"Artemis in Love" by May Elliott

I do not own Sailor Moon, have borrowed these characters and don't pretend to be fortunate enough to have created Aino Minako or Artemis or any of the others, so sit back and enjoy the ride.
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Aino Minako stormed into her room, making sure to slam the door behind her. She didn't get angry too often, but when she did, all hell broke loose. Artemis stirred from his sleep as she stamped across her floor, and threw herself atop her bed. He looked up at her, afraid to say anything to further anger her.
After a long silence, Minako looked at the faithful cat and demanded, "Well, aren't you going to ask me what's wrong?"
"I was going to, but I didn't want to make you and more upset than you obviously are. So let's start over, what's wrong Minako?" the cat politely asked.
"Well let me tell you," the beautiful blonde began, "it all started this morning. Usagi is going all guy crazy since Mamoru is away at school. Today she decided she wanted to get her navel pierced so she could show it off to all the guys at the beach. OK, whatever I decided I would go with her. So I did and the most beautiful guy was there." Minako paused, lustfully recalling this man's image. "Anyway, Usagi was getting all flirty with him and it turns out that he was the piercer. So he pierces her belly button and starts with this 'Wow, you've got a sexy stomach crap'. Well, I'm sorry, she has a man, and just because he's away doesn't give her permission to take every other man in the world away from the rest of us girls. I mean, I'm supposed to be named after the Roman goddess of love, right? Well, one would think it would rub off...but anyway, you know how I get, I was feeling very competitive..."
"Please don't tell me you did anything stupid, Mina..." interrupted the cat.
"Stupid? No, not stupid, maybe impulsive. So anyway, I decided to fight fire with fire and kindly asked the guy to pierce my nipples. Let me tell you it hurt like a goddamnsonofabitch," Minako winced as Artemis sighed in dissaproval. "Well, I thought I had won, but oh was I wrong. Little miss 'worship me because I'm the moon princess' decides to get her clitoral hood pierced. Well she did and there's no way I could top that. And who do you think she left with, the piercing guy took his break to take her out to lunch, leaving me standing there, looking like a complete knucklehead. So tell me, Artemis, how is it that I have never had a real successful relationship and she gets guys to fall in love with her wherever she goes?"
"Oh, Minako, there's a lot that you don't know about your love-life past on the moon. I think it's time to tell you a story, it's a beautiful, but tragic love story, would you like to hear it?"
"You know, Artemis," Minako said with a sigh, "I would love to hear a love story about my past me." She smirked at the though and began to change into her night clothes. As she threw her little yellow sundress and panties on the floor, her fresh piercings were exposed, reminding Minako of her recent love failure. She quickly put on a lace, pink nightgown as Artemis began his tale.
"Long ago, back in the Moon Kingdom, there was a great general named Kunzite. You know Kunzite in this life as the evil follower of Queen Beryl. Kunzite, however was not always evil. He was a faithful follower of Prince Endymion. He was very successful and powerful.
"One day, he sent an anonymous bouquet of flowers to the most beautiful young woman on the moon kingdom. This young woman, the princess of Venus, and protectoress of the Moon Princess, received the flowers along with a note, asking for a secret meeting in the garden at midnight.
"Midnight came, and the beautiful maiden awaited her secret admirer. He came and she was shocked. The handsome, powerful Kunzite favored her, and she could not believe it. The two sipped champagne by the light of the earth.
"It was not their last date, in fact, the next day, Kunzite officially announced that he was courting Sailor Venus. The two embarked on an intense relationship and fell deeply in love. Everything seemed to be going perfectly well until the soldierette began to notice nasty changes in Kunzites personality. He began to become angry and sharp more often. He then showed subtle signs of paranoia and cynicism. No one else knew of this except for her, until one terrible day when he beat her after she asked what was bothering him.
"Sailor Venus sought out one of Queen Serenity's advisors. He was a young man, but very wise. The Advisor thought it was time to tell the young princess about a brewing conspiracy that had recently been discovered, with her lover at the center. Apparently, he had been drawn to the dark side and was planning to attack the Moon Kingdom. If he and his allies were capable of destroying Queen Serenity and her daughter Princess Serenity, the power of Light would be destroyed, allowing the Dark powers to take over.
"Sailor Venus was very distraught at this news. She thought she had found the man of her dreams, when he was secretly plotting to destroy the one thing she was sworn to protect. As much as she loved him, she decided that she must stay away from him. Soon after their conversation, Kunzite and the rest of the corrupt generals were banished from the Moon Kingdom.
"The beautiful princess became close friends with the Advisor, after her heartbreaking decision to stay true to justice. They spent all of their free time together and became inseparable. The Advisor was a shy, old fashioned kind of guy. The princess was very flirtacious towards him, often hinting of her desires to be with him romantically, but he did everything in his power to keep the relationship plutonic, even though his deepest desire in the world was to become her lover. As the Queen's adviser, he felt it best to try not to let himself become distracted, especially because there was rumor of an upcoming attack of the Dark Kingdom at an upcoming ball.
