Forever and A Day
By Kukaburry
Sailor Moon Disclaimer
Chapter 1- Enter My Desire
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"Did you hear?"
"Did you see him?"
"Is he hot?"
"Where is he?"
"Shhh… here he comes!"
A quiet tip-tap of boots could be heard outside the door. They came to rest for a split second, and the door creaked as pressure was placed against it. It swung freely open, revealing…the un-charming face of Artemis. "Good morning ladies. You are all up bright and early," He paused and looked at each guilty face, "What's the occasion?" He smirked as they all blushed.
"We just.. uh…wanted to… get some sword practice in Artemis! We heard there's an inter-planet tournament coming up soon. We want to be ready!" Mina chimed placing on her most dramatically innocent face.
"Is that right Minako? So this meeting has nothing to do with the new swords master right?" He raised his eyebrows, bemused.
"Of course not Artemis! We're practicing for the hot princes that are BOUND to show up at the tournament." Mina cheered, causing the rest of the girls to giggle uncontrollably. Ami, who was sitting to Mina's left said in a very somber voice, "You do know that most of the princes are almost twice our age."
Serena, Lita, Mina and Rei all groaned. "Why do you have to take the fun out of everything Ami? There will be plenty of guys who are our age there!" Rei scolded, causing to Ami to blush in an apologetic way.
"I heard that even the prince of Earth himself will be there! He almost won the tournament when it was hosted on Earth three years ago." Lita announced, feeling proud that she had knowledge no one else had.
"But who won it then?" Serena asked, cocking her head to the side slightly and looking at Lita intently. "I think I can answer that for you Princess Serenity" A gruff and boisterous voice boomed from the doorway.
All five of the girls whipped around and felt their ovaries dance a jig. Leaning casually against the doorframe was the most breathtaking man they had ever seen. He didn't look a day over 20 yet his eyes were hardened with maturity. His golden blonde hair hung down just past his chin and his eyes were a vicious shade of emerald. He was wearing a tight-fitting white shirt and brown leather pants and it was all polished off with shiny black boots.
Serena felt her jaw drop. "I was the one who beat dear Prince Endymion. A great adversary I must say. Not enough gusto though." He smirked slightly, and entered the room, brandishing a sword that was not visible earlier.
"Good morning ladies, Sir Artemis." He bowed curtly to the girls and Artemis. "Yes, good morning Raki. I see you've found your way to the fencing hall easily enough." Artemis observed, smiling kindly at him.
"Yes, thank you. If you don't mind sir, I think I should begin the morning's lesson." Raki stated, obviously eager to see the back of Artemis. "Of course. You girls behave yourselves. Lunch will be ready at eleven. I want all five of you clean and dressed properly by then. Do I make myself clear?" He narrowed his eyes jokingly.
They all nodded sincerely and bid him farewell. "Well now. I see all of you are eager to enter the tournament. That is very noble of you. I will try my hardest to train you all well. But first, I will need to know if you are the proper age. No one below the age of eighteen is allowed to join……" Mina huffed loudly and threw her sword to the ground in defeat.
"I guess you're not eighteen then. I'm sorry, what's your name?" Raki smiled politely as the girl calmed down. "Princess Minako of Venus, sir. But… you can call me Mina." She fluttered her eyelashes balefully and grinned.
"Well then, Mina, I will of course be willing to train you for next year's match." Mina let out a loud breath, "But it won't be hosted here in the Moon Kingdom next year. I won't be allowed to go." Raki looked at her sympathetically, "Well then, I'm terribly sorry, but if I were you, I wouldn't let good sword training go to waste just because I couldn't enter a contest." He winked at her and she smiled hopefully.
"Then again, who knows when I might need to know how to fight someone with a sword!" Mina giggled loudly, the other girls rolled their eyes towards the domed ceiling.
"So what was Prince Endymion like Raki?" Lita asked intently. "Personally, he was a lot like every other prince I've met. A fair swordsman, excellent form, poor sportsmanship, many swooning fans." He stopped short at the look from the five girls crowding around him. Their eyes were glazed over in artificial rapture.
