On the following day Malachite, Neflite and Molly were at the Tsukinos. Serena’s parents had agreed to leave their belongings in Neflite’s care. For the first few hours of the morning Sammy had argued with Malachite. He was not at all happy about having his belongings in the hands of a total stranger that he only met a few hours ago but he had no choice.

“Is that it?” Neflite asked after sending the last box to his home.

“Yes,” Mrs. Tsukino answered. “But, what if…they…find out?”

“That is covered. Zoisite and Jedite will be over soon. With their help we will solve the problem,” Neflite said. “Where’s Molly?”

“Neflite, it’s close to eleven o’clock,” Serena said sarcastically.

“Damn. I forgot.” Neflite slapped his head. “Morning sickness.”

“So what are we to do now?” Sammy asked rudely.

Neflite ignored the crack. “Live the way you were. I want you to know that you will be ok. I am offering my home to you. Luna, the best place for you to stay…”

“Mina insists on me staying with her,” Luna finished.

“I should also warn you. Don’t ever talk to any one about this. You never know when the Negaverse could be listening. Right now I have a small shield around the house to keep the Negaverse from listening in.”

“If you have a shield up wouldn’t they know something’s up?” Serena asked.

“No. With one shield, it is only strong enough to block out conversations. They wouldn’t even know there was a shield.”

“Molly. How do you feel?” Mrs. Tsukino asked as Molly came down the stairs.

“I’m fine,” she weakly answered. She walked straight over to her love.

“How far along are you?” Mrs. Tsukino asked.

“Umm…five weeks today.”

“Molly!” Neflite gasped. “Why didn’t you tell me you’re five weeks pregnant?”

“I’m sorry. I never had the chance.”

“Are you two planning a wedding yet?” Malachite asked.

“Actually we are,” Neflite answered. “I believe next month.”

“Next month!” Serena squeaked.

“Serena you know perfectly well Neflite has the power to plan a wedding that fast,” Molly giggled.

“Well…I hope you’re happy, Molly,” Mr. Tsukino said.

“I am since Neflite came back.” Molly pressed closer to Neflite.

“As soon as the others get here…” Neflite started when there was a knock at the door. He saw that it was Jedite and Zoisite. “Good. Let’s get the show on the road.”

The four ex-generals explained how they were going to protect them. They were going to use their powers to make the house look not so empty. The only people who would be able to see through the powers would be the Tsukinos and the scouts.

Zoisite had mentioned how the Negaverse works. He also explained how the enemy uses fire. A fire starts and never ends until there’s nothing left. The fire doesn’t spread, only through the area that is being destroyed. If a human is caught by fire, they die.

The ex-generals again had the Tsukinos form a circle with the generals in the four compass directions. They once again chanted in whispered words. A wide beam of light engulfed the circle. When it cleared, Sammy saw furniture, which then disappeared. He asked why he first could see furniture but now he couldn’t. Neflite told him that the furniture that he saw and then disappeared was what other people would see.

* * * * * * * *

Sailor Iron Mouse entered the throne room to give some news to the moody ruler of the Negaverse. When she came closer to the queen, she knew the queen would only want good news to use to her advantage.

“Your Majesty.”

“What is it now?” the queen snapped.

“I have found the information you requested.”

That brought the evil ruler out of her trance. She had sat for hours, cursing at herself for falling for the trap. When Iron Mouse had the queen’s full attention she continued. “The boy was born in the summer from pre-mature birth. I am assuming one of the fights Sailor Venus fought made her go into premature labor.”

“Why is that?”

“Sailor Venus was fifteen when she conceived. It wasn't too long before Malachite’s death. The night before his death, in fact. When the child was born, Kenshin and Mitsue Tushco adopted him. The parents were killed on their way to Florida around the time Sailor Galaxia brought you back.”

“That is why Sailor Venus was so scared. She wasn't scared of Rubeus but of the truth. Though, Rubeus did push her more over the edge. How many people were aboard the plane and what was the name of the plane?”

“There were three hundred people on board the American Airlines flight.”

