Part XII

That evening, Diana, and Jae walk through the hall the Ball is being held in, hand in hand.

Diana feels a soft touch on her shoulder and turns to see Kunzite standing there.

"Kunzite, hi! It's good to see you again," Diana says, smiling at the platinum blond man.

He nods, returning the smile.

"It is good to see you, too, Diana," he says, "Could I possibly steal Jadeite for a little bit?"

Diana grins, twining her fingers with Jae's, "Sure, as long as you don't keep him for to long."

Kunz chuckles, "Of course not."

Diana and Jae turn to each other and share a tender kiss.

"I'll be right back, love."

"You better be," she grins and kisses his nose.

Jae chuckles and heads off with Kunzite.

"I sincerely hope that you don't still have feelings for that human, Jadeite," Kunzite says in a voice so low only Jae can hear.

Jae keeps his silence, eyes fixed on the path.

"Jadeite. Answer me."

Jae sighs and looks at his friend.

"Hai. I do still love her, but Beryl doesn't have to know."

Kunzite nods silently, and within a few moments they are joined by Zoisite and Nephrite.

"Can we make this quick? I'd like to get back to M-chan before the attacks," Nephrite says impatiently.

Kunz nods, "This is basically to reaffirm what's going to happen."

"Hai," Zoi picks up her, her voice lowered as Kunzite's is, "we give the telepathic signal and the attack happens here as well as in the Black Hole worlds, like Beryl ordered."

"This will happen two hours from now, so prepare yourselves," Kunzite finishes.

The rest nod.

Kunz sighs, "In the meantime, try to have some fun, this may be the last chance you get in a while."

With that, Jae and Neph go off to search for Diana and HLM respectively.

They find the two chatting with each other.

Jae comes up behind Diana and slips his arms around her middle, pulling her up against his chest.

"Well, hello there," she giggles, looking up at him.

Neph holds his hand out to HLM, going down on one knee.

"Would the lady care to accompany me on a walk in the gardens?" he asks her, despair hidden in his eyes by an unreadable look.

"I'd be greatly honored," HLM answers, putting her hand in his.

After they're alone, Diana looks deep into Jae's eyes.

"Something's wrong, isn't it," she says softly, seeing a deep, heartbreaking sadness in those usually cheerful sapphire blue eyes, "I had a feeling something more than a nightmare was wrong before, and now...I'm sure of it."

He nods, "Come on, let's go for a walk, ok?"

"Sure," Diana answers softly, wrapping an arm around his waist as they start walking.

They walk silently for a few moments before Diana stops them both.

"OK, Jae, tell me what's wrong," she says softly, looking up into his eyes.

Jae swallows, a tear escaping the corner of his right eye.

Diana leans up and gently kisses it away, puzzled.

"Love...?"

He sighs again and hugs her tightly, as if he never wants to let go.

She rests her head on his chest, hugging back, feeling the wind make his cape tickle her hands, her skirt blow around her legs and her hair flutter around her head.

"I'm so sorry, Diana. I'm so sorry," he whispers as she feels him trembling in her arms.

She pulls back to look up at him, eyes even more confused then before.

"Sorry about what? You've done nothing wrong. Come, sit down with me," she says, gently leading him to a bench and sitting down with him.

He sighs brokenly, again holding her close and running his strong, slender fingers through her long red curls.

After a few moments, he sighs again and looks down at her, saying softly, "It's not what I've done, it's what I'm going to have to do."

Diana frowns slightly, and gazes up into his eyes, repeating softly, "What you're 'going to have to do'?"

Jae nods, gazing down at her.

"Do you remember when Queen Beryl captured us all and only you and M-chan escaped?"

"Hai, I don't think I'll ever forget that day."

"Well," he looks down at her hands in his, "the rest and I haven't escaped."

Diana blinks, "But...you're here, you had to have," her eyes widen as her brain kicks into gear, "oh."

Jae nods and his eyes lock with hers.

They stay that way for a few moments.

"I never wanted to lose you," Jae whispers softly.

"You're not going to lose me," she whispers back, squeezing his hands gently.

"You don't understand though, koibito," he says, pain in his voice, "in under two hours the Moon Kingdom and the Black Hold worlds will be
attacked by the Dark Kingdom."

Part XI
Part XIII
Beginnings and Endings Index