Nephrite awoke on the floor of the tower's living chambers, where the Royal Family and their guards had been imprisoned for weeks. Sailor Mercury, her calm physician's face set in concentration, was taping a bandage over his right ribs. "Don't move," she said. "I'm almost done here." She finished taping down the gauze, then tested her handiwork to make sure the bandage was on securely. "That should hold you together for now," she said, handing Nephrite his shirt and jacket.

Nephrite sat up to pull them on, and looked around. Endymion, Serenity, Mercury, Pluto, and Keiji and Mitsu were in the room, along with the other three Guardians, who were huddled together on the floor, looking rather dazed. From outside the door came the sounds of a pitched battle; the other Senshi, the soldiers who had been imprisoned here, and Benjiro and Jomei were still trying to hold off the Lady's youma. Nephrite turned his attention to his third son, seated cross-legged on the floor nearby. Keiji's cheek was crisscrossed with several fine scars; Nephrite remembered Zoisite's account of the boy's vain attempt to keep him from stealing Sailor Pluto's Timestaff. Nephrite touched his son's scars gently. "I'm proud of you, Keiji," he whispered.

The boy shrugged, blushed, and looked down, manfully trying to bite back his pleased smile.

Zoisite spoke. "Keiji, forgive me. Nephrite. You know that - that we weren't -"

"I know," Nephrite said, cutting off the awkward apology. "Now that you're healed, we need to go back right away and get your crystals. Pluto?"

"I'm afraid I can't help you. Someone took my Timestaff, remember?" She glared at the tawny-haired Guardian.

"Right." Zoisite stood and teleported in a flurry of cherry blossoms. He reappeared a moment later with the Timestaff in hand. Nephrite picked up Mitsu, who was still slightly faint from having the Silver Crystal removed, then the four Guardians and Pluto gathered around the staff, holding onto it. "Your Majesty, we - " Kunzite started to say to Endymion.

"There's no time," Nephrite interrupted him. "We need those crystals now." Pluto and the Guardians raised the Timestaff. A portal opened, and the five warriors, with Mitsu safely in Nephrite's arms, stepped into the paths of time.

* * * * * * * *

Most of the Senshi had left Naru's apartment; only Usagi and Mina stayed behind, to help Naru with the children. The three remaining children wanted to stay up, to see what happened. But Usagi finally managed to convince them that there was no way to know when Nephrite and Mitsu would be back. "It might not be for days," she said. "You can't go without sleep for that long."

When the children were finally settled into bed, the three young women collapsed onto the sofa in the front room. Naru picked up the phone to order pizza. A sudden, soundless whoosh made her look around.

In the middle of the room, multi-colored swirls of light and a drifting of cherry blossoms cleared to reveal Sailor Pluto with Nephrite, who was carrying Mitsu, and three other black-uniformed men. Nephrite set Mitsu on her feet, revealing the rip and bloodstains along the right side of his unbuttoned jacket and his white shirt. Red blood, Naru thought curiously. Then she saw the shorter, slender man with the long golden ponytail. The sight hit her like a physical blow, knocking the breath out of her. "You!" she gasped. Rage surged up inside her, blinding her. She launched herself over the back of the futon sofa at him, wanting to pound that beautiful, sneering face into a pulp.

Strong arms grabbed her and held her tight. "Easy, Naru-chan," Nephrite's low voice whispered in her ear. "It's all right."

Naru caught her breath and looked up at Nephrite as her vision cleared. "But, he killed you!"

One corner of Nephrite's mouth bent up very slightly. "I know. We still haven't entirely come to terms over that. But we're on the same side now, and I promise he won't hurt you or me or anyone else."

"Okay." Naru let herself relax against him. It felt good, leaning against him with his arms around her. She had to remind herself that he couldn't stay, he didn't belong to her but to her future self. Still, just for a moment, it felt so lovely and safe.... "Are you and Mitsu all right? What happened? Are you hurt?"

"We didn't expect you back so fast," Usagi added.

