Too Late
"Heero!" the bubbly blond exclaimed as she wrapped her
arms around the calm man's neck. He raised an eyebrow at her
enthusiastic greeting, but he could not help the faint smile from
turning his lips. Usagi grinned and kissed the rare appearance. She
released her hold on the young soldier and turned to look at the view
from their meeting place. Valleys stretched out below them, a patchwork
quilt of homes, fields, and forests. A river flowed from beneath them
where a waterfall came from the middle of the mountain, and stretched
out until it reached the miniature city and castle in the distance.
"Its beautiful here," she said in whispered wonder. She
turned back to him, smiling. "Is this why you suggested this place?"
"Quatre thought of it," Heero answered calmly.
"There's nothing like this at home," she said, her
smile holding the astonishment she made no attempt to hide.
"How long can you stay?" he asked, bringing her
attention back to him.
"Not long. Ami said it would probably be only an hour
or so before they noticed I was gone." He saw a saddened look cross her
face at the thought of such little time. He brushed her cheek, bringing
her eyes back to his, a smile back to her lips.
"Lets make it last forever then," he whispered in an
uncharacteristic show of emotion. Usagi's smile lit up as they drew
closer together.
"The princesses of the Silver Millennium will be
visiting Earth in several days. The princess Serenity and Queen Gaia
will be discussing the conditions of Earth's joining of the Silver
Millennium." The briefing continued as usual. Security measures were to
be stepped up during the visit, and guards would be posted almost
everywhere, especially in the wing the princesses would be using.
Once the briefing was finished, Heero stood to leave
the room with his companions. He wondered why Usagi had mentioned
nothing of the trip to him. It was a chance they could have to see each
other without sneaking around.
Duo was teasing Wufei about his relationship with a
Mars soldier. Quatre tried to keep the peace, though it seemed he was
failing miserably, and Towra was already down the hall. Because of
this, no one noticed when the commander pulled Heero aside.
"We have a mission for you, Yui."
She couldn't help but despise the entire universe. With
her mother dying, everyone was either trying to kiss up or kill her.
The first made her sick, while the later made her afraid for her life.
Princess Serenity stepped down from the platform, her
senshi on all sides. Mars took the lead, her alert eyes watching the
welcoming party. The Earth court and royalty appeared kind enough and
she could sense no hostility in their eyes. But all it took was one
person.
"Princess! Welcome to Earth." The Earth queen stepped
forward, a warm smile on reddened lips. "We were so sad to hear your
lovely mother could not join us."
"She sends you her best wishes, your majesty," Serenity
calmly replied, curtseying to the Earth matriarch. "And she hopes to
hear the best of news once I return."
"We all do, my dear. Perhaps, if the gods smile on us,
our two kingdoms may be as close as your mother and I are. Now come,
let me see you. I haven't seen you since you where a tiny baby!"
"Hey! Heero! Where were you earlier? You missed the
princess and her court's arrival." Duo grinned as he wrapped an arm
around the stoic soldier's shoulder. "Man, those Silver Millennium
babes sure are hot!"
"Hn."
"They are all weak onnas. How can any of them protect a
princess?" Wufei grumbled as he laid down on his bunk.
"The royal princesses possess powerful magic. I heard
the moon princess is the most powerful of all, but she needs the help
of the other princesses to use much of it," Quatre said as he sat
beside Trowa.
"Hmm, I wouldn't mind having them protect me," Duo
said, grinning. "Especially the Venus princess. I have a feeling she'd
appreciate me more then certain earthlings," Duo pouted, his arm
retreating from Heero as the perfect soldier glared at him.
"That one girl in the red dress, the one introduced as
the princess of Mars," Quatre said softly, thinking.
"What about her?"
"Was it just me or did she look a lot like the girl in
Wufei's picture?"
"Hmm, now that you think of it," Duo murmured, looking
at the loose picture on Wufei's chest.
Heero ignored the others as they discussed the
similarities between Wufei's girlfriend and the Mars princess, his
mission overtaking his thoughts.
"Usagi-chan!" Ami yelled, knocking on her friend's
door. "The ball is ready to start, and we should be there. What are you
doing?!" The door opened to reveal the princess in a gown of dream silk
that fell to the floor in soft folds. The neckline fell dangerously
low, fringed in crescent shaped diamonds. The moon princess smiled at
her friend as she turned and picked up a small pouch she could
discreetly wear on her wrist, and joined her friend in the hall.
