"Caden!"

Unable to keep her enthusiasm contained, Minako finally hopped the last few steps separating us and flung her arms around my neck. I laughed, catching her around her middle and she brought her legs up and squeezed my hips, pulling herself closer to me. If it hadn't been for her gown, I think she would have wrapped her legs around me much like a lover would. I thought of the night before with Rei and I blushed.

Minako slid down and smiled brightly at me. What she did next surprised the hell out of everyone, but no one more then me.

She cupped my face and kissed me.

As Minako pulled away, she smiled brightly at me. All I could was stand there and blink stupidly at her and blush. I cast Rei a sideways glance and saw she was biting her lip. I think she was trying to keep from laughing.

"I'm so glad you're back, Caden-chan!" Minako exclaimed happily. "It's been far too long."

I chuckled nervously, bringing my left hand up to scratch the back of my head sheepishly. "Uh..Thanks?"

Minako smiled again before reaching up and kissing my cheek and turning to Haruka and Michiru, greeting them. They, too, looked as though they were trying not to laugh.

As Minako talked to them, I turned to Rei. "What's so damn funny?"

Rei giggled at that point, waving her hand dismissively and shaking her head. "The look on your face was pretty priceless."

I glared at the miko. "I'm so glad I'm entertaining you."

"She's not the only one being entertained," Minako said, giggling. She pointed to the same table of giggling girls Haruka had pointed out earlier. I groaned.

"They're still staring at me," I whined.

Minako blinked. "Still?"

Haruka laughed. "Yeah, but she thinks they're staring at me."

"Let me lie to myself," I said, chuckling. "It's just weird. I couldn't get a girl to even look at me back home. I come here and its like I'm candy." I sniffled dramatically. "I feel used." The ladies giggled and Haruka and I laughed.

"Used," Rei said. "This is the first time it's happened, isn't it?"

"Oh, no," Minako said brightly. "It happened the last time she was here, too. Remember when the circus was in town and I couldn't transform?"

"How could I forget," Rei said somewhat sadly. Instinctively my hand sought hers and I squeezed it gently. She smiled up at me.

"Well, when she went with me to auditions, a couple of girls were eying her then, too," Minako said. "Caden is a stud."

My ears were burning. "Oh, whatever."

Haruka patted me on the back. "Sorry, Caden. I have to agree with Minako-chan on this one."

I glared at the blond. "You're meant to back me up, not feed me to the wolves!"

"You're out numbered, Caden," Michiru said. I groaned again and crossed my arms, pouting.

"Isn't she cute," Minako said playfully.

"Oh for the love of Benji!" I said and stormed off from the group, laughter ringing in my ears. But I couldn't help but smile as I walked away.

I went to the bar and ordered a drink. After getting it and taking a sip, I felt a gentle hand on my arm. I turned and smiled at Rei.

"You're not mad, are you," she asked.

I smiled and shook my head. "Nah."

Rei smiled and sighed in relief. "Good." She smiled more. "Would you like to da-"

"Excuse me," came a soft voice behind us. We both turned to see a young lady standing in a light yellow dress. I recognized her as one of the giggling girls who had been at the table. My face flushed again.

She looked up at me and nervously asked, "W-would you like to d-dance?"

I cocked my eyebrow before turning to Rei. I knew she had been about to ask me herself but this young lady had beaten her to it. I wanted to see how she felt before I gave an answer one way or another.

Rei smiled and took my drink from me. "I want the last dance."

I smiled at her before turning back to the girl and bowing. I then offered her my hand and I guided her to the dance floor and we began to waltz.

As we danced, I smiled down at the girl and took in her appearance. She had red hair and green eyes. The yellow dress she was wearing set off her eyes even more. She was younger then Rei-chan. But I guess that wasn't fair. I was younger then Rei, too. And the girl was younger then me, too. By a thousand years.

Suddenly, I felt like a pedophile.

"Are you okay," she asked, looking up at me worriedly.

I coughed and smiled. "I'm fine."

We danced through the rest of the song in silence. I would catch Rei's eyes and she would smirk at me as the girl would move closer to me.

Soon, the dance ended and I bowed again, kissing the back of her hand.

"Thank you for the dance..." I trailed off. I didn't know her name.

She smiled. "Atsuko-chan."

I smiled more and bowed my head. "Thank you, Atsuko-chan. And I'm Caden."

"Caden-kun," Atsuko said, smiling more. She then turned and left, rejoining her friends as Rei came to stand beside me.

"Caden-kun, eh," she asked teasingly.

I felt my ears burn as I glared at her. "Oh shut up."

Rei smiled, linking her arm with mine. "Don't be like that, Caden-kun."

I growled, my eye twitching. Rei simply giggled.

"Do you want to get out of here," she asked.

I looked down at her. "I thought I owed you a dance?"

"You do," Rei said, leading me off the dance floor back over to where Minako, Michiru and Haruka were. "But Usagi is wanting to have a smaller get together with just us since this is the first time in a long time we've all been together."

"Are you sure you want me to go," I asked. "I don't want to impose."

Rei smiled. "You won't. Usagi said she wants you there, too."

We rejoined the others and were soon joined by Mako-chan and Ami.

"Usagi said to go ahead and leave and that she would meet us," Mako-chan said.

"Thank God," Haruka said, taking hold of Michiru's hand and leading her out of the ball room. Laughing, I allowed Rei to lead me out of the room as well as the others joined us.

"So where are we going," I asked once in the deserted hallway.

