DISCLAIMER: No.
WORDCOUNT: 812
SUMMARY: Oh yeah. Vive le angst! And let's admit it, Shitennou/Senshi pairings have so much of it. Ami/Zoicite.
FEEDBACK: Please?

Written for the 'betrayal' challenge at sm monthly

PARTING WORDS

by Leni

Gazing longingly at the blue planet above her, Mercury thought of his parting words. How could he not understand? And the look in his face, so wild and sinister; she had barely recognized her lover in the man who'd asked her to come to Earth as his right hand. Together, they were unstoppable, Zoicite had said. With her knowledge and his Southern armies, they'd gain Beryl's favour in a heartbeat.

She had known her answer since the beginning, but she still had to ask. "Why?"

His blue eyes had shone with anticipated power, and Mercury was forced to hide the chill that went through her at the sight. Zoicite could be a dangerous man, she had always known that. But he'd been so devoted to Endymion that all his abilities had been focused to fulfill his Prince's orders. Mercury knew that Endymion wasn't the one Zoicite was following this time, and his words only confirmed that notion: "Because Beryl will win."

She'd shaken her head sadly.

His eyes had narrowed as his hand shot to grab her elbow. "No?" She didn't yelp as his grip tightened, but tears came to her eyes as she compared this moment to the countless other caresses he'd gifted her with in the past. "I came for you, my love. I braved Beryl's displeasure and your Queen's commands to take you with me. And you deny me?"

"My place is here," she whispered. She flinched instinctively as the darkness in her bedroom flared dangerously. "Yours too, as long as Endymion lives in the palace."

His eyes fixed with hers, and Mercury tried desperately to find the man she'd fallen in love within that blue tempest.

"You don't love me," he murmured, and he sounded shaken by the idea. Closing his eyes in what appeared to be resignation, he released his grasp on her.

"I do," she said gently, purposely not rubbing the spot he'd grabbed even though it hurt. Instead she walked the few steps remaining between them, trying to show how much she still trusted him. "I love the man who accompanied me on Earth for my first visit. I love the warrior who shared his secrets with me. I love you now, even as you're making a mistake."

"A mistake?" He chuckled bitterly. "But you're the one giving us up."

She reached for his shoulder, felt the rough texture of his uniform as she had many times before. Then her hand raised to his cheek and she was so tempted to move to her tiptoes and kiss him. But that wouldn't solve anything. Mercury knew that she stood on a crossroad, and whatever path she chose, she would never be able to look back. Except that there was no choice to be made; the decision was ingrained into her deeper than love and heartbreak. "If you can't accept why I'm staying, maybe it's you who never loved me." But he had loved her. She knew it with the surety that she knew of every book in the Main Library and every element in the universe.

He remained silent, looking down at her, studying her. Then he sighed and his shoulders slumped in silent defeat.

For a second she thought that he'd thought it better. That he'd realized how erroneous his intentions were. He'd stay, and she wouldn't have to suffer the same as Jupiter, Venus and Mars. But his eyes opened, and the shadows swirling within spoke for him. Mercury realized that she'd been wrong, that she'd lose him. "No." The word escaped her unintentionally. The first lesson as a Guardian Senshi was not to let the enemy glimpse your weakness. But this was Zoicite, and it was impossible to think of him as an enemy to the Moon Kingdom. Except that he was. He'd sided with Beryl and betrayed his oath to his Prince.

And yet he looked as if he was the betrayed one. "We'll see each other in battle, Lady of Mercury." With those words, he bowed low towards her, and she felt the beginnings of magic thread around his body in preparation for a transporting spell.

This time it was she who closed her eyes. Not in resignation, but so that she wouldn't have to watch him leave. Now she wished that she'd seen him. One last time before the approaching war.

'We'll see each other in battle,' Zoicite had said, and he'd left before she had any chance to stop him.

She was powerless to stop the doom looming over their heads. She felt like she couldn't even breathe when her comrades-in-arms were all mourning the loss of their hearts. Right now, as she closeted herself in her rooms and looked at Earth, Mercury had Zoicite's last words haunt her. He may as well have replaced 'see' with 'kill', for Mercury knew that was what the fate awaiting them.

The End
08/01/06

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