Hello! Thank you to my reviewers! It gives me heart to write on! I do
realize that some people are too lazy to review (sometimes I am one of
them) but I am not expecting much, just a 'keep writing I'm reading' will
be fine. Thanks ^-^!
@~@~@~@
'Welcome Princess Serena to our humble planet of Earth!' greeted Queen Gaia beaming.
'It is a pleasure to have finally arrived.' Said Serena politely as she curtsied. The four Senshi followed suit. They had just arrived through the teleporter and the scenery that they had seen so far was breathtaking.
'The colors are so vibrant!' breathed Ami in awe.
For the beautiful moon was brilliant in its radiance and luminous quality but earth had bright vivid colors that the moon could not compare to.
(The Queen introduced the Princesses to the court of Earth and showed them to their rooms. It was after all, late in the evening when they arrived. As soon as they arrived, the Princes had made themselves scarce checking things that had changed since they left. The Princesses were delighted yet tired and found their rooms quite splendid. Sorry but I cannot be bothered to explain all that in great detail. Gomennasai! -_-^!)
The next morning .....
The sun shined bright through the open window of Princess Serena's room. It was quite a lovely day and Serena was still abed.
Something brushed against Serena's leg, which caused her to stir. 'Aergh,' she mumbled and turned over .... to hug something ...... warm ..... and moving.
Serena blinked her eyes open and came face to face with . a flickering tongue. This tongue was joined to a pair of beady eyes and a long reptilian body.
Serena opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out. She carefully moved her eyes and took in her surroundings. Her bed was a mass of snakes!
Big snakes, little snakes, snakes as thick as her thigh while others were as thin as her little finger. They slowly slithered over her legs and under her pillow. Serena froze. If these are anything like the snakes on the Moon, she thought, I am about to become either strangled to death or eaten whole!
Serena did not dare to move in case it angered any of the snakes. 'Excuse me,' she called. 'Can anyone here me, help!' Serena stiffened as one giant viper slithered onto her chest and flicked its tongue at her nose. How in the world did this happen, she thought.
Meanwhile across the hallway .....
Four high-pitched and terrified screams sliced through the air. Four girls burst out of their rooms and made a beeline for their Princess.
'It was gross! Absolutely foul! Disgusting!'
'Vermin! Rabies! They could have rabies!'
'Creepy crawly, they were filthy!'
'They hurt! They bit me! Stupid useless things!'
The four disheveled princesses stood in front of the bed, disgust and revulsion on their faces. Princess Mina kept shaking her head and running her fingers through her hair, Raye was full on slapping her limbs. Raye's legs and arms were very red. All four kept shuddering and checking their arms, legs and clothes.
Ami took a deep breath. 'Let us explain what happened this morning,' she said trying to appear calm, 'Mina you first.'
'My bed,' said Mina, 'was teeming with filthy, revolting cockroaches! There were like hundreds of them! Crawling everywhere, in my hair-'
'In your clothes,' interrupted Lita, 'I could feel them clinging to me! Slugs! There were slugs on me! They were stuck to my legs!'
'I found ants in my bed!' shouted Raye, 'and not only that, someone had covered my legs and arms with sugar water! I woke up to thousands of ants feasting! And they were so small that I could not toast them!'
'Spiders,' shuddered Ami, 'they move so light and fast and I was so afraid that they would bite! Tarantulas! Huntsman! Funnelwebs! Redbacks! Every size imaginable! One crawled over my face while I was screaming!' she added.
The four calmed down enough to take a look at Serena's bed. Their eyes widened. 'Holy shit, Sere!' whispered Raye.
Serena had not uttered a word, as she was still face to face with what appeared to be a rattlesnake and after hearing Ami, decided not to open her mouth.
They drew closer to the bed and Mina grabbed the blanket and flung it to the ground. The girls gasped, the snakes had entwined themselves all over Serena. They were literally covering Serena so much that she could barely be seen.
'Maybe we should call for help,' suggested Lita feeling slightly queasy. 'No!' said Raye, 'we must not draw attention to ourselves. We just got here.'
'Right,' agreed Ami, 'this is obviously a prank or some sort of cruel threat. We need to show them that we can handle it.'
Mina reached forward and gently picked up one of the smaller spotted snakes. Other than curling itself across her wrist it did nothing. She walked over to Serena's closet and rummaged inside. She eventually came out with a big drawstring sack that Serena uses to put her dirty things before giving it to be washed. Mina uncurled the snake and let it drop into the sack, 'looks like we have to remove them one by one,' she said simply while the other girls stared at her in shock.
Bubbly, ditzy, girly Mina had just got rid of a snake without squealing and running for cover! 'If she can do it,' growled Raye, 'so can I!'
So the girls gently and slowly removed snakes one by one and placed them into the sack. When the sack was half full and quite heavy, they decided that that was enough snakes in one bag and ran to their rooms for more. They ended up filling all five sacks, the last sack containing only one very big (or relatively small for its species) boa constrictor. The boa was the one entwined around Serena's chest and sniffing Serena's nose.
It took all four girls to remove that one and when they finally did and reached for Serena, she grabbed them all into hugs and burst into tears. 'I thought it was going to eat me!' she sobbed.
The girls tried to comfort her when a gong rang. 'That is the signal for breakfast,' explained Ami.
'Come now honey,' soothed Mina, 'You never miss out on breakfast.'
'Or any other meal!' added Lita.
'We need to show them that we are tough!' said Raye determinedly. 'Their little joke isn't going to faze us! Let us get changed for breakfast.'
Serena dried her eyes and nodded. All five girls had a quick wash with a water basin before changing and appearing at the breakfast table. (A/n in case you were wondering, the other girls got rid of the pests by wrapping them up in the bed sheets. So each have a bundle of vermin hidden in their closet.)
'Good morning ladies,' greeted the Queen with a smile. All five Princesses smiled and curtsied and took their places. One glance at the Generals and their Prince told them who were the guilty culprits. They were grinning like cats that found the cream.
