Now we (and they) see what this pair has been through in the last thousand years. And we get a hint as to why Molly is a fatherless only child. Warning that last point isn’t pretty. This really isn’t a chapter for kids.

Sailor Moon is copyright © 1992 Naoko Takeuchi/Kodansha, TOEI Animation. English Language Adaptation © 1995 DiC Entertainment

A Thousand Years Before That Night …

It was very late on Solaris, but this meeting could not wait for the day. King Rudolyn would certainly kill Drusilla if she were caught. Yet this news was too good, and too deadly, for a secreted letter. If it, or its code, ever fell into the wrong hands … the thought made the Princess shudder in horror.

And besides, this was news that could not be written - she just couldn’t form the sentences right to show how happy it made her. This news she wanted to deliver in person. And this late night meeting had taken far too much careful planning to back out of it now.

“Neflyte, my love? Neflyte, where are you?” She called out softly - terrified they would be caught because of her calls.

Out of the bushes before her came a commanding figure, with auburn hair and piercing eyes that drove into her soul. Her love, her secret husband, the only one who made her believe in herself and that the coming war could be won - Neflyte, one of the top Generals of the Earth’s four mightiest armies. “Good evening my beloved wife. Now, what was this surprise that Prince Darien was so secretive about? What is so wonderful to risk our capture by not sending me a coded message as you always have in the past?”

Drusilla rushed into his arms as tears of happiness flowed down her cheeks. “Oh my dearest and only love! Mother had a vision and then used her mind to be certain!”

Neflyte was stunned at this; it was rare for his mother-in-law to use her mental abilities outside of Royal business. It obviously was very good news, given the joy in his wife’s eyes. “What did the Queen find, my sweetest?”

“We’re having a baby! And even better than that, my love, we’re having a girl - a daughter right from the start! If mother’s guess is right, our daughter was conceived on our wedding night!” Drusilla finally collapsed fully into her husband’s arms as they both cried such sweet tears of joy.

Because the birth of girls was so rare, it was considered a blessing on a family for their first child to be born female - more so if it was begun on the wedding night or honeymoon. Husband and wife both took this as a sign that they were meant to be together for all time. But then his features grew dark and stern, the way they always did when something worried him.

“I don’t want you to go back there,” Neflyte nodded towards the castle. “Let’s not hide our marriage or our child anymore, my Molly. Come back to Earth with me.”

She adored how he preferred her middle name to that cruel first name she had received from her father. Princess Drusilla Molly - quite possibly the worse name in the universe. Neflyte never called her by her first name since the night she asked him to use her middle name, just as all of her friends did. But, her heart was troubled by one thought - finally leaving the planet with her husband, yet not telling her mother farewell. It just seemed wrong.

“You know that I want nothing more than to be with you, my Neflyte. But I can’t leave without telling my mother goodbye, not after all that she has done for our daughter and us. She’s in the library, so I could be in there and out in fifteen minutes at most. Please, my love.” Molly’s eyes glistened with tears that threatened to cover her face.

“As if I would ever be able to say no to you, my love. Please move swiftly though. I have a bad feeling about all of this.” Neflyte laid claim to her lips once more and rubbed his hand over her flat belly before releasing her - never knowing that it would be one of the last kisses he would give her in this life and the only touch he would be able to give their unborn daughter in that age.

Molly ran into the library, conscious that she had precious little time before her father would wake and start searching for her. “Mother, I came back to …”

“I wish you had just left, my darling Molly.” Queen Jessica had tears running down her face.

Just as Molly got completely in the room, her father came out of the shadows with the darkest look on his face. “Guards! Take this unruly brat to my study … now!”

Two guards grabbed Molly’s arms and dragged her off, kicking and screaming. Neflyte had been right! Now what would happen to her and their unborn child?

* * * * * * * *

Rudolyn pulled a bundle of notes from his desk. Molly instantly recognized as her letters of love and devotion from Neflyte, each one written in their own special code that had changed several times over the lonely months. She never had the heart to destroy the originals, but faithfully destroyed the translations she wrote out.

“We finally translated these. Do you really think he was going to carry you off tonight so that he could wed you? That uncultured solider probably only wants your virtue - that is if he hasn’t already had it. Has he?”

Molly blushed red at her father’s accusation. Partly with embarrassment that he’d think so lowly of her, and partly in her anger at him for this violation of her heart. What little love she held for him turned to dust in that moment. “He has only had what he has full rights to! Why do you belittle him now? Was it not merely a year ago you were busily planning my wedding to this same wonderful man?”

“He is a boob! Uncultured, unmannered in court, and not worthy of you!”

“You only reject him because he is the high guardian and teacher to Prince Darien - who is now engaged to wed the Moon Princess, Serena! You reject my love because his charge and friend is going to marry the daughter of the woman who would have nothing to do with you!” Molly screamed in her frustration.

Rudolyn rushed forward and punched Molly in the jaw. “Shut up you insolent bitch! You are my daughter and will do as you are told! There will be no more letters, no more rendezvous, and you will marry Prince Forlen next week! Am I understood clearly?”

“You cannot force me to marry Forlen, King Rudolyn!” Molly spat at the evil man who stood before her. This thing had no right to be named her father any longer. Now there was nothing in her heart towards him but hate. It was the first time she ever really felt that emotion towards any living being that was not an enemy from the start.

“And why is that, little whore child?”

Molly grinned as she ripped something unseen from a chain hung around her neck. Looking down she slid on a white star amethyst engagement ring … quickly followed by an intricately carved gold wedding band. Then she held up her left hand before the man in front of her. “You cannot marry me off because I am already wed to Neflyte and am carrying his child - our daughter!”

The next few seconds went in slow motion for Molly. Rudolyn saw red at the news his child had wed behind his back to the man he accepted then rejected in a matter of days. The King quickly grabbed her and threw her with all of his might.

Molly screamed as she went through the open window, past the balcony, into the air, and then dropped from the fourth floor her father’s study was on to the stone path below.

“No! My baby! Guards! Arrest the King! Rudolyn she was carrying a girl child you evil fool! Molly!” Queen Jessica screamed between her sobs of pain and grief.

Reaching her daughter’s body, Queen Jessica could see that the young woman was still holding on to life - though gasping with her last breaths. Neflyte ran up, hearing Molly and her mother’s screams. “Molly! No!”

“Neflyte … momma?” Molly softly gasped with tears running down her face. “I’m sorry. I should have just left.”

“Hush love. I should have talked you into meeting up with the Queen during the next celebrations on the Moon. This is my fault, love, please forgive me,” Neflyte softly whispered to her. Even as the seconds flew by, he could feel her slipping through his grasp. Before long they would be separated forever, and their child would never take her first breath.

