Chapter 8
(Venus)
I sat in my chamber, thinking about what Mars told me. A fight…I thought about what Mars told me, about letting someone fight for me. I shook that thought out of my head. No, this was my battle, and I couldn't let someone fight it for me.
But then, I thought about what she told me, about how I could get hurt, or what he could do to me. I crossed over to my balcony, opening up the window and looking out over the courtyard. The breeze was so nice. It tossed my hair as I leaned over, looking down below. I was restless. I needed something to do. But what could I do?
My thoughts wandered to Kunzite. Strong, tall Kunzite. So good-looking…He was everything a girl could want in a man. No, no, no, I hardly know him! But what I do know of him, I like. Trying to get my thoughts off of him, I went into my closet in search of a nightgown. I found my short, satin orange one that I love so much.
Right then, Artemis walked in. I smiled. Artemis is my guardian. People say we make a great team. He jumped onto my head.
"Good evening, V," he said, calling me by the nickname only he calls me. "Good evening, Artemis," I answered him. "Did you enjoy yourself at the ball?" I shrugged. He looked at me closely. He knows when something's wrong. "What's wrong Venus?" he asked. I shook my head.
"Something must be wrong," he said. "I don't want to talk about it right now, Artemis," I said. He understood, being the faithful friend he is. He jumped up on my bed and curled up on one of my many pillows. I smiled and got in next to him, switching off the light. I slept a dreamless sleep.
The next morning I awoke, and remembering how Kunzite asked me to join him for breakfast, I threw off my covers in a hurry, sending Artemis flying. He hit the ground, and stayed there for a few seconds. He looked up and glared at me, and I smiled apologetically. Just then, his cat form grew bigger, and he became a human.
"Thanks a lot, V," he said. I laughed at him. "Sorry, Artemis," I said, laughing. Then I grew serious. "Listen, I need your help on what to wear, and since you're a male…"
Artemis groaned, but agreed to help me grudgingly. I gave him a big hug, and immediately started digging through my huge closet. I pulled out several gowns, all of which he made faces at. I rolled my eyes and blew out a huge breath. This was harder than I thought.
I finally pulled out a gold gown with a V-neck that wasn't too low. He smiled and nodded. I went into the bathroom and changed, and when I came out, he was a cat again. I took out my red bow and replaced it with a golden one. I added no jewelry.
I emerged out of my room, running into Jupiter. We exchanged greetings, and I practically ran downstairs, with her on my heels. I saw Kunzite at the bottom of the grand staircase, as well as Nephrite, though I didn't pay him very much heed. I slowed down, smoothed my skirt, and started slowly walking down the staircase. Kunzite looked up and smiled. I smiled back.
When I got to the bottom, he took my hand and kissed it. He then led me into the dining room, in which we sat down across from each other, waiting for the other Princesses, Prince, Kings, Queens, and Generals to arrive.
(Mars)
Some dreams are premonitions; some dreams I pay attention to, and care about.
Others I dismiss as obviously meaningless. Then there are the much rarer dreams,
the ones that have no basis in reality that I can see, but continue to resurface. The
one from last night was one such dream that continued to nag me.
My face set in the firm line that signifies I am in deep thought, I rose from the bed
and washed. There was nothing to think about; not all dreams have a point.
Sometimes even a second of thought can trigger hours of dreams. Still, it was a
vexing hour.
I randomly reached into the wardrobe and yanked out a dress. I viciously combed
my hair, and rather crankily stormed out of my room. To slam face-first into Jadeite.
"I'm sorry, Mars," he apologized hastily. I blinked and rubbed my nose. "What are you
talking about? I ran into you, remember?" He smiled. He seemed much more
comfortable now, though much more... subdued.
"You don't look like you had a restful night," he commented.
"You don't act like you've had a restful night," I replied sharply. I looked down then,
in regret. "I am sorry. I... I have had some things that are bothering me. My friends,
Princess Selenity's safety... I needed time to worry about my problems too."
He nodded, as if he understood, and offered no comment. I smiled weakly, but
gratefully, and walked down to breakfast. I heard footsteps that informed he was
walking behind me, and I turned to face him.
"I wanted to apologize again," he said. I frowned in confusion.
"You apologized already. Besides, it was my fault, remember?"
"No, not about that, about last night..." I frowned. Did he mean his outburst? Why
should he apologize for that? I also felt concern for my friends.
"There is nothing for you to apologize for," I said at length, and continued to walk down
to breakfast. He fell in behind me again. I stopped and whirled around to face him. "Jadeite,
what is wrong?" Instead of replying, he seized me and pulled me to him. Before I could protest, he jammed his mouth over mine. Then he broke off.
"Nothing," he murmured. "Nothing anymore. Now I can die complete."