“Could Mongo be…?” Beryl wondered and then a huge evil grin appeared. I finally have the perfect revenge but I have to wait until he’s ready

“Your majesty,” Mimete said, coming into the room. “I have the perfect plan to get rid of the Princess.”

“Just spit it out!” she said, irritated. She hated hearing those words.

“We will burn down her family’s home. This would happen at night when no one can come to their rescue.”

Beryl thought for a moment. This could work. Prince Diamond wants the Moon brat and he will get her. Her home burns down and everyone will think she died too but she will be here along with the crystal. “You are in charge. Be sure that the Princess lives until she is handed over to Prince Diamond. Don’t disappoint me.”

“I also had her father fired from his job. It will make it easier to capture her. Because even if they do survive they won’t have any money for another home.”

“I like it,” Beryl laughed. “You better be right.” She had a lingering doubt that only half the plan would go through. The generals were sure to interfere somehow.

* * * * * * * *

“Grandpa are you sure you’re all right?” Raye asked.

“Raye, for about the tenth time, I’m fine.”

“Why would Beryl cure you and not turn you into a monster?” Jedite wondered.

The little group was taking walk around the temple grounds. They were having a conversation about when Grandpa was being held captive. Neither Raye nor Jedite could understand why Grandpa wasn’t turned back into a shadow warrior, his original form.

“She wanted to have Raye see me turn into a monster,” Grandpa answered Jedite’s question. “You must be Jedite, who went by Jedd?”

“Yes.” Jedite watched Grandpa give him a good looking over.

“Beryl told me you two…had a relationship on the…Moon. Is it true that you were married at fourteen?”

“Yes. Back then you were a woman when you…you know.” Raye was always uncomfortable when it came to private talk in front of Grandpa.

“I’m proud to know you are a scout and I’d like to help out whenever I can. And you,” Grandpa pointed a finger at Jedite. “You just better…”

“I get the point,” Jedite said.

With the conversation now over, Grandpa walked back to the temple, leaving his granddaughter in the hands of her man. He could now trust Jedite since he helped her. He couldn’t stop them from being together anyway even if he tried. Besides he didn’t really want Chad to be part the family, even though he was fine as a friend.

“I’m glad he’s back,” Raye said.

“So am I,” Jedite whispered. He encircled his arms around her pulling her close and then dipped her, his leg supporting her back, for a kiss.

The movement startled her. After a few minutes he allowed her up. She was speechless and breathless.

“Do you know Grandpa wouldn’t like you doing that?”

“At this point, I don’t really care. I just wanted to kiss you.”

“Do you remember when you first showed up?”

“How could I forget? What is happening with your graduation?”

“My school, Christoff’s Private School for Girls and Cross Roads join together for the graduation festivities. It is always easier that way. Don’t forget there is also a private school for boys with the same name. And since there are two private schools, we are involved with Cross Roads graduation.”

“Well I wouldn’t miss that for the world,” Jedite smiled. “I’m going to lay in the grass. Would you like to join me?”

“Sure,” Raye agreed. With his arm still around her, they walked to a nice grassy spot and laid down. Soon they fell asleep dreaming of how he returned to her…

* * * * * * * *

The Kuglica center was where Christoff’s Private School for Girls and Boys held all of their events. There was a dance going on at the center and this was Raye’s first dance she’d been to without her friends. In fact this was her first dance here. All her other dances she went to at Cross Roads with her friends. This was going to be very boring dance. All the girls had boyfriends there except for her.

During the first slow dance she had no one to dance to that is until a young man walked up to her. He was the height of an average size man with short blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a uniform like the other boys, gray top and red pants. He looked more mature than the other boys.

Raye was wearing her usual school uniform. Her hair was was up in a topsy tail with hair glitter to help bring out her eyes. She noticed that he didn’t have a partner and she found that odd because everyone was introduced. Before she knew it, he was in front of her. She looked up to see him grinning. His grin was very familiar. It reminded her of Jedite, Queen Beryl’s first general. But how could that be, he was dead.