Molly began to gasp softly as her strength started to leave her. “There’s nothing to forgive. I swear, I’ll find my way back to you. Look for me, and I will find you! … The baby?”

Queen Jessica knew that her child was hoping that anything could be done to save the unborn child and stave off the impending doom looming over all of them. “I’m afraid she’s too young and too hurt for any transfer to work. She is going to die with you.”

Molly wept harder at the loss of her precious girl. Prince Darien, Princess Serena, and Queen Serenity all rushed upon the scene with horror in their eyes.

“Molly! Oh Molly, hold on.” Serena cried out as she knelt by her dear friend’s head with Darien. Serenity knelt alongside Neflyte and used her Imperium Silver Crystal. After a moment she sadly shook her head. “She’s too far gone for my magic to heal her. The fall was too far for her and the baby. Already the child is gone.”

“Mother, we have to do something. They don’t deserve this! This baby doesn’t deserve this!” Serena cried - her heart ripped that such a good friend was leaving her side.

Darien looked with hope in his eyes. “That dream you had about the moon beam crystals. Could that work to at least set them on a path that will cross with Neflyte when we all are reborn?”

By now Molly was barely breathing and her eyes had shut for the last time. Only moments were left to her here on Solaris. Yet, so much remained uncertain - there were too many possibilities to be sure of the horrid vision’s accuracy.

Could that one choice shift so much either way? Was that one decision so critical to the war ahead of them? The fates would not answer her; only saying that a vital choice would soon be made that would save or destroy them all.

“I don’t even know for sure if my nightmare will be coming true. There is one factor that may still tilt the balance to our favor, if we can keep hope alive and trust firm that is. Neflyte, I leave it in your hands - as you are her husband and she is too far for me to reach her. Do you want me to send her and the babe to two points in the future where they will cross with your path again?” Serenity saw in his eyes that this man was hurting … shattered.

He was a war orphan who had fought his way up the ranks to the highest of positions in the military within the Earth kingdom of Timin. He enjoyed not only the privileged duty of guarding and training Prince Darien, but also the young man’s friendship and highest respect. Yet, even with all of that, he only ever wanted was a family he could call his own. Now, far too soon, he was losing that family he had created with love and devotion.

Neflyte tenderly kissed his dying wife’s lips. “I will return to you too, my only love. None will ever hold your place at my side in any form … ever.”

With that he nodded to Serenity. She first encased the unborn child in a crystal. “She must go on first for she will be further down your path than her mother, though not by long.”

Silently Neflyte gave a heartfelt prayer to the Lord and Lady to guide and protect his and Molly’s daughter until the three of them would be reunited again - someday. She floated away and he never lost sight of her until she vanished into the future.

As Molly released her final breath, Serenity encased her too in a crystal and sent her off. Again Neflyte pleaded the Lord and Lady to guide and watch over his love until he was with her again. Once his wife was out of his sight and off to their future Neflyte felt his heart grow icy cold. Right then he wanted revenge for the loss of what was then in his mind his entire family.

Serenity knew then that their hope was gone, for the balance had swayed from their grasp. Her kingdom and all of those she held so dear would soon perish. She determined to enjoy and live every moment she had left with them all.

Rudolyn charged Queen Jessica with high treason for aiding Molly in wedding Neflyte without his consent and her order to have him arrested for killing the girl he quickly had shamed as a whore who attempted to seduce her own father after getting with child and rushing into a marriage he disapproved of - making it seem that Molly was father along in her pregnancy than she actually was. The punishment for such crimes was death.

Queen Jessica fled the planet with Serenity, Serena, Darien, and Neflyte for the Moon Kingdom, which Rudolyn knew better than try to attack. Serenity granted her oldest and dearest friend sanctuary for life. Neflyte returned to Earth with Prince Darien and his old duties, but he wasn’t the same - not even to Darien. Grief and loneliness ate into the good man’s soul as he spent his nights weeping for his lost love and child. On duty he was colder and hard, expecting 100 % out of anyone in his unit. This made his troops all the better, but he lost his popularity with the men due to his hardened edge.

* * * * * * * *

One year passed and Neflyte was called upon by a Queen apparently no one had ever heard of. She toyed with the idea that Serenity had the power to save his lost family instead of sending them from his side. Neflyte growled that he was there and knew better than this so-called ‘Queen’.

Then the Queen asked him if he wanted to have his family back in his arms. Neflyte couldn’t fight that, for that was his sweetest dream every night. Holding his wife and daughter, living a life with them. But nothing could bring them back; he could only go forward to meet up with them again.

The Queen then reminded him of how his family’s murder wasn’t given due justice. How the fact was his wife was shamed, as was he, for supposedly bedding the girl before wedding her. That left a bitter taste in Neflyte’s mouth. He had been honorable with his sweet Molly; there was nothing evil that could be justly said of her virtue.

This twist in his heart gave the Queen's words a place to latch onto. How Molly was dead, their unborn daughter was dead, but the man who coldly murdered them both was still alive. The people his beloved Molly had served as Princess all of her short life were speaking ill of her instead of defending her as Molly had them so many times.

The icy chill that Molly and the baby’s deaths had left in his heart now chilled it into a solid glacier. Neflyte hated more than he ever had in his existence. He had to do something … somehow they all had to pay for harming his beloved wife’s memory!

“Come Neflyte. We will hurt them all for their cruelty to sweet Molly. They will all suffer for their wrongs. But to do so I will need your help. Zoicite and Malachite both have joined me so that they could be together for always. They will help us, but it is up to you now.” The Queen reached out her hand to him, fully expecting his complete loyalty.

Neflyte however simply bowed his head to her courtly. “Get this straight. I will make them all pay, and I will even help you for the power to right their evils, but I am only loyal to my lost family and myself. Are we in agreement, your majesty? Once I recover my wife and daughter, I will be taking them away to live where we will be safe from all and any that dare stand to tear us apart.”

“Understood, Neflyte, but for the power to avenge them and then seek them out I will expect loyalty from you.” The Queen spoke sharply, as she was not used to being commanded. But, this Neflyte was a powerful warrior and a brilliant General (when he wasn’t thinking of his lost family) - he would upset her plans if he were against her, and so made a better ally than foe.

Neflyte then bowed formally for the first and he hope would be the only time to his new ruler - Beryl. “Yes, my Queen.”

Days later, Neflyte personally drained away the energy from everyone on Solaris that spoke ill of their dead Princess, while relocating the rest to various places on Earth. He did not trust his new ally, and still had a sense of honor (though it was growing weaker as his reason for respecting life grew dimmer). Once the planet was covered with weakened bodies, he left it to Beryl (it had no meaning to him now). She hurled it and the remaining populace into the sun, which set off a chain reaction of events.

