Music Box
by happyhappysunshine

Chapter 5 - And So It Begins

* * * * * * * *

As Jadeite drove her home in what used to be Nephrite's infamous red Ferrari, which he had had painted black in order to be less conspicuous, he was deep in thought. He had realized midway through their conversation at the mansion that the girl looked very familiar, but he could not remember why. It had started off as a small inkling, but as time passed he became more and more sure that he had seen her before and the fact he could not remember was eating away at him. It was possible it could be an important link. He continued in silence, not speaking and deep in thought.

He briefly glanced at the red head who was gazing out the window. Where had he seen her before? His mind ran through a list of faces and places, but none seemed to coincide.

It was only when he pulled up in front of the small boutique style building she pointed to that he made the association. It was the OSAP Jewellery store had ordered his first attack. That meant she must have been the daughter of the boutique's owner. He remembered now, how she had been involved as a victim more than once of his energy attacks. He remembered now, how she was part of the group of young girls who had been friends with the daughter of the Shrine priest's daughter at the Shrine where he had disguised himself. He remembered now, that that group of girls included the girl named Usagi, who he had discovered to be Sailor Moon.

He had been avoiding an encounter like this. The last thing he wanted was for those Sailor Scouts to learn of his reappearance. When he had learned that he was the only one left, he had at first considered contacting them, but quickly decided against it. Despite their harmless appearance, Jadeite had found out first hand that they possessed power enough to surpass his and destroy him. Apparently, he had concluded it must have been the only way; they had even enough power to destroy the Negaverse.

Now that she was associated with the Sailor Scouts, the girl beside him now held a threshold of potential danger. How did he know she was not one of them? He considered this but then decided she couldn't be, or she would have transformed and fought him when he had attacked her. No, she wasn't one of them but surely they were on her side. He had to make sure she did not alert the Sailor Scouts about him.

"Thank you, my name is Naru, by the way," said the girl as she opened the door of the car beside her and turned to flash him a forced half-smile, with an expression more tired and confused than anything else. She stepped out of the car and gently closed the door. "I guess I'll be seeing you."

Rather than grace the girl with a decent reply, he made of point of adding a threatening tone to his voice as he told her: "Don't tell anyone about any of this, or I'll reverse the spell and make it so that you will never see Nephrite again!" At this, he drove off. Of course, he couldn't actually do it, but the distraught and confused look Naru gave him told him she believed it.

... Naru woke up with a jump in her heart, involuntarily taking her away from the dream she was so happily enjoying. She knew by the darkness outside her balcony windows that it was not yet dawn. She lay in bed a few moments, eyes wide open, thinking about her dreams. She had been dreaming of Nephrite, and then wondered if everything that had happened yesterday with the music box, the mansion and the strange man had all really happened, when she heard a noise like a step near her window.

She looked up to see the strange blond man from before. His handsome face was still set in the impatient and troubled glower and he was still wearing the same thing, only his hair and clothes were even more tousled than before. The sun was rising out the windows behind him.

Seeing him at her balcony door reminded her of when Nephrite had been there and tricked her. She didn't care about him lying to her though, all she could think of was how romantic it was. She remembered wishing he would come back. She had imagined several different scenarios, of how different it might have been if he had stayed with her.

The blond man said nothing but held out his palm with the music box towards her and nodded. In the shadows of dawn she got out of bed and took the box out of his hands, not being able to help staring at it shine for a little before his glaring impatient eyes caused her to quickly turn the knob. Knowing what could now happen, it made Naru hold her breath as the tinkling of the music box filled the air. She could tell he too was anxious.

Yet the music played to its end, they waited and looked about, but nothing had happened and the sun was now fully risen. They both exchanged a look of mutual disappointment before he sighed and then asked her if she remembered the way to the mansion.

Naru nodded. She had been looking out the window as he drove her home the other night and had tried to remember the way – just in case. She had realized that though it was hidden in the forestry and was quite far away, getting there was simple if she took the bus as far as it went, then walked straight down a side road. She remembered a time when she would imagine what type of place he lived in and whether she would ever get a chance to be invited there. She never imagined it would be under these circumstances.

"You will come right after school," he told her with the same tone and expression he had grown accustomed to using, that sounded to Naru much like a command rather than a request. He was about to turn and go before she ever so lightly cried "Wait!"

"What should I call you? I told you my name, but you never told me yours," she asked, half scared, but overcome by curiosity.

Without turning, he paused and she could tell he was contemplating something. It seemed to her he spent a lot of time thinking about things.

"Jadeite." That was all he said before he disappeared into a swirl of red smoke. Naru's eyes watched the smoke dissipate before her eyes followed through out the window where the sun shone bright over the city.

* * * * * * * *

return to Index / go to Chapter 6

The Nephrite and Naru Treasury