Note: I have nothing to do with Sailor Moon and its characters except to be a fan who enjoys the series and the movies very much. This story is my extrapolation of the storylines as received in North America. I apologize if this story doesn't quite fit into the Japanese series.
Serena trudged out of the main building feeling elated and depressed at the same time. Elated, because she'd escaped Ms. Haruna's triple detention sentence, but depressed because it was already late and Darian wouldn't have waited this long for her to come out.
"Hey, Serena," a voice called. "Detention again?"
Serena blinked and looked up.
A girl with long, violet-black hair dressed in a school uniform--although not the same as the one Serena herself wore--stood at the end of the walkway by the street. She was a little taller than Serena was, and carried herself with an air of calm superiority.
Serena felt herself bristling. "Hey, Rei," she said. "I almost had detention, but Ms. Haruna's boyfriend called so she canceled it."
"Well," Rei said, grinning, "at least she remembered to dismiss you this time."
Serena shivered, remembering the longest detention she'd ever suffered through. It had been during Ann and Alan's time on Earth. Miss Haruna had just broken up with her boyfriend and had sentenced Ann and Serena to detention. Then she'd received a phone call from her ex-boyfriend and had left immediately to meet with him, forgetting that Ann and Serena were in detention. Fortunately, this time she'd remembered to come back to the classroom and dismiss her.
"What are you doing here, Rei?" Serena asked, falling into step beside her sometimes friend.
"Oh, chorus practice was canceled, so I thought I'd go looking for Mina, Lita, and Amy and see if they wanted to go shopping." Rei turned away, grinning slyly. "I expected you to be in detention, of course."
Serena felt her control slipping. "Well," she snapped, "since I'm not in detention, why don't we go looking for them together? I think Lita mentioned something about going down to the park this afternoon."
Rei shrugged. "Sure, you can come along if you want." She started down the street.
Serena stared after her, then stomped her foot down. "She makes me so mad!" she muttered, glaring daggers at Rei. Then, realizing that the other girl was already halfway down the block, she hurried after her.
* * *
Jed scuffed his feet along, watching as the concrete slabs blurred by.
He was at the park with Darian, the cats, and the three girls, yet though he felt included in their party, he also felt slightly apart. It wasn't that they were trying to isolate him--as a matter of fact, Mina and Lita made numerous attempts to engage him in idle conversation--but that he simply felt separate.
It had started the previous night, when he and Darian had gone over to Andrew's apartment for dinner with him and Rita. The food had been delicious, and the company thoroughly enjoyable, but there had been something missing. Again, it wasn't that the others were trying to shun or ignore him, but there had been something lacking.
Andrew and Rita had been perfect hosts, but much of the time they'd been talking to each other, albeit under the guise of talking to him and Darian. Sometimes Andrew had started a sentence only to have Rita finish it for him. Sometimes it had been the other way around. And sometimes the bulk of the conversation fell to him and Darian while Andrew and Rita simply gazed at each other.
Was it the companionship that Jed longed for? Even though Darian hadn't made an issue of it, Jed knew that he'd sacrificed time he could have spent with his girlfriend to be there for Jed. The last thing Jed wanted was to come between the Prince of Earth and the Princess of the Moon, but if Darian wasn't there, what else was there for him? Without Darian to help him, how would he be able to survive in this human world?
"Hey," someone said, nudging him in the ribs, "what's wrong?"
Jed blinked, then forced himself to smile at Lita. "Oh, nothing much," he said. "I was just thinking, that's all."
"What about?" Amy said from beyond Lita.
Jed sighed. "I was thinking that I owe you all a lot that I can never repay. Like the way you're all taking the time to help me adjust to human life."
Lita shook her head. "You don't owe us anything," she said. She turned and gazed skyward. "We're the good guys," she continued in a grand voice. "We do these things because it's the right thing to do. We do it without expectation of reward. All we ask of you is your friendship and maybe--"
"A kiss on the cheek?" Mina asked from Jed's other side.
Cut off in the middle of her speech, Lita turned and stared.
Jed, after glancing to see if Mina was serious or not, dutifully leaned over and gave her a quick peck on her cheek. Mina blushed, then attached herself firmly to Jed's left arm.