'Did you sleep well?' smirked Jadeite at Raye, who promptly kicked him under the table and unfortunately missed and hit Nephrite instead. This startled Nephrite who returned the kick at Lita who he thought initiated it. This of course led to a full blown kicking war under the table much to the amusement of the Queen, who never missed anything.
'Ahem,' she coughed stopping the war with a glance. The princesses blushed from embarrassment. 'Now that we are all settled,' she said, 'I would like the Generals to please show the Princesses around and make sure that they feel quite at home, there will be a ball in two weeks to honor them.'
They had breakfast and then the Queen left to attend stately matters.
The Generals and the Prince grinned at each other. It was time to put their major plan into action. This was going to get interesting they thought.
@~@~@~@~@
(For the next couple of chapters I am going to take it in turns to write in one person's point of view, this is to develop the characters more deeply. Basically the next couple of days will be rather long and I am going to concentrate more on the Generals and Senshi. )
Serena was strolling in the gardens. This was the most wonderful place that she instantly fell in love with when she came. The Royal Gardens were filled with roses every color imaginable. She stopped to sniff at a deep blue rose.
'Enchanting aren't they,' said a deep masculine voice.
Serena started and looked up to see Prince Endymion. She nodded vaguely and continued to stroll. 'Only those with royal blood are allowed in these gardens you know,' he said conversationally.
Serena kept walking and admiring the flowers. 'There is one rose that you can't see here,' said Darien coolly, 'that is the silver rose. It only blooms under the full moon.' He looked to see Serena's face and noticed that she still wasn't talking to him.
'Are you really that mad?' he questioned. 'It wasn't like you never pulled a prank before.' He was getting a bit impatient.
Serena smiled but it wasn't a true smile. 'My pranks never involved snakes strangling you in your sleep.' She murmured and gently stroked a dark violet rose.
Darien chuckled. 'You must admit that it was different.' He said. 'Did you know that you are the first Princess who didn't come flying into the throne room screaming after that prank?'
'I am stronger than I look,' she replied, 'and you are still not forgiven.'
'I think it is more than fair. After all you caused my hands to swell, changed me into some kind of beast, poisoned my porridge and not to say that I was mauled by an oversized kitty cat...... and here all I did was scare you with a few snakes.'
'A few? There seemed to be quite more than a few! And you didn't eat your porridge as I warned you, being mauled as you say was your own fault and you willingly placed your hands into that nest and got bitten, you didn't have to do it!'
'I still say a truce is in order seeing as how we are going to spend the next couple of weeks together. And I am not apologizing empty-handed Princess, here for you.' He seemed to magically snatch a rose out of the air. Serena gasped. It was the biggest fullest deepest red she had ever seen.
'I already removed the thorns,' he murmured. 'Here let me.' And with that he gently brushed back her hair and placed the rose behind her ear.
Serena blushed. He was quite charming when he wanted to be. She turned and looked around the gardens. 'Please show me around the Royal Gardens. Some of these flowers here are not found on the Moon and they are quite lovely.'
Darien smiled. She is going to be mine, he thought possessively. 'Sure Princess, whatever you desire.' They spent the morning touring the Earth palace talking of many things and meeting many people. Serena had instantly charmed the staff into loving her without really knowing it.
The maids and footmen watched the Prince and Princess strolling along and smiled at the sight they made. I hope she is going to be the one, they whispered amongst themselves, for never had they met such a lovable Princess.
@~@~@~@~@
'Is there anything in particularly that you wish to see Princess Lita?' Nephrite questioned with one of his charming smiles.
Lita however seemed to be immune to this, at least outwardly, inwardly her heart was doing little somersaults. Lita however had not forgotten this morning's little incident; she had taken three baths and still felt that slugs were still attached to her.
'I am sure you have many important matters to attend to General and I will not detain you with such trivialities. I shall go and visit the village. Good day.'
With a sweep of her skirts, Lita turned and made her way to the Palace gates. Nephrite smiled to himself, you will not escape me that easily, he thought, the game is just beginning.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Princess Mina and Raye were in the stables admiring the steeds. Horses of the Moon have wings and are much more intelligent, however the horses of the Earth have their own good qualities and are very majestic.
Mina was charming a little black mare, when Malachite appeared at the stable doors. 'Greetings Princess Mina, I have come to escort you to a tour of our natural wildlife.' He said.
Mina however could only think, cockroaches, cockroaches everywhere! She suppressed a shudder. Malachite waited patiently as Mina was taking her time thinking. Raye elbowed her in the ribs. 'Must I remind you that it is part of your duty as a Princess to view our Kingdom,' he said when she turned back to the horse.
Mina finally nodded. 'We are to leave now?' she asked. 'Whenever you are ready, the horses are waiting at the Palace gates,' he said.
Mina sighed, I suppose I have to go, she thought and followed Malachite out the door.
Raye watched Mina leave and thought divide and conquer, I know their plan, and I think I will make myself scarce now before a certain General comes a calling. Raye left the stables and was about to enter the gardens when that certain General blocked her way.
'Princess Raye, just the person I wanted to see,' he greeted with a grin. 'Funny, the feeling isn't returned.' She snapped and made to go around him when he intercepted her once more.
'You cannot run, my little wildcat, I am to show you around our kingdom here.' 'I don't suppose you could pretend to have never seen me?'
'Never seen you? But you have already graced me with your presence, I am afraid it is far too late.'
'If I must,' she sighed as if greatly burdened.
Jadeite smirked, soon you will be begging me to stay, he thought.
@~@~@~@
'And this is my personal library.' Presented Zoicite waving his arms at the shelves filled floor to ceiling with books.
'Quite impressive,' Ami said softly and walked forward to view them. She took out a random book and began to flip through the pages.
Zoicite watched her. She had been distantly polite all morning; the warm and pleasant girl that he had played chess with was gone. She must still be angry over the prank, he thought.
Ami glanced through the pages without really taking it in, out of the corner of her eye she was looking at Zoicite who had taken an interest in a glass cabinet filled with colored powders. Ami was still upset over this morning but she always had trouble expressing anger. Now she was waiting for him to apologize but that did not seem forthcoming.
