The first thing Nephrite was aware of was the agonized cry that echoed around him. When his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he saw Naru on the bed in the center of the cavern, writhing in pain. She lay on her back, her belly a noticeable mound beneath the covers. Her cry died away, she tried to gasp for breath but then another pain took over. Moaning, she tried to roll onto her side and curl up, but she was too tense with pain.

Nephrite reached the bed in a few long strides and knelt beside Naru, taking her hand into his. "I'm here, Naru-chan," he whispered, kissing her hand.

The pain ended, and Naru relaxed a bit. She looked at him with tear-filled eyes. "Why does it hurt so much?" she whispered hoarsely.

He didn't know. He had seen many things in his long life of good and evil, but he had never before witnessed a childbirth. He had no idea what went on. Trying not to let on how helpless he felt, he said, "I'm here, love. You aren't alone."

She was caught up by another pain, that ripped a long, groaning cry from her body. She squeezed Nephrite's hand until he thought she would break his fingers. He didn't care if she broke his fingers, if it helped her endure the pain a little better.

It went on and on, Nephrite helpless to do anything but hold Naru's hand and smooth away her sweat-drenched hair and murmur to her as her body struggled to deliver his child. Never again, he vowed, there would be no more children, never again would she suffer this kind of agony.

Suddenly Naru stilled, and seemed to fall asleep. Nephrite caught his breath and held it until he felt a faint pulse in her neck. He buried his face against her shoulder, wondering how much more either of them could endure.

"Nephrite." Her voice was ragged and low in his ear. He turned his face to look at her. Her eyes were open, filled with weariness and pain and sorrow. "Nephrite, promise we won't leave him here forever. Promise we'll find a way to get him back."

"I promise, my love."

Naru closed her eyes again and nodded, satisfied. She seemed to fall asleep again for a moment. All at once, she gasped and gritted her teeth as a new pain set upon her. Raising herself onto her elbows, she groaned as though making some tremendous effort, then fell back, trying to catch her breath. Another pain, and her face turned red with effort as she pushed. Again she collapsed as the pain passed. "I think the baby's coming," she said, the last word getting lost as the next pain caught her up. Over and over Naru pushed and groaned and strained, while Nephrite supported her head and shoulders when she raised them up from the bed. He wondered how she could possibly have the strength to make the tremendous effort she was making now.

Yet another pain took over. She pulled her knees up and to the side and groaned loudly as she tried to push the baby out. The groan turned into a scream, then she suddenly fell back into Nephrite's arms, crying and trying to catch her breath. The mound of her belly was flat. Nephrite pulled the covers away and saw the small, wrinkled, blood-smeared form of his son lying on the stained silk sheets between Naru's legs. "Don't let her take him," Naru gasped.

Topaz appeared, hovering at the foot of the bed. Nephrite quickly reached for the baby, but Topaz held up her hand with the roughly spherical crystal that contained Naru's life. She tossed it a little up and down in her hand. "Now, now, my Lord, we wouldn't want to do anything stupid, would we?" She looked down at the baby. "Such a big baby for such a small girl to drop. And I see it's a boy. Good job, Naru."

"What if it had been a girl?" Nephrite asked.

"Daughters are useless," Topaz said. "I'd have had to destroy it and make you start all over. I doubt our Naru would have survived another attempt. Now, all I need is the afterbirth, and she can have her life back." She waved a hand over Naru, who gasped and moaned again, softly. A flat, purplish, bloody mass emerged from her body, attached to the baby by the cord.

With more gestures, Topaz made one of the covers wrap itself around the baby and the placenta. She floated up a bit, then grinned. "Catch," she said, and tossed the crystal with Naru's life in it towards Nephrite.

In one swift motion he stepped back, reached up, caught the crystal with just the tips of his fingers. Immediately he brought it down and cradled it against his heart. When he looked up again, Topaz was gone, as was the baby, and Naru was crying weakly.

"Naru." He knelt beside her again. She wept, rubbing the scar beneath her heart. "It hurts," she whimpered, her voice barely audible. "She took my baby. I want my baby."

