So this is my other piece for the Senshi x Shitennou Mini Bang challenge over on AO3. It was such a fantastic time, the mods were amazing, and I highly recommend you go to AO3 and read everyone else's contributions to the challenge. Sadly, I can't add the art here so you can check it out on my AO3 page to see it. I go by AdriannaSharp there too.
Big thanks to my Mety for the amazing art she contributed and made a scene I wrote come to life. It makes me so happy to see something I imagined in my head to be seen in real life. Check out more of her stuff on her Venus x Kunzite tumblr . Also a big thanks goes out to CopperCrane2 for being such a fantastic beta and keeping my spirits up with all the wonderful feedback and hilarious commentary.
Strap yourself in. There are hijinks ahead!
Everyone who knew Kadir knew him to be a secretive man. True, he was naturally guarded and a bit on the serious side,but he also knew that none of his friends could keep their damn mouths shut. If he'd told anyone he was planning on proposing to Minako, she would've found out within the hour. So that's why he decided to propose on a different continent. Well, one of the reasons.
Minako tugged on Kadir's hand.
"Hurry up," she said.
Kadir tried to make his feet move faster but as they approached Central Park, it felt as if they were being turned to lead. Surreptitiously, he ran his hand over his pocket to make sure the small box was still there.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt it. Good. It hadn't grown legs and run away.
He knew she always wanted to go to New York. She wasn't exactly quiet about the matter. She called it the centre of the world and he knew how much she yearned for the bright lights, the excitement, Broadway. After being there twice now for work, he wanted to take her there and, fortunately, he could time with it with their anniversary. And to throw her off any possible suspicion, he decided to propose the day before their anniversary.
So he went through weeks of planning: finding the right hotel, coercing the schedule in his favor, planning other innocuous activities, and using the internet to re-familiarize himself with Central Park's layout.
He smiled and stared at her as he walked toward her. She looked more beautiful than ever today but he knew it was the sentiment speaking. The warm autumn air meant that they didn't have to layer very much. She wore a simple blue cotton dress with ruffled sleeves and carried her cream jacket over her arm. Of course, Minako had to make the outfit her own with a white cat silhouette necklace and a Disney princess purse.
They passed through the wrought iron gates, and felt the city slip away as they walked deeper into the park. Green and red and yellow and orange foliage overtook the grey buildings and Minako was enjoying every moment. She tilted her head up, soaking in the morning autumn sun.
"So you like it?"
"I love it. It's beautiful. You never did it justice."
"Well, it's difficult to capture it in words."
She closed her eyes, turned on the spot, and turned back to face him. "So where to first, Mister Expert?"
Kadir grabbed her hand, leading her down an indescript path. She looked out for signs, trying to figure out where they were going but she didn't see any. That was no accident, it was a deliberate part of his carefully laid plan.
They spent the morning at the zoo,both enjoying every moment. Kadir had never made it into the zoo on his previous trips so it was nice for something to be new for the both of them. Minako took 67 pictures of the penguins, 45 of the sea lions, and 207 of everything else in between. Kadir, meanwhile, just marveled at her. Her enthusiasm was infectious and he found himself smiling back every time she was excited.
Or maybe that was the nerves getting the better of him.
After a quick lunch, the two wandered. He'd been careful to steer her in certain directions, though. He didn't want her getting to that particular garden quite yet.
As they walked, Minako was looking every which way.
"I know," he said. "It's a lot to take in."
"We should spend our whole vacation here. Forget the rest of New York."
"So should I return those tickets for Hamilton?"
Minako's head snapped towards him. "Don't you dare."
Kadir laughed and brought her hand up to his lips. He kissed her knuckles. "Never change."
She poked him in the chest and kissed his cheek. "Don't you worry about that."
He gently veered her to the path on the right and as Minako caught sight of something in the distance, she gasped.
"Is that Delacorte Theatre?"
He smiled. "And here I thought you would be too distracted by me to notice."
"No way. You thought you could hide a theatre from me?"
He shrugged. "I thought I could try."
Minako squeed, slid her hand out of his and ran forwards. She stood at the edge of the pond, staring across the water at the theatre. "It's beautiful."