“You disappoint me Neflyte.” Beryl commanded from her throne when he confronted her. “I’d thought after what those weaklings said of your wife and child and your precious honor that you would have enjoyed destroying them utterly. Jedite will now be my lead General. You will have to re-earn your former place, Neflyte.”

Neflyte felt he had lost all of his remaining honor by leaving those people to suffer so horrible a death. He felt that he should have moved them all away, instead of picking out those who spoke kind of his sweet Molly. And later, when the remaining survivors died on Earth during its downfall, the urge to hold his soul above the filth around him was lost. Soon he only looked forward to finding his wife and daughter, then getting away from it all.

After the Moon Kingdom fell and the armies of the Negaverse were trapped in their own dimension, he began to lose all hope of reuniting with his Molly … with their baby girl. To be honest he finally felt the filth corrode his heart and soul, and doubted that he could ever get clean again. He was not the man his wife had married, and was not the figure a girl should have of her father. He gave up on his dreams and hopes. He now only focused on becoming the soldier and General he once was on Earth there within the armies of the Negaverse.

Quickly he found himself favored by the majority of the youma, as he treated them as he had the soldiers he once commanded - to him there were no difference between the two. He learned how to keep Beryl satisfied, but rarely pleased. She had bloodied his hands dishonorably, and he would one day repay her for that.

His way with Beryl made him more respected than Zoicite and Malachite, both of who looked on him with disgust since he had been able to create a child but they still seemingly couldn’t - even though Zoicite had been turned into a woman for just that purpose, to make the couple proper and give them the family both longed to have. Their complaints often times bored Beryl, who was more focused on conquering the Universe.

Only Jedite seemed to have more of an upper hand. He too did as little complaining as Neflyte, and did all of his assignments with pleasing results. The only thing that set him apart from the other three was that he was completely loyal to Beryl.

Neflyte had been told by one of the youma that the rumor going around was that Beryl had promised Jedite a kingdom to rule, and he wasn’t going to risk losing that. That made him a difficult man to beat, if one listened to rumor - and Neflyte gave little consideration to such talk. No, there had to be something more to the young General’s turning than met the eye.

But then the fool went and continually underestimated the Sailor Scouts! And so soon after they had been able to finally break out of the Negaverse too - well, loyalty is repaid in kind by the one it is given to.

Once too often Jedite failed to destroy the Scouts as Beryl had ordered. She finally sealed him into Eternal Sleep - frozen into a crystal that was strengthened by the energy of the Negaforce. It was rarely used, and it was said that no one could undo it … not even Beryl herself.

Finally Neflyte had his chance to prove his strengths. But from the very first day he was out of the Negaverse, he was reminded of the wife he had lost. By the tennis courts was a near duplicate to his lost Molly. Right down to the laugh and smile, it seemed to be her. That made his heart twinge with guilt for all he had done and the lowness he had sunk to. But he wouldn’t turn away yet … not for a mere copy of his beloved.

It was a mere coincidence that this lovely creature had his wife’s looks and name - she had been dead for a thousand years, and nothing was going to change that. Neflyte knew that he had probably missed the chance to be reunited with his Molly that Serenity gave him in that imprisonment. It was a punishment he accepted given the betrayal he gave that good woman for her kindness to him and his family on that painful night.

Still it made him wonder. So, he tended to keep an eye on this young mortal. Her eyes, her walk, her very personality were all too similar to his wife - right down to the age Princess Molly had been when they had first met. Yet, this young woman made no hint that they had ever met before that first day. If she were his missing wife, wouldn’t she have found a way to tell him how much she had missed him? No, it couldn’t be his Molly.

In time Neflyte called upon the stars to help him create a crystal to aid him in what he saw as his destiny to find the Silver Crystal, and so to get Beryl’s promise of that sweet reunion with his beloved wife and daughter. But it only seem to react to this Molly he seemed to have attracted to him. Yet, she wasn’t Sailor Moon nor did she seem to have the crystal.

She seemed to have no fear of him, even with all of the times he had used and outright lied to her. She didn’t even seem to mind it all, just as long as he acted as if he cared for her. Soon, however, she was seeping into his dreams at night, and taking up his thoughts and time during the day.

If he didn’t get away from her soon, he would have to believe that she really was his dead wife returned to him as promised by Queen Serenity. Then he’d have to face the man he had become, and tell her all he had done. That was a moment he dreaded, because not even his sensitive, caring, kind, and beautiful wife would forgive him now.

In McKenna Park he intended to break off any and all ties to this reminder of his lost love. The last thing he wanted was for this Molly to meet the same end his beloved wife had - and Neflyte wouldn’t put it past the scum he was now part of. He tried to explain that she was in danger, and that until he found the Silver Crystal she would remain in danger in his company. Then she rushed home, stealing a huge stone from her mother’s jewelry store.

She was sure that it was the Crystal he was looking for, but it wasn’t. Still the Star Crystal was reacting to her. Neflyte wondered if it proved that she was his wife reborn, but then shook the forlorn hope off as a dream he no longer deserved.

He still wanted to know why the Star Crystal was reacting to her - so that he could block it, in case any other might get a hold of it. She was glad to go away with him. Just as his wife had, this Molly had total and utter faith and trust in him.

Then Sailor Moon interrupted them, but Molly didn’t seem to believe it when Moon told her the truth about him. Molly went so far as to verbally defend him from the champion of love and justice - and then asking him if the accusations were true. That was enough. It was time to show this Molly what he now was, and then let her decide about him for herself.

He attacked Sailor Moon, then the Scouts showed up. Mercury’s fog attack confused him, and he barely dodged Mars’s attack. Molly worried for him and had remained, which shocked Neflyte. When Moon attacked with her tiara, Molly leaped between him and its path - Moon almost didn’t get the attack to stop before it would hurt Molly.

She didn’t care if she died as long as he survived! Gods, she couldn’t be his sweet Molly! What had he become? And she still loved him? When the Star Crystal glowed all the brighter, he wondered if it was reacting to this young woman’s love for him.

Yasha attacked then, he lost the star crystal, and Molly picked it up. Why couldn’t she have left it where it laid? So, he attacked the youma to keep it from hurting her. He realized that he should have made things right by taking down Beryl and the Negaforce the moment he got to Earth, not help the Dark Kingdom in their mission. But, he also decided that it was far too late for him to act like the man he had once been.

Yasha branded him a traitor and attacked again, but Moon ended that youma before it could get near to him - or inform Beryl of his actions.

