A/N: This is a fanfic based in the Sailor Moon S season, before the sacred talismans were found. What if Amara were to fall in love with a guy she had just met?
I own none of the characters…or the series…or even all of Tokyo. (That's depressing….)
"Courtship of Pure Hearts"
BloodDrenchedRose
"PROLOGUE"
He stepped through the gate and graciously noticed how it swung without a sound. He wasn't supposed to be here at this hour, but he needed some place out in the open so he could think. The house wouldn't' do much because the four walls were bound to suffocate him. So he had chosen to walk…until he found this place.
He continued to traipse the area, his eyes slowly becoming adjusted to the dark. Up a few steps gleamed the silver metal of bleachers, and he smiled to himself. The perfect spot with no one else around to bother him. Never had he been so fortunate in his life.
As soon as he reached the first row, he sat down and let out a huge sigh. The pressures of the day unwound themselves from around his chest, letting him breathe somewhat easier. Paying for the house had left him wanting to bum money off of everyone he saw. Getting some food was going to be the hardest thing yet. He might have to get a full-time job, but he had to get back to school.
This one seemed perfect enough. Crossroads High School. Nothing else was in his zone, and it was a short distance away. He could walk here, walk back…sit in silence for the longest time.
Bored.
"I need a cat," he muttered to himself. "Something that doesn't take away the rest of my energy, but also keeps me company. And sane."
Something on the dirt track caught his eye. He looked down to see the silhouette of a figure silently running around the seemingly large arena. Swiftly, the person moved as fast as the wind. Probably thought he was the only one there….
As he rounded the last curve, the runner stopped, gasped for breath. Walked a few paces until the guy stood in front of where he was sitting. "You're not supposed to be here," came the breathless alto voice.
His eyes widened. This is…a woman? It was hard to tell because of the boyishly-cut hair, the somewhat muscular build. That was all he could make out of this night runner since the light of the moon was partially hidden behind a cloud.
But he couldn't help but smile. "Oh, I know. But neither should you at this time of night."
The woman crossed her arms, perhaps glaring at him right this minute. This defensive stance of hers piqued his interest. "I have special permission," the girl said after a while.
"Special permission, eh? You a spy or something?"
"Of course not!"
"Then what's your special permission?" His smile became wider. "Oh, I get it. You're trespassing!"
"If I were trespassing, I'd be no different than you. Sneaking in through the gate…. What are you doing here, anyway?"
"I have special permission," he said, mocking her with a smirk.
The feminine growl sent a shiver down his spine, and he chuckled just to rile her up even more. It seemed to work because she marched over to the bleachers, grabbed the metal fence, and seemed to be giving him the look of death. "I could come up there and teach you a lesson," she said quietly, the tenor of her voice amusing him even more.
"Then why don't you? Too unladylike, girl?" He put emphasis on the last word.
She took one step back, and it registered in his mind as shock. Part of him actually felt sorry for this woman, but it was fun to pick on her like this. Something…sparked with everything that was said.
For some reason, he wanted more moments like this.
"Seriously," the girl said. "Why are you out here? I'm sure you have a family, a girlfriend. A wife…."
"Wife." He snorted. "Too young to get married. I'm only fifteen." He thought for a while, then leaned forward to try and see her more closely as he voiced his ideas aloud. "Unless…you'd be willing to fit the job's description."
There was a slight gasp, a shift in position. Her shoulders rose a fraction, her arms wrapping tighter around her waist. The silence stretched long and tight between them, and he was about to say something else before a whisper floated on the wind. "Just go. I don't want to see you again."
His eyes narrowed. "What?"
"Get out of here! Before I call the cops on you!"
"Look, lady. Nobody would be able to come quickly and arrest me. They come get me for trespassing, they'll lock you up as well. Special permission or no. You'd spend the night in the jail because nobody will be coherent enough to come pick you up. And I bet that won't look good on your track record, eh, sweetheart?"
She seemed to think about this for a while, all silent again save for a few crickets. He wished he could see her face, watch the expressions running along her features. She was probably using the silence to her advantage.
Suddenly her body pivoted to the left, and she began to quickly walk away.
"Wait!" he called after her. "Where do you think you're going?"
"I'm going home!"
"Why? I'm not going to hurt you!"
"I came here to train! Then you showed up and…." She growled and threw up her hands. "Why even bother with you? You're so exasperating!"
He sighed heavily and jumped up, bolted down the steps, and ran towards the infuriating woman. He grabbed her by the shoulders and roughly spun her around. "Oh, I'm exasperating?" he muttered to her. "So are you, you know?" His hands tightened on her shoulders as he narrowed his eyes even more. "Go ahead. Teach me a lesson. I know you want to."
"Let…me…go!" She tried shoving him away. "Or I'll--"
"Or you'll scream? That's what babies do." He sighed again. "I'm not going to hurt you."
