The rays of the sun brightened the deep darkness. The air smelled fresh and everything around felt warm and cuddly.

Sleepily, Nephrite opened his eyes.

He found himself in a unknown room. The door to the balcony was opened and the wind moved the curtains. In the room stood a sofa with clothes on it, a cupboard, a washbasin with a mirror and a alarm, which showed the time half past ten.

Nephrite looked below him.

He lay in an unfamiliar bed with white covers. He wore a light blue nightshirt. It belonged to Molly's dead father. Mrs. Baker had given it to him.

Slowly Nephrite stood up and went out on the balcony.

The blinding sun shone down to his auburn hair and made it glimmer wine-red. Nephrite looked around. Below the balcony he could see the street and the gardens of the neighbours. Cars drove past, bikers and pedestrians. Humans worked in the gardens.

Nephrite looked into the sky and breathed deeply. Last night he had almost died and now he stood here and watched the life on earth. He had never noticed how beautiful it was, when he had worked for the Negaverse. Life had now the meaning of something special.

Nephrite turned around and went into the room again.

He walked to the washbasin, turned the faucet on and held his head below it. Then he raised his head and looked in the mirror. Was there still a scar in his face? Hopefully Molly's mother hadn't asked about the green blood which was all over his body last night. On the other hand: He could tell her that it was dirt. That would fit after all he had experienced.

'No, Nephrite,' he scolded himself, mentally. 'You already lie again.'

He looked again in the mirror. 'But you look really horrible,' he said to his mirror image. 'Maybe I should cut my hair?'

He tried to imagine himself with short hair.

'No,' he finally thought. 'Never!'

He took off his nightshirt and touched his chest. There was actually no more scar to see. That Tuxedo Mask had done his work really good. Why, Nephrite couldn't understand himself.

He walked to the sofa and put on the clothes which were laid on it. Then he went to the door and out. Outside there were two other doors and a stair. Nephrite went downstairs. He came to a hallway and looked around, to see if Molly or Mrs. Baker were somewhere.

He found Mrs. Baker sitting at a table in the eating room and studying some papers. She looked to the open door.

"You may come in, Mr. Stanton," she said in a friendly voice.

Nephrite went carefully into the room.

"Sit down, Mr. Stanton," she said.

Nephrite sat across from Mrs. Baker at the table. Mrs. Baker still studied her papers. Nephrite took a look through the window in the room.

"Molly is at school," Mrs. Baker said.

Nephrite turned his face again to Mrs. Baker. She laid her papers down and looked directly in Nephrite's eyes.

"I have to thank you, Mr. Stanton, for all you did for Molly last night."

"Oh," Nephrite answered shyly. "That was just nothing."

"No," Mrs. Baker replied. "You've risked your life for her. That is not just nothing. I have to apologize to you, Mr. Stanton."

"Apologize?" Nephrite wondered.

"Yes," Mrs. Baker said. "When I had heard of you the first time, I was shocked. I believed you were a bad man who was using my daughter."

Nephrite looked down to the table.

"Molly is a very good girl, I think you know it the best, Mr. Stanton," Mrs. Baker continued. "She has never stolen anything, but the night before yesterday I caught her stealing one of my most valuable crystals."

Nephrite gulped. He had never realized what he had done to Molly.

"I never thought that my child could do anything like it. Serena told me that it was you who had met with her, before she stole the crystal."

Nephrite looked up nervously. "Yes, it was me she had met on that evening. We had seen each other in the park."

"Molly was very sad that night, when she got home," Mrs. Baker said.

"Yes, I was not very nice to her that evening," Nephrite admitted.

"Did you touch her?" Mrs. Baker wanted to know.

"What?" Nephrite jerked. "No, Mrs. Baker, I just ..."

"Don't misunderstand me, Mr. Stanton," Mrs. Baker calmed Nephrite down. "I just want to be sure that my daughter is in good hands."

