I'm apologizing in advance for this part. Lateness, blocks, the fact that
this story simply needs to end now... Anyway, I hope you enjoy it, it
came out a little better than I thought it would. The part after next 
will be the end. Thanks for sticking with me! Additional notes at 
bottom. Thanks!
-Lianne (liannesentar@yahoo.com)
http://www.liannesentar.com

*Blue Planet, White Moon*
Part 13

Rated PG-13 for violence, drama, a curse or two, and romance

	*8 months, 3 days, 12 hours, 46 minutes remaining*

	"You're not dead, are you?"
	Jedite almost smiled, but the pain constricting his face skewed
it too efficiently. He clutched his stomach and tried to push himself
to his knees.
	Endymion dropped to the blood-soaked ground to help him. 
The prince winced as the gash on his own back pulled tight as he 
bent. His eyes blurred; when he saw the dark red spilling from 
between Jedite's fingers, he angrily shook his head to clear it.
	"You're going to the infirmary," he said as he pulled 
Jedite's arm around his shoulder. Endymion glanced around to make
sure no new Legion warriors had wandered into their calm piece
of battlefield, then, swallowing, he tightened his fingers around 
the edge of Jedite's breastplate. 
	He'd come around looking for corpses he'd need to burn and 
had found Jedite sprawled with dead men. If Jedite hadn't begun to 
stir, Endymion didn't know what he would've ... if ... his heart 
squeezed painfully and strength sapped from his limbs. Jedite 
couldn't die. Endymion couldn't imagine life without him.
He still couldn't dismiss what he'd seen a few days earlier--Nephlite 
on the healing bed, eyes closed and thick hair matted to his brow.
His stomach churned.
	*Please, God, let them live.* Endymion blinked back tears.
*And please save my star.*

*************

	*4 months, 9 days, 3 hours, 22 minutes remaining*

	Princess Serenity lay on her bed and stared out the window.
Even in the night sky she could barely tell the Earth's position; the planet's
darkness grew thicker and heavier by the day. She felt her heart do the 
same.
	"Why?" she breathed. "Why did this have to happen?" She shifted
slightly and felt the crinkle of paper beneath her. Her eyes snapped wide;
carefully, she rolled in the opposite direction. She gently pulled the pile
of parchment from under her back.
	She'd almost forgotten she'd left them beside her. It was
becoming so common for her to spread out on her bed and read 
Endymion's old letters that she barely acknowledged the action anymore.
But she didn't want to crush them. *No,* she though as she carefully
pulled the letters into a pile. *No, this may be all I have left of him.*
The thought was so unnerving that her hands shook on the pile.
	Someone knocked on her door. She looked up.
	"Yes?"
	"It's me, princess."
	Serenity quickly got to her feet. As quietly as she could, she
tiptoed over to her desk and pulled open its drawer. She slid the
letters inside.
	"Did you want to come in, captain?"
	"If it's all right."
	Serenity pushed the letters far to the back of the drawer. She
slid the drawer shut and walked to the door.
	Steven's pale eyes peeked from the crack she widened in the
doorway. His concern and faint (but honest) sympathy was now all
too obvious in his gaze; so many months had she suffered from the
war, so many months had she seen him look at her like that. He was
very predictable for her now, and she found that it both increased her
patience with him and, at times, clamped it firmly short.
	"Yes."
	He raised his eyebrows. Trying not to frown, she opened her
door fully and allowed him entrance. He shut the door behind him.
	She was the slightest bit surprised when he took her hands.
"We're holding a vigil for the Earth tonight," he said, quietly. "Your
mother decided on it. Key members of the court will be there and 
all others will be encouraged to attend."
	"A vigil?" she repeated. "What do you mean by that?"
	"To show our respect to the Earth kingdoms of past and present.
To, you know..." His voice got a touch softer (he knew he was 
venturing into treacherous territory) and his eyes traveled to her shoulder.
"...mourn their loss."
	Serenity could feel steel crawl up around her heart. She tried
not to show it as she murmured, "For the lives lost in the war?"
	He knew what she meant. *She* knew what *he* meant. The
moon kingdom was going to mourn the loss of the Earth kingdom
before it even fell. Thinking with the harsh bit of cynicism she had
developed over the past few months, she understood why: after all,
the moon kingdom didn't have time to waste, empowering their
own armies to defend Metallia's possible attack and all. Better to
save time and mourn now so they could focus on the army. Had 
to look out for the moon kingdom. Forget the Earthians and 
worry about the cold bastards of the moon kingdom.
	Steven's smile, though wane, contained an honest touch of
sorrow. "Yes. For the lives lost in the war."
	"Fine." She pulled her hands from his and held out a palm
expectantly. "I assume we're using candles. May I have one
now?"
	Furrowing his eyebrows slightly, he reached to the back
of his belt. "Well," he said, pulling a small, white candle free
of it, "I suppose. Would you like me to--"
	"That will be all, captain." She took the candle from him.
"I'll go join my mother shortly."
	He stared at her. When she raised her eyebrows and looked
to the door, he shrugged and walked out of it. Once in the hallway,
he seemed to remember something.
	"Princess," he said, turning, "I'll also be attending. Would
you like me to--"
	"That will be all, captain." She started to push the door
closed.
	The sudden, unusual, and very clear sadness that flashed
through his eyes made Serenity stop. He looked at her. As her
eyes locked with his, she felt the steel around her heart get soft
and rusty, and the small fire in the core of her soul grow low.
Her shoulders slumped. All her determination sunk to her stomach
and made her feel sick.
	He didn't mean her ill. He honestly cared for her--she'd always
known that, since he'd joined the guard as a young man and had
been assigned as her occasional bodyguard. He was fewer than ten 
years older than she; she could still remember him braiding her 
young hair.
	She glanced away. "Thank you," she whispered, honestly.
"Steven. And I'm sorry."
	He said nothing. After staring at her a moment longer, 
he started off down the hallway in silence.

