Peter stretched out on the grass outside Azuba Technical University, letting his thoughts wander.

*It's so warm out here. I love the sunlight.*

He shifted, pillowing his head on his arms and basking in the sunlight. *It's so unlike the Moon Kingdom. No wonder Princess Serenity always snuck down here -- her home was beautiful, but it was a cold beauty.*

Some of Peter's classmates walked by, laughing and joking with each other. One of them caught sight of Peter and shakes his head with an indulgent smile. "Daydreaming again," he chuckled. The group moved on without bothering Peter.

He closed his eyes lazily against the glare of the sun and, and his thoughts turned to Cassie. *I'm glad Cass has been able to see it. She was always so curious about my home...*

Peter smiled to himself. *I've missed her. I'd forgotten how good it felt to just listen to her laugh -- to be the one that makes her laugh. I just wish she could regain her memories and be happy. Not remembering hurts her deeply, I can see it in her eyes.*

The expression on Peter's face turned thoughtful, and he frowned. *She won't like some of those memories. The memory of her mother alone could drive her to despair...*

*I'll just have to make sure I'm there for her when she starts to remember -- to help her pick up the pieces.*

~~~~~

(FLASHBACK)

Spirit approached Cassiopeia from behind. She was frozen in place, unable to run or even face the man. Sweat beaded on her forehead as he stopped behind her, his lips just inches from her ear.

"Come with me, Princess. Forget that weak little Earth prince. Together we can rule the universe."

He reached around and turned her chin until she faced him. Cassiopeia closed her eyes in desperation.

"Your mother has forsaken you, princess. So will he."

~~~~~

Peter blinked, snapping out of his flashback. He refocused on his surroundings, belatedly realizing that Cassie was watching him worriedly. He had agreed to help her find a birthday present for her father, so the two of them were finishing up lunch at the mall.

Peter smiled weakly at Cassie. He could still feel the outrage coursing through him as the mental image of Spirit threatening his princess faded.

Concerned, Cassie tentatively placed a hand on his arm. He started, surprised.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Peter looked at her somberly. "Yeah. I was just--"

"Bad memories?" Cassie looked vaguely envious.

"Yes," he replied gently. "Not all of our past was as carefree as the Silver Millenium."

Cassie turned away for a moment, then visibly pulled herself together. *She wants all of her memories,* Peter thought to himself, *even the painful ones.*

With a slightly forced smile, Cassie grabbed Peter's arm and pulled him into a nearby department store.

After several hours of shopping, Cassie finally picked out a small glass paperweight in the shape of a sea monster. Peter suppressed a smile at her delight in the trinket.

Cassie paid for the present and the two of them headed toward the park for lunch. Within minutes, Cassie was lounging on the grass and chattering animatedly.

Peter watched her thoughtfully. *She's so happy here. Someday I'll have to take her to see where I was born in my last life.* He hid a bitter smile. *Surely an exile wouldn't still be in effect after a thousand years...*

~~~~~

(FLASHBACK)

The Counsel of Elders reconvened and passed judgement. Now that young Prince Xander was old enough to survive without constant care, Princess Daniella and her son were to be exiled -- for Daniella's disgrace.

The High Magistrate frowned down at the fragile princess and her six-year-old son. The child was looking back at him defiantly.

"I advise you to head toward the court of the First Order King. Perhaps he will have mercy on you -- I have heard that the young Prince is about the same age as this boy."

Daniella bowed her head. "As you wish, High Magistrate." She took Xander's hand and led him out of the large room, silent tears trailing down her
cheeks.

Xander glanced up at his mother, his childish face worried.

~~~~~

Peter smiled humorlessly. HE was his mother's disgrace -- his birth, his very existance. *I only hope she's happier where she is now...*

He turned his attention back to Cassie. She was telling him about her day at school yesterday. He smiled again, this time fondly. *I wish I could tell her about her past. But it's just not possible. She has to remember on her own; and I will NOT take advantage of her ignorance. I want her to accept me for who I am, not for a past she can't remember.*

Peter was in better spirits by the time they finished lunch. He glanced at Cassie, who arched an eyebrow.

