Austin Jade Hello again readers! This is chapter eight for this story, and this part is going to be rated PG for some swearing, and slightly adult sections. There aren't really that many, but this is just a warning. By the way, in this chapter the word 'lover' simply means that one person loves the other. This is not used in any sort of sexual sense. Please take note of that. If you read and like this chapter then please write either Austin, or myself with comments. Sayonora! ------------------------------------------------------------ Crystal awoke from her nightmares sweaty, her bed covers all tangled up into one big mess about her long legs and slim body. She didn't usually have nightmares, not like this, but when she did they scared her. *Really* scared her. Letting out a deep breath of air Crystal slowly attempted to climb out of her bed without falling flat on her face. And she almost succeeded. Almost. She was doing pretty good until she heard a voice speak from the side of her bed. It was not cruel, or cold in any way, on the contrary, it was quite warm, but it was almost unrecognizable to Crystal's still sleepy mind and hazy ears. "Didn't you sleep well Crystal?" It asked. It was a males voice, very deep with a touch of some sort of accent to it that Crystal couldn't figure out, and it was laughing at her. She turned quickly, forgetting all about her rather restricted movements considering the blankets surrounding her, and, as expected, she fell right off the bed and splat on her noise. "Ouchie..." She complained, attempting to gain her footing, throwing the blankets to the side and rubbing her face where she had hit the floor. She felt large hands gently covering hers and taking them in a strong grip, pulling her up in one fluid motion. Suddenly she was on her feet, standing on weak legs and blinking her eyes at the bright light that had flooded her room. She finally looked up to see an impatient Kunzite tapping his foot on the floor in a slow, deliberate pattern. He still hadn't released her hands. "It wasn't a dream then was it?" Crystal sighed and sat down on her bed, pulling her hands from his and putting them behind her head, laying it on the pillow. She closed her eyes tiredly and yawned. "No it wasn't Crystal.... did you want it to be?" Kunzite asked with a sharp edge in his voice that she noticed but chose to ignore. "........." She was still too foggy to answer anything but the truth so instead of doing that she kept her mouth shut and said nothing. Not the truth and not a lie. They where silent for a few mintues together, thinking, and by then Crystal was ready to fall asleep again. She felt so drained. "How long has it been?" She mumbled out and yawned again at the same time, bringing one hand out from under head and rubbing it over her eyes and forehead. She sensed rather than saw Kunzite take a step towards where she lay. "It's been at least six hours since you and I.... uh... trained with the swords." Crystal heard something of an awkward note in Kunzite's voice and peaked through half closed lids at his pale face and silver head of hair. He looked as though he were deep in thought, far away, nervous.... and uncomfortable. He obviously wished he hadn't brought up the subject of there near kiss. Crystal wished he hadn't either. "That long." She muttered, stifling another yawn with her hand, and then another. She was sure she was going to doze off any minute now.... She felt Kunzite bend over her for a moment, and her eyes flashed open briefly to see a look of indecision on his shadowed face. Her muddled mind didn't even bother to wonder at the expression but instead began to insist that she sleep again. She was so tired.... She felt a gentle hand close over her shoulder, the warmth of the touch completely obvious, even through her generals uniform. On instinct her own hand flew up and grabbed the hand by the wrist. Her eyes flashed open again and she was about to pull away from Kunzite, as it was him who had layed his hand on her shoulder, when suddenly Crystal felt something like a flood of energy envelop her. It felt something like when someone had been working all day and was then given a large glass of lemonade to drink when they were finished all that they needed to do. It strengthened her, rejuvenated her, refreshed her, filled her with power, and the moment it touched her Crystal went limp under Kunzite's hand and she began to tremble as even more energy swirled around and inside her. She didn't understand what Kunzite was doing to her, but she knew that it felt wonderful. Like when you've been sitting in freezing cold water for a short time and just come out, into the warm sun. But it was even better than that. It was.... an incredible sensation. The energy that was flooding