The Ferrari pulled out of the parking space with a squeal of tires and roared off through the crowded streets as Naru gave Nephrite directions to the Crystal Sky Gallery. She couldn't help laughing, half-terrified and half-exhilarated, at some of his driving maneuvers, and he returned her laughter with a grin and an extra burst of speed. The car slammed to a halt at the curb of a side street near the gallery, and Naru led the way to the entrance to the brightly-lit glass tower.

Suddenly a familiar figure appeared in the twilight in front of Naru, blocking the doorway. Naru recognized her friend in her Sailor Moon transformation. Sailors Mars and Jupiter appeared behind Sailor Moon, looking ready for a fight. “Usagi -!”

"Naru, tell me what - " Sailor Moon demanded.

Nephrite stepped in front of Naru, placing himself between her and the Senshi.

"You!" Sailor Moon exclaimed in disbelief. "Oh, crap." The three senshi gave each other what Naru could have sworn were frightened looks, then left the scene faster than Naru's eyes could follow.

Nephrite turned to Naru, looking puzzled. "Why would they be afraid of me after... what happened? And why would they ambush you?"

"One of them probably followed me here the other night. If they've figured out that I was going to the Crystal Sky Gallery and that the owner of the gallery is a former Dark Kingdom youma, they might be wondering why I'm hanging out with one of their enemies. The main artist here is also someone from when they were fighting the Dark Kingdom, and now you're here, at the same time that they're losing their powers... I'm not surprised they're upset."

Nephrite held the door for her as they entered the building. "What do you mean, losing their powers?"

The elevator was already waiting at the ground floor; they stepped inside and Naru pushed the button. "Basically, the Silver Crystal is becoming corrupted. Yumemi will tell you the whole story."

The other three Guardians, Kunzite, Zoisite, and Jadeite were in the gallery office, wearing clothes that looked brand-new off the racks from one of the nearby department stores. The table was littered with the remnants of a takeout supper. The three men sat at one end of the long table, looking tired. Thetis was at the other end, drumming her perfectly-manicured fingernails on the table while staring at the three men with a hostile expression on her face. Yumemi sat between them, studying her painting of the four Guardians and Helios.

The artist looked up when Naru and Nephrite came in. "Ah, good, you're back. I hope you had a chance to rest and get something to eat."

Nephrite was eyeing the leftover food. They hadn't eaten anything all day besides the chocolate parfait, and Naru was feeling the need for something more nourishing. "Not really," she said. "Can we have your leftovers?”

Jadeite snorted with a suppressed laugh, and Naru felt herself blush, suddenly realizing what they might think she and Nephrite had been doing all that time.

"Go ahead, we're finished," Kunzite said. "Can we get on with this now?"

Naru preferred not to sit near Zoisite; she and Nephrite drifted towards the middle of the table, across from Yumemi. They found a couple of unused pairs of chopsticks and some containers with food left in them, and started eating.

"All right, then," Yumemi said. “First of all, how much do you four remember from your lives before you went over to the Dark Kingdom?"

The four men thought for a few minutes, then Nephrite shook his head. "I don't remember anything, except that the four of us always seemed to have known each other and that we were in the service of Prince Endymion of Earth. Other than that, nothing."

The others shook their heads also. "I'm not sure that I actually remember that we were in the Prince's service, or if I only know it because that's what we were told at some point," Kunzite, the silver-haired man, said. "I don't remember why we joined Beryl and the Dark Kingdom, or anything specific until the battle that destroyed the Moon Kingdom."

"I know that Kunzite and I were together before we joined the Dark Kingdom," Zoisite added. "But I'm not sure how I know that."

"So you don't remember anything about the Golden Crystal, or studying with Helios, the Crystal's priest?" Yumemi asked.

Again the four of them shook their heads. "Those aren't familiar at all," Nephrite said. "We knew about the Silver Crystal and Queen Serenity, of course, because Beryl was obsessed with them. This other crystal you're talking about must have completely escaped her notice because otherwise she would have been all over us to find it along with the Silver Crystal."

"Okay." Yumemi scooted her chair closer to the three Guardians at the end of the table; Nephrite and Naru also moved closer to the group. Thetis stayed where she was. Yumemi pulled the painting over to them. "Does this help you remember?"

