Chapter 8

Jupiter had spent a long night staring at the ceiling. Those three kisses had ignited something in her that was hard to put aside. She tossed and turned, playing the scene over and over in her mind until she felt sick. She longed for the slow comfort of the night before, the way the warmth shared between them had burned all wakefulness out of her. Now that she had tasted it, she craved it, and its lack made her feel even more alone.

She had barely found fitful rest when her alarm chirped beside her. She sat up and shut it off. The sound was soft and persistent, yet she hadn't been surprised when Nephrite'd slept through it yesterday. He wasn't from her planet; he wouldn't understand what it meant.

The sadness filled her lungs like water, and she bent over at the waist, arms tight around her, aching for air. She pushed the pain back slowly, and each breath came easier, smoother, until she could sit straight up again. But it still hurt, aching at the center of her, a reminder of what she faced every morning to come.

|It's just the lack of sleep,| she thought to herself, and knew she was lying. The need for sleep burned in her veins like a drug, so much so she was woozy with it, but the emotions beneath it had their own fire. Lack of sleep might fan the flame, but it didn't ignite it entirely.

No, she had done that by herself.

Pushing away those thoughts again, she stood up and moved to put her face on. What was it that Cho had always said? "The worse you feel, the better you dress. It's a most effective cameoflauge."

If so, then today she was going to shine.

Jadeite stirred his tea absently. The four of them were set to meet with the Outers this morning, starting with Jupiter, but he had shown up early. Ostensibly it was so he would be an especially visible presence to these people, since he had certain deals he wanted to strike with them; in actuality, he was there to gauge his cousin. They'd found yesterday that the planetary delegations always showed up before they did, even if they were promptly on time for the meeting. Kunzite had dismissed it as another facet of Lunar protocal. Jadeite thought it was a way to emphasize Earth's status as petitioners, rather than those-being-petitioned.

Either way, they had all decided to send at least one person early. Given his rank and relation to this person, he had been the one chosen. Jadeite privately thought they also didn't want him to see what they were going to do. He'd been the one to object the most, after all.

Not that anybody had listened to him.

|Not that they ever DO, really,| he thought to himself. |Always saying I'm too 'overprotective'. As if they didn't take twenty unnecessary risks everyday! Trying to give me grey hair early, they are.|

He picked up his teacup, sipped from it, watching his cousin over the rim. She had arrived just after him and taken her customary place, trailed by several servants and minor functionaries. He had looked at her and immediately tried to hide his reaction; he still wasn't sure if he had succeeded or not.

He'd always thought her lovely, which he assumed was part bias and part truth. Today she'd come in, and he knew she was lovely, and more than that, gorgeous, a fact she'd taken pains to emphasize. The only similarities between this dress and yesterday's was that they were both green and fell to her feet. Yesterday's had been rather plain and severe in cut; this one...wasn't. The fabric held a shine, a sheen to it, and as she moved the light picked gold and rose threads out of it. It clung to her in all the right places. It was slit generously up the side. The bodice was cut low, an effect enhanced by two things: the pale rose trim, and the symbol of Jupiter dangling right into her cleavage. Her veil was a short affair made of a shimmery, gauze-like fabric, one that seemed more like an invitation than a separation; he couldn't fathom how it was attached. She wore slippers that were--and Jade had never thought this about any sort of footwear before--downright obscene.

He wasn't sure if he should applaud her choice or go make her change.

He nodded to her when she was seated, and received a brief bob of the head back, which was all the communication that would pass directly between them until the meeting ended. He picked up a pen and pretended to make a few notes on the paper in front of him. In reality, he was trying to read her.

A sense of power always accompanied the planetary Princesses; magic was said to run in the royal lines up here in the System. While that power was still present, it seemed much more...dormant...than usual. As if she had "muted" herself somehow. He picked up his tea cup and took a sip, taking a moment to let the power gather, then set it back down and picked up his schedule. He made a show of examining it, and as he did so, began to hum.

The sound was barely audible to him, and he doubted those across the way were aware of it either. Jupiter might have recognized it for what it was, but with all the milling about her, he was sure she wouldn't notice.

The power unfolded from him, tendrils reaching across the room towards her. He went slowly, allowing it to weave naturally through the other people before sliding it, ever so gently, towards her. He touched her softly with it, seeking only to skate it across the surface of her aura, taking the barest impression of her back to him.

Sad. Tired. Cold. Sad. Unsure.

He shifted the hum up a notch, and the power uncurled from her and drifted back to him. When it collapsed back inside him, he looked up from his papers and smiled, ever so slightly, to himself. |Poor cousin,| he thought. |My poor dear. I only hope that you don't kill us all for what we're about to do.|

It was then that Kunzite and Zoisite entered the room. Jadeite lazily stood, to show proper (but not too proper) respect for his Commander, then sat back down when he did. Kunzite seemed unaffected by Jupiter's new look, but Zoisite turned a little and gave him a wide eyed, raised eyebrows look. Jade gave a little grin and a nod back, as if to say, "I noticed."

A moment later, the Speaker for the delegation gestured, and a servant struck a tiny gong. "This meeting between the Princess of Jupiter and the Four Kings of Earth is called to order," she intoned. "All rise."

Both sides stood, then bowed to each other. Jupiter sat first, then the Kings.

