination and detachment as blood bubbled out of her mouth.

*Add internal bleeding to that list,* she noted of her injuries.

One glance at her enemy showed that he was watching the slow Earthrise, a look of awe on his bloodied and bruised face.

It was the injuries on his face - the ones cause by her - which told her mind that this was the enemy, Dark Kingdom General Nephrite, and not her Neph.

Never again, she realized sadly, would he ever be her Neph, so she wearily closed her eyes and silently welcomed death.

That moment when I

thought so strongly of someone

Will someday give me strength

He growled in annoyance as his vision was obstructed for moment. That moment turned out to be costly as he looked up, just in time to see a large bolt of lightning shoot at him in speeds impossible to dodge.

As the newfound Senshi's attack rushed towards him, promising his death, another type of electricity arched through him filling his mind with memories he never knew existed. He saw flashes of courtly balls on Earth which had bored him and his companions so much, the flirting of the stuffy noble women that he had always frowned upon; he recalled his Prince's favorite foods and pastimes, the quirks of his three best friends which had made them so unique...

The shining starlight rain,

looking at me

My smile, and my voice, look,

will become more beautiful

than yesterday

...that fateful trip to the moon, when he had met the Princess of Jupiter, someone whom he admired not just as a woman or a Princess, but as a warrior, and a person. He saw clearly in his mind's eye the way she had smiled brightly at him, eyes twinkling with love. The way she had loved to cook up a storm, a quality he had never thought he would ever find in a Princess, but he had, and she had been the best cook he had the pleasure of meeting. The way she had fought, the way she had loved to climb trees, and how she would be content, just to spend time looking at the stars with him.

The wondrous moonlight rain,

falling down on my back

I feel that the real thing

will finally begin

His eyes widened as he returned to reality and heard the shrill warnings of the stars before he actually saw the attack relentlessly bearing down on him.

*Mako,* he thought as the pain lanced through his body as it freed his soul. *You shine brighter than any star.*

//...my Starlight...\\

The shining starlight rain,

looking at me

Even the lonely nights

are fitting for me,

look, so you can change

She saw the lightning bolt hit him, and felt a swell of satisfaction that she had destroyed the evil one who dared play with innocent girl's hearts.

However, the moment passed, and she caught a glimpse of anguish and...love...as he looked straight at her, plain old Makoto, and something in her snapped in response.

Images rushed through her, overwhelming her and making her fall to her knees. The identity of the one whom she had just killed came flooding back to her, and as her new allies surrounded her, she felt tears of regret and heart wrenching distress well up.

Vaguely, she heard her friends as they called her name, worried about why she had suddenly collapsed like that. She groped in her mind for something to reassure their fears with, and told them the story of her old boyfriend, even as she came to terms with what her memories were telling her.

The wondrous moonlight rain,

falling down on my back

Rushing out into the rain,

dazzling, waiting for the time

Makoto closed her eyes and sighed. She recalled what she had told her new friends a few hours ago...about how she knew there was something more important here in Juuban than love.

She knew that it still held true, by coming to Juuban, she not only found her destiny, she had discovered a love truer than that of her old sempai.

*Nephrite,* she smiled slightly as she opened her eyes and looked up at the night sky. *You always told me that the stars know everything. Did they know that this would happen? Did you?*

One hand reached up to delicately brush her ever-present rose earrings, and her small smile blossomed into a full blown, although teary, grin.

"It doesn't matter," she said to the stars. "Even if we lost each other in the end...at least we were happy and had each other, if only for a short while. We had each other."