"There's a small guest cottage behind the palace," Mako-chan said. "It's really pretty. Its set back in wood and is set right off a private lake."

"Sounds fun," I said. "But, I need to get this armor off first. It's heavy and I don't wanna lug it all the way down there and back."

"I'll come with you," Rei said. She turned to the others. "We'll just meet you down there?"

The others agreed and left while Rei and I headed for my room. We walked in silence but it was a comfortable one. When we reached my room, I began loosening the straps on my armor. I pulled off the breast plate and sat it on my bed before removing my belt and laying the hip plates and katana beside it on the bed as well. I walked into the closet and changed into a pair of faded jeans and a tee-shirt and sneakers. I came out sliding a hoodie on over my shoulders and zipping it up. Rei had been standing beside the window and turned toward me when she heard me come out. She walked over to me and gently tugged on the strings.

"You always looked good in these baggy things," she said, smiling up at me.

I smiled at her before gently pressing my lips against hers. Rei leaned into me, her arms slowly wrapping themselves around my shoulders. My hands came to rest on her lower back and I pressed her closer to my body, our kiss deepening.

Rei moaned into my mouth and I growled before pulling away. We were both slightly breathless, our heads coming to rest against one another. I opened my eyes to see her staring at me. I smiled.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Don't be, baby," I said. I kissed her forehead and pulled away. "Do you want to to change? You can use my clothes."

Rei smiled at me before disappearing inside my closet. While she changed, I grabbed my laptop and placed it inside it's messenger bag. On a whim, I grabbed my sketch pad as well. As I finished zipping the bag, Rei stepped out in one of my sweaters and pair of my black slacks. She looked dwarfed in my clothes and I chuckled.

"What's so funny," she asked.

"You look so tiny in my clothing," I said, slinging the bag over my shoulder. "But I have to admit, you also look hot." Rei blushed and I walked over to take her hand. "Come on, lets go do this party thing."

As we neared the lake house, Rei could sense we were the first ones here. We had stopped at a small cliff that looked out over the lake. From here, we could see the cottage was empty.

"Where is everyone," she asked impatiently.

I shrugged, sliding the bag off my shoulder and sitting it down gently. "Let's wait before heading down."

No sooner had I said this did we see headlights coming at us from the distance. I turned to Rei. "You guys still use cars?"

In the full moon's light I could see her smirk. "Haruka does."

I laughed, turning back toward the oncoming car. It was Haruka and she was driving her yellow convertible. She pulled to a stop before us and I couldn't help but laughing more, shaking my head.

"What's so funny," Michiru asked, stepping out of the passenger side. She moved aside to let Mako-chan, Ami and Minako out of the back seat.

"Just the fact Haruka still has this bucket of bolts," I said. I glanced over at Haruka who was spitting daggers at me and I smiled broadly.

"Watch what you call my baby," she said.

"Where's Kiyoshi," Rei asked.

"Hotaru is watching him," Michiru said. "They're still at the party."

"Oh joy," I said, walking over to the cliff's edge and looking down. I felt someone beside me and turned to see Haruka.

We stood in silence for a few moments before she turned to me and asked, "Think it's deep enough?"

I gave a quizzical look before I smirked. "Only one way to find out."

"Race from the car," she asked, already turning back.

I smirked more and followed her, stripping out of my hoodie as I did so and throwing it into the back of Haruka's car. I kicked off my sneakers and stripped down to just my bra and boxers and then slid my shoes back on. Haruka had done the same thing.

"What are you guys doing," Michiru asked.

Haruka and I smirked at each other, ignoring Michiru. We turned to face the cliff, one hand on the side of the car.

"Caden?"

"Haruka?"

Michiru's and Rei's voices mingled together somewhere in the back of my mind.

Haruka and I tensed before we sprang away from the car. We ran full speed toward the edge of the cliff, Haruka a mere step ahead of me. My foot caught the edge of the cliff and I lept from the edge, the others cries of surprise behind me as I fell ungracefully into the water below.

The water was so warm around me. I felt safe here as I let the current wash me away. But soon I felt my lungs burn and I pushed myself upward. My head broke the surface of the water and I sighed happily. That had been a great rush. Haruka was just a few feet away from where I had come up. We looked at one another before laughing.

Another body jumping in next to me scared the hell out of me, causing me to cry out. I heard laughter above and knew the girls were laughing at the fact I had cried out. But who the hell had jumped in after us? I laughed in surprise when the blue haired genius came up for air.

"Ami-chan, I didn't think you had it in you to be so spontaneous," I exclaimed.

I saw her blush and we began swimming toward the dock. Haruka had already swam over and was pulling herself out of the water. When Ami and I reached the edge of the dock, I helped her out before I pulled myself up as well. Rei, Michiru and Mako-chan had by this time made their way down. Michiru and Mako-chan had opened up the cottage but Rei had made her way over to me.

As she approached, I shook my head like a dog, spraying water everywhere. I laughed, running my hands back through my soaked hair, pushing it out of my face. I smiled when I saw Rei was glaring at me.

"That wasn't funny," she said.

"Yes it was," I said, still chuckling.

Rei glared at me for another moment before saying, "Then you should get a kick out of this." She rushed me and placed her hands on my shoulders, pushing me back off the dock and back into the water.

AN: Some of you asked about the promise of chastity and when Rei made this promise. It was during the Silver Millennium, but she remembered it during the Dead Moon Circus arc of the manga. In the English version, Rei says she pledged her loyalty to Princess Serenity. In the original version, she pledged her chastity.