It wasn't going to happen. She should have known it was too good to be true. From the discussion between Usagi and the other Senshi and Nephrite, it became more and more clear to Naru that Nephrite and his friends were trapped in a dilemma. If they had the Senshi move the Earth back to the other reality, they would cause a lot of damage and wreck a lot of lives, as shown by the monsters that had been released by her own small bridging of the gap between the two realities. If they didn't, then they wouldn't be able to make the apologies and repayments they needed to make to earn their second chance at life.

There had to be another way. There just had to. It was so unfair to be given this taste of hope and then have it taken away, like he'd been taken away from her before. Who in all the universe would be cruel enough to play a trick like that? She wanted to believe there wasn't any entity that cruel, but Nephrite made it sound like it was only to be expected.

He looked so tired, even more tired than when he had died. Finally he went and lay down on the floor in a corner, shielded from sight by some furniture. She was so tired, too; she had also barely slept at all. She was still in just her pajamas, no shoes, not even a bra. She felt silly in her pajamas when all the other girls were fully dressed, and she should probably be embarrassed to let Nephrite see her like this. But it wasn't anything he hadn't seen before, and she had actually liked the feeling of him holding her close when he kissed her, with nothing between him and her but the thin fabric of her pajama shirt.

Her cheeks burned at the thought. She looked at where he lay in the corner, then, her stomach dancing with nerves but determined to do this anyway, she stood up and walked over there. The other girls glanced at her but no one said anything. This might be her one and only chance to sleep with him, and even if they weren't going to be able to do anything besides sleep, she didn't want to pass it up. She lay down beside him and curled up against him. He was so warm and solid, and she felt so safe next to him. She didn't know if he was still awake, but just as she drifted off, she felt his hand lightly brush over her hair.