Metallia's strength was broken; her servant Beryl was destroyed. The souls they had enslaved were freed from bondage and judged. After some time, it was decided that those who had been seduced and deceived by the demon would be given a second chance. The spirits were restored to bodies released from magical stasis.

* * * * * * * *

Two lovers awoke in each other's arms on a funeral bier. They and the stone were sprinkled with a drift of pale pink blossoms. Silver-blue eyes met eyes of emerald green.

"Zoisite... "

"Kunzite... "

They lost themselves in a kiss.

* * * * * * * *

The nightmare of paralysis was over. He could breathe and move again. Unfortunately, even the slightest movement pressed portions of his body against the needle-sharp shards of the shattered crystal. Cursing Beryl and wincing, Jadeite got to his feet. Everything was quiet. Piles of rubble littered the room he had been housed in since his imprisonment. Though the orange-toned light still shone through cracks in the walls, the cavern seemed... dead. No longer possessed by the malevolence which had filled this place before. A grin slowly spread over Jadeite's face as he realized what had happened. "Yes!" he yelled, raising his fists over his head in triumph. Those silly little girls had done it. Beryl was gone and he was free. He had his life back. He set off through the ruins of the Dark Kingdom to look for the others.

It didn't take long to find Zoisite and Kunzite. When he saw them, Jadeite clapped a hand over his eyes and turned away quickly. "Sorry... "

"Jadeite!" Kunzite and Zoisite disentangled themselves and hurried over to their fellow Lord. "You're free!" Kunzite said. "And Zoisite and I are alive. Beryl must have..."

"Beryl lost," Jadeite said. "She must have."

"I can't believe those stupid Senshi girls actually won," Kunzite said.

"But I'm so glad they did," Zoisite added, clinging to Kunzite's arm.

"Have you found Nephrite yet?" Jadeite asked.

The conversation suddenly died. Zoisite bit his lip and looked down. Kunzite put a protective arm around the younger man's shoulders. "We haven't looked yet." He spoke to his lover. "Better that we face this sooner rather than later, Zoisite."

After a moment, Zoisite nodded. "Come," Kunzite, always the leader, said to the other two. They followed him into the maze of tunnels that connected the caverns of the Dark Kingdom. Jadeite was puzzled, but, after seeing the look on Zoisite's face, wasn't sure he wanted to ask what was going on.

A faint, sporadic moaning echoed through the passageways. It grew louder as the group approached the throne room. Upon entering the vast chamber, they saw a figure sitting hunched over on the bottom step of Beryl's dais. It was Nephrite. The tall, strongly-built man was dwarfed by the dais. His long auburn hair shrouded him as he sat and rocked slightly back and forth, moaning in pain. As the other three drew closer, they could see that he had his left hand pressed tightly against his upper right chest. Crimson blood leaked out from beneath his hand and through his fingers at an alarming rate.

"Nephrite," Kunzite said.

The wounded man looked up. His handsome, tear-streaked face was drawn and tense with pain. His cerulean eyes looked at each of the other three Lords in turn, then settled on Zoisite. Slowly, stiffly, not taking his eyes from Zoisite, Nephrite got to his feet.

Zoisite stepped towards. "Nephrite, I'm --"

Nephrite's bloody left fist connected with Zoisite's jaw with enough power to send the smaller man flying backward several feet. "That was for Naru," Nephrite said, his voice dark with anger, then he disappeared into the blackness behind the dais.

The others stared after him, until Kunzite said, "He'll bleed to death if we don't help him soon." He carefully helped Zoisite to his feet, feeling at his lover's swelling jaw, then the three went after Nephrite.

"What was that all about?" Jadeite asked.

Kunzite quickly explained. "Naru is a human girl that Nephrite fell in love with --"

"The little redhead? Sailor Moon's friend?" Jadeite asked.

"Yes. To make a long story short, Zoisite killed Nephrite for trying to beat him to the Silver Crystal. Nephrite died in Naru's arms."

Jadeite shook his head. "What did Beryl do to us? I remember a time when we would have celebrated if Nephrite had fallen in love." He thought of his scholarly, solitary, dour-tempered friend, thought of him falling in love with a pretty red-haired girl and dying in her arms. Unaccustomed tears, something he hadn't felt in a millennium, stung the blond Lord's eyes.