Zoicite suddenly grinned, I got it he thought. He went to the back of the shelves and began scanning the books rapidly. 'Aha!' he said and reached down to take out a really old looking musty smelling hardcover book. He walked towards Ami who by now was quite curious to what caught his attention so.
'This is a complete translation of all the ancient text of the planet Mawaki. I know that ancient texts interest you; this book only has four copies, two of which are here, one has been destroyed and the other one missing.' He explained.
Ami's eyes widened. This was a one of a kind, very valuable and rare text. She reached for it with reverence. Zoicite grinned at her and stepped back, just out of reach.
'I am not just handing it to you,' he teased, 'it comes with a price.'
'And what pray tell is this price?' asked Ami warily.
'Your forgiveness,' he said simply. 'My reputation and pride and honor demanded that I exact revenge for the previous pranks, however that is over and done with and I now call a truce.'
Ami nodded deep in thought, it makes sense. 'Okay,' she agreed, 'you are forgiven.' She reached for the text once more and once more he stepped back with a twinkle in his eyes.
'If I knew you were to comply so readily, I would've asked for more,' he joked.
Ami rolled her eyes. 'Well?' she asked.
He smiled and handed her the text. It was a large book and fairly heavy, it took both of Ami's hands to hold it steady. 'While you hands are occupied,' Zoicite said softly and he leaned in and captured her lips in a kiss. It was not a passionate kiss however it was sweet and gentle yet sincere.
He broke it off and stepped back. Ami had been too shocked to respond. She blushed red. 'I ... ah ....' she turned redder, 'I'm going to study this now.' She made her way over to a table and sank into a chair.
Zoicite beamed and left Ami to her thoughts. She wants me, he thought smugly, and strolled off down the hallway whistling.
@~@~@~@
Lita had walked through the village and had visited many shops. As she was a stranger in these parts and obviously foreign, many people had greeted her and were very welcoming asking questions about her home and comparing it to life here. Lita was now tired and had found a small park in the center of the village.
There were many trees, a small lake and several families and young couples were out wandering. Lita sat down on a wooden bench, she often did this when she was younger, just sit and watch people go by.
'Is this seat taken?' asked a deep male voice.
'Not at all,' replied Lita not looking at the stranger, still reminiscing about her childhood.
'Do you come here often?' he asked.
'First time,' answered Lita who didn't really feel like talking.
Suddenly a pink giraffe came into view, obscuring her vision of the people of the park. Lita finally turned and gazed at the man. She blinked several times.
'A present,' he offered and handed her the pink giraffe helium filled balloon. Lita accepted still staring.
'I do not wish to be rude but is your dress common around here,' she asked with a wave of her hand.
He smiled. He was dressed as an old-fashioned western cowboy, hat, boots and all. He had a checkered shirt and the traditional sheriff badge. He had a holster that was filled with empty balloons instead of guns. What was most strange was his mask. It was black and covered over his eyes and nose. (a/n think mask of zorro) His hair could not be seen as the cowboy hat was rather large but it appeared short.
'I am part of the entertainment around here,' he explained, 'I sell helium balloons to children. My name is Nathan.'
Lita smiled, he seemed to be a really nice guy. 'Call me Lita,' she said offering her hand, which he shook.
'And what's a nice girl like you Lita, doing all by herself in this park filled with couples and families?' he asked quietly with a smile.
'Waiting for strange men in cowboy clothes to offer me giraffes.' She said.
He chuckled. 'I suppose it happens often then?' he asked.
'Only occasionally. More often than not they offer me pink elephants and lions instead.' Lita was amused. This had to be one of her weirder conversations, and that is saying something when you are friends with girls like Serena and Mina.
'And here I thought you were dazzled and amazed. It's quite hard to make a giraffe you know.' He said with mock-sadness.
Lita smiled at his expression. He looks so cute when he is pouting, she thought. 'I was quite surprised,' she assured him.
They spent quite a lovely afternoon discussing entertainment, balloons, animals and cowboys. He did not ask who she was or where she came from, and Lita was delighted at his ability to trust, his honesty, but then, she didn't question him either.
@~@~@~@~@
'Are we dere yet? Are we dere yet? Are we dere yet?' she whined like a broken record, satisfied to see the annoyance across his face.
'Patience is a virtue, Princess, one that you should cultivate.' Malachite said exasperatedly.
'We have been walking for miles! Not only walking but also now we are to climb? I know it is beneficial to see you kingdom however it is not essential to inspect every rock and dirt pile.' She snapped. Mina was obviously running out of patience. She could not bear to be in the company of a man who had not spoken to her for hours and when he did it was no more than a sentence.
Malachite looked at her and drew a deep breath as if ready to roar. Instead he let it out slowly and said, 'We are almost there, it is at the top of this hill. Trust me it will be worthwhile.'
Mina rolled her eyes and began to climb the hill, it was grassy yet very rocky at the same time, enough that if you fell it would be a painful experience.
She hiked up her skirt in annoyance and made sure to kick a lot of pebbles and dust into the General's face, who was following. The girls had not forgotten their promise to their Queen in dressing proper but how it irked her to be treated as fragile.
Malachite grinned when Mina wasn't looking. He had expected her to whine and complain, she was a Princess after all. But what had surprised him was that she had kept up with him, she was tired yes he could see that, but not the tiredness and lack of breath that came with unfitness. She must do simple exercise, he thought, for she sure has great legs. He was of course too busy admiring these legs to notice the dust kicked up.
When he started coughing, Mina smirked smugly. Serves that pervert right, she thought savagely.
Finally and with a lot of struggle, they reached the top. There were tall gum trees and beautiful birds calling, frankly Mina thought it had a peaceful atmosphere but nothing special.
'Well,' she demanded, 'I see trees and hear birds, there's quite a lot of dirt and grass and rocks lying about, anything else you wanted me to see?'