He started to walk away. Inside, he didn’t want to hear her damning him. Molly was still in his dreams, and to have her eyes filled with hate in his memory would make the truth impossible to live with. Then he felt something in his pocket … the crystal Molly was so sure would save him. He wouldn’t have her follow the path he was trapped on, or labeled so. He turned around and left it in her hand.

The Scouts flung hate filled words of why he didn’t remain to see if she was all right. But, it wasn’t any of their business. He brushed off how he’d saved her life, boasted how the Negaverse was going to win, and then made sure they knew about the Silver Crystal. Maybe with them looking for it as well Beryl would lose faster.

The next night he sat on his throne in his private lab thinking about how self-righteous Sailor Moon had been when he and Molly were about to walk off together. This modern copy of Molly seemed to be loved by Sailor Moon, so he could use her to find out the Scout leader’s true identity. That information would win over Beryl easily, which would get the Queen off of his back. And perhaps he could find out why his Star Crystal seemingly reacted to Molly alone without being interrupted.

Neflyte teleported to Molly’s room and watched her sleep for a few moments. He checked the Star Crystal’s reaction once more, and again it was glowing. Could the crystal be hidden within Molly? He used the crystal to peer within her. No, she was just a beautiful sleeping girl that reminded him so much of his lost wife.

‘Stop it, Neflyte. If she really were your Molly then she’d never take you back! So, get over it!’ he growled to himself.

Molly woke and he told her the truth of himself without knowing why. His real name, that she taught him to understand love for the first time in his life, everything he had in his heart for his beloved wife. It was his way of saying goodbye to her, by stop lying to this poor girl that made him feel hope … if only for a moment in his long life.

He may have been half-heartedly talking when he said he wanted to team up with the Scouts, but he meant it about wanting to fight against the Negaverse. He was finally sick of what he’d become. It was finally time to make Beryl pay for all of the lives he had helped her to destroy - including his own.

* * * * * * * *

Molly loved this man from the moment she laid her eyes on him. She simply felt a connection with him that she had never felt before in her life with any of the boys she had “dated”. It was as if he was a part of her that had been missing for so long that she had nearly forgotten about or given up on it.

She knew how bad he was, and that his words had oftentimes been lies, and he had used her for energy - yet still she loved him. It was as if she was his before they ever met. When he seemingly disappeared from her window, she was desperate for help … for someone to talk to about it. Serena was a flake, but a good friend who always listened and fought for those who needed her most. That’s why Molly had called her.

Once Molly got it all off of her chest, she quickly realized that Serena would think she was nuts. As fast as she could, Molly ended the conversation and got off of the phone. Had she done the right thing? It had made her feel better, but what about poor Neflyte? Serena thought that Maxfield was such a bad man … not even human. Oh now that Molly had blabbed the truth to the meatball head, what would Serena think now? What did Molly really think now?

Without question she still loved him. But, he was in danger - Molly knew that things were worse than he had described, but she doubted that he knew that. He vanished and she had no way of knowing where he had gone or if she would ever see him again.

Then a strange echoing and nerve-grating laughter filled her room. “Are you going to make this easy or hard, little girl?”

“Who are you? What do you want?” Molly had never been this frightened in her entire life.

The ugly woman glared hotly at Molly. “Nothing from you. I want your boyfriend’s Star Crystal. And you’re going to help me get it!”

“No!” Molly screamed. “Neflyte, help me please!”

Then the room faded to black.

* * * * * * * *

Neflyte watched as Serena changed into Sailor Moon. Then, feeling that Beryl was suddenly watching him, he attacked. For a few minutes he toyed with the scared little heroine, just until Beryl’s focus went away. He would have only made it look like he gotten rid of Moon if that fool Tuxedo Mask hadn’t stepped in.

Neflyte knew that Molly respected Sailor Moon, despite that time the Scouts were out to destroy him. And he would not hurt his sweet Molly any more. She might not be his dead wife reborn, but she made him take a hard look at himself. He had become a man that even his beloved wife would have despised. Neflyte finally decided that he would destroy Beryl and the Negaverse no matter what it would cost him. Anything to make this Molly safe and happy. He owed the girl that and so much more. But, he would not let her become anything more than his friend. He would honor that vow to his wife. No other woman would stand as his bride or bed partner.

Then it came like a bolt of lightning. }Neflyte, help me please!{

Molly? And she sounded terrified! Sailor Moon could wait for later, right then he had to get back to Molly. Beryl was too interested in Cape Boy to notice where Neflyte was going - thankfully.

* * * * * * * *

On her bed was the note.

- Last Warning! Hand over your crystal if you want to see Molly alive again. -

If he didn’t go, Molly would certainly die at the hands of Zoicite or her youmas. If he did go, there was a chance that he and possibly Molly both would die. Neither possibility was acceptable. Deep inside he cared for this girl that was his beloved made over, and that meant no one was permitted to bring her any kind of harm whatsoever!

In his anger, he set the note on fire and left to search for his Molly - using his star crystal to lead him straight to her … and the fool or fools who had captured her. It only took the crystal a few moments to home in on her.

As when he first created the Star Crystal, he saw an image of her - tied to an overturned table … afraid. The crystal led him a few kilometers away at a shut down jazz club. Whoever held her captive in that abandoned nightclub was about to pay … and dearly.

Before he descended the stairs he could hear the Delta Girls taunting his Molly’s replica. So, Zoicite did have a hand in this! That vindictive woman was going to pay very dearly for terrorizing the twin of his sweet Molly!

Neflyte attacked all three youmas while receiving only a minor cut on his arm. After leaving Zoicite a message with one of the trio, he untied Molly and carried her away. When she thanked him, he honestly told her that he didn’t know why he had saved her and that he’d probably go on lying to her as he had been doing.

Then she said it … those words … the same words he wife once said to him when she discovered that he had lied to her about his past. “… Your heart never deceived me, long as you’re with me …”

It couldn’t be another coincidence. There were too many of them for him to ignore it any longer! This really was his sweet wife Molly! Queen Serenity had made good on her promise that he and Molly would be reunited, and he betrayed that good woman soon after! What a fool he had been! Now he had to face his wife with the truth … somehow.

Molly noticed a slight cut on his arm that he had gotten in the fight. Neflyte brushed it off, knowing full well that the wound would heal on its own in a day or two. But Molly was adamant that they go into the park, insisting on treating his wound, told him her dream of sharing some dessert with him. As if none of the previous night had happened. It almost felt like they were on a date.

He decided why shouldn’t he ‘date’ his beloved wife again? Just until she was of legal age to marry. It would be fun, and he was sure it would make all of Molly’s friends at school envious to see her in his red sports car. Silently he thanked Serenity and asked her forgiveness for his actions. Then he asked Molly, “Why not? Let’s do it,” when she sighed that her secret dream of having a chocolate parfait with him would never come true.