"That's the four of us," Nephrite said, "and that's Endymion over there. I suppose the man we're standing next to is Helios, and he's holding the Golden Crystal..." His voice trailed off as the four of them gazed intently at the painting. They seemed to shimmer, as though about to fade from sight. Naru blinked her eyes, trying to clear them. She must be more tired than she realized.

After several minutes, Jadeite raised his head. "It's starting to become clearer. I can remember a little bit about studying with Helios. Not very much though, and not in great detail."

"Is it the same for the rest of you?" Yumemi asked. The other men nodded. "Good, that's a start. Here's another Seeing for you." She slid over another canvas that Naru hadn't seen before; the paint still looked slightly wet.

This painting showed a rather run-down white building fronted by a columned porch sitting on a moonlit wooded hill. Three women, one with black hair, one brunette, and one with red hair, all wearing loosely draped white gowns, stood on the porch looking into the woods at the right side of the painting. Four men in dark blue uniforms, followed by Helios, were emerging from the woods along a dirt path.

"Thetis?" Yumemi asked. "Aren't you going to come look?"

"I don't need to. I never forgot," Thetis said. She glared at Jadeite.

“As you like," Yumemi said. Speaking to the Guardians, she described how the Golden and Silver Crystals had once been one, the Celestial Crystal, and how the Celestial Crystal, along with its Order, which had once included both the Senshi of the Moon Kingdom and the Guardians of Earth, had been divided during a war between the Earth and the Moon Kingdoms. "All that was left of the Order of the Celestial Crystal were three priestesses, who passed their knowledge and position and powers down to their daughters, and to their granddaughters, and so on for several more generations, to the last three priestesses. Who were Naru, Thetis, and me."

Yumemi described how the last priestesses of the Order of the Celestial Crystal had seen disaster coming and had called a meeting with the Moon Princess and the Senshi, and with Helios and the Guardians to propose reuniting the Golden and Silver Crystals. "The Moon Queen wouldn’t talk to us, but Helios agreed to meet with us, and he brought the four of you. Look into the picture, and see if you remember."

As Naru studied the picture, the gallery office faded away. It seemed as though she were standing on the columned porch in the cool moonlight, but the person standing next to her was not one of the other priestesses. "I never knew this place existed," Nephrite said beside her.

"Very few people remember it," Naru the priestess said, looking shyly sideways at Nephrite the Guardian. She, Thetis, and Yumemi would need to bear daughters soon to carry on the memory of the Celestial Crystal; Naru wondered if today she had met the man who would be the father of her daughter. Men came to this tiny, remote moon so seldom; if she didn't take this opportunity, there might never be another. She had noticed Thetis and Jadeite together, and also Yumemi and Helios. The other two Guardians, judging by their glances and gestures with each other, were clearly not candidates to father the priestesses' daughters. Naru wondered if this need was another reason why Yumemi had called for this meeting with the Guardians and their teacher.

Naru didn't want to move too quickly; she really didn't know how Nephrite would react to such a proposal. She didn’t want to push him away. He was so handsome, and she felt so comfortable in his presence, even though they had only met that day. She hoped he would agree.

"Let's go walk in the woods," Nephrite said. He offered her his arm and she took it. They walked down the worn white stone steps of the shrine and followed the dirt path into the trees. "Is it always this dark here?" Nephrite asked.

"Not always,” she replied. “For part of the year, when we come a little closer to the sun, it gets lighter. That doesn't last for long, though."

They chatted a bit more about conditions on the tiny sphere. Once they were in the forest, out of sight of the shrine, Nephrite stopped walking and turned to face Naru. "Before we came here," he said, "Helios took me and Jadeite aside and spoke to us privately about the need for the priestesses of your Order to bear daughters to succeed you."

Naru felt her face grow warm. She didn't know where to look.

Nephrite went on. "He suggested that, since visitors to your world are extremely rare, we might consider assisting you in fulfilling that responsibility. As he also intends to do... He loves the Seer, you know."

Naru still couldn't look at him. "I knew they had met before."

There was a silence, then Nephrite spoke awkwardly. "I would be willing to... to assist you in this..."

Naru looked up; his eyes met hers briefly, then they both looked away from each other.