'Just you wait,' he said softly and took her by the hand. He led her to a large dark cave.
Mina followed willingly then finally stopped in her tracks. Wait a minute, she thought, I am letting this man to lead me into a dark cave in the middle of nowhere. It is getting dark, and there are no people about ...... Her mind filled with horror stories told to warn of what men do to innocent girls.
Malachite looked at her questionably. He was surprised to see the outrage on her face.
'You are not taking me in there,' she growled. 'Who knows what sort of scheme you have,' making no effect to hide what she was implying.
Malachite chuckled. 'Nice to see you showing some sort of sense though belated it is. However, I would not dare to harm a Princess while we are negotiating a peace treaty, that would jeopardize everything. And there will be no way I could silence you, and if I killed you, people will wonder at the disappearance. No princess, I am not intending to rape you or kill you.'
Mina clenched her teeth. 'You would not dare, and I would not go without a fight.' She retorted.
Malachite slowly smiled. 'Are you challenging me to a duel?' he asked unbelievably.
'And if I am?'
'That's preposterous. You are a Princess, a girl and you will get hurt.'
'If it wasn't for these damned skirts, I would make you eat your words. However now is not the time or place but perhaps one day.'
Malachite nodded skeptically. 'Yeah,' he drawled, 'one day.'
Mina huffed and made her way into the cave. They walked for a bit before having to crawl as the roof sloped down. After crawling for a way in silence, they came to a dead end. 'Reach up,' Malachite instructed, 'You will find a hole in the wall.'
So she did and he was right, after crawling some more, the roof slowly sloped up and eventually they could stand again. At long last they reached the end.
Mina slowly walked towards the mouth of the cave, as the sun was setting everything glowed a bright orange. 'Be careful,' warned Malachite, 'The path ends here.'
Mina gasped. They were on a ledge of a cliff, below her feet a chasm dropped endlessly. She could not see the bottom of it but this was not what surprised her.
As a result of the sunset, everything was ablaze like fire. Mina gazed around, frozen in awe. There were wildflowers of every hue imaginable, bursting from everywhere. The scent was intoxicating. This scent drew butterflies like moths to a flame. They were bright and filled with vivid color, some looked larger than her head. They fluttered around her head in groups, dancing as if saying join us and be merry.
Mina smiled and spun around, her hair soaring. She laughed and began to dance and twirl, skirts flying in a circle around her.
'It is like a place right out of a fairy tale.' She breathed. 'Breathtaking does not begin to describe it.'
She waved her hand and stopped, a butterfly had landed. It was as green as an emerald and as delicate as a feather. It flapped its wings once and was away again.
Mina was not the only one who had frozen. Malachite had his eyes glued on this goddess. She looks like a fairy, an elf no a nymph he decided. She was so happy and immersed herself in the beauty of this place that she joined it.
'No, it doesn't,' he agreed. She turned and looked at him and blushed when she realized he was talking about her.
Without knowing how, she found herself, toe to toe and nose to nose with the arrogant cold General that irked her so. Her breaths quickened and she could not remove herself from his gaze.
He gently reached out a hand and brushed a strand of errant hair behind her ear. He leaned down and softly kissed her on the cheek. Mina turned and met his lips with her own. It was not a simple chaste kiss either but one filled with urgency and need. Mina twined her arms around his neck and he ran his fingers through her silken hair.
Passion and desire flared between them and they could not break the embrace even is they wanted to. His lips moved to touch her temple, the tip of her nose, and the corner of her mouth. Mina clung and returned those kisses.
Abruptly he took hold of her shoulders and tore her away. His eyes burned with longing that was quickly hidden with his typical cold stone gaze. 'That was not meant to happen,' he said coldly.
'But it did,' she pointed out, fighting the desire to reach for him again. Mina was hurt and slightly angry.
'And it won't happen again.' He turned away from her.
Mina bristled in anger. 'I suppose you say that to all the girls who you have stolen kisses from.' She barked.
'Stolen?' he said icily, 'You are mistaken, it was freely given.'
'But you.... I mean I .... It was .....' Mina gave up, confused. She quietly followed him as they made their way back to the Palace in silence, both of them surprised and angry at their actions.
@~@~@~@
Raye fumed. 'Is this your idea of a joke?' she asked frostily.
Jadeite grinned. 'Actually it was to make up for the last one.' He said honestly, 'Do you not like it? I put a lot of thought into it.'
'It's ...... it's quite nice actually but you did not have to go to the trouble.'
They were sitting at a table with a candlelit steak dinner while soft violins played in the background. There was a large bouquet of flowers by her dinner plate with a card that said 'To my darling little spitfire, may I not get burnt to a crisp for offering these. Jade.'
The cruise boat that they occupied though rather empty was remarkably stable as it sailed around an enormous blue lake. They were outside and the stars twinkled brightly.
'You did not answer my question,' he reminded her.
'Yes,' she decided. 'I do like it, no one has ever arranged a whole ship to be at my disposal.'
'Good,' he smiled, 'Am I forgiven then for the earlier ...... incident?'
Raye pretended to consider it seriously. 'I don't know,' she teased, 'if I say no what other measures would you go to for my forgiveness. Skywriting perhaps? Hot air balloon? Mountains of chocolates and roses at my door? Giant cute teddy bears singing your apologies?' These were actually her little girl fantasies on finding the love of her life.
Jadeite appeared thoughtful. 'Chocolates, roses and teddy bears I can arrange. Skywriting is rather difficult I hear but I could give it a go but I don't know where I would get a hot air balloon from.'
Raye's eyes widened for an instant before he burst into laughter and a wide grin.
'Aah my little wildcat, would you care to dance?' he asked his eyes twinkling.
Raye couldn't help smiling too. It was not everyday that she got spoiled and pampered like a ...... well a princess. Usually she was too busy training and guarding Serena, the people of the moon regarded her as well as the other Senshi as responsible and loyal not girly and in need of coddling.
She nodded and took his hand.
The two spent a lovely evening dancing under the moonlight on a secluded cruise boat to the sound of the waves lapping and soft violins.
