Disclaimers and the
like:
The characters mentioned
in this story do not belong to me, and I'm not making any money with this.
Here we go again. :) Remember, all text between the lines of "@-" symbols takes place in the Silver Millennium, everything between lines of "*" symbols is Mina's thoughts and takes place in the present, right between Sailor Moon R and S. Everything else is a few weeks before.
I honestly don't know
what the hell is happening in this story. I'm just kinda writing.
It'll get a plot and stuff soon, though, I promise. :)
@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-
"I can't believe they'll
be here tomorrow!" Makoto, Princess of Jupiter, cried to her friends
as they sat around the lesson room.
Princess Ami of Mercury frowned. "Mako-chan, please! I'm trying to get some work done here."
"Oh, Ami, don't get your skirts in a bunch!" the Princess of Venus, Minako, said to her friend and tutor. "We have ages and ages to learn all this boring stuff. We only have two weeks with the prince and his generals!"
The Martian Princess gave a little snort. "Two weeks too long, if you ask me," Rei said. "They're already disrupting everything and they aren't even here yet. This whole place is in an uproar because a few boys from Earth are coming around. I'm sick of it."
"Mother said it's very important that we treat them well, Rei-chan. Earth and the Moon have never been on very good terms, and this visit is supposed to change that," Serena, the Moon Princess herself, spoke up.
"I know that," Rei grumped, "but I don't see why we have to show these stuffy old fools around."
"'Stuffy old fools'?!?" Minako quoted indignantly. "Rei-chan, you obviously haven't been paying attention. I heard from Artemis who heard from Luna who heard from Queen Serenity herself that these guys are totally kawaii!"
"They are," Ami agreed quickly, much to everyone's astonishment. The Mercurial blushed prettily and said, "I've seen pictures. If you would ever pay attention to your lessons, then maybe you would remember." She held out a book and opened it to the section on Earth.
The girls' eyes widened and each let out a little gasp. "Oh," Minako breathed, "look at that Malachite! Those eyes... wow! It says here he's the Head of the Royal Guard. Hey, that's like me!" she cried, delighted. "I wonder what kind of training they've had to go through to be the Prince's Guardians?"
"Probably similar to ours," Ami said, "including lessons. Which brings me back to my original point... can we please get back to work?!"
Next day the Princesses were all standing in the Reception Hall wearing their best gowns. "Do you think they're as kawaii as everyone says?" Minako whispered to the Princess of Jupiter.
"Iie," Makoto replied softly, "no one is as cute as everyone says they are."
Then they appeared
in a flash of light and Minako's jaw dropped practically to her feet.
"I was wrong," she vaguely heard Mako-chan mutter. She had known
this man would be trouble from the moment she saw his picture in Ami's
book yesterday, but no photograph could compare to Malachite in reality.
The
first thing (after
his face, of course) that struck her was his height. He had to be
close to seven feet tall, over two feet taller than Minako herself.
Suddenly she realized the Queen had said her name. Shaking herself from thoughts of Malachite, Minako was barely able to step forward and make a graceful curtsy. He seemed so stern! How in the world was she going to get him to notice her without making a complete fool of herself?
When she heard Serena
agree to them showing the Earthlings around, Minako saw her chance.
The
training grounds! she thought, struggling not to giggle aloud.
The two groups -- Moon-dwellers and Earthlings -- made their slow way through
the palace gardens and Minako managed to inch ever closer to
Malachite.
Finally she was next to him, and she looked up into his darkly handsome face with what she hoped was a dazzling smile. "Kon'nichi wa," she said brightly, "I'm Minako. You're Malachite, ne? All those new names made my head spin! I'm terrible with names."
"You remembered mine well enough, Lady Minako," he said formally.
She shrugged. "Why do you think I came to talk to you?"
A smile seemed to tug at the corners of his mouth. "Good point. So what else are you terrible with?"
Now Minako's smile truly was dazzling. "Well, my mother and I have problems sometimes. She can be so annoying! She thinks just because she's the Queen of Venus, and I'm the head of Princess Serenity's protectors, that she has some right to..." she trailed off and blushed profusely. "Oh dear, don't get me started! Why don't you tell me something about yourself? Or about Earth? Oh! I've often wondered what kind of training is required to be one of Prince Endymion's protectors."
He actually laughed! Minako thought the sound would lift her off her feet and send her flying away on its velvet wings. She let out a little sigh and almost missed his next words. "It's nothing too difficult, really. I could show you if you'd like," he was saying.
"Hai, that would be great! Come on, I'll take you to our training grounds. I designed them myself! Well, Mako-chan helped some... and Ami-chan... and I guess Rei-chan did too..." She smiled up at him again. "Ok, so we all designed them! But everyone knows that it's my territory."
"I don't doubt it for a moment, Lady Minako," he murmured, laughing as he followed her -- and her stream of happy chatter -- across the palace gardens.
