WARNING!!!
Mamoru lovers beware!!!!
Tales
from the Silver Millennium
by
Sakura
Jadeite's
Tale
I am
lonely like the moon
You are
as faraway as the earth
Now you
say I light your thoughts
Night
after night
Soon
you forget
We are
drifting in this dance
I can
feel you circle my heart
Keeping
just a graceful distance
So
close, but somehow apart
Sometimes
I cry for you
Knowing
you don't want me to
Sometimes
I whisper to the stars up in the sky
That I
want to find the way to your soul
Kiss in
the sun when morning comes
You
don't seem to count the hours
When we
are together
I've
seen a tender fire in your eyes
Yet,
when I'm gone, you carry on
I float
in this emptiness
Till at
last love returns
With
the night and the lonely moon
--The Lonely Moon (Tenchi Muyo)
He was one of two of Endymion's guardians
to be born on the small blue and green planet.
He and the prince grew up together since
Jadeite's parents were close friends of King Herne and Queen Gaia. the two boys
quickly became best of friends as they spent their days together in the same
school.
As the boys grew older, Jed began his
training as a guardian. It had been decided that since Endymion and him spent
so much time together and were such good friends, he should be Endymion's
personal bodyguard. Much to his dismay and Endymion's, Jed was forced to
separate from his best and only friend to train far away for what he didn't
know. No one ever told him. They just thrust the training upon him.
Meanwhile the prince was to go through
similar training to learn how to be an ambassador for his planet. While Jed was
off training gods-knew-where, Endymion was taken from planet to planet meeting
the various royalties and leaders. It would be years be he ever saw his home planet
again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Endymion! What are you doing here?!
How'd you find me?!" said Jadeite running up to his friend.
"I brought him here lad." said
Antares, captain of the royal guard and also trainer of Endymion's guardians.
"It seems that his highness wishes to train with you Jadeite." he
said putting his hand on the prince's shoulder.
"Endy. Is it true? You're going to
stay here?" asked Jed hoping this wasn't a dream. He had missed his friend
so much.
"Hai Jed. If Captain Antares thinks
I'm worthy enough." said Endymion.
"Oh, that you are lad. I've seen you
best some of my best men. It'll be a great honor to teach you. said the
captain.
"I guess that means I'm
staying." said the prince.
"Good I hate having only this old
geezer to talk to." joked Jadeite.
He hugged his best friend whom he hadn't
seen for years. "I missed you Endy."
"I missed you too, Jed."
"Well, since you don't seem to like
my company, I decided to get some more young blood over here. Anyway a young
pup like you shouldn't have to be burdened by an 'old geezer' like me."
said Antares.
They both knew that neither was a burden
to the other of them and that they enjoyed each other's company. Antares was
like a father to Jadeite. Even more of a father than his real one.
"Jed I'm not the only who's going to
be joining you." said Endymion.
"What do you mean Endy?"
The prince gestured for someone to come
forward and three people, two boys and a girl stepped out of the royal
transport. One boy had long, wavy auburn hair and seemed to be about Jed and
Endymion's age. The other had long silver-white hair and cool blue-grey eyes.
The girl had long, wavy blonde hair the color of honey. She looked to be about
eighteen, but her emerald green eyes told a different story. They stood near
the prince. "Jed, this is Kunzite Shidou, Nephrite Stanton, and
'Milady.'"
"Hello, Jadeite is it?" said the
silver haired boy. Jed nodded. "I'm Kunzite, from Venus." He extended his hand and the
blond boy shook it.
"Call me Jed. All my friends
do."
"I'm Nephrite, from Krynn. Pleased to
meet you." said the auburn haired boy shaking hands with him.
"I too am from Krynn. I am honored to
meet a friend of Endymion-ouji-san's." said 'Milady.'
Jed couldn't help but stare at her. He'd
never seen anything like her. Her features were delicate. Too delicate to be a
human. Her eyes seemed to burn straight into his soul. She had a regal bearing
and she knew it.
"The honor is mine, my lady."
said Jed taking her hand and gently kissed it. "May I have the pleasure of
knowing your name?"
She stiffened at the young man's seemingly
innocent question. Seeing her discomfort, Nephrite quickly diverted their
attention. "Captain, I'm sure 'Milady' would like to see her quarters."
The girl silently thanked her gods for her
comrade's timely interruption.
