Author's Note:
This is a sequel to Angelic Embrace. I thought about doing it, but I didn't until someone told me they thought a sequel was possible. You will really want to read the first one to find out what's going on.
As we all know the names of the Senshi, there's no need to go there, except to say that I use the Japanese names.
For a review, I'll list the names of the Shitennou:
Keagan Kris MacNeal (Kunzite)
Nick Michael Canter (Nephrite)
Jace Daniel Taencer (Jadeite)
Zale James Indiano (Zoisite)
You can contact me at Guardian4@atlantic.net.
I guess I should mention this, in case it gets confusing about how long its been since the epilogue of Angelic Embrace. It's been six to seven months, not another year and a half.
The Last Journey
Chapter 2: Walk of the Valkyrie
"In a world of democracy, a monarchy ruled by a king and queen is a backward step, wouldn't you say?"
Even though he stood as still as stone, the perfection of bodyguard that even other agents could not master, he wanted to fidget and grit his teeth. Though he was sure that logically, perhaps, the President of the United States had a point, the man wasn't listening to the whole discussion…at least not to Kunzite's mind.
President Bush was older in the world of politics, but that didn't mean he had a monopoly on what was logical. He reflected briefly on when they had entered the room: they had ended up fashionably late, though none of that their fault. His wife, Venus, and her Senshi had entered first, tall and so proud. The light streaming in from the protected windows had shined down upon them, almost giving them sparkling body halos.
Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion had entered next, their arms linked like in the old days. His Shitennou had brought up the rear, dressed to the hilt in their specific armor and literally shining as the sun touched on them. Without a doubt, they had made an impression that none would forget.
The breeze managed to flutter his cape a bit, but it died soon after. It had been so hot after five hours of debating that many of the leading presidents, Serenity and Endymion among them, had pleaded to have the windows opened.
He glanced around quickly, as he usually did to make sure everything was the same as the last hour. Kunzite would not risk his monarchs' lives just because he didn't notice someone entering. Everything was the same as before.
The leader of the Shitennou sighed. It had been about an hour and a half since they had taken their third round of guard duty. To give a rest to the 'agents', the Senshi and Shitennou switched off every hour or so. At first, it had startled a few of the presidents, the US one among them, but it had become so commonplace and so hot that no one noticed anymore.
Kunzite felt sorry for the other secret service agents for various leaders. They were all wearing straight black or very dark brown. Contrary to what they might think, looking at the Shitennou, Kunzite was not hot. Warm, yes, but not hot as they must be in those clothes.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Jadeite listening to his earpiece closely. His lips twitched as if someone had said something funny.
He frowned. If Jadeite was talking to Mars instead of paying attention, he would seriously have words with him when they were allowed to go to their hotel rooms. But his comrade simply raised his eyebrows at him and nodded to the door, signaling with his hand the sign-language number twenty.
With a silent sigh, he relaxed a little and his frown disappeared. In twenty minutes, the Senshi would relieve them of guard duty and he could sit down.
"You would be right, ordinarily," Endymion replied to a comment by the British Prime Minister, "but remember there has always been an unwritten and unspoken rule, that is kept and only recently been introduced, that it is all right with the council of the heads of states that each country has a right to have it's own way of governing."
"Yes, that is true," jumped in the French Prime Minister, "which is something that I believe the British feel unnecessary, as they usually prefer to have everyone following their own democracy."
"Now that is outrageous!"
Both opposing Prime Ministers began a heated argument that no one paid any attention to. Over the past five hours, they had gotten into so many arguments that it was considered commonplace to hear one spouting at every turn.
He glanced back at President Bush. It was without a doubt that whatever decision concerning Crystal Tokyo's standing in the council that the British government would stand by him, and vice versa. If it meant being opposed to something England seconded, the French would side with the opposite, even if it meant supporting Crystal Tokyo though they might secretly agree with the verdict.
Serenity stood, drawing everyone's attention. "Please, listen to me. I know this has been stewing in the backs of everyone's minds so let me lay it to rest. Crystal Tokyo is not out for a ruling seat, nor a world power. We simply wish to be accepted by the council for what we are." She sat.
The current leader of Russia, the countries by all accounts surprising the entire world by managing to form a unified nation again though with none of their previous power, nodded and commented, "But even if the council doesn't accept you, you'll continue your country as you see fit even if it means isolating yourselves away from us. This is only a formality on your part, isn't it? A courtesy to let us know and give us a chance to grasp what we think of you."