"But," he continued, "I don't want it to just be a matter of duty. Guardians don't marry, but we do get lonely, and I would like to have something more than duty to remember." Finally he looked directly at her, and cupped her face in his hand to make her meet his eyes. "We've only just met today, but I'm already very fond of you. There's a brightness about you, and a gentleness. I feel at ease with you. And you're very beautiful, and desirable, and I want you. But let's wait, just a little, to make sure this is something we want for its own sake and not just as a matter of duty and obedience."

Naru's cheeks felt even warmer. She made an effort to speak in a composed and dignified manner. "You're very kind," she said, feeling breathless. "I - you - You're right, we should wait for a bit. Just to be sure it's what we want."

Waiting for "just a bit" turned out to be less than half the night. She couldn't sleep; when she got up to step outside for some fresh air, he was already out on the porch, his rich hair gleaming in the starlight. He saw her, and smiled. She reached out her hand for his and, without a word passing between them, she led him to her room.

The scene faded, leaving Naru sitting at the conference table, blushing furiously. She didn't dare look at Nephrite, or anyone else for that matter; she didn't think they would have seen the same thing she did, but she didn't know for sure.

"Nothing came of that meeting," Yumemi said, "either as far as heirs to the Order or an agreement to reunite the Crystals. Helios felt that he couldn’t make any agreements without the approval of his king, and the difficulties between Earth and the Moon ran too deep to be able to solve them in just a few days. I had some hope when I Saw that the Moon Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion of Earth had secretly fallen in love but by then it was too late. The next time the Guardians came to visit us, they tried to persuade us to join Beryl, as they had already done. Only Thetis went with Jadeite; Naru and I sided with the Moon Kingdom and died in battle."

"That's too bad," Zoisite said. "Now, is there a point to all this? It's been a very long time since I've had a decent night's rest."

"I'm sorry for taking so long," Yumemi said. "This is all just background. Now we're getting to the reason why we've brought you back."

"Or would you rather have stayed where you were?" Thetis added archly.

Zoisite opened his mouth, then closed it and looked away. Kunzite rubbed the younger man's shoulder. "Let's just hear them out."

Yumemi smiled. "After I’m finished explaining, I hope you’ll decide to help us. It would be best if you did, if you want your return to life to last more than a few months at most. And that isn’t a threat; it's simply the truth about the situation we're facing."

“We'll listen. But no promises." Kunzite put his arm around Zoisite's shoulders and settled back in his chair.

"The Silver Crystal is beginning to deteriorate and become corrupted," Yumemi said. "It has been in its broken and imperfect state for too long; it’s decaying like a dead thing. I would imagine that the same thing is happening to the Golden Crystal. Of course, this corruption of the Silver Crystal affects Sailor Moon and the Sailor Senshi.”

"Why should we care?" Jadeite asked. “They were our enemies."

“As the Crystal becomes more corrupted, so will the Senshi. Evil Senshi, I'm sure you’ll agree, would not be a good thing. Also, as part of its natural development, the Earth will be going through a tremendous change in the near future. One of the Celestial Crystal's main purposes was to guide the Earth through this transformation into its next phase. The Silver Crystal by itself, in its healthy state, would have been able to do this, though just barely. But a broken, corrupted, possibly evil Silver Crystal will cause the Earth to fall into a disastrous condition from which it would never recover. The end probably won't come quickly, but it will come."

The four Guardians were silent for several minutes. Then Nephrite spoke up. "When Naru and I arrived back here, Sailor Moon and two other Senshi ambushed Naru by the front door, but when they saw me they got scared and ran off. Eight years ago, three of them might have been a match for me, and I would think they’d be stronger now. If they're losing their powers, that would explain why they ran away rather than fighting."

"This doesn't sound good," Yumemi said. “If they’re already that weakened, and already treating Naru as an enemy, we have less time than I thought. We'd better start moving faster." Yumemi looked at the Guardians again. "We need to obtain the Golden and the Silver Crystals, purify them, and reunite them. It will take the strength of as many of the rightful members of the Order of the Celestial Crystal as we can gether to accomplish this. Can we count on the four of you to help us?"

"Of course I'll help," Nephrite said, and Jadeite nodded his agreement.

"Well?" Yumemi asked Zoisite and Kunzite.

"We won't have to work directly with the Senshi, will we?" Zoisite asked with distaste.

