by Sailor Earth
*Author's Notes*
Osaka Naru - Molly
Gurio Umino - Melvin
Matoki - Andrew
Reika - Rita
*Chapter Three - Intoxication*
"And when you looked into my eyes felt a sudden sense of urgency
Fascination casts a spell and you became more than just a mystery
And I think about you all the time
Is this fate, is it my destiny?"
From Chained to You by Savage Garden
After that meeting, I neither saw or heard anymore of Tuxedo Kamen for 8 days. The 8th day was June 30th - my 17th birthday. In our Kingdom, 17 is seen as a kind of "coming of age", so everyone was determined to make it very special. Dimando and Mama managed to co-orporate in order to plan the event - infact they decided that we would have an outdoor masquerade ball in the Castle's beautiful gardens on the edge of the forest.
On the day, Beruche helped me get ready. I had a new beautiful ne gown to wear - The skirt was all floaty and formed from many layers of irridesant white chiffon, whilst the bust was decorated with creamy pearls and gold beads, and at the top of each arm I had a "sleeve" of white fabric that resembelled swirling petals. I wore a white mask in the shape of a butterfly, that was also decorated with pearls and beads, and pearl hairslides. I remember how she did my make-up for me, and then I styled her usually-braided, wavy blue hair so that it was piled up on top of her head and cascaded down around her face. It was great - I didn't have any siblings, but to Beruche, Cooan, Petz and Karabaras, I was like an adopted sister. We often spent hours joking and gossiping, but I never, ever told them the truth about Dimando - the only person who knew was Mama, and she was to scared to say anything for fear of what he might do.
The first guests to arrive at the party were my close friends, Naru and Umino, the children of Lord Osaka and Lord Gurio respectively. With them, arrived Matoki, a young groom from our stables, and his fiancee, Reika. When I had been younger, I had had a huge crush on Matoki. Infact, my first kiss had been with Matoki. A couple of years ago, I'd been out riding, and had just put my horse in her stable, when the heavens broke, rain gushed down and a huge storm exploded from the sky. I sheltered in an empty stable, and Matoki must have had the same idea, because he soon sat down and joined me. We talked for ages, and when the sky finally cleared, Matoki escorted me back to the palace, before kissing me goodbye. It was incredibly sweet. However, we were never really more than friends, and a while later he met Reika.
As more and more guests arrived and the party got under way, I began to really enjoy myself. The warm evening sun was low in the sky, casting a hazy glow across the gardens, and beautiful music filled the air. I wasn't sure who the girls Dimando had hired to play the music were, but they were very good. There was a glamourous looking girl with wavy turquoise hair playing a violin, another girl with short, sandy-coloured hair on the piano, and two younger girls, perhaps around my age, were singing. They both had very long hair, but one was blonde, whilst the other seemed very mysterious and exotic with black hair and indigo eyes.
I danced with Umino for a while, but he kept tripping on my feet, and so I was very glad when Naru came over to reclaim him. I stood and watched them together, then something caught my eye. A figure in a silver-black tuxedo, and a white mask was standing between some trees, where the gardens meet the Silver Forest. He did not look out of place at this masquerade ball, but anywhere else, he would have. I recognised him imstantaneously - it was Tuxedo Kamen. He looked straight at me, and beckonned me over. I moved towards him, and he slipped between the trees. I followed him a little way into the forest before he turned to me, and said,
"So we meet again, Princess."
"Why have you brought me here?" I asked.
"Why did you follow me?" he replied.
"I don't know...I wanted to find out who you really are, I guess."
"But you know who I am. I am Tuxedo Kamen," He told me.
"I meant that I wanted to know who you really are," I explained, stepping closer. I reached up to his face, and suprisingly he did flinch or pull away as I slowly removed his mask. I don't know what I expected, I gasped as I looked up into his beautiful, deep, dark eyes. Suddenly he no longer seemed a mysterious phantom, but instead I saw that he was a real person. "Why did you let me do that? I assumed Tuxedo Kamen would want to remain annonymous," I told him. He touched my cheek with his gloved hand, then lifted away my own butterfly mask.
"I guess I just trust you, Serenity," he laughed, "Strange, since we've only spoken briefly, but I just have a strange feeling about you."
"Tuxedo Kamen..."
"My name is Chiba Mamoru - call me by that, it sounds much better than Tuxedo Kamen." He pulled me in towards him, lifting his cloak around my body. The sun was behind him, it's beams shattered by the forest canope, illuminating his sillouette, and bathing his shimmering black cloak in broken light so that it appeared almost gold. I breathed in deeply, a strong rose scent mingling with the pine-tree aroma of the forest. My legs turned to jelly, and my head began to spin. I felt weak with desire, and leaned forward, about to kiss him. He had cast a spell over me, and my whole being was hypnotised by his magic. It was intoxicating. I felt dizzy, and grabbed his shoulder to steady myself. He leaned down, about to kiss me, but then I was snapped out of the spell by a thud of footsteps and a voice calling my name.
"Serenity? Where are you, Serenity?" I pulled away from Mamoru and turned around. I saw Matoki running towards me. "Thank goodness, I've found you, Serenity! I saw you slip off into the forest by yourself - what on earth were you doing? It's not safe here!"
"I was, I..." I turned around, trying to explain things to Matoki, but Mamoru was nowhere to be seen. Matoki bent down, picked up my butterfly mask, and handed it back to me.
"Thanks, Matoki."
"Come on, we have to get back now, or Reika and the others will wonder where we've got to." He took my arm, and together we walked back towards the party.
I enjoyed the rest of the evening, but really my mind was elsewhere - with Mamoru to be presise. Deep down, I knew this was more than just a coincidence he kept appearing like he did. And when I returned to my room that night, I found a red rose on my pillow. I climbed into bed, closed my eyes and fell asleep, dreaming about roses and butterflies, and a mysterious man in a tuxedo called Mamoru.