“Miss Raye Hino, may I have this dance?” the young man asked, grasping her hand, pulling her to her feet. Without a word he lead her to the dance floor.

They danced for a while like Cinderella and Prince Charming. Except Prince Charming knew whom he was dancing with. He knew he was familiar to her and he decided to tell her why he was so familiar.

“I’ve noticed you’ve been giving me the weird eye all night,” he said.

“Well…you look like you don’t belong here,” she said. “I mean you look more mature and you remind me of someone.”

He pulled her closer, “Well I should,” he whispered in her ear, “Sailor Mars.”

Raye looked at him in fright, “Jedite!” she gasped.

He felt her try to struggle out but he held on tight. “If I wanted to hurt you, I would have exposed you, not dressed like this and come here.”

“What do you want then?” she demanded. They were still dancing.

“I want you,” he stated firmly.

“What?” she managed. The song ended and before she had a chance to do anything else Jedite escorted her outside.

“How dare you bring me out here,” she snapped when they were alone. She brought her hand up to slap him but he caught her hand.

“I anticipated that you would try to slap me. Let me explain,” he pleaded

“Then out with it!” she demanded again. She wanted to know what he had to say but didn’t want to miss the rest of her boring dance.

“Are you sure you want me to give you the truth quickly? What do you want to do, return to a dance that you find is boring? But if you want the truth, fine.” Jedite grasped Raye’s arms and pulled her close to his chest and kissed her. She tried struggling but it proved to be no use. When he finally released her, she was speechless. “I am in love with you,” he announced.

“You…you…love…me. But how can you be…”

“Alive?” he said to her. “I’m not quite sure. Something brought me back but I should have awoken in the Negaverse. Instead I awoke in Canada from Eternal Sleep. When I awoke I didn’t think about killing you guys, I thought about helping you. Something brought me back for a reason and I think it was to get rid of Sailor Moon. As far as I know, I’m the only one back. I still have my powers. But it’s only minimal. I can still feel nega energy.”

Raye wasn’t sure if she should believe him but she kept saying to herself she should. “I don’t know why but I want to believe you.”

“You’ll know soon.” Jedite’s voice was filled with longing. He pulled her close again and kissed her. This time the kiss was gentler and she didn’t try to resist.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as he deepened the kiss. Raye wasn’t sure how to react to this; this was the first time ever to be kissed so deep. It felt comfortable to be kissed by him.

After the kiss, they were quiet for several minutes staring at each other. Jedite wasn’t sure what Raye was going to do. But when he felt her snuggle closer and lean on his shoulder, he knew.

“I’ve wanted to do this all night,” Jedite said softly curling his fingers through her soft locks.

“How did you know about the dance?” she asked. At that moment she was glad she wasn’t with the other scouts. It would have been hard to explain why she was in Jedite’s arms.

“I’ve been following you since I got back a week ago.”

She pulled away to look him straight in the eye and what she saw surprised her. This man standing before her was not the man who tried to kill her. This man was in some sort of pain and longed to be with a woman, namely Raye.

* * * * * * * *

Chad was taking a walk when he came upon Raye and Jedite sleeping in the grass. He felt a stab of pain, hitting his heart. He had so wished that she would have had strong feelings for him but alas they were only friendship feelings. He knew there was nothing to stop them now, so he kept on walking to the temple. When he reached the porch, Grandpa came out.

“Chad, do you know where Raye is?”

“Asleep in the grass with Jedite.”

“Thanks.” Grandpa turned and headed back into the temple.

“Grandpa?” Chad questioned following the short man.

“She is eighteen and lived another life. Plus she’s Sailor Mars. I have to stop interfering and give her privacy. And so do you. I know Jedite. He’s worked here before.”

“I’ve heard. But he was stealing energy.”

“Yes, but he was good at it. It took the Sailor Scouts a bit to figure out who he was.”

By now Chad and Grandpa were in the kitchen.

“How do you feel about Raye being a scout?” Chad asked.

“Honestly. I don’t really know. All I know is she has a lot of powerful enemies. I’m just glad she knows how to deal with them.”

“In other words, you’re accepting her as a scout but not sure if you are angry with her.”

