"Good afternoon, Nephrite, Jupiter." Mercury lifted her head from her book as the couple walked past her through the garden.
"Greetings, Mercury," Nephrite respectfully nodded.
"What are you two up to today?"
"He's taking me on a picnic," Jupiter gushed. "And then we're gonna go to the training room and spar."
"You're an interesting bunch," Mercury teased and went back to her reading. "Have fun."
They continued walking through the garden and passed their blonde friend.
"Hello Venus." Nephrite politely greeted.
"Yeah, hey," she grumbled, annoyed, as she continued quickly walking by.
"Wait here a sec," Jupiter told Nephrite as she ran after her lead guardian.
"Hey, what's your problem?! Look, I'm sorry it didn't work out with Kunzite, but you don't have to be so rude to Nephrite."
Venus rolled her eyes and turned around. "I'm sorry, okay? It's just that seeing happy couples flaunting themselves doesn't exactly make me feel good right now."
Jupiter let out a sympathetic sigh. "Someday you'll have it. I promise."
"You just keep saying that," Venus started to tear up as she practically ran away.
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Two weeks passed. Queen Serenity was having a small gathering at the moon kingdom, with a fancy meal and live classical music. Attendance was optional, so Venus chose to skip out. She was out back sitting by the pond, skipping stones.
"Miss Venus?" A maid came up behind her.
"Yes?"
"This just came in for you."
She handed her a small piece of paper with a short note.
"Dear Venus,
I deeply apologize for disappearing from the ball. We received an urgent notification from earth and my prince sent me back to investigate. I have not been able to get away. But if you will forgive me, I would love to see your beautiful face again.
Go to the pine tree on the south side of the palace.
Kunzite"
Venus jumped up in shock. He came back. He didn't ditch me. She looked towards the large pine tree he was referring to and slowly walked over. Expecting to find her love, she found another note instead, hanging in the pine needles on the lowest branch.
"From the moment I met you, I knew you were well worth pursuing. You are a bold, beautiful, godly woman and a strong leader and guardian of your princess, and you have captured my heart. I cannot imagine any other woman who I would want as my future wife. Will you travel the world by my side?"
She lifted her head up and Kunzite stepped out from behind a pillar. The soft breeze shook his cape and hair as he slowly walked her way, fixing a loving gaze on her.
"I…I didn't think I'd see you again," she managed, frozen.
"I could not leave without saying goodbye." He placed her face in his hands. "I'm in love with you, Venus."
She looked down and turned away. "Don't say you love me. You don't even know me. I'm not worthy of it."
He came around to face her again. "Goddess Aphrodite, you do not realize your value. You are a treasure, more than worthy of love."
Those last words stunned her for a moment. She locked eyes with his. "Serenity would always tell me that I deserve to be happy. General… you are the only person who has ever told me I'm worthy of love."
"A war has broken out on earth. Prince Endymion instructed me to stay there to train and command our troops. Many of our lives are at stake. But I could not stay, knowing that I might die, before I did this."
He leaned in and kissed her, multiple times. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled closer. It was the most delightful moment of her life.
"This war on earth… you might die." Her heart began to sink in fear, amidst the joy she was feeling at the same time.
"I will be all right. Once we calm the people down and stop the riots, things should fall back into place."
"Okay. If you say so, I trust you." She still felt uneasy but didn't know why.
"Is something wrong?"
"Oh, no, it's nothing." The uneasy feeling lingered.
Kunzite took her hand and led her under a gazebo near the palace, where the music could still be heard from inside. "I believe I owe you a dance."
She smiled and placed her hands on his shoulders, winking. "That you do."
They danced the night away in the moonlight. "Also," Venus whispered, "I love you too. I accept."
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And alas, this would be their final night together before facing off in Beryl's war against the moon.
A/N: I would love feedback on this story, but to be completely honest, it was one of my most effortless ones. It's been a really long time since I've written a fanfic or watched Sailor Moon, so I'm rusty. I just wanted to write another tribute because Venus x Kunzite is like my favorite shipping, though this story was much shorter than the last. Most of my stories are Christian-themed in some way, but I didn't really do that too much with this one other than a couple parts.
Inspiration: Gilmore Girls, M2M, and yeah-well-hey
