Chapter Three

Nephrite awoke.  The room was dark.  He sat up muzzily, trying to remember when he had drifted off. 

An image: Jupiter, blushing, smiling shyly.  The soup vanishing spoonful by spoonful.  The bitter tang of orange juice.  The persistent, painful erection he'd had since she'd walked over, sat down by him, touched his hand, all in those men's pajamas.

That, at least, was gone now.  He pushed the covers aside, grabbed a fistful of shadow, and scrubbed the evidence away--magic truly was good for some things.  A shower would be even better, though.

He slid to the side of the bed and swung his legs over.  He ran his hands over his face, through his hair, trying to judge his health.  His skin was clammy, his hair sweaty, and he felt kitten-weak, but the fever seemed to be gone, at least.

He plucked at his sweaty clothes.  |And I'll be washing this uniform twice over before I wear it again,| he thought.

He stood up, and something fell to the floor beside him.  He leaned over and picked it up; it was the same copper bracelet he'd seen the night before.  It dangled from his palm, cool and broken, and he wondered if the Lady would be able to get it fixed.  It was obviously well cared for.

He frowned down at it then.  He faintly remembered this bracelet, and not just from the night before; he had dreamed, now or long ago, and this bracelet had been apart of it.  He thumbed a length of shadow over it, probing the metal.

The thought was interrupted by something smashing against the door.

He slid into the shadows and out into the living room.  Jupiter was leaning against the wall, eyes closed, hands balled into tight fists.  Shards of pottery littered the grey carpet.

|This looks familiar,| he thought.  Raising his voice, he said, "Lady?"

Her eyes flew open, angry and emerald for a few heated seconds.  Then she relaxed, saying, "Nephrite.  Did I wake you?"

"No, Lady.  I was already up," he said. 

"I'm sorry.  I needed to throw something."

He chuckled.  "We all do sometimes, Lady." He scattered shadow, raised a hand, and the pieces of a plate came together.  He let it float there for a moment, aligning the cracks, before touching it.  It healed, and dropped into his hands.  Then, he moved to her, held out the plate.  She took it, stared at it for a moment, and hurled it at the wall.  It shattered.

Nephrite watched a sliver quiver in the wall.  He looked at her.  She didn't meet his eyes.  "I needed to throw something again," she said.

He raised an eyebrow.  "That's a very offensive plate, Lady."

"It is.  Or, it was," she said, voice drained.

He touched her arm. "Would you like to talk about it?"  |Please?| he thought.  She seemed quite different from before, similar to when he'd first seen her.  He'd been a sucker for it then, he was a sucker for it now, and...something more.

"Yes.  And no." She looked up at him.  It wasn't that far to look, but it still amazed her that there was any distance at all.  She noted a return of color, his messy hair, his carelessly affectionate brown eyes.

"More yes, or more no?" he asked, almost smiling.

"I...I'm not sure."

He reached down and took her hand.  She let him, enjoying the warm feel of someone else's touch.  Unconsciously she moved closer, other hand reaching out.  He caught it, squeezed it, and she closed her eyes and let it all wash over her.  Her head bowed, touching his shoulder.

He stared at her, and for once, didn't think.  He let her hands drop, and slid his hands to her waist, pulling her a little closer.  Her head moved, and now her cheek was on his shoulder, and her arms were around his chest.  He turned into her hair, tempted to press a kiss there, tempted yet unsure.

He'd never been this unsure before.

"You need a bath," she murmured, and he found himself chuckling again.

"I do." He slid his mouth close to her ear, felt her shiver at his breath, and asked lowly, "And would you join me?"

She pulled back.  She stared at him, and her eyes flickered.  And then, just as he thought she was going to clock him, she smiled.

"No," she said, voice soft.

He tried to grin and hide his feelings, the small trace of disappointment, at the same time.  It mostly worked.  "Well," he said, voice light, "if you won't join me, will you at least keep me company?"  |Talk with me?  Tell me what you're hiding?  Tell me what's going...|

|Stars and SHIT, what am I, a bloody poet now?|

The smile came swifter this time, and she ducked her head.  "I have a better idea."

