The girl had finally relaxed in his arms and the tremors that had been
shaking her stilled. He knew he was walking aimlessly, but he had no
idea of where to take her. He would have to decide soon. The aftermath
of battle was catching up with him and was making even her slight weight
heavy in his arms. But it was a burden he did not mind carrying. In
fact, he liked the way she felt against him, warm and soft...liked the
way she had snuggled against him and wrapped her arms loosely around his
neck and rested her head against his shoulder. He still could not
understand why he had not been able to kill her. His hands stopped of
their own volition as his mind kept demanding that this act was
necessary. But he could not and so now, here he was, walking down a
street with a human cradled in his arms.

	*Is this love?* he mused to himself.

	Aurora wasn't sure what to think as she rested in Maxfield's *no, it's
Nephlyte...* she reminded herself, arms. Why had he come for her in the
first place? The only way to find out was to ask him.

	"Why did you come for me?"

	He looked down at her and frowned. "I don't know."

	She wasn't sure how to respond to that so she decided to worry about it
later. "Well, where are we going?"

	"Again, I don't know," he favored her with an amused smile.

	Aurora lifted her head and pushed against his chest a little so she
could see where they were and take her bearings. He stumbled a little as
her weight shifted and tightened his arms around her, then resumed his
easy pace. Aurora felt the fine tremor start in his arms.

	*He's just been through a major fight and has been carrying me all this
time. He must be exhausted!*

	"You can put me down now. I can walk," she wiggled in his arms and made
him put her down.

	He kept his right hand on her waist to steady her, to make sure that
she had recovered. It was then that she saw the dark shine of blood that
had soaked the sleeve of his jacket.

	"You're hurt!" She carefully took a hold of his elbow and moved his arm
into the light of a street lamp so she could see the extent of the
damage better.

	"It's all right," he told her as he looked at the injury himself. "It's
a scratch, nothing more. I've taken worse."

	Aurora frowned up at him. It wasn't a scratch, it was a deep gash and
should probably have stitches.

	"Come on," she took his other hand and gave a little tug. "We need to
have a doctor look at that."

	He didn't move.

	"Nephlyte! Come on!" She tugged a little harder, then made a perplexed
face at him when he continued to resist her and smiled.

	"Going to a human doctor would present...problems, Aurora. I think you
have forgotten what I am, even though this is the first time you have
called me by my true name."

	She frowned at him, then sighed. "You're right. Well, I'll just have to
tend to it myself, I guess. Come on, let's find someplace for you to sit
down."

	This time he didn't resist the tug of her hand and let her lead him.

	"Who's Zoicite?" She asked as she turned into the entrance of a small
park. 

	She needed to find someplace for him to sit down and fast. His steps
had started to falter and he was starting to sway a little. 

	"Another youma," his voice crackled with suppressed hatred.

	"Here," she led him under a tree close to a lamp post, "take off your
jacket so I can work."

	He started unbuttoning it as he leaned against the trunk and let the
tree support his weight as he slid down. Aurora helped him get the
jacket off, her hands gentle as she tugged it off his injured arm. He
tore the long sleeve of the shirt underneath off as she knelt next to
him. She took it from him and bit her lower lip as she saw the extent of
the damage clearly for first time. She folded the sleeve up into a pad
and placed it against the wound.

	"Put pressure on it," she instructed and took his hand and pressed it
against the covering.

	He did so and leaned his head back against the tree as he focused on
ignoring the pain. She ripped a strip off of the bottom of her nightgown
for a bandage, then moved his hand to check under the pad. At least it
had stopped bleeding. She put the pad back then started to wrap her
make-shift bandage around it.

	"You think that they'll come back for us?" She asked as she tied the
knot snugly.

	Nephlyte flexed his arm, testing the bandage.

	"Not if they're smart," he growled, then his voice gentled as he added,
"thank-you, Aurora."

	"You're welcome. Are you all right?" She asked softly as he rested his
head back against the tree and closed his eyes.

	He nodded yes. Aurora shifted next to him so she was sitting more
comfortably and drew her knees up against her chest. The night's events
started to catch up with her and brought some rather bizarre thoughts
with it. She started to laugh. It was either that, or cry. Nephlyte
snapped his head up to look at her in puzzlement as her laugh rang clear
and sweet through the deserted park.

	"Why are you laughing?" He could find nothing amusing in the current
situation he found himself in, couldn't imagine that she could either.

	Yet she laughed and he found himself smiling in response.

	"I was just thinking about how I was going to introduce you to Daddy,"
she got out around a giggle. "Daddy, this is Nephlyte. He is a powerful
youma from another dimension, here to spearhead an invasion. Oh, by the
way, he's also my boyfriend."

	She started laughing hard again and he couldn't help but start to laugh
with her as the sound enveloped him. Aurora took a few deep breaths as
she tried to get her emotion's back under control and wiped at her eyes.