"And so then Rei-chan shot back at Mako-chan with a fireball, and boy was Makoto mad! I've never seen her so mad, but I guess I would be angry too if Rei had burned my hair like that! It took six whole months for it to grow out again! Mako-chan refused to come out of her room at all for the first three, but then finally Queen Serenity convinced her that she was just as beautiful nearly bald as she was with a full head of hair!" Minako cried with a laugh.
Malachite couldn't help but chuckle -- not so much at the story, but at Minako herself. The girl was so bright and enthusiastic about everything that it was contagious. Soon he found himself telling her his own stories -- pranks he'd pulled, pranks that had been pulled on him, ingenious plans he and the Prince had hatched up to escape tutoring sessions. "It wasn't that we disliked it so much," he explained, "it's just that Zoisite took it all so seriously. I've never been so bored in my life as when I had to sit through one of his lectures on Great Sovereign Such-and-Somebody from five thousand years ago!"
Minako giggled. "That's exactly how Ami-chan is! Did you see the two of them together earlier? I bet you a whole sack of emeralds they're heading for the library."
"I'm sure Zoi-kun is betting something of his own that we're heading for the training grounds," he replied.
"Not heading, Lord Malachite, we're here!" She gestured all around her and Mal drew in a sharp breath. Nothing on the Moon was ever plain, or boring, for Queen Serenity had a great love for beauty. These grounds, devoted to preparing the Princess' Senshi for their roles as protectors, were no exception.
"How did you get those bushes to grow in such perfect walls?" he asked, surprised at himself -- Jadeite was the gardener among them, but these blue bushes, their leaves tipped by dangerous-looking silver barbs, fascinated him.
"Oh," the Venusian said carelessly, "that was Rei-chan's doing. Her idea, I mean... she loves flowers, but she definitely doesn't have a blue thumb."
Malachite frowned in confusion, thought about correcting her, and then dismissed the idea. "I was wondering... I've heard the Sailor Senshi draw their power from each planet, but how is that possible?"
Minako chewed her lower lip, thinking about this. "I'm not sure, exactly. I just know we call on our planet when we attack, and when we change into our senshi forms. It has something to do with... planetary alignment when we were born, and forces and something-or-nother... I don't know. You should ask Ami-chan."
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I'll do that. Now shall we begin?"
In a flash of light,
Minako became Sailor Venus. "I thought you'd never ask," she said
with a delighted grin.
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"Will you WAKE UP!!" a voice screamed at her, ripping a hole in her sweet, lovely dream. "MINA! You're going to be late!! WAKE UP!"
The girl shook her blond head and batted the small white cat off her chest. "Go 'way," she muttered.
"Mina, don't you remember? You gushed all week about your date with Malachy, and if you don't wake up you're going to be late!" he cried again, returning to his position just below her chin.
Sure enough, the mention of the name "Malachy" got Mina to sit up so fast that Artemis went flying, landing in a dazed, fuzzy heap on the other side of the room. "Oh Gods! How could I've slept so long? Oh no! Artemis! Why didn't you wake me up sooner?!"
He ignored her and carefully used his tongue to smooth ruffled fur.
"Oh, Artemis! You're useless! Nai, gomen nasai, I didn't mean that! You're a wonderful little cat, Artemis, and I love you dearly." She ran to her closet and threw it open, pulling out the first thing that came to hand: her blasted school uniform. With a most unladylike curse, she tossed it across the room where it promptly landed on the already disgruntled feline.
With an angry little "Humph!" he stood up and padded from the room with all the dignity he could muster. Mina didn't notice, busy as she was removing and discarding the contents of her closet at lightning speed. "Finally!" she said, emerging triumphant.
After slipping into the short blue dress, she checked her appearance in the mirror and flew out the door. "Itai!" she cried as her quick progress was halted very suddenly by something very solid.
Two strong arms grabbed her before she could hit the sidewalk. "We always seem to be meeting this way, don't we?" he said, laughing.
"Malachy! Oh dear, am I late? I'm so sorry, but Art -- I mean, my alarm clock -- didn't go off on time, and so when II finally woke up it was almost eight, and then I had to find something to wear, and by then it was--"
He laughed again, interrupting her. "It's ok, Mina, really. I just thought I'd stop by to pick you up since it's the polite thing to do. Besides, I figured this way we wouldn't miss the movie."
She took a step back and glared up at him. "I'm not always late, Malachy Levinworth!"
"I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad thing. If you hadn't been late, we never would have met, ne?" He wrapped a gentle arm around her and they walked slowly through the balmy night.
Mina let out a little sigh and leaned into his warm embrace. "That's true. But if you hadn't written that song, I wouldn't have come to talk to you."
He stopped under a streetlight and turned to face her, lifting her chin with the tip of his index finger. "I had no choice but to write that song, Mina mine. From the moment I looked into those blue eyes of yours, I was lost. You were like... like... Venus, Goddess of Love. You infected me, and I prayed that you might come into the coffee shop and hear me sing about you."
A line appeared between blond brows as she frowned slightly. "Venus? Why Venus?" He couldn't possibly know about her being Sailor Venus... could he? She almost smiled when she realized this is how Raye must've felt the first time she heard Jay Dalinger call her "firefly."
