"Shadows in the Moonlight"
by Vega

Chapter 4

Nephrite was crying.

But that was only because he was laughing so hard.

"Poor Zoi-chan! Got a little roughed up!?"

"Shut up, Nephrite!" Zoicite squealed in rage, his fists clenched and his face red.

"Enough!" Kunzite bellowed, and the other two immediately fell silent. "We need to find away to contact Jadeite and tell him to find these... DragonBalls. If what Radditzu said is true, they can bring us back, and then we can..." his eyes glazed over, and the other two knew he was thinking of Minako, even as they were thinking of Ami and Makoto. "We MUST contact Jadeite." Nephrite sighed and shed his jacket and tee once more. "I guess I'll have to fight them again..."

***

Raye knocked on the door, impatient.

Damn it, why wouldn't they answer the door?

"Hello?!" Raye called out. Jadeite was here, he had to be! This is where the fire had sent her! "Hello?!"

"Damnitall, girl!" a harsh voice called from one of the windows in the building to the left, "What they hell are you doing pounding on the gravity room at this time of night?! I'M NOT IN THE FUCKING THING!"

Raye fell back a few steps, startled. She turned her face to look at the man who leaned out of the second floor window, wearing nothing from the waist up, his unruly spiked hair sticking virtually straight up.

"E-excuse me for waking you up!" Raye called, flushing, "But, I-I'm looking for someone!"

The man growled and was replace by a teal-haired woman at the window. The woman rubbed her eyes sleepily, then gasped, coming fully awake. "It's a Sailor Senshi!" she shrieked, and Raye covered her ears.

She had needed to transform to sneak past the security in this place, and had forgotten to change back... Oh, well, too late now.

There was a crashing inside as the lights flared to life and a roar from the man. Raye seriously considered ditching the whole thing, but her heart twanged painfully at the thought of missing her chance to find her heart's true mate.

The woman dashed across the lawn in a skimpy dressing gown.

If Sailor Mars hadn't been wearing something shorter, she would have considered it indecent.

"Sailor Mars, isn't it?" the woman gasped, breathless.

Raye nodded.

"What are you doing here? Do the Scouts need help with something, because Vegeta and Goku are great fighters––" Raye waved her to silence, pinching the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on. "No, I'm looking for someone––"

"Aren't we all?"

"Yeah..." Raye smiled. Suddenly, she liked this woman.

"Briefs Bulma," the lady suddenly said, sticking out her hand. Raye took it and shook it.

"Sailor Mars, but I guess we already established that, ne?" Then she did a double take. "Briefs Bulma?! Does this mean that this is the... the Capsule Corp compound?"

Bulma nodded, pleased.

Raye shook her own head. "What am I doing?!" she chastised herself, "I'm sorry, Ms. Briefs, but I really need to find someone, and my... sources told me he was here." she gestured to the Gravity Room.

"Vegeta?" Bulma questioned warily.

"No," Sailor Mars said, not recognizing the name, and Bulma seemed relieved. "His name is Jadeite, but he might be going by something else."

Bulma froze. "The cute blond guy?"

"You do know him?! He IS here?!"

Bulma noted the desperation in Sailor Mars' eyes, the way her hands trembled in the white gloves. "He WAS here..."

Sailor Mars' heart fell to her feet. "H-he's gone already...?"

Bulma smiled sympathetically, and offered the Senshi a seat inside and a cup of coffee. Sailor Mars took the seat, but not the coffee. "Do you have any sake? I've had a real night of it."

Bulma smiled again and leaned into the liquor cabinet. "I know the feeling, men are hard to catch."

"Feh." came from the doorway, and Vegeta stalked away, out into the yard and night.

"What was that?" Sailor Mars asked, a little startled.

"A temper tantrum." 

"Oh." then she accepted the cup and returned her mind to the business at hand. "Jadeite?"

"Ah, Yes." Bulma asked and slid into the seat across from the Senshi. "Why are you looking for him?"

Mars' vivid violet eyes lowered.

"Ah... love." Bulma whispered.

"No... not love." Mars responded, tears brimming out of her eyes. "Passion! Longing! Eternity! Destiny!"

Bulma said nothing for a very long time.

Then she stood and picked up the phone, punching speed-dial #2 (#1 was 911). "Hello, Chichi?" she said as the phone picked up, looking back to the Senshi in her kitchen. Mars gazed back intently. "Yes, someone has come to collect your guest.... h-hmmmmm... someone from that foggy past of his..."

*** 

Above, or below, depending on how one looks on it, Zoicite was peering intently on the little scene developing in the Western Capitol. "Sailor Mars..." he whispered "That's it! Kunzite! Nephrite! I have a way...!"

*** 

Jadeite wasn't awake when the phone rang.

Gohan jumped on his stomach to wake him up after minutes of screaming ineffectively in the General's seemingly deaf ear.

Jadeite jumped up, and fell immediately into a fighting pose. Then he straightened, shot an annoyed glance at the boy, and yawned.

"Don't go back to sleep!" Gohan cawed as Jadeite tried to crawl back into bed, "We have to go back to Bulma's!"

"Why?" the General yawned again, trying to snuggle back under his covers. "Vegeta want to kick my rear again?"

"No! There's someone there to see you!"

Jadeite sat bolt upright, and reached out with his senses. Gohan barely had time to blink as Jadeite dressed himself in a flurry of grey and boots, and then launched himself out of the door with an uttered gasp, "Raye!"

***

Bulma smiled and closed the kitchen curtains.

"Whataretheydoing?" Gohan gushed, trying to levitate to see over the sink.

"Something little boys don't get to see." Bulma clucked and shooed him to the table. He was mollified by the food thereon.