*************

	*1 month, 3 days, 1 hour, 16 minutes remaining*

	"My family is dead."
	Beryl dropped the wet towel she'd been holding. Quickly
blinking her eyes to clear them, she bent and shakily gathered
the messy and dirt-speckled fabric into her hands.
	"General Nephlite," she breathed, trembling, "I'm 
sorry."
	He didn't look up from the wall. He sat with his familiar
posture in the large chair, his face unreadable, his manner 
altogether normal save the horribly mangled foot that lay
unbandaged against the floor. Had Beryl known better,
she might have guessed he was simply contemplating war 
strategy rather than the fact that he'd never see his two blood 
brothers or parents again.
	"Thank you," he said, after a moment. "Though we
should mourn more than lost lives. My father's dukedom
was the last free land outside our own."
	Beryl pulled a clean towel from a nearby pile and
soaked it in the healer's tub. "We're ... surrounded now,"
she said.
	"Yes."
	She pulled the towel out, wrung it. "We're down to a
few thousand kilometers of land."
	"Yes."
	She bent at his foot. Carefully, hands trembling 
despite her best efforts, she wrapped the towel around his
oozing foot. "H-how much time do you think we have?"
she breathed.
	He thought a moment. "Hard to tell," he said
at last. "Not long. Unless the enemy withdraws or a miracle 
occurs..."
	She looked up, eyes glassy.
	He shook his head. "Personally," he murmured, "I'd say 
we have little more than a month to live."
	