There was nothing he could say. There was no way he could have stopped Topaz from taking the child, not without risking Naru's life. As he had seen Topaz do before, Nephrite held the crystal above Naru's heart. Shimmering rainbow-colored light spread out from it across Naru's body, then was absorbed. She tensed slightly, then relaxed. Color spread through her cheeks, and only now did Nephrite realize how dreadfully pale she had been before. He felt the pulse in her neck; it was far stronger than it had been before. The crystal was now just a dull lump of translucent white rock.

Carefully, he wrapped her in the quilted silk comforter from the bed, and lifted her in his arms. Her hair had grown so long, he realized; it was more than half a foot longer than it had been when he left her here three weeks ago. Her jaunty blue bow was long gone. Nephrite adjusted his hold on Naru, to make her as comfortable as possible, then looked around, wondering how to get out.

The black oval opened. Nephrite stepped through, carrying Naru, and found himself on the snowy hillside. Jadeite, Zoisite, and Kunzite were there, waiting for them.

* * * * * * * *

The three men looked at their friend, his face filled with weariness, despair, and anger. They looked at the white-wrapped bundle in his arms, the red-haired head at one end pressed against Nephrite's shoulder, small, pale feet dangling limply from the other end. They looked at what Topaz had done to the couple who, less than three weeks ago, were playing happily in the snow, and felt very afraid.

* * * * * * * *

"Is she alive?" Zoisite asked.

Nephrite nodded, and tried to pull Naru a little closer to him without jarring her aching, battered body. "She needs her mother," he said, and teleported away in a swirl of white and crimson.

* * * * * * * *

Mrs. Osaka gasped when she opened the door and saw Naru's fiancé, Sanjouin Masato, standing there, holding her missing daughter in his arms. Naru was wrapped in a white silk comforter, and appeared to be naked beneath the quilt. Something was terribly wrong with her. "What have you done to her?" Mrs. Osaka demanded. "Where has she been all this time?"

Mr. Sanjouin pushed past her into the apartment. "She needs a doctor, Mrs. Osaka." He started walking down the hall looking through doorways until he found Naru's room.

Mrs. Osaka hurried after him. "What have you done to her?" she asked again.

Mr. Sanjouin finished settling Naru on the bed, then turned to face Mrs. Osaka. She was astounded to see tears on the handsome man's face. "I'm sorry -- I didn't want to hurt her any more. Please, call a doctor for her."

Mrs. Osaka went to Naru's pink telephone and dialed the emergency number, requesting an ambulance. When she looked at Sanjouin and her daughter again, he was kneeling next to her daughter, one hand entwined with Naru's, his face buried against her hair. How had Naru's hair gotten so long in only three weeks? Mrs. Osaka wondered. Naru, whom she had thought at first to be asleep, was crying quietly, but she made no effort to pull away from the man beside her. Whatever he had done to her, it wasn't enough to frighten her away.

"Naru." Mrs. Osaka sat down on the other side of the bed from where Sanjouin knelt. Naru turned her eyes to her, and Mrs. Osaka gasped at what she saw there. Naru's eyes might have belonged to someone who had lived a hundred years of pain and sorrow. "Baby, what happened? What's going on?"

Naru shook her head a little. "I can't explain, Mama. You wouldn't be able to understand."

"Should I call one of your friends? Usagi, maybe?"

"No. Please don't. Don't tell Usagi about this...." Her voice was very weak.

Before Mrs. Osaka could say anything more, the ambulance arrived. A moment later the paramedics were knocking at the door, and she went to let them in. The two men in blue uniforms followed her into Naru's bedroom, then stood at the bedside. One of them eased the comforter aside, then asked, "Where's the baby?"

"What?" Mrs. Osaka yelled, as Naru started crying. "What baby?"

"She's just given birth, ma'am," the other paramedic said. "Within the past hour, I'd say."

"But -- but that's impossible! She only disappeared three weeks ago! I would have noticed!"

"Some girls manage to conceal it very well. Baggy clothes, especially if they're already a little overweight --"

"But she's never been overweight, and I'll show you what she was wearing three weeks ago." She went to Naru's dresser and wardrobe, pulled out form-fitting long-sleeved leotards, mini-skirts, snug jeans. "I don't think she could have hidden anything with these clothes!"