The monarchs looked at him, but by their silence it was obvious they couldn't deny the truth of what he said.
"Really," interjected Bush with surprise in his voice. "Really?"
"We don't deny that what he said is true," Endymion answered carefully. "We would like you to understand us and accept us as you, as individual countries, see fit, but we do not need your approval to continue what we have built. It would please us if you understood and accepted us, but it is as the President of Russia said: We'll continue our country even if it means isolating ourselves from everyone else."
"I think we have covered much today," spoke the President of Spain in the ensuing silence. "Let's call it a day and go back to our hotels."
The doors opened as Serenity and Endymion stood up. Kunzite nodded at the Senshi, pleased to see they were alert and ready for the complicated leave of their King and Queen. Surrounded by the Shitennou, they left the room.
With two Senshi, Jupiter and Mercury, further behind and two, Venus and Mars, in front, they left the building lobby. Flashes from reporter's cameras threatened to blind him and they crowded against the police security holding them back. Venus and Mars hurried forward to the limousine door and held it open for the monarchs as they made their way, as quickly as they could without seeming to hasten, toward it.
Just as the King was about to get in, after assisting his wife, a reporter managed to slip under a policeman's arm and began to jog for a better picture.
He didn't even get a single picture that day because Venus, who had been much closer, knocked him to the ground and inadvertently, or perhaps deliberately (Kunzite was never sure), managed to get his camera open, exposing the film to the sunlight and ruining any shots he'd had.
Kunzite could almost feel her chilling gaze as she stared down at him, the entire area silenced in shock. It turned the almost bone-searing heat into something near the artic. Slowly, with deliberate steps and measure glances, she slid into the car door after Endymion. With a silent sigh of…relief perhaps, Kunzite got into the limousine and closed the door.
It drove down the street, disappearing quickly, and the silence still fell among the reporters and audience witness to the sheer strength of a woman to take down a 6'3 man; taken down by a woman who was barely over 5'4.
She collapsed down into the chair, exhausted though she had done nothing but stand in one place and guard her monarchs and friends. Not five minutes ago, Serenity and Endymion had gone to their bedroom and were fast asleep.
Jupiter didn't know how they did it; how they had managed to survive one of those meetings. And they were scheduled for meetings for the entire week! That didn't even include any extra meetings or prolonged stays. Venus would have to let the Outers know if they stayed any longer than planned.
The four Senshi of the Outer Solar System had returned from their patrolling and constant vigilance of outside threats only to guard the palace and manage to take care of any problems until the rulers returned. She only hoped that no problems requiring decisions from either the King of Queen arose. It would only put a strain on them further, as their attention would have to divide itself between what was going on in front of them and what was going on back at their kingdom.
"Everyone's tired, huh," Jadeite commented as he watched the eight of them sit around without saying a thing.
"Pretty much," responded Mars. The topic she next touched upon was so out of the blue that Jupiter was startled for a moment. "We haven't talked much about what you used to do before we met you. We know Kunzite used to own a bank chain, but what about the rest of you?"
"Yeah," Mercury picked up. "We've known and married each of you, yet we know nothing about you. I guess there hasn't been time to answer any questions over the last year, but…"
"You still want to know," Zoisite supplied with a grin at his very recent wife. It had only been two months since they had gotten back from their honeymoon, reflected Jupiter, and already the woman was pregnant. She wasn't quite sure how prepared they were for a child…
"Well," Jadeite murmured, letting his head fall back on the headrest of his seat. "I actually worked in a department store. I was management, but due from a promotion when Endy called."
She smiled a little, thinking about how 'Endy' had called. Once Pluto had taken some action to free the Princess, he had known it and reacted to it. Though in a coma for ten years, he had tossed and turned so much that he would fall off his bed. They had managed to tie him down so that when he thrashed around, the bones in his atrophied muscles wouldn't shatter.
"What about you Nephrite?" prompted Venus, leaning forward to look at him as she saw his rather reserved expression.
"…It's not all that important…"
"Come on, tell us," cajoled Mars.
"…It's not as great as the others'…"
As one, the Senshi turned to Jupiter. Her smile widened just a little as she turned to her husband. "Nephrite, if you don't tell us, we'll find someone else who will," she told him and glanced pointedly at Jadeite, who they all knew had serious trouble keeping something secret.
"All right! I was a…" He mumbled the words so they couldn't understand it. The four of them leaned forward some more.
"Come on, a little louder, hon."
"I was a professor."