*************

	*15 days, 4 hours, 9 minutes remaining*

	Venus and Jupiter stared at the Earth.
	"Geez." Jupiter crossed her arms and leaned against the
balcony. "Serenity wasn't kidding. You can hardly see it
at night anymore."
	Venus squinted up into the dark sky. When she focused
she could barely make the planet's outline, and that small, barely
noticeable speck of Earth that was of its normal color. The last
free lands.
	"Are you ready to fight?"
	Jupiter didn't bother looking up. "Metallia?"
	Venus turned to her fellow princess, eyebrow cocked.
"You're a warrior," she said lowly. "Regardless of what
some of the court may think, you and I *know* Metallia
won't stop with Earth. Personally, I'm surprised she's waiting
until she's through with them before attacking us."
	"Maybe she's scared of the moon."
	"Maybe she hasn't come to her full power yet."
	Jupiter let out a breath. "I'm always ready to fight," she
said, after a moment. "And I'm ready to die, if I must. We're
not the only ones."
	Venus stared at her a moment. When the girl at
last turned back toward the Earth, her fingers slipped into
her pocket and ran against the small clip of thin, silken hair,
tied together with a small yellow bow.
	"No," she murmured. "We're not."

*************

	*3 days, 6 hours, 19 minutes remaining*

	The warrior screamed a tearing, wrenching cry.
Endymion yanked his sword from the demon's belly and
plunged it into its frantically-beating heart.
	*Two days.* When the creature fell, Endymion's
sword was wrenched with it. *Two more days, and I can
see Serenity.* The young man bent over the body, gripped
his hilt with shaking fingers, and pulled. The blade
squelched and twisted in the body but remained lodged.
	*Two more days.* He slammed his boot into the
Legion warrior's chest and fought to free his sword. It was
the way the monster had fallen; Endymion's blade tip had
run it through and was possibly stuck on something below
the body. Brain too fuzzy to think of rolling the warrior over,
Endymion twisted and pulled to try and free his blade.
	*Two more days.* On top of months. On top of years
of planning, on top of an eternity of yearning. It was to
be the last trip to the moon, the last time he could see her and
tell her ... everything. He'd decided on it. He'd hold nothing
back--not his feelings, not his intentions, not his love. He
loved her and his kingdom was failing and in two days he
was going to let her know how much she'd changed his world.
	Her saw her eyes, smelled her hair as an enemy blade 
buried deeply into his back.

*************

	*1 days, 2 hours, 56 minutes remaining*

	The Earth procession was met with drawn swords and
anxious eyes. The very tired king of the Earth gave up his
weapon; his small group of soldiers and court members did
the same. Zoycite's arm was in a sling and he carried no blade.
Jedite, partially supporting his weight on a wooden cane,
was unarmed as well.
	Jedite scanned the transportation room with bleary
eyes. He found the moon princess against the wall in the
back and their gazes locked. She could see him. From all
those meters she could see him, see his eyes, and her face
shone with all the questions and desires he couldn't
answer. He thought of what to say. It turned out to be
unnecessary; one moment, and her eyes turned so
terribly dark he was afraid she would faint. She closed
her mouth tightly, gripped her skirt, and with a pale
face turned and left the room.
	Queen Serenity bowed her head to the Earth
king. He bowed back. The guards approached the procession
and the king announced the names of key court members
who had been unable to make the final journey. Upon
hearing Malachite's (on the field) and Nephlite's (in
sub-command) names, Venus and Jupiter didn't give much
reaction. Venus bowed her head a touch in mourning;
Jupiter's unreadable gaze didn't alter.
	Queen Serenity led the procession in.

