Far away, nothing can be heard, not even a sound
The two of us got close, almost like love


We always fell together when the moments were too intense. When we remembered D point. After her heart crystal had been ripped from her chest. Usagi and Mamoru's wedding. Chibiusa's birth. Haruka and Michiru's engagement. Relationships around us intensifying. We were alone through it all.

She was so good at maintaining those carefully constructed walls; it seemed they only came down for me. No, she tore them down for me when she couldn't stand being alone. I did the same for her.

For a Goddess of Love, I was sorely lacking of a love in my own life.

For a Goddess of Passion, she had no one to truly share hers with.

Of course, I knew what the issue was, but I couldn't figure out why it had become an issue. We'd been lovers in previous lives-all of them. For whatever reason, though, we'd not fallen for each other in this incarnation. We'd fallen together, but not for one another.

Artemis had asked me what the deal was on more than one occasion. He didn't know about the physical aspect of our friendship, but he couldn't fathom Venus and Mars not being lovers. To be honest, neither could I. I had my memories, with startling clarity even. I could remember the color of her eyes, darkened with lust. I could remember the way her mouth tasted. I experienced those in this lifetime and in every lifetime before this. But I could also remember those quiet nights where we lay on the sand on the moon, watching the Earth go by. She'd rest a hand on my chest, her head on my shoulder. I always said the same thing in those moments. "I love you, Mars. Don't ever forget that." She always smiled. "And I will love you for all eternity."

Why, then, in this time, this life, had we not fallen in love with each other?

I continued to turn these thoughts over in my mind, every time we fell together. With every kiss, every touch, every gasp. I wondered, and I sensed-though with no certainty-that she did too. I couldn't know what memories of hers had come flooding back, but every time I climbed into her bed, or she in mine, I wondered. The intensity gradually deepened, and I wondered every time if we'd ever wind up together. We hadn't thus far, but we both allowed the affair to continue.

I'd fallen for Usagi, and so had she. We both knew this, and knew the other knew it, but had never spoken about it. Neither of us, I figured, wanted to label this thing as a substitute for what we couldn't have.

I'd met her in the orchard one night, and there, in the seclusion of the trees, we'd fallen together as always. Her hands roaming my body brought back memories, memories from another lifetime. Those deep, unusual eyes darkened with lust had a different hue in the light of the moon. And everything clicked into place for me.

This thing had been bothering me because I had fallen for her. Those eyes in the moonlight brought those memories to the surface, memories that had never occured to me during our encounters, but always afterward. We'd always left the lights off during our previous encounters, but this time, when I could actually see her, the color of those eyes... the color of Mars' eyes, Venus in me awakened fully, and the realization of the loss of this love caused me to falter so badly she'd cupped my cheek and looked at me questioningly. I kissed her in response, allowing all of the energy, the feeling to release in that kiss, in that moment.

That moment had taken me back millennia, to the time that Venus and Mars had shared their first kiss.

We continued falling together after that, but the bittersweet side was that I could only have part of what I wanted. I had her body, but Usagi still had her soul.