"Of course. The lass is probably
tired from such a long journey. Right this way, my lady." said the old
captain forgetting to wait for her as he began walking toward the barracks.
"My lady." said Kunzite offering
his arm to her.
She looked at the boy as if he'd insulted
her. She started to say something, but changed her mind and put her hand on his
arm and let him lead her after the captain.
"Strange girl." said Jadeite.
"She's been through some tough times,
Jadeite-san. Best leave her alone till she gets used to you." warned
Nephrite.
"What do you mean 'tough
times'?" the blond asked.
"Jed, if she wants to talk about it,
she will. Just forget about it." said Endymion.
"I guess you're right, Endy. I can
show you two where the men's barracks are. They're over here."
The two boys followed their blond friend
to their quarters.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Over the months of training, the five of
them became inseparable. Especially the girl, whose name was Zoisite, and
Kunzite. After finishing their training, Prince Endymion, and his four
guardians returned to the royal palace on Earth.
Each of the guardians were given a
residence of their own not too far from the palace. Jadeite however chose to
remain at the palace because he wished to be near his best friend, the prince.
The next couple of years were peaceful
ones for the planet Earth and the guardians used the time to pursue their individual
interests or whatever caught their fancy. Nephrite perfected his ability to use
the power of the stars. A talent he had hidden from his friends since he was
afraid of being labelled a wizard. Besides from being an amateur astronomer, he
also on occasion would sell bits of jewelry he'd made, a practice he had on his
home planet of Krynn. During one of the diplomatic missions to the Moon
Kingdom, he had fallen in love with one of Princess Serenity's guardians, the
Princess of Jupiter.
Zoisite started a garden, one to almost
rival those on the Moon. She managed to coax almost any plant to grow in the
earth's soil. There were plants from every planet in the Silver Millennium.
Even the extremely rare pale purple roses of Saturn. The one plant she could never
could convince to grow for her was the Vallenwood tree of her home planet
Krynn. This saddened her for she secretly missed her elven homeland with its
tall vallenwoods. Eventually, she moved in with Kunzite, who she'd fallen in
love with.
Kunzite went back to his artistic studies
which he sorely missed. But once Zoey moved in he hardly had the time to do
anything artistic. ;)
Jadeite spent most of his time with
Endymion in the royal library reading and cataloguing the vast collection of
intergalactic works it contained. He also began to build a small one of his own
at his house.
Everything was peaceful for Jed. Until the
day SHE came into his life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jadeite was returning from a visit with
Nephrite when he noticed a strange girl in a dark brown tunic, rust colored
shirt, and olive green trousers with boots matching her tunic wandering through
the woods near his house. Her hair was in a long blonde braid that reached to
her ankles. She had her back to him so she didn't see him pull out his sword
and sneak up behind her.
The girl seemed to be more interested in
the trees than watching her back like she should have. Before she knew it, she
felt someone grab her from behind and place a sword at her throat. She began to
scream but a gloved hand immediately covered her mouth.
"Make a sound or move a muscle and
I'll cut your throat." he said. He slowly removed his hand form her mouth
once she stopped struggling. He turned the girl around so he could see her
face.
He stared at her for what seemed to him to
be an eternity. Hers was the most beautiful face he'd ever seen, well almost.
Zoisite's beauty was to be unmatched, but this girl had an ethereal quality.
She had pale alabaster skin the color of moonshine. Her eyes were two sapphires
that lit up her kawaii little face. He long hair was the color of sunshine,
rivaling Zoisite's of golden honey. Her forehead was covered with a white
headband.
God, she's beautiful! Where'd she come
from? he thought. "All right, who are you and just what are you doing
this close to the palace?" he asked her removing his sword from her throat
but not from her body. He held the weapon in front of him just in case she
tried anything.
"I-I got lost. I-I just wanted to see
what a forest looked like. I've never really seen one." she stammered.
"Never seen a forest? Where'd you
come from, the moon?" he said sarcastically and narrowed his eyes. Is
she for real? What kind of idiot does she think I am?
"N-no. Well, I've seen pictures, but
I've never actually been to one. P-please d-don't kill me. I just wanted to see
an Earth forest."
Earth forest? That means she's...
"You're from one of the other planets?!"
"H-hai. I-I know I shouldn't be here,
but I just had to see what the earth was like. You see I've never been here
before, in fact I've never left home before."
"Well, that would explain your
clothes, but not what are you doing this close to the king's palace,
girl."