"Mitsu's fine. I've just got a little scratch; it's nothing," Nephrite explained tersely. "Serenity has the Silver Crystal. These three have been healed, and now they need their crystals. The Senshi, my three oldest boys, and the soldiers who were trapped with them should be able to hold off the Lady's youma, at least for a while. But we can't delay too long."

"I'll go get the kids," Mina said, and headed towards the hallway, with a curious backwards glance at Jadeite. Before she left the room, Meiko, Toshiro, and Jasmine appeared, drawn by the commotion.

"Dad!" Toshiro cried, and ran to Jadeite. The blond Lord pulled his son close and ruffled his hair. Just as quickly, Jasmine ran to her fathers, and the three of them embraced. "I was so worried about you guys!" Jasmine sobbed.

"We're all right, Jasmine-hime. We're all right," Zoisite said, looking dangerously close to crying himself.

"Jasmine, we need to get our crystals from you," Kunzite said, interrupting the reunion. "I'm sorry. I know this will hurt, but there's a battle going on right now and the only way our side can win is if we four Lords all have our crystals."

"Okay, Father." Jasmine pulled back from Zoisite's arms, and stood up straight, though she was still sniffling and teary. Zoisite put his hand on his daughter's chest, just above her heart, and began exerting his draw on the crystal that had been activated by his blood.

Jadeite glanced at Zoisite and Jasmine, then looked down at his son. "Can you be brave, Toshi-kun, and let me get my crystal out of you?"

Toshiro nodded. "I'm as brave as Meiko is, and his dad already took the crystal out of him."

A bulge was pushing its way out of Jasmine's chest. With a brief flare of pinkish light and a small cry of pain from Jasmine, Zoisite had his crystal in his hand. Then Zoisite supported the girl, who had gone pale and shaky, while Kunzite extracted his crystal.

"Yeowch!" Toshiro yelled as a flash of greenish light burst from his chest. Then he recovered himself. "That didn't really hurt. Cool!" he said, looking at the pale green crystal that Jadeite was holding. "But I thought it'd have blood all over it or something." The boy sounded slightly disappointed.

"I'm just as happy to not see any of your blood," Jadeite said. "Are you two ready?" he asked Zoisite and Kunzite.

Kunzite held up his ice-like crystal. "Yes, we've both got our crystals." Zoisite helped Jasmine to lie down on the futon. "Just a moment," Kunzite said to the other Lords. He joined Jasmine and his partner by the sofa. Zoisite kissed their daughter's cheek, while Kunzite stroked her hair and said, "Don't worry about us. You help Lady Naru with the younger ones, and we'll be back for you when this is over."

"Be careful," Jasmine murmured faintly.

"We will, darling," Zoisite said. He and Kunzite rejoined Jadeite and Nephrite, who were saying goodbye to their own children. "Don't give your mother too much trouble," Nephrite said to Meiko and Mitsu, who were each wrapped firmly in one of his arms.

"Be good, Toshiro. I'll see you soon," Jadeite said. He kissed his son's cheek, then straightened up. He looked at Mina, with a solemn expression on his face. "Until we meet again, Lady Minako," he said, sweeping her a courtly bow.

Mina giggled, while Sailor Pluto muttered, "That's one more thing I'm going to have to take care of." The Senshi and the four Lords teleported away, leaving a brief silence in their wake.

Meiko recovered first. "What happened?" he demanded of his sister. "Was there a battle? Was it really cool? Did you see Benji-kun and Jomei-kun and Kei-kun?"

"Wait a minute," Naru said. "I want to hear this, too. Just let me order the pizza, then Mitsu can tell us all about it."

* * * * * * * *

From the apartment, the four Guardians and Sailor Pluto teleported to the time portal at the dock, then through the time portal to the living quarters in the besieged tower. When they arrived, Nephrite could hear the battle still being fought out in the stairwell. Neither Benjiro nor Jomei were inside. Nephrite fought back his fears for them. His sons were soldiers; they were doing their duty.