Kadir walked up behind her and stared where she was staring. He tried to see it like she did but all he could see was an empty stage and rows upon rows of empty seats.
"Are you seeing something I don't?"
She whapped him across the chest. "It's the potential of a blank stage. It could be anything, or anywhere."
He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and tried to imagine it through her eyes.
"Sorry," he said, shaking his head. "I just don't have enough imagination to see it."
"Then I'll imagine it for the both of us."
He watched as she closed her eyes. The sun beamed down, warming her face and he was reminded for a moment of Venus. Minako had her grace (most of the time) and beauty but she was still a whole new person. There were occasional moments like this where he saw her past life's self poking through. Nothing big. Just small mannerisms or the way light struck her face. He was reminded of Kunzite's love for her, which was somehow the same and yet completely unique. He would still fight for her with his dying breath but it was the way they loved each other that was different. In their past lives, he loved her for the bigger things. But here and now, he loved her for all the small ones. It was the way she hummed along to musicals, the way she would be there in a moment if any of her friends needed her, and the way she could still look on the positive side of things, despite everything she had gone through.
"Kadir?" She was waving her hand in front of his face and he pulled himself out of his reverie. "Are you there?" she teased.
He smiled. "Yes. Just wondering what you were thinking. What did you see on that stage?"
She took a few steps away and looked back at him over her shoulder. "That's a secret."
"Alright. Then what do you say we carry on?"
She raised her eyebrow at the topic change but agreed and took his hand. As they walked along the path around the lake, he found himself thinking back to when he first came to Japan.
He was reborn in Dubai. He had a good life there. It was comfortable. He had a plan. Life was good. All that changed four years ago, the day he regained Kunzite's memories
It wasn't easy to convince his family why he had to leave. He had to concoct an entire story about why it would be better for him to finish his education in Japan. They eventually believed him and accepted his choice when he found Mamoru and told them he wanted to stay.
Reuniting with his prince went better than he dared hope for. Mamoru was open arms and dinner invitations and Kadir breathed again. He stopped again when he met Minako. In comparison to seeing her again, finding Mamoru was so agonizingly simple.
They were both silent for a long time. He had no idea what to say and then she stepped towards him. His mind reeled with what she would say but she slapped him instead. In that moment, the hope he tried to ignore burst forward and crashed down all at once. But then he saw the tears in her eyes. They weren't angry. They were sad. But before he could try to beg her forgiveness, she left. He didn't see her for almost two weeks after that.
Eventually, she warmed up to him. Slowly. After too many get togethers organized by Usagi in an attempt to mend the very burned bridges between all of them, Minako slowly started speaking to him. After the first time he made her laugh, she seemed to ease. If he had known that a terrible pun would be so helpful, he would have done it weeks before.
They started slow. They took a walk around a park in Juban to learn about each other and try to separate old feelings from new. He apologized repeatedly, saying that he would understand if she wasn't able to forgive him. She was silent through his apologies but seeing the way her lips turned up just a bit, he found himself hoping again.
In the weeks that followed, Minako denied it was their first date. She always claimed that food was necessary for a date so the next time they went out, he took her to one of her favourite restaurants. The rest flowed surprisingly well from there.
He came back to the present and gave her hand a squeeze. She looked up at him and smiled. "What's that for?"
"Everything," he answered.
They followed the curve of the path and he led her down the fork in the road to the Shakespeare Garden. The way was paved with stone, the fences were made of wood, and every inch of every bed was filled with flowers.
Minako gasped and hurried over to one of the beds to look at them more closely.
He saw Venus again in that moment: when they begrudgingly become allies and he would show her around the Elysion gardens.
"Earth certainly does have a lot of plants."
"Do you have no greenery on the moon?"
Venus shrugged and wrinkled her nose. "Some. But this, this is practically excessive."
"Excessive?" he echoed.
"Yes. No other planet in our system has this much greenery."
"And why is that?"
"Because of good sense. If your prince and my princess were hiding in the garden of any other planet, it would be simple to find them. Instead, you Terrans insist on all this extravagance."
