This was the story I submitted to the Shitennou Forums annual fic-a-thon contest. The topic was selected couple, open ended. My assigned couple was Zoisite and Ami. While I read several good stories set in an Alternate Universe or continuations of the Sailor Moon story, I decided to go a more traditional route with the setting being in the Silver Millennium. You will also note a more 'manga' orientated flare for the characters, as that's the version of the story I prescribe to; I'm not too big on the anime. Anyway, enjoy.
He was initially attracted to her because she wasn't too beautiful, too exotic. While obviously striking by anyone's standards, save her blue hair she was visually nothing unique in and of herself.
Not quite something a woman would want to hear, is it? It certainly is not a story to tell to your children.
Yet during those many desperate balls to establish a desperate peace, when as a goodwill ambassador a normally shy and reserved person such as himself was doomed to dance with many willing ladies, that was precisely the quality he sought; someone who would not overwhelm him, someone who wouldn't make him feel out of place.
Or worse, make him feel out of his league.
From his observances of her, she was incredibly shy with those that she was unacquainted with, often giving an almost icy response to unknown people of unknown intentions.
To top it off, she was a princess to boot; the only daughter of one of the leaders of the Silver Alliance. Extended dances with her would be almost mandatory, given their roughly similar ranks.
So for his intended purposes, she was indeed the ideal woman.
When he first asked her to dance, she was more coldly receptive with him then she was with others, but that was almost to be guaranteed. With 'peace talks' and 'new alliances' often degenerating into shouting matches and name-calling, there was no possible way he would have a good rapport with her father, who in turn would influence his daughter's opinion on the 'foreigner'.
Still, she recognized, if nothing else, the political necessity, and agreed to it without any coaxing. As the dancing progressed, she became just as eager as he to continue, for much the same reasons he'd wager; to get away from those other would-be partners who simply wanted to add another notch on their bed posts…or worse.
So it became something of standard practice for the two of them; they'd dance with each other, and no one else. To avoid making things look suspicious or to give a base for malicious rumors, sometimes one or the other skipped the parties on feigned illness, and sometimes they'd both come but not dance at all. It wasn't enough for the more politically observant, but for the common masses, upon which rumor depended, it was adequate.
Unfortunately for Zoisite, he was closely associated with four of the most politically observant individuals Earth had to offer, and they all had a front row seat.
It always struck Zoisite as odd that the five most politically important persons a barely united Earth had to offer were sent as one ambassadorial delegation, and he couldn't help but think that the reason the nobles had been so insisting was to get said politically important people out of the way so they could consolidate their power on an anti-Lunarian basis. Or perhaps he was seeing too much into it; the Silver Alliance technically had nine separate governments after all, which meant a minimum of nine separate arrangements, trying to make sure no one stepped on anyone else's toes. Five was the bare minimum needed.
Anyway, his three friends and liege lord were well schooled in politics, and each let Zoisite know in their own unique way that he was messing up.
Jadeite just gave a crafty grin, and suggested a few ways to manipulate the Mercurian princess into their side in the negotiations. Some of his suggestions were sound, some were morally disturbing, and some were deeply pornographic in nature. Zoisite often shuddered at the reminder of just how well Jadeite had to be at the game of politics; ruling over an area as independent-minded as the East, where everyone and their mother had an extremely sensitive sense of honor forced you to either be a good leader, or a dead one.
Nephrite simply snorted and commented on how they were the only couple in the room where the man had longer hair then the woman, and in a flowing braid to boot. At this Zoisite sighed; if it wasn't the whole cross-dressing thing-no matter how many times he told him, Zoisite could never get Nephrite to believe that he was just spying on a few suspicious looking men at a tavern, and it wasn't his fault when one of them started to make inappropriate advances-it was the hair. He honestly wondered about Nephrite at times. Didn't the man have any hobbies other then pestering him? Besides, who was he to lecture anyone about the length of one's hair?
Though Zoisite always had to giggle whenever Nephrite described his hair as 'fag-a-licious'.
His liege lord, Prince Endymion, just gave him a knowing, kindly smile. Frankly, it was starting to creep Zoisite out, because that always meant Endymion knew something he didn't.
Kunzite, however, got to the heart of the entire matter by stating that, while it was nice to establish cordial relations with the royal family of Mercury outside of negotiations, it would help if they were being less avoiding-of-others and more cordial with each other.
Zoisite had to blink before sheepishly admitting that he didn't even know how to correctly pronounce her name.
He didn't know why it was so funny that all four almost fell out of their chairs laughing.
So the next time they danced, he did something that almost blew both their minds; he initiated conversation.
It started out awkwardly, with him attempting to state her full name several times, and butchering it several times.
Some women might have been offended at this. She, however, actually found it rather enduring and laughed, partially at him, and partially (she assured) at her own almost incomprehensible language.
She told him to simply call her by her abbreviated name, Ami.
Thus ended a relationship born of convenience, and thus began a relationship born of something more. He was at first attracted to her ability to not stand out, now he was attracted to her mind.
At first they talked about small things, like favorite hobbies and personal likes. They were shocked that they actually had a few in common; they were avid chess players, they were each interested in a branch of science (she in alchemy, he in invention) and that they were deeply schooled in their own cultures' philosophers.