*************

	*1 days, 1 hour, 45 minutes remaining*

	"You can't be serious."
	"Sure I can."
	"I'll believe it when I see it, liar." Mercury let out
a breath (being quietly indignant), sharply brushed a strand of hair
behind her ear. "You haven't been serious since the moment
I met you."
	"You're always so quick to *judge* me, darling. Did
you ever think I could be serious if you would only be
serious back?"
	"Of course."
	Zoycite sighed. Mercury, sitting by his side on
the lake edge, was going to make him fight for every last
opportunity.
	"Fine." He cleared his throat. Glancing back at the
several moon guards who watched him from just a few meters
away, Zoycite awkwardly shifted to turn to her (the fact that he
was sitting and his right wrist was broken made matters
rather difficult). He took one of her hands in his and raised
it formally.
	"Princess Mercury, of the kingdom of Mercury, of the
royal guard to Princess Serenity of the kingdom of the moon."
He raised his chin. "I, unmarked orphan Zoycite of Earth,
royal general to Prince Endymion of the kingdom of
Earth, hereby declare my love for you. I extend the most 
sincerest desire to start a meaningful relationship."
	He heard the guards murmur and spit. Mercury,
on the other hand, had a very satisfied look on her face
hinted with more than a tough of bragging. She turned
her cheek to the side and allowed Zoycite to press his
lips against it.
	"Well," she said, smiling as he kissed her with far
more passion than one usually kisses a cheek. "That's--um,
calm down--fine. Was asking really that hard?"
	Without stopping, he nodded.
	"Geez. You can be such a baby."
	Without stopping, he nodded.
	The guards were starting to lose patience. Their
murmurs grew louder and one even drew his sword. Mercury
quickly shook her hand at them to leave her alone.
	"Calm down, tiger." She gently detached him from
her and turned his face to hers. She smiled at him; a little
lopsidedly, but honestly enough, and he felt far more content
than unending months of war had made him think he could ever
feel again.
	"Then let me leave you with something," she said,
quietly. "Before you go home."
	He raised his eyebrows.
	She squeezed his chin in reprimand. "Not that, you idiot.
Don't be lewd." She looked down at her chest, plucked the small
blue flower she had pinned over her heart, and transferred it to
his shirt. She didn't look at him as she pinned it to the fabric.
	"This is a first for me, you know," she told him. "Giving
a young man something of mine. Don't lose it or smash it or forget
it somewhere, ok?"
	"I won't."
	"Honestly now? Are you serious?"
	He smiled, and his lips pulled tight as his eyes grew glassy.
"I told you," he said, barely above a whisper. "I can be serious."
	
*************

	*1 days, 1 hour, 14 minutes remaining*
	
	Jedite closed his eyes as Mars gently lifted his shirt. He
could feel her eyes on his long, knotted stomach scar; the old wound
burned under her fiery gaze.
	"You poor thing."
	He could feel his cheeks hue deeper every moment she
examined him. "I could've been dead instead," he said in quiet
defense. "And I would've been if Endymion hadn't found me."
	She released his tunic and raised her gaze to his eyes. He
didn't feel the need to look away anymore. Staring into the 
red eyes of demons who tried to plunge their blades into his
chest, he no longer feared facing anything. Particularly 
not Mars. Particularly not the way her gaze used to turn him 
red and make him look away.
	He *wanted* to look at her. His blue eyes, quiet, hard, stared
deeply into her own.
	"You." Her voice came out as a murmur. "You've ... changed."
	"I've had to."
	He didn't look away. He didn't break his stare even as her
fingers reached up and gently, carefully, rested on his young 
cheek.
	One of her eyebrows raised, only slightly. "Manhood has
come upon you at last. I wasn't sure I'd be able to tell when
it did, but sure enough it has. Hasn't it?"
	He didn't say anything. Instead, hand trembling, he
reached up and touched her own cheek.
	A loud knocking came at the door. Mars angrily turned
her head to it.
	"One minute left," came the guard's voice from outside.
"Princess Mars, are you all right in there?"
	"Yes," she clipped, darkly. She turned back to the young
general, her expression unreadable. She shook her head at him
and sighed.
	"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "There's so little time left,
and I don't think I'll be able to tell you anything. I've never
been ... very good at that. I'm ashamed of it."
	Jedite's lips curled slightly in a smile. "It's all right,"
he told her. "You've told me plenty. You know, how to eat 
right and how much I should be sleeping and whatnot."
	Mars chuckled. Her dark eyes turned a shimmering 
shade of marble black; she reached into her pocket, pulled
out something small and circular.
	"I'm sorry ... for not being good with words," she said.
"But you're older now. You've yet to claim your prize for that
sparring match so long ago." She raised her gaze to his. "Are 
you ready to claim it now?"
	He couldn't say anything. Maybe he could now keep up
with those dark, glittering eyes, but he still found it hard to
speak when she looked at him like that. Mouth barely open,
he nodded.
	Her hand slipped over his. "Then I leave you with this," 
she breathed lowly. "And a promise. Should you return, should
you come back, I'll be waiting."
	He looked down as warm heat encircled his skin. She
pushed a ring, red-gold as fire, glimmering like flames, up
his finger. It burned like the fire he saw deep behind her 
eyes.
	His vision blurred. He couldn't look up again. All that
courage and confidence and bravery he'd acquired vanished
from him like a shattered dream. He was soft and vulnerable
again in her presence, a man barely a man who was scared
out of his mind. There was so much he wanted to tell her. 
So much he wanted to blurt to her in the still of the night, 
her eyes dark and unjudging, her strength promising
and reliable when all he wanted was to curl in a corner and
hide. He wanted to tell her he didn't want to die.
	But *neither* of them was very good with words. As he
stood there, shoulders slumped, eyes closed, he only took
in her presence, the dark heat he didn't think he'd ever feel
again. He shook. Her ring was warm and protective and
close on his finger.
	"God protect you, Jedite."
	He shook harder, hiccuped. "I-I..." he breathed. "I-I ...
I just..."
	He didn't open his eyes. He didn't stop shaking, even 
as her head leaned in and her warm lips pressed up against his.

