Whhhhhhhhat? An update?! I was inspired...its been so long since I took a look at this,
and I was actually looking for something else, but I came across it and decided, hey, why
not post something? Thank you so much for your encouraging reviews--it is because of you
that I have still kept this story on the back-burner...We're getting towards some of the fun
stuff now ^.^ Please review me if you are interested in seeing more. Afterall, Christmas
is coming up--writing time is gooood! I would also like to go ahead and warn you: The
story does not ALWAYS move in what you would consider to be the ORDER of the PLOT. I'm not
including something YET, that happens between the previous chapter and this one, but look
for it in an upcoming chapter...just wanted to say that it may be a little confusing...
But hey...that's sorta the point. I promise it will all sort itself out...If you have
questions I'd be happy to answer them as long as they don't give away my master plan *triumphant
fist pump* Alright, enough, its been long enough---ON TO IT!
*********************
It was midmorning and I looked like a wreck. I was wearing
the same wrinkled clothing as the previous night when I had fallen
asleep while reading a collection of short stories by the dim oil
lamps provided by the Tareviede Inn. It probably also didn't help
that I had been drinking a considerable amount the previous night when
the owner of the inn had declared that his "live-in" had finally
found a place of his own and would be leaving the grounds. Being a
cheerful fellow with an odd sense of humor, he had thrown me a
spontaneous going-away party, where I had enjoyed myself, thurily.
My impossibly tangled hair tumbled down my
back--unwashed and knotted, and my eyes were heavy and coated with
a red haze. I was certain that I must have had circles under my eyes
that would claim I had died the previous night, as well. Worse still,
I had already been mistaken for a woman in the hour that I had been
awake. I was carrying a considerable stack of delapadated books,
notebooks, and sketches outside to wait to be joined by the remainder
of my belongings when I suddenly felt an offensive hand land a merry
blow to my buttocks. Horrofied and violated, I reminded myself that
I simply MUST never do that to a woman.
"Eh, honey-child, do you need a MAN to 'elp you with your
silly 'eavy books?"a gruff voice crowed from behind me.
Needless to say, I answered his question.
I retreated back to my room and sat upon the bed which I had
called my own for a month now. I had not corrected Minako when she
had called me a Terran, even though I had been living in the Lunarian
region for just short of a year now--finding odd jobs and sleeping
where I could. This particular innkeeper had become a friend of mine
over time, and so allowed me to stay as long as I needed to, for a
reasonably lower price than most of his customers. I had finally
earned enough to buy an embarassing shack in the heart of the
Tareviede marketplace. I was just glad to be able to quite burdening
the good innkeeper.
I drifted around the room, my mind on other things, as I lifted
the remaining traces of my presence in the room and began to walk
towards the door. I looked down at some of the pieces of paper I had
gathered and crumbled into a ball and recognized a creamy piece of
parchment. I quickly unwrinkled it and leaned against a wall as I
skimmed over the sweeping callegraphy.
...a grand party held in Tareviede...I hear you are in the area, you
simply must attend....I have a girl I want you to meet...."pocket
goddess"...a friend...
I sighed and let my hands fall to my sides. That Ami was
something special, something different. More than anything she had
reminded me of a sort of female version of myself. I could pick up
slight gestures she made, the way she would never look me in the
eyes, even her very speech. I wanted to see her again. I needed to
talk to her and figure her out.
"Ah, but our meeting was a flux anyway," I muttered to my
heart which was weeping out love sonnets for the "friend" mentioned in
Artemis's letter. A friend?! my heart was raving. She was the most
important creature at that event! How can Artemis simply refer to
that perfection as a friend?! Oh...but what I wouldn't give to be able
to offer her the same title...
"She's a very powerful woman," I reminded myself. "And who are
you? And she's a social butterfly of the upper class. Despite her
beauty, she's still one of those loose party girls..."
I'm not sure I still believe that...another part of me agrued.
She felt soft-spoken, traditional, and intelligent.
"Things aren't always what they seem,"I replied, praying that
no one was currently around to hear my mental tirade. "And its not
like that matters. She's at the palace, guarding the princess. I've
never even seen a palace...and I won't see her again."
I folded the letter and slipped it into my vest pocket, then
shut the door to my room, silencing all of my heart's plees in the
process.
******************************
"And what an odd little war it was," Serenity mumured
thoughtfully as she clutched a delicate glass of lemonade between two
cautious pale hands, and raised it to her dusty-rose hued lips.
"Mmm, well I'm glad its over,"Rei sighed peacefully as she
leaned back on her elbows and began to shift the red soil of her home
planet between her thumb and index finger.
"I'm not,"Minako volunteered in a low and foreboding tone.
Silence descended upon our tiny menagerie as we each considered what
that meant for our usually abnormally high spirited comrade.
