The four Lords kept close to Nephrite's house for the next two weeks, while Nephrite's mysterious "contacts" prepared their forged documents and while they tried to decide what to do about the Sailor Senshi. Nephrite, as Sanjouin Masato, had more money than he could ever possibly hope to spend, so he paid for new wardrobes. Jadeite favored jeans, plaid shirts, and hand-knit sweaters. Kunzite and Zoisite liked more sophisticated tailoring, with Kunzite preferring more subdued colors and Zoisite leaning towards pastels and jewel tones. The one thing their tastes had in common was that they were expensive. Nephrite grumbled a bit, but made no move to cut off the expenditures.

Nephrite concentrated on furnishing the house more comfortably for four people to live in. He bought a leather-upholstered sofa and armchairs, along with the necessary tables, lamps, and area rug, for the space in front of the giant fireplace in the main room. This quickly became the favored gathering spot in the house. He also laid in an ample supply of linens, towels, and dishes, and, at Jadeite's insistence, stocked the kitchen with "real" food.

Finally, he bought a nice Jaguar that all four of them could fit in comfortably, so they wouldn't be drawing attention to themselves by teleporting everywhere they went, and decreed that driving lessons would begin as soon as the forged driver's licenses arrived.

By the second Sunday, they were all tired of sneaking around, and agreed that it was time they presented themselves to the Sailor Senshi. This was Nephrite's idea. He argued that if they approached the Sailor Senshi, perhaps with some sort of peace offering in hand, things would go better than if they ran into the girls accidentally one day. Thanks to Jadeite, they knew who three of the Senshi were: Sailor Moon was that impossibly clumsy and silly Tsukino Usagi, Mars was Hino Rei from the Hikawa Shrine, and Mercury was Mizuno Ami. A little covert observation revealed the probable identities of the other two, Kino Makoto and Aino Minako, and the fact that they met every Sunday afternoon at the Hikawa Shrine.

It was a snowy late-autumn day. Nephrite disliked driving in such weather, so they teleported to the Shrine, taking an enormous box of chocolates that had previously been purchased for the occasion. They materialized at the foot of the steps leading up to the Shrine. "Well, gentlemen," Kunzite said, "it's been nice knowing you."

Jadeite blew a raspberry at him. Nephrite said, "If I go first, maybe they won't be so inclined to attack, because of..." His voice caught. The circumstances of his death were still too painful to talk about.

"Because of Naru," Zoisite finished softly. "Yes, I think you're right."

Nephrite led the way up the steps. In the courtyard, they heard girls' voices coming from inside the living quarters, across from the Shrine itself. They walked over to the building, and Nephrite knocked on the sliding wood-framed door. Footsteps padded over, then the door slid open to reveal Hino Rei.

Her eyes got huge when she saw her former enemies, and she shrieked. The other Senshi hurried over and froze, staring at the four men at the door. "You're back," Ami finally choked out.

"We're back," Nephrite said quietly.

"Oh, great," Usagi whined. "Don't tell me we're going to have to fight you all over again?"

Nephrite smiled a little, and he felt some of his companions' tension melt away. "No, Moon, you're not going to have to fight us again. In fact, we've brought a peace offering." He held out the box of chocolates. Usagi grabbed it from him, then the tall, brown-haired girl, Makoto, snatched it away from her. Rei took the box from Makoto and put it on the low dining table inside the room.

"Well, then," Ami said, "what are you doing here?"

"We've been given a second chance," Nephrite answered. "We just wanted to tell you that we're back and we mean you no harm."

"So please don't kill us," Jadeite put in. Rei arrived back at the door and stared at the blond man, clenching her fists. "You..." she growled.

"You aren't being a very good hostess, Rei," Minako said. "Invite them in out of the cold."

"Invite --?" Rei shouted.

Usagi pushed her way in front of the irate girl. "She's right. Come on in."

"Usagi!" Rei protested.

"It's okay, Rei. He died protecting Naru, remember? If he says the others won't try to dust us, then I believe him."

"Hmmpf." But Rei led the group inside to the table. The four men filed in, removing their shoes and looking around them, still not quite certain that Sailor Moon wasn't suddenly going to unleash her Moon Tiara at them. When they were settled on mats around the table, Kunzite spoke for the first time. "We're glad you girls won." The Senshi looked surprised. "We went with Beryl voluntarily," Kunzite continued. "She made us promises that, in the end, we couldn't turn down. But then she took so much more from us than we had agreed to give. It's thanks to you that we have the chance to live our lives again. Live them better."

"So what are you guys going to do now?" Makoto asked.