"Ice cream?"

Peter laughed helplessly. "I don't think I can eat anymore. That's all we've done today, y'know -- eat and shop. How do you girls do it? It's exhausting."

Cassie grinned. "Instinct. Shopping burns a lot of calories, I have to keep my energy levels up."

Peter scrambled up and reached down to help Cassie up. She grabbed his hands to pull herself to her feet.

Both of them stared at each other in shock. A tiny spark of lightning traveled between their clasped hands, and a thousand year old mental link kicked in without warning.

~~~~~

(FLASHBACK)

"My mother did not abandon me." Cassiopeia forced out the words.

"Oh, but she did," Spirit drawled in her ear, making her wince. "Do you think the Elementals are powerful enough to turn a human being against their will? No, Princess, the Star Empress welcomed us -- and she sacrificed you, her daughter and heir, to us as a pledge of good faith. Do you think your Prince will not be so easily tempted?"

Cassiopeia shuddered. "Xander will not leave me. I believe in him, at least."

Spirit hissed. "Your faith is misplaced, Princess. Do you not think he would give anything to escape his exile? You of all people know how much he misses Earth. He is bitter because of the contempt his peers have for him, all because of the circumstances that surround his birth."

Cassiopeia shook her head emphatically, her eyes blazing. "Revenge holds no attraction for him. My Xander will not betray me -- you know I speak the truth."

Spirit pulled back, outraged. "If you will not join me, Princess, then both you and your Prince will suffer greatly." He raised his hand toward her, and there was a brilliant flash of light--

~~~~~

--Cassie blinked and stared at Peter, her eyes wide. He stared back at her, startled.

"Did you see it?" she asked him, her voice trembling. Somehow, she knew that he had shared the flashback with her. Peter nodded. "Who-- who was that?" Cassie stammered.

Peter narrowed his eyes. "A very wicked man."

"What did he mean, 'the circumstances of your birth'?"

Peter sighed. The story would not affect her memory; she did not need to feel the memories of his life, she needed to feel the memories of her own. He walked over to a nearby bench and sank down in it. Cassie followed.

"I was born to a minor Earth princess during the Silver Millenium. My father was an unknown member of Jupiter's nobility." Peter smiled weakly. "So I suppose I'm related to Lita, somehow. But that's beside the point. Since I was illegitimate, my mother was only allowed to stay in her home until I was old enough for her to take me away. I was about six years old when the Counsel of Elders exiled my mother and me from our homeland.

"We eventually made our way to the court of the First Order King, to ask for sanctuary. It was granted, and we lived at the palace as servants. Mymother was a very delicate woman, but she made an excellent ladies' maid." Peter's mouth twisted bitterly. "It broke her heart to have to become a servant for the queen.

"I was made assistant to the First Order Prince, Endymion. He was a bit older than me, but he never treated me like a servant. He knew about my history, and he was the only person in the palace that never referred to me as my mother's 'disgrace.'

"Things went smoothly for some time; I became friends with Prince Endymion, and I think that friendship caught the attention of Endymion's generals. There were four of them -- Jadeite and Nephrite avoided me, Zoicite just ignored me, but the fourth, Kunzite, did not like me at all. He was the newest of Endymion's generals -- when I turned sixteen, and he went before the King and Queen and told them that I was a bad influence on the First Order Prince. He had me sent away from Earth, to the Moon on an 'ambassadorial assignment.'" Peter snorted in disgust. "That was just an excuse to get me away from the planet.

Cassie spoke up. "So one of Darien -- excuse me, Endymion's generals had you exiled from Earth?"

Peter nodded sharply. "He always thought I was inferior to him, that I shouldn't be allowed to remain on Earth and tarnish my mother's otherwise good name." He softened slightly, glancing at Cassie. "But then again, if he hadn't plotted against me, I wouldn't have been sent to the Moon -- and I wouldn't have met you." He smiled a bit. "It had to happen. You needed a Guardian and I needed a reason to continue living my life."

