"Well, Nephrite?" The Lady of Eternal Night glared down at her servant.

"I apologize for my failure, Lady."

He didn't sound particularly apologetic. The Lady wished she could find a way to root out the last of that arrogance without destroying the qualities that made him a valuable servant. "I don't have time to waste on your failures, Nephrite."

"I realize that, Lady. That is why I have already decided to take a different approach to solving the problem."

"You mean a different approach from the one that failed so spectacularly? What a refreshingly novel idea." She included Jadeite, Zoisite, and Kunzite in her glare, reminding them of their many failures before, when they, along with Nephrite, had been attempting to harness energy, capture various crystals, and discover Sailor Moon's identity. All four Lords bowed their heads, silently admitting their own stupidity and weakness.

The Lady nodded, satisfied. They understood now that they were nothing without her. "Very well, Nephrite. I won't waste further time by asking you to explain your 'new approach' to me. You may proceed. Remember, though, I will tolerate no further failures."

"I understand." Fist against his heart, Lord Nephrite bowed, then teleported away.

* * * * * * * *

Late that night, Nephrite sat in his observatory workroom, high atop one of the towers of the Crystal Palace. He had thought about using his private study in his apartments in the Palace as his sanctum, but something, a sense of wrongness, of not belonging, kept him from going there. He told himself it would be too distracting to be there among all the reminders of his former life, and settled for the spartan workroom.

It was clear that he wasn't going to be able to get all four children and all five crystals at once. They were too closely watched, and after the incident with the rock band they would be even more on their guard. He would have to go after them one at a time, in more private, less obvious ways.

After puzzling out the situation, he decided that the most logical targets to go after first would be Jasmine and Mitsu. Jasmine would be carrying both of her fathers' crystals, and the Silver Crystal was probably inside Mitsu, since she was a female descended from a female of Lunar origins. With two Guardian crystals and the Silver Crystal in their possession, the renewed Dark Kingdom would be able to begin strengthening itself, and it would be much easier to capture the last two crystals.

Mitsu liked comic books and cartoon characters, and Jasmine was quite fond of motorcycles. Nephrite remembered, with some amusement, Zoisite and Kunzite's dismay at their daughter's fascination with something so unfeminine and dangerous. It was ironic that this unwelcome interest might now prove to be so useful. Nephrite poured himself a brandy, then sat back, feet propped up on his work table, to mull over the possibilities.

* * * * * * * *

Nephrite looked at the still, black-uniformed shapes huddled on the floor in the dimly-lit barracks. These were royal soldiers who had been captured in the initial takeover of the Palace. The standard-issue female youma wouldn't do for his plan, so the Lady had given him permission to take his pick from the unconscious, brainwash-ready prisoners. Kunzite, who was responsible for overseeing the captives, waited patiently for Nephrite to make his selection.

Finally, Nephrite found the one he was looking for. He nudged a dark-haired young man in the shoulder with the toe of his boot. "This one."

Kunzite came over to inspect his choice, then looked at Nephrite, one silvery eyebrow raised. "She had quite a crush on this one. I believe she remained rather fond of him, even after she transferred her affections to your son." There was a note of approval, even respect, in the older Lord's voice.

"The vulnerabilities of young girls are a specialty of mine," Nephrite said as a youma scurried over to pick up the unconscious soldier and carry him to the Lady of Eternal Night's private chambers, where he would be prepared for his service. "I know this plan will succeed, if the Lady can be patient for a few weeks."

"A few weeks, perhaps. I wouldn't count on having any longer than that," Kunzite replied as they left the silent barracks.

"I won't need longer than that."

* * * * * * * *

A sound in the narrow side street below the bedroom window awoke Jasmine. She listened, heard nothing, decided it had been her imagination. Still, she couldn't sleep, and curiosity made her go to the window and look down.