Upon the conclusion of the stange little nine day war, the five
of us: Serenity, Minako, Rei, Ami, and myself had decided to meet in
Rei's homeland for a long needed reunion. I personally would have
prefered that we had met in an area with a more cheerful and green
climate, but under our current circumstances this place seemed the
most safe and appropriate for our gathering. I dug my own chipped
and broken fingernails into the earth's surface and sketched primative
designs in the red dirt that polluted this region. The very air here
made me uncomfortable.
I tended to be most happy in lively and colorful places, where
I fed off the energy of the world that surrounded me. The area where
we currently resided, and the overall mood of our group was perfectly
miserable.
"What'll they do to you, Mina?"Serenity asked after a moment
in a shy and innocent little voice. Mina's long blonde hair fell over
her shoulders limply as she picked at loose threads on the blanket we
all sat upon. Her eyes were hiden by the golden waterfall when she
responded, "I am glad the war is over...I guess I just don't want to
see what my punishment is..."
"We all know what you meant,"Ami said reassuringly.
"They probably won't do anything too terrible to me,"Mina
replied with a small frown. "That little imp Etienne keep babbling
that they were going to banish me..."she laughed quietly to herself for
a moment and I wondered if perhaps she really questioned that her
parents might actually carry out that threat. Minako's family didn't
exactly have any sort of shortage on children.
"Banish you?"Serenity repeated with wide eyes. "How could
any one's parents do that?"
I glanced over at the silvery-haired girl with knowing eyes.
She couldn't understand a parent who would really put their foot down
and severely disipline their child. She had grown up her entire life
getting her every desire and it had made her selfish. Still, in Sere
there was something undeniably loveable and good, and everyone saw it.
No one could blame the princess too much for all of her flaws...I
certainly refused to.
"And why would they?"Rei fumed, her brows knitted together
above boiling violet eyes, "I thought all Venusians slept around with
whoever they pleased."
Minako raised her thin blonde eyebrows. "Oh, so you're saying
all of my people are whores?" Her face broke out into a good-natured
smile upon seeing Rei's embarassment at her slip of the tongue.
"It's not like that. It's just that I was suppose to have my first
blood taken by a man of my father's choice. In a rather formal
ceremony type occasion at that..."
"Are you kidding?!"Serenity squealed, "That's just awful!"
"Oh don't be silly,"Minako chidded, "Its tradition...I've been
planning for it my entire life...it happens to all Venusian girls."
"Well then what happened with you?"I finally spoke, my curiousity
getting the better of me.
Minako turned her surprised cornflower blue eyes upon me. She
smiled gently after a moment before saying, "Its been too long since we
all talked..."
We all nodded and agreed and took a moment to pick at the food
we had drug along before Minako began trying to explain the Venusian
tradition of sex to all of us.
"When a Venusian female turns 16, her first blood is suppose
to be taken by a man of her father's choice," she explained slowly,
watching all of our faces intently for our response. Upon Serenity's
face she added, "it happens to all of us, its tradition."
Serenity shifted uncomfortably before saying, "I thought the
first time you...did that...it was suppose to be with a person that
you really loved."
"My people have different ideas concerning love and sex,"Minako
responded with a slight shrug. My senses told me that this tradition
severely bothered Minako--I knew how much of a dreamer and romantic
at heart she was. The Venusian view of love was nearly nonexistent,
replaced simply by a driving lust and ultimate cruel entertainment.
"Anyway,"she continued, "My father had selected a man for me
who would bring our family some fine land to the west of the palace.
Should a child be conceived, the babe would be sent to live with a
family incapable of childbirth...so you see, in this method there were
no strings attached, there were no hopes of marriage, nor promises of
love. It was just a quick and profitible way to ensure Venusian girls
some experience, and no feeling of lose or sorrow at the end of their
maidenhood. No Venusian girl, if she ever did chose to be married,
would be a virgin at the time of wedlock. It...solved some problems
that could have been particularly messy."
"Sounds like auctioning off cattle to me,"Rei sneered. Rei
hated men for the most part anyway...she probably wouldn't understand
what Mina had felt, nor why she had done what she had.
"So what happened?"Serenity pipped in eagerly. "Did you sleep
with that man when you were sixteen?"
"Don't be such an idiot!"Rei snapped, "She would have
mentioned something that important to us at the time it happened!"
"Wouldn't you?"I added, a little unsure.
"He died, actually,"Mina responded, her voice echoing the surprise
she had felt at the original time of his death. "There was some sort
of accident at the mill he owned..."she grew quiet, thinking deeply
about something far in the past. Her eyes grew dark with memory.
"So then what should it matter if the man you were promised
to was unavaliable to....do that...shouldn't YOU be able to pick the
man?"Serenity propped her chin upon against two cupped hands as she
lowered her weight down upon her stomach.
"Mmm, no, unfortunately he had a son. But, the boy was only
14 at the time of his father's death and had not a single sexual
experience under his belt. My father refused to allow me to bed a
virgin--and one so young at that, she it was decided I would wait two
years, until the boy was 16--and until he had had the propper
experience."