Cassie watched Peter's face, a bewildered expression on her own. He seemed so protective of her. Did protecting her give him his only reason for living?

A voice cut through their thoughts suddenly.

"Well, well, well, isn't that touching?" Terra said. "Master Spirit will be so pleased that you remember him, Princess."

Peter and Cassie's heads shot up, staring at Terra. "Spirit?" Cassie repeated, surprised.

Marine, Blaze, and Breeze materialized beside Terra. Peter, inexplicably furious at the mention of their master's name, pulled Cassie behind him and faced the four Elementals alone.

Breeze laughed. "A challenge, young Prince? That didn't go well for you, last time."

"That was a thousand years ago, Monster. Things have changed." Peter growled. He addressed Cassie, his eyes never leaving the Elementals. "Transform, Princess."

Cassie nodded, her eyes also focused on the Elementals. "Star Sapphire Power -- Make Up!"

Sailor Andromeda started to join Peter, but Marine grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms.

"Not so fast, little Princess," Marine laughed. "I think it's about time we welcomed Prince Xander personally."

Breeze, Terra, and Blaze turned toward Peter.

"So, Spirit's decided to start harrassing the Star Empire again, has he?" Peter muttered, his eyes narrowed to slits.

Breeze chuckled. "Oh, no, young Prince, our master has quite had his fill of the Star Empire. We've been imprisoned there for a millenium, and I think it's time we moved on to greener pastures, don't you think?"

"Attacking the Empress-Heir will not benefit him. She will not submit to him, Spirit already knows that." Peter continued to circle the three Elementals he faced, his eyes alert for a weakness.

"Ah, but the Empress-Heir is not his objective," Terra drawled. "Your precious princess is in the way of our domination of this world. Master Spirit will have the Star Sapphire for his own purposes."

"Over my dead body," Peter spat.

"I'm sure we can arrange that," Blaze roared, and lunged at Peter.

Peter sidestepped deftly, watching Blaze sail past him. The Fire Elemental realized his mistake too late, and crashed to the ground with the added force of the swift kick Peter delivered to the small of his back.

"Temper, temper," Peter admonished. "Getting angry only leads to mistakes."

Before the other Elementals had a chance to react, Peter was in motion. He dropped to the ground, sweeping Breeze's feet out from under him with amove Cassiopeia had taught him a thousand years ago. Before the Wind Elemental even hit the ground, Peter used the momentum from the kick to land another in Terra's face.

Sailor Andromeda blinked. In a matter of seconds, all three of the Elementals that had attacked Peter were on the ground, caught completely off guard. Andromeda felt Marine loosen her grip for a split second in outrage, but the Water Elemental quickly recovered. She pinned Andromeda even more firmly than before.

Breeze was the first to regain his feet. He jumped up and glared at Peter coldly. His scream of fury quickly shifted to one of surprise as Peter caught the fist Breeze had aimed at his face and swiftly flipped the Wind Elemental onto his back.

Blaze seized that moment of distraction to attack, counting heavily on the element of surprise. He didn't expect to find Peter's shoulder in his gut, and himself flying ungracefully through the air to land on top of his brother.

Terra eyed Peter uncertainly. She glanced at her brothers, silently urging them to get up.

"Oh, come on, surely you can do better than that," Peter taunted them. "You three have gone soft over the centuries."

By this time, Breeze and Blaze had managed to untangle themselves. The circled to surround Peter, cutting off his escape.

"We have orders to bring the Star Princess to Master Spirit alive," Blaze seethed, "but there was no such restriction on YOU." A tongue of flame flared at his fingertips. "I think I'll just set you on fire and watch you sizzle."

Peter laughed derisively. "Not likely. You have to catch me first, and you seem to be having an unusual amount of difficulty with that--"

Terra snaked an arm around Peter's throat before he could finish his sentence. "Well, then, perhaps you should watch your back, young prince."

