Jian-wa caught Mi-chan before she hit the ground, yet somehow managed to also keep an arm against Jasper�s neck so he couldn�t run. �What have you done for the past hour?�
Jasper blinked at Jian-wa�s quick and unexpected actions. �Ano, I got something to drink and then took a walk around the palace to look at the gardens�. When I returned, the hall was open so I went to get a seat and that�s when�.� He nodded his head towards Mi-chan.
�Anyone see you?� Jian-wa wanted to absolve Jasper if he was innocent, but the circumstances were suspicious.
Jasper frowned. �I supposed the servers might be able to recognize me maybe. And Kaiou-sama saw me when I returned, but in between it was pretty much just me and the flowers. But I swear, Chang-san, I wouldn�t hurt her. I wouldn�t ruin this day for her.�
Jian-wa released him, allowing himself to hold Mi-chan with both arms. �I believe you.� Unlike Mi-chan, he couldn�t ignore the earnestness in Jasper eyes.
Jasper glanced at Mi-chan, then asked the dreaded question Jian-wa had no answer for. �What do we do now?�
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Neko was lying in the middle of a dank, dark room, her head on her arm, the only thing keeping it off the grimy floor. She opened her eyes slowly and lifted her head up. It felt heavy. She looked around for some clue to where she was, but she was finding it hard to focus. It didn�t help that the only source of illumination was a small shaft of light, coming from a window high on the closest wall. However, this window itself provided her with a small clue. She thought maybe it meant she was in a basement of some kind.
Some green strands of hair fell into her face, and she impatiently pushed them behind her ear, her hand brushing against the silky petal of the lily in her hair as she did so. Suddenly, the realization of today�s importance pushed through the haze in her head.
�The wedding�. Tenshi�!�
She immediately sought to reach Mi-chan, but even as she tried to concentrate, her subconscious had already recognized that she was having too much trouble concentrating to actually send a message to her twin or Tenshi.
Again she searched the room, looking for some sign of salvation now that her eyes had begun to adjust to the light. At the same time, she wracked her brain for a reason that she was here. Had she been kidnapped? Was some evil being trying to take over the Moon Kingdom again? Did that make her the bait? Or maybe the first in a series of attempts to pick off the Senshi one by one? Why did they always go after her first?
Since Mi-chan was always easier to connect to, Neko tried focusing on her. But no matter how she tried, Mi-chan�s mind seemed just as distant to her. It was almost as if Mi-chan was� unconscious! Neko�s heart leapt at the thought � both that her sister might be in trouble, but also the possibility that perhaps Mi-chan would soon join her. Surely, the two of them could do anything if they were together.
Neko began to feel a bit better. She brushed her suit off, marveling at the fact that for once she seemed not to have broken, cut, or bruised anything. She picked herself up off the ground, but almost immediately lost her balance � she had forgotten that she was only wearing one shoe.
She knelt on one knee to take off the right boot, but was interrupted by a noise behind her. Quickly kicking off the shoe, she jumped to her feet, her eyes searching the dark room again, this time for some sign of life.
�Oh, I didn�t realize you were awake now.�
Neko still couldn�t see the owner of the bass voice. She cautiously took a few steps towards it before realizing that it came from the ceiling. She stared into the fairly dark entrance to the basement above, struggling at first to even be able to tell that he was there. Her captor must not want to be seen, she figured, and she spitefully hoped he would trip in the dark after he finished checking on her.
Her brief moment of relief earlier had now dissipated since he didn�t seem to have Mi-chan with him. Her voice shook as she fought back the beginning traces of frightened tears. �Why are you doing this? What do you want with me?� she cried out desperately.
To her surprise his voice softened a bit. �Don�t worry about it. I- I�m not going to hurt you, I just want- It�s nothing against you, I promise. So don�t worry, please.�
She stared at his silhouette in disbelief. Don�t worry?! He had kidnapped her, was ruining her wedding�. Her voice seemed like it wasn�t working right as she tried to speak again. It came out as almost a whisper. �Please�. What do you want?�
But he closed the door without an answer, leaving her alone again.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jian-wa carried Mi-chan back to Neko�s dressing room, grateful that the halls had cleared out since the doorway to the main event had been opened. He was also relieved to see that Jasper was following, further convincing Jian-wa that most likely he was not to blame for Neko�s disappearance.
*Unless, he�s a better actor than even I was.* Jian-wa thought of times when he had deceived the twins: he�d shrug as they made some excuse for not having the ice cream they planned to have with him because they had just found a too-good-to-be-true sale � which obviously meant Negaverse � and go off on his merry way, as if he was some dolt who wouldn�t care that he�d just been ditched by his �friends.� Jian-wa couldn�t count the number of times when he had played dumb while the Mizuno kids went off to foil one or more of the generals� plans. Though he rarely knew specifics, or much about any of the other generals, he certainly knew about Jadeite, their leader, and of course, Tanzanite, who had raised him, although she went by Tanzen around him. Tanzen had made no secret of her desire to rule by Jadeite�s side. And she had always intended to use Jian-wa towards that end � grooming him to take out the second generation of Senshi (or at least potential Senshi) with the story that the first generation of Sailor Senshi had killed his parents. She had promise that the death of their children would regain him his parents� power and honor. So he knew something of acting, and he wasn�t getting a sense from Jasper that he was doing it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tanzen had found Jian-wa only three years ago, and already she had instilled within him a hatred of the soon-to-be rulers of the newly formed Moon Kingdom.