"Eh-hem. Enough about the past ladies. I'm assuming the rest of you are eligible to enter the tournament?" –Four nods- "Alright then. Everyone take a sword and stand shoulder-to-shoulder."
They did as they were told, he checked their grips and their forms. He took turns with each of them, testing their durability and speed as Mina watched from the side of the room. "Excellent job. What's your name?" He asked of Lita, "Princess Makoto of Jupiter, but I go by Lita." She blushed in spite of herself.
"Yes, excellent Lita. Now, you are?" Ami blinked, unsure of what to say, "A-Ami, Princess Ami of Mercury." He smiled encouragingly, "Show me your form." She did. "Hmm.. hold your sword arm higher. Be confident in yourself. There you go, better." Ami grinned, ensured.
He shuffled to Rei who licked her lips nervously and ended up dropping her sword. "Oops." She bent down quickly to retrieve it. "It's fine, first time jitters. Nothing to worry about it. What's your name?" Rei responded, "Princess Rei of Mars." She showed him her form and he approved.
Serena stepped up, holding out her sword professionally and centering her vision on the opposite wall. "A little less moody Princess Serenity." He chuckled, placing his hand on her elbow and bending it slightly. Serena swallowed hard at the warm touch of his hand, "Serena. Call me Serena." He nodded slightly, removed his hand and stepped back to the center of the room.
"Very well. I want Serena and Lita to pair up and Ami and Rei to pair up. I want to see how much you know about blocking and parrying." This went on for two hours. By the time 10 am rolled around, the four girls were exhausted; everyone except Mina who had indefinitely fallen asleep during the practice and was now snoozing along gracefully with a loud snore.
"I think that about does it for now girls. I want you all back here at five o'clock this afternoon to resume training. Queen Serenity has asked specifically for me to train you in two and half hour sessions twice a day." The girls heaved a sigh but were not annoyed. Any amount of time spent with this man was time well spent. "Now, since we don't want Artemis to be disappointed, I suggest that all of you go take showers and get ready for lunch. But don't forget, five o'clock."
Four sweaty and one perky girls sauntered out of the practice room. Once out of earshot of Raki, all of the girls exploded in conversation. "Is he not the most gorgeous human being ever?" Mina moaned, hanging on Serena's shoulders dramatically.
"He is really good looking, but he seems kind of arrogant to me." Ami said wisely, refusing to look at the other girls. Serena pinched her nose and stuck her tongue out, "Ami, I'll never understand you. But I do agree with you that he seems kind of full of himself. But man does he have a cute butt or what?"
Everyone giggled helplessly and finally went their separate ways once they reached the stairs. "See you guys at eleven!" Lita called, rushing to her room, the other girls copied her move.
Serena entered her room, and pranced around romantically until a soft knocking caught her attention. "Yes? Who is it?" She inquired. "It's me, Luna. Your mother sent me up here." Serena groaned and opened the door. Luna bustled in, carrying a large box that Serena eyed warily. "Don't tell me there's a dress in there Luna."
Luna 'hmphed' and placed the box down indignantly at the foot of the bed. "And what if it is Serenity? Are you going to disobey your mother's orders?" Serena gave a defeated sigh and sat on her bed moodily.
"Your mother has invited Queen Nixida, of Planet Quaza, and her son Prince Tal to lunch. I'm sorry but you won't be having lunch with your friends today. Your mother wants you to meet with Prince Tal privately."
Serena jumped from the bed and stomped her foot, "This isn't fair Luna! Is that all my mother thinks about? Marrying me off, and making me meet strange princes all so she can have grandchildren one day?"
Luna narrowed her eyes in a harassed way. "Take a shower, put the dress on and meet your mother in the lounge. I know you don't enjoy this, but it's for the better of the kingdom. Just do as your mother says. She's not forcing you to marry the poor boy."
Serena blushed, embarrassed at her outburst. "Alright Luna. I'll meet with them." Luna smiled and left the room, shutting the door with a quiet 'click'. Serena opened the box and withdrew from it, a breathtaking baby blue dress. "Anything for my mother."
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Well, that's the end of that chapter! I have a really fun plot for this story. I hope you guys are going to like it. Serena gets bombarded with potential guys. –Wink- lol. R&R ;-) + KUKABURRY