"Mama," came Naru's small voice from the bed. She was still crying. "It did happen. I'm sorry. I had a baby. He's -- he's --"

Mr. Sanjouin turned his tear-stained face towards Mrs. Osaka and the medics. "The baby's gone."

"Gone? What do you mean? Naru, what's going on here? Who --"

"I'm the father, Mrs. Osaka," Sanjouin said quietly.

"You? But you only returned to Tokyo a few months ago!"

One of the medics looked up from examining Naru. "I suppose it's possible that it was a premature delivery -- or, rather, a late miscarriage -- but from the looks of things I'm positive it was a full-term pregnancy. Ready to go to the hospital, sweetheart?" he asked Naru.

"No. I'm not going."

"Naru, you need to let them take care of you," Mrs. Osaka said.

"No, Mama. I need to be with people who understand what happened to me." She looked at Sanjouin. "Please take me home, Nephrite."

Mr. Sanjouin looked at Naru for a long moment, and something unspoken seemed to pass between them. Then he wrapped her in the white silk quilt again and lifted her into his arms. Suddenly Mrs. Osaka's eyes were dazzled by a swirl of crimson and white light. When it cleared, Sanjouin Masato and Naru were gone.

The medics stared at where the couple had been, then turned their attention to the girl's mother as she collapsed to the floor.

* * * * * * * *

During the next day or so, Naru was unaware of time passing. She slept and cried, and when she was tired of crying she would let the enormous empty feeling inside her expand to fill her world. Nephrite was with her, but though she craved his voice, his touch, he did not speak to her or touch her. He only lay next to her and watched her with sad, haunted eyes.

Once, he tried to get her to take a little juice or tea or soup. She refused, preferring to sink back into the sea of sorrow and emptiness that was her whole world.

The next time she woke up, they were all there. Nephrite knelt beside her, looking worried. "Naru, would you let your mother help you?"

She shook her head.

"How about Usagi? Can I call Usagi to come over? Maybe she could help."

Naru shook her head harder. "Please don't."

"Why not?"

"I don't want her to know what happened. That I had a baby without being married." Feeling shamed, she turned her face away from Nephrite. She didn't see him bury his own face in his hands.

* * * * * * * *

Later, Zoisite came in alone, bearing a few boxes and bags from one of Tokyo's finest department stores. Naru stared at him. "What's all that?"

"I've been designated the emergency substitute girlfriend. I'll get you fixed up, and you'll be feeling better in no time. First," he pulled a huge crystal jar of bath salts out of one of the bags, "a nice hot bath. Come on." When Naru shrank back under the covers, he added, "Don't worry. Just think of me as your big sister. Why do you think the others chose me for this job?" He winked.

"All right," Naru said doubtfully. She stood on weak, wobbly legs, clutching the blanket from the bed around her, and tried to walk towards the bathroom. This was the first time she had stood up since having the baby, she realized; she hadn't even been to the bathroom. How long had it been? She looked back at the bed; the sheets were stained with blood.

"Don't worry about it," Zoisite said, taking her arm to help her walk. "I'll get everything fixed up. At the store, I talked to the nice saleslady about what a girl needs after she's had a baby, and she told me everything I need to know."

In the bathroom, he started running steaming water into the huge bathtub, and emptied about half the jar of bath salts into it. He helped her into the tub, then said, "I'll be back in to help you wash your hair after I get the sheets changed."

The warm water, softened by the bath salts, felt heavenly. "Why are you doing this?" Naru asked.

Zoisite paused on his way out the door, then looked at her. "Well, Nephrite asked me to. And it's nice to feel useful for once. Also..." His eyes slid away from her, then looked down at the floor as he twisted one of the curls in front of his ears around his finger. "I've got a lot to make up to you for. And I once had a little sister. A very long time ago. She was killed when we -- Beryl's forces -- never mind. I've got a lot to make up for. And I'm doing what I would have wanted someone to do for her."

"Thank you." But he had already gone into the other room.