"The king's palace?? Oh no! I've
really got to be going. I-I shouldn't be here."
"You've got that right." He
raised his sword.
"Please don't tell anyone about me.
I-I meant no harm, honest. I-I just wanted to see your planet, that's all.
WAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!" She began wailing as soon as Jadeite's sword reached her
throat again.
Seeing that she was telling the truth, Jed
lowered his sword and sheathed it. He put his hand on her shoulder and said,
"Daijoubu. I won't hurt you. Just be more careful next time you decide to
visit another planet, especially this one. Our king doesn't care for aliens
much."
The girl stopped crying and looked at him
incredulously. "A-arigato." she stammered still trembling.
"If you'd like, you may rest at my
house for a while before you return to wherever it was you came from."
said Jed giving her time to dry her tears and regain her composure.
"Arigato. But I don't wish to
impose-" she began once she recovered from the shock of almost having her
throat cut.
"It's no trouble at all. It's just
beyond that clearing over there. I just happened to be on my way there when I
saw you. No one will bother you there since I'm the only one who goes
there." he said.
She looked at the blond man not knowing if
she could trust him or not. But fatigue finally made her give in since the trip
to the earth and having her life threatened had taken its toll on her. She
stumbled on a loose root and he helped her up. "Well, if it's that close,
then all right. I'll just rest there if you don't mind."
"It's no bother. I was going there,
as I said before, to get a few things before heading back to the palace. No one
should come so you're free to stay as long as you like." What in the
name of Queen Serenity am I doing?! Inviting a potential spy or assassin into
my home. I hope my instincts are right on this. Her speech is too cultured for
an assassin or a spy. Just who are you?
"Arigato. I really appreciate this.
Coming here made me really tired." Not to mention you almost killed
me. she silently added. She gave a yawn then quickly blushed.
"Yes, well I can imagine. Come, it's
this way - um what's your name?"
"My name? It's, um," she
searched for a fake name to give him, not wanting to risk her true identity.
Just then a rabbit hopped by across their path. "My name's Usagi."
she said.
"Usagi. Interesting name." he
said. He knew it was a false name, but didn't press further. She must have
a good reason for keeping her name a secret. Probably someone important and
doesn't want to cause a scandal. He smiled at that thought. A scandal was
just what the Earth Kingdom needed to break the monotony of a peaceful life.
"I am very pleased to meet you, 'Lady Usagi.'"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The girl spent the night at his house,
just as she said she would. When he came back in the morning to check up on
her, he saw that she was gone, but not before cleaning the house and making the
bed.
Hmph. She's a better housekeeper than
I am. Jadeite thought as he admired 'Lady Usagi's' handiwork. On the
kitchen table was a note addressed to him. He picked it up and looked at the
neat script written on the paper. Excellent penmanship too. Just who are
you Usagi? He read the letter.
'Lord Jadeite,
Please do not be alarmed that I am not
here. I had to return home. I just wish to thank you for permitting me to rest
at your charming home. I tried to repay the favor by cleaning your home a bit.
I hope I have not offend you.'
Hardly, my lady. he thought with
an amused smile. He went back to reading.
'I do not think this could ever repay your
kindness to me. I am eternally grateful to you for not turning me over to the
king. I feel I will never be able to repay you. Perhaps someday I will, if we
meet again. Though it is very unlikely we will. I shall miss your fascinating
conversation.
Domo arigato gozaimashite.
Ever grateful,
Lady Usagi Tsukino'
He smiled and gently refolded the letter
and placed it inside his uniform tunic, but not before holding it up to his
nose breathing in the faint scent of her perfume, still fresh on the paper. He
left his house and went to his duties.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Months passed by and 'Lady Usagi' had not
returned. Jadeite was both saddened and glad at the same time. He spent every
waking day trying not to think of her. He thought it'd be easy to forget a mere
girl, but he was wrong. Very wrong.
Ever since the evening he found her
wandering in the woods, he had been unable to get Usagi out of his mind.
What's wrong with me? She's only a
girl. Hardly sixteen. Of course she's beautiful, but she's too young. I don't
even know how or where to find her. he thought, staring off into space.
He and Endymion were fishing at a stream
in the woods near Nephrite's house.
"Terra (a coin similar to a penny)
for your thoughts." said the prince noticing Jed's far away stare. The
blond haired guardian paid no attention. Endymion got a mischievous look on his
face and said, "Your hair's on fire."