	*Jeez. I'm laughing so hard I'm crying.*

	"Hey! You're laughing!" That made her start again.

	"Augh! Enough with that awful noise!"

	Aurora didn't have time to react, could only stare at the pointed roots
that flew towards her. Nephlyte spun up into a crouch as he grabbed her
and tried to move them both out of the way. He gasped in pain as the
roots penetrated his shoulder from behind. The force of the blow drove
them all the way through his body and Aurora let out a little shriek
under him as their sharp points pricked against her sternum. He pushed
himself up and off of her, the roots breaking off from the youma's arm
as he spun on his knees and put himself between the her and the youma.

	"Tsk. Tsk. Got a little distracted there, did you, Nephlyte?" The youma
who had just wounded him asked sweetly.

	Nephlyte could feel the roots beginning to suck the life-force from his
body.

	"Aurora, run!" He commanded.

	"Go ahead, sweet meat! Maybe we won't chase you. Maybe we will," The
Green One cooed at Aurora as she shook her head against Nephlyte's order
and the horror of the thing that had gone through his body.

	"Go. I'll keep them here," he gave her an encouraging smile, trying to
hide his pain.

	"No," she moved around him and grabbed the broken off ends of the
roots.

	"No!" He shoved her away. "Aurora, go!"

	"No. I won't leave you," she said firmly as she grabbed the ends of the
roots again and began to pull.

	She moaned with him as the things burned against her hands with a cold
so intense that her whole body began to shudder as her core temperature
plummeted and they began to pull the life out of her. But she did not
let go. The Red One brought her hands together to summon her attack,
intending to blow this troublesome human into atoms. The Leader knocked
her hands down.

	"Don't bother. She'll never be able to pull it out, but it'll be fun to
watch her try," she turned her attention to the Green One. "Contact
Zoicite. Tell him we have captured the traitor."

	"Aurora, stop!" Nephlyte groaned. She was going to kill herself.

	"No," she gasped out fiercely, determination and love reflected in
every angle of her face.

	Then he gasped as the roots started to move.

	"Impossible!" The Leader growled, then glared at the Red One. "Well,
kill her!"

	The Red One grinned, summoned her sphere's, then hurled them. Nephlyte
surged up against Aurora and spun her around as he leapt, protecting her
with his body as the fire exploded around them.

	"Aurora?" He whispered as he levered himself up off her body. 

	Aurora!?" She was so still! Was she dead?

	She took a sudden deep breath and began to cough, then propped herself
up on her elbows under him. He rested his head on her shoulder for a
moment.

	"Run, Aurora. Leave me. They'll kill you if you don't," he whispered
tiredly.

	"They'll kill me anyway, so I'd just as soon stay with you for as long
as I can," she whispered back calmly and gave him a brave smile as he
lifted his head to look at her.

	"Well, well. You certainly have looked better, Nephlyte," Zoicite
smirked as he appeared out of the Gate and hovered above his three
youma.

	"I'll protect you as long as I can," he promised, then brushed his lips
against her cheek with a soft kiss before he turned to face the enemy.

	He managed to get to one knee as Aurora moved up beside him to lend
support on the side without the roots. Zoicite giggled at his glare,
then his face turned hard and sharp.

	"Give me the Star Crystal and I'll let the girl go."

	"Agreed." He summoned the Crystal and tossed it up to Zoicite, grasping
at this one slim chance to save her.

	Zoicite snatched it out of the air, held it up and grinned.

	"That's enough!"

	The Sailor Senshi formed out of the surrounding night.

	"Get them, girls," Zoicite commanded without even looking over at them.

	Aurora could see the fight start but kept her focus on the youma named
Zoicite.

	"Now, as I was going to say before we were so rudely interrupted, if it
where up to me, I'd let you stay and die in your human's arms. But Queen
Beryl wants to watch you shrivel up into dust, so come along."

	He threw his power. He aimed a small part of it at Aurora and sent her
flying backwards to slam into the tree that they had just laughed under
together. The rest he directed at Nephlyte, wrapping him in a swirling
chain of glowing petals.

	"Aurora!" Nephlyte bellowed as he struggled against the encircling
power, struggled to reach her.

	Zoicite narrowed his eyes and pulled the chain, trying to drag Nephlyte
close enough to get him through the Gate. Nephlyte roared his fury as he
grabbed the chain and yanked back and brought Zoicite to the ground.
Zoicite put some more power into the binding as he frowned over his
shoulder at the screams coming from behind him. His youma where loosing.
He had to get out of here with his prize, now.

	"Zoi!" he threw a sphere of dark energy and hoped it wouldn't kill
Nephlyte.

	Queen Beryl would be very displeased if he showed up with a corpse,
robbing her of her witness of the traitor's death. But there was no
other way he was going to get Nephlyte into the Gate in time. Nephlyte
slumped in the chain and Zoicite reeled him in as he leapt back for the
Gate.

