Part III

"Boy, Jae, you sure know how to choose 'em," Zoi telepaths, irritation in her mental voice.

Jae growls under his breath and teleports directly in front of the girl. He grabs her by the shoulders.

A strangled whimper escapes Diana's throat, her ribs feeling as if they are on fire and her face throbbing.

"Listen to me, Diana," Jae says, shaking her slightly, causing her to grimace with pain, "if you stopped resisting us, this would be a whole lot easier!"

"Fine," Diana whispers harshly, tears flooding her green eyes, "I don't have what you want," she locks eyes with Jae, her inner torment matching his, "hell, I don't have what ANYONE wants! Go ahead and do what you damn well please with this pitiful little body and get it over with!"

She looks at the shock in his eyes, feeling exhausted, unable to reign in her emotions.

"Go on 'n kill me! Hopefully my next life'll be better'n this one," she half sobs, tilting her head back and bearing the soft skin of her throat to him.

Zoi and Jae both look at the quietly crying figure being held in Jae's hands by the shoulders in shocked amazement.

"My gods, Zoi...she means it...she WANTS to die!" Jae telepaths to Zoi, shock in his mental voice.

"Damn, Jae, let's get her back to her room, she can't go through a martial arts class in the state she's in now."

Jae nods and pulls the trembling Diana tight against his body. Jae teleports the two of them to her room, letting Zoi follow in her characteristic shower of cherry blossoms.

He finds Diana limp, unconscious in his arms, the teleportation having been too much for her weakened state.

He gently lies her out on the bed and watches as Zoi opens Diana's gi jacket and places a hand over the bandaged ribs.

"She's got several broken ribs. That bastard hurt her much worse than we did her or she did us," Zoi finally says after a few long moments.

Jae growls softly as Zoi heals her, "He will pay dearly."

Zoi arches a brow. "My my, aren't we passionate about her."

Jae blinks and sits on the bed by his sister and Diana. "Yeah, I guess I am." He reaches over and gently brushes a lock of Diana's flame red hair out of her face.

"Why?"

"I don't know, really. I feel as if I know her, like she's the key to my past," he answers softly, caressing her uninjured cheek.

Zoi nods as Jae takes in Diana's delicate features.

He suddenly smiles softly, "She looks so small...harmless."

"Hai, but looks can be deceiving," Zoi answers with a smirk.

Jae simply continues gazing at the sleeping girl.

"Jae we have to get back," Zoi says softly.

He nods, "Go on, Zoi, I'll be there in a few moments."

"OK, Jae, but don't take to long."

At Jae's nod, Zoi teleports.

"Diana," Jae whispers softly, "I don't know why I feel this way towards you, but I do, and I'm sorry for all that you have to endure. It's not fair to you in the least, but you have some hope of escaping."

He gazes at her a few minutes longer before leaning over and kissing her tenderly on the lips. For a few moments, he thinks he feels her kissing back.

Gently, Jae caresses her soft hair after pulling back. He drains enough of her energy to keep her asleep through the night before teleporting out of the room.

After he adds the energy he took from Diana to the energy Beryl will later offer to Queen Metallia, he teleports to his quarters to think.

He throws himself onto his bed, bouncing slightly, landing on his back.

He closes his eyes and sees Diana's image gracefully moving towards him in a beautiful red satin evening gown.

He holds her close, her long curled hair barley tickling the gloved hand on her waist.

The vision is so powerful that he could feel her warm body pressed tight against his.

"Jae," she says, but her voice sounds oddly like Zoisite's.

"Jae, wake up," his sister tells him as he opens his eyes to find his three fellow generals in his room.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Jadeite," Kunzite's deep voice rumbles.

Jae blinks, "Did Beryl call and I somehow didn't hear it?"

Neph shakes his head. "Iie, we just were supposed to have a meeting is all."

Jae groans. "About what?"

"About Diana."

Jae can tell it is going to be a long, long night. 

Part II
Part IV
Beginnings and Endings Index