A bright smile lit up his dark face and turned his eyes silvery purple. "She was beautiful and enchanting and known to capture the hearts of poor, unsuspecting men she barged into while running down the street."
Mina laughed. "Oh, hai, I make a practice of it. I figure I can kill two stones with one bird: my daily workout and falling in lo..." her voice trailed off as she realized what she was saying.
"Mina--"
"Matte," she whispered, pressing her fingers up against his lips, "I want you to tell me something first. I listened to your song, and I loved it... and I want to know if you meant it."
"Meant it?" he asked, confused.
"That about... that about loving me, Mal. I know you didn't say the words directly, but you did say it. At least... that's what I heard." She looked up into those exotic eyes of his and held her breath. Maybe she should have kept her mouth shut. With her luck, he would get completely freaked out and run for the hills.
He smiled sadly. "You heard perfectly, Lady Love. I... don't believe in love at first sight, Mina, at least not usually, but it was different with you. I felt like, like I--"
"Knew you," she breathed, "and that our meeting was somehow--"
"Destined! I knew you'd be back, because I knew we were--"
"Meant to be together. Oh, Mal!" His arms were around her and his lips were on hers and she couldn't think about anything but him. "Malachy," she gasped when he finally pulled his mouth away, "do you think maybe we could skip the movie?"
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Oh dear. I hope
my mother never reads this. I know what she'd say: "Mina, you'd only
just met this boy! How could you be truly in love with him so soon?"
Oh, Mama, I know... it seems so impossible, doesn't it? But I do
love him! Especially now, since we've been through so much...
That night was magical and amazing and I'm still walking on air, even after all this time. I was so spacey the entire next week that I was actually on time every morning. I thought Artemis was going to faint, honestly. I remember every morning when I looked in the mirror I'd see the same expression we had been seeing on Raye's face since she met Jay Dalinger.
Could Malachy and I have something like Raye and Jay? (It still makes me giggle that their names rhyme, but that's another subject.) Or like Serena and Darien? Their relationship, truly, is the one against which all others are judged. Raye and Jay (oh dear!) are very much like Serena and Darien... and so are Malachy and I.
And so I was in the same quandary as Raye. Should I tell him about being Sailor Venus? I advised her to tell Jay... but things became different when I was the one facing the possibility that the man I loved wouldn't believe me, would even laugh in my face. I guess that's the point Raye tried to make, isn't it? It's easy to say, "Yeah, Raye, tell him!" but something else altogether when it's you... and your huge secret you've never told anyone.
But you're growing
impatient with me, ne? There's more to this story than my ramblings,
of course, so shall I continue?
*******************************
It was dark when Serena opened her eyes, dark and cold. What had awoken her? A dream? No, she couldn't remember any dream... nai, it was something else, something darker and colder than even the night that surrounded her. She sat up in bed and strained to listen, but there was only silence.
Silence? That couldn't be right! There should be the normal sounds of the house: the furnace, her parents, Sammy. So why was it so quiet? She leaned over and flipped on her bedside lamp, the sudden brightness making her blink hard.
Her room was empty except for Luna, and she was sound asleep. So why this feeling...? Serena shook her head. You're being silly, she told herself rather harshly. Start hanging out with Raye and suddenly you think you have all sorts of psychic powers or something. Go back to sleep! She turned the light off and curled up under the covers again.
The feeling wouldn't leave her. Something was there... nai, not in her room... outside? She stood up and tiptoed to the window. Naturally there was nothing, and again she felt completely silly. But then suddenly she saw it... the Darkness, like a living thing, a cold, strange, paralyzing force that threatened to rip away her very soul... "Gods!" she cried, not knowing whether it was for actual protection or just out of habit.
It laughed. The Darkness laughed? "Your godsss cannot help you, little one... only I can. Come with me. Come with me now!"
"Nai! What are you? Let me go!" She felt the Darkness pulling her, tugging at her senses, and she tried to push it away. It was so strong, so damn strong. It pulled, and she pushed, and fear filled her so that she almost let the Darkness win. "Nai! Moon... Crystal... POWER!!" In a flash of light, she transformed into her alter-ego, Sailor Moon. "I don't know what you are or what you're doing in my room, but I suggest you leave. In the name of the Moon, I'll punish you!"
The Darkness laughed again, but the only sound that could be heard in the unnaturally still, unnaturally cold night was a girl's shrill scream of terror.
The scream woke Mina from her deliciously deep, dream-filled sleep. "The Princess!" she cried, then wondered why she did so. She had never called Serena "Princess"... it just didn't fit the fun, cheerful, rather klutzy girl she knew and loved so well. Mina closed her eyes and concentrated on the scream, long since faded. It was the Moon Princess who had screamed, much more so than Serena... gods, what could've happened?
Mina reached into the nightstand drawer for her communicator and hit the "all-call" button. If her instincts were correct, this was one meeting Serena would not be attending.
End II