@~@~@~@
Tell me what you think! R&R! ^-^!
@~@~@~@
'Welcome Princess Serena to our humble planet of Earth!' greeted Queen Gaia beaming.
'It is a pleasure to have finally arrived.' Said Serena politely as she curtsied. The four Senshi followed suit. They had just arrived through the teleporter and the scenery that they had seen so far was breathtaking.
'The colors are so vibrant!' breathed Ami in awe.
For the beautiful moon was brilliant in its radiance and luminous quality but earth had bright vivid colors that the moon could not compare to.
(The Queen introduced the Princesses to the court of Earth and showed them to their rooms. It was after all, late in the evening when they arrived. As soon as they arrived, the Princes had made themselves scarce checking things that had changed since they left. The Princesses were delighted yet tired and found their rooms quite splendid. Sorry but I cannot be bothered to explain all that in great detail. Gomennasai! -_-^!)
The next morning .....
The sun shined bright through the open window of Princess Serena's room. It was quite a lovely day and Serena was still abed.
Something brushed against Serena's leg, which caused her to stir. 'Aergh,' she mumbled and turned over .... to hug something ...... warm ..... and moving.
Serena blinked her eyes open and came face to face with . a flickering tongue. This tongue was joined to a pair of beady eyes and a long reptilian body.
Serena opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out. She carefully moved her eyes and took in her surroundings. Her bed was a mass of snakes!
Big snakes, little snakes, snakes as thick as her thigh while others were as thin as her little finger. They slowly slithered over her legs and under her pillow. Serena froze. If these are anything like the snakes on the Moon, she thought, I am about to become either strangled to death or eaten whole!
Serena did not dare to move in case it angered any of the snakes. 'Excuse me,' she called. 'Can anyone here me, help!' Serena stiffened as one giant viper slithered onto her chest and flicked its tongue at her nose. How in the world did this happen, she thought.
Meanwhile across the hallway .....
Four high-pitched and terrified screams sliced through the air. Four girls burst out of their rooms and made a beeline for their Princess.
'It was gross! Absolutely foul! Disgusting!'
'Vermin! Rabies! They could have rabies!'
'Creepy crawly, they were filthy!'
'They hurt! They bit me! Stupid useless things!'
The four disheveled princesses stood in front of the bed, disgust and revulsion on their faces. Princess Mina kept shaking her head and running her fingers through her hair, Raye was full on slapping her limbs. Raye's legs and arms were very red. All four kept shuddering and checking their arms, legs and clothes.
Ami took a deep breath. 'Let us explain what happened this morning,' she said trying to appear calm, 'Mina you first.'
'My bed,' said Mina, 'was teeming with filthy, revolting cockroaches! There were like hundreds of them! Crawling everywhere, in my hair-'
'In your clothes,' interrupted Lita, 'I could feel them clinging to me! Slugs! There were slugs on me! They were stuck to my legs!'
'I found ants in my bed!' shouted Raye, 'and not only that, someone had covered my legs and arms with sugar water! I woke up to thousands of ants feasting! And they were so small that I could not toast them!'
'Spiders,' shuddered Ami, 'they move so light and fast and I was so afraid that they would bite! Tarantulas! Huntsman! Funnelwebs! Redbacks! Every size imaginable! One crawled over my face while I was screaming!' she added.
The four calmed down enough to take a look at Serena's bed. Their eyes widened. 'Holy shit, Sere!' whispered Raye.
Serena had not uttered a word, as she was still face to face with what appeared to be a rattlesnake and after hearing Ami, decided not to open her mouth.
They drew closer to the bed and Mina grabbed the blanket and flung it to the ground. The girls gasped, the snakes had entwined themselves all over Serena. They were literally covering Serena so much that she could barely be seen.
'Maybe we should call for help,' suggested Lita feeling slightly queasy. 'No!' said Raye, 'we must not draw attention to ourselves. We just got here.'
'Right,' agreed Ami, 'this is obviously a prank or some sort of cruel threat. We need to show them that we can handle it.'
Mina reached forward and gently picked up one of the smaller spotted snakes. Other than curling itself across her wrist it did nothing. She walked over to Serena's closet and rummaged inside. She eventually came out with a big drawstring sack that Serena uses to put her dirty things before giving it to be washed. Mina uncurled the snake and let it drop into the sack, 'looks like we have to remove them one by one,' she said simply while the other girls stared at her in shock.
Bubbly, ditzy, girly Mina had just got rid of a snake without squealing and running for cover! 'If she can do it,' growled Raye, 'so can I!'
So the girls gently and slowly removed snakes one by one and placed them into the sack. When the sack was half full and quite heavy, they decided that that was enough snakes in one bag and ran to their rooms for more. They ended up filling all five sacks, the last sack containing only one very big (or relatively small for its species) boa constrictor. The boa was the one entwined around Serena's chest and sniffing Serena's nose.
It took all four girls to remove that one and when they finally did and reached for Serena, she grabbed them all into hugs and burst into tears. 'I thought it was going to eat me!' she sobbed.
The girls tried to comfort her when a gong rang. 'That is the signal for breakfast,' explained Ami.
'Come now honey,' soothed Mina, 'You never miss out on breakfast.'
'Or any other meal!' added Lita.
'We need to show them that we are tough!' said Raye determinedly. 'Their little joke isn't going to faze us! Let us get changed for breakfast.'
Serena dried her eyes and nodded. All five girls had a quick wash with a water basin before changing and appearing at the breakfast table. (A/n in case you were wondering, the other girls got rid of the pests by wrapping them up in the bed sheets. So each have a bundle of vermin hidden in their closet.)
'Good morning ladies,' greeted the Queen with a smile. All five Princesses smiled and curtsied and took their places. One glance at the Generals and their Prince told them who were the guilty culprits. They were grinning like cats that found the cream.
