Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Jewel Senshi Saga ❯ Dark Amber - Part 5 ( Chapter 19 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon
Jewel Senshi
By Sakura
Part Twelve: Dark Amber - Part 5

Nephrite hadn't been able to get much sleep that night, but sleep he did. Unfortunately, his sleep lasted only a few hours at a time and he was forced to call his boss and call in sick. Mrs. Baker was a very understanding woman and let him go without any questions.
<If only she knew the truth.> he thought forcing himself to get out of the bed. <I can't let Sapphire get to me. I've got to be strong. For her.> He dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen.
Feeling something cold against him, he reached into his pocket and pulled out Naru's pendant. For a few seconds it seemed to grow brighter then it faded away, this time it was darker than before. "We haven't much time left," he said grasping the pendant tightly. "Hold on Naru. Please hold on. Help's on the way," he said kissing the hoshizuishou. Seeing that the crystal regained some of its original shine, he smiled and went to fix breakfast. Somehow she heard him and was fighting back.

<Hold on Naru. Please hold on.> said his voice.
She was asleep on Sapphire's bed. Diamond lay next to her also asleep.
Her sleep was disturbed by strange dreams. Dreams of another life. Her real life. The man's voice seemed so familiar. Who was he? A friend? Then it hit. It WAS a friend. Her true lover.
<Nephrite! Where are you? Help me!> she called to him searching the astral plane for him, but there was no sign of the man she loved.
<Help's on the way.> he said but, she got the feeling he hadn't heard her. She was about to give up calling for help, when an image of the Jewel Senshi appeared before her.
<Minna!>
<Daijoubu (It's all right.) Naru.> said Mara. <We're on our way. Just keep fighting.>
<But I can't I've fallen for both of them now.>
<It's because of the spell Naru. Fight it! Think of Neph-kun.>
<I-I'll try.>
<Atta girl!> said Mara as she winked and faded with the other senshi.
<Mara! Minna! Don't leave me!> She began to cry. A pair of arms encircled her. She spun around and saw -
<Neffy!> she held onto the young man fiercely and began to cry again. He held held her and a sense of well being flowed through her. He kissed her and she felt his strength flow into her and she felt Sapphire's spell weaken a little, but only a little.

In the real world, Diamond had woken up hearing Naru cry out in her sleep. He rolled onto his side and gently nudged her.
"Naru, darling. Wake up. It's only a bad dream," he said. "Naru?"
Her face was peaceful now and she seemed to have managed to fight her nightmare and win. Was she smiling?
He bent over and kissed her deeply, causing her to wake. "Mmm." She opened her eyes half expecting to see 'him' but instead she saw -
"Raistlin?" He stared at her as she said the name. For a moment he began to remember who he really was. He began to remember a young woman with opalescent hair. Seeing the black crescent mark on her forehead, he came out of his trance.
"Hush Naru-chan. You just had a nightmare. It's all right now."
"Naru-chan?" she said, still dazed from her dreams. "Nightmare?" <That's right! I was dreaming I was someone else.> she thought.
"Diamond-sama, beloved, who am I?" she asked him struggling to get loose from the tangled covers.
He moved to his side of the bed to make it easier for her. "Who are you? Don't you know? You're my brother's assistant and my dearest friend," he said kissing her ear.
"You're sure?" she said still not sure as to what was real and what was the dream.
"Of course I am. What's wrong Naru-chan?" he asked. He turned her face toward him and saw the confusion and fear in her dark sea-green eyes.
"I keep getting this feeling that I shouldn't be here. That I shouldn't be with either of you. I also start to remember things. Things I know that never could've happened." She leaned against his chest, drawing comfort from his body and arms as he wrapped them around her.
"Daijoubu love. Daijoubu. It's just a leftover from your brainwashing. Give it time," he said caressing her. "It's nothing to worry about. The same thing happens to me." "It does?"
"Yes. Like I said it's just a leftover from that moon bitch's spell. Now let's clean up before my brother and your lover gets back," he said smiling. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and pulled her out of the bed.

(Late evening at Nephrite's)

Nephrite had taken out her pendant again and was now looking at it. It was stilll dull, but it seemed to be regaining its shine with each passing moment. Naru was winning against the spell. The hoshizuishou flared then went dim. He had to help her! Now was the time to strike. Now that she seemed to be the stronger one.
He teleported out of his mansion to Sapphire's store.