She looked at her papers. "Molly is in love with you. Do you know that?"

The more Mrs. Baker spoke, the hotter Nephrite felt. "Well, actually..."

Mrs. Baker said: "Molly has never talked about this with me, but I noticed that there was something different with her the last time."

Mrs. Baker starred into Nephrite's eyes. "She takes quite a liking to you, Mr. Stanton."

"Yes, I, she told me once, Mrs. Baker." 'More than once, to be exact,' Nephrite thought.

Mrs. Baker smiled. "And you, Mr. Stanton? How do you feel about her?"

Feel about her. Nephrite had never thought he could ever feel anything. The Negaverse was cold, dark and everyone worked for himself. Feel. Had he ever felt something? Until this moment he had never thought about this.

"I am fond of your daughter," Nephrite said finally.

"Very fond?" Mrs. Baker asked.

Nephrite watched Molly's mother. "Well, ... yes." He looked aside. "Actually, I love her."

Mrs. Baker made a pleased face. "I am very glad that you feel that way, Mr. Stanton."

Nephrite looked at Molly's mother. "Yes?"

"I want Molly to be happy, Mr. Stanton.", Mrs. Baker said. "And I think in you she has found the right man to help her be happy."

Nephrite looked very glad. "Thank you, Mrs. Baker."

"You are welcome," Mrs. Baker said gladly. "Now, may I show you the OSA.P?"

* * * * * * * *

Zoycite arrived in the castle that she and Lord Malachite lived in. Malachite just looked out of the window.

"How did it go?" Malachite asked his girlfriend.

"I don't know," Zoycite replied. "She didn't sound quite sad, but also not very happy."

"What do you mean with that?" Malachite asked irritated.

Zoycite looked into his eyes. "She knows, that I've had Nephrite killed."

Malachite turned around. "She won't be that angry. I'm sure, she'll forget it. She also has killed Jadeite."

"Sure," Zoycite replied. "But Nephrite is not Jadeite. She was also not angry, when he didn't kill Sailor Moon as he should have."

"Nephrite had brought her energy, you mustn't forget," Malachite said.

At these words Zoycite looked very depressed. Malachite took her carefully into his arms.

"I'm sorry, Zoycite," he apologized. "That was very rough of me."

"That's okay," Zoycite said to her lover. "I'm just so afraid."

"You have the order to search for the Silver Imperium Crystal.", Malachite calmed Zoycite down. "Why should she kill you for that? She needs you. - And I need you, too."

Zoycite looked deeply into his eyes. "Thank you, Malachite"

They gently kissed.

"Bandana!" a rough voice said.

Zoycite and Malachite jerked.

"Bandana," Zoycite said angrily to the ninja youma. "What are you doing here? Can't you knock on the door?"

"Bandana, Queen Beryl wants to see you," the youma said.

Zoycite looked at Malachite helplessly.

He nodded to her. "Be brave."

Shyly Zoycite moved on.

"You, too, Lord Malachite," the youma commanded.

Malachite held Zoycite's hand. "I'll stand by you, no matter what happens."

Zoycite nearly was in tears. "Let's go," she said tightly.

The youma teleported first. "Bandana."

* * * * * * * *

In the evening Molly, Serena and a brown haired girl with a ponytail went into the jewelry store. Nephrite stood behind the counter. The store was not busy.

"Hello, Molly!" Nephrite called happily. "How are you?"

Molly ran happily to him. "Hello, Nephr... er Maxfield." She thought. "Hello, Mr. Stanton," she finally decided to say.

"Oh, why so formal?" Nephrite joked. "Simply call me Max, Miss Baker."

"Well," Molly said. "Then you may call me Molly."

"Hey, you two," the brown haired girl with the ponytail said, laughing. "We're also still here."

"I knew that was a good idea!" Serena raved.

"What idea?" Molly asked, wondering.

Then Serena remembered, that Molly didn't know that she was Sailor Moon.