"My apologies your highness," he said with a sly grin. "I didn't realize plants that naturally grow here are ostentatious by your standards. I'll be sure to have them cut down before your next visit."
"Was that a joke Lord Kunzite? I didn't realize you were capable."
"A joke? That must have been an accident. It won't happen again."
"Good to hear," she said in equal mockery. "Well, you won't have to worry about another visit. I'll make sure that Serenity does not come down again."
"Then you won't have to look upon all this greenery again?"
"Correct."
"Then why, may I ask, are you eyeing the garden beds out of the corner of your eye?"
Kadir crouched beside her. She was cradling a purple blossom in her hand while being careful not to remove it from the stalk.
"I hope you aren't intending to do that for every blossom. We might be here for a while."
"Don't be silly," she teased. "I'll only do it for half the garden."
"In that case, I'll pull up a chair."
He stood back up and found a nearby bench. She forced herself to count to 100 and to cradle at least half a dozen more blooms before she stood up again.
"I suppose I don't have to look at every flower," she said jokingly, rolling her eyes.
He rose from the bench and the corners of his mouth turned up. "I suppose we have enough time to see most of them." He took her hand again and gently tugged.
"Don't I get any say where we're going next?"
"Do you know where to go?"
Minako pursed her lips. "No."
"In that case, you have to trust me."
They walked all through the garden. Minako took more pictures and Kadir marveled at the planning involved in the garden. They didn't comment on each other's thoughts. They just listened and enjoyed each other's company.
As Minako's stomach grumbled for the fourth time, he steered them around a corner where a restaurant sat, as if waiting for them to arrive. Minako glanced up at him, as if to ask him 'Did you plan this?'
He chose not to acknowledge her silent question and instead, gestured for her to go ahead.
She cast him another dubious look when the two walked past groups of people, who were clearly waiting for a table, and instead of waiting with them, they were escorted in right away. Still, he said nothing.
She eyed him as she took her menu but he was his trademark stone stillness. That was strange. His face had been surprisingly soft most of the day. In fact, she hadn't seen him soften like that since they moved in together. Now, she wondered if she had imagined it.
He, meanwhile, wondered if he'd switched back to his usual resting face too quickly. He saw her eyes flicking back and forth from her menu to him. He pretended to be engrossed in his own menu.
He hadn't meant for his guard to be so low all day. He just found it hard to resist her charm. But she was getting suspicious. He couldn't have that. After all, he was proposing the day before their anniversary mainly so she wouldn't suspect anything.
Not that he knew if she suspected anything in the first place.
Dinner passed in a flurry of conversation and fantastic food. Kadir, meanwhile, was patting his pocket every minute or so to make sure the ring didn't jump out.
Somehow he made it through paying the bill and began the walk north. While Minako continued talking about the restaurant, he forced himself to breathe normally. He told himself it was going to be fine. Everything else had gone according to plan. This would too. They would arrive at the conservatory garden as the sun set and he would ask her to marry him.
It would be perfect.
"And the bread," Minako continued. "I never knew bread just by itself could be so delicious."
As if ensnared by divine intervention, she pulled out her phone and pulled up a picture she'd taken of said bread. Kadir watched out of the corner of his eye as she texted the picture to Makoto with the message Can you duplicate this?
"There. Now I'll be able to have it any time."
"I think she's going to need more than just a picture."
She stuck out her tongue playfully. "You have so little faith in her."
The two continued to chat as they walked. Kadir gently steered her in the right direction but Minako caught on.
"Where are we going?"
He shrugged. "Just walking. Why?"
Her brows pushed together. "You're steering."
It was clear there was no brushing her off. "It wouldn't be much of a surprise if I told you, would it?"
"I suppose," she said cautiously.
"That is, if your feet can survive a little while longer." He looked down at her feet and raised an eyebrow as if he was challenging her.
"If I can fight evil in heels, I can walk around a park in heels," she said defiantly and made a show of stomping a few steps away. But the smile on her face gave her away.
"Minako?" She turned, expecting him to apologize for insinuating anything less of her. Instead, he pointed toward another path. "We're actually going that way."
She paused for a moment before saying, "Fine." But, again, her teasing smile gave her away. She ran back to him and took his hand.