“Oh, I am angry. I never knew. But I can’t hold it against her. I held a worse secret from her and she forgives me.”

“I rather be happy not angry. When I found out who they were, I was surprised. Since then I’ve been involved. You could almost say I’m a scout too,” Chad said.

“I now understand why she never wanted me around when her friends were here. She was protecting me.”

“You were protecting her as well.”

“Yeah, you're right.”

* * * * * * * *

Lita, Trista, and Hotaru were visiting the Starlights in their penthouse suite at the Shamara Palace. The hotel was a very stylish hotel for famous stars and guests. Every night there was a formal party. Most of the time the Starlights weren’t there for the parties.

The three girls were stuck for a date to the prom. They had come up with the idea to ask the Starlights out. One thing they weren’t sure on was who was going to go with whom?

“I was wondering,” Trista said, “if you guys wanted to go to the prom. I was invited but I want a date.” Lita wanted to take her best friend to the prom but he was away on business. So she had no date. Hotaru didn’t know many guys close to her age.

“Sure, we'd love to. But who will go with whom?” Seiya asked.

“I have the perfect way to solve the problem,” Taiki said. “This may be childish, but how about three people are blind folded and whoever they touch first is their date. Think of it as a blind date.”

“And since you girls are looking for dates you will be blind folded,” Yaten suggested. “And yeah it does sound childish but it would work.”

“Damn,” Hotaru snapped her fingers. “I knew you were going to say that.”

Yaten turned and went off towards the bedrooms

“Hey bro. Where are you going?” Taiki asked.

“To get blindfolds,” Yaten said and left.

“Ok. While he’s gone let's move some of this furniture,” Seiya suggested.

When the furniture was out of the way, Yaten came back with three blindfolds. Seiya placed the blindfolds on the girls. Yaten turned on some music from the huge entertainment center so the girls couldn’t hear the footsteps.

“Are you ladies ready? We will turn you three times and then move out of the way. When you find your date wait until all three of you find your dates to remove your blindfolds,” Seiya said.

For ten minutes the girls were having trouble finding the guys. Lita was the first to find her date.

“Gotcha!” Lita yelled when she grabbed an arm. Not long after Lita found hers, the other two girls found theirs. They removed their blinds to see who their dates were.

Lita found her arm wrapped around Seiya’s. Hotaru was holding on to Yaten and Trista had Taiki.

“Well like I said,” Yaten grinned. “It works and there’s no arguing on who is taking who.”

* * * * * * * *

Greg and Amy were helping Zoisite look for an apartment. Zoisite had been staying at Neflite’s but he now wanted to give Neflite privacy to his soon to be wife. He had asked Greg and Amy to help. Greg picked Amy and Zoisite up at the mansion. They were driving in Greg’s new sports car down towards McKenna Park.

“I’d like to thank you for helping me,” Zoisite said.

“No problem,” Greg said.

“What kind of place are you looking for?” Amy asked.

“Big enough for me to live in.”

“You mean like a bachelor apartment,” Amy said.

“Yeah, like that.”

“On this street there are a lot of apartments,” Greg said. “Zoisite, could I ask you a question?”

“Sure, shoot away.”

“I have a little problem. See, I’m not going to be able to take Amy to the prom. I can’t get the time off to take her. Can you take her?”

“Sure, if she doesn’t mind.”

“No, I don’t mind,” she said.

“Better check out these apartments,” Zoisite said, changing the subject. He was going to be able to go out with Amy and he didn’t want to sound too excited.

“Well, if all else fails, I’m sure Mina would be able to help you. She lives in a bachelor apartment. But two apartments put into one,” Amy said.

It took them an hour to look at all the apartments by McKenna Park. But Zoisite didn't like any of them. The views were not good; some were too small while others had bad plumbing and some should be condemned. He was seriously considering getting an apartment at the apartment building Mina lived in. Mina’s father owned the building and he had turned some of the apartments into big ones. And it would probably be a good idea to live near one of the scouts in case of danger. And he knew more danger was coming.

* * * * * * * *