(Mercury)
Zoisite had left me, I curled up holding my bear. My covers were pulled up around my throat. I could still feel Zoisite's hands on my back. He had promised me it would be alright, my mind felt like it was turning it self over. Zoisite's words rans thought my mind, the look at his face, his reaction to the man, and the way he held me.
"Friends..." I murrmmered. "Just friends..." my mind stopped turning and I slept. I woke with a jolt. The sun was shinning down on my bed and my mother was standing at the foot of my bed. "Mama?" I muttered sleeply as a rolled out of bed.
"Mercury." She smiled at me and gave me a hug. "How are you?"
"Fine..." I told her, running a hand thought my tangled hair and blinking a little, to get the sleep out of my eyes. "Is there a reason that you were standing at the end of my bed?"
"Sort of," she told me. She then took my face it her hands and smiled down at me. "Do you remember your grandparnets?"
"Sure." I answered, as I sorted thought my closet, trying to pick out a good dress for breakfast, the generals had invited us, the sailor princesses to breakfast. Well, not as a group, Jupiter had been asked and so had Venus. Mars and I were going to eat with them just to be friendly, and plus, I told myself, it would be nice to learn about Earth.
"Well,they live on the other side of Mercury, and I am going to visit them. For a while, a very long while." I stood up straight.
"How long?"
"2 years at most."
"2 years?!" I almost yelled at her.
"Your farther has businsess on Jupiter. He doesn't think that I should come. 'A royal treaty does not need a woman there.' Really, I'm the queen, he has no royal blood. He really should only have the title of prince. But, oh well, lets not go into the deatils." Mother waved her hand. "The point is, that it's almost summer, and I didn't know if you wanted to bring your friends for a pool party and sleep over at home."
"You mean it?" I asked, the search for my dress totally forgotten.
"Yes of course."
"I'll ask them!" I jumped happily around the room. "And we can sleep outside, stay up as late as we want, sleep in, go swimming, go to the beach! This is gonna be great!" Mom smiled and pushed her blue hair out of her face.
"I'm glad you like the idea, for now I think you better change for breakfast." Mama turned and left my room. I went back to the search for my dress, with my mind else where. Finally I found a good dress. It was light blue, ended just above my knees, had a modestneck line, and a back that was almost all open. I pulled on a pair of sandles (A.N.: think Minako's when she gets mad in the Supers Manga #2. There's a shot of just her feet on page 78.). I hopped from my room, still pulling one sandle on. A made a dash for the staris, Venus and Jupiter were already at the bottom with their generals. Zoisite saw me from the bottom of the stairs and waved, I waved back, and made my way quickly down the stairs.
"Hey."
"Good morning." I answered as I took his arm.
"We better get down to breakfast, other wise Jadeite will eat everything." I laughed and we walked down the hall, my arm in his. He smiled down at me and I gave him a smile back, his green eyes sparkled down at me. We walked down the hall, following Jupiter and Venus to breakfast.
(Jupiter)
I woke up on my hardwood floor with a headache. My cheeks were stained with dried tears. The night before had been a complete hell. I had tossed and turned, torn between sleep and consciousness for several hours.
Finally I had fallen into a shallow sleep, haunted by visions of ghosts, swords and blood. I took a deep breath and shook it off. The dreams had come before and I had been able to deal with them... Today wouldn't be any different. There was a knock on my door while I tried to compose myself.
I ran into the bathroom, splashed cold water on my face, and answered it, my hair in a pitiful state.
It was Nephrite. "Oh! Nephrite! I wasn't expecting you, can you wait just a second..." I ran off, skidding across the floor to my closet. As Nephrite waited, I tore through my closet, searching for my dress. I wrestled into it, and put on my shoes. I took about 10 seconds to put up my hair, and put in earrings.
Then I went to the door. I opened it again."Sorry for making you wait.." I started to say, when Nephrite looked at me and smiled.
"No problem. Maybe you should have taken a little longer.." I was puzzled. "Because you forgot to put in an earring and your shoes are on the wrong feet." As I realized what a fool I must look like, I blushed. "Don't worry," Nephrite said, "happens to me all the time." he grinned.
"Ok, just let me get my other earring and fix my shoes..." I said, and went back in my room. "Why don't you come in?" he obliged and I went into the bathroom to get my other earring. I put it in my ear, and went to sit down and change my shoes. He noticed my tangled sheets and my pillow on the floor.
"Hard night sleeping?" he asked.
"Yeah. How did you know?" I asked. He motioned toward the bed. "oh." I said. I would have made it...
"I understand. I had trouble sleeping last night also. There's something about the moon for me that just--I don't know, but ever since I've been here, I haven't had one good night of sleep. I have dreams-"
"Me too." I said.
"Well, shall we go to breakfast?" he asked, changing the subject. I went along with it.
"Sure." I said, and took his arm.
