Jadeite allowed them several small breaks as they rode, delaying their ride even further by stopping at an inn overnight. The soldiers that constantly surrounded Minako made her feel safe for the first time since the day of the solstice.

Jadeite and Zoicite walked into the inn together, leaving Minako with the soldiers. She could see them talking, but could not hear the low spoken words shared between them.

They emerged a few minutes later to retrieve Minako. She was introduced to the innkeeper as Zoicite's wife - although Jadeite didn't call Zoicite by his name and he didn't call Minako by hers either.

She soon understood Jadeite's reasoning when she and Zoicite were shown to the same room.

"I would have been fine in a room of my own."

Zoicite dropped down into a chair and pulled off his boots. "Then we'll tell people that I'm afraid of the dark."

"Is sarcasm your answer for everything?"

He shrugged with indifference as he looked around the room. "They are going to bring up some hot water for you."

"I just want to sleep."

"You smell like you haven't bathed in a week."

"That's probably you smelling yourself."

"We should talk about what happened."

There was a knock at the door and before either could answer, the inn-keepers wife stepped into the room. "We brought up some hot water for you."

Eight men carried in large buckets, steam rolling off the tops. As each man emptied his bucket into the metal tub they left, until the last man was done. The inn-keeper's wife asked if they needed anything else to which Zoicite again waved her away.

"I want to talk-"

Minako turned away, quickly retorting before he could finish his sentence. "I know what happened. I lived it."

"You only heard what Diamond wanted you to hear."

"I don't care."

Zoicite moved closer to her. "Is this it then? You will roll over and die without a word?"

"Why did Jadeite insist on stopping? I hate that-"

"Don't change the subject," he snapped. "So much was risked for you."

She spun back to face him. "Do you think I don't know? I didn't ask for this. For any of this! This is Kunzite's fault and somehow I'm expected to be appreciative? Find him. Demand his gratitude."

"I don't want your gratitude." He closed the distance between them and grabbed her wrist, holding it up between them. "I want you to stop being a victim."

Minako made a keening noise, her eyes going wide as she stared at the contact.

"Pull free," Zoicite said. He watched as she shook her head uselessly. "That feeling in your gut. The one that makes you want to fight. Grab onto it."

"I killed Rubeus..."

"You pushed that knife into his throat. You took his life. It was you or him and if you now choose to give up and lay down until your last breath, it might as well have been you. At least then the person I saved would have been worth saving."

Her lips parted and a deep sound of pain and anger escaped from her. She screamed until all of the air was exhausted from her lungs.

Jadeite burst in through the door without knocking. His eyes looking around the room as he started to pull his sword from its scabbard. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Minako looked from Jadeite's panicked stare to Zoicite's crooked smile and she laughed. Tears came to her eyes as she doubled over. It seemed like the completely wrong response but she couldn't stop herself. Then Zoicite started to laugh too and she found herself laughing harder still.

"Funny," Jadeite muttered.

"We're fine," Zoicite said as he tried to compose himself.

"Then what was the screaming? I knocked the poor inn-keeper's wife over running up the stairs."

Minako unwrapped Zoicite's hand from her wrist, letting his hand fall away. "We're fine," she answered. "Everything is fine."

Jadeite pulled his hand away from his sword as he watched her disappear into the washroom. "What happened?"

"We were talking."

"Clearly," he said sarcastically. Zoicite shrugged at him. "Do you want to use my room to wash up? I can stay here until you're done."

Zoicite glanced towards the washroom. After several seconds, he went to retrieve his boots and took Jadeite's proffered key as he walked out the door.

Jadeite sighed and ran his fingers through his hair as he went to stand by the window. He had heard the scream and for a panicked moment thought that Minako was being taken again. There was so much pain in the sound that it echoed through him. He felt chilled beneath his heavy uniform.

It would be a hard ride tomorrow as they pushed to finish the remaining trip. After settling monies with the inn-keeper, he sent one of his messengers to ride ahead and deliver a message to Endymion that he had Minako and they were headed towards the summer palace. He made no mention of Zoicite as that would require a much larger explanation than the amount of ink currently at his disposal.

The door to the room opened and Zoicite stepped through. His hair was still damp and water trickled down the sides of his face. Jadeite frowned when he noticed Zoicite had changed into his spare uniform shirt.

"I was going to wear that in the morning."

