AN: A FanFic written for a Secret Santa exchange. I don't think that the recipient ever received it, but here it is. While I'm not remotely opposed to yuri, Rei/Minako is not usually a pairing that I write. However, Rei/Mina in the SilMil is what was wanted, so here it is...
Damn the Consequences
The raven-haired beauty was fuming, enough that potential suitors were staying far away from her in order to not get singed. As it was, Serenity had asked Amelie to keep an eye on Reika and to put out any fires that the Martian Princess might set.
While Reika fumed, Amina danced, seemingly unaware of the anger of her fellow princess or the assignment of another one of her fellows. She danced with men and women, flirted and smiled. At the moment, she was dancing with a Mercurian Count, a cousin of Amelie's. When the count said something to the Venutian, her melodic laughter filled the ball room.
Reika barely heard Amelie sigh as she waved her hand to douse a small fire which she had started. Fortunately, Amelie had caught the flame before anyone else had noticed it. Reika registered the power that she had used only moments after Amelie had sighed. She had the grace to blush and mutter an apology.
"You know, you could end all of this. Take the advice that you gave me just a few earths ago. Tell her how you feel." Amelie smiled sympathetically to the other young woman. "Even if Amina does not feel the same way, it'll be better than this seething and occasional explosions."
Reika blinked and looked over at the smaller woman. It took her a moment before she realized what the problem was. "She knows."
This time it was Amelie's turn to blink. "Oh." There was clear confusion written on the smaller woman's expression. She had thought that Amina would be more gentle, more careful if she knew the truth. "I'm sorry, Reika." She turned to look at their leader dancing, now with the Jovan princess, and Amelie found herself grimacing. She knew that Leida and Amina were friends and that Leida would not betray her, but that did not help the situation with Reika at the moment.
Reika shook her head, "You misunderstand, Ames. Amina does feel the same way."
The normally brilliant Mercurian Princess found herself at a loss. "I don't understand, Rei."
"I'm not sure I do either." She sighed softly. Reika's feelings at seeing Amina and Leida dance were complicated. She was jealous, more so than with any of the partners with whom Amina had seemingly flirted. Yet at the same time, she knew that they were friends and that Leida was more than happy with Amelie.
As she watched them, she remembered the discussion she had had with Amina just a week before.
"You finally come to your senses. We're together. And you want to keep it a secret. Reika, I love you, but love is not supposed to be something to be ashamed of, it should be celebrated, lauded, held up and glorified. What you're asking of me…" She shook her head, "It goes against everything I believe, Reika."
Reika sighed as she ran her fingers through the long blonde hair which cascaded down the Venutian beauty's bare shoulders. "I know, Amina. And I'm sorry. If I could, I would declare my love for you at the very next ball. But…" She sighed again and shrugged.
"But of all the members of the Silver Alliance, the Kingdom of Mars is the most repressed."
"Amina! We are not repressed. We just tend to be more traditional."
Amina laughed, "I never said that you were repressed, love. And that tendency to tradition is, at times, the very definition of repression."
Reika closed her eyes, trying not to lose her temper at her lover and leader. She bit back a comment about how not being licentious was not, necessarily, being repressed. "Amina, love… Please, you have to try to understand. Right or wrong, my people simply have a different understanding of what is acceptable and what is not."
Amina raised an eyebrow and pushed herself up onto her elbow so that she was looking down at her dark haired lover. "Bullocks, Reika. I've seen several same sex couples from Mars. It is not the people of Mars who are 'traditional' or 'repressed.' It is only the nobility."
"That's fine, Amina. But in case you didn't notice, I'm the Heir to the Martian throne. I am a noble. And if the rest of the nobility were to discover us, there would be a revolt."
Amina rolled her eyes and got out of the bed, beginning to pull her clothes on.
"Where are you going?"
"I'll keep us secret, Reika. But there's only so far that this relationship can go as long as you lie to yourself."
Reika jumped out of the bed and gently grabbed the other woman's elbow. "What do you want, Amina?"
"I want you to tell the truth – to me and to yourself. It's not your people that you're scared of finding out. It's not the Martian nobles. And I'm not claiming that admitting the truth, that owning what you're really scared of is going to make it any easier. But just maybe it's the first step to accepting yourself."
Amina did not pull away from Reika. She loved the other woman, and had been waiting for a long time for her to recognize that they were right for each other. She was willing to continue to be patient, but only if Reika was going to try to make this work as well.
Reika clenched her jaw and dropped her hand from Amina's elbow. "Amina…"
Amina shook her head and finished getting dressed. "Intimacy is a key part of love, Reika. Without it, it's just lust. And don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of lust, but I'm in love with you. This won't work without intimacy, and there is no intimacy without honesty. I'll be waiting for you when you're ready."
Reika watched as the woman she loved started to walk out the door. "My father! I'm afraid of my father. He's accepted that his heir is a daughter, but he wouldn't accept this. How am I supposed to have an heir myself if I'm with a woman?"
Amina turned around and smiled at her lover, listening to the difficult admission. She wrapped her arms around her. "We have a while to worry about heirs just yet. But I'm sure when the time comes, we can find a willing father." She kissed the other woman and then nuzzled against her neck. "Thank you, love."
Reika sighed, "I'm not ready to tell him, Amina."
"I know." She felt the Martian's arms come around her, and she smiled. After a moment she pulled back, "That means in public, I have to behave the same way I always have. Are you going to be ok with that?"
"I have to be, don't I?"
"So I lied. I'm not ok with it…" Reika sighed as she watched Amina dancing with yet another person – this time a respected Neptunian artist, a friend of Princess Mikhaila's.
Amelie raised an eyebrow, "With what are you not ok, Reika?"
Reika smiled to her friend, "Amina agreed to keep our relationship a secret." Amelie managed not to appear offended by this, though Reika knew that Serenity and Leida would be, and that Amelie would just not admit to feeling any offense. "We would have told you all soon. It's more my father that I was worried about."
Amelie nodded, everything beginning to make sense. "But if she behaves any differently, people will start wondering why. And someone could figure it out, and it would get back to your father."
Reika nodded. "I thought I'd be ok. But I'm not." She smiled to her friend, "I won't start any more fires, and Leida looks like she needs you in her arms. Go to her."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure, Amelie." She watched as the normally sedate Mercurian moved with a sweet smile over to the Jovian Princess, as Leida grinned seeing her come over to him. She smiled as she watched them kiss.
"Sometimes, the consequences are more than worth it. Especially for love, Rei."
Reika smiled, "You would know, Serenity."
"I would. And you should trust your people. Your father won't be able to disown you. You're loved, Reika; they won't let him."
Before Reika could turn to thank the Moon Princess, she had slipped off again.
Taking a deep breath, Reika moved over to Amina and gently tapped her shoulder, "May I have this dance?"
Amina turned and raised an eyebrow. "Of course, Princess."
Reika smiled and pulled her girlfriend securely into her arms, kissing her soundly and not caring who else saw or what the consequences would be.
What Reika did not see as she kissed the Venutian Princess was the "V for Victory" sign that she flashed.