Atonement
***
"Let me look at it."
"No, I'm fine. Perfectly fine. There's nothing to look at. Stunningly fine, I'm go-."
He cut across her harshly.
"You are rambling."
When she looked up with an angry expression in her cornflower eyes, he swiftly gripped her hands and brought them up closer to his face to examine them. He didn't like what he saw. They were covered in angry red cuts that doubtlessly extended to her arms, but those were hidden behind her gown's long sleeves. Blood still seeped through her clothes, tainting the soft yellow fabric in places and telling him that she didn't even have her injuries looked at by a healer. She had just taken a bath, donned a new dress and came down here. He shook his head.
"You are such a foolish girl."
She bristled immediately, wrenched her hands free and stepped away from him.
"Excuse me?"
"You should have called for back-up." Outside, the sky was a velvet blue, stars were twinkling and a soft breeze was blowing. It was a night that deserved to be spend with beautiful things, with words of love and acts of affection and not with fighting, but the two people in the general's chambers didn't care about that.
"I got the job done by myself, thank you very much."
"I don't doubt your ability to get the job done, I doubt your common sense." Venus had long since learned that his tongue was just as deadly a weapon as his heavy sword. Her movements were as quick as lightning, she had been trained for battles even if it were for those of a different kind. The crown princess of Venus had already reached the white doors, ready to storm out of his quarters and teleport back to the Moon.
His voice was dark as he called after her.
"Have you ever given a moment's thought to the fact that when I have you in my bed, I'd rather have you there unharmed and healthy?"
"Not everything is about what you want, Kunzite. And whether my persona and appearance please you or not is not exactly something I concern myself with."
"I dare say that much is obvious."
"I'll leave now."
"Please do. I don't like women who look as if they spent the day working in the fields and cut themselves on the straw."
Blanching, she whipped around, strode over and slapped him hard across his haughty face. He didn't even flinch.
"Those are battle wounds and I carry them with pride."
"Those are nothing to be proud of, Venus. A wound that could have been avoided easily should be carried with shame. You'll learn that when you grow up and now excuse me, I have work to do."
As soon as he sat down and occupied himself with maps and plans and documents, she knew that the discussion was over and that she had lost it. It stung more than the countless cuts on her body.
***
One week later, he returned from an exhausting mission in the middle of the night, all of his bones weary and his mind heavy with worry. Darkness was rising in the Golden Kingdom and so far, he had been powerless to locate its source, let alone to stop it.
Ready to just throw himself on his bed and into sleep, he noticed that the white damask was covered in straw. Lots of golden straw... There was the occasional sunflower on the ground and pinned on his wardrobe and someone had put a large hay bale in the corner next to the balcony. Kunzite could have sworn that he heard a chicken somewhere in the vicinity. Seeing how his private quarters were in the middle of the palace and not near the farmhouses, this was just wrong.
The culprit sat giggling on his desk, grinning like the cat that had just had the canary. She was completely naked and twirled a flower in her hands.
Even her hair had been pulled back to allow him to fully appreciate the view. Her skin was bronzed, the tip of her small nose lightly burned, her arms still covered in the angry welts he had scolded her for and on her head sat a large farmer's hat.
"Are you sure that you don't want me in your bed? Even if I look like a farm girl?"
Feeling his fatigue slide off him, he smirked and walked towards his formidable opponent.
"I might make an exception for you."
Their noses almost touched as he bent down and leaned in.
Only later, long after they had found release in each other's arms time and again and before the awakening sun told her it was time to go, the soft kisses he placed on each and every scratch on her body allowed her to understand what it was he couldn't bring himself to say.
***
The End