* * *
	"How high is this damn mountain, anyway?" Serena grumbled, rubbing her
sore calves. It felt to her like they'd been climbing for decades.
	"Oh, stop complaining. We haven't got much further to go," Raye said.
"Look up there, you can see the fire. . ."
	Amy saw the fire, all right. She'd been seeing it in her mind's eye and in
her heart since the moment they arrived at the mountain. Now that she was
seeing it with her own two eyes, she felt her heart pounding like it never
had before-both with fear, and anticipation.
	"Do you sense anything, Raye?" Mina said.
	"Nothing yet. But the Negaverse has been known to show up quickly and
without warning before. . ."
	As if something evil had heard her and was acting on cue, there was a huge
flash of light in front of them. When it cleared, Wotite was standing
there.
	"So!" he said. "What do we have here? A team of sailor brats who think
they can rescue my fallen general?"
	"Out of our way, Negacreep," Lita said. "You're not going to be able to
stop us, and you'll be real sorry if you try."
	"We'll see about that!" Wotite made a gesture with his arms, and suddenly,
a huge number of tiny, demonlike creatures materialized out of thin air.
	"Too easy," said Raye. "MARS FIRE. . .IGNITE!!!"
	"JUPITER THUNDER. . .CRASH!!!"
	"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM. . .SMASH!"
	But for every group of demons that the girls destroyed, Wotite created a
group twice as big. And the demons were shooting out tiny little lazerlike
beams, which stung the girls like bees.
	Raye flung fire in all directions, trying to deal with swarms and swarms
of them that were descending on her from all sides like something out of an
Alfred Hitchcock movie. "Where the HELL is Tuxedo Mask?" she said.
	Maybe, thought Amy, in all this chaos, I'll be able to make my break. .
.She started to run toward the flames, but a huge hoard of the demons leapt
on her, sticking to her skin. She screamed as she felt herself become a
mass of stinging flesh. . .
	Then, suddenly, the demons vanished. . .as if something were blocking
Wotite's powers for a second. She turned, and saw the enchanted rose that
had landed at the general's feet. . .
	"Now, Sailor Moon! Get him!" a male voice yelled.
	"MOON TIARA. . .MAGIC!" But before the glowing disc could "moondust" the
general, he vanished in a flash of light, back to where he came from.
	That was Amy's cue. She scrambled the rest of the way up the mountain,
facing the flames completely without fear.
	When she reached them, she took a deep breath and concentrated as hard as
she could. "Help me, Mercury," she whispered. Then, summoning the biggest
blast that she could, she flung so many ice bubbles into the fire that it
looked like a blizzard. The flames vanished, and she stepped into the magic
circle.
	Now she drew out her Mercury wand, which had been tucked between her
breasts. Concentrating her power again, she watched as it grew and changed,
becoming the caduceus, the supreme wand of healing.
	Then, her eyes beheld the man before her, and she fell to her knees,
overwhelmed with love and desire.
	He was even more beautiful than he'd looked in her dreams. She could sense
the tortured evil he'd been forced to adopt as his personality, but also,
the infinite goodness and sweetness buried beneath-which only she could
unleash with her love.
	Oh, Adam, my long-lost darling, what have they done to you?
	This Negaforce jacket has got to go, she thought. She undid the catches,
gently raising his slumbering body so she could slip it off. He wore a
plain white shirt beneath. She flung the offending garment away as if it
were poisoned. He would never wear a symbol of evil again.
	Pointing the caduceus at his head, she whispered, "Supreme healing!" A
blue glow spread from the wand and enveloped him. For a few seconds, he
disappeared in the light, then it faded.
	She knelt next to him, stroking his face, mentally preparing herself for
the big moment ahead. . .
	Then, she touched her lips to his, and suddenly, the whole mountain seemed
ablaze with light.
	His eyelids fluttered and opened. Slowly, he raised himself into a sitting position, stretching his arms up to the sun.
	"The light of day. . ." he murmured. "It's never looked so beautiful. . ."
	Then, he saw the woman next to him, and he felt confused. There were
memories rising up inside him, memories he couldn't quite get a grasp on. .
.
	"Who are you? Did you awaken me?"
	"Yes. Do you remember me, Adam?"
	Adam. . .Adam. . .why did the sound of that name stir up such funny
feelings? What was happening to him? He leaned over, his head in his hands.