Chichi shared a secret smile with her friend, then looked at her husband and son, oblivious to how heart-wrenchingly romantic this whole thing really was!

Bulma had related the whole of the tale to Chichi after she'd arrived in her air car, half an hour after Jadeite and his son had arrived themselves.

Half an hour! They'd been out there, swearing their undying love and affection, apologizing for what each had done to the other for.. Chichi looked at her watch... 45 minutes!

"How romantic," she sighed, glancing purposefully at Goku, who merely smiled back, clueless.

*** 

Kunzite glared down into the pond and shouted, "Let go of the Senshi, baka, and listen to me!"

Nephrite sighed, "I've already tried yelling at the love-sick fool, it won't work."

In the shadows Zoicite smiled, "Just wait, and then we can contact him through Mars." ***

"Hello" Makoto chirped into the phone, despite the late hour.

"Hello, Makoto." an elderly man's voice responded.

"Ah! Grandpa! What can I do for you?" The brunette smiled. She liked the old man, even if Raye proclaimed he was impossible.

"Oh, just tell Raye that I'm going out in the morning to try to recruit new pupils, and that I'll leave the gates unlocked for her!"

Makoto paused a moment, then mumbled, "Yeah, sure, no problem, Have fun, Bye!" 

"Good-bye!"

The girl stared at the phone for a very long time, then hung it up, pondering. Why would Raye tell her Grandfather she was at Makoto's place if she didn't intend to be there. Raye very seldom - if ever - lied to the old man, unless... Unless it was Sailor Business.

Suddenly filled with the adrenaline and anticipation of a battle, Makoto whipped out her communicator and punched the button with Usagi's symbol on it.

After a few moments of beeping, the Moon Princess' sleepy face yawned on Makoto's screen and proceeded to whine about waking her up so late. The Green Senshi balked.

"What are you doing asleep?" she chided, "Aren't the scouts needed somewhere?"

Luna peered over Usagi's shoulder. "Not that I know of, why?"

"Then..." Makoto pondered out loud. "Why would Raye sneak out...?"

Usagi was instantly awake, her eyes dancing, "Raye snuck out?! Ooooooh!!"

"This is serious, Usagi!" Makoto said, annoyed, "I think something might be wrong. She told her Grandpa she was coming here, because she knew I'd cover for her, so that means there's a reason she didn't want anyone else to know."

"Maybe she's having a secret rendezvous with her true looooooove!" Usagi giggled.

"Usagi!"

"What?"

Luna gasped. "That may be it, Usagi... if she had somehow found Jadeite, would she tell us?"

Makoto shook her head. "Probably not. I wouldn't tell Usagi if I had a date with Nephrite!"

"Heeeeeey!" the blonde protested.

"Oh, Dear..." Luna muttered, "I believe this could be a problem."

"What?" Makoto blinked, "Why?"

"Well, obviously, if Raye's found Jadeite, he's still alive." "Duh." Usagi cut in.

"AND," Luna continued with a wry glance in her charge's direction, "If he never died, then the spell was never canceled."

"So?" Usagi whined.

"SO," Makoto finished, "that means Raye's in trouble, 'cause her dream guy is still a nightmare..."

***

"I love you." Jadeite whispered in his Fire Princess' ear, and graced it with a few light kisses.

"Jadeite...."

***

Usagi was drooling.

Mamoru shifted her head slightly against his shoulder and set her at such an angle that his crisp black trousers wouldn't get wet. He loved her with all of his soul, but, well, not enough to let her drool all over him.

Opposite them, trying to read with the motion of the train, Ami gave up and folded her book up and put it away, opting instead to check her data computer once more to make sure Raye's power signature hadn't moved.

It hadn't.

Minako peered over her shoulder. "Raye's still there?"

"Yes." Ami answered. "She hasn't taken a step in any direction."

"Do ya think she's maybe tied up?" Makoto added, sending a worried glance in an oblivious Usagi's direction. "It could be a trap."

This was a new thought, and nobody liked the idea of Sailor Mars being used as bait. For, indeed, the data computer told Ami that - by her energy signatures - Raye had transformed.

"Why don't we just call her?" Minako asked brightly.

"Because it MIGHT be a trap," Makoto explained patiently, "And if we contact her, we might tip off the Nega-creeps who grabbed her." She pointed to the other energy blips on Ami's screen, "See those? Those readings are huge. There's no way Raye could defeat them alone, so whatever's happening, we need to get there QUIETLY."

"Oh." Minako shrugged, tossing her golden locks over her shoulder, "I knew that."

***

From his picnic table, Kai opened his mouth and screamed, "BUBBLES! GREGORY! SHUT UP!"

The monkey and cricket paused in the middle of their game of tag.

"Thank you. I can't hear what's going on on Earth with you two making all that racket." He muttered, then re-adjusted his antennae to get a better feed. "Ah, the Sailor Senshi..." He smiled, and for a moment looked exactly like Muten Roshi. "Mmmmmm ... short skirts."

He blushed under Gregory's disapproving stare and turned his attention elsewhere, to Highest Hell where Zoicite was vainly trying to set up a mental link with Sailor Mars, but failing miserably because she and Jadeite were too, um, busy.

"Well," Kai smiled to himself as he watched the Three Kings yelling at one another about how best to contact Jadeite, as the Senshi sat in nervous quiet as their train approached the Western Capitol, and Mars and Jadeite were reaffirming their love, and Chichi and Bulma stared at their respective Saiyajinn with love-sick eyes. "This is bound to get interesting real soon."

He turned to Bubbles and Gregory. "Shall we help the fun along?"

***