Jadeite shrugged. "Live normal lives, or try to."

"You're a lot better dressed than you used to be," Usagi observed.

Jadeite nudged Nephrite. "Well?"

Nephrite was both eager and reluctant to ask about Naru. He had been thinking about Naru for the past two weeks, trying to decide what to do about her. He desperately wanted to see her again and find out if he had a chance with her, but a nagging little voice in his head, which he suspected was his conscience making itself known after a thousand-year absence, told him that it would be better if he left her alone. He at least wanted to know how she was, though.

All the girls were staring at him. "How's - how's Naru?" he finally asked.

"Naru has a boyfriend," Ami said.

"Kenichi," Usagi said. Her voice was cold.

"Oh, come on, Usagi," Minako said. "I don't get why all of a sudden you don't approve of Kenichi."

"He's totally dreamy," Makoto said to the Lords. "He's tall, and dark, and handsome, and has tons of money, and he's always giving her roses and stuff."

"He's also a star student at his college, and his father is one of the most respected doctors in the country," Ami added.

"I know all that," Usagi said, "but something's wrong there. I just have this feeling..."

"That's what I keep trying to tell you, Usagi," Rei said.

"Umino says he's dealing drugs," Usagi said.

"That's ridiculous!" Ami said. "Why in the world would he do a thing like that?"

"Yeah," Makoto put in. "His family's loaded."

"I also think Naru's sleeping with him," Usagi said.

At that, Nephrite closed his eyes. He felt Jadeite's and Kunzite's hands firmly on his shoulders. Oblivious, the girls continued their conversation. "Naru would never do a thing like that," Minako said.

"I agree. What gives you that idea, Usagi?" Ami asked.

"Umino told me."

"What'd he do, spy on them?" Minako demanded. "Eew!"

"What's worse?" Makoto said. "Sleeping with Umino, or having Umino spy on you when you're sleeping with someone else?"

"Eew!" went a chorus of female voices.

"Why would he be spying on Naru anyway? He's the one who dumped her," Minako said.

"Maybe he feels guilty over how he dumped her," Usagi said.

"He should, the little turd," Makoto said. "Going out with that girl in his science class behind her back."

Nephrite was trembling. Rage, hurt, humiliation, something was making him feel sick. He wanted to strike out at the world. Kunzite cleared his throat, and the girls all looked at the silver-haired man, then at Nephrite. Ami, Makoto, and Minako blushed. "Oh, Nephrite, we're sorry," Ami said.

He took a deep breath, trying to get hold of himself. "It's all right. You've told me what I wanted to know."

"She's really hung up on Kenichi," Usagi said, "but I have a bad feeling about the whole thing lately, even though I don't have any proof. Sometimes they walk along the harbor walk on Sunday afternoons, if you want to check them out."

"He's evil," Rei said, in a faraway voice. "He's as evil as you guys used to be. If you want to take her from him, I'm with you. But be careful."

After the four men left the Shrine, Jadeite said, "Oh, Nephrite. I'm sorry."

"She's better off," Nephrite replied roughly.

"Didn't sound to me like she's better off," Zoisite said. "That Kenichi guy sounds like trouble."

"Why, because Mars doesn't like him?" Nephrite asked. "She doesn't like anybody."

"So you're going to give up just like that?" Jadeite added.

"She's better off," Nephrite repeated, his head hunched down between his shoulders.

"Oh, great," Zoisite said. "A depressed Nephrite is not my idea of the perfect housemate. But I guess we've no choice since it's his house."

Naru didn't know what to do. She loved Kenichi, but he was hitting her more. And the last time she slept with him he had started getting rough. It scared her. One day the following week, when she found herself alone in the girls' room at school, she studied the poster on the wall there, that urged girls to get help if their boyfriends were hitting them. There was a phone number at the bottom. Naru started to memorize it, then turned away. Kenichi needed her. She was lucky to have someone who needed her so much. If she could just be more patient with him, she might get through to him, and then he wouldn't be mean to her any more. She could free him from whatever it was that tormented him. Everything would be all right.

But she would lie in bed at night and think of Nephrite. She would remember his beautiful eyes, his hair, his voice, the way he moved. She would recall every detail of the few times they had touched, and his last words to her, "You're in my heart," replaying them over and over in her mind, and she would have to bite her lips against the pain that filled her entire body, to keep from screaming. It didn't matter how Kenichi treated her. Nothing would ever be all right again.

Sunday afternoon came around again, The weather had warmed just enough for the snow to turn to ice and sleet. Nephrite sat on the leather sofa in front of the big fireplace, swirling a little bit of scotch around in a crystal glass. "Let's go to the harbor walk," he said.

