Disclaimer: Me no create Sailor Moon, just the story line. In other words standard disclaimers apply. =) Author Notes at the end!

Chapter Thirteen

Kunzite stared at Mina who met his silver, unflinching, with fearless sapphire. He shifted uncomfortable and broke eye contact first. Not many things disturbed him but the thought of what the galaxy thought was going on behind the Generals' doors with the princesses offended his very strong sense of honor. His jaw clenched at the necessity of such duplicity. He had made a choice, a choice to abandon oaths that had held him to a murderer for his entire adult life. There was relief in that decision and also awful bitterness because he could not directly challenge Sol and all that he stood for. He could not be what he was raised to be, a soldier. He couldn't not conquer with steel or power.

"I hate politics," he snapped, frustrated. Mina, a woman he had found to be his equal in almost every way, arched one golden eyebrow and shrugged.

"I grew up in politics my dear General. I'm sorry to say that I'm used to them." He growled and she sighed.

"Rei said that Lita will arrive soon..." Kunzite turned and gave the princess a hard look.

"And how would Rei know what Sol's best spies just learned hours before?" The woman before him shrugged again.

"My magic may be gone but Rei and Ami still have theirs..." His hand covered her mouth in an instant and she quieted, though reaction nearly had her try to break him in half, not that she would have succeeded.

"I have magic protections up but I am not the Dark Sorceress's match Mina... I can't know if she's listening..." Mina wrestled herself away from Kunzite's grasp, glaring balefully.

"She knows Kunzite," Mina snapped. "You're right, she's better than you and she's better than we are right now. Our magic is an integral part of us. All you have to do is look one of us in the eyes to tell the power we hold.

She knows but she won't do anything. She's a bitter woman Kunzite. She sees her future and life slipping away with the birth of her child. Then she'll have no hold on Sol, no tie to make her loyal either, at least in your mad Emperor's eyes and we all know what he does to those he thinks he can't implicitly trust." Mina spat in disgust.

"Beryl knows that Rei isn't powerless and that Ami is getting more powerful with every passing day but she won't tell him. She asked for us, she wanted to learn our secrets, but Sol refused. If he knew that Rei and Ami still had magic he would reconsider his plan, he might give us to Beryl because then he would gain more from us alive than dead, but she won't accept us a second time. Her pride and spite is all that she has left. So she stays and will remain quiet."

Kunzite, reluctant to abandon caution but freed by the logic that Mina presented, sighed. Eyes that were flat, never quite the same since Lita had knelt by her side, studied him and, guessing his thoughts, laughed.

"I'm right aren't I Kunzite? You can tell what kind of power we hold through our eyes. How much power do I have?"

"None," he murmured. Mina laughed again and grabbed his hand, startling him.

"It is my experience, in politics, that all royalty has power. If I hold no power what does that make me?" Kunzite stared at her for a long moment before smiling, his even white teeth bared.

"A poor simple soldier." Mina nodded in serene agreement. Kunzite, bafflement in his features, questioned the small woman.

"That pleases you?" She released his hand, leaving a lingering warmth that pleased him, and chuckled dryly.

"I will always be a leader but as you said, true warriors abhor politics. Lita took my birthright. I gave it willingly and its loss will always be an empty hole in my heart but Venus was not all that I am." Her face shifted slyly.

"A princess, leader of the senshi, will always be apart from her troops. I am a fighter at heart Kunzite and a fighter has to be willing to die, but, as a princess, I cannot put my life in danger.You know the great last battle that you told Lita about, and me? Princesses aren't granted that. Responsibility bars us from ever facing Death and meeting him standing, proud. How many Kings and Queens can you think of who died fighting, with dignity?" The thought of Queen Serenity and the former King of Earth, Sol and Endy's father, sobered him. The sapphire turned reflective as she continued quietly.

"Death stalks me Kunzite. I can see him laughing at me through Beryl's eyes, and Sol's. Lita will, must win, and when she does the fires will take us. I want to die knowing that I'm not failing in my responsibilities, not that it matters... I've failed in so much already..." Mina turned away from him and his breath caught in a still throat. He wanted to comfort her and he felt the words rising up, waiting to be spoken, just as they had waited to be spoken to the others the night Endymion died, and Rose, the night Nephrite was almost lost to madness. But then, as now, he could not force on until he managed to break it.

"And the others?" Mina, still facing away, made a brittle dark sound that almost sounded like mirthless laughter.