Nephrite was too weak to go very far very fast. They found him collapsed against a tunnel wall, trying in vain to keep the blood from flowing from the holes in the front of his shoulder. There was nothing he could do about the exit wounds on his back, near his right shoulderblade; these were bleeding freely. Jadeite swore at the sight, then knelt beside his old friend. His powers, like those of the others, had predated Beryl and the Dark Kingdom, but had they survived his release from Beryl? He'd soon find out.

He pressed his hands against the holes in Nephrite's shoulder and back, and was relieved to feel the warmth of healing power flow into the wounds. Though his manner was admittedly rather too brusque, he had been one of the most technically skilled Healers in the Earth Realm. The old knowledge and skills came back to him easily. He knitted together torn muscle and blood vessels, then pulled the edges of the skin together. The wounds were ragged -- he wondered what had caused them -- and there was little he could do to minimize the scarring. But at least Nephrite would not die again so soon after being revived. The injuries healed, Jadeite numbed the area against the pain.

Nephrite sat up a little straighter, and seemed to relax. "Thanks, Jadeite. Damn, that hurt." After another moment he stood up again.

Zoisite made another attempt to talk to him. "Nephrite, I'm so sorry. It was because of Beryl, what she turned us into --"

"Listen to me," Nephrite interrupted angrily. "None of us are going to get anywhere until we all admit our responsibility for what happened. All right, so Beryl didn't play fair with us. She lied to us and deceived us and seduced us. But I don't recall anyone holding a knife to my throat when I made my oaths to her, do you? And even if there were, since when did we, the Royal Guardians of the Realm of Earth, fear death more than dishonor?"

"Nephrite," Kunzite said quietly. "We've been given another chance. Don't you think that means we've been forgiven?"

Nephrite turned his back on the others. "I don't care about being forgiven." His deep voice sounded choked. "All I care is -- the pain we caused -- I caused --" He started walking away, into the dark maze of tunnels. "Leave me alone."

They could only watch him go.

* * * * * * * *

Amber-colored eyes watched from the shadows. How she hated them, all of them. They had shut her out of her rightful place, taken the honor that should have been hers. Thanks to their bungling and, in one case, treason, her birthright was lost to her. How dare they get a second chance to live, when she had lost everything? But she wouldn't let them go on being the winners. She would find a way to restore what should have been hers, and avenge her losses, all while causing them as much pain as possible. Especially the traitor.

* * * * * * * *

Eventually, it was Zoisite who found Nephrite. Nephrite was sitting in a small niche off of a tunnel, his head buried on his knees. Zoisite knelt beside him. "You're right, Nephrite. What we did was not entirely against our free will. We all had the option of not pledging ourselves to her, though it would have meant death. The decisions we made in her service, we made ourselves."

Nephrite remained silent.

"I know what I did, and I remember the reasons for it," Zoisite continued. "It was terribly wrong, and I'm sorry. For you and for the girl. I hope that some day you'll be able to forgive me."

Still no response.

"In the meantime, we're all cold and hungry and tired and we just want to get out of here. You're the only one who has a place we can go to that's reasonably civilized. Come on?"

Finally Nephrite raised his head. Through the curtain of hair, Zoisite saw him furtively wipe his eyes. "All right," the auburn-haired Guardian said gruffly. "You can all come with me." He stood slowly, rubbing at his newly-healed shoulder. Zoisite led him to where the others were waiting.

* * * * * * * *

Topaz followed them, keeping to the shadows. She would have to follow in their wake as they teleported, so she could find out where they were going. Then she would be able to construct a gate, to allow her to travel easily from her home to wherever they were. She knew how. She had watched the others do it, though they had never known she was watching. She knew a lot of things no one else knew. She would use her knowledge to make the Lords' lives miserable. She would laugh at them as they cursed her with their dying breath. And then she would rule the Dark Kingdom, as she was meant to.

* * * * * * * *

Naru stood in her underclothes in front of her mirror, looking at the latest set of bruises, where Kenichi had punched her upper arm and shoulder the day before. She didn't understand how he could be so sweet and romantic sometimes, and then turn around and hit her the way he did. Or make her do things she really didn't want to do, like drink something that he put pills in and sleep with him. If she really loved him, he said, she would do those things. If she didn't love him, well, life just wasn't worth living.