Mercury nearly jumped and her eyes sparkled. "Really? What did you teach?"
Nephrite looked somewhat gratified that she seemed to think it was as important as his friends'. "I taught astronomy."
"What else?" snickered Jadeite good-naturedly.
"What did you do, Zoisite?" Venus interrupted, ignoring Mars' husband.
"I worked in a law office firm."
"Were you a lawyer, paralegal, what?"
"I was a lawyer."
"Married a rich guy, did ya, Mercury?" teased Mars.
She blushed. "I hadn't known…"
"We know, we're just messin' with you," Jupiter reassured her.
There was a timid knock on the door and Kunzite heaved himself out of the chair to answer it. A young man, obviously some kind of waiter, had a cart of food in front of him. "This was sent up to you as you ordered."
Jupiter could see his eyes growing suspicious. She understood it well; she certainly hadn't ordered anything.
But Nephrite and Jadeite got up and came to the door. "Thanks. We're starving." A five dollar bill slid into his hand and they pulled the cart in. Finally, the somewhat accusing stares of their comrades penetrated their seeming disregard.
"What?" demanded Jadeite.
"You ordered room service?" asked Kunzite slowly, as if he was trying to hold in his anger. "And you didn't tell us you had? We could have killed the boy!"
"Oh come on, it's not like it's a big deal," placated Nephrite. "We ordered stuff for everybody and just a little extra than normal for Mercury."
"Why me?" the subject in question asked, perplexed. "I should think I would eat less, since I'm the smallest of us."
"Ah, but you're eating for two now," Jadeite said with a wink.
She blushed.
"I had a sister who was pregnant not once but three times, ending with girls each time. I know how much she ate and you'll eat more than her since your metabolism or something is higher than hers since you're a Senshi. Need more nourishment, you do," he ended philosophically.
Mars smacked him lightly on his arm, but her wide smile only added to his. "He also has a wife that's a Senshi who was pregnant too and he knows how much I ate."
"No shame, eh Mars?" commented Venus, somewhat sadly at the mention of children.
Everyone noticed the tone, but forced themselves not to react. It took every ounce of Jupiter's being not to jump up and tell her what she knew: that it might indeed be possible to have children.
Her talk with Saturn had been fruitful and when Pluto had joined in, it had come down to outright joyous. According to the Senshi of Time, by laws of the physics that applied to them only, Venus could have children naturally. But when Jupiter had explained what her friend had told them, her expression had turned to something thoughtful.
"I guess it could have changed. You see, I know in the other timeline, the one I told you about, Minako would have children. I don't know if in this timeline she doesn't," Pluto told her carefully.
Saturn had been quiet while she spoke. "With Mercury, I have made many scans of the Senshi on her insistence. I noticed something a bit odd with her and that must have been it. It was almost like she was missing something the others had. I think I can heal that though."
"Heal?"
"She wasn't born with no ability to have children," the black haired woman said gently. "Now that I think about it, there was a bit of damage there. It was a small amount and not life threatening which is why I hadn't healed it before. It is not uncommon for girls who ride bicycles a lot or did a lot of other gymnastics to injure themselves like that. It caused her no pain; I doubt she even thought that perhaps she was born with the ability."
Pluto nodded. "I'm sure that when the timeline diverged and this one came into prominence, something must have happened and it injured Minako. Things change in timelines all the time, even by a simple action. Your coming to Saturn and I changes the course of this timeline as well."
"Can you heal her though?" Makoto persisted.
Saturn nodded slowly. "I can indeed. And I would gladly do that for her…"
"Let's eat! I'm starving," Zoisite said in the ensuing silence.
It was a meal that was accomplished in near silence. Only the occasional murmur of questions about their husbands interrupted the quiet.
"What's going on Makoto? You look like the cat that swallowed the proverbial canary," her husband whispered in his ear.
With a glance at Venus, she leaned in close and whispered in his ear, on the pretext of kissing him. His eyes widened slightly in response and a smile grew to engulf his face.
"I love you, Makoto."
She smiled fit to encompass the sky. "I love you too, Nick. Let's get to bed. There'll be a long day tomorrow."
End Chapter 2.
Told you this chapter would be up soon! This was so easy to write, I wish all my chapters were this easy. And I thought of a great idea to incorporate into this fanfiction, so watch out! I'm really happy with this chapter.
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed my fanfictions, especially the ones that are still being worked on. It makes them go much faster and makes me happy to know that someone is reading them and likes them enough to say so.