Jadeite looked up from his book. "It speaks," he said.

"Are you crazy?" Kunzite asked. "It's terrible out there."

Nephrite knew what he was doing. He had been drinking all week -- not heavily; he had figured out the exact amount and the exact rate to keep him numbed against the ache in his heart without impeding his thought processes. And what he thought was, maybe Zoisite was right about something for once. Maybe that boy was as bad for Naru as Usagi seemed to think. "Maybe Naru will be there. I want to have a look at her and this Kenichi guy." He stood, only slightly unsteady, and got his jacket. "You guys coming with me?"

The others rolled their eyes and complained about going out in this insane weather, but they got their coats and teleported with him.

The inland side of the nearly-deserted walk was lined with benches and trees, and the entire length of the walk gave impressive views of the harbor, ships, bridges, and cliffs. Nephrite didn't mind the sharp, cold wind, or the snowflakes that blew into his hair and eyelashes and melted on his face. The Dark Kingdom had been windless, weatherless, the temperature a constant chill. To be truly cold, to feel wind and snow, to taste the salty spray that blew off the waves in the harbor, made him feel more alive than he had ever felt in his thousand years in the Dark Kingdom.

Nephrite looked at his companions. Zoisite, his nose cherry-red with cold, was snuggled under Kunzite's arm. Jadeite was looking around, cataloging all the details of the bridges and buildings and ships in his scientist's mind. Nephrite shoved his hands deeper into the pockets of his leather bomber jacket and walked along in silence.

Voices came from up ahead. Nephrite saw a young couple, a tall young man with longish dark hair, and a short girl with wavy red hair. Naru and her boyfriend. Nephrite's heart thudded painfully. Quickly, he herded the others towards a group of trees on the inland side of the walk, and watched Naru and the young man from there.

Naru hadn't changed. She didn't seem to be any taller; her hair was a little longer but was still tied back with a cheery blue bow at the back of her head. Still, though, there was something about her face, something Nephrite couldn't quite define. Something... sad.

The young couple were quarreling. "Kenichi, I don't want to go meet this guy. This is supposed to be my date, that I planned. We were going to do what I wanted to do, for once."

"This could be a big deal for me, Naru. Big money."

"But, Kenichi, you might get arrested -"

"Shut up, and quit being such a bitch."

Nephrite started towards the pair, but Kunzite grabbed his arm. "Easy. If you just show up all of a sudden, she'll probably die of shock."

"He can't talk to her like that."

"Take it easy," Kunzite soothed. "If anything needs to be handled, I'll handle it. I'm probably the only one of us she won't recognize."

"Kenichi, you promised you'd take me for a chocolate parfait -"

At Naru's words, Nephrite drew in a sudden breath and shut his eyes. "What's wrong?" Zoisite asked.

"I promised I'd take her for a chocolate parfait. Right before your youma showed up and speared me."

Zoisite looked away, an unhappy look on his face.

"If this deal goes down," Kenichi said, "I'll buy you all the chocolate parfaits you want. You can eat chocolate parfaits till they make you puke. You can drown in goddam chocolate parfaits."

Naru clutched at his arm. "Kenichi, that isn't what I want."

"What part of 'shut up' don't you understand?" Kenichi shook her loose and strode away, leaving her standing there, staring after him.

Then she hurried to catch up with him. "Kenichi, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I just wish --"

He caught the lapel of her coat. "You don't care how important this deal is to me, do you?"

"Kenichi --"

"I'm not going to let you screw this up for me!" Kenichi flung Naru around by her coat, and she fell onto her hands and knees on the icy pavement. "Ow!" she cried. He walked away without looking at her. Nephrite took a step towards her, but Kunzite pushed him back against the tree, and ran to Naru.

* * * * * * * *

"Kenichi, I'm sorry! Please come back!" But he didn't look at her, or even slow down. Naru tried to stand, but a sharp pain in her left knee forced her back down. She pulled up that knee to examine it. Her dark blue tights were torn, and her knee was badly cut and scraped. She dabbed at the blood with her coat sleeve, and tried vainly to blink back tears. It was so humiliating, that he had treated her like that in public. He was usually careful to make sure no one was looking when he pushed her around. He had to uphold his image as Prince Charming. There didn't seem to be anyone around right now, but still... And how was she going to get home? She didn't have any money with her for the bus. Kenichi always got really offended if she brought her own money on their dates. She dabbed at her bleeding knee with one hand and wiped tears from her eyes with the other. "Dammit, Kenichi, you can't treat me like this," she whispered, surprised at the sudden fury she felt towards him.