inside her, like water flowing from a dam, dwindled and then stopped altogether and Crystal blinked and shook her head to clear it. "" She didn't realized she'd asked the question aloud until a few moments later when Kunzite answered her. "All the energy you expanded during your fight with the scouts, your training, and all the negative power around you, which you aren't used to, must have drained you more than usual. I merely transfered a small amount of my own energy to you to help." Crystal stared at him a moment, a combination of, confusion, surprise, and gratefulness on her face, and Kunzite flushed light pink at her look. "Thanks." She mumbled and got to her feet quickly. Stretching her arms above her head Crystal ran a hand through her slightly knotted hair and turned to Kunzite. "Alright, what did you want me up for?" She asked, making a big circle in the air with her right arm, which was slightly sore from the battle with the scouts and all the training she'd gone through. Kunzite was not long in answering, but when he did there was more than just nervousness in his voice. "More training." Crystal froze as the scene from their previous session with the swords flashed before her eyes and when she spoke it was with her head down. She was ashamed of what she'd nearly done, she'd probably embarrassed both herself and Kunzite, and she still didn't understand why she had nearly kissed him in the first place, so she was slightly uncomfortable with the idea of training him right now, although, for some reason the idea was also rather appealing to her. Besides, she had little choice in the matter. "Alright," she said finally, running her right hand through her golden mass of hair again. "lead the way." ___________________ Throughout the whole day Kunzite and Crystal practiced every weapon Crystal had ever learned. They tested her magical abilities to the limit, and trained her in physical prowess until she was worn to the bone, but the training sessions were far from productive. Kunzite and Crystal just couldn't work so close together, touching each other, being so near each other while also concentrating on the lesson they were supposed to be practicing. Many times Crystal forgot where to put her hands, or how to position herself, or even how to use the weapon properly, and at those times Kunzite had to walk behind her and show her again how to use the weapon properly. Neither one of them were able to concentrate. All in all, it was a very slow, very interesting, unproductive day. And as that day came to a close, hours after Kunzite had woken Crystal from bed, was when all Hell broke loose. The first thing to go wrong was when Kunzite and Crystal began to train more fully with her magical powers. Kunzite had been attacking Crystal with black orbs and blue orbs, while Crystal did the same with him, along with sending some lightning bolts of all different colors at him as well. Black and blue orbs were not so harming or draining as red ones, but they did have one specialy quality to them. They could multiply and divide, as though they were alive, and when they did this they always attacked from every direction open to them. Crystal had been shielding herself with the skill and expertise of a person who'd been training for years instead of months, and Kunzite had began to send his more powerful attacks along with the black orbs. He forgot that Crystal was just in training and that she had yet to learn everything about her magic, or the weapons she was training with, he forgot to use only certain attacks on her just now, like orbs first and more late on, he forgot that it was Crystal who he was *fighting* with, and when Kunzite's most formidable attack came at Crystal, she was totally unprepared and unable to stop it. The black orbs, which had been small to begin with now doubled in size, and the blue ones added their power to it, and while Crystal easily shielded herself from these she was not prepared for what happened when the orbs impacted on her shield. Instead of dissipating or disappearing as all the previous attacks had done this particular attack seemed to feed off the energy of her sheild, and grow even stronger, and bigger. And while Crystal started, surprised, and tried to strengthen the shield where the orb was draining it she forgot to watch out behind her. The orbs that hit the back of shield had little trouble getting through it and when Crystal turned around to shield herself from these orbs she was distracted and the orb at the front of the shield totally drained it and hit her full force. Crystal screamed as ripples and bullets of energy spread throughout her body like electric current, like fire and shot up and down her legs and back without mercy causing unlimited pain and suffering. Then