(At the store)

"Naru!" they yelled.
It was Naru, but not Naru. She was wearing an uniform reminiscent of those worn by the guardians and Dark Kingdom warriors. On her forehead was an upside down black crescent moon. Her eyes were a darker shade of blue-green than her usual bright sea-green eyes. The senshi realized they might have to fight their friend and reluctantly put up their guards.
"I mean you no harm. I came here to talk," said Naru.
Moonstone being the one always to accept things at face value, let her guard down and walked toward her former friend. "Naru-chan, you're not really brainwashed are you? You've got a plan right? You're only pretending to be on his side right?" she asked the red haired girl.
"I don't know what you're talking about Sailor Moonstone. Why do you people insist on calling me that? My name is Naru of Nemesis, not Naru-chan."
Moonstone's face fell and tears were welling up in her eyes. "Don't you remember who you are? It's me Deana, your friend."
"I really don't know who I am anymore, but I know you're not my friend. None of you are!" Naru said growing annoyed with the insistent senshi and with herself for revealing a possible weakness to the enemy. "Now listen up Sailor Brats! I want answers and I want 'em NOW!"
"You'll get nothing from us! You go tell Sapphire that!" said Onyx.
"Oh really? You think just 'cause you destroyed one of Sapphire-sama's toys you can stand up against me. Well, we'll just see about that." A wicked smile appeared on her face and sent several blasts at the other senshi, leaving Moonstone to run for cover. They dodged the first and second volleys of orange energy, but were not able to dodge the next. Weakened from their previous battle, the senshi were knocked into what reamained of the display racks and cases. Only Moonstone was left unscathed and conscious.
She came out from her hiding place and saw the unconscious bodies of her friends. She stared at Naru unbelieving her capable of such violence.
"I only stunned your friends Moonstone. They will only suffer from major migranes when they wake," she said sitting down on a box. She indicated that Moonstone to do the same, but she looked back at her friends, concerned for their safety.
"No further harm willl come to them. You have my word," said the red haired Nemesan.
"Why are you doing this?" Moontone asked reluctantly sitting on another box.
"As I said before, I don't know who I am anymore. I want to know why you brainwashed me like you did. Why did you have to take my life away?"
She was shocked. Never before did she have an enemy so calmly reveal their weakness like Naru was doing now.
"Naru-ch -"
Naru glared at her.
"Er- Naru, what makes you think I brainwashed you?"
"Sapphire-sama told me how you kidnapped me and how you forced me to undergo your 'healing'. Stop stalling Moonstone. I want to know why you did it."
Sapphire. 'Sapphire-sama told me.' Those words hit Moonstone's mind like a sledgehammer and her gears began spinning.
"And you believed him?"
"Why shouldn't I? He loves me." She blushed when she gave away yet another piece of useful information to her enemy. <What's wrong with me? I shouldn't be talking to her. I should be finishing them off. Not making friends.>
"Naru-ch, Naru, think. He's evil. He couldn't possibly love you. He's just using you to get at the rest of us so he can destroy a peaceful future," she placed her hand on Naru's shoulder. "Would you listen to a man who lies and wants to destroy a world of peace?"
"What would you know of the Crystal Millennium? Have you ever seen it? No. I didn't think so. A world where no one dies is an abomination! Such a place will cause starvation due to the lack of death. The universe will be overrun with you people and there'll be nothing left for newer generations to live on."
"You don't know that for sure. How do you know no one dies in the future?"
"We got that from the Wise- a reliable source."
The Wiseman. That's what she was going to say. From what she remembered what Usagi told her about him, he had lied to the whole planet. Causing them to invade Crystal Tokyo and the other planets.
"Was your source the Wiseman?" Naru nodded, ashamed that yet another secret was given away. "Didn't you know he lied to you? To all of you? Didn't Sapphire tell you?"
<He never really told me what happened to the Wiseman. He only told me he was gone.>
"You've got to believe me. Whatever he told you about what happened with Sailor Moon and the others in the future, Sapphire lied. He lied to you about me. I never brainwashed you. My healing only works on those who want to be healed. It won't work if I force it on them."
"Then how would you explain I remember a life on Nemesis?" Naru retorted.
"Just how much of that life can you remember? Do you remember your childhood, your parents?"
Naru tried to remember her past, but all she could remember was her, Prince Diamond and Sapphire working together.
Seeing her hesitation, Moonstone went on. "You can't can you?"
She nodded. "All I can remember is being with Sapphire-sama and the prince. I wish I could, but I can't," she began to cry.
"It's o.k. Naru. I'll help you get your memory back." She put her arms around the girl and hugged her. "Can you remember your life with us?"
When Moonstone asked that, Naru began to get the same images that had been plaguing her dreams and mind for the past couple days.
"Yeah. So I still have some of your brainwashing in me, what of it?"
<This is getting nowhere. Maybe I will kill them and get on with my life.> she thought, but couldn't bring herself to do it.
"Those are your true memories Naru. You're still my friend, still a senshi like the rest of us and always will be. If you're not then how come you can't remember your own past?"
She was beginning to make sense. She thought about what Moonstone had told her and found she had a point. <If I'm really from Nemesis, then how come I can't remember a childhood there? Sapphire-sama never explained what happened to my memories.>
"Maybe you're right and maybe you're not Sailor Moonstone, but I'll have to talk to Sapphire-sama, find out why he never told me why I can't remember. I'll let you and your friends go for now." She got up from her seat and made for the storage area. She was about to leave when a voice stopped her.
"Naru! Wait! Let us help you."
Unseen to any of them, Nephrite had teleported into the store while the two girls were talking. He hadn't paid much attention to the conversation, for he was busy helping the other senshi.
The two girls turned and saw Nephrite, in his guardian's uniform, standing nearby with the revived senshi.
"Nephrite-kun! How'd you know she'd be here?" said Moonstone.
"You! I know you!" Naru said staring at the auburn haired man.
"Do you remember?" Moonstone said turning back to her friend.
"You were in my dreams. Why do I know you?" She stepped up to him and touched his uniform. "Are you from Nemesis too?"
"No, love."
"And neither are you," said Onyx just regaining consciousness.
"Please Naru, let us help you. We need you," said Garnet.
"I need you," added Nephrite. He had something in his hand. She grabbed it in case it was a weapon and he intended to use it on her. In his hand was a star shaped pendant on a black choker. Somehow it looked familiar to her. She stared at it, then back at Neffy. He smiled.
"It's yours. Take it," he said offering her the beautiful necklace.
She reached for it, but hesitated.
"Please love, take it. It's not a trick. I could never hurt you. I want you to remember how much I love you. Take it," he pleaded.
She looked at him searching his face. There was no sign of deceit or malice in his handsome face. She reached for the pendant again, but hesitated once more.
"Please 'Bright Eyes'," he begged.
This strange man seemed to genuinely be concerned for her. 'Bright Eyes'. Why were those words so familiar? Part of a song came to her. A part where the lyrics made her think of her.

