This story is still one of my favorites even after all this time. It needs a LOT of work. I am also pretty sure that I originally wanted it to be a Minkako/Kunzite story and just screwed up when I first wrote it. So, I'm changing the pairing in the revisions. General plot lines aren't changing, just perhaps its length and definitely its grammar (as in, for the better).

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or any of its characters. I just use them to further the enjoyment of all.

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Minako sat at the table and sighed, drumming her golden colored fingers nails on the silk covered table cloth. She hated royal functions. She hating attending, she hated having to listen to them and she especially hated when she was forced to make nice with people that she couldn't stand. She was an energetic person and had a hard time focusing something so tedious. She just didn't understand why she had to attend so many of them. Sure she was the Princess of Venus but did that really mean she had to go to Earth once a month to be present at the formal dinners? It's not like Princess Serenity cared if she showed up or not, or at least, didn't care if she showed up to the functions. Serenity would probably be very upset if she did not have these once a month guaranteed chances to see her friend.

So perhaps they weren't completely awful. After all they allowed her to see Princess Serenity, her best friend and the one who she was designated to guard along with three other senshi. Sometimes, though, she just ached to be home, walking around her gardens and reading a good book. She was hardly ever on Venus anymore because her duty called her to almost every other planet. Her parents were able to rule because she went on all the diplomatic endeavors.

Suppressing a second sigh, she glanced out the window waiting patiently for her freedom. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts she almost missed the end of dinner and her dismissal.

"All of you are familiar with where your bedrooms are located. Your things have already been brought up and I am looking forward to the week that you girls will be spending with us," Queen Serenity said, addressing all of the ambassadors before her. She got up and left the table, thereby signaling it was okay for everyone else to leave as well.

"Well I for one will be glad to go to bed," Rei, Princess of Mars, said, stretching her limbs. She also had trouble sitting for such long periods. "The journey to Earth doesn't get any easier no matter how many times I do it. I wish there was a faster way that didn't consume so much of my energy. It takes me almost an entire day to recover." Teleporting to Earth was hard for all of them. Teleporting to any planet was hard.

"I think I will spend some time in the library," Ami, Princess of Mercury, stated to the group.

"Ami-chan, did you ever think that maybe you're trying to stuff a little bit too much information into that head of yours," Rei commented to her friend.

"I don't think she's going to the library for the information this time," Makoto, Princess of Jupiter, jumped in. "Maybe just to do a little studying on the human male body of Ryo-chan." She winked at a blushing Ami.

"Oh Ami-chan! You have to tell us all the juicy details!" Serenity exclaimed, sparkles in her eyes. Minako looked on with amusement before slipping out to the garden.

"Minako-chan, where are you going?" Serenity called and Minako suppressed a curse. She had hoped to escape unnoticed. She turned around as the whole group looked in her direction.

"Just out to the garden," she answered smoothly, smile on her face. "After all the traveling I need some fresh air." It was a completely plausible answer and everyone just nodded and went back to the task of seeing what juicy gossip they could pull out of poor Ami-chan. Minako sighed feeling sorry for her friend but glad that it caused the attention to be off of Minako.

The gardens were even more gorgeous than the ones on Venus. Both Serenities had a soft spot for the beauty and the fragrance of flowers and so therefore that love spilled over onto Earth. Not that Endymion's love for plants wasn't just as strong. There was every color before her eyes, paths set up so one could easily walk through and even places to rest. Minako sat on a bench, looking up at the moon. They had been on earth for nearly five hours now. They were supposed to be on vacation, other than the one or two meetings she had to attend, but Minako just couldn't seem to relax. She was missing a certain someone and what was worse was that he lived on Earth. She lay down on the bench, frustrated.

"I wish he was here. I could really use someone to talk to," she mumbled to herself, expecting no one but the stars to answer her.

"Well I don't know if I'm him but you are more than welcome to talk to me," someone to her left responded. Minako shot straight up and faced the intruder. "Sorry I didn't mean to scare you."

Minko took a deep breath, calming her nerves, before she answered. "Kunzite, you are going to be the death of me." She stood up and went to hug him but he shook his head no ever so slightly. Had she not trained herself to see his slight nuances she would never have noticed.

"Someone could be watching," he warned her, offering his arm as any gentleman would do to a princess. She took his arm. "Just walk with me. I know someplace we can go." She nodded and followed him out of the garden.

They stopped at a lake on the grounds. Kunzite ran off and a few minutes later came back with a blanket and picnic basket and a large grin on his face. Minako couldn't help but return his enthusiasm.

"You always were the romantic," she said to him, helping him spread out the blanket before sitting on it. They were at the perimeter of the castles grounds, far displaced from anything. "How come we had to come all the way out here to be together?"

"The gardens are too close to the palace. If someone looked over the dining room balcony and saw us we could both get into a lot of trouble," he answered, sitting next to her and opening the picnic basket. They both knew the consequences of their relationship, one unknown to everyone. At least, they were both painfully aware of the consequences he faced. Minako would just be scolded; Kunzite would be beheaded.

"What are we going to do, Kunzite?" she asked softly, expecting no real answer. There wasn't one. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply.

"Was that a good solution?" he asked when they pulled apart, smirking at her. She hit him playfully on the shoulder.

"That wasn't what I meant and you know it. If anyone ever caught us together, they would kill you. I could never live without you," she finished softly, all joking gone from her voice. She hugged him tightly. "I refuse to live without you."

"I know the consequences of my actions," he told her, absently raking his fingers through her hair. "It'd be worth it just to spend one day with you, one minute. The fact that I've gotten to spend this much time to you is more then a blessing."

She sat up, frustrated that he was so willing to die for her. "Kunzite, I want to spend the rest of my life with you not just 'this much time.' I want to be with you forever, see you whenever I want and let everyone know we're together."

"You know we can't do that. We can only be together until you're married. I'm a general of Earth. You're a princess of Venus," he reminded her as if either of them could forget that point. "We knew when we began our relationship that we'd never be able to stay together. Eventually your parents are going to find you as respectable husband-"

"You are a respectable husband!" she interrupted. He silenced her with his lips.

"Let's not argue. It's been over three months since I saw you last and I don't want to spend the little time that I do have with you fighting. I made you a picnic. Do you want it?" he asked, knowing just how to diffuse her anger.

"Did you make brownies," she asked with the voice of a child.

"What kind of lover would I be if I didn't?"

"Well then, I guess I'll just have to suffer through it." She smiled as she resettled herself in his arms, arranging her dress around her. Just as Kunzite reached for the basket, a loud obnoxious noise punctured the air. It was the general alarm. Someone was on the grounds.

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End of chapter one. Actually, the grammar so far isn't as atrocious as I thought it was. It was just missing a lot of tags. Until next chapter.