Venus sat on the terrace, alone. She heard footsteps coming from inside, and a few minutes later, Solaria came out, and looked surprise.
"I guess you're not used to just meeting people, where you go."
"I'm getting used to it, I think."Solaria assured her.
She sat a bit away from Venus.
"You really are from Venus?"asked Solaria.
Venus nodded.
"Obviously."
"And you've lived there?"
"Yes. I was married on Venus, of course, and even though we all live here, on Earth, in Crystal Tokyo, it's our duty to guard the Royal Family, each of us also visits our own planet, of course. And I also spent my early years there."
"Wow."whispered Solaria.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing. I've read about Venus, though."she replied.
Venus nodded.
"You just…I would have thought you'd be more cheerful. At least that's what I've heard most Venusians are like."
"Well, most of us are. I usually was a little more cheerful, before I was married, anyway."
Solaria nodded, sympathetically.
"I've been told marriage was the hardest thing in life. Fortunately, I don't have to marry. None of use do anymore. We used to, though. Now we don't have to, that's why we became such experts in genetics."
"None of it turned out like I expected!"Venus said.
"Oh."Solaria hesitated. "What did you expect?"she asked.
She knew that if you married someone it would mean that you would see them, at least a few times, if not all the time. Why would seeing someone bother Venus, she wondered. Seeing was a perfectly normal thing on Venus.
"It wasn't the seeing."Venus told her. "It was…he's…you know, I used something on him. You know, a perfume, love potion."she explained.
"Oh. I've heard of those."answered Solaria. "Do they really work?"
"I don't know if they'd work on you."Venus sounded amused. "It's been my understanding that Solarians have modified themselves so that they are, immune should we say, that they are immune to that kind of thing."
"Oh, yes."Solaria confirmed. "I never wear perfumes, of course, because no one is ever close enough."she looked a bit uncomfortable. "I, er, sometimes order them, but only a few times,"she added, hastily. "I just wanted to see what it smelled like. I don't know why people like it, though. It just smelled like…certain flowers, but you can always smell flowers in the fields. Others were a little difficult to decipher."she shrugged.
"If you put it that way, then I'm not really sure how or why those love potions or perfumes work. I always knew they don't really create love, of course,"she admitted. "that's why you'd need something very strong, if you're determined to use it on someone who doesn't love you. I didn't have to. It was just a simple one. He must love me! Otherwise, he wouldn't have responded to it at all."
Solaria found it fascinating to be having such an extraordinary conversation, she knew she could never have such a conversation with another Solarian. Perhaps these were the kind of things people saw each other for. She had no clue what to say to her. After all, what did one do if they were married to someone they didn't like?
"Maybe you weren't assigned properly?"she suggested.
Venus looked puzzled.
"Assigned?'she asked.
"Assigned to each other."Solaria clarified. "Isn't that how you would know who is the right person for you to marry? If you're matched up?"
Venus shook her head.
"I never heard of such a thing. You can't assign people. People choose who they want to marry."
"But how would they know?"
"They…just do."
Both girls stared at each other, with puzzled looks on their faces.
"I don't think we're even talking about the same thing here."Venus finally spoke.
"Uh, no, I guess not."Solaria agreed. "So, if you aren't happy being married, why did you do it? Why would anyone do anything that doesn't make them happy?"she asked.
"Well, because I thought it would be different, you know. I mean, like Queen Serenity and King Endymion."
"They are married."Solaria commented. "I knew the queen of Crystal Tokyo was married."
"Sort of like them."Venus shrugged.
Never having been around people much, Solaria obviously wasn't a very good judge of character. She'd never given Kunzite a thought before, after all, he was simply the head of the king's four guardians, as Venus was of the queen's.
"He seems normal."she said.
After all, he acted just like everyone else she'd met here.
"I'm not saying he's abnormal, he's just not…very affectionate, I guess you could say. Oh, I hope I didn't embarrass you."
"Um, no."answered Solaria, although she did look a bit uncomfortable. "I'm getting used to it."she assured. "But why would it bother you that he's not…"she took a deep breath. "that he's not affectionate."she finished.
"That's more personal."Venus answered.
"Oh,"Solaria turned. "I didn't mean to ask that. I know your own personal life is none of my business. I think I'd better leave."
She ran back inside.
