The gate was gone. Nephrite couldn't even find a trace of the seam that should be there when it was closed. He stood in the snow in the clearing and confessed to every shameful thing he could think of, but the gate never appeared. Finally he brought Zoisite out to get his expert opinion. Zoisite had been the Dark Kingdom's version of an expert safecracker and cat burglar. He could open any gate, break through any Guards - often to Nephrite's great annoyance.

But even Zoisite couldn't find Topaz's gate. "It's gone, as far as I can tell." He shook his head. "Not a trace. If it is still there, she's got it masked so well I don't think I could ever find it."

"Maybe I could just teleport in directly."

"She's probably got her whole area sealed off. It isn't worth the risk."

"But I promised Naru --" He thought of Naru, upstairs in her white nightgown, probably wondering why he had left her without another word.

"I know, I know." Zoisite put a hand on the taller man's shoulder. "But I doubt it would make her feel any better if you got yourself trapped in teleport limbo for the rest of eternity."

"I'm going to find my son," Nephrite said, more to himself than to Zoisite. He wasn't about to leave his own flesh and blood in Topaz's hands, to be put to whatever evil purposes she had in mind for him. He wondered, for about the millionth time, who Topaz was and what she wanted of him and the other former Generals. Just because the gate she had made seemed to have been taken down didn't mean she was done with them. In fact, Nephrite felt coldly certain that she had only started with them. "Maybe I can get in through the back way," he said to Zoisite, and teleported.

He materialized in the dark, frigid arctic region where the old main gate had been located. It was still there; he stepped through the darkness and into the ruins of the Dark Kingdom. Teleporting from room to room, tunnel to tunnel, he searched for hidden gates or even physical entries to hidden areas of the Kingdom. Nothing.

He tried to recall any instances when he had actually seen Topaz in the Dark Kingdom. There was nothing specific, only fleeting glimpses of amber-colored eyes lurking in one dark corner or another, a scrap of throaty laughter disappearing down a hallway. Topaz's chamber, the one where she had kept Naru prisoner, was probably the chamber where she had lived during the days of the Dark Kingdom, but it was nowhere to be found. Had Topaz herself been a prisoner, and that was why her room was sealed away so thoroughly? Who was she?

Nephrite wasn't ready to admit defeat, but he was exhausted, cold, and hungry. He planned to come back again, bringing the others. Maybe one of them could find something. He was not going to abandon his son, or his promise to Naru.

Days passed, as Nephrite traveled with each of the others in turn to the ruins of the Dark Kingdom, looking for some sign of Topaz or her quarters. Nephrite saw very little of Naru during this time. He told himself it was because he was trying to keep his promise to find their baby. But memories would come to him, of Naru lying warm and soft in his arms, and he would have to admit to himself the real reason why he was avoiding her.

Finally, even Zoisite was forced to conclude that no entrance to Topaz's chamber existed anywhere, either in the vicinity of where the old one had been or in the Dark Kingdom. "She could have another one somewhere on Earth," Jadeite pointed out when he, Nephrite, and Zoisite teleported back to Nephrite's hill after one final, futile attempt, "but the Earth is a big place. How would we ever find it? We could spend the rest of our lives looking, and still not find it, assuming it's findable."

Nephrite stuck his hands in his jacket pockets as he and the others walked back inside. Naru was resting on the big sofa in front of the fireplace. In the last few days, she had started to get back on her feet a little, though she was still quite weak. Nephrite had sent Zoisite to buy some comfortable clothes for her to wear while she was up. Right now she was wearing gray sweatpants and a pink sweatshirt with kittens embroidered on the front. Her milk had come and gone during the past several days; if they ever found their son, they would have to feed him out of bottles. Nephrite's eyes met Naru's questioning gaze, then he looked away, ashamed to tell her of his failure to keep the promise he had made.

Topaz sat at her table in her cavern, holding the infant on her lap, feeding him out of a china bowl with a silver spoon, both stolen from a fancy department store. She had gone to a lot of trouble to get this child; nothing was too good for him.

He was growing so fast, she thought as she held another spoonful of dark, rich broth to his mouth. Before long, he would be teachable, then after that it wouldn't be much longer until he was a useful servant.

The baby finished the broth, and looked around for more. "Kenichi," Topaz said.

"Yes, Lady." Kenichi stood beside the table and stared off into the black reaches of the cavern. He had been absolutely still and silent until Topaz spoke to him.