*************

	*1 day, 0 hours, 37 minutes remaining*

	Princess Serenity was screaming. She knew the door
muffled little, she knew others could probably hear her cries
echoing down the hall like a ghost's gone mad, but she didn't
care. Her fingernails tore into the fabric of Steven's shirt. Silk and 
skin and blood bunched up under her nails, thick and stifling,
and she tore again. She couldn't stop screaming, she couldn't
stop trying to kill the captain of the Moon Guard.
	"Please," he breathed, his hands loose around her upper
arms but doing little to stop them. His pale eyes registered
not pain but terrible sadness as he watched her. "Please, 
Serenity, don't do this to yoursel--"
	"I HATE YOU!" she screamed. "YOU TOOK AWAY
ALL I HAD LEFT! I'LL NEVER SEE HIM AGAIN AND 
NOW I HAVE *NOTHING* *LEFT*!"
	He couldn't answer that. He'd found her collection of
letters from Endymion only a few weeks before, and, without
telling her, had burned them. He didn't mean her ill. He was
afraid she would claw at those letters when Endymion was 
gone, keeping the old pieces of parchment to tear away at
her heart for years to come. She had to forget him. There was
no saving the Earthian prince and Steven didn't want his
princess to suffer.
	Of course, he hadn't counted on Endymion missing the
final visit. With no closure for Serenity he felt terribly guilty
at having taken the letters so soon; the anticipation she'd
been building for more than a year crashed down on her and left
her suffocating in a pool of sorrow. He wanted her to hit him.
He wanted her to hit him and release some of her hurt.
	But she'd been doing it for ten minutes.
	"Serenity," he pleaded, "listen to me. It's not that he
didn't want to see you--"
	"I HATE YOU! I *HATE* YOU!"
	"Listen to me, please! His injury was life-threatening.
Taking drugs for the transport and the transport itself could
have killed him--"
	"I HATE YOU!"
	"They had to tie him to his bed!" His fingers suddenly
curled around her arms, tight. He held her fast. "Don't you 
understand? He fought to come even though he knew he might
die! They lashed him to his infirmary bed when he wouldn't
listen to them!"
	Serenity broke down into frantic sobs. Her body crumpled
against him like a limp doll; his strong arms collected her 
close to him. She cried. She cried and she cried and she buried
her face in the chest she'd known since she was five years old.
	"Why?" she wailed. "Oh, God, why'd this have to
*happen*? I love him, Steven!" Her fingers clawed into his
fabric. "I really, honestly love him!"
	Steven just held her. As his princess cried terrible, 
heart-wrenching tears, he let his gaze fall on her desk. The
candle she'd brought to the vigil months before still rested 
upon it. There'd been a reason she'd asked for it before
the ceremony. Her actions were later perceived at the vigil
to be rude and inappropriate by some, but Steven knew Princess
Serenity did what she believed was right. She opposed the moon's
ways now--that was painfully clear. Since that vigil night,
her hatred for the mistreatment of Earthians burned in
everything she did.
	In the shining white wax of the candle, the pre-carved
inscription "May the Earth's fallen kingdom rise to heaven
and give us its blessings" was crossed out with what 
looked like an X of pink lipstick. Below it, written in capital
letters in the same teenager's cosmetic, was the single word,
	"HOPE."