"And I have no doubt that you could do all day in those heels."
oOo
Kadir had to force himself to focus again. The conservatory garden was just around the corner and if he didn't focus, he would definitely give something away. Everything had gone perfectly so far, he reminded himself. He could do this.
Minako craned her neck. She could see something just beyond the trees but couldn't quite make it out yet. He patted his pocket again and walked with her into the clearing.
Minako stopped. Her hands flew to her mouth.
"Kadir…" she looked back and forth, taking it all in. "It's...it's Elysion."
He took her hand carefully from her face and kissed her fingertips. She barely even noticed. She was looking at everything she could see with amazement.
While the gardens weren't exactly how the Earth gardens looked in their previous life, Kadir knew it was eerily close.
A wide lawn spread out in front of a tall fountain. The low hedges were perfectly manicured and the surrounding trees were even trimmed to create a perfect amount of shade on the side paths.
"But...but how?" Minako sputtered.
"How what?"
"How does it look so similar? How did you know about this place?"
"I stumbled on it the last time I was in New York. Do you like it?"
"It's amazing." She stepped forward slowly, trying to see more of the garden.
"I'm glad you think so. It actually made me think of those days, too."
She giggled. "Like when we had to hide from palace guards?"
"Or when you got lost regularly in the gardens?"
She stopped, turned on the spot, and poked him in the chest. "That wasn't my fault. The Earth gardens were massive. How was anyone supposed to learn their way around?"
"I suppose I should be grateful for that."
"For my terrible sense of direction?"
"Yes," he said, grabbing her hand again and continuing to walk. "If it had been any better, you would have found Serenity much easier than you had. Then I never would have had an excuse to spend time with you."
Minako held her chin high. "You only did that because you wanted to keep Serenity and Endymion apart just as much as I did."
"True. Again, that fortunately worked out in my favour." They were close. The fountain was only a dozen steps away. Fortunately, she was entranced by it and stepped closer. He patted his pocket and breathed a sigh of relief.
She stood by it, admiring the pounding of the water and he took one more moment to admire her. This was it. This was the moment. The garden was beautiful, the sun was disappearing behind the skyline, and Minako was awestruck.
He slipped his hand into hers and gently tugged, urging her to turn around. "Minako, I-"
A raucous noise cut him off. He glanced up, his brow pushed together. There were at least forty teenagers in formal attire and they were coming their direction quickly. Kadir clenched his teeth but supposed he could pause until they passed by.
But they didn't. As soon as they got close enough to the large lawn and fountain, they turned around and started snapping pictures. And they were less than 10 feeet from the couple. Although their decibel levels made it seem like they were right in his ear.
"Awwww. They must have some sort of formal dance tonight," Minako said. "That's so cute."
"Yes," Kadir said between clenched teeth. "Just precious." Time for plan B. "Let's give them some space."
Minako shrugged and followed him into a side garden of sorts. There were short hedges lined with flowers and another, smaller fountain in the centre. It wasn't his first choice but he so wanted to salvage the moment.
Unfortunately, as they came around the corner, there were twenty more teenagers here too. And if they were here, they were likely in the Plan C garden on the other side of the great lawn too.
There was no plan D.
Fortunately, Minako was looking at the teens, which gave him a minute to think. He supposed they could go somewhere else. But that wasn't part of the plan and he liked plans very much. One made plans for a reason. Plans meant that you didn't have to improvise.
He thought about doing it right then and there, teens be damned. But they were loud, and shrieky. And the guys were throwing a football between them, to the delighted shrieks of the girls when the ball came too close to them.
This was the farthest thing from romance he could think of. It was like he was back in Japan with the rest of the shitennou. There was a reason, after all, that he'd wanted to propose on another continent. Well, one of the reasons.
Then he remembered that they were all dressed up. They had to be on their way to some kind of dance. They had to be leaving soon.
Renewed with his plan, he got Minako's attention. "Come on. We don't want to be in the background of all their photos. She nodded, and they walked back to the great lawn.
He couldn't believe it. In the two minutes they were gone, the teenagers multiplied. There had to be at least a hundred of them. But he gritted his teeth and repeated to himself that they would be gone soon.