"Shall we?" Usagi asked, smiling as she held her arm
out. The Mercury princess smiled and hooked her arm in her friend's as
they walked through the hall to where they would meet their companions.
"Aren't you worried Wufei might recognize you?" Minako,
the princess of Venus asked the Mars princess while they waited. Rei
shook her head faintly before replying.
"It occurred to me, but Usagi cast a spell. It's for
the two of us. We may look familiar to Wufei and Heero, but as far as
they are concerned, we aren't their girlfriends."
"I made it so whoever got too close to our secret would
mark it down as us being from the same planet as our counterparts."
Usagi and Ami approached the three other princesses in the hall outside
the ballroom.
"You thought of that, Usagi-chan?" Makoto asked
doubtfully. Seeing her friend blush, she laughed. "I didn't think so."
"I thought of it," Ami told the Jupiter princess. "When
she first heard that she would come to take her mother's place, she was
excited because she could finally tell Heero the truth."
"And we all know that's not a good idea," Rei
continued, smirking at the blushing blond.
"Hey! Lay off! I only thought of it for a moment, and
if Ami hadn't dashed my dreams immediately," she said, mock glaring at
her friend. "I would have figured it out for myself!"
"Imagine the danger they would be in if they did know,"
Minako said, her lipstick tinted lips forming into a small frown. "With
Beryl gaining power, the only people safe knowing us here on Earth is
the royal family."
"We know," Usagi glumly replied, looking at Rei, then
back at Mina. "Imagine if Metalica's forces hadn't taken over Kunzite's
family lands when he was a kid. You'd be in the same boat as Rei and
I." Minako blushed faintly, remembering her fiancée back home.
"Yah, I guess I kinda owe her in some weird, twisted
way."
"Your majesties." Their conversation was cut short as
they reached the doors to the ballroom. The doormen on either side
bowed to the five girls. Composing themselves, they took their symbolic
positions, Rei and Ami on one side of Usagi, Makoto and Minako on the
other, and regally entered the ball being held in their honor.
"Where are you going, Heero?" Duo looked up from the
card game he and another guard were engaged in as he watched the quiet
soldier head for the door.
"For a walk," he answered, closing the door before the
braded baka could say anything more.
Quatre and Trowa had been sent to stand guard, along
with several of the other soldiers, at the ball that started several
hours ago. Heero had also heard that the personal guard sent along with
the princesses would be in attendance, allowed to participate if only
to keep a closer eye on their charges then positions along the walls
and doors would allow. And the idea of Usagi being one of those guards
lightened his mood.
It was short lived. He imagined that if she where
there, how they would next meet. And his mood darkened once again.
Heero reached a guard station in the gardens outside of
the visiting rooms of the princesses. It was empty, as he had been
promised. When his mission had been told to him, he didn't think he'd
be able to bluff one of the other castle guards into leaving duty
early.
Usagi's feet were tired. With every step, it felt as if
slivers of glass where driven into her soles. And it was no wonder.
Every eligible man at the ball, as well as a few ineligible ones, had
asked to dance, leaving her card full for almost the entire night.
"Oh, my poor aching feet," she moaned, stopping at a
bench in the hallway leading to her room. Ami smiled and gladly sat
down next to her as the two rested for a moment.
"Did you see Makoto eyeing one of the guards? I think
she's decided that if Rei and I can get away with it, so can she,"
Usagi said, breaking the silence with a smile. Ami looked at her
friend, laughing quietly as she bent over to slide the sad looking
dance slippers from her feet.
"Don't act so innocent, Ami. I saw you giving that one
with the blond hair the eye."
"I was not giving him the eye!"
"Honto? You sure fooled me." Usagi grinned, leaning
back against the wall.
"Oh hush. I just thought he looked interesting."
"Interesting, yah."
"I'm serious!" Ami protested, blushing brightly.
Sighing, she joined her friend and princess against the wall, eyes
closed in rest. The two sat quietly for several more minutes before a
loud yawn broke the regained silence. Ami smiled as she too found
herself yawning, and tried futily to cover her open mouth with one
gloved hand.
"Now look what you've started," the Mercury princess
grumbled, slowly standing from the bench. "We should head for our rooms
anyway. Otherwise we may fall asleep here in the open. Imagine being
woken up by the earl of Idoru."
The name was enough to rouse the moon princess from her
doze as the memory of the large, balding man who had pestered the
princesses the entire night came to mind. Eyes opening reluctantly, she
accepted the hand up from her friend as they continued their sleepy and
painful walk back to their rooms.