The better idea, as it turned out, was a shower. Her bath came equipped with both, something of a Moon indulgence, but one Nephrite was happy to see. She left him in there, humming in the steam, and exited with a small smile on her face and his pile of dirty clothes in her arms.

The smile faded as the door shut. She had not expected his overture to her, or the serious light in his eyes when he had proposed it. Nor had she expected her sudden urge to join him; she barely knew him!

And yet...

She set his clothes down on a nearby chair, and moved to the bed. Mechanically she straightened the sheets and comforter, then crawled on top of it to pull all the pillows back into order. She sang softly to herself, a song with no words and easy melody, and thus it took her a moment to realize that someone else was singing with her.

"Cousin," she said, not looking up, "don't you ever use doors?"

"What are doors?" Jadeite replied, voice flippant.

"Oh, you know. Three sided portals used to enter rooms the proper, polite way. Oftentimes people knock, too," she replied, straightening the last crease on the comforter. She slid off the bed, turned around, and crossed her arms over her chest, looking up at him where he hovered at the edge of her bed.

"Proper and polite ways? What are those?" he asked, mouth tugged into a small smile.

She sighed, and resisted the urge to throw a pillow at him. "The things that you always ignore," she sighed.

"For quite a good reason, too, cousin. You know that."

She gave him a pointed look. "Charm and confidence aren't going to get you out of everything," she said.

"Well, no, but I was always happy about the prospect of dying young," he replied, voice far too flip for him not to be serious.

She gave another exasperated sigh. "And I wish you wouldn't say things like that, either. Especially not..." She stopped. She closed her eyes, and took a breath, and shook her head.

He studied her for a moment, then hovered lower, onto the bed. "Is everything all right? With both of you? I don't see Nephrite snoring his mind out as usual--did he leave?"

"He's in the bath," she said, not meeting his eyes.

"Oh? Well. That's cozy," he replied, a hint of leer in his voice.

"He needed to get clean, Jadeite de..."

"Oh, don't start with the full names, now," he said quickly. "No need for that between family, eh, Emi?"

She shook her head, then sat on the bedspread, running her fingers over the thin leaves. "No, I suppose not," she said.

He studied her again, then moved closer, reaching out to catch her hand. Their fingers twined together, and she squeezed tightly; quietly, he said, "Emi, are you all right?"

She shook her head.

"Has someone wronged you?" he said, voice low, a growl around its edges. "Because no one, even if they can use your shower, wrongs my cousin."

She gave him an exasperated look. "No one has wronged me, Jade." She cocked her head. "Anyone ever tell you that you have a complex about that?"

"That, I already knew," he replied, voice mock-fierce.

"Idiot," she sighed.

"Well established!" he said, and unable to help it, she laughed.

"And I snapped you out of it," he pointed out, voice softer.

"Somewhat," she said, then leaned back until her head was nestled on the pillows. A moment later he joined her, the sides of their head just touching.

"Can you talk about it?"

"No," she said. "It's not even my problem."

"Then why worry?"

"Because it's..." She paused, remembering how Venus had clung to her, the sobs shuddering through her body. "Because I do," she finished.

"You know, there are some things I just don't understand. The commander. Men in tiny bathing suits." He squeezed her hand. "Extraneous worry that is obviously eating at you, yet you won't talk about it."

"Cousin, I love you...and I know you. You are not the one to talk to about this sort of thing."

"Ah. That sort of thing."

"Yes." A pause. "Jadeite, if you..."

He laughed, low and pure. "I have no clue what sort of thing you mean, Emi. Except it probably involves love, if I'm not the one to talk about it." He turned his head slightly, whispered, "But I know who you could talk to."

"Who?" she asked.

"Nephrite."

She shivered suddenly, and said, "Why him?"

"He listens the best of the four of us. Truly. And to pretty girls? He listens even better." He squeezed her hand again, then sat up. "Talk to him, Emi."

She sat up as well, facing away from him. "I don't know what to say, though," she replied.