Molly smiled brighter than he could ever remember her doing so in either life. She asked really, but told him that she was only happy about it - not that she didn’t believe him, as he feared.

Oh how nice it was to have her back! They were talking as they had while he was courting Molly before their marriage. When she asked if there were holidays in the Negaverse, Neflyte could help but laugh. Then she joined in, and he felt at peace for the first time since the moment she told them of their lost daughter.

Then the trio attacked!

He barely shoved Molly out of the way before the one called Grape stabbed him with those rancorous vines. Molly had died once because of his stupidity, Neflyte wasn’t going to allow it to happen again! This time she was still as innocent as before, and he … well it was he who truly deserved to die.

Before Grape even announced how the vines would drain his energy, Neflyte could feel it slipping away. He wondered if this was what his Molly had felt when she died.

He tried to get Molly to run away. She didn’t need to be there, and staying would make her a target once he passed on. But she wouldn’t listen! She just had to rescue him. Amazingly, Molly did just that. Even gave him energy along with the Sailor Scouts. Why? Why would she care? Why would any of them care about dirty, old him?

Then he began to see things from Molly’s past in her perspective.

* * * * * * * *

At first her life was very happy. Molly had always been close to her mother, especially with her father always working. It hurt as if he didn’t want her, but the young girl overlooked it as something all daddies did with their daughters.

The only odd thing for her in those first two years was that her father would hold her in ways she didn’t like. Most of the time he’d do it when her mother wasn’t there, and he kept her silent by saying that it was her fault. She hadn’t touched him right, talked right, crawled (then later walked) right, she didn’t dress right, and she didn’t lay still the right way when he’d change her diaper.

Molly remembered how she felt when he told her that it was her fault it happened, every time he’d touch her before he finished diapering her. How her mother would be so ashamed of her if the truth ever came out.

So, feeling dirty because she did that to him, Molly remained silent.

That is until she was three. Father had returned late from a meeting one night drunk. He crept into her room and pulled away her covers. Molly didn’t fully wake up until he was tugging in an effort to remove her pajama bottoms. What had she done wrong this time to make him want her like this?

Thankfully her mother came in before he got within Molly. Jessica had prayed to the Lord and Lady that her vision would not come to pass - but it seemed destined to be.

She took a heavy volume of fairy tales from the bookshelf and knocked Rudolph off of Molly, grabbing the little girl and heading for a closet that had a door lock with the phone. Five minutes later the police arrived, and Rudolph was taken away for attempted child abuse.

As he was dragged away he swore to break Molly one day. Jessica sent an ardent prayer to the Lord and Lady that she was right and her son-in-law would one-day return to end Rudolph’s reign of terror on their family.

After that, life became better for Molly. She and Katie Sandler (the daughter of Jessica’s best friend, Loren) played together often, and quickly grew to become so close that they looked upon one another as sisters. Katie was a year older and took care of Molly like an older sibling would.

Then came Molly’s first day of school. Just after the morning announcements and welcomes, Molly met a sweet blonde headed girl wearing a pair of odangos named Serena. The pair became inseparable, and remained so through everything.

Years passed and then the two friends seemed to be going different ways. Serena made a new group of friends that Molly just didn’t always fit in with.

About the same time, monsters seemed to pick on Molly for her energy. No matter what she did to blend in with the crowd around her, Molly would find herself being used by one creature or another. At one of Katie’s matches, Molly’s life turned upside down. A red sports car pulled up at the tennis courts, and a handsome young man stepped out of it. It was Maxfield Stanton. Molly only knew then that he was the President of Stanton International and had only been in Tokyo a few days - and she was completely hung up on him.

It was as if she had found a missing piece of herself that she didn’t notice was gone until that moment. Both she and her friend Serena said they thought they were in love at the sight of him. Serena fell for guys at the drop of a hat, but Molly wasn’t as easy to win over after what happened with her father. When he jumped over the safety fence in one leap, Molly’s heart raced. Even with his jacket on, she noticed his every movement and grace. It felt so familiar … so safe … as if she had been waiting for him since before she was born.

Then he showed Katie how to strengthen her serve, and then placed an evil spell on her to drain her energy at just the right time. But he left before anyone could say anything to him. Molly knew that something was off with Katie, but decided that maybe she was just jealous that her ‘sister’ got so close to Maxfield.

Molly remembered how deep it hurt that she couldn’t go up to him and at least introduce herself. Then she snickered to herself that she’d never get the nerve to talk to him. Besides what would a man like him want with her, especially after what happened with her father?

Eventually Sailor Moon healed Katie. It was obvious that Maxfield had something to do with Katie’s odd behavior and the monster that came out of her racket. But Molly knew that there was something wrong with that as well - as if he wasn’t always like this. Right then she decided that healing him was her duty, and she was ready to do whatever it took to do it.

A week later she was the ball girl in the big tournament. One of the sponsors introduced Molly to Maxfield. She remembered that every time she would see him that day she couldn’t help but smile and barely hold back her blush. He was so handsome and a gentleman.

“Molly … a beautiful form of Mary if I remember correctly. It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Molly Baker.” He winked as he gently kissed her hand.

It was as if he was only becoming reacquainted with her. The rest of the day, he’d smile and nod … even occasionally wave to her whenever Molly looked his way. They didn’t get to say goodbye, but Molly did find an interesting surprise when she got home that night.

Two-dozen thornless red roses! The card he sent with them read:

Molly,
I am sorry that we could not meet after the tournament today. A shipment had problems at my company and I had to see to it at once.
Perhaps these roses will make up for the loss of words.
Until I am granted time in your presence again.
Maxfield Stanton

Neflyte remembered sending those flowers. He sensed through their link that Molly had looked up their secret message (after learning that flowers had a language of their own from Serena). Red roses for love, missing their thorns to show his early attachment to her.

It was the same gift he gave his wife after their first meeting. Though this time it was an unconscious gesture. Later he cursed himself for the action, because he stubbornly refused to believe that he would regain his wife after all that had come since her death a thousand years before - one thousand years to the day … of all the days to meet this little look-alike!

He longed for this girl to truly be his missing wife, but refused to see that it could be possible - even thought the Sailor Scouts were reborn, and they had died over a year after his Molly.

Still … at least in his mind he could have something of his past, of her - that smile and adoration. Even if it was temporary, and only a way to relieve his loneliness. But she could never be more than that - he had sworn so to his dead wife.