Seeing the others gaping at him, Jed flushed himself. He started to say something, but Lita spoke first.
"Hey, that's not fair!" she complained. "If you're going to give her a kiss, then you should give me a kiss, too!"
Mina leaned around him and stuck out her tongue. "Sorry, you didn't ask for a kiss."
Jed, uncomfortable though he was between the two girls, forced himself to grin. "That's right, Lita," he said lightly. He reached out and grasped her right hand, giving it a hearty shake. "You asked for my friendship, and you've got it."
The others burst out laughing. Lita pouted for a few moments, then sighed and grinned herself, slipping her arm through Jed's.
As they started forward again, Jed turned to look past Mina. "How about you, Darian? I owe you most of all. Is there anything I can give you?" Suddenly realizing how that sounded, especially after he'd just kissed Mina, Jed flushed. "I mean, I can't give you a kiss, but is there anything I can do to repay you?"
Darian smiled and shook his head. "Lita's right, Jed," he said. "You don't owe us anything. And even if I wanted something from you, you've already given it to me freely."
Jed blinked. "What? All I've done so far is cost you money, taken your bed away from you, and deprived you of time with your girlfriend."
Darian shook his head. "You've also given me your friendship, Jed," he said, "and the pleasure of your company. I enjoy having you around. The apartment isn't as lonely as it used to be. As to the money part, you can always repay me later on, but I won't insist on it. Friends do things for each other, and I didn't mind buying those clothes for you."
Jed sighed. "It still doesn't feel right," he said. "You have to let me do something for you."
"Jed," Amy said, "you don't measure friendship in dollar signs or favors. Friends do things for each other just because they're friends, not because they expect to be rewarded for it. I help Lita and Serena with their homework because they're my friends. I don't expect them to pay me for my time."
"Right," Lita said. "When I invite everyone over for dinner, I don't expect them to pay me for what they eat. They pay me back amply simply by being there, sharing their time and company with me." She frowned. "Although in Serena's case maybe I should start charging."
Jed managed to laugh. The others had acquainted him with details of Serena's bottomless pit of a stomach.
"They're right, Jed," Artemis said. The white cat suddenly jumped up, managing to land on Jed's shoulder in a single bound. He draped himself around Jed's neck. "Friends might ask each other for favors and promise favors in return, but the truth is that we do things for each other because we care about each other and want to help."
"You're our friend now, Jed," Luna said, jumping towards his chest. Jed automatically caught her and made a cradle of his arm.
"You're our friend," Luna repeated, "and we do things for you because we care about you."
Jed sighed. "Thanks," he said. "I guess I just feel like I'm taking and taking from you without being able to give back anything in return."
There was movement in front of him, and Jed looked up.
Darian had come to stand before him. He smiled at him. "Jed, don't worry about that. For now, just returning our friendship, smiling at us, and letting us know that you're all right is enough. In time you'll start doing things for us without even thinking about it, which is the way friendship should be. Sure, some of us will ask you for favors, but for the most part we'll do things for each other without really realizing that we're doing it."
Jed blinked. "Really? I'll be able to repay your kindness someday?"
Darian laughed. "There's no rush, Jed," he said. "As I said, just being our friend and being happy is the best payment we could ask for."
"Just let go of it," Amy suggested, "and go along with it all."
Jed sighed. "All right," he said, suddenly feeling embarrassed about bringing the whole thing up in the first place. "I'll just go along with it. And thank you. Thanks, all of you."
They started walking along again. Jed felt as though a burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
"On the other hand," Amy said, "it's a good idea to repay favors that have been done for you or to you right away."
Jed stared at her. "But I thought--"
"She's talking about showing your appreciation for something that's been done for you," Artemis said. "That's easy enough. For something small, a simple thanks is enough."
"But for something bigger," Luna said, "something more than just a 'thank you' is necessary."
Jed frowned. "I don't understand. You mean that even though you don't expect me to repay you for the things you've done for me, you still expect me to repay you?"
Darian laughed. "No, nothing like that," he said. "It's just that it's nice to do things for others after they've done something for you. Let's take last night for example."
"What happened last night?" Mina asked.
"We went over to Andrew's apartment for dinner," Jed told her. He looked back at Darian. "You mean we should do something for Andrew and Rita since they had us over for dinner? Like ask them over for dinner in return?"