"My mind is whirling. . .I feel so confused. . .so lost. . ."
	She put her arms around him. "You don't have to feel lost, Adam. I'm here
with you. You'll never be alone again."
	That sweet voice. . .he'd heard it before. . .another time, another place,
another planet. . ."We. . .we were together once, weren't we?"
	"Yes! Oh, please, please remember, Adam! The palace where we lived on
Mercury. . .I was the princess, and you were my one and only love. . ."
	Now he was seeing in his mind a planet where everything seemed to be
glowing blue. . .and this wonderful woman was in his arms. . .he was
kissing her neck, and she was telling him that there had never been anyone
else for her and never would be. . .
	And then, the name arose in his mind.
	"Princess Amy?"
	"Oh, Adam!" She threw her arms around him, and suddenly, all the dams
within him broke. The Adam memories were rising up like a tidal wave,
drowning out the Siegmite memories. He began to feel pure, clean, and whole
for the first time in centuries.
	Let me lose the long lifespan of a Negaforce general, he thought. Let me
become a mere mortal again. I will gladly go down into death tomorrow if it
means being with Amy, if it means being reborn with her again and again. .
.
	"Amy. . .my darling princess. . ." His mouth claimed hers, and the world
stood still. With the hunger born of centuries of separation, they kissed
and kissed and kissed, trying to fuse their souls through their mouths.
	His hands began to roam her body, feeling her warmth, her soft curves. Oh,
my darling, let me purify myself within you. Let me taste your sweetness,
and drive away the sourness of all those lost years forever. . .
	She moaned as he explored her through her clothes, feeling like she was
going to explode with desire. As her mouth fed on his again and again, she
began to unbutton his shirt, sliding it down his arms and shoulders. She
pulled away from him with a gasp, shuddering with lust at the site of his
exposed flesh.
	"Oh, Adam. . .you're exquisite. . ." She fell on him, her arms around his
waist, her lips kissing up and down his muscular chest and flat stomach.
Her tongue circled his nipples, her teeth gently nipped at him.
	"Off with this dress, my sweetheart," he said. "I want to behold you in
all your glory."
	All she had to do was concentrate her power to make her uniform vanish. He
fell to his knees, worshiping her like a goddess. Gently, his hands passed
over her breasts before he grasped them in fierce need. He drew a nipple
into his mouth, sucking it like he could drink all the goodness in the
world from her breasts. He only let go of it to sample the delights of its
twin.
	She panted and groaned, her head tipped back, her eyes closed. Oh, it felt
so good! It even felt better than when she'd done it with the god. . .She
felt a pang of regret over that experience, because her one true love would
not be the one to break her virginity and make her a woman.
	Then, he was tipping her backwards, so she lay flat on her back on the
ground, and all regrets were swept away when his fingers found her sweet
softness. She groaned his name as he explored her, discovering and
caressing her most precious, sensitive spot.
	"Please, Adam. . .let me see the rest of you. . ."
	He removed his pants and underwear, flinging them almost halfway down the
mountain, and she gasped at the sight of what was revealed. It was so
exquisitely formed, she thought it was a sculpture. Reverently, her hands
touched it, followed by her lips.
	"Amy. . .I want to feel myself inside you. . ."
	"Yes, my love. I'm ready for you. . ."
	She opened to him, and he lay atop her, claiming her mouth again and again
as he started to enter. . .
	Then, something unexpected happened. He encountered a barrier. A delicious
thrill went through Amy as she realized what had happened-Mercury had
restored her virginity so that Adam could be the one to take it.
	He felt the resistance. "Amy. . ."
	She reached up and stroked his hair. "I told you centuries ago-there has
never been anyone else for me but you, and never will be."
	"Oh, my love." He surged forward. She felt the pain-and it was delicious.
	Adam moved, slowly at first, then faster and faster, harder and harder. .
.Amy's hips met his every thrust. She moaned his name over and over like a
litany of love. Oh, Gods, she felt so whole, so complete. . .Luscious
feelings were shooting all over her like lighting bolts. She wanted
fulfillment so much, but she wanted this to go on and on too. . .
	As his own orgasm built, however, what was happening to him was more than
mere ecstasy. A third set of memories was rising in his mind, a brand-new
set put there by the gods so that he could live a normal life. . .