"That's interesting." said Jed
not exactly listening. "NANI?!" he said jumping up frantically
patting his head. Once he was sure his hair was still on his head, he shot his
friend a black look. "That.... was NOT funny."
"To you maybe, Jed, but it sure was
to me." said the prince laughing hysterically.
"Why you!" Jadeite threw himself
on top of the prince and began twisting his arms.
"OK! OK! I give up! Gomen!"
"Say 'oji'(uncle), and I might
forgive you." said Jed.
"You've gotta be kidding. OK, all
right, all right! OJI! OJI!" yelled the prince as Jadeite twisted his arms
some more.
"Apology accepted. Just don't try
that again, Endy."
Hidden amongst the trees, two pairs of
eyes watched the scene with great amusement, one chuckling at the prince's
'joke', the other at Jadeite's 'discipline.'
Zoisite giggled as she watched Jadeite
jump and pat his head. Looks like Endymion-kun's managed to trick Jade-kun.
AGAIN. she thought as she watched the friendly 'fight.' She heard someone
come up behind her. "They're at it again, love. You think we should break it
up?" she said without turning to see who had come.
"We'd better. We don't want to be
late for the fair." said Kunzite wrapping his arms around the elf woman.
The two lovers left to join their friends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From another part of the forest, a pair of
blue eyes watched Jadeite and Endymion 'fight.'
He's so strong. Not to mention
handsome! she thought with a giggle. I wonder who his friend is. He's
kinda cute, but Lord Jadeite's way cuter. Maybe I should get Miko-chan down
here next time, she'd definitely like the other guy. She stared at the
blond guardian longing to join him, but how could she with the dark haired man
with him.
Oh no! Not more of them. she
inwardly groaned. By the time I can talk to him, it'll be time to go home.
Oh! She's gorgeous!! She caught sight of a golden haired woman as she
stepped into view. OOOH! What a hunk!! she thought as a silver haired
man joined the woman. Rats! He's taken! she pouted.
Earth people are so beautiful, but
still Lord Jadeite's the best looking of them all. she said admiring the
view of Endymion and his guardians.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"OK you two. That's enough play for
now." said Zoisite as she came up to the two men.
"You don't want to miss the girls at
the fair, do you?" said Kunzite joining his love. She gave him a jab in
the ribs. "Ow, Zoey! You know I'm not interested in any other girls."
"Just making sure, love."
Endymion and Jadeite stopped wrestling
each other and brushed off their clothes.
"Hello Zoisite-chan. Where'd you come
from?" said Endymion.
"Aren't you two supposed to be getting ready for the fair?" asked
Jed.
"I was about to ask the same of you
two." she said.
"We'd better be going Jed. Don't want
to make fools of ourselves looking like this." said the prince and began
walking towards the palace.
Jadeite was about to follow when he sensed
they weren't alone.
"Coming Jed-kun?" asked Kunzite
seeing his friend's hesitation.
"You go ahead. I'll meet you there.
I've got some spare clothes at my house.
All right, just don't take too long."
said Zoey. She put her hand on Kunzite's arm and the two left the blond man
alone.
I know you're there, whoever you are.
So there's no use thinking you'll surprise me. he thought as he silently
left the stream and snuck behind where the intruder was hiding.
It was a girl. He stealthily came up
behind her and put one hand over her mouth and one arm around her waist. With
very little effort, he spun her around to look at her.
"YOU!" he said when he saw it
was the same girl he had met in the woods several months ago. He removed his
hand from her mouth.
"Hello Lord Jadeite. I've missed
you." she said with the biggest smile she could muster.
"What in Gaia's name are you doing
here, my lady?" he asked.
"I got lonely at home so I had to
come see you. What's all this talk of a fair?" she said her eyes lighting
up. She no longer had any fear of him. She knew he wouldn't turn her over to
the king.
"Lady Usagi, you really shouldn't be
here. If you're caught-"
"I already was caught. By YOU
silly." she giggled. "Please, Lord Jadeite take me to this fair
of yours. I'd really like to see an
Earth fair."
Is she crazy? Did she just ask me out
to a date? he thought as she brushed herself off and adjusted a few loose
hairs.
She was dressed as before and her hair was
in the same long braid. It really was becoming of her.
"Well, aren't you or not?" she
asked her bright eyes boring into his soul with their pleading.
It would be a good way to keep an eye
on her. Besides, what harm could it do? I could always pass her off as a
visiting cousin.
