From underneath the rubble sing a rebel song
Don't want to see another generation drop
I'd rather be a comma than a full stop

-Every Teardrop is a Waterfall, Coldplay

Ami pursed her lips as she stared at the small blue communicator in her hand. She had tried several times to contact the team with no success. The communicator was functioning but couldn't get reception. Her cellphone was not better. She tucked a wayward lock of her short dark blue hair behind her ear. It seemed most logical that there was a disruption to the signal. Or so she hoped. Otherwise it meant that she was somewhere remote and far away from towers...or she was in an entirely different world... Or dimension. Anything was possible when it came to teleportation especially when she had nothing to do with it.

Ami had experienced many transportation spells since becoming a senshi but never one as jarring as the one Helios had summoned for her. The energy had felt desperate, almost manic, and had sent her flying on a reckless course though what very well could have been space and time. When the spell finished she fell onto the side of a steep wooded hill where she stumbled and went rolling until she collided with a small cluster of sapling trees. It's a wonder she didn't break any bones. Or her phone. Not that is mattered.

And now here she was. All alone.

This was the first time in years she had been separated from the rest of the senshi. This unexpected solitude brought involuntary memories of her death in the battle against the dark kingdom as she had fought to gain the moon princess valuable time before her final confrontation with Beryl. She had died alone facing the enemy in the d-zone as the rest of the girls had dragged SailorMoon away.

Well, she told herself. At least this place is warmer. The D zone had been a frozen wasteland with no light and little hope. The forest she was in now seemed much more comfortable. Here she was experiencing the same brisk autumn weather of Tokyo. Perhaps she was still in Japan. She clinched her fist taking small comfort in the cool sensation in her right palm.

Opening her fingers she gazed on upon the small green stone speckled in pink resting lightly on the palm of her hand. A jeweler would have dismissed it as semi precious. But she knew it was so much more. Her future king had protected this stone in secret for four long years. During that time she had thought Zoicite to be a terrible memory while he and the spirits of the other Shitennou had quietly advised and supported Mamoru with the few resources they had.

Ami cradled the stone carefully in her hands as it gave off a feeble pulsing glow. She gave the stone a small smile accepting it's presence as a comfort. She was not alone.

Here were the facts: She and the senshi had gathered with Helios summoning their powers in order to send the Shitennou what was needed in their time of crises. That spell had sent her to an unknown location with Zoicite's Starseed.

It was clear that Zoicite needed her help.

The stone still pulsed softly in her hand. She examined it closely turning the smooth stone over in her hand wondering what it was trying to tell her. She brought it close to her face for a closer look only to see the glow dim slightly. Ever the scientist Ami began to move the stone up then back and forth until she realized that the further she held the stone due east the stronger the pulse.

She stood on her feet, brushed the leaves from her slacks, and double checked her pocket to make sure her power pen was secure. Satisfied that she was ready for whatever waited for her in the forest she let Zoicite lead her where she needed to go.

Lysander appeared in a whirl of black sparks and burnt leaves. His body had not completely solidified before his gaze caught the retreating figure of a man with his tangled blond hair tied tied sloppily at the nape of his his neck beneath a fraying and faded baseball cap. Lysander knew he had found his target. He could feel the emptiness where power should have been.

"Stop where you stand." His didn't raise his voice. There was no need.

Xander stopped when he heard when he heard a voice behind him. He should have been alone this deep into the woods. He planned his routes so that he would rarely, if ever, encounter anyone else. He came out here to clear his head and re-center himself. He did not want this disturbance.

His patience had been short again and his temper awful. He had been struggling with the growing feeling of displacement over time. Yesterday his anxiety seemed to have tripled- as if he was being paged but did not know how to answer. It had been years since he had felt this aggravated.

Xander's councilor had told him it was post traumatic stress disorder. He had never spoken to anyone about his mysterious disappearance or memory loss. It was this refusal that caused his councilor to insist he continue his visits for the next four years. How could he explain that he had disappeared for 13 months. It seemed less painful for his hard working parents to let them think he had been selfish and run away then to share the terror he felt whenever he struggled to remember his disappearance.