"I mean," Serena began, "that I brought Lita here."

She grabbed Lita roughly on her arms and pushed her to Nephrite at the counter.

"Lita is new in our school," she told him. "Maxfield, this is Lita. Lita, this is Maxfield."

"Hi!" Lita said.

"Hi, Lita," Nephrite said.

They shook hands. Molly watched skeptically. Did she just imagine it, or did Nephrite and Lita look strangely at each other? It was as if they trusted each other. Maybe she also was just tiered of school and imagined things that were not there.

"We're going to go then, Molly," Serena called as she left the jewelry store. "Bye Molly!"

"Bye!" Molly called back.

"Bye Serena! Bye Lita!" Nephrite called.

"Bye," Lita said.

Molly turned around to Nephrite. "How was your day?"

"Fantastic," Nephrite answered. "I think, I've found the work for me."

"You like the job in the jewelry store?" Molly asked, curious.

"Yes," Nephrite replied. "That's just what I want: A job in which I can work with people."

"Fine," Molly said.

Nephrite studied Molly. "What's going on with you?" he asked, worried.

Molly cracked a smile. "Nothing, everything is all right."

Nephrite came out from behind the counter and laid his hands on Molly's shoulders. "Really?" he asked.

Molly nodded silently.

The church tower clock tolled.

"Finished", Nephrite said. "I'm going to lock the door."

He went to the counter, opened a drawer, took out a key and went with it to the door. He locked it and then laid his arm around Molly's shoulders.

"Let's eat," he said.

* * * * * * * *

Zoycite studied the Black Crystal. It was black and had a long form. In her other hand was another crystal. This one was round and had a red shimmering colour.

Zoycite was lucky: Queen Beryl hadn't been that hard on her and had even given her a new job: Searching for the seven Rainbow Crystals, which were part of the Silver Imperium Crystal and would free the seven Shadows.

The door opened and Malachite came in. He saw Zoycite laying on their bed and admiring the two crystals.

Malachite broke the silence. "Nice stones, aren't they?"

Zoycite smiled at him. "Beautiful," she said, lost in her thoughts.

Malachite sat besides Zoycite on the bed. "I knew you would make it," he whispered.

"That's just the beginning, Malachite," Zoycite said. "We still need six of these Rainbow Crystals."

Malachite laid one arm around his lover. "If you're working as good as today, I've no doubt that you'll get them all."

Zoycite wrapped her arms around him. "Malachite, you're just so cute!"

* * * * * * * *

It was night on earth. Nephrite lay on his bed and Molly sat beside him, holding his hand.

"Lita is a nice girl, isn't she?" Molly said carefully.

"Yes," Nephrite agreed. "And rather tall."

"Don't say that," Molly said. "Lita has complexes because of that."

"Sorry," Nephrite apologized. "But why does she have them?"

"The boys don't like tall girls," Molly said. "Today she met a boy who reminded her of her ex-boyfriend. She instantly fell in love."

"Does her ex-boyfriend mean so much to her?" Nephrite asked thoughtfully.

"Seems to be," Molly said, and got a little unsure, when she saw Nephrite getting lost in his thoughts. "Anyway she wanted to know this boy, but he just told her she would be too tall for him. Then she was depressed, because all the boys say that to her."

Nephrite stared at the ceiling. "That's sad," he said.

Molly looked around. "Well, then, I'm going to go to bed now," she said. "Good night, Neph."

"Molly?" Nephrite called.

Molly turned around. "Yes?"

Nephrite rose up from the bed. "I've earned some money today," he said proudly. "And in a few days I will get even more. Your mother gave me Saturday off and ... we would have time to eat a chocolate parfait together. Molly, may I invite you?"

Molly almost couldn't breathe. She felt as if she could laugh and cry at the same time. "Yes!" she gasped.

Nephrite stood up from the bed and walked towards Molly. Molly went to him and they fell into each other's arms.