She could feel him smile. "Don't lie, cousin," he said lightly. "You will."

He whistled softly, and she felt his weight leave the bed. She turned a little, and saw him above the bed, chin resting on his hands. Their eyes met for a moment.

"I am glad of your faith in me, cousin," she said.

His mouth quirked slightly, and he gave a short nod. Then his features shifted, and he said, "If I may talk business for a moment?"

She nodded.

"Lord Nephrite's absence was all right for today, but there are major meetings tomorrow," he said. He had a voice for pronouncement, as much as it didn't fit his image. "The Prince will require him by his side, to speak for his region." His voice dropped into a softer tone. "As I assumed you will be called to talk of the Outers' interests."

Jupiter nodded stiffly. "Of course," she said, barely keeping disdain out of her voice.

His serious facade cracked, and he shook his head. "You are the worst Princess ever," he said. "Everyone else is salivating over the prospect, and you find it a chore."

"For me, it is," she said, voice sharp. She slid off the bed, and moved towards the chair that held Nephrite's clothes.

"Cousin," he said, and she felt him move closer to her.

She flung her hand out, stopping him before he moved any closer. "No need for kind words, Jade. I am long used to it."

He said nothing, and she dared not look at his face.

She turned to the chair and picked up Nephrite's clothes. Pitching her voice lighter, she turned back to him. "From your speech, I'd guess you were taking Nephrite home tonight," she said. "But given that he's taken all this time to get clean, it seems wrong to put him back into these."

Jade floated closer, and wrinkled his nose. "Wrong, indeed." He extended a hand and hummed a note; the clothes stiffened, as if wrapped in something. For a moment he regarded her, then said, voice back to wicked lightness, "Dare I ask how you got those from him?"

"He handed them to me from behind the curtain, if you must know," she said, quite happy to be back to banter. "Honestly, Jade, is everything dirty in your head?"

He managed a slight smile. "Almost everything, cousin."

"Almost?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

A swirl of emotion flashed across his face, and his eyes half closed. "Cousin," he said softly. "Tell me..."

"Yes?"

"Tell me why your bracelet is missing?"

Jupiter's hand went to her wrist, and she blinked in surprise. "I hadn't...I hadn't even noticed." She shook her head slightly. "How strange." Then her features tightened, and she said, "That's also not what you were going to ask me about, was it?"

He smiled ever so coyly, then pulled out his flute. He fingered it lightly for a moment, then said, "I see no reason why Lord Nephrite need come back to his quarters this evening. His presence is not required until tomorrow morning, after all." He raised his eyes to meet hers again.

She found herself unable to say anything.

"You know when and where he'll be needed," he said. "See you on the morrow, cousin," He raised the flute to his mouth and played a trickle of notes; the clothes flashed with light. A trickle more, and the light faded away--as had he.

Jupiter picked up a piece of clothing from the pile. It was clean; Jade must have switched the dirty out with his magic.

She raised her wrist again. Oh, she'd occasionally lost her bracelet before, but that had been before Mai-- Venus, Venus --had shown her the trcik with the clasps. Now, though, where could it have gone?

And did this have anything to do with her dream?

The thought surprised her, and she shrugged it off. No, it was just coincidence--she had seen far too many of those to believe it was some sort of portent. Mars was the woman for that.

The sound of water being shut off broke her from her thoughts. She quickly got dressed for bed, tying her hair up once again, then knocked on the door.

"Yes, Lady?"

"I have clothes for you," she said.

A pause. "Lady, if it's the same..."

"No, no, Jadeite brought them."

"Ah." Another pause. "Could you leave them on the bed? I shall be out in a moment."

"Certainly." She set the pile of clothes on the bed, quickly knocked on the door, then scooted out of the room, unable to understand why her hands were suddenly sweating, or why she could hear her heartbeat in her ears.


