Healer
Chapter 14a (darn Yahoo won't let me paste the whole
chapter!)
Author: Patch
E-mail: patchkhan1@hotmail.com
        kittiekat90@yahoo.com
Editor: Rei Kinneas *aka* Kaitou Comma

Insert standard disclaimer here.

	She felt drained and sick. There was no other way she
could describe her condition. Her eyes closed tiredly
and she rested her forehead against her left palm. She
could feel the pounding throb in her forehead
intensify with every passing moment. If only she had
the planetary powers of the legendary Senshi of Pluto.
She could turn back time or better yet, erase the
night at Naru's cottage. Tears slipped from beneath
her closed eyes as utter despair swept through her at
the current situation. It was almost going to be a
week. One long, hellish week...
	She let a sad sigh escape her lips and tried hard to
stop the tears. Opening her eyes and taking a deep
breath, she looked up at the sky. Hugging herself
tightly and feeling very alone at that moment she
tried to remember the last time she had ever felt this
way.
	Never. She had never felt pain like this.
	"Lady Rei?"
	She whipped her head around to see Jaedite standing
behind her. Her mouth opened, forming a slight 'O' in
surprise, before she quickly bottled up all emotions.
But oh, how good he looked standing there, the sun
seeming to shine down on him, giving his shortly cut
blonde hair a bright sheen. And was she mistaken, or
did she see concern on his face?
	"What is it? Is it the Prince?" she asked, getting up
from the fountain she had been sitting at.
	He took a step forward, coming closer to her. "No,
he's alright. We have just finished a meeting with him
and a few other advisors. It appears that the
rebellion is slowly breaking up. We have captured one
of their main forts and it is only a matter of time
before we will be able to suppress them completely."
	"How nice," Rei answered aloofly, turning away from
him slightly. "And what about our Princess? Have there
been any new findings?"
	"None from our side. Haven't the Senshi tried
anything?"
	She whirled on him so suddenly he was forced to take
a step back. "How can you even ask such a question?
We've exhausted all of our resources and you cannot
imagine what it was like to tell the Queen what had
happened!"
	"I was there," he replied quietly, remembering the
night they had to inform the Moon Queen of what had
happened. It had been emotional to the point, that his
own throat had closed up. The Queen's face had
crumbled but she had somehow managed to hold back any
tears for the remainder of the briefing.
	"Yes, but you weren't the one telling a mother that
her child had been taken," Rei said, her voice
breaking into his thoughts. "You didn't have to tell
her that all that was left behind as a clue was a pool
of her own child's blood!" She turned around again and
walked a few steps away from him. She spoke her next
words so quietly, Jaedite found himself straining his
ears to hear her. "You didn't have to tell her that
you couldn't even feel whether or not her child was
alive."
	"What was that?"
	Rei slowly turned around and nearly started at
finding that Jaedite had walked up right next to her.
But her misery was so deep at that moment, she found
his nearness almost comforting rather than invading.
She hugged her waist and looked down at the grass. "I
can't... I can't even tell if Serenity still lives.
All of us share a link with the Princess as she does
also. It's not as strong as the bond between her and
her mother. That link is so strong that the Queen
knows what sorts of emotions her daughter is
experiencing. We, on the other hand, can only feel the
barest of emotions such as fear. We also know whether
or not she is alive."
	"How do you know when she's not?"
	"I don't know!" Rei cried, looking at him. "We've
never had to live through that! Not until now, when
Serenity has been taken."
	"What do you feel?"
	Rei closed her eyes, trying to find the right words.
"I feel a void. It is filled with uncertainty of the
unknown. It is like an emptiness that will not go
away. I want to do something to fill that emptiness;
that need is there but there is nothing I can do." She
opened her eyes and he saw that they were filling with
tears again. "I feel nothing, Jaedite. All I feel is
helplessness."
	And like that time from not too long ago, Jaedite
clasped the Senshi's arms and brought her closer to
him. Not for a kiss, though. This time, he embraced
her, bringing her in the closure of his arms to
comfort her. She did not make a sound, only let the
tears fall quietly. However this time, as she cried,
she did not find herself alone.
	Jaedite tilted his head up to look into the blue sky.
The sun was bright today, its rays warming all that it
touched. But he knew that the woman standing against
him felt nothing but coldness. And what did he feel?
	Jaedite sighed imperceptibly, knowing exactly what he