"Please fill the baby's bowl. He's still hungry."

"Yes, Lady." His movements slow and heavy, Kenichi picked up the bowl and carried it to the crude fireplace, where a stainless steel pot, obtained on the same shopping expedition as the bowl and spoon, held the thick, simmering broth. Kenichi ladled more broth into the bowl and brought it back to Topaz.

"Thank you, Kenichi," she said.

"It's my pleasure to serve you, Lady."

Topaz smiled as she went back to feeding the baby. Kenichi said and did exactly what she had taught him to. He had no magical talent, so he was useless as a minion, but he was very capable at household chores and... other things. Very capable, Topaz thought, her smile deepening.

She brought her attention back to the baby. His father and the others were trying to find him, but they never would. Her hiding place was impossible to find unless she wanted it to be found. She knew magic none of the others knew. They had been too busy, too full of themselves, to listen, but Topaz had listened to Metallia's voice, a constant whispering through the halls of the Dark Kingdom, filled with magic and secrets. Topaz had learned how to manipulate time, and how to bend life-force to her will. And how to hide so that no one could ever find her.

Naru knew Nephrite hadn't been able to find their baby yet. She didn't consider this a failure. After everything Topaz had done to get that child, Naru didn't think she would make it easy for Nephrite to come in and steal him. But someday, somehow, their chance would come. Naru wanted to tell him this, to try to draw him out of his discouragement and guilt, but he avoided her so thoroughly that she never got the chance.

He refused to look directly at her, took detours to avoid walking too close to her, communicated by sending messages through one of the others. She was occupying his bed, but he certainly never joined her there. As far as she could tell, he slept downstairs, if he slept at all. She would hear the stereo playing all night, mostly jazz and blues but a lot of classical too. Every once in a while, in the middle of the night, she would hear his footsteps coming up the stairs. Though she held her breath, wishing as hard as she could that he would finish the journey, he would always stop halfway up and retreat back downstairs.

One evening, nearly two weeks after the baby's birth, Naru was finally being permitted to help get the table ready for supper. As she carried a stack of plates to the table, Nephrite, walking towards her, stopped, turned, and went the other way around the table.

That was it. "I wish you would quit feeling so guilty all the time and think about how I feel for a change!" she yelled. All four men turned to stare at her. Anger surged through her. For lack of any other outlet, and to emphasize her point, she smashed the stack of plates to the floor, then turned, sobbing, and ran out the back door into the winter twilight.

* * * * * * * *

Jadeite found his voice first. "Well? Are you going after her?"

Nephrite stared at the shattered stoneware on the floor.

Kunzite said, "I think it's now or never, Nephrite," and Zoisite added, "Do you want to completely blow it with her?"

Something clicked in his mind. "Damn," he said, and ran out the door after Naru.

A thin layer of fresh snow had fallen earlier, so it was easy to follow her tracks through the woods. He found her sitting on a boulder, her legs, clad in light blue sweatpants, pulled up to her chest, her face buried on her knees. She was shaking, but whether it was from the cold or her crying, he couldn't say. Probably both.

He perched next to her. "Naru-chan, I'm -"

"I want my happily ever after," she wept.

"What?"

Her words were barely intelligible through her sobs. "I mean, at first I didn't think you even knew I was alive, then you did notice me and you were so nice to me, but then you -- you -- died, and then there was Umino, until he dumped me for someone else, and then Kenichi and he seemed so nice at first but then he started hitting me and doing... those other things, then you came back and everything was going to be ok but it isn't, my baby's gone and you won't touch me or look at me or talk to me, you won't even come near me, I want my happily ever after but it isn't happening, it's all ruined."

"Oh, Naru-chan..." Lightly, briefly, he rested his hand on her shoulder, then pulled it away again.

"I just want everything to be all right again," Naru sobbed. "The way it was when you came back."

Before he could stop himself, he put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. She put her arms around him and held on tight, pressing her face against his shoulder. Nephrite buried a hand in her soft hair. "It will be all right, Naru. We're together. We've got a son somewhere. And I swear that somehow, someday, I'll find a way to get him back."

"I know. I just wish you would love me again.

"Naru..." He was appalled. How could he have let her go on thinking he didn't love her? "Do you understand why I've been staying away from you?"