To atone he dove into his studies and strove to be a model student. It was better that way. It kept him from wondering what had truly happened to him. Instead, he would make up for lost time by giving all he had to the expectations of those around him. He could never burden them with the shadows that still seemed to haunt him.

He had started a journal, hidden deep inside his desk. He had written it in code to prevent anyone else from reading his feelings of failing to meet his potential. He worried that he would never be enough for whatever was needed of him.

But he decided long ago he would not fail without a fight.

So he had trained- he never understood what he was training for, only that he must not stop. He had run more miles then he could chart, biked seemingly all of japan, but it wasn't until he discovered swimming that he truly found piece. Not in the crowded pools of Tokyo but in the clear lakes and streams of the mountains. Here, away from prying eyes and anxious questions Xander found, in these times of unexplained anxiety and impatience, the closest thing he could find to piece.

Ice and water.

He lost what little inner piece he had gathered around himself that strangers voice ordered him to stop. Xander had a strange flashback of a beautiful and terrible red haired woman laughing at his failure before he turned to find a tall dark haired man staring impassively with blank black eyes that rested on a pale and expressionless face. The man appeared more like a store mannequin then a person. His skin was smooth and unblemished but had an odd gleam to it, like plastic. His clothes were immaculate, if strange, the loose billowing white shirt and snug leather trousers looked as if they were still on display in a store window. There did not seem to be any spark of life in this beautiful, terrible stranger.

This part of the mountain pass was very difficult, only the most experienced hiker was up to the challenge. So how did someone in a weird costume and make it here with out breaking a sweat?

"Hello. I didn't see you there...where did you come from?" Xander called out.

Xander scolded himself. He had meant to say 'which way did you come from'. People didn't appear from nowhere. That was for movies and Sailor Senshi sightings...

"It doesn't matter." The man said dismissively as he pulled a small cloudy prism from his pocket and then examined it briefly for damage.

"I don't mean to be rude but I came out here to be alone. If you don't need any help..." Xander waited for the man to ask for help. When he did not Xander turned back to the trail. "I need to go, excuse me."

"You are not going anywhere." The man said.

Forgetting his initial unease Xander turned in frustration to tell this man to leave him alone. But never got the chance to say anything.

If Xander had not turned his back on this man he would have understood this man was a threat. He would have seen the small glowing orb of power that pulsated in his enemy's hand. Instead, Xander was struck in the back by an excruciating wave of energy that sizzled through his body like an open power line.

It should have been very painful- having such a destructive force coursing through a body seeking to shut it down. Muscles seized, his legs collapsed beneath him, the air in his lungs froze leaving him breathless. But Xander didn't feel any of it because now he remembered everything. He was Zoicite.

He had betrayed his prince, he had failed his people, and he had tried to conquer the world. He had then been reborn for a second life by the same princess he tried to destroy only to turn on his people and serve the dark kingdom again. As the energy dissipated he transformed into the terrible gray uniform that symbolized his every failure. he found the strength to fill his stinging lungs for one long loud roar of frustration.

No wonder he always felt so angry. He slept through his second chance at redemption only to wake up as he began his inevitable third path to failure and evil.

Endymion deserved so much better than this, than having someone like Zoicite in his guard. When he felt the angry tears sting his eyes he clenched them shut. He wasn't gone yet. He would fight. He would find a way to stand up for the people he should have been searching for. He would never betray Endymion again. Never.

Zoicite opened his eyes as a black boot prodded him in the ribs. "Which one are you?"

"I'm Zoicite." the Shitennou hissed.

The dark haired man and the blond shitennou both glared at each other. Finally, Zoicite managed to hiss though his teeth."Who the hell are you?"

His captor didn't answer. Instead he held up a prism. It should have been clear- then it would have caught the sunlight and made rainbows on the mountain walls. But instead it was clouded, as if someone had mixed dirty milk with water. Instead of dividing the light into bright and beautiful colors it seemed to absorb all of it inside a hopeless void.