"It was laid out so nicely that I assumed you intended it for me."

"Liar. It doesn't even fit you."

Zoicite shrugged. "It's not my fault you can stand to lose some weight."

"Ass," Jadeite muttered.

Minako stepped into the room wearing the same clothes she had entered with. Her wet hair had been pulled back into a braid and knotted at the base of her neck.

"I'd like to go to sleep now," she said.

"I'll have guards posted at your door and around the outside of the inn. I have no reason to believe that we're being followed, but obviously we want to keep taking full precautions."

When she didn't answer, Jadeite cleared his throat. "Good night then."

Zoicite pulled a chair up alongside the bed, throwing his feet up on the end of the mattress. "I only wanted to-"

"I just want to sleep." She laid down on the bed and pulled the covers over herself, not bothering to dim the lights.

Sleep eluded her for most of the night.

Judging by Zoicite's breathing, he wasn't sleeping either.

~~ o ~ oOo ~ o ~ oOo ~ o ~ oOo ~ o ~~

When the sun started to appear over the horizon, Minako woke to find the chair that Zoicite had been sitting in was moved into a corner and the blanket was neatly folded. She looked around to see him standing by the window looking out. It was strange to see him dressed in the crisp white shirt. In her mind, she could imagine the blue cape that would be secured to the epaulets.

"Jadeite already came by," he said. "He's waiting on you to eat breakfast and then we'll depart."

"I'd rather not delay."

"We have at least three hours ahead of us. Hungry or not you should eat."

"I know."

Zoicite stood at the side of the bed, gently taking her elbow to pull her to her feet. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine."

"No, I mean..." He hesitated, eyes darting to her stomach. "We haven't had much time to rest and I know our route was grueling. Are you still...?"

She nodded her head. "I felt movement for the first time a couple of days ago."

"You did?"

She laughed. "It was right after you tried to strangle me. I'm pretty sure this child already doesn't like you."

Zoicite made a face, his hand awkwardly hanging in front of him as though he would touch her. As quickly as the moment happened, it was over. He lifted Minako's cloak from where it hung over his arm and wrapped it around her.

After breakfast, they mounted their horses and set out for the final stretch of their journey. When they reached the peak of the hilltop, it wasn't the tall turrets of the palace they saw, but rather the pale colored walls of the summer palace.

Jadeite, who had been riding nearby, pulled his horse alongside of Minako's. "It seemed more prudent to avoid returning to the palace where there would be large crowds. We have the matter of bringing Zoicite back to life. Among other things…"

"Will we be safe here?"

"Of course. We have a full guard that watches the grounds year round."

"How do you know you can trust them?"

"Endymion and Nephrite should be here within the hour," Jadeite said, casually changing the subject. "We will need to talk about what happened."

"You can talk to her tomorrow," Zoicite said over his shoulder from where he rode in front of them.

"Zoicite-"

"Jadeite," he interrupted, mimicking Jadeite's voice. Zoicite slowed his horse and fell back to ride next to Jadeite.

Minako watched as they shared a look between them. Neither man had really spoken to each other over the past couple of days, but she had come to notice that they more often than not spoke with looks and gestures instead of words.

As they approached the summer palace, a single horn blared signaling the gates to open. Soldiers were at the ready within the courtyard. The three riders approached the front walkway of the palace, slowing their horses so that they could dismount.

It was strange to see the empty courtyard. Only soldiers, groomsmen, and a few servants were visible. There was an almost eerie feeling to the empty space.

A horn sounded as the gates began to open again, and Minako could hear Jadeite utter a curse under his breath. As the gates parted, they could see palace guards riding in first. Behind those men rode Endymion and Nephrite.

"Are you ready?" Zoicite asked. Minako turned her head to look at him, noticing that he was speaking to Jadeite.

"No," he grumbled.

"What's wrong?" Minako asked.

"Endymion doesn't know Zoicite is alive."

Before she could process his words, Endymion was standing in front of her and wrapping his arms around her. He kept repeating over and over that he was glad she was okay and that he was sorry for what had happened.

When he released her to look at Jadeite, she noticed that Nephrite had remained a step back and was staring at them with a mixture of shock and anger. She had been so distracted by him that she nearly missed when Endymion hit Zoicite.