(Venus)
I sat in my chamber, thinking about what Mars told me. A fight…I thought about what Mars told me, about letting someone fight for me. I shook that thought out of my head. No, this was my battle, and I couldn't let someone fight it for me.
But then, I thought about what she told me, about how I could get hurt, or what he could do to me. I crossed over to my balcony, opening up the window and looking out over the courtyard. The breeze was so nice. It tossed my hair as I leaned over, looking down below. I was restless. I needed something to do. But what could I do?
My thoughts wandered to Kunzite. Strong, tall Kunzite. So good-looking…He was everything a girl could want in a man. No, no, no, I hardly know him! But what I do know of him, I like. Trying to get my thoughts off of him, I went into my closet in search of a nightgown. I found my short, satin orange one that I love so much.
Right then, Artemis walked in. I smiled. Artemis is my guardian. People say we make a great team. He jumped onto my head.
"Good evening, V," he said, calling me by the nickname only he calls me. "Good evening, Artemis," I answered him. "Did you enjoy yourself at the ball?" I shrugged. He looked at me closely. He knows when something's wrong. "What's wrong Venus?" he asked. I shook my head.
"Something must be wrong," he said. "I don't want to talk about it right now, Artemis," I said. He understood, being the faithful friend he is. He jumped up on my bed and curled up on one of my many pillows. I smiled and got in next to him, switching off the light. I slept a dreamless sleep.
The next morning I awoke, and remembering how Kunzite asked me to join him for breakfast, I threw off my covers in a hurry, sending Artemis flying. He hit the ground, and stayed there for a few seconds. He looked up and glared at me, and I smiled apologetically. Just then, his cat form grew bigger, and he became a human.
"Thanks a lot, V," he said. I laughed at him. "Sorry, Artemis," I said, laughing. Then I grew serious. "Listen, I need your help on what to wear, and since you're a male…"
Artemis groaned, but agreed to help me grudgingly. I gave him a big hug, and immediately started digging through my huge closet. I pulled out several gowns, all of which he made faces at. I rolled my eyes and blew out a huge breath. This was harder than I thought.
I finally pulled out a gold gown with a V-neck that wasn't too low. He smiled and nodded. I went into the bathroom and changed, and when I came out, he was a cat again. I took out my red bow and replaced it with a golden one. I added no jewelry.
I emerged out of my room, running into Jupiter. We exchanged greetings, and I practically ran downstairs, with her on my heels. I saw Kunzite at the bottom of the grand staircase, as well as Nephrite, though I didn't pay him very much heed. I slowed down, smoothed my skirt, and started slowly walking down the staircase. Kunzite looked up and smiled. I smiled back.
When I got to the bottom, he took my hand and kissed it. He then led me into the dining room, in which we sat down across from each other, waiting for the other Princesses, Prince, Kings, Queens, and Generals to arrive.
(Mars)
Some dreams are premonitions; some dreams I pay attention to, and care about.
Others I dismiss as obviously meaningless. Then there are the much rarer dreams,
the ones that have no basis in reality that I can see, but continue to resurface. The
one from last night was one such dream that continued to nag me.
My face set in the firm line that signifies I am in deep thought, I rose from the bed
and washed. There was nothing to think about; not all dreams have a point.
Sometimes even a second of thought can trigger hours of dreams. Still, it was a
vexing hour.
I randomly reached into the wardrobe and yanked out a dress. I viciously combed
my hair, and rather crankily stormed out of my room. To slam face-first into Jadeite.
"I'm sorry, Mars," he apologized hastily. I blinked and rubbed my nose. "What are you
talking about? I ran into you, remember?" He smiled. He seemed much more
comfortable now, though much more... subdued.
"You don't look like you had a restful night," he commented.
"You don't act like you've had a restful night," I replied sharply. I looked down then,
in regret. "I am sorry. I... I have had some things that are bothering me. My friends,
Princess Selenity's safety... I needed time to worry about my problems too."
He nodded, as if he understood, and offered no comment. I smiled weakly, but
gratefully, and walked down to breakfast. I heard footsteps that informed he was
walking behind me, and I turned to face him.
"I wanted to apologize again," he said. I frowned in confusion.
"You apologized already. Besides, it was my fault, remember?"
"No, not about that, about last night..." I frowned. Did he mean his outburst? Why
should he apologize for that? I also felt concern for my friends.
"There is nothing for you to apologize for," I said at length, and continued to walk down
to breakfast. He fell in behind me again. I stopped and whirled around to face him. "Jadeite,
what is wrong?" Instead of replying, he seized me and pulled me to him. Before I could protest, he jammed his mouth over mine. Then he broke off.
"Nothing," he murmured. "Nothing anymore. Now I can die complete."