was feeling. Stroking the heavy, black silkiness of
Rei's hair, the General tried to control those very
emotions he knew would get him into trouble. But he
was distracted from his line of thinking when he
spotted something in the sky. His lips curved upwards
when he recognized the two birds that were now
circling above the couple. He whistled softly causing
Rei to lift her head up in confusion.
	The two large crows swooped down gracefully, one
landing on Jaedite's left shoulder, the other settling
itself on the seat that Rei had occupied before. Both
stared with beady black eyes at the surprised Rei, who
would have taken a step back had it not been for
Jaedite's arms still around her.
	"They're harmless," he said, smiling.
	"Your pets?" she asked, wiping her tears and eyeing
the one on the marble fountain that was now slowly
inching its way sideways towards her. She looked back
at Jaedite and jumped when she came face to face with
the other crow that had craned its neck to peer at her
curiously.
	Jaedite chuckled in response and Rei shot him a
glare. Mentally, she scolded herself for being so
nervous around this man. She cursed the quickening of
her heart and the curling of warmth inside of her at
his laughter. Ignoring the feel of his two hands
resting against her lower back, she reached out and
stroked the wing of the bird perched on Jaedite's
shoulder.
	"Do they have names?"
	"Phobos and Deimos, Phobos being this one right here
and Deimos, the one over there," he answered, nodding
his head at each of the crows.
	The two birds bobbed their heads up in down as if
acknowledging their names and Rei smiled at seeing the
action.
	"I've been using them to help us find the Princess,"
he told her.
	She looked at him sharply. "How?"
	He stepped away from her then, releasing her. "Just
like you share a special link with your Princess, I
have something with animals, especially these two. I
can communicate with them through our thoughts. I can
understand their language and I suppose that does
sound very strange," he said, looking at Rei's
perplexed expression. "It's very useful though, as it
is now. It's hard to believe but different species of
animals have ways of communicating with each other
even though they may not share the same sort of
language. I have relayed a message through Phobos and
Deimos about the kidnapped Princess and they have
spread the word to other animals." He grinned then and
bowed slightly. "If you'll excuse us, Phobos has
something to tell me."
	Rei nodded, still in disbelief over what Jaedite had
told her. She watched in fascination as the bird
seemed to literally hold a conversation with the
General as it moved to stand on Jaedite's arm. It
bobbed its head and moved its body, emitting a series
of clicks every now and then. She shook her head and
turned to the other bird.
	Taking a step forward, Rei held out her arm in the
same manner as Jaedite. With a gasp, she watched the
bird fly up and then settle itself on her arm.
Carefully, she stroked the crow from its head down to
its tail, talking to it softly.
	"Will you let me in?" she asked, still stroking it.
"How incredibly lucky Jaedite is to be able to speak
to you. I only wish I could do the same..."
	Is that all you wish for, mistress?
	She gasped again at hearing the voice. She looked at
Jaedite but he was still 'conversing' with Phobos. She
looked back at Deimos and her eyes widened in
realization. Had it talked to her?
	She closed her eyes and opened her thoughts, hoping
to speak with the bird again. But no matter how much
she concentrated, she heard nothing.
	"What are you doing?"
	Her eyes flew open and she blushed, something she
hardly ever did. "I... I..." she searched her mind for
something to say but could find nothing. Quickly, she
changed the subject. "What did Phobos tell you?"
	Jaedite hesitated before answering. He had a good
idea that Rei had been trying to communicate with
Deimos. He would tell her later that she didn't have
to concentrate on anything; that their voices could be
heard as naturally as a human's. But he let the matter
drop and answered her.
	"My message is being spread among the animals as we
speak, however the Earth is a large planet and it will
take sometime before every creature knows about it.
They have not found anything as of yet."
	"But they are trying and that's what matters. I thank
you, Jaedite for helping us like this."
	He remained silent for a moment and then lifted his
arm suddenly, allowing Phobos to fly off. Rei followed
his actions and the two watched as the birds flew
upwards in a spiral before parting ways.
	"The Princess is special to all of us. We all feel
responsible for what has happened and will not give up
hope until the very end," Jaedite said, watching the
birds fly out of sight.
	"Do I have your word on that?"
	He looked at her then. "You have it." And much more,
he thought to himself.