"My queen wishes to see you, Lord Zoicite. " The man smirked as he activated the prism.

"No!" Zoicite's body jerked in one last desperate attempt to break free.

Ami stopped walking when she felt Zoicite's stones temperature rise suddenly. As she opened her hand light burst from the stone and the silhouette of Zoicite stood before her.

"Zoicite." Ami gasped.

He looked at her in brief confusion before he seemed to sense something behind him. He turned quickly and vanished.

"Wait!" she called.

The stone suddenly felt cold when just moments ago it had almost burned her. Just as she stepped in the direction Zoicite appeared to have been going she heard a voice yelling out in anger before it turned in a terrible cry of pain.

Clutching the small stone in one hand and her power pen in the other Ami sprinted in the direction of voice.

The spell from the prism was strong, so much stronger then him. To test the spell Lysander had commanded Zoicite to be silent. The spell had been strong. So Zoicite could only fight silently as he felt a terrible chill take his limbs. His struggles became weaker and more feeble. Lysander watched with a spider's lazy pleasure as the prism turned a deep black.

"It seems dishonorable to fight you like this." Lysander said as he commanded Zoicite to stand on shaky legs. "Kunzite at least put up a good fight before Helena got him in check." Lysander's voice swelled with pride at the mention of Helena while Zoicite frowned at the mention of His shitennou brother. He wondered if Kunzite, Nephrite, or Jedite could escape this fate, he prayed they could. Lysander tapped the crystal and forced Zoicite to stand up at attention.

Zoicite gritted his teeth and wished very much that he could have offered any kind of resistance. But he had managed to be little more then a slow moving target. Zoicite couldn't understand why he hadn't seen this coming. What was the point of all the anxiety and those nightmares if everything ended the same way again?

"I am sure Zoicite is capable of much more then you give him credit for." A new voice said. It was soft but still managed to carry. Both men turned to see a petite young woman dressed in blue.

She stood before them in her sailor uniform. Her skirt and collar were trimmed in dark blue and she wore dark blue boots just below the knee. Zoicite recognized her immediately as Sailor Mercury. As she stood before him he couldn't help but compare her with his hazy memories of the Silver Millennium as well as his return to Beryl a few years ago. She had seemed so timid in this life and she looked as small and fragile as he had always remembered her.

"Mercury." Zoicite murmured as memories of a past and present long forgotten resurfaced. The articulate and wise princess who haunted the queen's study buried in texts and the then the shy but unstoppable Sailor Mercury who had challenged the shitennou as they tried to carry out Beryl's will. Lysander squeezed the prism in annoyance to remind Zoicite to be silent. Zoicite trembled slightly, eyes glaring like daggers. Satisfied that there would be no more interruption Lysander turned to the small senshi.

"Princess Mercury?" Lysander asked mildly.

She nodded. "In this life I am the solider of love and intellect, Sailor Mercury." She posed briefly, likely out of habit, then ignored the groan it earned. "No one has called me princess in a long time, Lysander."

Zoicite tensed when he heard Mercury refer to Lysander by name. She had faced this man before? Was the the prince safe? Where were his brothers? He spared himself a brief moment to wonder if she would ever give him the chance to apologize? It was too much to hope for. He would content himself with the hope that Endymion was well.

Meanwhile Lysander was mildly impressed Mercury could tell the difference between himself and Demetrius. Until he remembered his last battle. "You are the one who ducked in the back taking notes and making calculations." Lysander laughed. "How unfortunate that you were separated from you friends. There is no where to hide now."

She stood before both of them still looking every bit the fragile porcelain doll she had been at 14. Zoicite studied her carefully her face had thinned, loosing the last of its baby features, but she still looked very young and delicate. Zoicite could only watch in silent horror as she faced Lysander alone.

"Actually I was collecting data." She corrected automatically before continuing, "The spell you are under is dangerous." Mercury spoke as she pulled out her small computer and activated her visor scanning him briefly. "Not only is it affecting your judgment. But if you do not fight the spell soon it will consume you." She shut the computer and deactivated her goggles in order to stare at him directly. "Please let me help you."