~~ o ~ oOo ~ o ~ oOo ~ o ~ oOo ~ o ~~

Endymion could feel the blood rushing through his veins. It pounded in his head with the deep rumbles of drums beating.

Jadeite had lied about Zoicite's death.

Zoicite had lied about being dead.

He couldn't even remember what he said to Jadeite at that point. Words, words, and more words came pouring out of him.

Then when Zoicite's eyes had met his own, it was finally too much. Later he would probably feel remorse for hitting him. Right now though, he wasn't sure he could imagine how.

He looked towards Nephrite. "I want the two of you-" he paused and glanced towards Zoicite then quickly looked away again, "the three of you in the west ante room. Have Minako wait in the east."

Endymion's jaw clenched as his fingers flexed. The three generals watched him, waiting to see his next action. With a shake of his head, he turned and walked away without another word.

Nephrite turned to Zoicite. "If he hadn't hit you, I would have done it instead. Consider yourself lucky."

Jadeite turned to Zoicite as Nephrite followed after their prince. "Endymion has obviously been under quite a bit of pressure."

"You don't say," Zoicite muttered.

~~ o ~ oOo ~ o ~ oOo ~ o ~ oOo ~ o ~~

Endymion paced the length of the ante room, his hands alternately running through his hair and then down his face. Nephrite stood by the door with his arms crossed at his chest, while Jadeite and Zoicite each stood on either side of the large fireplace.

The dark haired prince muttered to himself as he paused to look up at the men around him, his eyes settling on Jadeite. "You said Zoicite was dead. That he was moved to the catacombs," he growled, voice low.

"Endymion-" Zoicite started to respond.

"Don't speak!" Endymion ordered, the hurt and anger audible in his voice. "You are dead and dead men don't speak. I want the responsible one to speak." He cast a glance at Nephrite who shook his head, then looked to Jadeite who straightened his posture in response.

"Zoicite is mine. I did what needed to be done."

"You all are mine."

"With all due respect, Endymion, that's not what you said to us when it was Kunzite."

The prince's hands balled into fists. "I gave Kunzite the authority. The person. Not the position."

"Then you should have clarified that."

"You're being a shit, Jadeite," Nephrite said from across the room. "This isn't hard. Step one," he counted off with his pointer finger, "apologize. Step two," he counted off with his middle finger, "apologize. Step three," he held up his ring finger, "apologize."

Endymion spun to face Nephrite. "Did you know anything about this at all? Or did Jadeite act alone?"

"He lied to my face too."

Jadeite pushed himself off the fireplace mantle. "Diamond expected nothing from us and because of that, Zoicite was able to get into his stronghold."

"You should have told me!" Endymion exclaimed.

"This wasn't easy for me either. Every night I worried that I had actually killed him."

"Jadeite cried when he saw me," Zoicite said.

"I did not," Jadeite snapped. "Now who's being a shit?"

Endymion looked to Zoicite. "You don't speak yet." He ran his fingers through his hair and dropped down into one of the chairs. "Where is Kunzite?"

"He never caught up with them apparently," Jadeite answered.

Endymion looked to Zoicite. "So is he dead or alive? And by dead I don't mean Jadeite's version."

"He was-"

"Yes or no?"

"I don't know."

"What about Diamond?"

"I don't know."

"How do you not know anything? Were you not there?"

"I tried to get Kunzite out three times. Each time he refused to let me do anything if I couldn't guarantee Minako was safe too."

Endymion stared at Zoicite, minutes passing before he spoke again. "How eminent is the next threat?"

"There is nothing that we can do without knowing where Kunzite is. As long as Diamond can't get his hands on Minako again, he's mostly neutralized."

"Why does he want her so badly?"

"Probably to get to Serenity. You know how infatuated with her he was."

Endymion made a sour face. "Take Minako back to her room and stay with her. I would make it Jadeite's problem but he is going to have far more pressing issues to deal with first." He turned his eyes to Jadeite. "Sit," he commanded.

Jadeite moved to the chair across from Endymion, the moment reminiscent of when he had returned from Salas.

"You can go, Zoicite" Endymion said. "I want Nephrite to stay for this." He waited until Zoicite was gone, then turned his full attention to Jadeite. "Make a convincing argument of your actions."

"A principio oriri omnia." That everything starts from a beginning. "Sometimes what is wrong is what's right."

"You think the end justifies the means? That we had not suffered enough hurt and betrayal without what you did?"