* * * * * * * *

Molly was in heaven with her daydreams of Maxfield. The brave warrior going to war to keep her safe, the husband and father, and the realistic ones - him walking with her, them dancing, sneaking off for a treat, their wedding, and that night. She wondered if all of that would forever only be dreams.

Then she got that love note. Molly hoped with all of her heart that it was from Maxfield, but how to find out? Friday afternoon she had gone to the shopping center to think, and who should be there but the man who had marked his name on her heart at first sight - Maxfield Stanton.

He seemed to be lost in thought. Molly wasn’t sure what to do; she hadn’t seen or spoken to him since she called to thank him for the flowers nearly a week before. Well, since he was who she thought sent the letters, who better to ask about them? "Uh, um, excuse me?"

* * * * * * * *

Neflyte had been lost in his thoughts until he heard that voice timidly speaking to him. Turning around, he saw her. Just when he thought that he’d gotten her out of his mind, she appeared before him. Was this some kind of joke? A way to punish him further by showing him visions of the precious woman he lost so long before?

"Mr. Stanton? I'm Molly. Molly Baker. We met last week at the tennis tournament." Molly shyly introduced herself.

It took all of his will and control to keep the emotions out of his voice and the tears out of his eyes at that moment. If only it were her. "Yeah. You were the ball girl, right?"

Gods, he sounded pathetic! What was wrong with him? She was only a girl who happened to mirror his long dead wife - right down to the name. But the brightness in this Molly’s face told him that she either hadn’t noticed his feeble start to their conversation, or she didn’t care.

"You remembered? Anyway, there's something I wanted to ask you. Um, did you by any chance send a bunch o' letters signed 'Tuxedo Mask'?"

How could she have known that the letters were from him? He had made certain that they couldn’t be traced back to him or his human identity. "Tuxedo . . . Where would you get an idea like that?” Molly suddenly looked crestfallen. It tore at his heart to upset her, seeing as she was as close to seeing his beloved as he would ever be allowed to be. "'Cause we all got these letters signed by him at our school. I just had this feeling it might be you."

He felt strong energies coming from this walking memory, and her words were odd sounding. It was as if his wife were there saying them with this Molly at the same time, superimposed onto one another. Then it hit him. Could Sailor Moon have taken on the appearance and poise of his dead wife? What better punishment? And what better trap?

"Oh, brother. You . . . you must think I'm pretty silly." Molly’s shaken voice broke his thoughts again. The look on her face told him that she wished she hadn’t started talking to him. That idea hurt bad. In a way he was talking to his deceased love, and it was better than nothing.

But the idea that Sailor Moon would be this cruel, or even fate itself for that matter, angered the once proud General. "Not at all. Actually, a mystery meeting sounds rather romantic. I'm glad you asked, and I hope I see you at next week's tournament, Molly. See ya."

Yeah, he’d see her again. And this time Sailor Moon would pay for this disrespect! No one pretended to be his lost wife and got away with it!

"It IS you. I knew it." Molly gasped with joy. Even as he walked away, he could feel her excitement. If it really was Sailor Moon, she obviously thought that she had him right where she wanted him - wait until she saw all that he had planned for her.

* * * * * * * *

That night, Molly walked up to the closed security doors. She was nervous about this, but she wanted to see Maxfield again so badly. She felt alive whenever he was in view, as if nothing could hurt her as long as he was near. But the center seemed empty. What if the letter really wasn’t from him? She’d die from disappointment.

Suddenly the doors opened on their own, and she walked in.

‘Please let this be Maxfield and not some psychopath,’ Molly thought to herself. "Hello! Is anybody in here? It's me, Molly! Anybody here? Oh . . .”

Finally the lights came on. At the top of the escalator was him! Maxfield had sent the letters! But, why to all of the girls in Molly’s school? He slowly descended on the moving stairs. "I'm here."

"Oh . . .” Molly was happier than she ever thought she could be. She was still a little afraid, but not with him there. He was her love; she just knew that. The problem was getting him to believe it to be true love rather than a schoolgirl’s crush.

* * * * * * * *

"You came early." Neflyte tried hard to keep his voice level and gentle, but this angered him. How long was Sailor Moon going to keep up this charade?

"Hope you don't mind. I just couldn't wait to see you again." He heard her soft giggle, and it ached his cold heart. So much like hers; this girl was so much like her.

No, it was a trap and he was about to make it turn against that Sailor Brat! But, he had to make sure that there would be no interferences first. "Is anybody with you?"

Molly gasped and blushed softly. Just as … no he had to stop thinking of her like that! HIS MOLLY WAS DEAD AND GONE, AND THERE WAS NOTHING THAT COULD BRING HER BACK! "No, I came by myself. I don't need anybody with me to say what I have to say."

Good, she was all alone. "Go ahead. I'm curious to hear what you have to tell me."

"Then why don't you come a little closer? It's not like I'm gonna bite you or anything." That phrase! That look in her eyes! No, there is no way this could be his Molly! Moon had just gone too far this time, and he would make her pay dearly for it!

He jumped and landed right in front of her. "Do you think I'm stupid, Sailor girl? I know who you really are!"

* * * * * * * *

Molly was suddenly terrified. This was NOT the caring and generous man she had fallen in love with! What was wrong with him? Someone had done something to him. She wanted to help … but how? Then he started to shout again. "Go on! Admit it!"

"What? I don't know any Sailor Moon." She had heard of the heroine, and had even been saved by her a few times, but Molly certainly was NOT the champion of love and justice!

Maxfield growled, and Molly could see in his eyes that something was terribly wrong. He was not acting like himself, as if there was something else controlling him. "Don't lie to me! I know you're Sailor Moon!"

"I'm not lying!" Molly shuttered, but she wasn’t going to give up on him. He needed her, and she would be there for him. That was how true love worked - sticking it out through the good and bad times.

Neflyte pointed to her head and Molly couldn’t say a word for a moment. She began to feel weak. Was it those monsters that seemed to always attack her that did this to him? If that were so then only Sailor Moon could save him - but where was she at when she was so desperately needed?

"But I feel a strong force coming from you, directed at me!" He sounded confused.

* * * * * * * *

"That's my love." Molly groaned softly as he drained her energy.

Neflyte knew for a fact that for him there was no such thing as love. He had an attraction to this girl who reminded him of his wife, but true love didn’t exist for him because he was too filthy for such - even if she was the true Princess Molly he had married so long before. So, what was this power really? "Powerful stuff, whatever it is."

"I'm gonna keel over . . .” Before she could hit the floor, Neflyte caught Molly in one hand as he continued to drain her with the other. She wasn’t his dead wife and love was rejected him forever - he would prove it right then and there.

After a few moments, he had gathered all of her energy. "Maybe she's not Sailor Moon, but at least I managed to gather all her ‘love’ energy for Queen Beryl."