In the street, gleaming in the starlight and the glow from the small streetlight nearby, was the most beautiful motorcycle she had ever seen. It was huge, black, and sleek, rich with chrome and black leather. The rider's black leather boots, pants, and jacket and his black helmet also shone in the faint light. Jasmine could barely breathe; it was a scene straight from her dreams, the bike she would buy as soon as she was too old for her fathers to forbid her, the clothes, the guy. Keiji would look great, she thought, in the place of the guy on the bike.

He sat there casually, astride the bike, one foot on the footrest, the other on the ground, supporting the bike. After looking around and glancing at his watch, he took a comic book from inside his jacket and started reading it. Jasmine wondered what in the world he was doing, sitting there on the street behind the OSA*P shop on the best bike in the world, reading a manga. It occurred to her that maybe he was the lookout for a gang that was robbing the jewelry store.

She hated to say anything; she didn't want the man on the beautiful motorcycle to get in trouble. But she couldn't just sit there if Naru-oneesan's mother's store was being robbed. Jasmine snuck out of the bedroom without disturbing Mitsu, and walked into the living room where Naru was sleeping on the fold-out futon sofa. Haruka, in her transformation as Sailor Uranus, was on guard duty that night. She was sitting at the dining table, reading. "What's the matter, Jasmine?" the Senshi asked softly.

"I thought I heard a sound downstairs in the store."

Uranus put her book down. "I didn't hear anything, but I'll check anyway." She silently unlocked the front door, stepped out into the hallway, and looked around. She vanished, then reappeared a moment later. "Nothing going on down there. It's okay. Go back to bed now."

"Oh." Jasmine didn't have to fake her relief. "Sorry I bothered you."

"It's no problem. That's what I'm here for. Good night." Uranus picked up her book again.

"Good night, Haruka-san." Jasmine quietly padded back down the hall to her room. She started to get back in bed, but was drawn to the window again. He was still there, still reading the comic book. She watched him for a long time, until he looked at his watch again, tucked the book back inside his jacket, and started up the bike. With the rich, heavy purring of a powerful, finely-tuned engine, the bike and its rider drove down the narrow street, turned a corner, and were gone.

Jasmine stared after them, filled with a wild, almost unbearable longing. She couldn't bear the thought that she would never see the bike or the man again, that she would never have a chance to ride through the night on that powerful, beautiful machine. She clenched her fists. Please come back, she thought, wishing desperately that her thoughts could somehow reach him. You have to come back sometime. I have to see you again.

* * * * * * * *

Jasmine couldn't concentrate at all in school the next day. Nothing else seemed to matter if she couldn't see the motorcycle and its rider again. Her teacher reprimanded her a few times for being so distracted, but the younger kids were oblivious to her mood, and that evening, Naru seemed to content to accept Jasmine's "Nothing" when she asked her what was wrong, and to chalk up the younger girl's mood to the general difficulty of being twelve years old.

Late that night, when she heard the bike pull up and stop beneath her window, Jasmine thought at first that she had imagined the sound. She was afraid to look, for fear of being disappointed when it turned out that the bike really wasn't there. Finally, though, she couldn't resist taking a quick peek.

The motorcycle was there, the rider sitting comfortably astride it, reading a comic book, just like the night before. Jasmine couldn't take her eyes off of the scene. She watched for over an hour, as the man on the motorcycle sat there in the pool of dim light from the streetlight, reading his manga and occasionally glancing up and down the alley. Finally, he looked at his watch, tucked the comic book inside his black leather jacket, and rode away.

Though the clock radio said it was two in the morning and she had to get up for school at six-thirty, Jasmine couldn't go back to bed. She sat up, staring out the window at where the bike had been, wondering what this was all about. He had come two nights in a row; surely he would be back tomorrow night. If he was, she would be ready to find out as much as she could about him. Jasmine wondered if Naru-oneesan had a pair of binoculars she could borrow.

* * * * * * * *

"Sure, I have some binoculars you can use," Naru said. "What do you need them for?"