In answer to her request he sent a wave of energy that she dodged easily. "I won't let you interfere with my lady's wishes!" Lysander yelled out in sudden anger.

"And who is your lady?" Mercury asked him.

"The Queen of course!" Lysander snapped.

"Who did you care about before you met her." Mercury asked.

Lysander stopped for a moment, looking dazed. "Hermia..." He murmured so softly only Zoicite could hear. "She was my world..." He almost looked dizzy.

Mercury took a small step towards him. "Let us help you."

"NO!" He was angry. His face reddening as the blood rushed to his skin. "She is nothing now! My Queen is everything." He roared as he turned to look at Zoicite. "She has asked for the Shitennou and I will not deny her" As he clenched the crystal in his fist Zoicite made a noise as if the air was being forced out of his body. He gasped when Lysander relaxed his grip on the prism.

"I don't want to fight you Lysander but I also won't let you take Zoicite anywhere." Mercury cautioned calmly.

Lysander scoffed and grabbed Zoicite's shoulder as he prepared to teleport.

"Lysander stop!" This time her voice rang loud and true.

Lysander smirked. "You're move, little princess."

"It doesn't have to be like this." Mercury cried.

When he made no move to step down she knew she had no choice and prepared her attack spell. Droplets of water gathered and spiraled about her body as she spun. As she gathered power she began her attack. "Shine Aqua- "

"Zoicite. Stand in front of me." Lysander commanded. The blond shitennou did as he was commanded and stood before the dark haired man acting as a human shield.

Sailor Mercury canceled the attack causing water fell to the ground in harmless droplets.

Lysander smirked. "So predictable." Chuckling he patted Zoicite on the shoulder. "What do you think of that Zoicite? Go on, speak."

"Mercury, Please." Zoicite voice was raspy and it was clear he had to work to use it despite the permission he had been given.. "Take the shot!" He trembled slightly and then gave a brief cry as we was commanded back into silence.

"I can't do that." Mercury snapped.

"Not likely," Lysander agreed as he patted Zoicite's shoulder in mock sympathy. "It is far easier to throw yourself on a sword then it is to ask someone else to push you."

Zoicite tried to speak again but Lysander would not allow it.

"In fact, I am confident Mercury will go to great lengths to keep you safe." Lysander continued as Zoicite's stood in silence.

Zoicite tried to communicate to Mercury with his eyes. She knew what he was trying to tell her and she did not like it. She instead focused on the man hiding behind Zoicite.

"Pick up that large stone." Lysander commanded.

Zoicite dutifully hefted the large stone. He stood up to his full height clutching the small boulder to his chest as Mercury watched warily.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Proving a point." Lysander spoke while watching Zoicite appraisingly. "This should be sufficient. It certainly looks heavy." Zoicite stood hugging the small boulder. When commanded Zoicite faced Lysander for closer inspection Mercury couldn't see the expression Zoicite's face but whatever was there washed the mirth from Lysanders demeanor.

"What do you think she'll do?" Lysander asked Zoicite. "Do you think she will let you die? She can't save you and fight me. I won't let her." Zoicite seethed silently. He was still trying to fight the spell that held him. He managed to twitch his fingers. Hope was lost. He wished he could help Mercury survive this battle.

"Go into the water. Zoicite." He commanded.

"What?" Mercury was appalled.

"- and let the stone sink you to the bottom."

"NO!" Mercury rushed towards the two men as Lysander summoned a dark bolt of electrify that crashed at her feet. The shockwave knocked mercury onto her onto her back. She only manage to sit up as Zoicite reached the edge.

"B-but you are supposed to bring him back to Titania!" Mercury argued wide eyed.

"Yes, that is what she requested." Lysander agreed reluctantly . "But I also want her to think only of me...how can I do that if I deliver my competition to her?" He smiled insincerely.

Zoicite stepped over the ledge and disappeared from sight plummeting to the water below. He barely made a splash.

"Call him back." Mercury demanded.