'Did you sleep well?' smirked Jadeite at Raye, who promptly kicked him under the table and unfortunately missed and hit Nephrite instead. This startled Nephrite who returned the kick at Lita who he thought initiated it. This of course led to a full blown kicking war under the table much to the amusement of the Queen, who never missed anything.
'Ahem,' she coughed stopping the war with a glance. The princesses blushed from embarrassment. 'Now that we are all settled,' she said, 'I would like the Generals to please show the Princesses around and make sure that they feel quite at home, there will be a ball in two weeks to honor them.'
They had breakfast and then the Queen left to attend stately matters.
The Generals and the Prince grinned at each other. It was time to put their major plan into action. This was going to get interesting they thought.
@~@~@~@~@
(For the next couple of chapters I am going to take it in turns to write in one person's point of view, this is to develop the characters more deeply. Basically the next couple of days will be rather long and I am going to concentrate more on the Generals and Senshi. )
Serena was strolling in the gardens. This was the most wonderful place that she instantly fell in love with when she came. The Royal Gardens were filled with roses every color imaginable. She stopped to sniff at a deep blue rose.
'Enchanting aren't they,' said a deep masculine voice.
Serena started and looked up to see Prince Endymion. She nodded vaguely and continued to stroll. 'Only those with royal blood are allowed in these gardens you know,' he said conversationally.
Serena kept walking and admiring the flowers. 'There is one rose that you can't see here,' said Darien coolly, 'that is the silver rose. It only blooms under the full moon.' He looked to see Serena's face and noticed that she still wasn't talking to him.
'Are you really that mad?' he questioned. 'It wasn't like you never pulled a prank before.' He was getting a bit impatient.
Serena smiled but it wasn't a true smile. 'My pranks never involved snakes strangling you in your sleep.' She murmured and gently stroked a dark violet rose.
Darien chuckled. 'You must admit that it was different.' He said. 'Did you know that you are the first Princess who didn't come flying into the throne room screaming after that prank?'
'I am stronger than I look,' she replied, 'and you are still not forgiven.'
'I think it is more than fair. After all you caused my hands to swell, changed me into some kind of beast, poisoned my porridge and not to say that I was mauled by an oversized kitty cat...... and here all I did was scare you with a few snakes.'
'A few? There seemed to be quite more than a few! And you didn't eat your porridge as I warned you, being mauled as you say was your own fault and you willingly placed your hands into that nest and got bitten, you didn't have to do it!'
'I still say a truce is in order seeing as how we are going to spend the next couple of weeks together. And I am not apologizing empty-handed Princess, here for you.' He seemed to magically snatch a rose out of the air. Serena gasped. It was the biggest fullest deepest red she had ever seen.
'I already removed the thorns,' he murmured. 'Here let me.' And with that he gently brushed back her hair and placed the rose behind her ear.
Serena blushed. He was quite charming when he wanted to be. She turned and looked around the gardens. 'Please show me around the Royal Gardens. Some of these flowers here are not found on the Moon and they are quite lovely.'
Darien smiled. She is going to be mine, he thought possessively. 'Sure Princess, whatever you desire.' They spent the morning touring the Earth palace talking of many things and meeting many people. Serena had instantly charmed the staff into loving her without really knowing it.
The maids and footmen watched the Prince and Princess strolling along and smiled at the sight they made. I hope she is going to be the one, they whispered amongst themselves, for never had they met such a lovable Princess.
@~@~@~@~@
'Is there anything in particularly that you wish to see Princess Lita?' Nephrite questioned with one of his charming smiles.
Lita however seemed to be immune to this, at least outwardly, inwardly her heart was doing little somersaults. Lita however had not forgotten this morning's little incident; she had taken three baths and still felt that slugs were still attached to her.
'I am sure you have many important matters to attend to General and I will not detain you with such trivialities. I shall go and visit the village. Good day.'
With a sweep of her skirts, Lita turned and made her way to the Palace gates. Nephrite smiled to himself, you will not escape me that easily, he thought, the game is just beginning.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Princess Mina and Raye were in the stables admiring the steeds. Horses of the Moon have wings and are much more intelligent, however the horses of the Earth have their own good qualities and are very majestic.
Mina was charming a little black mare, when Malachite appeared at the stable doors. 'Greetings Princess Mina, I have come to escort you to a tour of our natural wildlife.' He said.
Mina however could only think, cockroaches, cockroaches everywhere! She suppressed a shudder. Malachite waited patiently as Mina was taking her time thinking. Raye elbowed her in the ribs. 'Must I remind you that it is part of your duty as a Princess to view our Kingdom,' he said when she turned back to the horse.
Mina finally nodded. 'We are to leave now?' she asked. 'Whenever you are ready, the horses are waiting at the Palace gates,' he said.
Mina sighed, I suppose I have to go, she thought and followed Malachite out the door.
Raye watched Mina leave and thought divide and conquer, I know their plan, and I think I will make myself scarce now before a certain General comes a calling. Raye left the stables and was about to enter the gardens when that certain General blocked her way.
'Princess Raye, just the person I wanted to see,' he greeted with a grin. 'Funny, the feeling isn't returned.' She snapped and made to go around him when he intercepted her once more.
'You cannot run, my little wildcat, I am to show you around our kingdom here.' 'I don't suppose you could pretend to have never seen me?'
'Never seen you? But you have already graced me with your presence, I am afraid it is far too late.'
'If I must,' she sighed as if greatly burdened.
Jadeite smirked, soon you will be begging me to stay, he thought.
@~@~@~@
'And this is my personal library.' Presented Zoicite waving his arms at the shelves filled floor to ceiling with books.
'Quite impressive,' Ami said softly and walked forward to view them. She took out a random book and began to flip through the pages.
Zoicite watched her. She had been distantly polite all morning; the warm and pleasant girl that he had played chess with was gone. She must still be angry over the prank, he thought.
Ami glanced through the pages without really taking it in, out of the corner of her eye she was looking at Zoicite who had taken an interest in a glass cabinet filled with colored powders. Ami was still upset over this morning but she always had trouble expressing anger. Now she was waiting for him to apologize but that did not seem forthcoming.