"That is absolutely repulsive!"Rei spat. "The man you were
suppose to originally sleep with had a FAMILY?! And they knew about
all of this and didn't mind?!"
"Rei, issues of loyality and love are different for Venusians,"
Ami reminded her gently, with a apologetic smile in Mina's direction.
Minako held no expression on her face. This was something she had
grown up, and she knew she could not expect us to all understand it
fully. Only Ami who had studied the Venusian culture for entertainment
could slightly grasp at what it must have been like to have been raised
in such an atmosphere.
"So I gather that you never slept with the boy you had been
promised to,"Serenity tugged at Minako's sleeve.
"No."
"Sooo...who was he?"Serenity's expression had shifted to sheer
devilish glee. Minako's eyes closed for a moment in estasy, recalling
what surely must have been some sort of glorious Greek God whom she
had spent her first night with.
All of us leaned in around Minako, eager for her to tell us
about her dirty and terrible evil experience, eager for her to taint
us and make us feel as though we had somehow shared in the event. It
was just so deliciously wrong and perverse that all of us, even Ami
were intrigued by the mere thought of just spontaneously giving our
flower way to some handsome young man who swept us off our feet. In
a way...I think we all envied Minako and her luck and misfortune.
"I was at a party, you know how Artemis is always able to find
the best little swarees in town. It was a week....maybe two...before
I came and joined you at Taraviede, Ami," Minako added. Ami blushed
deeply, as if somehow she had been involved in this sexual experience.
Or maybe it was just the fact that she hadn't noticed the huge change
in Minako after her maiden's blood had been split. I honestly believed
there was no real change...except for maybe the slight smugness in
Minako's tone as she told her story---as if she had been the first of
us to be taken. I snorted internally at that idea.
"And that was where I saw him..."she clutched her hands
together under her chin and sighed dramatically. We all sighed softly
along with her, each of us envisioning our ideal man standing before us,
radiating his majesty and perfection at that party. "He was tall...
and deliciously built,"she murmured scandalously. Serenity giggled
quietly, and everyone's eyes sparkled. "And he was wearing a soldier's
uniform...you know I can't resist a man in a crisp-clean cut uniform,"
She nodded at me and I grinned back widely. "He was immediately by
my side...flattering me and pampering me. He said that he had never
seen a more perfect woman in all of his life and he was honored to
simply be in my presence..." Chills ran up and down my spine as my
heart longed for those words.
Rei, however, destroyed our magical moment with a loud and
obnoxious, "And you actually fell for that?!"
"Oh Rei, your just jealous,"Serenity hissed back, her chin
jutting out defiently at Rei. "Haven't you ever felt those butterflies
in your stomach when that certain someone walked into the room."
Rei stubbornly stared forward, her lips set in a firm line, "No."
Minako, Serenity, and I all sighed in complaint and each chipped
in our thoughts about how crazy Rei could be from time to time. I couldn't
reason how anyone could hate men as much as Rei--or how she could possibly
never wonder what it would feel like to be in love with someone and be
loved back. That was the very thing that I longed for the most out of life.
"Besides,"Rei said in a more subdued voice after a moment of our
teasing and nagging, "that's what all men say. Its a trap."
"Oh how would you know,"Serenity said, making a shooing motion
with her hands in Rei's direction. "Continue, Mina."
"Well, it was starting to get really late, and everyone at
the party was either headed to their home, headed inside the glorious
home of the person who through the event, or they were passed out
amongst the flowerbeds. But....the time didn't effect my soldier or
me,"she raised a slim finger and shook her head with a smirk playing
across her face. "We were still holding a fantastic conversation
about everything and anything...oh, God, and he was soooo beautiful."
Rei groaned loudly in protest. Minako ignored it.
"And then he kissed me...he was the best kisser I had ever had.
And he tasted amazing...and he smelled amazing...and my senses were
just going wild!"her eyes glittered and her arms waved about frantically
as she tried to share the wonder of her experience in a way that we could
understand. "I just...no...it just felt so...so amazing, so right, so
good to be in his arms. We both knew that it was just a one night
type thing and that we didn't LOVE each other...even though there was
a lot of attraction there...but he was leaving for the war--and I gave
him a going away present."
"I don't understand that...that's not something to be proud of,"
Rei shook her head. Ami was nodding along with her, slowly.
Minako's eyes hardened over slightly. "I'm not ashamed of it."
"Why'd you do it?"Rei asked.
"Because I wanted to,"Minako answered with a choked laugh, "because
I wanted him! People in my culture do this kind of thing all the time...
my mother has had thousands of lovers."
"I just don't think its a very honorable lifestyle,"Rei shook her
head disapprovingly.
"Excuse me, but had things gone the way they were suppose to, I
should have been quite sexually active for two years now,"Minako folded
her arms over her chest.
"But Minako, you're such a romantic at heart...I would have
rather envisioned you fighting your family to save yourself for the man who
you truly loved,"Rei tried a little softer.