Serenity, in full magical transformation, hurried to the Guardians. "Do you all have your crystals?" she demanded.

"Yes, your Highness," Kunzite replied.

"Good. Beryl's throwing everything she has at us, youma, brainwashed soldiers, everything. I need you four and the Senshi to get me through. Then I should be able to banish Beryl with the crystal."

"There's just one more thing you need to know about, my Queen," Nephrite said.

"What is it, Lord Nephrite?"

"Your brother, my Queen. Lord Shingo. He's with Beryl. It was his plan that brought her back."

Serenity became very still and pale. "I - When we found he wasn't here with us, I was afraid - that he'd either been killed or captured. But he served her - of his own free will?"

"I don't know how it started, my Queen," Kunzite said. "Beryl must have been able to contact him somehow, from the dimension where you'd banished her. We don't know how - if she was able to take advantage of some weakness, some jealousy or resentment on his part...."

"He never told me," Serenity said. Tears swam in her huge blue eyes, and her lip began to tremble. She looked like a teenager about to burst into tears - her old, pre-Neo-Queen-Serenity self. "If he hated me, he never said a word. Why couldn't he come and talk to me about it?"

"There's no time to talk about that now," Nephrite said. "You need to be prepared to deal with your brother, and the four of us will need to work with you to cut Beryl off completely, so that she can't make contact with anyone else, ever. Now, I don't know where Beryl's getting all the energy for this battle. She's probably getting it from the populace of the city, and the longer we delay, the more people will suffer."

"You're right." The Queen wiped a stray tear from her eye, and drew herself up to her full height. "I'll heal Shingo if I can, and destroy him if I have to." Her voice broke, but she quickly composed herself again. "Let's go."

"Serenity, wait," Endymion said.

The Queen turned to face her husband. "Mamoru," she said fondly, sadly. "You can't help me with this. Stay here with Rini and protect her. Please."

"Of course, my love." Endymion kissed his wife quickly.

The four Guardians formed a vanguard around the Queen, then Jadeite, who was on the right end, opened the door. The noise, violence, and sheer magical force of the battle slammed into Nephrite like a tidal wave. He could hear the din of screams, mostly of inhuman youma voices, and the shouted Senshi attacks. Less audible but adding to the overall chaos of sound was the clanging of swords and the high whine of electronic firearms. Nephrite tried to collect himself enough to start pushing a path for the Queen through the battle.

It was slow going, even with all the Senshi fighting to clear the attacking youma and captive soldiers out of the way. The Guardians' crystals nearly doubled the strengths of their attacks, but Beryl's forces seemed innumerable. It seemed that where one youma or soldier fell, two or three appeared in its place. Beryl had to be draining the whole city of energy, Nephrite thought.

"Dad!" Jomei yelled.

Nephrite turned his head and saw, as though in slow motion, his son fire off a clumsy energy-ball at a youma that had somehow gotten around behind Serenity's guard, saw the youma turn to the source of the attack and launch an attack of black lightning at Jomei, saw Jomei fly backwards against the wall of the stairwell, his scream a dull sound to Nephrite's shocked mind. "Jomei!" The cry was torn from Nephrite's chest before he realized he had said anything at all. Forgetting everything else, he ran to his son's side, where the boy lay crumpled on the bloodied marble floor. Feeling as cold as the stone beneath him, Nephrite felt his son's pulse points. The boy's heart was beating weakly. There was a large, bleeding lump on his head where he had hit the wall, and his left leg was a bloodied, broken mass of tissue.

My fault, Nephrite thought numbly, wishing he could die in that moment. My fault...How could I allow this to happen? How can I face Naru with this?

"Dad!" It was Benjiro, shaking his shoulder roughly. "Dad, go on. You have to help the Queen. I'll take care of Jomei." Benjiro carefully gathered his younger brother to him. "Go on, Dad!"