Lysander laughed. "He didn't take a breath before he went under." Lysander said as he glanced briefly at the dark water behind him. "I don't imagine he will last long at all." Lysander's eyes did not waver from Mercury as he tossed the prism over his shoulder to join Zoicite in his watery grave.

"Your move, Blue."

Mercury flew to her feet and dashed to the edge of the small drop. Below the water showed ripples marking where the crystal had dropped. A small patch of bubbles marked where Zoicite had been.

Lysander no made to move to stop her.

"I will give you a head start." He called after her as she dove into the water. As Mercury swam deeper her silhouette disappeared from Lysander's view.

"Good luck, little princess."Lysander called to the water below. He turned to a group of shadows that waited obediently behind him as he gazed in the water. They made no noise, lest they earn his anger.

"Wait five minutes and then destroy them both." The shadows gave shrill battle cries and joyous whoops as they dove into the trees and foliage to wait as Lysander retreated.

Zoicite stood unmoving at the bottom reservoir. It hadn't taken him very long to fail or die this time around at all. I must be getting better at this Zoicite thought bitterly. At least this time around he managed to do significantly less damage. He hoped that Mercury had the sense to fight Lysander instead of trying to save him. He had been a lost cause for a very long time.

He felt a coolness surrounding him as the water currents began to increase. He found the bone deep chill of ice a welcome change to the cool numbing sensation that had filled him from the dark prism. The cold water bit into him as it ruffled his hair and clothing. An ice crystal cut his cheek. He savored it.

Suddenly he felt two gloved hands gently clasp his face and urge his chin upwards until he was looking up into Sailor Mercury's eyes. Her face was inches from his staring at him steadily with blue eyes that matched the dark water that surrounded them. She leaned in and closed her mouth over his giving him her breath with artificial respiration. Her breath filled his chest with a warmth that felt like a warm hearth fire on a cold winters night.

She had chosen him to save him.

Instead of floating back to the surface for air Mercury expertly maneuvered in the water until her feet touched the sand bar beneath him. Taking a pose he didn't recognize he watched her form an attack. She had saved enough breath to activate her spell. The ice water, ever obedient, did not even distort her words as she spoke them.

"Mercury Aqua..." She floated gently as she summoned a small harp. Water and ice swirled around Zoicite until the water spiraled into a funnel leaving Zoicite and Mercuy standing on the sand bar in the middle of the spiraling lake as she gathered power. With a final strum of the harp she finished the spell sending the water surging upwards and scattering above like a great rain storm falling onto the forest and the mountains.

Mercury stood on the soft wet sand in a giant hole that once held a reservoir of water. She turned to find Zoicite laying on his side, still holding the stone to his chest. She smiled in relief glad to see him safely breathing as fish swam in small puddles around him.

The fish also looked to have all landed in small pools of water. She was relieved she could leave the wildlife some water after her attack. She could sense the water collecting and returning to the earth. If her calculations were correct the water would slowly collect and restore over the next couple weeks as the snow melted. The fish would be fine.

She snapped open her mini computer as she activated her visor scanning for danger. Lysander was no where to be seen. A few dim blips registered but were keeping a wary distance. They were likely supposed to attack her when she emerged but her water attack had forced them to regroup. Finding it to be safe for the moment she walked to Zoicite and knelt at his side as he lay unmoving his eyes watching her every move. "Are you alright?"

He stared back at her, chest still heaving. She knew he was in much the same shape as Kunzite had been but she hopped she had managed to reduce the injury and exhaustion Kunzite had experienced. There was no hospital near by. How could she fix this? She needed the prism Lysander had thrown into the water.

A shimmer of light caught her eye. "I see something." She told him as she stood up. "I won't go far." She tried to assure him. He almost looked worried about her as she moved a few feet away to the source of interest.

Walking to one of the shallower pools Mercury observed the fish swimming on the furthest edges of the water to avoid the dark prism which lay gleaming in the middle. She plucked it out of the water and held it it in her left and as she deftly pulled the small gem of zoicite from inside her glove and clasped it her her right, his Starseed looked pale and washed out, as if it had been faded in the sun. Even the pink speckles lacked luster. She frowned.