"It's for an essay I have to write for school. About what I can see from my room at night." Jasmine squirmed a little at the lie; she didn't like to tell lies, especially not to Lady Naru - Naru-oneesan - who was so kind to her. It might be important to find out what the motorcycle rider was up to, she rationalized to herself. Maybe he really was the lookout for a gang of criminals, and was scoping out the jewelry store. If so, she could warn Naru and Osaka-san. They'd be very grateful and proud of her if she helped them.

Naru went to her mom's apartment, and came back a minute or so later with the binoculars. "Here," she said. She showed Jasmine how to adjust them, then handed them to her. "Just be careful with them, okay?"

"Okay." Jasmine smiled at her. "Thanks, Naru-oneesan."

* * * * * * * *

He had to come, Jasmine thought, lying in bed that night, fighting hard to stay awake. Her lack of sleep the last few nights was starting to catch up with her. Please come soon, she thought at the rider. It would be terrible if she fell asleep and missed him.

At quarter to one, she heard the now-familiar growl of the engine as the bike pulled up and stopped beneath her window. Quietly, Jasmine unhooked the strap of the binoculars from the bedpost, crept to the window, and trained the binoculars down at the rider and his machine.

It really was the most beautiful motorcycle she had ever seen. Through the glasses, she lingered over its sleek, gleaming lines and curves. Awed, she studied the mechanical parts, marveling at the power they carried within them. She raised the binoculars to the biker's head, hoping to catch a glimpse of his face through the visor of his helmet.

"Whatcha looking at?"

Jasmine jumped, her heart feeling like it was about to pound right out of her chest, and lowered the glasses. "Mitsu!" she protested quietly. "Go back to bed."

Mitsu peered down through the window. "You're writing your essay about a guy on a bike?"

"None of your business. Hey, be careful with those!"

Mitsu grabbed the binoculars away from her. "I want to see what manga he's reading." She craned her neck down and fiddled with the adjustment on the binoculars, then was silent for a minute. "No way," she finally breathed.

"No way what?" Jasmine asked, irritated.

"It's Andromeda Senshi Invincible," Mitsu said, not taking her gaze from the biker's comic book. "That's one of my favorites! Wait, oh wow, it's volume 7. It came out right before... right before we came here. I didn't get to see it." Now she put the glasses down and turned to Jasmine. "You know what that means, Jasmine? He's from Crystal Tokyo! From the future!"

"What?" Jasmine grabbed the binoculars back from Mitsu. She refocused the glasses and trained them back on the man on the bike, wishing she could see who it was.

Almost as though he had heard her wish, the man raised his visor, then took off the whole helmet. He shook out his short, glossy black hair, and Jasmine caught a glimpse of his face. She sucked in her breath loudly.

"What is it?" Mitsu asked.

"I know who that is," Jasmine whispered. "His name is Reizo. He's a soldier in the palace regiment." She felt her face turn red, and hoped that the light was too dim for Mitsu to notice.

"Ha, you're blushing!" Mitsu said. "You like him! I thought you liked my brother Keiji."

"I do. But before I liked him, I sort of had a crush on Reizo. It was silly." It had been silly. There was no reason in the world why someone like him should pay the slightest bit of attention to her. And anyway, he was way too old for her. But once, he had caught her watching him as he marched with his squadron in drills in the training yard, and had given her a wink and a smile that had made her heart absolutely melt...

"Maybe he's been sent to protect us," Mitsu whispered. "Maybe our dads sent him to make sure no more monsters would try to get us."

Jasmine's heart contracted painfully with the wild hope. That would mean that their fathers hadn't had anything to do with that other monster, after all. Their dads didn't want to hurt them. "Then why wouldn't the Senshi know about him?"

Mitsu though for a moment. "Maybe they have to keep it secret that they sent someone, because they're being held captive. Or maybe they think we'll be safer with two different sets of guards who don't know about each other. Or maybe the Senshi do know, and they didn't want to tell us, for some reason."