Nephrite shook himself, and stood up. It wouldn't matter if Jomei lived, if the Lady won this battle. He pushed his way back to the front of Serenity's forces, passing Sailor Mercury, who had seen Jomei's injury and was hurrying back to help him. Nephrite nodded briefly, gratefully to her - if anyone could help his son, it was the quiet, dark-haired woman - then returned his mind to the battle.

Any restraint he might have had, any compunction he might have felt about killing Beryl's brainwashed troops who had once been his own men, were gone, shattered with Jomei's leg. He and his comrades, Guardians, Senshi, and soldiers alike, fought with unbending ferocity, clearing the stairwell and leading their Queen through safely.

There was almost no opposition as they entered the dark, ruined throne room. The Lady must have finally spent all her energy, Nephrite thought. It took energy to take energy, and she must have been using all her energy in the battle without saving any to replenish herself. The businessman portion of his brain thought, distantly, that no one had ever taught her about the value of reinvesting. And it was a good thing, too.

Except that now she would be desperate. She was probably planning to attack while Serenity was distracted by her brother and unable or unwilling to fight against him. As Nephrite's vision adjusted to the dark room, he could see Shingo standing by himself in front of the two empty thrones. He looked drained, haggard, far older than his thirty-five years, where before Beryl-Metallia's return he had looked much younger.

"Shingo!" Serenity cried, her voice agonized. "Shingo, how could you?"

"I hate you. You were always so stupid, so clumsy, so empty-headed - why are you worthy to rule instead of me?"

Nephrite forced himself to remain detached from the unfolding drama between the Queen and her brother. Instead, he focused on his crystal, drawing on its power, preparing to make a net in which to trap the Lady of Eternal Night when she finally revealed herself. He glanced at the other three Guardians, and saw that they were doing the same thing. Their old closeness had returned, the old ability to act as one without having to speak aloud to each other. Beryl had not been able to completely destroy it this time. Or maybe she had chosen not to. No matter, Nephrite thought. He and the others waited while the scene between Serenity and Shingo played out, and prepared to act when the Lady made her move.

"Shingo, you never said anything to me," Serenity pled. "I never knew it made you feel so bad - It was always my destiny, even though I never wanted it - "

"I never said anything, because I was stupid enough to still love you even though you had what should have been mine. But then she came, and taught me how to hate you. And now, I'll destroy you."

Shingo raised both arms and crossed them in front of his chest. The Shingo that Nephrite had known would never have been a match for Serenity-Sailor Moon. But now, there was no way of knowing how much power the Lady had given him, or what she had taught him. Nephrite prepared to attack Shingo, but Serenity stopped him with an upraised hand. "No."

She raised her crystal high above her head. It began to glow even as red fire gathered in Shingo's crossed arms. "Moon Healing Escalation!" she cried, nearly drowning out Shingo's shout of "Eternal Night Inferno!"

Blinding white light collided with the flare of black and red power that shot out as Shingo threw open his arms. "Imperium Crystal Obliteration!" Serenity shouted.

Shingo screamed, a horrifying, inhuman sound that seemed to be ripped from the depths of his soul. Blinding white light surrounded him, then dissipated to reveal his crumpled body on the floor. "Shingo!" Serenity cried. She tried to run to him, but Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus caught her. "No, don't," Mars said harshly.

A huge dark shadow rose above Shingo's body, vaguely human-shaped, with red eyes flaming in the shifting, smoke-like face. "We meet again, little Moon-Rabbit brat." Beryl-Metallia's voice echoed and grated like a hundred voices through the cold, cavernous hall. "So you would destroy your own brother?"

"No!" Serenity's voice shook, though she spoke loudly and clearly. Nephrite kept his attention focused on readying his crystal to join its power with the other Guardians' crystals, to cast a net around the evil being. From what he had observed the night this all began, it seemed that the Silver Crystal could act as a passive catalyst, attracting the power of the other crystals and weaving them together on its own. But for the spell to hold and be permanently binding, the Silver Crystal had to be actively commanded. Nephrite only hoped that Serenity would be able to figure out how to work the spell quickly.