the second wave from the back of the shield hit and Crystal fell silently and without a word, unconscious. It was only then that Kunzite realized his mistake and he immediatly rushed to Crystal's side, terrified for some reason that he may have damaged her beyond repair. That had been his most powerful attack, one of the most poweful ones in the whole Nega-verse and Crystal, at the moment, was lucky to be alive. Falling to his knees beside her Kunzite took her by the arm gently and turned her over, looking at her pale, lovely face in apprehension and worry. Using the same method he had used this morning Kunzite transfered some of his life energy to the golden haired general before him, hoping that would revive her, or at the very least, give her back some of the energy his unthinking actions had taken. Crystal's eyes fluttered at the tranfer of energy as the comforting, wonderful sensations took her again, and for a moment her eyes opened and stared at him, a dazed film covering the liquid blue. For a moment she didn't seem to notice him and Kunzite was afraid he may have damaged her mind, but then, slowly, very slowly the grayish film faded and recognition flooded Crystal eyes. She managed to ask weakly. "What was that?" Kunzite explained to her that it had been entirely his fault before he even told her what had happened, and then he explained that it had been his most powerful attack, and how he should never have used it on her, and how her knew she wouldn't be able to sheiled from it, and on, and on, and on... "Kunzite!" Crystal finally shouted, fed up with his stumbling apologies and explanations. He quieting him instantly. "It's alright! Really it is. I feel fine now, and you don't need to explain anything else to me right now. It is done, there's nothing for it. You can't change the past. You can't change what is. You can't change... destiny." And here Crystal's voice turned bitter for reasons as yet unknown to Kunzite, but reasons Crystal knew all to well. Destiny. How she hated the word. She'd heard it practically evey day since she'd *met* Luna and she never wanted to hear the word again. It was destiy that she be a sailor scout, it was destiny that she fight for love and justice, it was destiny that she should lead the scouts, it was destiny that she find the moon princess and protect her. Destiny was all she had ever known since becoming Sailor Moon, and now she was sick of it. For her, destiny didn't exist, not anymore. How could it, when she had foresaken everything that she had been told was her *destiny* by joining the Nega-verse and giving up the position of Sailor Moon, scout leader, and her mission to find the moon princess completely? For the rest of the of this part of training Kunzite merely watched Crystal perform her attacks, her defenses, teleports, her accuracy while using her attacks, and her efficiency while setting up shields and teleporting to the places he told her to. Crystal needed little training in this area, and he couldn't help her anymore until they fought again and Kunzite taught her how to defend herself from the giant black orbs he could create, and how to create them herself. The second thing to go wrong was far more serious than the first, and far more dangerous, though some would dispute that fact. Kunzite and Crystal had been practicing with one of the few weapons Crystal had never used before in physical practice. A sabre. There are two types of sabres, Kunzite explained to her, one was a fencing sword, thin and long, and the other, a heavy fighting sword with one edge and a curved blade. They were using the fencing one first. Now, the sabre that they were using was a lot like a rapier, simular in some ways, but different in others. And since this was a first try at this for Crystal, Kunzite had to go behind her and take her hands with his, positioning them correctly and showing her how to move the weapon precisly and with deadly accuracy. "Here." Kunzite said, taking her two hands in his and placing them on the hilt of the sabre. "Keep your hands like this, while I position your feet." Crystal nodded and Kunzite directed her to place her feet at an even distance and shift the right one about a foot in front of the left. Crystal questioned Kunzite criously on why she was not using the sword for fencing when it was clearly a fencing sword, but Kunzite told her that here, in the Nega-verse, they didn't fence with such weapons, but used them in.... other, more.... deadly ways. Crystal understood. Standing behind her again Kunzite put his arms around her and placed his hands over hers. He handled her slim, pale hands gently and with inordinate care. "Now," he murmered in her ear, his warm breath caressing her skin, causing her to shiver at the sensation. "remember