"All right, but you'll have to come
with me to my house so I can get a suitable change of clothes." he said.
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!" she said
jumping up and down like a child rather than the young woman she appeared to
be. "Arigato Jadeite-kun! Arigato!" she hugged him and gave him a
kiss on the cheek, then ran off towards his house.
For an eternity, he just stood there, his
hand on his cheek where she kissed him. What's wrong with me? She was just
thanking me. Why am I attracted to her? he thought over and over. So
much like a child, and yet... The thought was left unfinished as he heard a
familiar sound.
"Hey come on, slowpoke!" came
her voice as she ran up and pulled him off with her.
"Usagi-chan, my house is this
way." he said leading here in the right direction.
"Oh yeah." she said slightly
embarrassed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Jadeite 'escorted' Usagi to the
fair, they decided to go back to his house so that she could rest before going
back to wherever it was she came from. She was carrying a stuffed rabbit Jed
had won for her playing some game.
"Domo arigato, Lord Jadeite. I had a
wonderful time at the fair today. Thank you for getting this kawaii bunny for
me." she said as they walked through the woods.
"It was my pleasure, my lady."
he returned.
Feeling a bit tired, she put her head on his
shoulder. Without thinking, he put his arm around her waist.
Why does this feel right? I shouldn't
even be here with her. She's too young. Maybe in a few years... he thought
as they neared his house.
Why do I feel so strange inside? I
know I shouldn't be even doing this. Okasan would kill me if she ever found
out. But this feels so right. she thought as he helped her walk.
"Well, here we are, my lady." he
said opening the door to his home for her. "I enjoyed today as well."
He smiled as they walked through. "You've probably saved me from a day of
total boredom. Arigato." he took her hand and gently kissed it.
She turned bright red. "You're
welcome, Jadeite. I'm so glad I could see you again." she said smiling.
Before they knew what they were doing,
their heads got closer and closer until their lips met in a passionate kiss.
'Usagi' unconsciously dropped the stuffed rabbit.
What am I doing? We should be together
like this! ran through both their minds.
She's too young, barely an adult. I'm
at least six years older than her. thought Jed.
He's way older than me. Okasan
wouldn't approve. she thought.
But this feels so right. both
thought.
"Um, I should be going back to my
duties. You're welcome to stay as long as you like, Usagi-chan." said Jed
breaking from the kiss, creating an sense of uneasy embarrassment.
"Sayonara, my lady."
"Uh, thank you, Jadeite-kun. I'll
just rest here for a while. I really did enjoy seeing you again." she said
blushing. "Sayonara, Lord Jadeite. I hope to see you again someday."
She watched him leave the house and disappear through the woods before closing
the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After that day, Jadeite's life became a
whirlwind. He no longer tried to forget the girl, it was impossible. Instead he
tried his best to hide the fact that he'd fallen in love from the others. Of
course it wasn't easy, especially when he lived at the palace with Endymion,
his best and closest friend.
Endymion noticed the change in his closest
friend and tried to find out just what was going on with him. Jed just brushed
his friend's attempts off saying that he was just fine.
With the other guardians it was a bit
easier to hide his love from them. Zoisite and Kunzite were too wrapped up in
their own love to worry about their friend's sudden change in behavior.
Nephrite, however, noticed he was in love, but said nothing believing Jed was
entitled to his privacy. If he wanted to tell what was wrong, he would. Anyway
he had his own love to deal with. ;)
To make matters worse, he was losing sleep
when it was close to when his love was scheduled to come, for 'Usagi' would
visit and stay at his house every full moon for a few days. He'd toss and turn
trying to fall asleep. When she did come, he'd spend all of his free time with
her. This, however, had begun to wear on Jed and Endymion's friendship.
The prince and guardian began to grow
apart once Jadeite realized just how much he loved 'Usagi'. He had come to love
her more than his dearest and closest friend whom he had grown to call
'brother'.
As the year rolled by, he slowly began
moving his things from his wing in the palace to his house in the nearby woods.
He also began to make the house less Spartan so his lady love would be more
comfortable.
When it was finally finished, it was a day
before one of 'Usagi's' visits. He
spent the whole day at the house making sure nothing was out of place. He
wanted to impress his love with her new home away from home.
The next day, there was a knock at the
door.