She returned to Zoicite.

She could feel the slightest tug in her left hand as if the prism were attracted to Zoicites stone. Refusing to endanger him further she knelt down beside him, tucking his stone carefully back into her right glove. "I don't know how much Lysander explained to you." she spoke clinically. "But I believe he used this prism to put you in your current condition. If left to his own intentions Lysander would have used it to you to see the exiled queen of the Fey..."

Zoicite managed a hiss.

"Titania," Mercury finished while frowning. "Seems you remember her." Zoicite glared at the prism in answer.

Mercury sighed. In all the excitement she had not gotten to ask Keenan what he remembered about Titania. The information exchange that was due between the Senshi and the Shitennou was starting to seem never-ending. She wished she had time to properly collect and analyze the data instead of having to act on instinct and crossed fingers.

"Sailor Mars destroyed the prism that controlled Kunzite. He was in bad shape after his encounter but is recovering quite well." Her tone softened as his eyes flicked from the prism to look at her. His eyes seemed to bore into her.

Under his intense gaze she felt her body tense for battle reflexively- as she had done many times in the past. She had spent the better part of her early senshi training facing off against him. But for the first time she wondered how terrible it must have been for him.

She felt the dim pulse of his stone against her skin. It was a little warmer, and touched her like a spark- energy that wished to do more. But did it want to be as helpful as Keenan? Did he have control of his will? She would have to be cautious.

"...He is quite concerned for all of you." she finished gently as she used her small computer to scan the prism which sat on the dirt between them. They sat in what she found to be comfortable silence as she used her mini computer to scan the prism from several different angles, If Zoicite didn't enjoy the silence there was nothing to be done.

Zoicite did not care for the silence. He had millions of questions. He wanted to know about Endymion, his life now, the Shitennou, the Senshi, the enemy. Also, he wondered when Sailor Mercury had become such a bad ass. She continued to work as he wondered and watched.

Occasionally when she was truly deep in thought she would murmur her calculations and theories out loud. In any other situation Zoicite would have found this endearing. But today he could only lie there and wait with baited breath.

Sailor Mercury snapped her computer shut and dropped it automatically into her sub space pocket. She picked up a large flat stone and ran her thumb over the water smoothed edges. She took a big breath as her eyes met his.

"Kunzite told me about how Beryl tricked you into meeting with her a thousand years ago."

He blinked in response but his gaze did not waver from her as she stared back at him steadily.

"You could no longer believe in your sovereign as you had before he met the princess, " she frowned "And us." she added

She placed the flat stone carefully the soft sand and then lay black prism on top. He watched her closely. If he had been free of spell he still would have been speechless.

"You were tricked and you were captured. You killed us and then you died. But it didn't matter Even in death you still belonged to her"

She pried his fingers away from the small boulder he still clutched and spent several minutes wrestling it from his tight grip.

"The queen of the moon gave you a second chance. Just like us, you were given a new life. It was supposed to be normal, quiet, and peaceful."

Finally managing to Yank the stone from his arms she looked at him steadily.

"Instead Beryl came for you again. She removed you from your new life and killed you when you no longer pleased her."

She paused, collecting herself. Then leaned in close bringing her face inches from his to ensure her message was clear.

"You must never forget that it was Princess Serenity who saved you a second time, who believed in you, and who stood by Endymion when he asked to keep the four of you safe from her guard- from Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and myself. They both believe you to be a good person who made bad choices."

She held the large stone up in the air between them.

"You are the only secret she has ever kept from us." he felt the air chill around him.

"If my prince and princess are mistaken in their faith in you then you will have to answer to me. Is that understood?"

His eyes were fierce. He was overjoyed that mercury had been able to stand at Endymion's side when he could not. She was ferocious and loyal as well as gentle and intelligent.

She studied him for what felt like hours but was in actuality some of the most important seconds of Zoicite's life. She remembered that even under Beryl he had always worn his heart on his sleeve. As he did now. She smiled, satisfied with what she saw.