(Mercury)
Zoisite had left me, I curled up holding my bear. My covers were pulled up around my throat. I could still feel Zoisite's hands on my back. He had promised me it would be alright, my mind felt like it was turning it self over. Zoisite's words rans thought my mind, the look at his face, his reaction to the man, and the way he held me.
"Friends..." I murrmmered. "Just friends..." my mind stopped turning and I slept. I woke with a jolt. The sun was shinning down on my bed and my mother was standing at the foot of my bed. "Mama?" I muttered sleeply as a rolled out of bed.
"Mercury." She smiled at me and gave me a hug. "How are you?"
"Fine..." I told her, running a hand thought my tangled hair and blinking a little, to get the sleep out of my eyes. "Is there a reason that you were standing at the end of my bed?"
"Sort of," she told me. She then took my face it her hands and smiled down at me. "Do you remember your grandparnets?"
"Sure." I answered, as I sorted thought my closet, trying to pick out a good dress for breakfast, the generals had invited us, the sailor princesses to breakfast. Well, not as a group, Jupiter had been asked and so had Venus. Mars and I were going to eat with them just to be friendly, and plus, I told myself, it would be nice to learn about Earth.
"Well,they live on the other side of Mercury, and I am going to visit them. For a while, a very long while." I stood up straight.
"How long?"
"2 years at most."
"2 years?!" I almost yelled at her.
"Your farther has businsess on Jupiter. He doesn't think that I should come. 'A royal treaty does not need a woman there.' Really, I'm the queen, he has no royal blood. He really should only have the title of prince. But, oh well, lets not go into the deatils." Mother waved her hand. "The point is, that it's almost summer, and I didn't know if you wanted to bring your friends for a pool party and sleep over at home."
"You mean it?" I asked, the search for my dress totally forgotten.
"Yes of course."
"I'll ask them!" I jumped happily around the room. "And we can sleep outside, stay up as late as we want, sleep in, go swimming, go to the beach! This is gonna be great!" Mom smiled and pushed her blue hair out of her face.
"I'm glad you like the idea, for now I think you better change for breakfast." Mama turned and left my room. I went back to the search for my dress, with my mind else where. Finally I found a good dress. It was light blue, ended just above my knees, had a modestneck line, and a back that was almost all open. I pulled on a pair of sandles (A.N.: think Minako's when she gets mad in the Supers Manga #2. There's a shot of just her feet on page 78.). I hopped from my room, still pulling one sandle on. A made a dash for the staris, Venus and Jupiter were already at the bottom with their generals. Zoisite saw me from the bottom of the stairs and waved, I waved back, and made my way quickly down the stairs.
"Hey."
"Good morning." I answered as I took his arm.
"We better get down to breakfast, other wise Jadeite will eat everything." I laughed and we walked down the hall, my arm in his. He smiled down at me and I gave him a smile back, his green eyes sparkled down at me. We walked down the hall, following Jupiter and Venus to breakfast.
(Jupiter)
I woke up on my hardwood floor with a headache. My cheeks were stained with dried tears. The night before had been a complete hell. I had tossed and turned, torn between sleep and consciousness for several hours.
Finally I had fallen into a shallow sleep, haunted by visions of ghosts, swords and blood. I took a deep breath and shook it off. The dreams had come before and I had been able to deal with them... Today wouldn't be any different. There was a knock on my door while I tried to compose myself.
I ran into the bathroom, splashed cold water on my face, and answered it, my hair in a pitiful state.
It was Nephrite. "Oh! Nephrite! I wasn't expecting you, can you wait just a second..." I ran off, skidding across the floor to my closet. As Nephrite waited, I tore through my closet, searching for my dress. I wrestled into it, and put on my shoes. I took about 10 seconds to put up my hair, and put in earrings.
Then I went to the door. I opened it again."Sorry for making you wait.." I started to say, when Nephrite looked at me and smiled.
"No problem. Maybe you should have taken a little longer.." I was puzzled. "Because you forgot to put in an earring and your shoes are on the wrong feet." As I realized what a fool I must look like, I blushed. "Don't worry," Nephrite said, "happens to me all the time." he grinned.
"Ok, just let me get my other earring and fix my shoes..." I said, and went back in my room. "Why don't you come in?" he obliged and I went into the bathroom to get my other earring. I put it in my ear, and went to sit down and change my shoes. He noticed my tangled sheets and my pillow on the floor.
"Hard night sleeping?" he asked.
"Yeah. How did you know?" I asked. He motioned toward the bed. "oh." I said. I would have made it...
"I understand. I had trouble sleeping last night also. There's something about the moon for me that just--I don't know, but ever since I've been here, I haven't had one good night of sleep. I have dreams-"
"Me too." I said.
"Well, shall we go to breakfast?" he asked, changing the subject. I went along with it.
"Sure." I said, and took his arm.