Zoicite suddenly grinned, I got it he thought. He went to the back of the shelves and began scanning the books rapidly. 'Aha!' he said and reached down to take out a really old looking musty smelling hardcover book. He walked towards Ami who by now was quite curious to what caught his attention so.
'This is a complete translation of all the ancient text of the planet Mawaki. I know that ancient texts interest you; this book only has four copies, two of which are here, one has been destroyed and the other one missing.' He explained.
Ami's eyes widened. This was a one of a kind, very valuable and rare text. She reached for it with reverence. Zoicite grinned at her and stepped back, just out of reach.
'I am not just handing it to you,' he teased, 'it comes with a price.'
'And what pray tell is this price?' asked Ami warily.
'Your forgiveness,' he said simply. 'My reputation and pride and honor demanded that I exact revenge for the previous pranks, however that is over and done with and I now call a truce.'
Ami nodded deep in thought, it makes sense. 'Okay,' she agreed, 'you are forgiven.' She reached for the text once more and once more he stepped back with a twinkle in his eyes.
'If I knew you were to comply so readily, I would've asked for more,' he joked.
Ami rolled her eyes. 'Well?' she asked.
He smiled and handed her the text. It was a large book and fairly heavy, it took both of Ami's hands to hold it steady. 'While you hands are occupied,' Zoicite said softly and he leaned in and captured her lips in a kiss. It was not a passionate kiss however it was sweet and gentle yet sincere.
He broke it off and stepped back. Ami had been too shocked to respond. She blushed red. 'I ... ah ....' she turned redder, 'I'm going to study this now.' She made her way over to a table and sank into a chair.
Zoicite beamed and left Ami to her thoughts. She wants me, he thought smugly, and strolled off down the hallway whistling.
@~@~@~@
Lita had walked through the village and had visited many shops. As she was a stranger in these parts and obviously foreign, many people had greeted her and were very welcoming asking questions about her home and comparing it to life here. Lita was now tired and had found a small park in the center of the village.
There were many trees, a small lake and several families and young couples were out wandering. Lita sat down on a wooden bench, she often did this when she was younger, just sit and watch people go by.
'Is this seat taken?' asked a deep male voice.
'Not at all,' replied Lita not looking at the stranger, still reminiscing about her childhood.
'Do you come here often?' he asked.
'First time,' answered Lita who didn't really feel like talking.
Suddenly a pink giraffe came into view, obscuring her vision of the people of the park. Lita finally turned and gazed at the man. She blinked several times.
'A present,' he offered and handed her the pink giraffe helium filled balloon. Lita accepted still staring.
'I do not wish to be rude but is your dress common around here,' she asked with a wave of her hand.
He smiled. He was dressed as an old-fashioned western cowboy, hat, boots and all. He had a checkered shirt and the traditional sheriff badge. He had a holster that was filled with empty balloons instead of guns. What was most strange was his mask. It was black and covered over his eyes and nose. (a/n think mask of zorro) His hair could not be seen as the cowboy hat was rather large but it appeared short.
'I am part of the entertainment around here,' he explained, 'I sell helium balloons to children. My name is Nathan.'
Lita smiled, he seemed to be a really nice guy. 'Call me Lita,' she said offering her hand, which he shook.
'And what's a nice girl like you Lita, doing all by herself in this park filled with couples and families?' he asked quietly with a smile.
'Waiting for strange men in cowboy clothes to offer me giraffes.' She said.
He chuckled. 'I suppose it happens often then?' he asked.
'Only occasionally. More often than not they offer me pink elephants and lions instead.' Lita was amused. This had to be one of her weirder conversations, and that is saying something when you are friends with girls like Serena and Mina.
'And here I thought you were dazzled and amazed. It's quite hard to make a giraffe you know.' He said with mock-sadness.
Lita smiled at his expression. He looks so cute when he is pouting, she thought. 'I was quite surprised,' she assured him.
They spent quite a lovely afternoon discussing entertainment, balloons, animals and cowboys. He did not ask who she was or where she came from, and Lita was delighted at his ability to trust, his honesty, but then, she didn't question him either.
@~@~@~@~@
'Are we dere yet? Are we dere yet? Are we dere yet?' she whined like a broken record, satisfied to see the annoyance across his face.
'Patience is a virtue, Princess, one that you should cultivate.' Malachite said exasperatedly.
'We have been walking for miles! Not only walking but also now we are to climb? I know it is beneficial to see you kingdom however it is not essential to inspect every rock and dirt pile.' She snapped. Mina was obviously running out of patience. She could not bear to be in the company of a man who had not spoken to her for hours and when he did it was no more than a sentence.
Malachite looked at her and drew a deep breath as if ready to roar. Instead he let it out slowly and said, 'We are almost there, it is at the top of this hill. Trust me it will be worthwhile.'
Mina rolled her eyes and began to climb the hill, it was grassy yet very rocky at the same time, enough that if you fell it would be a painful experience.
She hiked up her skirt in annoyance and made sure to kick a lot of pebbles and dust into the General's face, who was following. The girls had not forgotten their promise to their Queen in dressing proper but how it irked her to be treated as fragile.
Malachite grinned when Mina wasn't looking. He had expected her to whine and complain, she was a Princess after all. But what had surprised him was that she had kept up with him, she was tired yes he could see that, but not the tiredness and lack of breath that came with unfitness. She must do simple exercise, he thought, for she sure has great legs. He was of course too busy admiring these legs to notice the dust kicked up.
When he started coughing, Mina smirked smugly. Serves that pervert right, she thought savagely.
Finally and with a lot of struggle, they reached the top. There were tall gum trees and beautiful birds calling, frankly Mina thought it had a peaceful atmosphere but nothing special.
'Well,' she demanded, 'I see trees and hear birds, there's quite a lot of dirt and grass and rocks lying about, anything else you wanted me to see?'
'Just you wait,' he said softly and took her by the hand. He led her to a large dark cave.