Minako looked down at the ground. I could practically see the
wheels turning in her head, and I wondered what was racing through her
mind right now. I could see the stain of red upon her cheeks. She was
ashamed, that was for certain. She had come to us, hoping to find her
closest friends to confide in about an experience which had actually been
quite wonderful for her, and we had approached it all along as though
we somehow approved and were pleased with her for her decision, only at
the end to lecture her and rub her nose in her mistakes. I was certain
she would get enough of that from her parents, anyway.
I felt somewhat guilty for the way Minako had just been
treated. I could feel what she was feeling that night when she had seen
that young man, and I could understand why she had done what she had--
so spontaneously, so finally. It was in a moment of uncertainty and
the feeling that she was somehow behind in her quest to womanhood among
her Venusian friends--due to the fact that she had to wait two years
longer to lose what she had never considered very precious to begin with.
Being a romantic at heart, Minako felt the need to feel desired--I'm
sure she felt downright starved for love and for the need to be held.
And from experience, I knew that a handsome young man who said all of
the right things at the right moment was all that it really took.
In her eyes she had lost something that had meant nothing to her
to begin with. She was suppose to be rid of her virginity--she had
been raised all along to lose it painlessly without feeling, and quickly.
Then, and only then could she seek out her own lovers and have her own
romances that would surely only prove to disappoint her sorely in the
end.
I had felt the need and the pull for this sort of love and
adoration from a man my entire life too...although the culture that I
had grown up with was not nearly so laid back when it came to lovers.
Monogamy was key...and virginity was precious. Unknown to nearly
everyone (and most certainly my friends) I too, was a whore.
Silence had littered our conversation for too long now. We
were all lost in our own angry minds until Serenity bubbled in with a
cheerful, "Lets move on to more pleasant matters, hm? Ami-chan, how
is that charming young man of yours?"
Ami's face again flushed a deep red and she lowered her eyes
from all of our curious gazes.
**************************
"He won't be returning for awhile,"I heard myself say in a
voice which I had never imagined coming from my mouth. I sounded so
foreign and unsure. I wondered if I would be the next victim they would
attack due to my relationship with a person of the opposite gender. I
honestly believe much of the hostility that came about during our
conversation over Minako's sexual status was out of a jealous and worried
and confused frame of mind. Her culture concering things so dear to
some of we senshi was just too absurd and different.
"Why ever not?" Serenity cried out in a breathy and pitiful
voice. I smiled softly and allowed my navy bangs to sweep over my
eyes to hide them from one of my friends who would be capable of reading
straight into my soul.
"He was injured in battle,"I responded quietly, enjoying the
way they all gasped in fear at the thought that my dear-sweet companion
could be hurt somewhere. "Oh don't worry, he'll be just fine. He
writes me often to tell me what is happening in his end of the world...
The doctors just don't want to risk moving him right now, but they are
certain he will heal completely. He is in good hands in Terra now, what
with the alliance in full blossom,"I smiled at Rei gratefully, who
returned my smile warmly. She approved highly of Jikoku. She said
it made her happy to see me with someone so right for me.
But that thought brought another to the surface for me. Images
of Zoicite floated before my eyes, tempting me to no avail. I felt
guilt well up from deep within my gut to be thinking about him at such
a time. I glanced over at Minako, wondering if she had picked up on
any change in my mood. I was terrified to see that she was watching me
very closely with narrowed cool-icey eyes. She had met Zoicite too, and
had seen the way he made my legs quake whenever he sauntered into the
room. She had heard me choke out less-than-brilliant statements to him,
and blush all sorts of shades no matter what sort of comment he made. Her
eyes finally locked with mine and a slow smile like that of a cheshire
cat lit up her face slowly.
'You little slut,'she mouth at me with an exagerated wink. I
buried my head in my hands with a soft moan that I prayed no one had
heard. Then she DID know how often I thought of the dreamy eyed boy
we had first encountered in Taraviede...
"Ami? Oh I know how much you must miss him,"Serenity
misunderstood my distress and I was grateful. My emotions involving
a particular blonde-haired green eyed young man were uncomfortable and
confusing for me. I did not have the strength to sort them out at this
time. I was grateful that Minako did not bring the knowledge of my...
affair...to the group's attention. It was a very kind gesture on her
part, considering the way she had been treated for her escapades.
However, when we were finally all bidding each other our goodbyes Minako
slid up to me and leaned in to whisper in my ear, "I bet Zoicite misses
Jikoku a lot too, huh, Ames?"
My face felt hot and I knew I blazed crimson. A triumphant smile played
on Minako's lips. At least she wasn't the only one.
**************
Alright readers---Do not fret...you may be wondering--what...wait, war? When did it
end? Huh? What about that CRAZY party on the moon? Etc...
All questions will be answered in upcoming chapters and things will start straightening
themselves out, honest. But it would be great if you would leave some comments, questions,
suggestions, and praise in the box, so that the next chapter doesn't come out sometime
next year, huh?