"Rei was never a princess. She bore the title and respected the weight of the shadowy crown placed on her brow but Mars has always held her heart. Ami has always bowed to one true mistress, knowledge. Being a princess and senshi are technicalities." Pale lips formed a true smile that Kunzite couldn't see. "She has an inner light not even fire could conquer." He heard the love for her friends in her frank comments and winced. He used to sound the same... but death had weakened the bonds of friendship with the Generals while it had strengthened the princesses' in some respects.

"Kunzite, promise me something. You followed Sol blindly. You are one of the most honorable, noble, integrity driven men that I have ever known and you pledged yourself to a mad man because that was what the vows you had taken forced you to do.

You've forsaken the vows for something older, for the good of innocent people and the universe. I want you to promise me that you'll swear fealty to one other leader in your life." Silence.

"Lita, Kunzite. She's headstrong and foolish and stubborn and needs people who are willing to remind her of her very real faults and to keep her from making big blunders but she's also strong and there's a part of her that darkness... Darkness touches her Kunzite but it can never hold her. She fights and when we're not looking drinks and swears and loves. She's always loved life, every minute of it. She's a fighter but she is no stranger to the burdens of true responsibility, only the weight never really weighs her down, not for long.

The galaxy is a big scary place and Lita's never afraid to face it, or to shield those more helpless than she is. Freedom is the only thing she cherishes more than life. I've always been there to watch out for her Kunzite... She's my sister... and I'm leaving her all alone and its killing me..." Kunzite started as he realized that the Princess of Venus was crying.

This time words and actions didn't fail him and before he knew it he had numb arms wrapped around Mina who buried her face into his shoulder, sobs muffled by his starched uniform. He bowed his head and tried not to hold her too close, fear, things he refused to name, to acknowledge, making him want to shake. She smelled like the wind and sand and sun and like salt tears...

"I promise," he whispered over and over as he slowly rocked her. It was very late that night before she returned to her prison and for once a weary Kunzite didn't care what it looked like to the rest of the universe.

Nephrite watched Lita as she paced the length of the small tattered tent that served as the command center for the ragged army. He leaned farther back in his chair, not bothering to disguise his intent gaze. '...Because she was born to love you lover. She is your one true love. She doesn't want to be and she'll fight it every step of the way but her heart beats with yours and no one else's...' He blinked and shifted, uncomfortable by the memory that was just slightly to starkly vivid to ignore. Rose earrings glinted in flickering lantern light.

"You should try to get some sleep," he murmured. Lita stopped for a brief moment and shrugged gracelessly.

"Can't," she replied shortly. Nephrite nodded in understanding.

"He'll use them against me Nephrite, I know he will." Cobalt eyes looked away.

"I know." Lita resumed pacing.

"Is my soul worth this dying universe Nephrite?" He understood the question better than he would have liked and stood quickly, grabbing a stiff Lita's unresisting hand. He pulled her out into the cold night's air.

Most of the men's fires were guttering, embers glowing a flinty orange in the shroud of night. Thickly placed tents littered the hills about a mile from the Earthen Castle on the outskirts of the capitol. They would attack at dawn. They had landed in hordes of sky carriages two weeks ago and had marched, their army of five thousand and twenty three men, and few hardy women. They had come, unhindered by Sol's scattered forces, and often aided by civilians, even by those of Earth.

Sol had received advanced word of their coming. Nephrite knew Lita was surprised that the Emperor hadn't tried to shoot the sky carriages from the sky but Nephrite had always dismissed that thought. Sol was mad and arrogant, not a coward. He had gathered his private army to his base and had waited. The Rebels would come to him and his army numbered approximately thirteen thousand.Would their army had grown in size if they waited longer to attack? Certainly, but Sol's would as well. Few men served him out of love but money bought a lot these days and life was cheap. He turned to Lita, making her meet his eyes.

"Perhaps the universe isn't worth your soul Lita but the innocents are." He gripped her shoulders and he was surprised, momentarily, that she didn't pull away. Nephrite swallowed and released her before continuing, voice subdued but intense. He waved to the camp.

"These people have risked their lives for you, and for the promise of freedom that you offer them. They've seen their families slaughtered before Sol's forces. I know Lita, I stood by and let it happened, ordered it to happen." His voice cracked and she flinched, old anger stirring briefly in tired emerald eyes at the renewed memories.