"Good. I would very much like to have you as an ally."

And she brought the stone down hard onto the prism. As the stone collided with the prism small hairline fractures formed. The fissures grew until it exploded in a cloud of purple dust and gray smoke.

Zoicite cried out for a moment only to have his breath die in his throat. His body stiffened and he made a terrible gurgling noise. Mercury leaned forward and gently clasped his head to keep it supported as his body went through a brief but terrifying series of spasms and seizures. She spoke softly as she held him in a firm grip. He focused on her voice and used it as his anchor until he fainted. Only then did the spasms stop.

When his eye fluttered open a few minutes later he found his head resting in Mercuy's lap.

"How do you feel?" If it was possible, her voice sounded even more gentle then normal. Sailor Mercury had always had the touch of a healer.

"I feel like I almost drowned at the bottom of a pool...of electric eels...with fangs and barbwire." he rasped. He stared at the wispy clouds moving lazily across the sky as Mercury looked over his injuries. Though she touched him as little as possible it took all of his restraint not to hiss in pain.

She told him to relax and rest after she finished checking him for injuries. He drifted in and out of consciousness to the soft sound of her typing on the computer.

"Have you contacted anyone?" he finally managed.

"I tried." She replied. "I can't connect with anyone. Something seems to be blocking the reception of our communications. It is also possible that we are out of range."

"I can't move."

"No," she corrected him "you can't get up. You are wiggling your toes and fingers. "

"But I can't move."

"Because you are exhausted." she said patiently.

"You aren't listening to me!" He felt the familiar rise of his temper.

"No, you aren't listening to me." Her voice took on a flinty hardness. " Lysander not only took control of your body, but he attacked your entire nervous system when you refused to comply with his wishes. As a result Your body took on a great deal of strain when you fought against his control." Her voice still held the chill of her anger but it cracked a little as she continued. "And then... and then you almost drowned because you proved to be too hard to control. You used up all of your strength and power fighting Lysander the only way you could. and you suffered and almost drowned for it."

"An hour ago you thought you were just a man. And now..." Hastily she pulled a gloved hand across her face stopping the tears she could not afford to cry. Satisfied she leaned forward as she regained the clinical voice of a medical professional. "So, since you made the decision to sacrifice your life rather then betray your prince or his alleys. So it can only be expected that at the very least you might need a little nap as your body comes to terms with the sacrifice you nearly made." She placed a hand on his chest pushing down gently as if to stop him from sitting up.

He almost chuckled. She was pretending to force him to lie down when they both knew he didn't have the strength to sit up with out help. She was trying to let him keep his pride.

"So, no, you can't move right now. Not just because you are tired, but because you are under strict order from the royal physician to stay still and regain your strength!"

"Wait, are you a doctor?" Zoicite interjected.

"I am going to be! So sit sill!" Mercury snapped.

"Yes, doctor." Zoicite said meekly. Had the temperature just dropped again?

She was much more scary then Lysander.

"Good. Now get some rest. I'll keep watch."

"Sailor Mercury?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Zoicite wanted to stay awake- she had done enough. But his eyelids were so heavy. He let his eyes close in what was supposed to be a slow blink only to fall into a fast a deep sleep.

The tension in Mercury's shoulders eased as she watched his chest rise and fall in the rhythm of healing sleep. He would be alright. For now.

After another long and thorough scan of the perimeter she satisfied herself that they were both indeed alone before cautiously pulling out the small gem which flashed urgently in her hand.

"Not yet." She scolded it. "You both need to collect a little strength."

Couple of things:

1. I can't believe this took 10 months. Whoa! I won't bore you with the epic saga of writing, re-rewriting, loosing the rewrites and starting the rewrite process over again. Also, lots of life changes- all distracting and no excuse. Deepest apologies and appreciation to those who are still reading. Thank you for your time, thoughts, and comments. I value them all.

2. Just because you collect and analyze the data and wear the goofy visor does not mean that you can not rise to the occasion to kick some ass. Nerds rule.

-CD