Darian nodded. "Now you're getting it," he said. "But I don't think dinner is the thing. In case you haven't noticed, my cooking is rather bland. Of course, I haven't had the benefit of Lita's cooking lessons."
Jed felt himself flushing. He hadn't wanted to mention it, but Andrew's cooking had been much more flavorful than Darian's.
"That's easily remedied," Lita said. "I can come over and teach you and Jed how to cook."
"And spending time with Jed isn't your main objective, right, Lita?" Amy asked.
Everybody laughed. Jed felt his worries fading away. Somehow he'd find a way to repay them all for their friendship. He no longer felt obliged to repay them, but he wanted to show them how much he appreciated their kindness and friendship and acceptance.
Mina's abrupt tug in another direction distracted him. "Let's go this way," she said, a strange urgency filling her voice.
"Yes," Lita said, her voice equally strained. "Let's go." She started shoving Jed in another direction.
"Wait, what's going on?" Jed looked back in the direction they were pushing him away from.
Two girls were approaching. He recognized one of them immediately as the girl from the picture on Darian's dresser: Serena, a.k.a. Sailor Moon, a.k.a. Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom. She was dressed in a school uniform almost exactly like Amy's except for the locket that decorated it. The other girl...
Jed's eyes widened. It was definitely Rei, the girl who'd been at the Cherry Hill temple when he'd tried to gather energy with lucky charms. That meant she was also Sailor Mars. And now that he realized that, it was clearly the girl who'd been on the ship with Amy and the third girl who'd appeared at the airport that one night.
Although he'd been pleasantly surprised by Amy's calm acceptance of his presence on Earth, he had no doubts about what Rei's reception of him would be. He turned and allowed Mina and Lita to drag him along. Neither Rei nor Serena had seemed to notice them, and he devoutly prayed to whatever deities he could remember from his Tokyo tour that they would escape without being spotted.
"Jedite!"
Jed winced, then sighed. Although Mina and Lita tried to pull him along, he dug in his feet and turned around.
There was no point in prolonging this. Time to face the music.
* * *
"Mars Star Power!"
Darian whirled around, immediately placing himself in front of Jed. There was absolutely no way in the world he was about to let Sailor Mars hurt his friend.
He hadn't expected to see Rei and Serena coming down the path. Lita and Amy had assured him that she was stuck in detention again--triple because Ms. Haruna's date from the previous night had gone terribly and she was stuck in a bad mood--and wouldn't be out anytime soon.
But to see them both approaching, and in an area where there was no cover to hide behind! He'd been afraid that Rei would go crazy the moment she saw Jed. Fortunately, they were in a fairly isolated section of the park. Hopefully no one would see the fireworks that were sure to follow.
"Jupiter Star Power!"
"Venus Star Power!"
"Mercury Star Power!"
The other Sailor Scouts were transforming as well. Hopefully they'd be able to calm Mars down before she did something rash. Still, just to be safe, he transformed into Tuxedo Mask, taking a firm stance between Sailor Mars and Jed.
"Artemis, Luna," he called over his shoulder, "get over to Serena and keep her calm."
"What about Jed?" Artemis shouted.
"I'll try to protect him," Darian said. "He's the target Mars is trying for, so our best bet is if he stays behind me."
"Mars Celestial Fire Surround!"
Darian braced himself for the oncoming onslaught. The fiery rings that Mars could generate and send flying at targets would be hard to counter, but he'd long since learned that his own arsenal of weapons--namely, roses and his staff--were a match for nearly anything the Negaverse could conjure up. He hoped they'd be able to deflect Mars' attack.
"Jupiter Thunderclap Zap!"
Darian watched as Sailor Jupiter flung a ball of lightning into the path of Mars' attack. It caught the initial onslaught dead on, causing an explosion of considerable proportions. However, more rings cut through the smoke.
"Venus Love Chain Encircle!"
Sailor Venus' flailing whip of spiritual energy lashed out and knocked more rings to the side before they and the love chain shorted each other out. Still more rings rushed forth to replace the ones turned aside.
"Shine Aqua Illusion!"