'Bright Eyes
Burning like fire
Bright Eyes
How can you close and fail?

How can the light that burns so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright Eyes'

<Why is that song so familiar? It's beautiful, but what does it mean?> she thought.
She looked to Moonstone and she nodded with equal concern on her face.
She slowly reached for the pendant for a third time, but she did not hesitate. She now held the pendant in her hand and a bright silver light shot from it to her forehead. It didn't hurt, rather it felt like a gentle kiss from a lover. Images of her and Nephrite on a few dates and the night when she discovered she was a senshi flooded her mind. Images of Sapphire hypnotizing her appeared next.
<That's right! I came to this store to buy Neffy a present and this strange guy puts some spell on me.>
Her eyes went blank then returned to their normal shade of bright blue-green. The black crescent moon faded and the symbol of Mercury glowed briefly on her forehead. She now knew who and what she was. She was Naru Baker. Friend to the Sailor Senshi and Sailor Amber. She was Nephrite's girlfriend.
"Oh gods! Neffy, I'm so sorry! Forgive me!" she fell against him and sobbed.
He put his arms around her and held her close. "Daijoubu, Naru-chan. There's nothing to forgive." Tears were falling from his eyes. "I'm just glad you're safe."
"Is that really you Naru?" asked Moonstone.
"De, I'm so sorry. I said all those mean things to you."
Moonstone hugged her friends and began to cry as well. Opal came up to them and touched Moonstone's shoulder.
"Come on De. Let's go look for Raistlin."
She looked back at Neffy and Naru, then at the other senshi.
"We're o.k., De. Let's give the lovebirds a couple minutes, o.k?" said Garnet winking.
The senshi withdrew to the front of the store to give the lovers some privacy. Naru was still crying and Neffy held her, stroking her hair.
"Naru-chan, what are you doing?!" said a very shocked and jealous Prince Diamond.