They tenderly avoided the topic of politics.
It wasn't a topic that could be avoided forever, he knew, and both were mentally preparing for what could be a great clash.
Surprisingly, there was no clash; merely a rational explanation of what each party wanted and was willing to offer in order to get it. Never once during those conversations were the words 'unacceptable' and 'extortion' ever used.
In the course of a few ballroom dances, the equivalent of a few hours, they accomplished what days at the negotiation table couldn't do; a mutually beneficial peace.
Of course, it was another thing all together to translate that to the table itself, but Zoisite now had a workable, and most importantly, acceptable guideline.
Soon they realized that it was just plain awkward to hold conversations while dancing. Well, after a stubbed toe and a kicked shin, anyway. So they began to hold meetings elsewhere: In the library, over a chess board, or even in an accommodating master's laboratory.
With these seemingly casual meetings abound whenever they had a free hour, it was impossible to stop any rumor from starting. Strange how now, neither of them seemed to really care.
In fact, it could have just been Zoisite's imagination, but it seemed that, whenever they went arm in arm as custom demanded, he held on just a little longer then he needed to. But fair was fair. After all, it wasn't like she needed to brush those stray hairs of his out of the way.
And so it went on awkwardly like this for a while, to the point where it was somewhat embarrassing to even be in the same room with each other, almost like each didn't know where they stood with the other.
Zoisite decided to ask the one group of people he could turn to about this latest problem….
Only to have those insensitive bastards fall out of their chairs laughing again.
He didn't know when it turned into love, nor afterwards did he really care. For that matter, neither did Ami. There weren't any passionate kisses or inappropriate reciprocations of feelings. There was no undying declaration of love from either one. There was simply a quiet, understood admission of where they both stood, and that was that.
Save for more tenderness and a little less respect for personal boundaries on both sides, their schedule was for the most part, unchanged.
However, they had new motivation for seeing the peace talks reach a successful conclusion. There was no way Zoisite could court Ami without a viable treaty in effect, and even then it would be shaky at best.
So both worked, behind the scenes and in front of them, in order to gain the peace they so both desired. Perhaps the reasons were somewhat selfish, but then, what action from an imperfect being was ever truly selfless?
Zoisite was surprised to note that not only were the Mercurian negotiations going well, but that all of the Inner Planet negotiations were running along smoothly, including the moon. There was nothing definite yet, but it was a solid start. With over half the Alliance on their side, the Outer Planets would soon follow suite.
When he happily noted that the Inner Planet Negotiations were running smoothly, he didn't notice the reddening cheeks or the embarrassed coughs. When he inquired as to why they were doing so well, he received something along the lines of a 'shut up,' from each of them.
All right, so they didn't want to give away their negotiating secrets. Fine, that didn't mean that Nephrite had to throw food at him, though.
There was only one way that could tell you how much Zoisite loved Ami. On a private walk, out in the gardens after yet another Lunarian dance, Zoisite did something that was almost as taboo as trying to establish peace with the Moon and her allies.
He told Ami his name.
Zoisite was quite obviously not his real name; it was a title, as honorary as that of High Priest or Great King.
One of the great differences between Earth and the Silver Alliance was their magical practices. In the Silver Alliance, it was treated as a wonder, a personal achievement, something that came from the self and the self alone, or at least using the self as the 'chosen channel' of the power.
On Earth, it was a mystery, a secret, a skill upon which mastery depended on whether or not you uncovered the truth.
It could be summed up, Zoisite supposed, by saying that Lunarian-magic (for lack of a better generic term) depended on knowledge of the Self; Earth-magic depended on knowledge of the Truth.
Small wonder that these respective attitudes contributed to the most prevalent problem in conferences; one culture became arrogant and reclusive, the other accusing and paranoid.
But, as Zoisite revealed, this was all relevant, as he was a magical being, and a fairly powerful one at that, or at least Kunzite kept telling him so.
As such, he was extremely sensitive to the Truth. He constantly pursued it, and he could be controlled by it.
In other words one could misdirect his attacks, lead him on a goose-chase, or render his spells ineffective.
They could even, with the proper methods, take control of his very soul.
It was not an easy admission to make, and in fact took a great deal from him, to say nothing of his trust.
She, in turn, revealed how much she loved him, by trusting him with a secret almost as shattering as his own.
She told him she was Sailor Mercury.
One of the legendary Senshi who provided the honored vanguard to the royal family, and was the first line of defense in case of attack; it didn't take a genius to see the political ramifications if something like this was revealed to the public.
So now each had revealed a secret to the other, a secret that could shatter the other's life should it be exposed. This was not done as some twisted investment incase one sabotaged the relationship, or took advantage of it for personal gain. It was simply an expression of trust, and given their limiting circumstances, it was the greatest expression of trust available to them.
As they embraced in a way that even the most cynical outsider could only accuse as slightly over-friendly, Zoisite couldn't help but think he heard a woman's voice triumphantly laughing….
As he swiftly checked the area, he was relieved that all he saw was a white cat…
It started out as an attraction to her looks, a relationship based on convenience.
It progressed with an attraction to her mind, a relationship based on friendship.
It ended with an attraction to her, a relationship based on trust…..
…and love.
END