	"General Zoicite?"
	Zoicite started when he heard his name. He turned
around on the stool he was sitting on and came face to
face with Ami. His eyes took in her stance and saw
just how much of a toll exhaustion had taken over her.

	"Lady Ami!" He stood up and motioned for her to sit
on the stool he had previously occupied. But she only
shook her head and pushed it out of the way so that
she could get closer to the lab table. She peered into
the microscope that Zoicite had set up and after a few
moments, sighed and finally turned to the General.
	"I take it you have had no further luck than we
have."
	Zoicite shook his head at the statement and watched
the Senshi's eyes cloud over with disappointment. "I'm
sorry," he said quietly. "I miss the Princess also.
She was different."
	Ami looked at him oddly, confused by his words. "What
exactly do you mean by that?"
	He blushed slightly and looked away. "I admired
Serenity. She had this tenacity... this will to just
battle each day as it came. When we first saw her on
that night long ago, all of us had our doubts about
this delicate looking Princess who reassured that she
would heal the Prince. None of us thought that she
would wish to stay another day after spending one
night at our camp, yet she proved us all wrong. Even
after the explosions, she surprised us all again by
saving so many lives, including my own and Kunzite's,
at the risk of her own..." he trailed off and looked
towards the tall lab windows that showed the
greenhouse just beyond them. "She became very dear to
us."
	"She is still dear to us," Ami whispered, her hand
clutching the black tabletop so hard that her knuckles
turned white.
	Zoicite looked at that hand and then back into her
face, searching her eyes. He saw the struggle there
within those dark depths. A struggle between hope and
loss. Which to surrender to? Hope in that they would
find the Princess soon? Or accepting the loss of a
Princess like no other? He was sure that same battle
was reflected in his own eyes, as each day passed with
no new developments.
	"You will not give up hope," he said, his words a
statement made from observation .
	"And neither will you," she replied in that calm,
almost soothing manner that intrigued him so much. She
carried so many burdens, yet her voice and tone never
seemed to betray her strain, although her features
gave her away.
	He nodded and touched the microscope, changing the
subject. "This is actually a blood sample from the
Prince. I had taken it as he was resting from that
fainting spell he had that day."
	That day... it would forever be engraved in their
minds. So many shocks, one after the other. No one had
had time to recuperate from anything. The arrival of
the Senshi, the kidnapping of the Princess, and then
Endymion collapsing... It was something of an
achievement that they had all come out intact. Or had
they?
	He remembered the look on Lady Minako's face as
Kunzite had carried Endymion to his bed chambers. Her
expression had been pained and she had shared a look
with the other women, nodding slightly. He remembered
quickly switching his gaze to Ami to see her reaction
and had not missed the way she had bitten her lip and
looked down to the floor before looking up again. They
had known something the men were not privy too.
	"Have you found anything?"
	He brought his thoughts back to present day and for a
second, found himself not understanding Ami's
question. She pointed to the microscope and he quickly
answered her.
	"No, and I find it most strange that I haven't. It
appears that it wasn't anything that Endymion had
eaten. It wasn't his almost non-existent wound. I can
only imagine it had something to do with what the Lady
Minako had put him through."
	He looked through the microscope, bringing the slide
into focus. He expected Ami to agree with him, but
when she didn't answer, he looked up and was surprised
to see a faraway look in her eyes.
	"Lady Ami?" he asked gently.
	"Perhaps the thing that caused his pain is something
beyond us, something that the practical world of
science cannot even comprehend."
	He frowned, not understanding her. "What do you
mean?"
	The distant look left her eyes and she studied him,
not saying anything for the moment. Finally, she
sighed and turned away from him. "Never mind. You
wouldn't understand," she would have stepped away from
him, but he grabbed her arm, stopping her.
	"What wouldn't I understand? That what happened to
Endymion had something to do with the Princess
directly?"
	She stilled and spoke quietly, her head turned away
from him so that he could see her profile. "I wonder
just how much you care for Serenity."
	He drew back, stunned at this sudden change of
subject. "You think I hold some sort of deep affection
for your Princess?" When she did not answer, he tugged
on her arm, forcing her to look at him. "Do you?"
	"It is none of my concern, therefore I will not
answer your question."
	He laughed then, surprising her completely. In the
next instant, she found herself in his arms, the sound
of his chuckling in her ears. She blinked in confusion
and then held her breath, when she heard him whisper,
"Ah Ami, you are like no other."

End of 14a