After a short while, he came back in and helped Naru wash her hair, then helped her out of the tub and steadied her while she dried herself off. From one of the boxes he took a lovely white nightgown, the fabric satin on the outside and soft and fuzzy inside, trimmed with pink and white ribbons, lace, and embroidery. A bag from a drugstore contained things that the salesclerk had told Zoisite that Naru would need during the recovery from childbirth.

When Naru was ready, Zoisite helped her back out to the bed and sat her on it. He sat next to her, and started combing out her hair.

"Why did Nephrite ask you to do this? Why wouldn't he do it himself?"

"I think it would be obvious why he would prefer to not bathe you himself."

"I don't understand."

Zoisite sighed, working the comb through a tangle of Naru's long, wavy hair. "When it's all said and done, you're still just a naive little schoolgirl, aren't you? Well, what the two of you had to do, to pay Topaz's price, let's just say it wasn't exactly torture for Nephrite. He's afraid he might not be able to stop himself from doing it again, no matter how... inappropriate it would be."

"Oh."

Zoisite continued combing out the tangles. "He blames himself, you know. For everything that happened."

"But it wasn't his fault! It was Kenichi, and that horrible woman, and --"

"I know, I know. But, one thing you have to understand about him, he's very big on personal responsibility. Which is a good thing. It was after he made me face my responsibility for what I did to you two, instead of just letting me blame it on this other Zoisite who wasn't really me, that I started to be able to start trying to make up for it, which is how I'm able to live with myself now. But he's taken it too far, taking all the blame for something that he really isn't responsible for.

"You see, he had all these ideas about how he was going to do everything honorably and properly for you, and he was never going to do anything that might hurt you ever again. That was his dream of how things would be for the two of you. And now he thinks it's all ruined because he couldn't stand up to Topaz and protect you."

"I should have just said I wouldn't do what she wanted, I'd rather die." Naru started to cry. "But I didn't want to die. I'm only seventeen. I want to live and marry Nephrite and be happy. But it's all ruined."

Zoisite sighed, fingering the lengths of Naru's hair. "This won't do. I'll be right back."

He went downstairs. Naru, through her quiet crying, heard him say, "Where are the scissors?"

"I don't know." Kunzite, Jadeite, Nephrite spoke in turn. Naru started crying harder at the sound of Nephrite's voice. She just wanted him, she didn't care how wrong it was.

After some banging around, Zoisite came back upstairs with the scissors. He sat beside Naru and started trimming her hair back to its original length. "What you have to do to find something in this house. Well, four guys living together, what do you expect? You should stay here, Naru. We need a feminine touch around here."

"Someone to pick up after you guys, you mean." Despite herself, she laughed a little.

"Touché, dear." He moved to her other side and trimmed her bangs. "Now, that's better, but still..." A gesture of his fingers made a length of white silk ribbon appear. He made Naru turn her head, then caught up the hair from the sides of her face and tied it at the back of her head with the ribbon.

"How come you could make a ribbon appear by magic, but not the scissors?" Naru asked.

"A ribbon is simple. Scissors are more complicated. Besides," Zoisite grinned, "Nephrite made me make certain promises regarding the use of magic and sharp objects before he would let me stay here." He tilted his head slightly, studying his handiwork. "Kind of lopsided, but it'll do. Now, I'll send him up here to see how pretty you look."

"No..." Naru looked down at her hands in her lap. She still felt so ashamed, it would be better if they stayed apart.

Zoisite took her hands in his. "You guys can't let her win. You can't let her destroy what the two of you have together. Because if she can do that, then what hope is there for the rest of us?"

After a moment Naru nodded.

* * * * * * * *

Nephrite stood at the entrance to his bedroom, looking at Naru. She sat in the middle of his bed, looking so small and fragile, wearing a white nightgown trimmed with lace and ribbons. There was a white satin bow in her hair. "Hey," he said softly.

"Hi," she answered.

After a moment, he said, "You look pretty."

She looked down and away from him. "Thanks."

He wanted to ask if there was anything he could do for her, but what could he do? He couldn't undo what Kenichi had done, what he had done. He couldn't keep Topaz from taking their son. He couldn't take away her pain.

He turned away from her and went back downstairs.