The members of the newly re-formed Order of the Celestial Crystal spent the rest of that day and the next day resting, eating, and planning. They made nests of the blankets Naru's mother had brought on the dusty floor of the cavernous main room to stay warm in the unheated mansion during the bitterly cold days and nights.

By the third day, word of the group of "eco-super-terrorists" had spread throughout Japan, so it was time to put the plan into motion. Nephrite tucked the papers he would need for their marriage into a pocket of his coat - when he had established his identity as "Sanjouin Masato," he had had every possible document that he could conceivably need, including the ones he would need to legally record a marriage, drawn up by what he referred to as a "documentation expert." He would transport Naru and Yumemi, while Jadeite, Thetis, and Mamoru would be traveling together. After a final review of locations, including the place where they would gather for their confrontation with Sailor Moon, he distributed the cash, taken from a metal box under the worktable, that the members of the group would need for their various activities.

"Okay," he said, "let's go."

The room fell away and there was that instant of total cold and dark, the dizzying sensation of there being nothing solid around. Then the nothingness turned into snowy woods, and Naru, Nephrite, and Yumemi found themselves a short distance from a road leading to a small mountain village. "Perfect," Nephrite said. "It was worth taking so much time to learn all the local roads."

This was Yumemi's drop-off, a small artists' colony deep in the mountains, remote enough that it would look like she was trying to hide, but not so remote as to be cut off from news from the outside world. Yumeno Yumemi, the famous artist now suspected of being an environmental terrorist, would almost certainly be identified as she rented a private studio and apartment under a clumsily-contrived alias.

Naru quickly embraced the artist. "Be careful. Watch the news and be ready. We'll pick you up in a while."

"I'll be fine." Yumemi returned the embrace, then turned to follow the road into the village.

"I hope the others' aim is this good," Nephrite said as they walked out of sight of the road to teleport to their own destination. Thetis and Jadeite would be leaving Mamoru at a small hot-spring resort. Thetis and Jadeite would then teleport to another remote but more famous resort, where she would register the two of them under another obviously false name. In an hour, Mamoru would contact Usagi from his location without making his presence known to anyone else.

Once they were well away from the road, Nephrite put his arms around Naru and teleported with her to yet another mountain vacation village. This one was large enough to have its own registry office, where they would go to get married under their real, or in Nephrite's case, legal, names.

Just beyond the outskirts of the town, Nephrite turned Naru to face him. "You're sure you want to do this?"

"More sure than I've ever been about anything," she answered. "Do you have the ring? And the papers?"

He patted his coat pocket. "It's all here."

"Okay, then." She took his hands in hers and smiled up at him. "Let's go get married."

The registry office was small, with a single clerk in a dark suit sitting at the front desk. Nephrite and Naru walked in and Nephrite said, "We'd like to get married."

The registry official looked up and straightened his dark blue tie. "Ah, good, good. Very happy for you. Do you have witnesses with you?"

Naru smiled, trying to look embarrassed. "No, we don't have anyone. We're eloping - all of our relatives were arguing over us."

"We were hoping you could provide witnesses," Nephrite added.

"Certainly." The registrar smiled. "I'll be right back." He walked next door, to a small inn, and came back with an elderly couple. "My usual witnesses, in cases like yours. This town seems to be a popular destination for those who are eloping. Now, let me see your papers, please."

Naru and Nephrite complied. The paperwork was looked over, more papers produced and filled out, the marriage registry signed and witnessed.

"And, congratulations," the registry clerk said. "Please accept my best wishes for a long and happy marriage. Would you like a decorative certificate?"

Nephrite took care of ordering the document, giving a mailing address that Naru guessed was the physical location of his business. Once that was taken care of, Nephrite turned to Naru and took the box with the ring in it out of his pocket. He slid it onto the ring finger of her left hand, then pulled her into his arms and kissed her long and warmly. Naru blushed at being kissed like that in front of the registry official and the elderly couple, but then she saw they were smiling and clapping their hands softly in approval. "That's the best part of this job," the clerk said. "Seeing young couples in love so happy together." The elderly couple added their good wishes and then left, Nephrite and Naru following them to register at the hotel.

* * * * * * * *

The registry clerk picked up the phone at the desk and dialed a number.

"National Police Agency Witness Hotline," the voice on the other end said.

* * * * * * * *

In their hotel room, Nephrite turned on the television to a news channel. "I wish we had more time," Naru said as they sat down on the bed to watch for the reports.

"So do I." Nephrite gripped her hand. "But we don't want to be caught at, ah, an inconvenient moment when it's time to go."

Naru tried to calculate how much time they would need for a quick consummation of their marriage versus how long it would take the police to start looking for them. Given her lack of experience, it was hard to tell. Best to wait until they had time to relax and enjoy it, she decided. "Later, when this is all over with." She smiled at him.

"Later." He smiled back, with a look in his eyes that made tingles go up her spine.

They watched the news anxiously. The hour until Mamoru was supposed to summon Usagi to their rendezvous was ticking away. There was a lot of news about politics and the economy. Highways and railways had been made dangerous by the icy, extremely cold conditions, choking off supply lines. In some areas, consumers were starting to hoard goods, buying out the local stores' entire stock of necessities; fights and even riots had broken out in a few places. There were interview clips of politicians from different parties blaming the other parties for what was happening, and a human interest story about a snowman contest on Waikiki Beach.