She stopped squirming and stared up at him. He thought he saw a mixture of blue and green--mostly green--in her eyes, the moon finally coming out for the show.
"I came here to think, and I have a feeling that you have, too. So let's just settle our differences and…." His voice trailed off as he saw the mixture turn into a darker shade of green. He brought her closer just so he could get a better look.
The woman's body stiffened. "What are you--?"
He knew he was too close for her comfort. But that didn't matter to him at all He had a feeling she was as beautiful as her eyes were, but the moon only allowed him to see only that part of her. And he made sure to commit it to memory.
Her scent drifted up to him at the moment, the soft smell of lilacs. Never had something like that intoxicated him before. Such a soothing smell that relaxed his nerves….
The feel of her in his grasp was invigorating…and he wondered what she might taste like. Maybe it would be sweet. Soft…fiery like her personality seemed to be….
He leaned forward a little and prepared to seek her out.
She suddenly wrenched herself out of his hold, her eyes fading from his view again. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded.
He blinked his eyes, shook his head to clear it. "I…don't know…." About to kiss a girl he didn't know, of course. A bad move to make for someone like him. He wouldn't deny that it was one think he wanted to do at this strange moment in time, though.
"You're all the same," the woman growled, and the darkened image of her clenched her fist. "Trying to get the same thing, no matter what it takes."
He narrowed his eyes. "We're not--hey!"
She had turned around again, stalking away once more. "Beat it, jerk!"
"But…." His lips curved into another smirk. "I have to say that you look very beautiful!"
He couldn't' help but laugh as her power-walk turned into a full-out run.
Beautiful. She scoffed. Just a neat little saying to sweep all the girls off their feet. All the girls except her. There's no way, not with any of the stories she's heard.
She felt the heat cross her face, and she knew it wasn't because of the exercise she was doing right now. But mainly…how she had felt his scrutiny. How he had gazed into her eyes, how his own had darkened to an even darker emerald. And once she felt his eyes drift to her lips…she became scared.
Never had anybody looked at her that way. And never had she felt this way about a man. Would she be able to look him in the eye if she saw him again? Would she even be able to recognize him?
Would she ever stop acting like a girl?
The blush became deeper. "This is ridiculous…" she breathed out. "Just because you met a guy…doesn't mean you can act like…such a woman…. You can…still be yourself…."
She didn't think anybody could be the same after something like that, though.
Skidding to a stop, she growled and sat on the cement sidewalk underneath her. "Wife…" she panted. "That's the stupidest proposition I've ever herd from a jerk like him in my entire life…!" Then she shook her head. "Sweetheart…? And how dare he say…Izuroku won't bail me…out of jail…."
Minutes passed by, and she let her breathing slow to a reasonable pace. There was no reason to be out here, except to make herself fall asleep. She had merely opened her eyes at 3:30 in the morning and couldn't drift back to sleep. So she had chosen to go out to run on the track.
Now she was run out of her own haven. By a man she had never seen before. Unless you count a shadow….
So she was helpless. Hopeless. And really not wanting to walk back into the house, accidentally wake Michelle (even though she was a long ways away from the front door, unlike her room), and struggle to try and get some rest until 6:00, when her alarm woke her up for school.
She stood up again and prepared for the rest of her journey home. Wouldn't take her long…if she ran the rest of the way. But she needed to take things slowly, which was somewhat so unlike her. Instead of being forever quick and stubborn, she chose to slow things down and let the world thin that she was passive. Cool. This was to keep others from knowing that she was Sailor Uranus.
Michelle was bound to know that she had gone missing early this morning. And know something was up, also. But she wouldn't mention anything about it, just wait until it was a good time to ask. Which was almost perfect timing, she guessed.
But too many details wouldn't be able to slip this time. No, this was her problem.
"Ooh, if I ever see that guy again…" she ground out. But no ideas of torture could come to mind. Something entirely different did, though. Something that scared her as much as that near-kiss.
The real thing.
She winced, shook her head as she blushed again. Kissing him. What an absurd idea! But one part of her was intrigued, wanting to turn back, run to him, and just--
"No!" she gasped, slapping herself in the face. "You're going insane! Lack of sleep, that's what it is…. Yeah, you're going to go back home, walk through the front door, and get some more sleep." She groaned and slapped herself again. "Great, I'm now talking to myself!"
The next twenty minutes were walked through in silence. She reached the gigantic mansion with relief, her eyelids finally threatening to slide shut of their own volition, whether she liked it or not.
She slowly yet silently stumbled in a tired haze all the way to her bedroom. Closed the door, walked the few extra paces to her bed, and simply collapsed. Her eyes slid shut, her hand reaching out to flip the alarm's switch on, seemingly forgetting to when she had first turned in for the night.
"I need to be wide awake at six…" she muttered to herself as she slipped away. "Don't need…too many…questions…."
The last image that flashed through her head was of a young man with emerald green eyes, his long and calloused fingers gripping her arms in a firm yet gentle hold.