Heero looked at the sky above. The stars where already
fading away and he could see the horizon to the east starting to
lighten. The morning shift would be there in a matter of hours. And the
princess would go for her walk not long before that. If she was not too
tired from last night and slept in. Or if their information of her
daily activities was wrong.
He found his mind wandering. Usagi's bright smile
lingered behind his eyes. He only hoped she would never learn of what
he had to do.
Usagi opened her eyes to the sky outside her window.
The curtains had been left open to let in the morning sun, a sight she
never missed whenever she was on earth. The atmosphere gave the sunrise
so many beautiful colors. Bright red bleed into soft pink, pure white
softened to gentle blue. She sat on her bed for several minutes, her
eyes betraying what she felt at the beauty she saw with a single tear.
She finally stood and crossed the room to her closet.
She pulled from it a white, simple dress. She wished she could wear the
pants of the guard disguise she used to come to earth, but she was
there as the princess. She replaced her nightgown with the dress, it's
soft cloth brushed against her legs as she crossed the room to her
dresser. She impatiently brushed the knots from her hair and put it up
in the traditional style. Again, she wished she would wear it in a
simple ponytail, but she had to maintain her role. As the princess, she
had to follow tradition. And that thought made the smile she previously
had worn fade slowly.
Tradition dictated she would marry a prince, or a duke
or lord. And Heero was none of those.
"Usa-chan, I love you like a sister, but if you ever
wake me up this early again, I'll kill you."
"But Rei-chan, the sun is not yet completely up! The
dew is still wet. Please join me," the princess begged her Martian
friend.
Her only answer was a slammed door.
"All those girls can think about is sleep," a soft
voice mumbled through the hedge Heero stood against. "How could they
choose to miss out on this beautiful morning? They never see this at
home," she continued.
He listened to her footsteps as they taped against the
stone walkway. They slowly made their way towards the hedge's end.
Heero knelt down, his fingers wrapping around the hilt
of the dagger he'd been given for the job, and pulled it from its
sheath in his boot. With that motion, he fell into the mindset of his
role.
Usagi knew there was a bench somewhere nearby that gave
her an excellent view of both the gardens and the sky. Her hand brushed
against the leaves of the hedge as she rounded the corner. She smiled,
looking out towards the east. This was it.
"Good morning, your majesty." The spoken words caused
Usagi to whirl towards where the voice came from. Her heart leapt for a
moment before she remembered she wasn't supposed to know who he was.
Heero stood at attention, his arms behind his back as he stared
straight ahead. Something about the situation caused a chill to run up
her spine.
"Good morning," she replied with a faint smile and nod.
She noticed the bench not far away, waiting for her on the other side
of Heero. "You defiantly must have the best position here."
"Yes your majesty." His voice was so stony, so cold.
His eyes were locked on the gardens ahead of him, unemotional and
unreflecting. It reminded her of when they first met, but for some
reason, she felt afraid.
She sighed. He was the guard, she a princess. She was
unlikely to have a conversation with him as it was. 'If only I could
let you know,' she thought mournfully as she walked past him to reach
the bench.
She was in front of him, but would only be so for a
moment. No thoughts of Usagi, or the outcome of his actions came to
mind. Only his task at hand.
Almost without thinking, his hand darted out as he
stepped forward, wrapping his arm around her head. His hand came down
over her mouth tightly, a moment before he felt her try to scream.
"I am sorry, your majesty," he said calmly, to her
confused eyes. His other hand came out, the dagger firmly in his grasp.
Her now frightened eyes reflected off the bright silver metal of the
blade as he brought it to her pale throat.
The blood spread out on the white dress, blossoming
like a beautiful flower. He lowered her to the ground carefully,
brushing her hair back from her saddened eyes. She started to say
something, but it was hardly more then a whisper and he had to lean
closer to hear her words.
"I love you Heero."
When the next guard came on duty, he first noticed the
fallen princess. Her dress pure, dark red, her eyes closed in peaceful
sleep, the gash along her throat hardly noticeable aside from a pinkish
line. The evidence of her powers, too late to save her.
Sitting quietly on the bench facing the east, Heero
didn't seem to notice the guard. He didn't notice the cell they led him
too either, or his friends trying to talk to him through iron bars.
Her eyes, with those last words, had been so loving,
almost understanding. They where all he saw, to the moment he was lead
up the steps to the waiting loop of rope and to his very last breath.
~Jade Nova
moon_archer82@lunap.com