CLICK THAT BUTTON! Woot.
and I was actually looking for something else, but I came across it and decided, hey, why
not post something? Thank you so much for your encouraging reviews--it is because of you
that I have still kept this story on the back-burner...We're getting towards some of the fun
stuff now ^.^ Please review me if you are interested in seeing more. Afterall, Christmas
is coming up--writing time is gooood! I would also like to go ahead and warn you: The
story does not ALWAYS move in what you would consider to be the ORDER of the PLOT. I'm not
including something YET, that happens between the previous chapter and this one, but look
for it in an upcoming chapter...just wanted to say that it may be a little confusing...
But hey...that's sorta the point. I promise it will all sort itself out...If you have
questions I'd be happy to answer them as long as they don't give away my master plan *triumphant
fist pump* Alright, enough, its been long enough---ON TO IT!
*********************
It was midmorning and I looked like a wreck. I was wearing
the same wrinkled clothing as the previous night when I had fallen
asleep while reading a collection of short stories by the dim oil
lamps provided by the Tareviede Inn. It probably also didn't help
that I had been drinking a considerable amount the previous night when
the owner of the inn had declared that his "live-in" had finally
found a place of his own and would be leaving the grounds. Being a
cheerful fellow with an odd sense of humor, he had thrown me a
spontaneous going-away party, where I had enjoyed myself, thurily.
My impossibly tangled hair tumbled down my
back--unwashed and knotted, and my eyes were heavy and coated with
a red haze. I was certain that I must have had circles under my eyes
that would claim I had died the previous night, as well. Worse still,
I had already been mistaken for a woman in the hour that I had been
awake. I was carrying a considerable stack of delapadated books,
notebooks, and sketches outside to wait to be joined by the remainder
of my belongings when I suddenly felt an offensive hand land a merry
blow to my buttocks. Horrofied and violated, I reminded myself that
I simply MUST never do that to a woman.
"Eh, honey-child, do you need a MAN to 'elp you with your
silly 'eavy books?"a gruff voice crowed from behind me.
Needless to say, I answered his question.
I retreated back to my room and sat upon the bed which I had
called my own for a month now. I had not corrected Minako when she
had called me a Terran, even though I had been living in the Lunarian
region for just short of a year now--finding odd jobs and sleeping
where I could. This particular innkeeper had become a friend of mine
over time, and so allowed me to stay as long as I needed to, for a
reasonably lower price than most of his customers. I had finally
earned enough to buy an embarassing shack in the heart of the
Tareviede marketplace. I was just glad to be able to quite burdening
the good innkeeper.
I drifted around the room, my mind on other things, as I lifted
the remaining traces of my presence in the room and began to walk
towards the door. I looked down at some of the pieces of paper I had
gathered and crumbled into a ball and recognized a creamy piece of
parchment. I quickly unwrinkled it and leaned against a wall as I
skimmed over the sweeping callegraphy.
...a grand party held in Tareviede...I hear you are in the area, you
simply must attend....I have a girl I want you to meet...."pocket
goddess"...a friend...
I sighed and let my hands fall to my sides. That Ami was
something special, something different. More than anything she had
reminded me of a sort of female version of myself. I could pick up
slight gestures she made, the way she would never look me in the
eyes, even her very speech. I wanted to see her again. I needed to
talk to her and figure her out.
"Ah, but our meeting was a flux anyway," I muttered to my
heart which was weeping out love sonnets for the "friend" mentioned in
Artemis's letter. A friend?! my heart was raving. She was the most
important creature at that event! How can Artemis simply refer to
that perfection as a friend?! Oh...but what I wouldn't give to be able
to offer her the same title...
"She's a very powerful woman," I reminded myself. "And who are
you? And she's a social butterfly of the upper class. Despite her
beauty, she's still one of those loose party girls..."
I'm not sure I still believe that...another part of me agrued.
She felt soft-spoken, traditional, and intelligent.
"Things aren't always what they seem,"I replied, praying that
no one was currently around to hear my mental tirade. "And its not
like that matters. She's at the palace, guarding the princess. I've
never even seen a palace...and I won't see her again."
I folded the letter and slipped it into my vest pocket, then
shut the door to my room, silencing all of my heart's plees in the
process.
******************************
"And what an odd little war it was," Serenity mumured
thoughtfully as she clutched a delicate glass of lemonade between two
cautious pale hands, and raised it to her dusty-rose hued lips.
"Mmm, well I'm glad its over,"Rei sighed peacefully as she
leaned back on her elbows and began to shift the red soil of her home
planet between her thumb and index finger.
"I'm not,"Minako volunteered in a low and foreboding tone.
Silence descended upon our tiny menagerie as we each considered what
that meant for our usually abnormally high spirited comrade.