	She shrieked as the wave broke within her, and as her velvet sheath tugged
and throbbed, it pulled him over the edge as well, and his mind was
whirling, whirling, as the new memories overwhelmed the old. . .
	Shuddering, he fell down next to her. They clung to each other as if they
never wanted to let go.
	When they came to their senses again, she knew she had changed from Sailor
Mercury back into Amy Anderson. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see
her everyday clothes lying on the grass, as if they had been pulled off in
the throes of passion.
	And there was a set of everyday men's clothes lying next to them. . .
	She looked at Adam. His face was the same, but his red-brown hair had gone
from Negaverse long to college student short. And his expression was
different, too. . .He'd become a new person. But, deep down inside, she
knew he was still her love.
	"Hey," he said.
	"Hi," she replied. "Gods, you're gorgeous."
	"So are you, girl genius." He kissed her neck. "Hmm. . .what time is it?"
	"I don't have my watch. . .but looking at the sun, I think about 4
o'clock. . ."
	"Four o'clock!" He sprung to his feet. "Oh, Gods, I'm sorry, honey, I have
to go back to the dorm. I've got so much I still have to do before I start
classes on Monday. . ." He began scrambling for his clothes.
	She looked on in confusion for a moment, before a voice whispered in the
back of her head, "This is Adam as he is now, Amy-Adam Chambers, an orphan
and a student at Darien's college. His memories of his time on Mercury are
in the back of his mind now, but from time to time he will recall them. And
the two of you will be together, in this life and in lives to come."
	"Wait a minute. He's going to go to Darien's school and they'll know who
he is, even though he just dropped out of the sky?"
	"Don't worry, Amy. I took care of all that. I'm a god, remember?"
	Adam had finished dressing, and Amy quickly threw on her own clothes as
well, tucking her restored-to-its-normal-shape wand back in her bra. He
held out his hand to her. "Shall we go, my love?"
	And they walked away together, and he left that mountaintop and everything
it stood for behind him forever.
* * *
EPILOGUE
	Adam caught a ride with Darien down to the arcade. The two had become fast
friends ever since Adam had enrolled in the college. They had a lot in
common-their interest in science, their lack of a family. . .and, the fact
that the girls they were in love with just happened to be the best of
friends.
	"How's the new apartment working out?" Darien said.
	"Fantastic. It's so much better than living in that stuffy old dorm."
	"I know. I think I lasted a week in that place."
	"And it's a nice, quiet place for Amy and I to study together."
	Darien chuckled to himself. He knew that their times together involved a
hell of a lot more than studying-it was very, very obvious how nuts Adam
and Amy were about each other.
	Amy was waiting when Adam arrived. He caught her in his arms and gave her a huge kiss.
	"How was your day?" she said.
	"Up until now, same-old-same-old. But now, it's magnificent."
	"I got two more A's today."
	"Why does that not surprise me, girl genius? At this rate, you'll be
ruling the world by the time you're 20."
	"I'll only want to rule the world if I can rule it with you."
	As he hugged her, a curious thought popped into his head. . .something
like a fragment of memory of them together in a strange landscape where all
the plants were blue instead of green, and her saying to him, "We will be
king and queen together someday, my love. . ."
	Now, that's weird, he thought. Where did that come from?
	He stopped up those thoughts by leaning over to taste her mouth. "Wanna go
back to my place and. . .*study*?"
	She laughed. "I've never loved *studying* so much in my life."
	"Neither have I, my love. Neither have I."

AUTHOR NOTES: As I did with my previous fic, "Victory of Love," I have
based my plot (loosely) on a pair of operas: "Die Walkure" and "Siegfried"
from Richard Wagner's Ring cycle. Here's the plot thread I borrowed in a
nutshell: the Valkyrie Brynnhilde learns about love for the first time in
her life by observing the illicit lovers Siegmund and Sieglinde (she has
been sent by her father, the god Wotan, to kill Siegmund). For her defiance
of the god, she is put to sleep on a mountaintop surrounded by a ring of
fire, until she is awakened by the love of the hero Siegfried. She loses
her godly wisdom and becomes a human being.

Standard Sailor Moon disclaimers apply: these characters ain't mine, I'm
just borrowing them for a little while.

This fic is dedicated to everyone who has written to me so far to tell me
how much they enjoyed my previous fics, including sfe_otaku, Connie and
Lady Jupiter. Thanks a million for your feedback, guys-your letters really
made my day!