With All of My Heart

The first night had been rather awkward, Jadeite would admit. He didn't really know what he could do around or with his ex-queen. Would it be inappropriate to speak before she spoke to him? On a few occasions he had caught himself running ahead of her because something up ahead had caught his interest.

Once they had returned to her apartment, Beryl reminded him that she was no longer a queen, and that he needed to start treating her as a normal human being that he lived with. Of course, he agreed to do this right away, but it would be difficult.

When they had finally decided to retire for the evening, Jadeite had felt strange about walking into her room without her permission to do so at that moment. She had agreed to it earlier, but it hadn't been the same as the direct orders she used to give.

Needless to say, nothing much else happened that night.

The next morning he found Beryl going out to work, and Jadeite left with her to find some employment of his own. She actually worked as a waitress in a coffee shop, something Jadeite would never be able to get over. He had stopped by in the afternoon after a morning of handing out resumes. She would be off work within the hour, and so Jadeite thought that he would wait around and then walk home with her.

“How did the job search go?” she asked as she brought his drink to his table.

Jadeite nodded his thanks and blushed lightly at the odd situation yet again. “Well enough, I think.

“I'll be a little while yet.”

“That's OK, I can wait.”

Curiosity deemed it necessary to watch her as she worked. She smiled genuinely as she brought other customers their orders. Cleaned up the tables without any noticeable annoyance, and apologized with a customer wasn't happy with their drinks.

“A friend of yours?” a man asked her as she was hanging up her apron and gathering her things.

Beryl nodded and looked Jadeite's way, at which point Jadeite smiled and did his best to not look like he had been staring. “The son of a friend of mine in Kyoto. He's staying with me for the time being.”

Jadeite looked down at his drink then, which was still mostly in his cup. Of course she wouldn't feel comfortable saying that their living together was more than just a friendly gesture. Then again, it wasn't as though they had had sex last night either. Jadeite bit his lower lip as he wondered when, if ever, Beryl was going to ask him to make love to her.

“Are you ready to go?” she asked.

Jadeite was startled out of his thought and nodded that he was. Quickly he fumbled through his change and found the funds to pay for his drink before following Beryl home.

---

The evening passed quietly. Beryl read a novel while sipping some tea. Apparently she shared Kunzite and Zoisite's dislike of televisions and radios, preferring the older forms of entertainment. Jadeite didn't really have anything to read, Beryl seemed to have very different taste in literature from him. Once he got a job he'd have to pick something up. For now he was content to look out the window at the city, simply being in Beryl-sama's presence again was good enough for him.

“If you're bored, we can talk,” she offered. “If you want to go for a walk, I'll give you my key.”

Jadeite shook his head. “I'm fine. I don't want to bother you.”

Beryl sighed and put her book down. She was currently curled up on the sofa, and she clasped her hands neatly in her lap, always so elegant. “Jadeite, you're still thinking of me as your queen, aren't you?”

Jadeite opened his mouth to protest, but in fact could not. He wouldn't lie to Beryl-sama. He looked down at his own hands, fidgeting nervously.

“Come here,” she said softly, sitting up and leaving a space on the sofa.

Slowly, Jadeite got to his feet and sat at the other end of the couch, afraid to look Beryl in the eye.

She sighed. “What do I have to do to get you to treat me as an equal? Order you to?”

Jadeite felt his lip twitch at that remark, she was probably right, but even then... “You're not... To me, you are not a regular human. You're Beryl-sama.”

“Jadeite...”

“And that's what I want. I want you to be Beryl-sama.” Jadeite could feel a lump forming in his throat and he clenched his fists together, doing his best to not let the tears that were forming fall.

He felt Beryl shift closer to him, but still could not raise his eyes to look at her. He couldn't bear to look on her beauty knowing that he was such a disappointment to her. Her fingers touched his cheek, and then rose up further to brush away the tears that just managed to balance themselves on his eyelashes. He closed his eyes and tried to turn his face away from her, but she caught his chin lightly and urged him to look back at her. His eyes remained closed until he felt her lips press against his.

Jadeite's eyes opened wide in surprise. Beryl-sama was kissing him. Why? What had he done to deserve this? Her lips tasted just as they had before...

He was fairly certain that he had moaned lightly when he finally gained the courage to kiss her back. Tentatively he placed his hands on her shoulders and pulled her in a bit closer. Her hand left his chin and circled around to the back of his head and the kiss deepened a fraction. Jadeite became curious about how far this would be allowed to go, but his thoughts and the kiss itself was broken by a knock at the door.

“Are you expecting someone?” he asked as Beryl's head turned to the door.

She shook her head in the negative and stood to answer it. Jadeite watched as she went to the door, opened it, and then froze. She said nothing, and the person on the other side said nothing. Jadeite couldn't see who it was from this angle, but he had a bad feeling. He stood and moved slowly into view of the door.