	The world was spinning. Aurora dug her fingers into the sod, trying to
make it stop. There was something rough and raspy and warm moving
against her cheek. She forced open her eyes, turned her head toward the
commotion. She saw the black sphere hit Nephlyte and he went limp.

	"No," she whispered, pushing herself to her hands and knees.

	*Something...something she needed to do... they'll kill him...he's
dead...* the air around her started to move. Gently at first, then
harder until it whipped the leaves above her into a frenzy.

	Luna gasped and leapt back. Aurora didn't see the air start to glow
around her in iridescent blues, reds and greens, didn't notice the
transformation of her cloths. She gritted her teeth as she threw her
head back and gave a high pitched keen as the pain thundered through her
skull.

	She remembered.

	She opened her eyes again and focused on the familiar face above her.

	"You!" She screamed in fury, her eyes flashing as bright as the lights
swirling around her. "I won't let you take him from me again!"

	The lights coalesced into her right palm as she leapt after Zoicite.
She cast the ball of light at him as she wrapped her arms around
Nephlyte's waist and tried to pull him from Zoicite's grip. Zoicite
screamed in agony as the light hit him just as he pulled all three of
them through the gate.


				***************

	
	Malachite frowned to himself as he stood in his place of honor at front
of the assembled youma. Beryl had summoned her entire Court to witness
Zoicite's triumph and Nephlyte's death. Something was wrong. Zoicite
should have returned by now.

	*Zoicite, why did you have to be so stubborn and insist on doing this
thing by yourself.* he worried. *Nephlyte is powerful and cunning and is
not going to be as easy to capture as you believe. If anything's
happened to you...*

	The Gate boomed into existence, startling everyone. He could tell by
the warped shape of it that something was wrong. Iridescent light poured
out of it to swirl around and through the gathering with a sound that
reminded him of the whisper of butterfly wings. It stunned many of the
weaker youma and made the stronger hiss with pain. Then the Gate groaned
like a living thing and the light rushed back into it as it collapsed on
itself. It left Zoicite hanging alone in the air. He fell, curled in a
fetal position, with a heavy thud to the empty area before Beryl's
throne.

	Malachite took a few fast steps towards him, then halted at a warning
flick from Beryl's hand. He bowed slightly as he backed into his
position. He thrust his hands behind his back, under his cloak, to hide
their shake.

	"Zoicite?" The Queen's voice was soft, yet that one word demanded
explanation.

	Malachite almost couldn't stand still as he watched Zoicite heave
himself up shakily onto his hands and knees and crawl to the first step
of Beryl's throne. He offered the Star Crystal in one trembling hand in
a silent plea for his life. Beryl held out her hand and called it to
her. It flared to life in her palm, then it's light began to dim and
surge erratically.

	*Nephlyte's. It reeks of his power.* "Where is Nephlyte?" She asked in
that calm sweet voice which signaled her at her most malevolent.

	"I don't know, Queen Beryl," Zoicite answered in a scratchy whisper. "A
Senshi attacked me just as I was taking us through the Gate."

	"Really?" Beryl raised one perfect eyebrow at him. "I would see this." 

	Malachite winced inwardly as Zoicite was jerked up so he was sitting on
his heels as Beryl pulled the images from his mind and projected them
into the air before her for all to see. Beryl narrowed her eyes at the
image of the girl, cast back through the long years of her memory. She
did not know her. Beryl was certain that she was not one of the Sailor
Senshi. Her uniform was that of one of the pitifully low powered
Guardians that Innish had trained at that ridiculous temple of his on
Earth. But the power she had thrown at Zoicite was at the level of any
of the Sailor Senshi. A new problem? Perhaps.

	That power had warped the Gate. Zoicite had somehow managed to drag
himself through, but just barely by the look of him. That meant Nephlyte
and this Guardian where still trapped. She smiled coyly as she released
Zoicite from her interrogation and turned her attention to the Crystal
flickering in her hand. Malacite closed his eyes as Zoicite collapsed in
a huddle and schooled his features into an emotionless mask. Only the
white knuckles of his fists clenched behind his back showed his
distress.

	"Well, shall we wait and see if Nephlyte manages to find his way out of
the Void?" She asked the Crystal.

	It pulsed a few times feebly, cut of from it's master. It flared one
last time, it's light killing all of the shadows for a piece of a
second, then died. Beryl laughed in delight as she closed her fingers
around it. She turned her hand over and sprinkled the fine black dust of
the dissolved crystal onto the floor below her.

	"Guess not."

	In a more charitable mood, she motioned Malachite to come forward.
"Take him, get him cleaned up. When he is useful again, have him present
himself to me."

	She laughed again as Malacite carefully picked up his lover and
disappeared. *Such tenderness, such stupidity!* 


					***************