Streamers of liquid ice cut through the air, charging into the path of the fire rings. Some of the rings froze in mid air and tumbled to the ground, where fire and ice canceled each other out in clouds of steam. Others, however, surged on, cutting through Sailor Mercury's attack.
Darian drew back his cape as the fire rings flew towards them. With a violent gesture, he whipped the cape back, flinging out a veritable storm of roses. Then, he tackled Jed and shielded them both with his cape.
He felt the heat from the explosions even through the cape, and the glare was bright enough to penetrate even the black cloth. Dimly he heard another attack being announced.
"Moon Tiara Magic!"
Darian's jaw dropped. That meant that Serena had also transformed. But why would she be using her tiara? He shivered, remembering what it felt like to have the tiara cutting into him. He didn't think he'd be able to deflect that particular attack.
"Let me go!"
Mars' voice. What was going on? He warily dropped his arm and looked over the edge of his cape.
Sailor Mars stood upright in the clearing, her arms pinned to her side by some sort of golden band. The other four Scouts surrounded her. Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter were watching Mars warily. Sailor Moon just looked confused.
Suddenly Darian realized what had happened. He vaguely remembered one battle in which Sailor Moon had used her tiara to bind an opponent long enough for her to use the Crescent Moon Wand to reverse his--or was it her--transformation back into a human. She hadn't used the Moon Tiara in a long time, but she'd used it again. Probably Luna had told her what to do.
"What are you doing to me?" Rei demanded. "That's Jedite! He's from the Negaverse! We have to destroy him!"
"Come on, Mars, calm down," Lita ordered. "You're not thinking clearly."
"Traitors!" Rei spat. "You're siding with the enemy!"
"Rei, people change," Amy said. "The Negaverse is gone and Jedite has turned away from evil."
"He's just fooling you!" Rei snapped. "Come on, Amy, open your eyes!"
"Luna, Artemis, is this true?" Serena demanded. "Is Jedite really good now?"
"Sailor Moon, would we have been walking with him if he were evil?" Luna countered. "Would Lita, Mina, Amy, and Darian have fought to protect him if he were evil? Come on, get with it, would you?"
"Stop nagging me, Luna!"
"Come on, Rei," Mina said. "If you'll just calm down, Serena can call her tiara back and we can talk this out."
Darian watched the dark-haired girl carefully. Rei had a very quick temper, especially when she felt herself to be in the right. If she firmly believed that Jed was still evil, then there was no way she'd stop now. She'd do her best to destroy him, no matter what.
His eyes narrowed as Rei, after glaring at Mina for several long moments, finally took a deep breath and relaxed.
"Okay," Rei said, her shoulders sagging. "I'm calm. Serena, you can let me loose now, I won't do anything crazy."
Darian frowned. Rei was too calm. Apparently he wasn't the only one who thought so, because Serena was slow in recalling her tiara. He reached into his tuxedo jacket and tensed.
The moment the tiara was back on Serena's head, Rei suddenly straightened. "Mars Celestial--"
Darian acted immediately. Taking careful, deadly aim, he flung a rose towards Rei. It struck exactly where he'd aimed it.
Rei broke off as she stared at the red rose quivering in the dirt directly in front of her right foot, barely five millimeters away.
Darian straightened, taking up a wary stance. "Are you calm now, Sailor Mars? Because you're going to listen as we tell you all about how someone who was once evil can change and be good."
Rei glared back at him. "I don't see how you can stand there and defend someone who tried to kill you, or have you forgotten what happened at the airport?"
"I remember exactly what happened at the airport," he said. "So does Jed. He's apologized to me for it, and he's apologized to Luna and Amy for endangering them with his various schemes. But it was the Negaverse that made him do those things. Do you understand?"
Rei shook her head. "The Negaverse couldn't control him if weren't evil himself."
Darian suddenly felt cold. "And what does that make me, then?" he rasped. "The Negaverse controlled me. Does that make me evil? The Negaverse controlled ordinary people like Amy's boyfriend and Andrew's girlfriend. It controlled your grandfather. Does that make us all evil?" He took no pleasure in seeing Rei pale.
"Darian," she whispered, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way." Then she shook her head. "But you were all coerced into serving the Negaverse." She pointed past him. "Jedite's been with them from the beginning! He's evil!"