A deep voice spoke close to her ear. "Are you all right, miss?"

Naru looked up and saw a man with pale gray-blue eyes and straight, silvery hair crouching next to her. The concern in his face contrasted with his icily handsome appearance. He must have seen the whole thing. She looked away again, ashamed.

"Can I help you in some way? Would you like my friends and me to help you get home?"

Naru sniffled and shook her head, refusing to look at the stranger. She'd have to be crazy to go with this man and his 'friends.' If her boyfriend was mean to her, what would these strangers do? She wished he would go away.

"Or we could take you someplace to warm up and get something to eat. A chocolate parfait, perhaps?"

Naru whipped her head around to stare at him. Smiling slightly, the man gestured towards a group of trees. Naru's eyes followed his gesture. There, standing slightly behind a tree, with his hands stuffed in the pockets of a dark brown bomber jacket, was a tall man, handsome, with long auburn hair...

The world rocked around her. She made a small sound, then everything went dark.

* * * * * * * *

Kunzite gathered the unconscious girl into his arms and carried her over to the trees where Nephrite and the others were waiting. Nephrite held out his arms and Kunzite gently settled Naru into them. Kunzite was saying something, but Nephrite didn't hear it. He buried his face in the soft thickness of Naru's hair, inhaling the fresh herbal scent of the shampoo she used, and the faint fragrance of Naru herself. Then Jadeite shook his shoulder. "Let's get her out of this cold, and I'll tend to that knee."

* * * * * * * *

Topaz, perched atop a restaurant along the harbor walk, smiled. She had seen the whole thing -- the girl, her boyfriend, the older man. The situation was ripe with possibilities. And the other two... Those four were such fools, showing their vulnerabilities so clearly. Apparently they had forgotten everything they had learned during their long years in the Dark Kingdom. Plans were beginning to form in her mind. This was going to be good.

* * * * * * * *

Naru didn't know where she was. The room was dark except for an enormous fire in a fireplace. She was lying on a leather couch, covered with a blanket. Her coat was gone. She remembered the fight with Kenichi, and how he had pushed her down. She felt her left knee; her tights were torn there, but the knee seemed uninjured. She sat up quickly and looked at it; though the torn edges of her tights were stiff with dried blood, the only signs on her knee of the cuts and scrapes were a few faint scars.

What had happened? She remembered the strange man who had offered to help her, something about a chocolate parfait, then seeing --

Naru looked frantically around the room. He was there, watching her, sitting in an overstuffed chair to the left of the sofa, slightly behind where her head had been when she was lying down. "Nephrite," she said in a small voice.

"Hey, Naru."

The sound of that beloved, deep, husky voice made Naru feel like all the breath had been knocked out of her. She struggled to take in air, but could only make a choked, sobbing sound as tears filled her eyes. Quickly, Nephrite came over to her and put his arms around her, letting her dissolve into sobs against his sweater while he stroked her hair and murmured gently to her.

After a little while she was finally able to get some words out. "What happened? Why did you go away? I thought you were dead and I couldn't bear it!"

"Shh," he soothed. "I didn't want to leave you. I did die, but I -- we -- were all still trapped by the power Beryl held over us. When she was destroyed we were all freed from her spell, and judged, and given a second chance."

Naru had only the slightest idea what he meant. "You mean you're free of that evil society you belonged to?" Her voice was still shaky; she sniffed, and rubbed tears from her face with her hand.

He chuckled a little, gently pressing her head against his shoulder. "Yes. That's the important thing, that and the fact that I'm alive again."

She worked her arms around him, and held on tight. It couldn't be real. He had died in her arms, had dissolved into sparkling dust and floated to the sky despite her efforts to hold on to him. But she could hear his heart beating; he was big and warm and solid, and as long as she could hold on to him everything would be all right. Nephrite kept his arms around her a moment longer, then gently pulled himself away from her. "Naru, we need to talk." There was a serious note in his voice that made her suddenly feel a little scared. Was he going to have to leave her again? Or maybe he didn't want to see her any more after this, not after seeing her with Kenichi. "Okay," she said in a small voice.

He spoke without looking directly at her. "This may seem premature, but... I need to know where I stand with you. I saw you with that boy. I saw what happened, but I don't think I'm qualified to judge your relationship based on one incident." He sighed, and pushed a lock of long hair back behind his ear. "What I'm trying to say, Naru, is that if you're happy with him, I don't want to interfere. But I need to know, now, if I have a chance."