Jasmine looked down at Reizo again, sitting there alone and courageous, reading his manga, watching over her and the younger kids. She felt safer than she had since that panicked, fearful awakening by Sailor Pluto in the house by the lake. Her fathers had sent someone to protect her, and everything would be all right.

"Maybe we can try to get downstairs and see him," Mitsu said. "He might let me borrow his manga."

"How would we do that?" Jasmine asked. "Every night there's a Senshi sitting up in the living room, and there's no other way out of the apartment. And no, I'm not climbing out the window. It'd be too embarrassing if we fell."

"Hmm," Mitsu said, her small face squinting up in thought. "He's been here before, right?"

"This is the third night in a row."

"I bet he'll be back tomorrow night. I'll think of something by then."

"I don't know," Jasmine said doubtfully. "We'll get in trouble again."

"In trouble for what? He's here to protect us, right? We won't be in danger." Mitsu yawned hugely. "I'd better go back to bed. You can sit up all night and guy-watch if you want." She padded back to her bed and snuggled up under the covers. Jasmine watched Reizo for a few more minutes, then let her deep weariness overcome her. She could sleep safely now.

* * * * * * * *

It turned out to be easier to carry out Mitsu's plan than they had thought it would be. Two nights later Usagi was taking her turn on guard duty. Late that night, Mitsu peered around the corner into the living room to watch Sailor Moon, who was not noted for her ability to stay awake all night. "She's on her fourth Coke," Mitsu whispered to Jasmine after she crept back into the bedroom from her reconnaissance mission. "She's got to go to the bathroom sometime. Is he still out there?"

Jasmine nodded from the window. "Still there. What about Naru-oneesan?"

"She's finally asleep. I thought they were going to sit there and yak all night. We'd better pay attention so we don't miss our chance. Do you have the keys?"

Jasmine nodded again, touching the string around her neck that held the keys to the apartment and the building, so they could get back inside when their visit with their guardian was over. She took off the nightshirt she was wearing over her school clothes, and Mitsu did the same.

Soon enough, they heard footsteps pad down the hall, and the bathroom door closed. "Hurry!" Jasmine whispered.

"You still have the keys?"

"Yes! Now hurry up!"

Quietly, moving as quickly as they dared, the girls snuck out of their room and down the hall, crept past Naru asleep on the fold-out futon sofa, and held their breath as they opened the front door. They slipped out into the hall and closed the door without hearing Sailor Moon emerge from the bathroom. They went out the door on the ground floor of the building, then hurried around the corner into the narrow side street.

He was still there, reading his comic book, his black helmet dangling from the handlebar of his motorcycle. Jasmine and Mitsu crept up behind him, feeling suddenly shy and nervous, wondering how they would get his attention without startling him.

But he turned around and saw them first, and smiled, almost as though he'd been expecting them. "Hi."

"Hi," Mitsu replied nervously. Jasmine couldn't speak at all; she thought her feet and stomach had melted at the sight of his face, the sound of his voice. You're in love with Keiji, not this guy, not anymore, she reminded herself, but it didn't help. Maybe it was the bike that was having this effect on her.

"You've been guarding us, haven't you?" Mitsu asked. "Did our dads send you?"

Reizo smiled again as he nodded. "Yes, they did. They sent me here to watch you."

"See, Jasmine?" Mitsu said, her eyes lighting up. "We were right! Our dads wouldn't try to hurt us."

Something tight inside Jasmine, that had been there since the attack in the school auditorium, loosened up, then dissolved. She smiled, and finally found her voice. "I like your motorcycle," she said shyly.

"I thought you might," Reizo said. "I remembered that you like motorcycles."

"Wow, you remembered something about me? I thought you didn't even know I was alive!"

"I had to be careful. After all, I'm just a common soldier, and you're the daughter of two Guardians. Want to sit on the bike? See how it feels?"

"Oh, wow! Thanks!" It seemed like a dream; Jasmine could hardly believe this was real. Slowly she moved towards the bike. Reizo scooted back on the seat, making room for her in front of him, and she climbed on, straddling the leather seat. She could almost feel vibrations from the silent engine coming up through the handlebars.