But they weren't. Fifty six minutes later and they were still snapping pictures and yelling out to each other. How many pictures did they need?
The two of them had walked around the surrounding path three times and Minako was getting suspicious. She'd recommended three times that maybe they should just go somewhere else but Kadir continued to give vague excuses. He had to salvage this. Fast.
Unfortunately, improvising was never his strong suit.
"So...have you enjoyed today?"
oOo
"Kadir, it's getting cold. Can't we just head back to the hotel?"
"Just a bit longer."
He pulled Minako closer. It was 8:30 and most of the teens had left. Unfortunately, that left the rowdiest and (he suspected) the drunkest. They seemed to have gotten louder, if that was possible.
They were sitting on a bench, Minako snuggled into his side for warmth. They had now been there for almost two hours. Frankly, he was surprised Minako was still willing to stay. If he had been in her shoes, he probably would have left over an hour ago.
"Can I at least have your jacket? You're a furnace without it anyways."
Good. A way to keep her there. He slipped off his wool jacket and tucked it around her.
And then he remembered that the ring was in the pocket.
Shit. How did everything end up so off track?
It's okay, he told himself. It was tucked around her. She couldn't put her hands in the pockets. But she might still be able to feel a ring box through the fabric.
Okay, damage control.
"How about we take a walk?" he suggested. He rubbed her bare leg, trying to warm it up. "Get some circulation going again?"
Good. If there was no snuggling, she wouldn't feel the box. He just had to make sure she didn't put her hands in the pockets.
When she stood, she slid her hands in the sleeves but he stopped her. "Wait!"
Her eyes bulged. She was frozen in her tracks. "Why?"
"You can't put your arms in the sleeves."
She raised her eyebrows, clearly confused. "Why not?"
He had to think. Fast. "Because I had a hole fixed in the sleeve and I don't want your nails to catch it and rip it again."
Minako rolled her eyes. Her suspicion from earlier was gone and replaced with irritation and he cursed his shitty ability to improvise.
"Seriously?" she asked, aghast. As she spoke, she yanked off the jacket, balled it up, and threw it back at him. "Fine. If I'm so much of a bother, I guess I'll just go back to the hotel where you won't have to deal with me."
The jacket made impact on her last words. But that was also when Minako heard something clatter to the ground. She glanced down.
Kadir apparently didn't hear it and followed her gaze down.
The ring box.
Minako looked back up at him, her eyes wide. "Kadir, is that…"
He stooped down and snatched it. He glanced around. There were still a few teens around but he saw a few exit one of the side gardens. Maybe fate was finally cutting him a break. He grabbed her wrist.
"Come with me," he said.
She followed in a half daze to the Plan C garden. It was empty and quiet and he sent out a silent thanks. The only sounds were the bubbling of the water in the fountain and the gentle breeze swaying the trees.
Minako was staring at him. Her gaze was a mix of dazed and expectant. He needed time. He knew he was flustered and if he stayed that way, the words wouldn't come out right. He stepped to the fountain and watched as a lily pad swayed with the ripples of the water.
"Kadir-"
"This is not how I planned it." He hoped to delay a bit longer but he was clearly out of time. "Well, mostly it is." It was strange for him to have difficulty expressing himself. Of course it could only happen because of her. He turned, stepped closer to her and took her hands. He looked into her wide eyes and they helped to focus him again. "I brought you here because it reminded me of where we started. But I don't want it to define us. Because even if I never knew you in our past lives, I would still love you as much as I do now. You're beyond words. You took me back despite every one of my failures. You care and love so much and I'm fortunate enough that you saw enough of me to love as much as you do." He shifted his weight, bent a knee, and opened the ring box. "So Minako Aino, even though I kept you out in this cold, will you marry me?"
He once heard that the longest moment in a man's life was the moment after those words. He always dismissed it. Until now. In that moment, all the doubts and fears he had that he wasn't good enough for her rose to the forefront of his mind. He examined every movement on her face for any indication of her decision.
She was crying, he finally realized. But whether they were tears of happiness or sadness he couldn't be entirely sure of until he saw her nod.