She did love him, she really did. After Umino broke up with her for his science-lab partner, leaving her so horribly lonely again, Kenichi had been there to sweep her off her feet. He was dark and handsome, he gave her roses and a necklace with a diamond heart and took her to dinner at beautiful, elegant restaurants. He would look into her eyes, listening carefully as she talked.

And he would hit her, and make her do things that made her feel sick to her stomach.

A few months ago, she had tried to tell Usagi what was happening. Usagi had had yet another spat with Mamoru and had come crying to Naru. "You're so lucky," she had sobbed to Naru, "You have such a dreamy boyfriend, Kenichi's so sweet."

"Sometimes he isn't very nice," Naru began, hardly believing that she had the courage to tell anyone her secret.

"He's the moody, mysterious type. At least he appreciates you. But Mamoru... " Usagi trailed off into sobs again, and Naru decided she didn't have the courage to tell her, after all.

Kenichi would be arriving soon to pick her up. They were going to another party - they always went to parties, Kenichi was invited to tons of parties. Usagi and her friends were wildly jealous of Naru for getting to go to so many college parties, but Naru knew it was because Kenichi was supplying most of the chemical enhancements. When she had found out about this she hadn't wanted to believe it, but by then she was too ensnared by him to make a break. He couldn't live without her, he said. If he couldn't have her, he didn't want to see her with anyone else.

Naru pulled on a sweater, plaid miniskirt, and tights. What she really wanted to do was just walk along the harbor, or go to the science museum, or to a movie or window-shopping at the mall and get a chocolate shake. Sometimes, if she went along with what Kenichi wanted, he would do what she wanted on their next date.

She shouldn't blame him, she told herself. Usagi was right; he was moody and mysterious. She shouldn't expect him to act like other guys.

The doorbell rang, and Naru's mother called to her, "Naru! Kenichi's here!" Naru's mother approved of Kenichi. He was a college student, from a good family. He was much more suitable than Umino the nerdmeister, or that charming, mysterious, dangerous Sanjouin Masato. Naru's insides clenched up in the same tight, painful cramp she had whenever she thought of Nephrite. She bit back a cry, and leaned forward onto the dresser, supporting her body on her elbows until the pain passed. She tried not to think of him too often, after two years it still hurt too much, but it was so hard not to... Nephrite had lied to her, deceived her, used her, and led her on, but he never would have hit her... would he? Somehow she doubted he ever would have insulted her, or hit her, or made her do things she didn't want to do. But he was dead, he was gone forever. She was lucky to have found someone else.

"Naru? Hurry up, dear! Kenichi's waiting!"

Naru forced her emotions back under the surface, wiped away a few stray tears, pasted a smile on her face, and went out to meet her boyfriend.

* * * * * * * *

The Lords rematerialized in the main room of Nephrite's secluded mansion. The house had been built by a wealthy, eccentric European who had fancied having the main part of his house styled after a Gothic church. The ceiling was high and arched, pillars lined the walls, and magnificent stained-glass windows were set high into the walls. The two features that detracted from the church-like setting were the enormous fireplace at one end of the huge room, and a set of stairs and French doors leading out to a balcony overlooking the woods. The house was immaculate; the Guards he had set on it had kept it in the same condition it was in the night he left it for the last time.

"Nice place," Kunzite said, looking around. Zoisite leaned against him, snuggled under his arm, looking tired. "No place to sit, though," Zoisite complained.

"The living areas are upstairs," Nephrite said.

"Kitchen?" Jadeite asked. "I'm starving." Zoisite and Kunzite nodded agreement.

Nephrite pointed to a room that opened off the main room. Jadeite headed in that direction and the other three followed him.

Jadeite opened the refrigerator and investigated the cupboards, then turned to Nephrite. "Frozen organic pizza, Evian water, and scotch? That's it?"

Nephrite shrugged. He was too tired to really care. "Keeps... kept me alive. You guys go ahead and help yourselves. I just want to sleep." He left Jadeite taking a boxed frozen pizza out of the freezer and explaining the mysteries of microwave ovens to Kunzite and Zoisite.

Upstairs was the den, furnished with an overstuffed leather sofa and chairs, stereo equipment, and a big screen TV, and several bedrooms, each pair of bedrooms sharing a large bathroom. He had never used any of these extra rooms, but he had always made sure his cleaning youma kept them neat and made up. He wasn't sure why; it just didn't seem right to let any part of his magnificent and very expensive house sit neglected.