Upon the conclusion of the stange little nine day war, the five
of us: Serenity, Minako, Rei, Ami, and myself had decided to meet in
Rei's homeland for a long needed reunion. I personally would have
prefered that we had met in an area with a more cheerful and green
climate, but under our current circumstances this place seemed the
most safe and appropriate for our gathering. I dug my own chipped
and broken fingernails into the earth's surface and sketched primative
designs in the red dirt that polluted this region. The very air here
made me uncomfortable.
I tended to be most happy in lively and colorful places, where
I fed off the energy of the world that surrounded me. The area where
we currently resided, and the overall mood of our group was perfectly
miserable.
"What'll they do to you, Mina?"Serenity asked after a moment
in a shy and innocent little voice. Mina's long blonde hair fell over
her shoulders limply as she picked at loose threads on the blanket we
all sat upon. Her eyes were hiden by the golden waterfall when she
responded, "I am glad the war is over...I guess I just don't want to
see what my punishment is..."
"We all know what you meant,"Ami said reassuringly.
"They probably won't do anything too terrible to me,"Mina
replied with a small frown. "That little imp Etienne keep babbling
that they were going to banish me..."she laughed quietly to herself for
a moment and I wondered if perhaps she really questioned that her
parents might actually carry out that threat. Minako's family didn't
exactly have any sort of shortage on children.
"Banish you?"Serenity repeated with wide eyes. "How could
any one's parents do that?"
I glanced over at the silvery-haired girl with knowing eyes.
She couldn't understand a parent who would really put their foot down
and severely disipline their child. She had grown up her entire life
getting her every desire and it had made her selfish. Still, in Sere
there was something undeniably loveable and good, and everyone saw it.
No one could blame the princess too much for all of her flaws...I
certainly refused to.
"And why would they?"Rei fumed, her brows knitted together
above boiling violet eyes, "I thought all Venusians slept around with
whoever they pleased."
Minako raised her thin blonde eyebrows. "Oh, so you're saying
all of my people are whores?" Her face broke out into a good-natured
smile upon seeing Rei's embarassment at her slip of the tongue.
"It's not like that. It's just that I was suppose to have my first
blood taken by a man of my father's choice. In a rather formal
ceremony type occasion at that..."
"Are you kidding?!"Serenity squealed, "That's just awful!"
"Oh don't be silly,"Minako chidded, "Its tradition...I've been
planning for it my entire life...it happens to all Venusian girls."
"Well then what happened with you?"I finally spoke, my curiousity
getting the better of me.
Minako turned her surprised cornflower blue eyes upon me. She
smiled gently after a moment before saying, "Its been too long since we
all talked..."
We all nodded and agreed and took a moment to pick at the food
we had drug along before Minako began trying to explain the Venusian
tradition of sex to all of us.
"When a Venusian female turns 16, her first blood is suppose
to be taken by a man of her father's choice," she explained slowly,
watching all of our faces intently for our response. Upon Serenity's
face she added, "it happens to all of us, its tradition."
Serenity shifted uncomfortably before saying, "I thought the
first time you...did that...it was suppose to be with a person that
you really loved."
"My people have different ideas concerning love and sex,"Minako
responded with a slight shrug. My senses told me that this tradition
severely bothered Minako--I knew how much of a dreamer and romantic
at heart she was. The Venusian view of love was nearly nonexistent,
replaced simply by a driving lust and ultimate cruel entertainment.
"Anyway,"she continued, "My father had selected a man for me
who would bring our family some fine land to the west of the palace.
Should a child be conceived, the babe would be sent to live with a
family incapable of childbirth...so you see, in this method there were
no strings attached, there were no hopes of marriage, nor promises of
love. It was just a quick and profitible way to ensure Venusian girls
some experience, and no feeling of lose or sorrow at the end of their
maidenhood. No Venusian girl, if she ever did chose to be married,
would be a virgin at the time of wedlock. It...solved some problems
that could have been particularly messy."
"Sounds like auctioning off cattle to me,"Rei sneered. Rei
hated men for the most part anyway...she probably wouldn't understand
what Mina had felt, nor why she had done what she had.
"So what happened?"Serenity pipped in eagerly. "Did you sleep
with that man when you were sixteen?"
"Don't be such an idiot!"Rei snapped, "She would have
mentioned something that important to us at the time it happened!"
"Wouldn't you?"I added, a little unsure.
"He died, actually,"Mina responded, her voice echoing the surprise
she had felt at the original time of his death. "There was some sort
of accident at the mill he owned..."she grew quiet, thinking deeply
about something far in the past. Her eyes grew dark with memory.
"So then what should it matter if the man you were promised
to was unavaliable to....do that...shouldn't YOU be able to pick the
man?"Serenity propped her chin upon against two cupped hands as she
lowered her weight down upon her stomach.
"Mmm, no, unfortunately he had a son. But, the boy was only
14 at the time of his father's death and had not a single sexual
experience under his belt. My father refused to allow me to bed a
virgin--and one so young at that, she it was decided I would wait two
years, until the boy was 16--and until he had had the propper
experience."