Immediately, Jupiter handed a message to the Speaker. She read, "The Princess was told she would be meeting with four of you. Is this incorrect?"

"Not at all, Lady," Kunzite answered, voice smooth. "Our fourth member, Nephrite, cannot be present today."

A minute, then another piece of paper handed out. "The Princess regrets that this man has become ill again."

Zoisite shook his head. "We thank the Princess for her consideration, but he does not suffer from Moon Illness," he said, voice steady.

Another minute, another piece of paper. "The Princess sends further condolences, and asks that you tell her the nature of his illness, so that she may inform the Lunar delegates if extra rest days are needed."

Jadeite could barely conceal a smile. |Smart, cousin. Very smart. Of course...it's my turn now...|

|I really hope she doesn't kill me for this.|

He leaned forward a little, and said, "We again thank the Princess for her concerns, and while we wish we could inform her what has befallen our comrade, we do not know. The Lunar Healers have speculated that it was a heart attack, a condition not unknown in men of our comrade's age. We shall pass her condolences to him, should he awaken."

The room went quiet, so quiet that a dropped pin would've rang out like a gong. Jadeite managed to keep his face composed, though he could feel his cousin's distress, even across this distance.

Then, a note emerged from Jupiter's position. The hand that held it was obviously shaking.

"The Princess," the woman read, voice slow, "offers her most heartfelt sympathies for you and your comrade...and bids you to proceed with your opening statement."

Jadeite felt Zoisite and Kunzite glance at him, and surpressed a smile. |Dear Emi,| he thought, |I had no doubt that you would carry on. Which, incidentally, has won me a good deal of money, some of which I shall have to use to buy you...something nice. Something very nice.|

He shuffled the papers before him, and added to himself, |But I wouldn't want to be in your way when you leave this room.|

The meeting seemed to last forever.

In truth, it went a little short--only forty-five minutes--before the Speaker wrapped up her remarks. Yet every second seemed an age, every minute an eon, to the woman behind the veil.

She had cultivated a multi-track mind and the ability to multi-task while at Court, yet it was a struggle to keep her mind anywhere near the proceedings that day. She wanted to get up, call this meeting off, and run as fast as this damned dress would let her to the Infirmary. She nearly did, several times. Only her sense of duty to her planet and the Moon, and her inability to think of any excuse to get out of something she had started, kept her in her chair.

But she chafed at it.

When at last it was over, she took a long, deep breath, and forced herself to stand up at a reasonable pace. She stayed a few minutes longer to congratulate her delegation on presenting itself well. Then, she turned away, and glided out of the room with as much grace as she could muster. Kunzite and Zoisite nodded to her, and she paused for a fraction of a second to nod back to them.

She stepped outside the door, and her heart sank.

People. Far, far too many people for her to make the mad dash she wanted to. She wasn't Venus, or the others, who could dash about these halls as if they were born to them. They had been, in a way. She hadn't.

So she moved as a Princess should, brain screaming at her the entire way. She reached the doors of the Annex, pulled them open, and stepped outside.

She turned back to make sure the door closed completely. When it clicked shut, she turned back to the walkway.

Nephrite stood in the middle of it.

Her knees buckled, and she caught the rail with gloved fingers, steadying herself. He stayed where he was.

"Nephrite?" Her voice came out childishly high, a torrent of emotion in one word.

He nodded. "I am here, Lady," he said.

"But...they said you weren't awake," she said.

"I wasn't," he said, taking a step towards her. "Not until a few minutes ago."

"But how...what..." She closed her mouth, grabbed air through her nose, then blurted out, "You should be in bed!"

He shook his head. "No. I had to be here."

"But Jadeite...he said you had a heart attack," she said. Her mind was literally a-whirl, the thoughts flying about in such a jumble that she felt lucky to form a coherent sentence.

A breeze blew through the open walkway, picking at his hair, her veil. He lowered his head. "You could say that," he said, voice quiet. His face smoothed, all emotion fading from it. "It's a nice way of saying what really happened."

"What really happened?" she asked, voice small, quiet. Afraid.

He looked up at her, and though she knew he couldn't see her face, his eyes seemed to bore through the veil and lock onto hers. He held them for a moment, then turned away, into the wind. The breeze slid through his hair, billowing it back; his hands gripped the wood in front of him, knuckles whitening. He stood like that for a long, long time, and just when she thought he wouldn't answer her question, he spoke.

"My heart stopped, Lady. I died."

She couldn't breathe. Oh, goddess, she couldn't breathe.

"You...what?" she managed.

He turned towards her again, eyes down, and said nothing.

She moved, one hesitant step at a time, until she stood less than a foot from him. Hand still clutching the railing, she reached out and, ever so lightly, pressed her palm flat against his chest.

She was relieved when it didn't pass through him. She was even more relieved when his chest rose with a breath, and his heartbeat sounded under her hand.

"But you're alive," she whispered. "How...why...what..."

He raised his head, and she could see his eyes. They shone with life, and compassion, and a depth of feeling she'd never, ever thought she'd see directed at her.

He reached out and took her hand. "I had something to give back to you, Lady," he said, voice somehow deadly serious and light at the same time.

He turned her palm up in front of them, and dropped something into it. She looked down at it, then up at him, then down at it again. She began to shake.

Her bracelet sat in the palm of her hand.