Mina followed willingly then finally stopped in her tracks. Wait a minute, she thought, I am letting this man to lead me into a dark cave in the middle of nowhere. It is getting dark, and there are no people about ...... Her mind filled with horror stories told to warn of what men do to innocent girls.
Malachite looked at her questionably. He was surprised to see the outrage on her face.
'You are not taking me in there,' she growled. 'Who knows what sort of scheme you have,' making no effect to hide what she was implying.
Malachite chuckled. 'Nice to see you showing some sort of sense though belated it is. However, I would not dare to harm a Princess while we are negotiating a peace treaty, that would jeopardize everything. And there will be no way I could silence you, and if I killed you, people will wonder at the disappearance. No princess, I am not intending to rape you or kill you.'
Mina clenched her teeth. 'You would not dare, and I would not go without a fight.' She retorted.
Malachite slowly smiled. 'Are you challenging me to a duel?' he asked unbelievably.
'And if I am?'
'That's preposterous. You are a Princess, a girl and you will get hurt.'
'If it wasn't for these damned skirts, I would make you eat your words. However now is not the time or place but perhaps one day.'
Malachite nodded skeptically. 'Yeah,' he drawled, 'one day.'
Mina huffed and made her way into the cave. They walked for a bit before having to crawl as the roof sloped down. After crawling for a way in silence, they came to a dead end. 'Reach up,' Malachite instructed, 'You will find a hole in the wall.'
So she did and he was right, after crawling some more, the roof slowly sloped up and eventually they could stand again. At long last they reached the end.
Mina slowly walked towards the mouth of the cave, as the sun was setting everything glowed a bright orange. 'Be careful,' warned Malachite, 'The path ends here.'
Mina gasped. They were on a ledge of a cliff, below her feet a chasm dropped endlessly. She could not see the bottom of it but this was not what surprised her.
As a result of the sunset, everything was ablaze like fire. Mina gazed around, frozen in awe. There were wildflowers of every hue imaginable, bursting from everywhere. The scent was intoxicating. This scent drew butterflies like moths to a flame. They were bright and filled with vivid color, some looked larger than her head. They fluttered around her head in groups, dancing as if saying join us and be merry.
Mina smiled and spun around, her hair soaring. She laughed and began to dance and twirl, skirts flying in a circle around her.
'It is like a place right out of a fairy tale.' She breathed. 'Breathtaking does not begin to describe it.'
She waved her hand and stopped, a butterfly had landed. It was as green as an emerald and as delicate as a feather. It flapped its wings once and was away again.
Mina was not the only one who had frozen. Malachite had his eyes glued on this goddess. She looks like a fairy, an elf no a nymph he decided. She was so happy and immersed herself in the beauty of this place that she joined it.
'No, it doesn't,' he agreed. She turned and looked at him and blushed when she realized he was talking about her.
Without knowing how, she found herself, toe to toe and nose to nose with the arrogant cold General that irked her so. Her breaths quickened and she could not remove herself from his gaze.
He gently reached out a hand and brushed a strand of errant hair behind her ear. He leaned down and softly kissed her on the cheek. Mina turned and met his lips with her own. It was not a simple chaste kiss either but one filled with urgency and need. Mina twined her arms around his neck and he ran his fingers through her silken hair.
Passion and desire flared between them and they could not break the embrace even is they wanted to. His lips moved to touch her temple, the tip of her nose, and the corner of her mouth. Mina clung and returned those kisses.
Abruptly he took hold of her shoulders and tore her away. His eyes burned with longing that was quickly hidden with his typical cold stone gaze. 'That was not meant to happen,' he said coldly.
'But it did,' she pointed out, fighting the desire to reach for him again. Mina was hurt and slightly angry.
'And it won't happen again.' He turned away from her.
Mina bristled in anger. 'I suppose you say that to all the girls who you have stolen kisses from.' She barked.
'Stolen?' he said icily, 'You are mistaken, it was freely given.'
'But you.... I mean I .... It was .....' Mina gave up, confused. She quietly followed him as they made their way back to the Palace in silence, both of them surprised and angry at their actions.
@~@~@~@
Raye fumed. 'Is this your idea of a joke?' she asked frostily.
Jadeite grinned. 'Actually it was to make up for the last one.' He said honestly, 'Do you not like it? I put a lot of thought into it.'
'It's ...... it's quite nice actually but you did not have to go to the trouble.'
They were sitting at a table with a candlelit steak dinner while soft violins played in the background. There was a large bouquet of flowers by her dinner plate with a card that said 'To my darling little spitfire, may I not get burnt to a crisp for offering these. Jade.'
The cruise boat that they occupied though rather empty was remarkably stable as it sailed around an enormous blue lake. They were outside and the stars twinkled brightly.
'You did not answer my question,' he reminded her.
'Yes,' she decided. 'I do like it, no one has ever arranged a whole ship to be at my disposal.'
'Good,' he smiled, 'Am I forgiven then for the earlier ...... incident?'
Raye pretended to consider it seriously. 'I don't know,' she teased, 'if I say no what other measures would you go to for my forgiveness. Skywriting perhaps? Hot air balloon? Mountains of chocolates and roses at my door? Giant cute teddy bears singing your apologies?' These were actually her little girl fantasies on finding the love of her life.
Jadeite appeared thoughtful. 'Chocolates, roses and teddy bears I can arrange. Skywriting is rather difficult I hear but I could give it a go but I don't know where I would get a hot air balloon from.'
Raye's eyes widened for an instant before he burst into laughter and a wide grin.
'Aah my little wildcat, would you care to dance?' he asked his eyes twinkling.
Raye couldn't help smiling too. It was not everyday that she got spoiled and pampered like a ...... well a princess. Usually she was too busy training and guarding Serena, the people of the moon regarded her as well as the other Senshi as responsible and loyal not girly and in need of coddling.
She nodded and took his hand.
The two spent a lovely evening dancing under the moonlight on a secluded cruise boat to the sound of the waves lapping and soft violins.
@~@~@~@
Tell me what you think! R&R! ^-^!