"Even if it means our deaths, their deaths," and he spoke of the princesses, "we have to make a stand." Lita felt the tears welling and brushed them angrily away. Over the months she had grown to forgive, and sometimes, when she could forget long enough, trust Nephrite but she couldn't, wouldn't, cry in front of him.

"And if it means their deaths?" she asked harshly, harsher than she had intended, and she spoke of the Generals. He stilled at her side, and she could see, even at night, that his face had drained of blood. His voice, when he replied, was steady though.

"Then I lose my soul as well." She shuddered at his words and slipped away, no longer able to contain the sobs. His hand raised on its own accord, to stop her, to comfort her... He didn't know and he doubted that he ever would.

'...Because she was born to love you lover. She is your one true love. She doesn't want to be and she'll fight it every step of the way but her heart beats with yours and no one else's...' Nephrite's outstretched hand tightened into a white knuckled fist before he lowered it slowly to his side. The weak rays of false dawn broke the horizon as the troops began to wake and dress, preparing themselves for the coming battle.

Jadeite sat in the small circular room that had served as the princesses' resting-place for years. He touched the empty marble tables absently and sighed. Eyes, shimmering between indigo and amethyst, regarded him steadily. He blinked and the image vanished. Fists clenched pounded one of the tables, agony clear in his features.

'Jadeite...' His mental ghost of the princess smiled that strange, half curled smile, and walked forward to touch his arm.

'I'll be okay, we all will be. Death is natural...'

"Death by fire?" he hissed furiously. The lovely apparition blinked and withdrew her transparent hand.

'I do not fear the fire Jadeite. I am fire. I was born in it, raised in it. I've been fortunate in that. Hell is hardly a daunting prospect for one who's spent her life wading in its embers.' He stiffened and stood.

"I can't let anything happen to you." She bit one full lip and touched his cheek.

'There's always tomorrow Jadeite, even if the sun doesn't rise for a millennium there's always tomorrow.' She leaned forward and planted a gentle, almost real kiss, on his bitter mouth before vanishing.

Rei woke sweating, her heart pounding. She calmed her tearless sobs and quieted, careful not to wake Ami or Mina, after all it was their last night in this life, because Lita couldn't fail.

"Jadeite... Jadeite... Why did I have to find you now?" Fate was a funny thing and a harsh mistress. There was an old story that told how the first Queen of Mars had found her husband, a farmer in a small town in Mercury. She had dreamed him.

The women of Mars were strong, fierce, and ferocious. They didn't stoop to thinking about love, that was for dreamers. So, when they dreamt, their subconscious guided them to the man who could hold their fickle heart.

And the men themsevles... They had, over the years, come from any part of the galaxy and every station of life. And, when the Queen or Princess of Mars showed up on their doorstep they very rarely said no. Not because they wished to be Kings, but because their subconscious didn't just find monarch's true loves, they introduced them. Magic had a funny way of solving the problems presented to it. After all, who would Mar's magic go to if the royal line died out for want of love, of passion?

Story or no there was truth to every fairy tale. Too bad Death would claim her before Jadeite. And she was just starting to think there was enough to live for. The rising sun broke hesitantly over the horizon and bathed the princesses' room in red. Rei, with a wordless, pain filled sigh, looked away.

Rose stood on the rampart of the Earthen Castle, Ken an almost solid presence by her side. His arm rose to wrap around her shoulder and she accepted the slight comfort it offered. They stood silently and were joined by a white faced Serena.

The princess's mouth was hardened into a pain filled white line. She offered no word of welcome but her presence meant enough. Endymion had not been able to help himself... The stars had taken him and he had passed on into the time stream, without the woman he was sworn to love until the end of time.

As they watched the sun rise Serena couldn't help but wonder if perhaps, perhaps this would be the end of time. This battle, this war... That the blood spilled on the ground would be the last of its kind...

"Lita... you must win. We've already lost so much..." Ken closed shadowy eyes and tightened his grip on Rose's shoulders in response to the choked whisper that passed by the princess's trembling lips.

"You must win..." Dawn broke in all its terribly golden glory and glinted off the helmets of men marching to battle, to death.

Author's Notes: I know, a month and a half a month between updates. Kill my teachers and over scheduled life. LOL... Neway here's thirteen and fourteen in one shot with a short fifteen/epilogue to follow within a couple of days, ie not a month and a half. hehe PLEASE email me, get in touch, flame me, whatever. My mail box has been pitifully empty and I'd be eternally grateful to whoever attempts to fill it!

email:inspiredthoughts@hotmail.com
page: http://www.geocities.com/keitree