She stared at him, then reached her hand to his face, gently making him look her. "He isn't you, Nephrite," she whispered. "No one could ever replace you. I was only making do as best I could."

"Oh." He made a small gesture with his hands, looked down, then at her again. "In that case, then, there was something I was thinking about doing, before... before we were so rudely interrupted."

Their eyes met. "What?" she breathed.

He put his fingertips under her chin and tilted her face up, bringing his mouth down to hers. Their lips met; the kiss was gentle, tentative, experimental. Then a pause, like a sigh, a breath being drawn, and their arms went around each other. They kissed eagerly, as though trying to devour each other. Finally they separated a little, and looked at each other again. Naru wiped tears from her eyes. Tears had also pooled along Nephrite's lower eyelashes. Naru looked into his eyes and touched his face, then made her mind up about something.

"Nephrite, I need to tell you something about me."

"What is it?" he asked gently.

"I know this will probably change how you feel about me, but I have to be honest with you. I'm not how I used to be."

He was silent, looking at her. Naru gathered up her courage and continued. "I've been sleeping with Kenichi sometimes. I don't like to and I can't do it unless I've had something to drink or... or something first, but..." Her shame felt hot and bitter, and threatened to choke her. "But he said he wouldn't love me if I didn't do it, and - and - I just wanted someone to love me -" Her last few words were nearly lost as she started crying.

"Naru." Nephrite put his arms around her and pulled her onto his lap. "Naru, it's all right. We've both got a chance to start over again. I love you, Naru, and I swear I will never lie to you again or do anything to hurt you."

Three words stood out. "You -- you love me?"

"I love you. I don't know when I fell in love with you, but it was before that night. I tried to tell you, right before I died, but I didn't have the words."

"And you still love me now, even after what I told you?"

"It doesn't matter, Naru. I mean, it does matter, I'm sorry that that was happening to you, but it doesn't change how I feel about you. Nothing could ever do that."

"Oh, Nephrite," Naru wept against his shoulder. "I love you too, Nephrite. I've loved you since I first saw you." He stroked her hair as she cried, and murmured softly to her. Her shame, which was still thick and bitter, slowly began to dissolve. She could have a clean new start with him. She had her life back.

A door opened off the large room, and a man's voice spoke. "Supper's on, if you lovebirds want to come eat something." Naru looked around, startled, and saw a man, slighter than Nephrite, with short, thick yellow hair, standing in the doorway. He seemed familiar.

"Just a minute, Jed," Nephrite said. "I think I'd better explain a few things first."

"Okay. Don't take too long. I hate it when the food gets cold." The blond man disappeared into the room behind the door.

"What do you need to explain?" Naru asked.

"Naru, you know it wasn't just me working for that... evil society. There were others. He -- Jadeite -- was one of them."

"He looked familiar... I know, he owned that gym, where all those weird things happened, and worked at Rei's shrine when those buses were disappearing."

"Right. There were two others. One was Kunzite -- he's the one who talked to you this afternoon, at the harbor. We figured you wouldn't recognize him, and probably wouldn't get a shock from seeing him. The fourth is Zoisite. He's the one who --"

"He killed you. Or his monsters did." Naru clenched her hands into fists. "I've dreamed about what I would do to him if I ever saw him again --"

"Easy, love." Nephrite rubbed her back a little. "I know. I've had a hard time forgiving him, too."

"Forgive him?" Naru shouted. "How --"

"Hush," he murmured. "What you need to understand is, before Queen Beryl, the leader of that evil kingdom, got her claws into us, we were all friends, comrades, almost brothers." A pause. "Well, not Kunzite and Zoisite. Nothing brotherly there. But anyway, we didn't always hate each other. It was Beryl who twisted us, took advantage of our faults and weaknesses, and turned us against each other. We all bear some responsibility for the terrible things we did in her service. At the same time, though, we would never have done those things without her influence. Before Beryl, Zoisite was a fierce warrior, but he never would have harmed someone he considered a friend. And that's how he is again. So... try to keep yourself from throttling him, even though I completely understand if that's what you feel like doing."

"If you say so..." Naru said doubtfully.

He hugged her. "It'll be all right. I'll stay right beside you. I'd better warn you about one other thing, though."

"What?"

"My housemates decided they were dissatisfied with my cooking skills, which I'll confess are limited to microwaving frozen pizzas. So they've all taken it upon themselves to learn how to cook. They're still learning. Some days are better than others, and we may be lucky today, but if it's inedible I'll take you out somewhere. Okay?"

Naru laughed for the first time in what seemed like years. "Okay."