*************

	*0 days, 0 hours, 9 minutes remaining*	

	Beryl stared at Endymion's sleeping, restless body. He
was caught in an injury fever and sweat stood out on his
brow.
	
	*Your death shall be the most painful one imaginable
should you postpone your answer any longer, Beryl! I have
finished waiting!*

	He murmured something fitful and turned. Even in his
sleep she saw him wince in pain; carefully, she took his
broad shoulders and eased him into a position less stressful
on his back. It was difficult to maneuver him with the bindings
that tied him to the bed.
	
	*Today. I'll tell you today, lord Metallia, please just wait 
today!*

	He was crying now. Tears built up under his closed 
eyelids and his body began to tremble. She let her hand rest on
his cheek, her thumb brush away the tears as they rolled down
his skin.
	Less than a thousand kilometers of free land left. A
demon of dark mist roaring at her as its red eyes burned. Her
prince tied to a bed to keep him from committing suicide by
traveling to the moon.
	Suicide. The word had begun to take a new meaning
with her as of late, its roots digging deep into her. She'd always
been a woman of faith; suicide would send her to hell, so she'd
never even considered it. Faith was a funny thing for her, though.
As she stared at a prince several years her junior, half-comatose
and begging in his dreams for a woman that was not her, Beryl
realized she was willing to throw away faith. She didn't think
she trusted God anymore--not with what He'd done to the
Earth. Why would God allow a being like Metallia to exist?
Perhaps she was Satan. Perhaps Metallia was more than just
an evil demon--perhaps she was Lucifer, come to Earth to 
put the Earthians into a living hell.
	Well, then. She'd be saving some time.
	She bent down and kissed her prince. He was murmuring
something below her lips, probably something about how he 
wanted to die and get it over with, but she didn't stop. She kissed
him more deeply as his tears rolled and her fingers ran through
his hair. She'd noticed a Book of God resting near his bedside,
for healers and priests to read to the ailing prince when his fever
and infection was at its worst. With her free hand, she reached and 
turned it over.
	Then she turned and ran out of the room, and into
darkness.

To be continued ...

-This story's a happy one, yes indeed.
	NEW E-MAIL! liannesentar@yahoo.com is the ONLY e-mail
address I will write from from now on. If you receive an e-mail from any
other address of mine, DO NOT OPEN IT and delete it immediately
(it's a virus). It's terribly sad, but I have to shut down my aol and
hotmail accounts after many years of faithful service. I simply
couldn't get rid of the viruses in them. *sobs* At any rate, please write
to me at liannesentar@yahoo.com from now on. I'll still be checking
my aol and hotmail accounts until March 31st, 2003, but after that they'll
be shut down forever. Sorry for the inconvenience. 
	So anyway, sorry this part was so horribly late. Writing
can be a funny thing--I was so terribly blocked when I started writing
this a month ago, but after working like a madwoman on 
Tokyopop deadlines and papers for school I was able to sit down
for a couple of hours these past few days and write this with no
problem. It's an honest relief, considering I don't want this epic
to end poorly. Next two parts should be pretty exciting, so I hope
you return for them.
	Next part will be up on my website December 25th. My 
webpage's updated layout and the final part of this fic will be up in
early January ... let's say January 7th, barring any unusual 
circumstances. I'm also doing another public appearance Dec 30th,
check out the page for details.
	See you in a month! Be good until then. ^_^
-Lianne (liannesentar@yahoo.com)
http://www.liannesentar.com
*Sailor Moon and all its characters copyright © Naoko 
Takeuchi/Kodansha Ltd./Toei Animation, Co., Ltd. This story 
part copyright © Lianne Sentar, December 2002.