And then he got into that fight with the real Sailor Moon, her Scout friends, and Tuxedo Mask. He threw the false shell that pretended to be his true love to the Sailor Wimp. But, as he always did, he lost the battle.

Later Neflyte faced Queen Beryl only to be given grace due to the enormous amount of energy he had been able to collect off of that ‘other’ Molly. Zoicite even got tossed down a peg or two for back talking Beryl.

Once home again, Neflyte called upon the stars to wipe Molly’s memories of that night. "Stars know everything. Powers of the Negaverse, help me to erase any memory of my identity from my latest victim. She can't know that Maxfield Stanton is actually a Negaverse warrior."

Funny how she had been able to save him and stand up to him with raw courage seemingly equal to that of his lost wife’s. "I should thank her, I guess. Hm, hm, hm. After all, her silly crush on me saved me from Queen Beryl's wrath!"

Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling of shame. The fear and weakness he had caused the young girl out of his anger. He should have known that Sailor Moon wouldn’t have known of his past, or would have stooped to using such a tactic on him - Zoicite … maybe, but Moon … never. She was too much of a goody two shoes for that.

* * * * * * * *

‘I guess it was a dream, or else I'd remember more of it.’

Molly still remembered the attack, but only believed it was a nightmare. Yet, she still couldn’t shake the feeling that Maxfield was in deep trouble and needed her help.

But, she was an ordinary teenager going to Crossroads Jr. High. Exactly what could she do? And that morning her mother informed her of that awful ball they were invited to.

Molly had been to a few of them before. They were boring and full of adults. She spent most of her time drinking, eating, and helping to hold the walls up as a wallflower.

Serena barely pulled them both to school and into the room before the bell. Molly was so out of it because of her nightmare. Then Melvin had to bring up that stupid ball again!

Serena loved the idea, but Molly knew better. Sure it was nice in the beginning the first time, but after that … well. "I think it'll be a huge bore. My mother's making me go. They invited all the jewelry store owners from all over town. Gee, I sure wish I could get out of it, but my mom's being really rigid." Then Serena had to whine to try getting her hands on Molly’s ticket. If only it would be that easy.

* * * * * * * *

Neflyte remembered being annoyed out of his memories of his wife by a summons from Beryl for all of her warriors to join her in council. He took his slow time getting to the meeting, as he didn’t really care what she wanted. But, Zoicite had to start trouble for him as soon as he arrived.

"I'm amazed you'd show up, Neflyte, after that embarrassing little encounter with the Sailor Scouts."

"Queen Beryl summoned her warriors, so I came." That was the only reason. The less time he was around these creatures the better he liked it. Finally he was growing back into the man his Molly once risked all to marry.

Zoicite was in a taunting mood obviously, though. "Warriors, not losers."

"Buzz off, Zoicite." He didn’t really want to deal with Malachite’s precious bitch dog. Turning to Beryl, he gave the so-called Queen no more respect than he ever had. "You called, Majesty?"

"Yes, Neflyte. There's a Princess Diamond who's traveling the world with something called the Imperial Crystal, a family heirloom. It could be the Imperium Silver Crystal we've been searching for all these years. If we get it back, there'll be no longer a Universe, only the Negaverse!" Beryl ranted.

Zoicite on the other hand didn’t like the thought of Neflyte being given this particular mission. "Send me! Neflyte is a loser!"

Beryl grinned at Neflyte. "If he fails, he's history."

"I'll be back with that crystal, Queen Beryl. You won't be disappointed." Neflyte added on to himself, ‘Not once I use it to end your existence for all those innocent and guilty victims you bloodied my hands with a thousand years ago.’

* * * * * * * *

‘Gods, I have never been so bored! Why momma won’t let me slip out of this early is beyond me.’ Molly thought to herself as she watched the adults dance as she held up the wall behind her. ‘This is such a snoozer.’

She didn't see that another had noticed her in the crowd and was quickly moving towards her. "Eh, hello, Molly. May I have this dance?"

"Oh . . .” She had no idea for a moment who it was talking to her, because of the mask.

"You remember me?" Once he lifted his mask enough to expose his face, Molly instantly relaxed.

"Of course. You're Maxfield Stanton." He smiled at her. She loved his smile. It glowed on her like warm sunshine and a summer breeze. "You do dance, don't you?"

That sent her to reality. She wasn’t good enough to be with him. She’d probably step all over his feet. "Yeah, I do. Not very well."

"You don't really expect me to believe that." There was that smile again. If he only knew the effect he had on her. Before she knew it, they were on the main dance floor. "Someone as lovely and as graceful as you?"

"Oh, you really think that?" Molly easily moved in his strong lead - almost as if they had done this hundreds of times or more. Why was it whenever she was with him she felt as if they were only picking up somewhere they had left off a long time before?

* * * * * * * *

"Yep, I was right. You were just being modest." Neflyte was surprised how natural he felt with this girl in his arms. As if they were dancing at one of the Moon Kingdom balls a thousand years before. No! He refused to think like that! This was NOT Princess Drusilla Molly of Solaris! His Molly was dead and would never return to him because he betrayed Serenity and the Moon Princess, along with the Earth and its Prince.

The room was getting oppressive, and Neflyte couldn’t stop his comparisons of this girl and his lost wife. Finally he politely urged ‘this’ Molly outside for some air on the balcony. "I'm so glad I ran into you, Molly."

He took her small hands into his larger ones, and for one moment wished with all of his heart that she’d say something that only his dead wife would say. It would make his life seem important, as if it had all been to get him to this moment in time. But she merely looked nervous … no, not his beloved Molly … not his only reason to live. Then she looked down at the ground, so much like his beloved had long before.

Enough! He had to prove that he didn’t believe this was his wife reborn. "What's the matter? Do I make you feel uncomfortable? Come on. Look at me. That's better."

"Maxfield . . . oh . . .” she whispered as he pressed her to look into his eyes. Then he called forth the Negaverse to create a shade of himself to possess her. Inside he felt ashamed for doing it, but he made his wife a promise and was going to keep it.

"YES! From now on, you will obey only me, your one and only master: the Negaverse," he gruffly ordered to keep from letting his voice crack. He could feel that Beryl was watching at that moment and he wouldn’t let that witch know how this girl had affected him - or else the ‘Queen’ would use Molly against him.

Molly’s face turned purple, telling him that the dark energy shadow had taken hold of her completely. "Yes."

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" Soon he would force Beryl to bring his true wife back - once he held tight to the power of the Imperium Silver Crystal!

Before long the shadow possessed Princess Diamond’s body, leaving Molly’s body unconscious on the floor.