"I hope we’ll be able to convince them to help us. You cannot afford to continue to see them as enemies," Yumemi answered. “Naru, I think you would be the best person to talk to Sailor Moon. And the Senshi may be less hostile towards Nephrite than towards the other Guardians."

"I don't know," Naru said. "They already seemed pretty hostile. But Usagi might listen to me if the others aren't there."

"All right. Do what you can. I think it would also help if you and Nephrite tried to talk to Endymion - Mamoru, that is. Also known as Tuxedo Kamen, of course. He could influence Sailor Moon, plus I'm concerned that when we find Helios he won't agree to the reunification of the Crystals without his Prince's approval."

Naru and Nephrite nodded assent.

"Now, as for finding Helios. During the first war against the Dark Kingdom, Helios took the Golden Crystal and fled to the dream dimension of Elysion to keep it safe. The Senshi had dealings with him several years ago, but I wasn’t able to contact him then, and since then he has gone back to Elysion. I only have a few clues about where Elysion is and what it's like. But if I paint a Seeing based on what I do know and what I can guess, someone might be able to get to Elysion through it. Who would like to volunteer for that?"

"We will," Kunzite said. "Zoisite has a talent for finding a way into places that are hard to get into."

"I never could construct a guard spell that would keep him out," Nephrite added.

"Besides," Zoisite put in, "we won't have to deal with the Senshi or Chiba Mamoru." His face looked as though he was biting into something sour when he said Mamoru's name.

Yumemi ignored Zoisite's last comment. "Thank you. So, Jadeite and Thetis, that leaves the two of you, along with me, in reserve for now. Perhaps you two can work on resolving your issues in the meantime."

"I can't kill him yet?" Thetis, who had glared in silence across the table during the whole conversation, asked.

"What'd I do?" Jadeite asked.

Thetis stood up abruptly, slamming both hands on the table. "I joined the Dark Kingdom for you! I let Queen Beryl turn me into a youma so I could stay with you! And did you care? Did you ever speak to me, or even notice me? All the other youma were all over you, 'Yes, Jadeite-sama, Anything you say, Jadeite-sama, You're so wonderful, Jadeite-sama,' and you loved it! How many of them did you sleep with, anyway?"

Jadeite looked as though he had been hit by a truck. "I, ah - You were Beryl's favorite. That made you too dangerous."

“Pssh.” The sound was filled with contempt. "And when the Senshi attacked me, you didn't even try to protect me! You let them kill me!"

"And Beryl punished me for that. Not right away, but after that I was on borrowed time, I had to redeem myself for that and I failed..."

"She didn't punish you enough, as far as I'm concerned. At least she cared." The elegant, dark-haired woman looked furious enough to kill with just a look, but Naru picked up on a note of deep hurt in her voice.

"I'm sorry," Jadeite finally said. "You know what Beryl did to us."

"You know what she did to me, but I never changed towards you."

Jadeite looked down. "I'm sorry."

"Prove it," Thetis said. "You've got till we fix the Crystal. And then I'll finish what Beryl started. If the world doesn't end first." She walked to her desk and picked up her expensive black leather handbag. "I've got an appointment. Let me know if you need me for anything, Yumemi." Then she stalked out of the room, stiletto heels clicking sharply on the wooden floor.

Everyone stared at Jadeite, who looked as though he wanted to crawl under the table. "So how many of them did you sleep with?" Zoisite asked.

"Don't you two have a painting or something to look at?" Jadeite snapped at him.

"I haven't painted it yet," Yumemi said mildly, as though the entire scene hadn't happened. "It's been a long day, and you need to rest and regain your strength. We'll find you gentlemen a place to stay."

"I've already got a place," Nephrite said.

"Oh, good," Yumemi said. "So we'll get an apartment for you three, then. Or a hotel suite, if we can't find an apartment."

"None of us have any money," Kunzite pointed out. "Well, I suppose Nephrite might still have some, from the cover he used when he was in charge of Earth operations."

"Don't worry about that," Yumemi said, opening up a laptop computer that had been buried by papers and canvases on the table. "This gallery has been quite successful, and Thetis and I have made some profitable investments in preparation for the time when we might need to bring you back."

Nephrite stood up and with a touch on Naru's shoulder indicated that she should follow him. "If you don't need us any more, we'll be going now. We'll let you know how it goes with Sailor Moon and Chiba Mamoru." Then he and Naru left the Gallery together.