to always keep the saber or sword, which ever one you're using, close enough to the enemy so that you can attack or defend if necessary, but not so close that if you do attack he could hit your arm when he strikes back, alright." His voice was soft, softer than she'd ever imagined a mans voice to be, and his silver hair was falling around her own golden tresses, tickling her at the base of her neck when it brushed against her. She barely managed a nod. "Now, take one hand off of the hilt of the saber and use the remaining one to get a feel for it. Once you get used to the weapon you'll have no trouble. It's not really that different from a rapier, you'll see." While talking Kunzite had removed her left hand from the saber himself and in doing so had had to reach forward more to be able to move her hands as he wished. His lips accidently brushed against her neck and collar bone as he spoke and suddenly the temperature seemed to go up a hundred degrees for both of them. Neither moved, either to push away or embrace further, and they remained in that position for some time, just like before when they had been training with the swords. Then Kunzite lifted his head slightly and spoke in Crystal's ear again, this time deliberatly brushing her ear with his lips. She trembled in his arms. "Who are you, Crystal? Really. You're not telling us everything, that much I know. You're much too different from us to want to join us. Your too brave, too nice, too.... beautiful to just betray all your friends and turn on them like you have. You're too much like a princess or a queen to do that. Always so friendly, so strong, and so loyal, so much so that you could never have come here out of your own choice. So who are you, really, beautiful princess?" Crystal wasn't given the chance to answer though, either with a lie or with the truth because suddenly a deep voice, not as deep as Kunzite's and certainly not as soft, rang out through the training room loudly, echoing off the walls. "Kunzite!!!!" He let go of Crystal in a hurry, stepping back quickly and nearly tripping over himself in the process. Crystal stepped in the opposit direction he did, putting a fair distance between the two of them. Kunzite swallowed, knowing full well that this couldn't have looked good. He managed a weak smile and one word. "Zoisite." The brown haired general was standing in the training room door, one hand on the stone frame, the other by his side, and a look of complete and utter shock on his face as he stared at the silver haired man. Then he moved his gaze to Crystal and his bright green eyes burned with a hatred unmatched in the course of history. "You.... you.... you," Zoisite sputtered, not being able to form any words past that. His eyes were like smoldering, bottomless pits, and Crystal inadvertently took a step back as he spat his next words in her direction. "You *bitch*!!!" He lunged for Crystal, power flying around him light electrical shock, as Crystal backed away from him, surprised and frightened. From the look in his eyes it was obvious he wasn't going to just knock her off her feet. He looked mad enough to kill. Fortunately for Crystal, Kunzite managed to impose himself between her and the raging Zoisite before he could touch her. Unfortunately for him, Zoisite's fast approach did not halt in the least when he got in the way. Zoisite smashed into him at full force and the hit sent Kunzite flying backwards, and Crystal, standing behind him, also went flying when Kunzite smashed into her. It was only the stone wall on the far side of the training room that stopped their momentum, and a stone wall is not exactly the most comfortable thing to hit when you're in the air. "Oww...." Crystal complained, rubbing her bruised temple and shoving the cape covering her face aside. Her voice was muffled considerably as Kunzite, who was slightly dizzy from the impact, attempted to get to his feet and off of her. Zoisite stood where Kunzite and Crystal had been standing, breathing heavily as his clenched fists shook with pure and utter rage at what he had seen. Kunzite eventually managed to gain his footing and stepped in front of Crystal again, ready to shield her if Zoisite should try to attack her again. But Zoisite didn't try to attack her, or even talk to her again. His heated gaze was now fixed on Kunzite and the older general swallowed guiltily as his lovers look transmitted the hurt and betrayal he felt, along with the extreme fury. "Um.... Crystal, maybe you should, uh," He didn't need to finish. Crystal got the message and headed for the door. She kept her gaze on Zoisite though, not letting her guard down for a moment as she stepped into the doorway and striding around the corner and out of sight, looking over her shoulder at Kunzite