AN: Well, here's Chapter Three. So far, at least in my opinion, it's the best chapter. Even I am looking forward to seeing what happens. ;) Let me know what you think. Cause, really, who doesn't love getting feedback?

Disclaimer: Do not own the characters, blah, blah, blah.

Enjoy!


CHAPTER TWO

Mina was grateful that Queen Serenity had instructed Serena to show the generals and the Prince from Earth around the palace grounds only minutes later. Usually, when new arrivals appeared on the moon, Mina, as the leader of the Sailor Senshi, led them around as she knew the grounds better than Serena and even Queen Serenity herself. After all, she strolled through the gardens and dome rooms twice a day every day to ensure the safety of the Lunaran royalty.

But she couldn't stop thinking about the way Kunzite's eyes had taken in her appearance with a cold, calculating expression, making her feel all too exposed. There had been a friendly smile on his face, though it was impersonal as the smile didn't quite reach his cold, silver-like eyes. Something about her had caused him to tense right away. Before he had stepped out of the transporter, he had been standing stiff and proud, yes, but his stance had not been quite so rigid. Not until he was standing in front of her, politely shaking her hand with a nod of his head.

Most men that met Mina didn't instantly dislike her or disregard her the way he had. It was, in fact, quite the opposite. Mina wasn't vain, but, seeing as her home planet bore only handsome men and women, was one of the most beautiful women in the universe. Men fought for her attention, spent all their hard-earned money to serve her with gorgeous presents that varied from chocolate candy hearts to expensive jewelry in attempts to gain her favor, or wrote love songs dedicated to her. And while Mina had appreciated all the thoughtful gestures and had many boyfriends whom she was quite fond of, she had not taken a lover just yet. Despite her world's reputation for frivolous and even scandalous behavior and beliefs, she was one who believed strongly in giving herself to a man she was in love with. Not a man who bought her things, or wrote her poems in the middle of the night, or was extremely handsome, but a man she could talk to. Who would listen to her worries and concerns. Someone who would hold her and tell her that everything would be all right and that he would die before he let something happen to her.

Mina shook her head at her silly musings, chuckling slightly as she swung her feet in the shallow, clear pool water beneath her. They were just silly musings, she knew, but she had them quite often, wondering if and when she would ever meet the man she was destined to be mated to for eternity. After all, she was the Senshi of Love. It seemed only natural that she dwelled on the possibilities of love for herself, after all. Again Mina found her thoughts drifting back to that strange man with the silver hair and piercing eyes. He hadn't been so abrasive with the other girls, which made her wonder slightly what it was about her he could find so absolutely abhorrent. Was it her hair? Did the women on Earth not have as long of hair as she did? Or as yellow? Maybe her cornflower blue eyes? Many men had told her they were like endless seas that they wouldn't mind drowning in. But maybe Kunzite didn't like blue eyes. Maybe he preferred amethyst, like Raye's. Or sparkling green, like Lita's.

Groaning, Mina threw her head back in aggravation. She had just the met the man less than an hour before. Why did it seem to matter so much whether he liked her or disliked her? His opinion, or lack thereof, was of no consequence to her. Or, at least, it shouldn't be.

Feeling tension drifting up her spine, Mina decided she would go for a brief swim in the cool blue water of the pool she was currently swinging her feet in.

As she led the group of five men and four women through the palace halls, Serena did her best to ignore the fact that the prince's eyes seemed to follow every move she made, watching every gesture she made to point out lovely sights and recreational rooms. Her heart was thundering in her chest and in her ears at Darien's nearness. It was a wonder nobody else could hear it, though she could tell that her Senshi were as equally distracted by Darien's handsome generals as she was with Darien himself.

"And this, of course, is Amy's favorite room," Serena was saying as they came to a brief stop in front of the library. "It holds thousands of books from all over the galaxy, including books from each of the planets about the planets. I, myself, have always been fond of learning new things."

Directly behind Serena, Amy coughed delicately into her hand, causing Serena to turn and send a spearing glare her way. Amy flushed brightly and glanced down at the ground.

Satisfied, Serena straightened up and turned back to face the front.

Next to Amy, Zoicite turned slightly to the left to look at the still-blushing Mercurian princess and grinned. "Amy," he began, taking notice of the way her head lifted in surprise at being addressed and her pretty blue eyes widened. "I've always been somewhat of a book enthusiast myself..."

"That's putting it mildly," Jadeite mumbled from behind him.

Zoicite ignored him, as he was apt to do since Jadeite always loved making smart ass comments. Especially to him. "So, seeing as how the library seems to be your favorite room, would you mind showing me around?" He turned to briefly gaze into the room, which was four stories high, with at least ten or twelve private rooms on each floor that led out to other areas of the palace.