"Can I see your manga?" Mitsu asked.

"Sure." With a smile, Reizo handed her the comic book. "It's yours. I can get another one."

"Thanks!" Mitsu leaned against the motorcycle, eagerly flipping through the pages, then turned to the first page and started reading.

It was too good to be true, Jasmine thought over and over. Too good to be true, she couldn't believe it was happening.... She suddenly felt dizzy, and her sight blurred. She blinked and tried to shake herself. She couldn't move; she looked down, and saw that her body was bound with bands of shimmering black power. Mitsu was also bound; the younger girl gasped and turned scared turquoise eyes towards Jasmine. Jasmine twisted her neck to look back at Reizo; the young soldier's eyes were glowing red. "What's going on?" Jasmine demanded. "What are you doing?"

"Your fathers sent me to watch you, then bring you back when I had the chance to without any of the Senshi intervening to protect you. We'll just be on our way now."

He pulled a protesting Mitsu up onto the motorcycle in front of Jasmine, then reached around the two girls to grasp the handlebars. Something exploded inside Jasmine, a feeling of hopeless, helpless rage at the betrayal. "No!" she cried. Pain blossomed in her chest and burst out of her in a searing flash of silvery-pink and white light. The soldier-youma screamed, then everything went dark.

* * * * * * * *

Jasmine came to, lying in the narrow street. Her head was cradled in Naru-oneesan's lap, and the older girl had one arm around a sobbing Mitsu. The motorcycle was still there, but she couldn't see Reizo anywhere. Did I kill him? Jasmine wondered numbly.

Sailor Moon came running down the alley towards the group. "He got away," she said, panting. The Senshi leaned over, resting her hands on her knees, to try to catch her breath. "He made it to the Time Portal at the lake."

"So he was able to return to the future?" Naru asked.

Sailor Moon nodded. "Yeah. He'll go back and tell them that the kids aren't completely helpless, even when they break the rules and sneak off by themselves." She glared at Mitsu and Jasmine.

Jasmine wished she could hide. "I'm sorry. It was my fault."

"I can't believe you would do something like this," Naru said. "Coming out here in the middle of the night, alone, to talk to a stranger?"

"I knew him. He's - he was - a soldier in the Palace guard. I used to have a crush on him," Jasmine said, her voice small with shame. "I liked his motorcycle. We thought our dads sent him to take care of us."

"I wanted to see his manga," Mitsu sniffled. She was still clutching the comic book in one hand. "It's one I didn't get to see before we came here."

"Let me see that." Sailor Moon reached out a hand for the comic book. Reluctantly, the girl gave it to her. Sailor Moon passed her hand over it and seemed to concentrate for a moment. "It seems okay. That was Nephrite's favorite trick, when he was with the Dark Kingdom. He would put a youma in an object that was important to his victim, to steal their energy. But this seems harmless." She handed the book back to Mitsu.

"My dad wouldn't do that to me!" Mitsu protested.

Sailor Moon crouched down in front of the two girls. "Listen. I'm sorry to have to say this, but we don't know what your dads would or wouldn't do. I'd like to think that if they had a choice they wouldn't do anything to hurt you. But they might not be in control of their own actions right now. They may have been taken over by someone who's very evil, which means anything could happen. Do you understand me?"

Jasmine and Mitsu both nodded, as Naru's arms tightened around them.

"Good," Sailor Moon said. "You've got to remember to follow the rules, and be very, very careful. Especially now. They've failed to get you two times now, so they might be getting desperate."

The girls nodded again. "Daddy," Mitsu whimpered, then she suddenly buried her head against Naru's shoulder and started crying.

Jasmine wanted to cry, too, but she struggled not to. She had to show that she could be mature. But it was hard not to give in to tears. Father, Papa, she thought, why would you try to hurt me?

* * * * * * * *