Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon and associates. Their conception belongs to the talents of Naoko Takeuchi. This little story did begin in my brain so no tampering.

Chapter 7

Inveigle

Chiba Mamoru slept, and then he dreamt. Memories folded over him comforting at moments and then by turns becoming tense, dark, swollen with a strange, gentle sadness. The labyrinth lead him away from the familiar towards the buried. His footsteps no longer rang against stone and marble but were muffled by undergrowth and the sharp rustle of drying leaves. He found himself at the edge of a forest. A figure was turned from him facing into the wood.

"Endymion." the voice was low, lilting yet strangely sharp, clipped. A face turned towards him. Pale features flickering between dark locks of hair, assessed him coolly. Mamoru could feel recognition startled inside himself. Ami! Instead he heard Endymion call out sternly.

"Who are you?" a sharp glance from the dark prince. "What business have you here?"

"The moon princess, I have come for her." The stance was rigid despite the curiosity playing across her delicate features.

"She is not here," Endymion's words softened around the thought of Serenity. He glanced up at the slight warrior.

"I know." Some of the reserve melted a moment, the pale senshi stepped closer as the wind whipped her cloak around her legs. "I have come on her behalf."

"Interesting." Endymion bit back a sarcastic laugh. "And does Princess Serenity know what you are doing?"

Mercury ignored his question staring up into his face. She was close now; her hand up-raised in an open gesture suggestive of a wave or slap. Her fingers rose to his hairline. Endymion bristled but Mamoru found himself fascinated as her fingertips hovered over his forehead. Her eyes catching the thin moonlight, she studied his face a moment. Her expression was guarded but he sensed benign interest hiding behind her still features. Ami stepped back, her shoulders tense, her legs locked.

"You bear an intriguing mark, Prince Endymion." A question arose to Endymion's lips --what mark? What had she done? She cut him off before he could ask anything. "I have heard many rumors about you, your Highness, both for good and ill; and know a great deal more than any whispers heard in the Silver Kingdom," she paused. The wind pushed back her hood at that moment: the pale moonlight touched indigo lights into the shadows of her hair.

"No Terran or Lunarian ever had hair such color...Where are you from?" He asked a touch of awe overcoming his immediate sense of indignation.

A low, ungentle laugh escaped her lips. "I'm amazed how you can be both wise and ignorant."

"How dare..." anger choked Endymion's throat.

She studied him, a hint of sadness thawing her expression. "I do not do this for myself. All of my will, my thoughts, my life are for my princess. I can tell you these things because my whole being is for her physical and emotional protection. You are a threat to her and the Silver Kingdom. For her and your own sake you should forget anything you have felt for her."

Endymion grabbed her upper arm. She didn't resist or flinch against his violence, holding his gaze constantly. "I love her. I would protect her from all harm," he pulled her closer, his grip tightening on her arm as his words seethed out. "How can you even suggest that I am a 'threat' to her." His accusations ripped through the dark wind drumming into her ears.

Mercury looked away her eyes glittering in the shadows. "Such passion is harmful," her voice was low, intense, his ears strained to pick up each syllable. "You do not understand. Your every touch, word," she blushed. "kiss places her in greater danger" She shrugged his arm off. He stared not sure whether to trust her entreaty or his own heart. Mercury turned away from the confusion spreading over the Terran prince's face. "The more time she spends with you; the more difficult the choice becomes for her. Be assured, Prince Endymion, she will have to make a choice between her heart and her duty. The two cannot be reconciled." Before he could gather a reply, the senshi had faded back into the woods and shadow. He was left with one final impression of moonlight across her calm features and dark, wide eyes.

Mamoru awoke; anger, resentment, confusion resting around his heart. The dream residue lingered well into the afternoon, its vividness bending his thoughts to rest again and again on the shifting parts he could remember. Such passion is harmful.. He could feel Endymion's anger heating up again just thinking of her words. Ami has always been so...cautious. Perhaps too cautious. But then again, I certainly haven't been a paragon of wisdom lately.

"Mr. Chiba. ahem. Mr. Chiba." Mamoru was pulled out of his reverie to find himself face-to-face with his Pharamacology professor in an empty lecture hall. "Since you've managed to daydream through the last three hours of lecture, you don't think I would be imposing on your precious time if I asked you to deliver these slides to the Lab in 303."

Mamoru rubbed the back of his neck, "Of course not, Dr. Pratt. I'm sorry."

The professor waved away the apology. "Go on Mr. Chiba. I expect you to be a bit more mindful in my next lecture hall." Mamoru fiddled with the strap on his bag as he wandered down the third floor corridor. This has been a bad day...scratch that...month. He turned into the opened lab slowing down as he noticed a flash of blue.

She'd been avoiding him. Which was both difficult and simple a feat. It was easy enough to avoid him on campus as she generally kept a close eye out for him. The difficulty came in that she actually wanted to be near him. That was the danger, the crux. She could have ignored the kiss perhaps, but she couldn't ignore the way she felt her responding to it and him. In that small moment, she wanted to drown in the warmth of his mouth and the clean scent of him. She wanted to think it was just any attention, any amount of tenderness that would have caused such a reaction out of her. Ami couldn't deny that she was lonely. But then she would find herself thinking of him in off-hand moments. A flash of black hair, a warm laugh even the smell of the warming earth and she could feel herself longing to be wrapped up in his presence again. April was driving her indoors, it was the only way she could avoid any thoughts of him. Ami sighed pushing a tangled strand of hair behind her ear. She reached for the slide box randomly drawing out another slide. She slid it into place before adjusting the lens. She had spent the better part of the afternoon going through slides made by a botanist just into the 1900's. Somehow it reassured her not only to glimpse life at its most basic level but also to realize how many others had studied the same exact slide as herself. She turned down the magnification to study the vein patterns in the leaf. She felt her heart drop for a moment. The green of the leaf, intensified by the light filled the lens. For some reason the shade made her bite her lip as an overwhelming wave of longing and loneliness filled her. Ami stood back from the lens, a strange, sharp grief settling in her stomach. She glanced over to see Mamoru standing in the doorway staring at her. His expression inscrutable as he turned to glance down at the slide box in his left hand.

"I came by to drop this off," he murmured. He had been captivated by the afternoon light haloing her bent head, by the way she scrunched her nose when she found something intriguing through the lens, and finally by the strange soft loneliness that now filled her eyes. Ami reached for the box, her fingertips brushing his own. She sighed quietly before walking away. "Wait, Ami." He called after her. She turned back to him. "I'm sorry. I never wanted to..." he stopped. His words faltered as noticed the tears.

"I understand. You never meant to kiss me." She wanted to curse the hot stupid tears she couldn't stop.

"No," he stepped closer. "That's not what I meant. I was going to say. I never meant to hurt you." She looked up at him one tear drop hanging from her chin. She looked fragile and chipped and open. "Ami, you are too dear to me. And to think that I could just carelessly..." he stopped. How could he even say what he meant, when his heart felt as though it was cracking apart.

She took a step closer to him. I can feel all this loss within myself. I think I'm going to drown. One too many lifetimes of sadness and mistakes. She touched one finger to the inside of his palm. She looked up and found him staring at her, his eyes dark with some unreadable emotion. She sighed before bringing one hand to rest on his chin. What's one more? Ami pulled his mouth down to her own. Curling against his warmth as he tangled his hands in her hair, one poignant thought startled her mind. He tastes like chocolate.