Peter slipped his left foot backwards to hook Terra's legs out from under her, and she fell to the ground with a yell. Unfortunately, her hold on Peter's neck did not loosen, and he was pulled down after her. Breeze and Blaze seized the opportunity.

Blaze delivered a sharp kick to Peter's ribs as Terra rolled out of the way. As the young man doubled over in pain, Blaze raised his foot to kick him again.

Peter caught Blaze's extended leg as it darted toward him, and he rolled under the Fire Elemental's legs, causing him to once again crumple to the ground.

Peter scrambled to his feet, but Terra was waiting for him. She grabbed his left arm and jerked it up behind him, effectively pinning him. He tried to pull her feet out from under her again, but she was prepared this time and simply tugged his arm tighter. Breeze moved in, his arm raised to knock Peter unconscious.

Sailor Andromeda twisted in Marine's restraining arms. "No! Xander!" She desperately wished for a way to help him, to give him a weapon, so he could fight back...

The sudden flash of light blinded all of them momentarily. Peter felt the hilt of the sword form beneath his fingers, and his instincts kicked in. The sword glowed with a faint golden color as he swung it in a wide arc, catching his captors with its tip.

The three Elementals fell back in shock, staring at the blood on their faces and hands in disbelief. The sword had caught them with only a glancing blow, but the fire that pulsed through the blade also seered the Elementals' skin.

With screams of outrage and pain, the three wounded Elementals teleported away, one by one. Marine released Sailor Andromeda with a similar cry of pain.

Peter stared wonderingly at the sword blazing in his hand, then turned his gaze to Sailor Andromeda. She had fallen to her knees when Marine released her, and she was hunched over in concentration, glowing softly with the same golden fire that danced over Peter's sword.

Shaking with effort, Andromeda raised her head to meet Peter's eyes. Exultantly, he lifted the sword in a formal salute.

The light around Andromeda flickered and died, and the sword in Peter's outstretched arm disappeared. Sailor Andromeda crumpled to the ground, unconscious, and reverted to her human form in a flurry of silver and gold.

Marine glared at Peter from her crouched position a few meters away. She shrank away from Cassie's prone form as if burned. "You will not defeat us!" she rasped. "Next time we will be prepared for your cheap theatrics!" The Water Elemental sounded unconvinced, but she shimmered and vanished to join her siblings.

Instantly, Peter darted to kneel at Cassie's side. A worried look crossed his face as he pulled her into his arms and started to chafe her wrists. *She's at the edge, I can sense her flashes of insight. Oh, she shouldn't have been able to call the sword yet, she doesn't remember!* He fought down the growing sense of panic as he tried to wake her.

*I can't lose her now!* he thought desperately. *Not when she reacted to save me! She may have overextended herself for my sake, and I can't do this without her...*

A wave of relief washed over him as Cassie stirred in his arms. Peter had to fight back the overwhelming urge to hug her closer as she opened her eyes and blinked up at him in confusion.

"What happened?" she whispered. "Where did it come from?"

Peter smiled down at her. "The sword came from you, Princess. From both of us. It takes our combined wills to summon the sword as my weapon -- some part of you remembered that and acted instinctively."

Cassie began to cry silently, the tears slipping down her cheeks unnoticed. "I can't remember how I did it -- it just happened. What if I can't call it again, Peter? What if I can't help you next time?"

Wrapping his arms around the trembling girl, Peter tried to comfort her. "You will, Cass. It's inside of you, just waiting to break free. It won't be long now. You'll see."

Cassie continued to cry, and Peter kept reassuring her in the same gentle tone until her tears finally subsided.

It wasn't until much later that night, alone in her own room, that Cassie realized that she had not been crying for fear of not being able to summon the sword again.

She had wept out of sheer terror at the thought of loosing Peter -- her Guardian and prince.

END OF CHAPTER III; STAY TUNED FOR CHAPTER IV: STAR EMPIRE