She's here! She's come! he thought
as he rushed and opened the door, as he expected to see 'Usagi'. Instead of the
usual outfit of a simple tunic and trousers, she was wearing a flowing white
dress embroidered with pearls and gold moons along the neckline. Her hair was
not in the usual simple braid, but was done in two long ponytails with
meatballs at the tops. Her forehead was bare. Gone was the white headband she
always wore. A golden crescent moon peeked out from her bangs.
"Usako?" he asked hesitantly,
staring at the young woman before him. If she was beautiful before, she was
simply breathtaking now.
"Hai, Jed-kun. I'm 'Usagi'." she
said sadly.
When she entered the house, he said.
"Usako, doushita no koishii (What's wrong beloved)?"
"Jadeite, I've come to say
sayonara." she looked down at the floor unable to look at him.
"'Sayonara'? What do you mean,
Usa?"
"I've become engaged to someone else.
We can never be together again, my love. I've tried to get out of it, but
okasan is adamant about this. You could never imagine how much this is hurting
me telling you this." She began to weep. Great streams of tears fell from
her eyes.
He gently wrapped his arms around her
hoping it would comfort her a little. "Engaged? To whom?" he asked
pressing her close to his chest.
"Endymion-ouji." she managed to
say between sobs.
Endymion! How?! They've never met.
Anyway he's a prince, she's just a noble. Wait a minute! If she's supposed to
marry the prince, then she's a -!
"Hai, Jed-kun. I'm a princess."
she said guessing at his thoughts. "You'd've found out the truth sooner or
later so I guess it's time to tell you who I really am. I'm not just some
princess from some far away planet, I'm THE princess. Serenity."
"Serenity-hime?! Then that would mean
your mother is-"
"Queen Serenity. Hai. Please don't
hate me for lying to you for so long. But I had to keep my true identity a
secret. You see, if I hadn't, you and everyone else would have made a fuss over
me and I'd never be able to really see your wonderful planet. They would never
have let me leave the palace. I just wanted to experience the earth without all
the fuss. Gomen nasai, Jed-kun."
He held her even closer. "Usako.
Serenity. Thank you for telling me the truth, but it makes no difference to me
one bit. I'd love you no matter who or what you were. You're the only one I'll
ever love. I could never let you go, Usako."
"Please don't make this any harder
for me than it is Jed-kun. I love you and I always will, but we can never see
each other again as lovers. This'll be our last day together. Please don't be
sad koishii. I'm sure you can think of something to keep our minds off this
sadness." she said with a wink, returning to her usually cheerful self.
Not knowing what to do, Jadeite let
himself be led from room to room as she admired the decorating he'd done for
her. Eventually they had made their way upstairs to the bedrooms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jed felt her next to him as he lay on the
bed. She was on her side pressed as close to him as she could get. An arm was
draped across his chest. He carefully removed one arm from under hers and began
to tenderly stroke her golden hair, which she had undone the night before.
She awoke and murmured, "Aishiteru."
"Suki da yo." he said gently
placing her head on his chest.
"I wish I didn't have to go. I wish I
didn't have to marry Endymion-ouji." she said slowly sitting up.
"So do I koishii. So do I, but you
said it yourself. Your mother is adamant about this."
"Hai, and once again she's running my
life for me." she said leaning back into his embrace.
"What do you mean 'running your life'
for you, Usako? I thought Serenity was a fair and just queen." he said
kissing her neck.
"She is. But when it came to me, she
went from being the fair and just queen everyone loves to the overprotective,
yet loving mother I know and love. All my life, she chose my school lessons, my
clothes, even my hobbies for me. I never got to decide what I'd like to do. She
even chose my friends for me."
"Chose your friends for you?! Isn't
that a bit too far? The other things I can understand, but this?"
"She wanted me to have friends she
could trust to watch over me and to make sure I never left the palace without
them. You see she wanted to shield me from this 'Queen Beryl' she keeps
worrying about."
"So the senshi were hand picked by
her majesty herself?"
"Hai." She wormed out of his
arms and began to get dressed.
As she dressed herself, an idea formed in
her head, albeit an wicked one.
"Jed-kun, I love you so much, that I
can't bear to tear myself away from you."
"Then stay for a bit, koishii."
he said rising from the bed and wrapping his arms around her once more.
"I'll stay, but not just for a bit,
koibito." A mischievous gleam appeared in her sapphire eyes.
"Usako, what are you saying?"
"Let's elope, Jed. That way okasan
would have to call off the engagement. We can be together. Forever."