The possessed Princess heckled at the prone Molly. "Ha, ha, ha! I hope you like the taste of that carpet."

Neflyte swore that he’d check on Molly’s modern twin, once he got the crystal. But the Scouts and Tuxedo Mask defeated him again. It didn’t matter, seeing as it wasn’t anything more than a jewel encrusted statue.

Molly woke on her own and brushed it off as her falling asleep. But that night sat heavily on Neflyte’s little remaining conscience, and would for many weeks yet. He felt bad not knowing what happened to the girl that gave him reason to fight back and change into the solider he had once been.

* * * * * * * *

Molly spent most of her time thinking about Maxfield and how much she loved him. Even when what Serena said at the pool made sense (a miracle for that flake) Molly wouldn’t let him go. She felt an underlying need within him, a need she felt echoed in her heart.

Inside, she knew that he hadn’t always been bad. Molly just knew that there was a good man within that mysterious and piercing gaze, and how she wanted to know that part of him … again.

But Serena kept trying to get Molly to dump Neflyte.

She remembered how Serena came to her house and rambled off so fast that Molly had barely kept up with her. How wiping Maxfield from her memory was for Molly’s very, very own good. That he was a wicked guy and not even human.

Molly would have brushed it off as Serena acting like a ditz, but somehow that last thought rang true. Maxfield wasn’t human now, but Molly just knew that once upon a time he had been. Yes, he might be evil … but with her he was so gentle and caring. She wanted to see him human and happy again, so Serena could see the good Molly felt within his soul. Even if she had to give him up to do it, but only because he wanted her to leave him alone … not because Serena said so.

The thought of leaving him shattered Molly’s soul, but she knew that whatever it took to bring love and happiness back to that sweet man … she would willingly do it.

* * * * * * * *

Neflyte had spent a good part of the week trying to find a way to obtain the Imperium Silver Crystal before Beryl or Zoicite did. He stood in his planning room, turning several plans over in his mind. "I am losing patience with this search for the Silver Moon Crystal."

Then an unmistakable laugh filled the room. It came from Zoicite. "Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha."

"You again. What do you want?" Neflyte growled. She was one that he didn’t want to deal with right then. No matter how many protective spells he placed, that spiteful witch found a way to get in!

"Oh, just to offer you a bit of good advice. Queen Beryl is beginning to get very angry with you, my good friend."

Neflyte growled again. "I have never been your good friend, nor you mine."

Zoicite gave a sarcastic look of concern. "I'm worried about you, Neflyte. You seem to be completely without a plan."

"That's my business! Now leave me alone!"

"Uh oh. Not a very polite reception from an emissary from Queen Beryl. Like I said, the queen has grown quite impatient with you." Zoicite feigned hurt.

"When I find the Silver Crystal, believe me, she'll have nothing to complain about," Neflyte grinned, as he knew that would get at Zoicite.

In a split second she caught onto his scheme. "Uh . . . hey, it's MY job to find the Silver Crystal."

Without even looking at her he spoke. "The power of the crystal is for the one who finds it. We'll see who's going to be the victor and who the vanquished, Zoicite."

"I will ruin you, Neflyte!" She left in an angry flurry of petals.

"Hmm, what a vindictive person that creature Zoicite has become." For a moment he thought about Zoicite, and tried hard to remember what life was like once between the two of them … before he lost Molly. But, most of the past was muddled and foggy at best. Perhaps the two of them had at one time been friends. But now, Neflyte couldn’t see that as a possibility.

He had to shake all of those pain-filled thoughts for a few minutes. Once he had the Silver Crystal, then he’d force Beryl to reunite him with his beloved again. Then who knows if perhaps things would change between the last remaining Generals. Stranger things had happened in the past year.

"Now, I must clear my mind.” Taking a few moments to clear his mind (his heart calling for the wife and daughter he lost so long before), Neflyte called upon the stars. “Everything is ruled by the stars. When the Sun makes a right angle between Neptune and Mars, the stars will then bring me the power of the crystal, which will lead me to the Silver Moon Crystal. I will be . . . its master."

Once the planets aligned, he summoned his dark powers and created a black crystal - his Star Crystal. ‘This will be my guide to the crystal,’ he thought to himself.

But then the Star Crystal glowed blue and showed an image of Molly! Could it be a sign? But, what did it mean?

‘Huh? Can it possibly be that Molly is the key to finding it?’ Neflyte thought to himself. Then again could it mean something else that was more frightening that facing down Beryl right now?

* * * * * * * *

Molly heard her mother yell up from the bottom of the stairs. "Molly. Telephone. It's someone named Maxfield."

‘Oh, I knew we were meant for each other,’ she thought to herself with a smile. It would all work out, she just had to believe in that … no matter what anyone else said. She grabbed the phone and quickly agreed to meet him at McKenna Park. Yelling to her mother that she was going out, Molly ran out the door before her mom could protest about it.

Just as he said, Maxfield was there at the park waiting on her. He apologized for bringing her out so late, but Molly didn’t care. She was happy to be with him again. Just being at his side, seated beside him on that bench, it made her feel safe.

But then her world crashed around her when he told her he was saying goodbye.

At first she understood that he’d gotten sick of her bothering him, after all she was just a kid. But the look in his eyes and his body language told her that she was wrong. More importantly, her heart said the same. Still, her heart dropped and was heavy at the mention of his leaving.

"No, it isn't like that at all, Molly. I just . . . don't wanna see you get hurt," Neflyte sighed.

She spurred him on until he admitted that he had dangerous people after him, and he didn’t want her involved. That he liked her too much.

As he started to go, she got him to tell her what she could do to help. He talked about some Silver Crystal, and it reminded her of a stone her mother had shown her.

Molly stole the stone from her mother’s store and rushed it to Maxfield. He wanted her to go with him to help him some more, and she was more than ready to go. But then they were attacked not only by a youma, but the Scouts as well.

Sailor Moon said that Maxfield was really one of their enemies by the name of Neflyte. Molly defended him, even stood between him and death at Sailor Moon’s tiara. She could see in his eyes that it was the truth, but that he also hated his existence as well. Her heart told her that he needed her to help him change.

During the youma’s attack, he proved that he cared about her when he defended Molly from the youma. Then he returned the crystal to her before leaving her to the Scouts’ care. He had to feel something - even if it was only friends, Molly didn’t want to lose him.

The next night he told her how she changed him, the truth about himself, and had even rescued her from his former allies. They sat and talked as if there was nothing to be afraid of.

Again the youma attacked, but this time he nearly died to protect her.

She was found to be a Scout, and now … in the present … they were in the shower - under what was now cold water that had her lips blue.