"Zoisite explained it to me." Her words were broken up by lingering sobs. "I don't care - I just - I wish -"

Nephrite kissed her; he couldn't help it. It felt so good to kiss her again. And he was surprised, and relieved, to find that, for now at least, it was enough to just kiss her. After a while he moved his mouth to her ear and whispered, "I didn't stop loving you. I never will."

"I guess - I guess I know that," she murmured against his neck.

"We should go back now. It's cold and dark, and you need to eat and then go to bed." She nodded, and he stood and lifted her into his arms.

Back at the house, they ate supper under the approving gazes of Jadeite, Kunzite, and Zoisite, then Nephrite took Naru upstairs. He helped her off with her blue pants and sweatshirt and into a pink flannel nightgown. He tucked her in, then took off his shoes and slipped in beside her. They lay on their sides, her back to his front, his arms wrapped securely around her small, warm body. He held her in his arms, fingering the engagement ring she had worn all through her ordeal, breathing in her faint, fresh scent, and was content.

* * * * * * * *

On a rainy, slushy afternoon a week or so later, Nephrite and Naru were sitting on the couch in front of the fire. Naru was snuggled against Nephrite while he tried out his new laptop computer. The doorbell rang; they looked at each other in surprise. Visitors seldom came all the way out to the house. Nephrite got up and walked over to the door, Naru close behind him.

Mrs. Osaka stood there with Usagi. Wordlessly, Nephrite stepped aside to let them in.

"Mama? Usagi? What are you doing here?" Naru asked shyly.

"I'm sorry, Naru," her mother said. "I couldn't stay away any longer. Usagi wants to see you too. Aren't you ready to come home yet?"

Naru shook her head. "No, Mama. I can't come home. This is my home now."

"Naru. Listen to me. No matter what's happened, no matter what you've done or what's been done to you, you are my child and you are always welcome home."

"I know." Naru put an arm around Nephrite's waist. "But this is my place now. This is where I belong, with Nephrite."

"Naru, please. I don't understand. You're living with this man and I don't even know who he really is. I don't understand what's happening in my own daughter's life."

"Mrs. Osaka," Nephrite said, "Naru's living with me isn't what you think. You don't need to be worried about that. In spite of everything that's happened, it's still important to me to do things right for her."

Mrs. Osaka sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I don't know what to think anymore. Except that, under the circumstances, maybe it would be better if you didn't wait till my daughter is nineteen to marry her."

Naru and Nephrite were silent for a moment. Nephrite tightened his arms around Naru. Finally he said, "You're sure it's all right with you?"

"She could do worse. The two of you obviously care for each other, and you are certainly in a position to be able to provide for her. I married at seventeen; it shouldn't surprise me if my daughter does the same thing. Just, please don't leave her a widow with a young child when she's twenty-two."

"I'll do my best." Nephrite's voice sounded slightly breathless. He turned Naru to face him. "Will you marry me? Soon?"

She smiled up at him, her lips trembling. "Nephrite, what a silly question. Of course I will."

Nephrite kissed her, then pressed his head against his chest.

Usagi came over tapped Naru on the shoulder. "Hey, Naru-chan, how about some girl talk?" she asked gently.

Naru couldn't meet her friend's eyes. She felt acutely aware of the differences between her and Usagi. "Usagi --" she said, burying her face against Nephrite's chest.

Usagi sought out Naru's hand and squeezed it. Nephrite loosened his grip on her. "Come on, Naru-chan. It's been ages." Naru let her friend lead her over to the sofa by the fireplace.

They sat cross-legged facing each other. "Okay, Naru-chan, what happened?"

Naru still couldn't look at Usagi. "I don't want to tell you."

"I know that Kenichi shot you," Usagi whispered, "and you died, and someone from the Dark Kingdom had your soul and there was a price you and Nephrite had to pay for you to come back. Naru, you know that weird things happen to me all the time. You can tell me."

"No, I can't. Please don't keep asking. Maybe someday I'll be able to tell you, but I can't now."

"Why not"

"I'm..." Naru looked down at her hands. "I'm ashamed. You would hate me if you knew."

Usagi hugged her. "Naru, you're my best friend. I could never hate you. But I won't ask any more, if you don't want me to."

Crying, Naru nodded, and wiped her face with her sleeve.

* * * * * * * *

Nephrite did have a few doubts about marrying Naru, and he expressed them to the other three, late that night after Naru was asleep. They were all seated around the kitchen table, sampling a very interesting wine that Jadeite had found. "The problem is," Nephrite said, "I don't want there to be any more children. I'm not going to let her go through that again. But can a marriage work that way?"