"That is absolutely repulsive!"Rei spat. "The man you were
suppose to originally sleep with had a FAMILY?! And they knew about
all of this and didn't mind?!"
"Rei, issues of loyality and love are different for Venusians,"
Ami reminded her gently, with a apologetic smile in Mina's direction.
Minako held no expression on her face. This was something she had
grown up, and she knew she could not expect us to all understand it
fully. Only Ami who had studied the Venusian culture for entertainment
could slightly grasp at what it must have been like to have been raised
in such an atmosphere.
"So I gather that you never slept with the boy you had been
promised to,"Serenity tugged at Minako's sleeve.
"No."
"Sooo...who was he?"Serenity's expression had shifted to sheer
devilish glee. Minako's eyes closed for a moment in estasy, recalling
what surely must have been some sort of glorious Greek God whom she
had spent her first night with.
All of us leaned in around Minako, eager for her to tell us
about her dirty and terrible evil experience, eager for her to taint
us and make us feel as though we had somehow shared in the event. It
was just so deliciously wrong and perverse that all of us, even Ami
were intrigued by the mere thought of just spontaneously giving our
flower way to some handsome young man who swept us off our feet. In
a way...I think we all envied Minako and her luck and misfortune.
"I was at a party, you know how Artemis is always able to find
the best little swarees in town. It was a week....maybe two...before
I came and joined you at Taraviede, Ami," Minako added. Ami blushed
deeply, as if somehow she had been involved in this sexual experience.
Or maybe it was just the fact that she hadn't noticed the huge change
in Minako after her maiden's blood had been split. I honestly believed
there was no real change...except for maybe the slight smugness in
Minako's tone as she told her story---as if she had been the first of
us to be taken. I snorted internally at that idea.
"And that was where I saw him..."she clutched her hands
together under her chin and sighed dramatically. We all sighed softly
along with her, each of us envisioning our ideal man standing before us,
radiating his majesty and perfection at that party. "He was tall...
and deliciously built,"she murmured scandalously. Serenity giggled
quietly, and everyone's eyes sparkled. "And he was wearing a soldier's
uniform...you know I can't resist a man in a crisp-clean cut uniform,"
She nodded at me and I grinned back widely. "He was immediately by
my side...flattering me and pampering me. He said that he had never
seen a more perfect woman in all of his life and he was honored to
simply be in my presence..." Chills ran up and down my spine as my
heart longed for those words.
Rei, however, destroyed our magical moment with a loud and
obnoxious, "And you actually fell for that?!"
"Oh Rei, your just jealous,"Serenity hissed back, her chin
jutting out defiently at Rei. "Haven't you ever felt those butterflies
in your stomach when that certain someone walked into the room."
Rei stubbornly stared forward, her lips set in a firm line, "No."
Minako, Serenity, and I all sighed in complaint and each chipped
in our thoughts about how crazy Rei could be from time to time. I couldn't
reason how anyone could hate men as much as Rei--or how she could possibly
never wonder what it would feel like to be in love with someone and be
loved back. That was the very thing that I longed for the most out of life.
"Besides,"Rei said in a more subdued voice after a moment of our
teasing and nagging, "that's what all men say. Its a trap."
"Oh how would you know,"Serenity said, making a shooing motion
with her hands in Rei's direction. "Continue, Mina."
"Well, it was starting to get really late, and everyone at
the party was either headed to their home, headed inside the glorious
home of the person who through the event, or they were passed out
amongst the flowerbeds. But....the time didn't effect my soldier or
me,"she raised a slim finger and shook her head with a smirk playing
across her face. "We were still holding a fantastic conversation
about everything and anything...oh, God, and he was soooo beautiful."
Rei groaned loudly in protest. Minako ignored it.
"And then he kissed me...he was the best kisser I had ever had.
And he tasted amazing...and he smelled amazing...and my senses were
just going wild!"her eyes glittered and her arms waved about frantically
as she tried to share the wonder of her experience in a way that we could
understand. "I just...no...it just felt so...so amazing, so right, so
good to be in his arms. We both knew that it was just a one night
type thing and that we didn't LOVE each other...even though there was
a lot of attraction there...but he was leaving for the war--and I gave
him a going away present."
"I don't understand that...that's not something to be proud of,"
Rei shook her head. Ami was nodding along with her, slowly.
Minako's eyes hardened over slightly. "I'm not ashamed of it."
"Why'd you do it?"Rei asked.
"Because I wanted to,"Minako answered with a choked laugh, "because
I wanted him! People in my culture do this kind of thing all the time...
my mother has had thousands of lovers."
"I just don't think its a very honorable lifestyle,"Rei shook her
head disapprovingly.
"Excuse me, but had things gone the way they were suppose to, I
should have been quite sexually active for two years now,"Minako folded
her arms over her chest.
"But Minako, you're such a romantic at heart...I would have
rather envisioned you fighting your family to save yourself for the man who
you truly loved,"Rei tried a little softer.