"This just in," the news anchor said, holding a sheet of paper that had just been handed to him. "A member of the alleged eco-terrorism group suspected in the recent explosion in the Roppongi area of Tokyo has been spotted. The artist Yumeno Yumemi is reported to have rented a private studio in an artist colony. Another suspect in the explosion, gallery owner and art dealer Mikami Tetsiya, was spotted registering at a mountain resort hotel with an unidentified companion, who is also believed to have been involved with the incident the other day..."

"Let's go," Nephrite said. They put their coats back on, then Nephrite put his arms firmly around Naru and they teleported to Yumemi. She was standing in the middle of her rented studio, and didn't waste a second in joining them. "I thought I heard sirens," she said. "We're cutting it pretty close."

"Don't worry, we're out of here right now," Nephrite said. He put his free arm around Yumemi's shoulders and they teleported again.

They arrived just outside the town where Mamoru had been dropped off. Jadeite and Thetis were already there; they glanced around uncomfortably when the other three arrived, as though they had been caught either arguing or kissing. It could as easily have been one or the other, Naru thought. The five of them walked quickly to the inn where Mamoru was waiting for Usagi.

This particular inn had a secluded courtyard that would set the right tone for Mamoru and Usagi's rendezvous, and also offered plenty of places for the others to hide. It was out of sight of the main part of the inn, so hopefully they wouldn't attract an audience before their business with Sailor Moon was finished. Mamoru was waiting beside a small fountain in the center of the courtyard. He nodded to the group in silence when they arrived. Without a word, the five of them concealed themselves, then Mamoru took out his cell phone.

* * * * * * * *

Usagi sat in the kitchen of the tiny apartment she shared with Mamoru, surrounded by her Senshi. They were watching the news, making note of the locations where their enemies had been spotted. "Dammit, where is that bastard?" Usagi muttered. "He can't hide from me, I'll find the others and make them tell me where he is..."

"Sanjouin Masato and a woman who was witnessed at the scene of the explosion" - the screen showed a blurry camera-phone photo of Naru - "were reported to have registered a marriage in a town sixty kilometers away from Ms. Yumeno's reported locattion. The whereabouts of the sixth member of the group, who is unidentified but widely believed to be the husband of Sailor Moon" - another blurry photo from the fight, this one of Mamoru - "are as yet unknown. It is believed that after Sailor Moon identified them, the members of the group scattered in order to avoid capture. However, the National Police Agency reports that they are preparing to move in on the suspects -"

Usagi's cell phone rang. "What is it?" she snapped into the phone.

"Usa-chan? It's me, love. Mamoru."

"Where the hell are you, you bastard?" she screeched. "What do you think you're doing with those damn traitors?"

"Usa-chan, love, please listen to me. At first I thought they could help you -"

"What do you mean, help me? Since when do I need any damn help?"

"Usagi-chan, I'm sorry. I meant, you haven't been yourself lately, and -"

"No, I damn well haven't been. I'm better than I used to be. I'm stronger. I'm so strong, nothing can get in my way. And I'm not afraid of being strong."

"Okay, okay. I realize I was wrong about them - they were tricking me to get to you. I never meant to betray you. In fact, I've thought about what you talked about. About a baby. And you're right - it's time."

For a moment Usagi was too surprised to speak. "What?"

"I mean it. You're right, it's time, and it's wrong of me to keep denying you what you want so much. I got away from them. I'm hiding here -" he gave her the name of a hot-spring resort in the mountains. "Come to me as soon as you can, and we'll get to work on making a baby. Okay?"

Usagi knew she should think about it, but the longing inside her, the knowledge that now was the time to conceive the child who was destined to save the world, was too strong. Besides, according to the news reports and what Mamoru said, the others were scattered over hundreds of kilometers, and none of them were within a hundred and fifty kilometers of where Mamoru was. He was alone, she would go to him and get what she wanted, and then decide how to deal with him. "Okay. I can be there right away."

Usagi ended the call and stood up. "Who was that?" Sailor Jupiter asked.

Usagi ignored the question. She transformed into Princess Serenity. "Don't follow me," she said to her Senshi, and teleported to where Mamoru was.

* * * * * * * *

Pegasus was slowing down. He evaded capture two more times, but the third time he tried to run away he was too slow. Zoisite dove and tackled him by the hind legs. The unicorn struggled frantically, thrashing around with his forelegs and head. Zoisite held on, narrowly avoiding the murderous horn and sharp obsidian hooves.

Kunzite took off his sweater and the silk shirt he was wearing, and ripped ribbons of fabric from the shirt. He twisted the strips of fabric together into a pair of ropes, then reached for the unicorn's front legs. A slash from a sharp hoof opened up a cut down his left arm, but he managed to grab the legs and tie them together. He then bound the back legs with the other rope, then left Zoisite holding the creature while he put his sweater back on.

"Forget the damn sweater!" Zoisite yelled as the unicorn thrashed and twisted in his grasp.

"I'd be happy enough to do without it now," Kunzite replied, pulling the fine cashmere sweater over his head, "but I have the feeling I'll want it when we get out of here." Covered up again, he wrestled the unicorn's back legs into a firm hold. The creature fell still, but Kunzite had the feeling his stillness was just a test, to see if his two captors would loosen their grips.

"Now what?" Zoisite asked.

"We need to find a way out. Let's see if we can carry him back to where we came in. Maybe there's some kind of portal in that area. If we can't open it ourselves, we can at least be there when they manage to open it from the other side."

"If they manage to open it," Zoisite said.