"There are ways to prevent pregnancy now," Zoisite said. The other three looked at him in surprise.

"How would you know?" Jadeite asked.

"I've been doing some research. It's amazing what the humans have come up with to solve that problem."

"Oh, really," Kunzite said, raising a silvery eyebrow at his lover.

Zoisite continued, oblivious to Kunzite's questioning tone. "And childbirth isn't what it used to be, either. I mean, not that any of us really know what it used to be. But I imagine that Naru's experience was probably fairly representative. But now there are all sorts of medicines to ease the pain, as well as various devices and even surgery to help when it's difficult or when the mother's or child's life is in danger. During the Silver Millennium, you may recall, roughly twenty percent of women could expect to die of complications of childbirth, but now the maternal death rate is so low as to be almost non-existent --"

"How do you know all this?" Nephrite asked.

Zoisite looked a little sheepish. "I said, I've been doing some research. I've been thinking about what to do with myself, and I've decided I would like to become one of those doctors -- what is it, the humans have some fancy word for it --"

"We're human too, now, you know," Jadeite pointed out.

"I know, I know. One of those doctors who deliver babies." The others stared at him, speechless. "What?" he asked.

"Um, Zoisite, you don't even like women," Nephrite said.

"Well, not for some things, but they aren't all bad. And all this, with you and Naru's baby, has got me thinking about the whole bringing new life into the world thing. Of course, that isn't something Kunzite and I can do, but I'd like to have some part in it."

"Huh," Jadeite said.

"You never said anything about this to me," added Kunzite.

"Well, I'm telling you now," Zoisite said. He looked at the others. "What?" he asked again.

Nephrite burst out laughing.

It was a small, simple wedding at the Hikawa Shrine, three weeks later. Naru's dress was mid-calf length, with a scoop neck and long sleeves, trimmed with lace and seed pearls, and had a big bow at the back. The dress was white; Usagi insisted, though Naru thought she didn't deserve to wear white. "You do deserve it, Naru-chan. It doesn't matter what was happening with Kenichi. You're a total angel, and you should wear white."

She felt like an angel, a princess, in her white wedding dress, as Nephrite slid the gold-and-diamond ring onto her finger and she did the same with his plain gold band. Then they had an incredible supper, prepared by Makoto, and dancing, and then Nephrite took her home.

The loft bedroom had been enclosed. Nephrite had been about to hire carpenters when Jadeite pointed out that he could do the job better, faster, and cheaper with magic; look at what he had been able to manage with a whole ship, for example. So now Nephrite and Naru stood in their newly-private bedroom and looked at each other in the starlight.

"You're so beautiful," he said softly. "You always are, but especially now."

She blushed and looked down, twisting her hands in her skirt.

He reached down, taking her hands into his. "I want to show you something." He closed his eyes and murmured some words Naru didn't understand. A symbol suddenly glowed red on his forehead, beneath his bangs. Then it was as if the ceiling didn't exist. The stars outside were in the room with the two of them.

Slowly, the stars began to rotate, then to weave in and out amongst each other in lovely, elaborate designs. "They're dancing," Naru said in wonder.

"They're celebrating. We're together now, the way we should be." He let Naru watch the stars for another moment, then drew her close and kissed her. "I'll leave them like that for you, tonight. Okay?"

"Oh, Nephrite, that would be lovely."

He kissed her again, more hungrily this time, then worked his mouth across her jawline to her ear. "It's right, this time, Naru. You don't need to be afraid or ashamed."

She nodded. He untied the white lace bow from her hair, then gave her a long, passionate, devouring kiss.

"Oh," she gasped as he started working on the row of pearl buttons down the back of her dress. When the dress and slip were a pool of white silk and lace at her feet, he picked her up and carried her to the bed.

He settled her gently on the bed, then stretched out alongside her. "It's all right now," he whispered again.

"I know," she replied, and joyfully gave herself to his embrace.

* * * * * * * *

Topaz peered down through the glass at the couple. Damn, they were happy, how dare they be so disgustingly happy? Well, they could have their stupid happiness for now. It wouldn't last long. She'd see how happy the little whore was when her traitor husband and her son were forced to fight each other to the death. Meanwhile, it was time for the next game to begin.