for a moment before disappearing into the dark passageway. *Now* Kunzite turned back to Zoisite and swallowed again as Zoisite just stood there, betrayal in his eyes, dark power in his hands, and foul words just on the tip of his tongue, just waiting to be said. "Listen Zoisite," Kunzite began, trying to calm him down and explain what had happened, even though he himself wasn't exactly sure just what *had* happened. "It's not... we weren't.... Crystal didn't do anything, and neither did I..... It's not what you think it is. I was just showing her how to use the saber, nothing more. We weren't-" But Kunzite was cut off when Zoisite growled out harshly, "Quiet!!! Don't lie to me Kunzite! I know what you were up to, you bastard! But answer me this. Why would you choose *her* over me?!" Zoisite's face was scarlet red with venumous rage and Kunzite had the feeling Zoisite wasn't mad at Crystal at all, but at him, and only him. He was beginning to get rather frustrated at being accused of something he hadn't even done, or at least, something he didn't think he'd done. "No, no, no! It wasn't like that! I was just showing her how to use the saber properly. We weren't doing anything else!" But Zoisite went on blindly, not even seeming to hear Kunzite's words, and Kunzite's face just got angrier and angrier as Zoisite's next hateful words transmitted themselves to him. But surprisingly, his next words were not directed at Kunzite, or what he had done, but at Crystal. "Why Kunzite?! How could you?! She's just a stupid girl anyway! She's just a child! And not only that, she also used to be our enemy! She was a cowardly, clutsy, *stupid* sailor scout. The leader of them! And it wasn't even her choice to come join us at all! If she had had her own choice she'd *still* be a sailor scout. She'd still be our enemy! What do you have to say to that, huh?! Don't you get it?! She didn't choose-" "Enough!!!!! Don't ever talk about her like that! She's a general now; get used to it Zoisite! She's not clutsy, or stupid, or a coward. She is a *general* now, and there's nothing you can do to change that, so don't even bother to try!" Zoisite seemed thrown off balance by Kunzite's words, but he shook himself after a few moments and drew himself up angrily as he began to shout at Kunzite again, going on just as blindly and just as stupidly. "But she *is* stupid, and cowardly... and an idiot! She couldn't find someone to be with on Earth so she came here looking for somebody! Don't you think that's the actions of a coward?! She may be good when it comes to magic and physical combat, but beyond that she's no better than the average Youma! She'll never be a real general! She's worthless!" That time Zoisite had said too much. It was one thing to insult Kunzite, or even to insult Crystal with off hand comments and what not, but it was another thing all together when someone began insulting a general openly, and with hard, angry words. "She is not worthless!!!!!!" Kunzite bellowed, his voice echoing off the walls warningly, but Zoisite was on a roll, and he didn't see the danger coming when he said, "You're right, she's not *just* worthless, she's also coward and a bitch!" Kunzite's eyes glowed silver with that, dark power coiling and uncoiling inside him as Zoisite opened his mouth to say more. But Kunzite, who had had enough, snarled out a vile oath at Zoisite before he could speak and raised his hand to strike him, electricity flaring around him furiously. But just before his hand would have swung down and hit the younger general in the face Kunzite stopped himself and froze. He couldn't believe it. He'd just been about to *slap* Zoisite.... Zoisite... his love? He wondered if that word could be applied to them at all anymore. Lowering his hand slowly, and with a look of complete shock on his face Kunzite stared at Zoisite for a full minute, as Zoisite stared back at him, shocked himself. Kunzite tried to speak, tried to apologize, tried to make words come out, but... he couldn't get a word past the shock, and so, instead of waiting or staying around, Kunzite slowly turned around and walked out of the training room, his shoes echoing in the halls. Zoisite stared after him for a moment, his whole body trembling, before he too disppeared from the training room, in a swirl of rose petals, tears streaking down his face and hatred burning in his eyes, not for Kunzite, but for Crystal, the girl who dared try and take Kunzite from him. And Crystal herself, who had been floating above both of them, off to the side of the training room, and who had seen the whole thing, slowly floated down to the ground and left the same way Kunzite had and with a look of shock and extreme guilt on her face as well. What would happen now? TO BE CONTINUED....