"So was Nephlyte," Darian countered. "Yet look what happened to him. Didn't he change? Isn't the reason he died because he'd discovered goodness inside of him? He gave his life for Molly's sake. There was good in him. Why can't you give Jedite the same chance?"
Rei looked away. "I don't believe what I'm hearing. Molly nearly died because of Nephlyte's evil machinations. It was because she loved him that Zoisite could use her to get to him." She glared at him. "And don't tell me that he went to rescue her because he cared about her. We both know Nephlyte wouldn't let himself be intimidated by anybody."
"But that's not true!" Serena said. "Nephlyte broke off his attack on me to go to Molly's rescue. He shielded her with his own body even though it would kill him."
Rei glowered at her. "So now you're defending Jedite, too? Serena, you have a memory like a sieve. Don't you remember how he nearly killed your teacher with that fitness scheme of his? Go and ask her how she felt about being that exhausted."
Serena glared back. "Don't order me around, Rei! And look who's talking about having a poor memory. What about the times Catsy nearly destroyed your temple? And yet you're the very one who kept Lita from hurting her. Why don't you use your powers to see if he's still evil? Did you think of that?"
"I don't need my powers to know he's evil," Rei shouted.
"That's enough!"
Darian's eyes widened. He turned to stare at the speaker.
Jed strode forward, stepping in front of Darian.
"Jed, get back!" Darian ordered.
Jed shook his head. "No, Darian. You've protected me as much as you could, but I can't let you risk your life any longer. You're my friend, and I wouldn't be a very good friend if I let you die when I could have prevented it."
"But, Jed--"
Jed turned. "Sailor Mars," he called. "Go ahead and destroy me. I deserve it for all the pain and all the problems I've caused. I won't dodge away."
"Jed!" Mina shouted. "No!"
"Do it!" Jed shouted. "Do it now!"
"Mars Celestial Fire Surround!"
Darian launched himself at Jed, grabbing him around the waist and jumping straight up. The fire rings peppered the path where they'd just been standing with clouds of dust.
They landed several meters back.
"Are you crazy?" Darian demanded. "What were you thinking?"
Jed shook his head. "I told you, I can't let you endanger yourself for my sake." He looked up. "Darian, you're my first friend, the best friend I've ever had. I owe you so much! But Sailor Mars is right. I did a lot of evil things while I served the Negaverse, and I have to atone for them."
Darian grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "This isn't the way, Jed!"
Jed looked away. "It's better if I die than you, Darian. You have so much to live for. You have friends like Andrew and Rita who care and treasure you. You have a princess you love who loves you in return. You're the Prince of Earth. I'm nobody special."
Darian shook him again. "Jed, listen to me," he said intently. "You are special. Everyone is special. And if you think you have no one who cares about you, think again. I care about you. You're my friend, and I'm not going to let you throw your life away like this!"
Jed started to say something else, then he suddenly crumpled. Tears trailed down his face. He leaned forward, burying his face in Darian's shoulder.
Darian, not a little surprised, awkwardly gathered Jed into his arms. He held his friend as he cried, feeling Jed's entire frame shake with each sob. "It's all right," he said softly. "Everything's going to be all right."
He turned slightly to look back at the girls. Even from this distance, he could see that Rei seemed stunned to see Jed crying. Even though she was a friend, he couldn't help feeling angry at her.
"Whether you like it or not," he said coldly, "Jed is here, and he's here to stay. He's my friend, and I'm not going to let you hurt him. If you can't handle that, then that's your problem. But if I were you, I'd think very carefully about who's really the evil one here, the one who once served the Negaverse but wants to atone for his crimes or the one who won't let him."
He turned back to Jed and transformed back into his ordinary self. "Come on," he said softly, "let's go home."
He felt Jed nod, and he released his friend. Together they started down the path away from the Sailor Scouts.
"Hey, wait up!" he heard Mina call. In a few moments, Mina, Amy, and Artemis had joined them.
Behind them he heard Luna and Lita sternly scolding Rei.
"Fine!" Rei shouted. "He's here! He's your friend! Fine!"
"That's right," Lita snapped. "He's our friend."
"Fine. Just don't expect me to like it."
Darian gritted his teeth and led the way out of the park.
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