He turned back to Amy. "Because I'm pretty sure if I venture in there alone, I will disappear and never be heard from again."

Amy chuckled at that and Zoicite felt his heart skip a beat. He had seen hordes of gorgeous women in his lifetime, but none of them could hold a candle to Amy. Her cropped blue hair perfectly framed her small, oval face, matching perfectly with her sapphire blue eyes that he could spend all day staring into. Her slender body was well-proportioned in every dip and crevasse, causing a surge of unexpected lust to travel through Zoicite's body.

Zoicite forced the inappropriate thoughts to the back of his mind as Amy replied with, "I would be delighted to show you the library."

"Excellent!" Zoicite exclaimed, his grin widening as Amy shyly met his gaze before she turned to Serena.

"Serena, it wouldn't be a problem if I accompanied Mr. Zoicite into the library, would it?"

"Please, just call me Zoicite. The 'mister' makes me feel old."

Serena waved Amy towards the library. "Go ahead, Amy. There are only three more major rooms to see in the north wing."

Amy nodded in acknowledgement, as did Zoicite, and the two drifted out of sight as they walked into the large library.

"And this is the kitchen," Serena pointed out thirty minutes later to Darien, Nephrite, and Lita. Kunzite had excused himself some time before to explore the outer palace's surrounding areas. "Where Lita spends a good amount of time cooking and baking delicious food."

"And which Serena enjoys gobbling down as soon as they come out of the oven," Lita muttered with a loud laugh, causing those around her, minus Serena herself, to join in with her laughter.

"Lita, I do not! And it's rude of you to say so in front of guests!"

At that moment, as the group quieted down, Serena's stomach grumbled loudly. Her face flushed bright red as the group started laughing again and she sneered in angry mortification.

As Nephrite's laughter died down once more, he turned to meet Lita's entrancing emerald green eyes. "I would like to sample some of your food, if you have the time." He leaned back on his heels and stared heatedly down at the rather tall woman, though he still towered over her by a good six inches or so.

Lita was embarrassed to feel heat suffusing her cheeks beneath the admiring gaze of the tall, auburn-haired general. "I would be delighted. As Serena said, cooking is my passion. I love cooking for others, especially handsome visitors from other planets."

Serena rolled her eyes and leaned forward to speak quietly to Lita. "Lita, you are such a shameless flirt!"

Lita huffed in reply. "Please; I'm not nearly as bad as Mina."

Darien and Nephrite exchanged amused glances at the exchange.

"Mina has an excuse!" Serena defended. "She is the goddess of love. Therefore, it is practically her job to flirt with men! Even some women."

Lita stuck her tongue out at Serena and then grabbed a slightly stunned Nephrite by the hand to drag him into the kitchen behind her.

Silence fell over Serena and Darien once they realized it was just the two of them. Darien cleared his throat and Serena immediately began striding forward once more through the halls. Once they were a good ten minutes past the kitchen, Darien came to an abrupt halt and turned to face Serena.

"Is something wrong?" she asked shyly, though she had a feeling she knew what he wished to talk about. For the last year and a half, the two of them had been communicating back and forth via letters through the moon's Telecommunications Room, though no one on the moon or Earth knew about it aside from the two of them. Serena had been intrigued by the thought of secretly talking with a man of Earth, so she had seen a letter out anonymously, unaware that it would be intercepted by the prince of Earth and tracked back to her.

Slowly, with each letter more detailed and intimate, revealing thoughts, feelings, and fears that even their most loyal friends didn't know about them, they began to fall in love. If Queen Serenity had found out, she would have had an apoplexy.

Finally, Darien had told Serena it was time they met in person, so he had arranged this meeting with Queen Serenity months ago. He hadn't even told his most trusted generals about how he had fallen in love with the princess of the moon without even having met her.

"Nothing's wrong," Darien replied at last to Serena's innocent question, brushing a stray lock of silver-gold hair back behind her ear. "I just can't believe you never told me how beautiful you are."

Heat suffused Serena's cheeks at those gentle words, which, in Darien's eyes, only added to her beauty. "If you look at the other girls on the moon, I'm much more average..." she began, but Darien cut her off.

"No, 'you,'" he emphasized, making sure she realized exactly who he meant, "are the most beautiful woman in this galaxy. There are tales on every continent of my planet about how ethereal your beauty is and how sweet your personality. People who have never met you, who have only heard stories, love you." His hand moved to cup the nape of Serena's neck and he slowly pulled her forward. "I learned of the beauty inside you and I love you for it."

Serena gulped nervously, her eyes darting down to his plush red lips, subconsciously licking her own which suddenly felt too dry.