Minako looked down at the ground. I could practically see the
wheels turning in her head, and I wondered what was racing through her
mind right now. I could see the stain of red upon her cheeks. She was
ashamed, that was for certain. She had come to us, hoping to find her
closest friends to confide in about an experience which had actually been
quite wonderful for her, and we had approached it all along as though
we somehow approved and were pleased with her for her decision, only at
the end to lecture her and rub her nose in her mistakes. I was certain
she would get enough of that from her parents, anyway.
I felt somewhat guilty for the way Minako had just been
treated. I could feel what she was feeling that night when she had seen
that young man, and I could understand why she had done what she had--
so spontaneously, so finally. It was in a moment of uncertainty and
the feeling that she was somehow behind in her quest to womanhood among
her Venusian friends--due to the fact that she had to wait two years
longer to lose what she had never considered very precious to begin with.
Being a romantic at heart, Minako felt the need to feel desired--I'm
sure she felt downright starved for love and for the need to be held.
And from experience, I knew that a handsome young man who said all of
the right things at the right moment was all that it really took.
In her eyes she had lost something that had meant nothing to her
to begin with. She was suppose to be rid of her virginity--she had
been raised all along to lose it painlessly without feeling, and quickly.
Then, and only then could she seek out her own lovers and have her own
romances that would surely only prove to disappoint her sorely in the
end.
I had felt the need and the pull for this sort of love and
adoration from a man my entire life too...although the culture that I
had grown up with was not nearly so laid back when it came to lovers.
Monogamy was key...and virginity was precious. Unknown to nearly
everyone (and most certainly my friends) I too, was a whore.
Silence had littered our conversation for too long now. We
were all lost in our own angry minds until Serenity bubbled in with a
cheerful, "Lets move on to more pleasant matters, hm? Ami-chan, how
is that charming young man of yours?"
Ami's face again flushed a deep red and she lowered her eyes
from all of our curious gazes.
**************************
"He won't be returning for awhile,"I heard myself say in a
voice which I had never imagined coming from my mouth. I sounded so
foreign and unsure. I wondered if I would be the next victim they would
attack due to my relationship with a person of the opposite gender. I
honestly believe much of the hostility that came about during our
conversation over Minako's sexual status was out of a jealous and worried
and confused frame of mind. Her culture concering things so dear to
some of we senshi was just too absurd and different.
"Why ever not?" Serenity cried out in a breathy and pitiful
voice. I smiled softly and allowed my navy bangs to sweep over my
eyes to hide them from one of my friends who would be capable of reading
straight into my soul.
"He was injured in battle,"I responded quietly, enjoying the
way they all gasped in fear at the thought that my dear-sweet companion
could be hurt somewhere. "Oh don't worry, he'll be just fine. He
writes me often to tell me what is happening in his end of the world...
The doctors just don't want to risk moving him right now, but they are
certain he will heal completely. He is in good hands in Terra now, what
with the alliance in full blossom,"I smiled at Rei gratefully, who
returned my smile warmly. She approved highly of Jikoku. She said
it made her happy to see me with someone so right for me.
But that thought brought another to the surface for me. Images
of Zoicite floated before my eyes, tempting me to no avail. I felt
guilt well up from deep within my gut to be thinking about him at such
a time. I glanced over at Minako, wondering if she had picked up on
any change in my mood. I was terrified to see that she was watching me
very closely with narrowed cool-icey eyes. She had met Zoicite too, and
had seen the way he made my legs quake whenever he sauntered into the
room. She had heard me choke out less-than-brilliant statements to him,
and blush all sorts of shades no matter what sort of comment he made. Her
eyes finally locked with mine and a slow smile like that of a cheshire
cat lit up her face slowly.
'You little slut,'she mouth at me with an exagerated wink. I
buried my head in my hands with a soft moan that I prayed no one had
heard. Then she DID know how often I thought of the dreamy eyed boy
we had first encountered in Taraviede...
"Ami? Oh I know how much you must miss him,"Serenity
misunderstood my distress and I was grateful. My emotions involving
a particular blonde-haired green eyed young man were uncomfortable and
confusing for me. I did not have the strength to sort them out at this
time. I was grateful that Minako did not bring the knowledge of my...
affair...to the group's attention. It was a very kind gesture on her
part, considering the way she had been treated for her escapades.
However, when we were finally all bidding each other our goodbyes Minako
slid up to me and leaned in to whisper in my ear, "I bet Zoicite misses
Jikoku a lot too, huh, Ames?"
My face felt hot and I knew I blazed crimson. A triumphant smile played
on Minako's lips. At least she wasn't the only one.
**************
Alright readers---Do not fret...you may be wondering--what...wait, war? When did it
end? Huh? What about that CRAZY party on the moon? Etc...
All questions will be answered in upcoming chapters and things will start straightening
themselves out, honest. But it would be great if you would leave some comments, questions,
suggestions, and praise in the box, so that the next chapter doesn't come out sometime
next year, huh?
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