"One fine afternoon, the two were strolling through the market. Sailor Venus was looking for a new piece of jewelry to wear to the upcoming ball being thrown for Princess Serena.
"As she was trying on a beautiful necklace ornamented with a single rose quartz, she looked up into the eyes of the Advisor and asked in her lovely voice, 'I know it is our duty to go to the ball, you as the Queen's advisor, and me as the Princess's bodyguard, but I was wondering if it could be possible that we go together?'
"The Advisor wanted more than anything to go with, but he felt he had to decline, work relationships seemed inappropriate to him. He was about to gently turn her down, when she gently batted her eyelashes. The Advisor turned a deep shade of red, and said, 'My lady, I would love to escort you to the ball.'
"If I remember correctly, the sweet little princess responded with, 'I'm so glad you said yes, I wasn't sure that you would until you turned that spectacular shade of crimson.'
"The night of the ball, the Advisor nervously knocked on the door of her chamber. When the princess of Venus opened the door, he felt his breath slowly melting away. She was lovely, of course she was always lovely, but tonight she looked like the Goddess incarnate. Her long, golden gown perfectly matched her beautiful blonde hair. Her eyes and lips shined like the sea on a sunny day. The Advisor did not realize how long he had been standing there dumbfounded, when the young women abruptly closed the door, smiled seductively, and suggested that they get down to the main hall before the party was over.
"He escorted her down the stairs and they made their grand entrance to the ball. It was a huge shock to nearly everyone there, because no one expected the sexiest, sweetest courtier in the Kingdom to be attending with the generally shy, level-headed advisor of the Queen. There was even more shock, because no one had ever seen a woman more beautiful than Sailor Venus looked tonight. There was no finer example of a woman in the universe.
"The night was full of dancing, drinking, and merrymaking. It was perhaps the finest ball that the moon kingdom had ever seen. The young princess of Venus and the Adviser were in the midst of a beautiful waltz, when she leaned over and whispered into his ear, 'I must speak with you, it's imperative. Do you think we could find someplace a little more private?' The Adviser turned that stunning shade of crimson once again, because there was something very powerful and seductive in her voice. The two broke from the waltz and quickly walked over to the balcony. To their disappointment, it was already occupied by Princess Serena and Prince Endymion. They quickly slipped away from the balcony to continue their search for privacy. Soon after, they successfully snuck into a vacant hallway.
"In fear of turning that intense color of red once more, the Adviser looked away as he asked his beautiful date, 'What is it you needed to talk about?', but before he could get the words out, he could feel warm, passionate lips on top of his. He instinctively embraced her as they fervently kissed each other with burning passion.
"The woman pulled back from the kiss. 'I love you,' she began, 'I thought I was in love with Kunzite, but that was nothing compared to this.' She again continued, pleading, 'I know they say you're old fashioned, I know you're hesitant about pursuing me, but if you feel the least bit of love for me, take me back to my chamber and make love to me, I beg you.'
"The Adviser was speechless. He was a firm lover of tradition, you know, the fall in love, get married, then experience the fruits of love theory. He was beginning to realize, however, that in the midst of a beautiful seductress, whom he had successfully fallen in love with, this general pattern would certainly have to be broken.
"He was half a second away from parting his lips, in order to confess his love and longing to make love to her, when a piercing scream rang out through the castle.
"In a split second, the princess had transformed into her Sailor Scout form, and the two were rocketing towards the commotion. As they entered the main ballroom, they realized that the Dark Kingdom had infiltrated the ball. The two parted, the young woman towards the Moon Princess, and the Adviser toward his Queen. The battle had begun.
"In a shocking act of bravery, as you have heard before, the Queen sacrificed herself in order to transport her daughter and the rest of the Moon Kingdom into the distant future, while the two young courtiers never got a change to share their love."
"Oh Artemis," Minako sighed, "That was such a sad story." She looked down onto the carpet to where the cat had been telling his story, but to her utter surprise, Artemis was in her human form. She had only seen this form once before, when he was saving her from the Dark Moon Circus, and was still just as shocked at his genuine handsome looks. "Artemis, why are you in your human form?" She asked in a soft, shocked tone.
"Mina-chan, hundreds of years ago, you confessed that you loved me. I do not know if you still feel that way, but I want to tell you what I never got to tell you that night at the ball. I love, Mina-chan. I always have and always will. Even when you were courting Kunzite, I loved you."
Artemis got up off of the floor and walked over to Minako's window. He gazed intently into the night, in order to avoid the gaze of Minako. It was true that he loved her more than life itself, but she didn't even remember when she loved him. He doubted that she could feel anything for him because all Minako ever knew of him was of his life as a cat. How could a beautiful young woman be in love with a cat?
"Oh, Artemis, I do love you. You're always there for me. You're so sweet and calm. And my gods, your human form is so stunning." She got up off of her bed and joined him at the window. At her confession, he had turned to face her lovely visage. The two embraced and kissed passionately. The Advisor and his princess had finally confessed there love. Were they to live happily every after? It looked that way, as long as Luna didn't find out...

*End*