"I did not betray you."

"You are all like brothers to me. I mourned for his loss and the whole time you said nothing. Did you think you couldn't trust me?"

"Do you think you can't trust us?" Jadeite countered. "That somehow Kunzite is the only one that can bear the kingdom's secrets? How do we protect you when we can be so easily blindsided?"

"Nothing could have prepared us for this. I didn't know Diamond lived. Kunzite told me the same thing he told you."

"Then why aren't you angrier at him?" Jadeite yelled.

"Jadeite-" Nephrite started to interrupt before he himself was interrupted by a gesture from Endymion.

"Fortunately it's not my placement that is being called into question."

"I did what needed to be done. I got Minako back. Kunzite has some culpability in all of this. If this was petty revenge then Diamond would have just killed him."

"I don't care about what Kunzite did. Right now the only thing I care about is what you have done."

"Diamond went through great effort to take Kunzite and Minako. He somehow got King Alexander to treat with him. Zoicite said that there were two small armies at Diamond's stronghold and they did not give up easily trying to catch them as they escaped. Whatever it is that Kunzite did, or that Kunzite knows, is still out there."

Endymion tapped his fingers against the table top, his eyes looking towards the fireplace. "Nephrite will replace you as lead general."

Jadeite pushed away from his seat. "You're punishing me because you can't punish Kunzite."

"I'm punishing you because I can't take a chance on what wild whim you will act upon next time. It was reckless and you hurt many people doing it."

"If Zoicite hadn't gotten there when he did, Minako would be gone from your reach. We both know that he was the best one for this mission."

"I can't give you my forgiveness."

"Look at me, Endymion," Jadeite demanded when the prince's eyes remained fixed on the fireplace.

"Go, Jadeite," Endymion said, shaking his head.

Jadeite kicked the chair angrily before leaving the room, the door slamming behind him.

Nephrite moved to take Jadeite's abandoned seat. "I'm at least as angry as you, but I do understand why he did what he did."

"You think he should go unpunished?"

"No, but there are other means."

"I don't think I will ever forgive him."

"Then get rid of him."

"Don't challenge me, Nephrite. Not today."

"The kingdom is what matters most. What's best for everyone will always hurt someone. As angry as I am, perhaps there was some wisdom to Jadeite's actions."

~~ o ~ oOo ~ o ~ oOo ~ o ~ oOo ~ o ~~

Zoicite walked into the east ante room to find Minako pacing the room.

"Does he want to speak with me?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Tomorrow. He's too angry at Jadeite to talk about anything else today."

"Does Endymion know about me?"

"Not yet. At best you could probably wait a couple more weeks to tell him, but that would only make things worse for you. I don't mind pretending to not know, but Jadeite knows and he is in too much trouble as it is to lie for you."

"And Nephrite?"

"He's very loyal to Endymion and Kunzite. He won't do you any favors at either of their expense." He pulled her cloak closer around her, securing the top three buttons she had undone.

She placed her hands over his. "Do you think he will be angry with me for not telling anyone? I've seen him angry once before and I would rather not have that directed at me again."

Zoicite pulled his hands free. "Jadeite probably didn't want to face his anger either after this whole mess, yet there he is."

The halls consisted of a light scattering of servants in addition to the guards that followed them towards the residential wing.

Minako nearly breathed a sigh of relief when they entered the room and closed the door behind them. She didn't know whose room she was in. It could have been Zoicite's or it could have been reserved for a guest. Nothing in the ornate room gave her any feeling of having an owner.

"Are you sure that no one can get in here?" she asked.

"Not a single possibility of it."

"How can you be so sure? There are servant entrances all over the other palace. This one probably does too."

"So there are."

"Every one of them can't possibly be secured."

"Endymion is probably going to make Jadeite stand out in the hallway all night. We'll be safe."

"Who does this room belong to?"

"This is the queen's old suite. Serenity uses it from time to time. I'm sure that there are clothes that she keeps here that you can change into," Zoicite said as he looked around the room.

Minako started to make her way towards the back bedroom, stopping to turn and look at Zoicite. "Are you leaving?" She hated the meekness of her voice.

He stared at her. "There is no where else I'd rather be."

"You're being snarky."

"Am I?"

"Are you?" she retorted.

Zoicite laughed as he walked past her towards one of the many back rooms, patting her on the back as went.