"Elope? But Usako-" he never
finished what he wanted to say. She had cut him off with a deep kiss. He sighed
mentally no longer resisting. "All right, Usagi. We'll elope." he
said when she freed his mouth.
"Oh arigato Jed-kun! You'll never
regret it. I'll come back tonight and we'll go to Venus and get married there.
Does that sound ok to you?"
"Of course, koishii. Whatever you
want." he kissed her one last time before letting her finish dressing and
getting dressed himself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But the princess did not come back. Not
that night nor any day after, making Jadeite even more miserable than he ever
was.
Over the next few months, he tried to
forget the fact that he still loved the Moon Princess. But as with before, he
couldn't. He'd see her everywhere he went. He heard her voice in every sound he
heard. In short everything around him reminded him of her. What made things
even worse was that he was a close friend to her fiance, Prince Endymion.
If their friendship began to drift apart
when he began seeing her, it most certainly was in danger of dying now. He had
started to hate his childhood friend for forcing his lover to marry him. He
tried to hate her for promising to runaway with him, then breaking her promise,
but he couldn't. His love for her wouldn't let him. He had been secretly
planning to go to the Moon Kingdom and make Queen Serenity listen to her
daughter's wishes. If that didn't work, he would leave the earth and its moon
never to return. He would go to a place where nothing was familiar to him,
where he could escape her.
But his plans never left the drawing
board.
One lonely night, Jed was in his small
library reading when he failed to notice a woman enter the room.
She had wavy, fiery red hair that reached
down to her ankles and blood red eyes. She had a black tiara studded with a
huge beryl on her forehead and was wearing a long, tight, sleeveless, purple
dress. She quitely came up behind him and peered at the book over his shoulder.
"My that must be a very interesting
book for you to not hear me come in, Jadeite." her voice was silken,
seductive.
He jumped from his chair dropping the book
and almost hitting his head on the ceiling. He reached for his sword and
realized he had taken it off earlier.
"Who are you and how did you get into
my house? The door was locked and warded." he managed to say after his
heart started beating again.
The woman smiled. "I am Queen Beryl
of the Dark Kingdom. No mere wards can stop me. I have come to speak with you
Lord Jadeite." she said in a calm voice without ever taking her eyes off
the handsome blond man before her.
"What do you want here woman? If it
were up to me, I would've run you through by now." He knew he was in
trouble, for no one could ever hope to defeat the 'Bitch Queen' of the Dark
Kingdom let alone insult her to her face and get away with it. But he had to
try. He wasn't about to give up without a fight.
"Ah, but it's not up to you is
it?" she said with a smirk. "I'm merely concerned about you
Jadeite." she used her seductive tone again.
What in the name of Gaia is this witch
playing at? he thought. "What do you mean concerned? Out with it
woman!"
Beryl smiled ignoring Jadeite's lack of
protocol. "It has come to my attention that you've grown apart from your
closest friend, the prince, due to Endymion's upcoming marriage to that little
twit, Princess Serenity no doubt. Ah, I see I'm right. Well, I came to tell you
this Jadeite. If you truly wish to get revenge on the prince, then join me. I
will help you get your precious princess back and maybe even help you to rule
the earth, for me of course. Come Jadeite, what do you say?" She stared
straight at him her blood red eyes boring into his soul. "I can see it in
your eyes. You want to do this." She came closer to him. He wanted to back
away, but wouldn't. Her silken voice held him in place.
She reached out and touched his cheek
tenderly. "Such a handsome, young man should not be so sad." she said
seductively. "Come join me Jadeite. Take my hand." She held out her
hand to him. Her fingers looked like claws.
He stood motionless, thinking over what
she had said to him. I know she lies, but if there is a chance to have my
'Usagi' come back to me, I must do what I can. Forgive me, Endy. Forgive me,
Usako, koishii. Two single tears fell as he reached out and took her hand.
Both were gone in a manner of seconds.
Author's
Notes:
1) I
know the song is from another anime, but I couldn't stop thinking of Usagi and
Jed every time I heard it. Besides I think it kinda fits.
2) I
know Zoey's a guy but I'm making him a her. Call it a little creative license,
if you will.
3) I
know Usagi's OOC here, but since Naoko-sama didn't write how Princess Serenity
was back then I decided to combine Usagi with what little I've seen of her
future self Neo-Queen Serenity.
C&C
extremely welcome. No flames please
Ja ne.
-Sakura (Firia@linainverse.com)