"Your inner beauty," Darien murmured huskily as he lowered his head, his lips only inches away from hers, "only enhances your outer beauty."

"Darien?" Serena questioned as his lips began to draw ever nearer to her own.

"Hmm?"

"You really love me?"

A chuckle bubbled forth from Darien's chest, causing it to vibrate. "I wouldn't say it if it weren't true, Serena. I love you more than I ever thought it possible to love another human being."

Serena giggled and slid the palms of her hands up Darien's chest and over his broad shoulders. "I love you too, Darien. Immensely."

With a low growl, Darien hauled her forward and pressed his lips to hers heatedly, his fingers moving to thread through the silky hair of one of her bunned pigtails. When Serena relaxed against him, her mouth parted on a breathy sigh and Darien used that opportunity to gently slide his tongue into her mouth to fully taste her sweetness.

Serena gasped at the feeling of his tongue expertly stroking hers and instinctively began to chase his tongue when it slid out of her mouth and back into his own. She felt Darien grin against her mouth as both his hands drifted down to the small of her back to hold her in place against him.

Serena began to shake when Darien nipped her full bottom lip with his teeth, a pleasure coursing through her body that was foreign to her. Her body felt like it was on fire and there was a throbbing between her legs that she couldn't explain. When she felt wetness beginning to gather between her thighs Serena, embarrassed, reluctantly pulled away from Darien.

Darien's eyes heated longingly as they took in Serena's swollen lips and the flushed look that traveled from her face all the way down her chest. Her breathing was ragged and there was an almost animalistic look in her eyes.

Hearing footsteps headed their way, Darien gently grabbed Serena's wrist and tugged her along down the hall.

Mina climbed out of the pool an hour later, her long blonde hair clinging wetly to her body. She had stripped out of her dress after having determined that she was alone and swam laps in the pool for exercise. After a half hour of that, she had just fallen back and floated languorously in the pool, front side up, of course.

"Do you make it a habit to swim naked in the middle of the day where anyone could happen upon you?"

Mina jumped at the sound of the gruff male voice and spun around without thinking, unwittingly exposing her entire body to Kunzite, who had snuck up on her without her being aware. It was rare that anybody, let alone a tall, gorgeous man, could surprise her.

"General Kunzite!"

When Kunzite's eyes began to trail down her body, Mina's eyes widened and she crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her left leg to shield the apex between her thighs. "Do you mind?" she demanded shrilly.

Kunzite simply quirked a finely shaped silver eyebrow that matched his long locks. "You seem to be the one who doesn't mind showing her body off. And now you're getting modest?"

Rage suddenly coursed through Mina and she sneered. "You're an ass! You come here, you don't even know me, and yet you have the gall to insult me! And to top it all off, you stumble upon me naked, presume to assume that I'm freely showing off my body, as magnificent as it is, to anybody who wants to look, and you're not even gentleman enough to turn around and give me the decency to get dressed!"

At those words, Kunzite slowly began to turn around, but he didn't leave. He remained only a few feet from her, his stance just as rigid as it had been when she had first met him two hours ago. Didn't this guy ever just relax?

While his back was turned, Mina quickly slipped back into her dress, making sure to clasp the front tightly so that no cleavage would be displayed to the icy general. He had already seen more than enough.

"I'm decent," she bit out angrily, squeezing some excess water out of the ends of her hair.

Kunzite turned back to her, his gaze roving over her body, making her feel as though she hadn't dressed at all. "Well, that could easily be argued."

Mina clenched her fists at her sides, resisting the urge to separate the distance between them and clock him a good one. Instead, she stiffened her own posture and erased any trace of emotion-anger, disappointment, humiliation-from her face.

"Well, I'm afraid, General, that I must depart now. I've been swimming in chlorine water and now I find myself in need of a shower to get it out of my hair. I suppose I shall see you later."

"Nonsense," Kunzite replied, stepping forward. "I insist on walking you to your chambers. It's the proper thing to do."

As Kunzite fell into step beside her, Mina couldn't resist snapping, "Oh, now you're going to do the proper thing? But you couldn't do the proper thing when you caught me swimming naked? Instead you just stared at me like the lecher you and your people are?"

She felt Kunzite stiffen next to her, but he didn't respond. Just kept his cool gaze staring straight ahead as he followed her to her quarters in the east wing, between Lita's room and Amy's room.

When they came to stop in front of her door, Kunzite turned and regarded her with narrowed eyes. "Until we meet again." He bowed his head respectfully and turned to walk away.

Mina scoffed as she watched him walk away. "Yeah, I'll be looking forward to that," she muttered sarcastically before marching angrily into her room and slamming the door.