Serenity was still speaking bravely to the demon queen. "If he's destroyed, it's because he was completely evil inside. He was already destroyed by you; he was no longer my brother. If he wasn't completely evil, then he's been healed."

The Lady chuckled. "Do you care to come closer and find out which it was?"

"No!" Sailor Mars shouted again. "Serenity, don't! She'll destroy you!"

If Shingo had been healed, Nephrite thought, and Serenity was able to revive him, he would be able to help her use the Silver Crystal to bind Beryl. He could help her work the spell the Guardians had intended to cast that other time. Nephrite glanced at Kunzite, Zoisite, and Jadeite, who each returned him a brief nod. As though being commanded by one mind, the four Guardians raised their crystals above their heads. Nephrite closed his eyes and concentrated so hard that he saw sparks in the darkness of his vision. A jolt traveled up his arms, shocking his eyes open again.

Deep blue light shot out of his crystal and began weaving itself together with strands of pale blue, icy pink, and pale green light from the other Lords' crystals. Eyes wide in shock, Serenity looked at the suddenly-glowing Silver Crystal in her hands. "What's it doing?"

"Hurry, your Highness!" Nephrite shouted. "Shingo can tell you how to control it!"

The intertwined lights began winding themselves around Beryl-Metallia. She shrieked, a piercing, unearthly sound, and fought against the binding. The net of light held, but Nephrite was putting every bit of his strength into maintaining his strands, and knew that when he or one of the other Guardians tired, the net would give way. They needed Serenity to bind the spell with the power of the Silver Crystal.

"Hurry!" Kunzite called to the Queen. "We can't hold this much longer!"

The Lady howled and writhed and fired bolts of black lightning at her captors, but the magical net around her absorbed the energy of her attacks. Serenity, surrounded by Mars, Jupiter, and Venus, ran to her brother and fell to her knees beside him. "Shingo!" she called, lifting him in her arms. "Shingo, wake up! Can you hear me? Shingo!"

"Usagi..." he finally said, his voice cracking. "Usagi, forgive me. I'm sorry. I was jealous, sometimes, but I never meant..."

"There's no time for that, my Lord!" Jadeite shouted. "Show her how to use the crystal to hold the net together!"

While Jadeite's attention was distracted, his strand slipped loose, and Beryl was able to get one of her attacks out. The black bolt tore through the edge of the group of Senshi, knocking Sailor Jupiter to the floor. "I'm okay," the tall Senshi gasped as she pushed herself to her hands and knees.

Serenity and Shingo held the Silver Crystal in their cupped hands, while Shingo murmured quickly and quietly to his sister. Nephrite's head pounded fiercely and his body trembled and sweated with his efforts. Hurry, you two, he thought.

"I've got it," the Queen said, and rose to her feet. She raised the crystal above her head and shouted, "Silver Eternal Weave!"

Tendrils of silvery light shot out from the Imperium Crystal and wove around the colored strands of light that bound Beryl-Metallia. In his mind, Nephrite felt the net lock into place. Now that he and the other Guardians didn't have to hold their strands in place, they could pour what remained of their strength into the crystals, producing more strands that wove around and around the demoness until she was completely sealed in the shroud of power. Her screams of rage grew fainter and fainter.

"Now," Serenity said, looking terribly pale and unsteady, "let's send you back where you belong!" Her Senshi gathered around her, placing their hands on her arms and shoulders. Serenity bore down with her mind, gritting her teeth with effort. The only other time Nephrite had seen such a look of concentrated effort on anyone's face had been when Naru was giving birth to their first child.

Light flared out from the Silver Crystal, enveloping the bound demon-queen. All of Nephrite's senses were suddenly assaulted by sound and light and a sense of a giant wind blowing through the hall. He thought he heard one final scream from Beryl-Metallia, but couldn't be sure of the source of any of the sensations he was experiencing.

Then silence. And darkness. Which, when his eyes adjusted, proved to only be the mundane surroundings of the battered throne room. In the dim light, Nephrite watched the Queen collapse in the arms of her Senshi.

* * * * * * * *