"Is that a yes?" He couldn't be too hopeful. He had raised hope before but that ended up with a slap in the face. For all he knew, she could change her mind.
She finally found her words and laughed. "Yes! Of course I will, you idiot."
He didn't realize his shoulder were so tight until he heard those words. His whole body relaxed but before he could appreciate it, she threw herself at him. He could still hear her sniffling in his ear as he brought them to their feet. When she started to pull away, he wiped away her tears before kissing her. It was strange but in a good way. He always heard how long the moment was after a proposal but he never heard how good the first kiss was after the yes.
When they finally separated, he looked between her and the ring box. As if reading his mind, she held out her hand and he slid on the ring while she wiped away a few more tears.
It was beautiful. It had a round diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds set in rose gold. She moved her hand to watch it catch the light. As she turned her hand for the third time, she was laughing again.
"What's so funny?" he asked, wiping another stray tear from her face.
"This is why you kept me out in the cold for almost two hours?"
"I wanted it to be romantic."
"You had this whole day planned, didn't you? Down to the time?"
"Of course."
She was smiling as she spoke. "And you didn't want to budge on it."
"I wanted it to be what you deserved."
She put her hands on her hips. "And almost froze your fiancee."
His lips turned up too. "It's October. It's not nearly cold enough for that."
She repeated her words, more slowly this time, but it was obvious she was trying not to laugh. In addition, she poked his chest with each word. "Could. Have. Frozen. Your. Future. Wife."
"Well," he began, slipping his arms around her waist, "I think I know of a way we could warm you up."
Minako grinned. She knew that tone. "Then let's get back to the hotel and make good on that."
He didn't need any more convincing.
oOo
Four hours later found Kadir roused from sleep. He took in the hotel room and smiled at the memory of what got him so tired in the first place.
The walk back to the hotel found the two of them with wandering hands and kisses that lasted just a bit too long to be appropriate in public. By the time they got back to their room, clothes were already being removed and she was pushing him up against a wall. Despite the weather outside, both were quickly dripping in sweat.
She certainly knew how to tire him out.
When he rolled over, he expected to see her beautiful sleeping form, hoping to wake her for another round.
Instead, he found her wide awake, and on her phone.
"What are you doing?" he muttered, still a bit asleep.
"Sorry," she said, gesturing to her phone. "Did the light wake you?"
"No, I don't think so. Why are you still up?"
She smirked. "I may have tired you out but that doesn't mean I got tired. So I started texting the girls." She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and continued. "They're very excited."
Sure enough, when he glanced over, he saw a barrage of texts still coming in on the group chat Minako had with the girls.
so when is the first planning meeting? as soon as you get back?
I have budget spreadsheets if you would like to use them.
don't listen to ami. you need to go all out.
I could make the cake. And I can take you to some amazing florists.
Usagi, of course she needs to stick to a budget. This is not just an excuse for a party. Ami's spreadsheets can help with that.
:(
Minako laughed at the messages still coming in. "I just texted them a picture of the ring and they went nuts. How did the guys react when you told them?"
Kadir's eyes widened. "I didn't."
Minako scrunched her nose. "Well, they probably know now."
Curious, he turned to his night stand. He saw there were twelve texts, most of them from Noah. He took a quick scroll through them but didn't open any of them.
Dude. What the hell? I had to find out about this from Makoto. Don't you trust me?
I guess we just mean nothing to you.
As her almost father figure, I can't believe you didn't consult me first.
Even Artemis? Yup. He was right not to tell anyone. Minako definitely would have found out.
He tossed his phone back, not wanting to deal with any of that quite yet. Instead, he looked back over at her. The sheet pooled around her hips, leaving her breasts gloriously on display. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer, kissing her neck.
He glanced back up at her phone and whispered, "Do you think they would even notice if you disappeared for say...an hour?"
She grinned, put her phone down, and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I think I could get you an hour and a half."
He kissed her and gently lowered her back down. That was the last bit of gentility she would see from him for that glorious hour and a half.
"I can't wait to marry you," he whispered.
"I love you so much," she whispered back. Her smile turned wry and she said, "Now, I believe we have an hour and a half. Better get started."