His own bedroom was a loft area overlooking the main room. There was a luxurious bathroom in one corner of the loft, and his bed was centered under a large skylight which he'd had installed at a great deal of trouble and expense. He had hated being trapped in the windowless, starless confines of the Dark Kingdom; here, in his room, his gaze and his spirits could soar to infinity. He took off his boots and his bloodied undershirt and lay down. "Naru, do you remember me?" he whispered, looking up at the sky. But it was afternoon, and the stars were not visible right now to give him an answer. He fell asleep still wondering.

* * * * * * * *

"He's having a hard time," Jadeite said around a mouthful of very stale organic pizza. "He must have fallen pretty hard."

"He committed treason for her," Zoisite said. He told Jadeite the story in more detail. Strange, it was easier to talk about, now that he had admitted that he was responsible for what had happened, that it wasn't all this other Zoisite who had nothing to do with him.

"At least one of us had some guts. I wonder if any of us three would have gone against Beryl if our hearts were leading us in a different direction," Jadeite said. "I don't think I would have. I was too afraid of her."

"I disobeyed her," Zoisite said. "I tried to kill Tuxedo Mask against her orders. But I did it out of hate, not love."

"Beryl wanted Tux-boy alive? What in the world for?" Jadeite asked. Kunzite and Zoisite filled him in on everything else that had happened since he was trapped in the crystal, while upstairs, Nephrite dreamed of a red-haired girl crying over him.

* * * * * * * *

Outside the mansion, Topaz finished constructing and coding the gate that led from the traitor's property to the ruins of the Dark Kingdom.

"So we're alive again. Now what?" Kunzite asked at breakfast the next morning. During the night, Jadeite had teleported into town and liberated some more appetizing foodstuffs from a grocery store. Sooner or later he was going to have to become an honest, upstanding citizen, but in the meantime this was easier and faster. He had also taken a newspaper that revealed that more than two years had passed since his Earth operations were cut off when Beryl trapped him in the crystal. Now, Jadeite, Kunzite, and Zoisite were feasting on frosted doughnuts and coffee and reading the paper, while Nephrite stared moodily into his bowl of granola and sliced peaches.

"I don't know," Jadeite answered Kunzite's question.

"You all need identities." The other three looked at Nephrite in surprise as he spoke. He hadn't said a word all morning until then. "Passports, driver's licenses, birth certificates, school records, medical records, bank accounts. My contacts who set me up as Sanjouin Masato can take care of all that. I hope - if it's been two years, they might be out of business."

"Or in jail," Jadeite said.

"Right. You also need suitable clothes, driving lessons, and jobs."

"Jobs?" Zoisite said, sounding a little dismayed.

"You don't think I'm going to let you sit around and live off of me forever, do you?" But there was just a hint of a grin on Nephrite's face, a trace of laughter in his voice. The others hoped that this was a sign that his depression was beginning to lift. He looked at Jadeite, one eyebrow slightly raised. "Ever thought of joining the navy, Jadeite?"

Jadeite buried his face in one hand. "Don't remind me," he groaned.

Kunzite and Zoisite laughed, and after a moment even Nephrite chuckled a little.

"What if we run into the Sailor Senshi?" Jadeite asked. That put a damper on the laughter. "I mean, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not really ready to die again."

"You weren't dead, were you?" Zoisite asked.

"I think I was. I wished I was, anyway. So, what are we going to do about them?"

"Besides move to the other side of the world? I don't know," Kunzite said.

"I'm staying here in Tokyo," Nephrite said. "My life is here." What he didn't say, that everyone knew he meant, was, Naru's here.

After a moment, Jadeite asked gently, "Are you going to try to find her?"

"I don't know. Maybe she's forgotten about me. It would be better for her if she has. After the way I treated her, she probably wouldn't want to see me again anyway."

"Self-pity does not become you, my friend," Kunzite said.

"You should at least give it a try," Jadeite added. "What have you got to lose?"

"It isn't what I've got to lose," Nephrite said. "I just don't want to hurt her any more."

"Sometimes I wonder if being in love is worth it," Zoisite observed.

Kunzite raised one pale eyebrow. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

Zoisite gave him a coy smile and went back to his doughnut.

* * * * * * * *

And Naru sat at her desk at school, surreptitiously rubbing at the new bruises on her shoulder and wishing that the pain in her head and in her heart would go away.