He froze as well for a split second. The man who stood on the other side of the door wore jeans, a white shirt, and a grey jacket. His brown hair was shaggy and hung into his brown eyes. Jadeite didn't normally see him in this form, but recognized him immediately.

He jumped into action, pulling Beryl-sama away from the door and standing in front of her, protecting her from this intruder. “What the hell do you want?” Jadeite asked, his tone hostile.

Zoisite appeared to be in as much shock as Beryl. He didn't reply immediately, and instead just started over Jadeite's shoulder, supposedly at Beryl.

When he didn't get a reply, Jadeite transformed into his Tennou form. “I said, what the hell do you want?”

Beryl placed her hand on his shoulder. A silent gesture to back down. “Either come inside, or leave,” she said quietly. A calm contrast to Jadeite's reaction. “But decide quickly.”

Zoisite stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Once free from the public eye, he resumed his Tennou form as well. “How are you alive?” he asked.

Jadeite made sure that he stayed between Beryl and Zoisite. He was not going to have him attack her.

“You were just as dead as I was. You tell me.”

Zoisite's eyes travelled to Jadeite. “I'm not going to fight you or her,” he said, “you know I just prefer this form.”

Jadeite wasn't sure if he could trust him, but he backed away, moving to stand beside Beryl instead. “How did you find us?” Jadeite asked.

“Soul Flight.”

Beryl chuckled lightly to herself. “Of course. I had forgotten about that.”

Jadeite looked from Beryl to Zoisite and back again. Deciding that since Beryl seemed more at ease now, he changed back into his civilian form, the form she preferred. “You'll keep this a secret, won't you?” Jadeite asked, pleaded.

Zoisite didn't answer, his attention was back on Beryl now. “Stay away from my Master,” he demanded, his eyes giving an icy glare.

Beryl didn't appear at all troubled. “Zoisite, I've been alive for all of these last two years. I've not approached him once, and I don't plan to. I simply want to live my life out here quietly.” As if to emphasize her point, she drew Jadeite closer to her, placing her arm lightly around his shoulders.

Zoisite seemed to relax a bit, and nodded. “Beryl, would I be able to speak to you privately?”

“Whatever you have to say you can say around me!” Jadeite interjected.

Beryl gave his shoulder a light squeeze before releasing him. “This won't take long,” she said softly, and then gestured that Zoisite follow her. The only other room was the bedroom, which was where she was leading him. Jadeite couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy, even though he knew that they would only be talking, and that Zoisite was not the least bit interested in her anyway. The realization that both Beryl and Zoisite were in love with the Master hit him then, and as soon as the door was closed, Jadeite had his ear pressed up against it.

“Why did you reveal yourself to Jadeite?” Zoisite asked, “why make him live with you?”

“I didn't. He found me, and I did try to make him go back to you. He was quite insistent that he live here.”

“To me, it looks like you're trying to get close to the Master. First, you get Jadeite wrapped around your finger again, then-”

“That is not what this is, Zoisite.”

Jadeite bit his lip to keep himself quiet as they talked about him.

“I don't believe that you could just give up on the Master. You did love him, I'm sure you still do.”

“I do. But I also know that he doesn't want me. I keep myself away from him to avoid those feelings.”

There was a lengthy pause.

“You don't believe me because of your feelings for him, am I right?”

Another pause.

“You knew?” Zoisite finally spoke.

“I'm not blind, Zoisite. Your loyalty to him went far beyond normal duty.”

“This isn't about me.”

“But it is, partially. I don't want to see Endymion, because I know that I will see him with the Princess. I know that I will see how happy they are together, and that hurts.”

Silence.

“You're different from me though. You see him daily, I assume, and the presence of the princess is not a problem for you as it would be for me.”

Well, she didn't know everything, Jadeite thought to himself. He was most definitely not going to let Beryl know that Zoisite, not to mention Kunzite, had also bedded the Master.

“So long as you stay away from him, I'll keep your existence a secret.”

Jadeite breathed a sigh of relief and promptly pulled himself away from the door. He retreated to the window, making it appear as though he had been there the whole time.

The pair did take a few more minutes before re-emerging from the bedroom. Zoisite came right over to him while Beryl lingered back a bit. “Jadeite, I'll keep your secret for you, but there is a condition.”

Jadeite did his best to look relieved a second time. “What is it?”

“I know you love and trust her completely, but I do not. As long as you are with her, I can't trust you either.”

Jadeite hadn't been expecting this, and waited, a bit stunned for Zoisite to finish.

“I can't let you anywhere near the Master.”

He already knew that if he had to choose between the Master or Beryl, he would choose Beryl. He had already made the decision years ago, it just happened to be forced on him now. “I understand.”

Zoisite nodded slowly, and his expression was almost sad in a way. Perhaps Zoisite was disappointed in him. He placed his civilian guise over his true form and opened the door. Taking one last look at both of the residents of the apartment, and then promptly excused himself.