Nephrite opened the door a crack, and peeked cautiously around the doorframe. No one in sight. He pulled the towel close around him, then crept into the room. He looked around again, checking the shadows, then dropped the towel completely and rummaged through the clothes. Uniform pants, jacket, undershirt...then he stopped, and held up a ratty cotten shirt. A moment more of rummaging, and he found the pair of faded pants that went with it. In other words, his usual sleepwear.

He frowned to himself. |I can never understand what that man is thinking,| he thought. |The Lady is his cousin, and yet...| He stared at the clothing for a moment more, then shrugged and pulled it on. It was much better suited to his current condition than his other clothes. Perhaps that was Jade's reasoning.

He had just managed to get the rest in order when a knock came at the door. "Decent?" she asked.

"Yes. Do come in, Lady," he replied, picking up the pile of clothes and setting them on the chair.

She opened the door cautiously, stepped in, then stopped. She covered her mouth. "Nephrite," she said.

"Yes?"

"Why is that...on your head?"

"This?" Nephrite touched the half-turban on his head. "A towel, Lady. To let my hair dry."

She smiled. "It looks..."

"A little silly?" He smiled back. "Quite, Lady. Quite. Jade, even Zoisite, give me nothing but shit about it. But when you have hair as long as mine, Lady, you have to have some way to keep it off your back when it's wet."

"It makes sense, Nephrite," she said. "I'll admit that." Then she smiled again, a hair larger, a hair closer to reaching her eyes. "But it's still quite silly looking."

He smiled. "That it is." He picked up the wet towel off the floor and fiddled with it, unsure of what to say next. She shifted her weight, seeming to feel the same way.

"Um, Jade...when he was here..."

"He showed up himself?" he said, eagerly latching onto this bit of conversation.

"Of course. Miss a chance to tease me in person, my cousin? Hardly," she replied, voice sounding a little less forced.

"Of course," he nodded, then swept a hand down his clothing. "He doesn't miss a chance to tease or confuse, it seems."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"He brought me my sleep clothes," he said. "True, they are much nicer to wear than my uniform, but I do not understand why he brought that, too."

She suddenly appeared nervous again. "He did, did he?"

"Yes. Rogue," he said, shaping the word with a chastising affection.

"He, um, uh, he..." She stopped, shook her head, her body tightening up: shoulders hunching, arms pulled in close, hands turning to fists. She held this for a moment, then relaxed; as her body did so, she let the words out.

"He said that he did not see any reason for you to go back tonight."

He froze. |Shit shit shit, Jade, I may have to kill you.|

"And I...I think...he's,"

"Lady," he started.

"I think he's right," she said, taking a slow step towards him. "I think he's right," she repeated, voice far more confident now.

He blinked. His eyes sought her face, searching it for any indication that this was...not her saying it. Jade would never do that to him, would he?

But no--her eyes were open and clear, and she was blushing. Besides, this was his cousin, one he seemed to have some affection for. Jade was a bastard, through and through, but even he wouldn't do such a thing.

|On second thought, Jade, I may not have to kill you after all.|

"I have been sick," he said, slowly, as if testing the thought.

"Yes. Moon-Ill," she said.

"And it would perhaps be best if I husbanded my strength for one more night," he said, again flavoring his words with caution.

He heard her stiffle a sound, and carefully looked up. She was holding back a grin, and once she caught his eye said, "Not too much, Lord."

"Lady?" he asked, voice coming out a touch hoarse.

The grin threatened to explode over her face; she barely kept it in check. "I mean, my Lord, that I was thinking of having tea." She cocked her head. "Would your stores of strength extend to a cup of tea with me?"

He checked his own smile, his own laugh. "I think I could manage it," he said.

"Excellent,'' she said, still holding back her smile. "I'll attend to that, then. The towel," she pointed at the one he'd picked up four centuries ago, "you can leave in the bathroom."

He nodded, then caught her eye for a moment. The scrunch of inheld smiles and laughter slid out of her face, and he felt it drain from him as well. A nervous energy moved into the air between them.

"Lady?"

"Yes?" He steeled his face against the tremor in her voice.

"Thank you."

She seemed about to say something, then just nodded. In unison, they turned away from each other.