Special thanks to all that reviewed the last chapter! Usagi of Feudal Moon Era, you mentioned that this one is the only one you've seen that is going to go through to the battle. I didn't know that. All of the good ones I've read so far have been left uncompleted. SOB But I'm glad I'm doing something semi-original. But just to let you guys know: there's going to be plenty of angst but I'm not going to lie. I love me some happy endings, and this one is going to have one too. I just haven't figure out how yet. LOL.
Love you guys! Please continue to review and please tell me if this is too cheesy. I think my "cheese-o-meter" is broken.
Chapter Three- Tempting Fate
Serenity looked up into a darkened face, all features hidden from view beneath the shadow of a hooded cape much like her own, and lost the last grip she had on rational thought. She began to kick and punch as hard as she could, her legs flailing wildly at the thing that was lying on top of her, thinking nothing, only feeling fear like she had never known before. In her head she could hear the echo of her mother's words: "I mean it, Serenity. There are people who would love to end our happiness. Please don't doubt the nature of this threat."
Suddenly she was very sure of the threat her mother had been alluding to.
Hands clamped down on her shoulders and heavy legs quickly worked to pin hers down. She would not be stopped that easily, however, for hysteria had taken over and she wouldn't be going down without a fight. She heard the person above her utter a small cry as she raised her leg, hoping to hit him where it would hurt the most, and was knocked flat again as he dropped his full weight on her. He held her there for a long moment, his chest against hers, his arms rough on her elbows, until her flails and punches had dissolved into weak tears. The night closed in around them, two young people in what (perhaps to a passing stranger) might have looked like an intimate embrace. Eventually, even her tears slowed when she realized that he was making no move to harm her, and when he pulled away from her slightly, she looked up with wide, confused eyes. Again, she was met with a shadow.
"I'm not going to hurt you, do you understand that?" She nodded mutely, her eyes growing ever wider. "Now, I'm going to lean off of you a little. Will you be good and not try to kill me if I do that?" Again, she nodded.
He was true to his word, and she to hers, although he only took the majority of his weight off and propped himself up on his hands instead of rising up completely. Still, this much was a relief. It was easier to breath without a strange man lying on top of you, she reflected dizzily, and much easier to think when fear wasn't clouding up every available space in your mind.
Perhaps sensing that she was calming down, the stranger reached up and pushed the hood off of his head. Serenity gasped a little in unmasked surprise at seeing his face, thinking to herself that she had not expected such a gruff voice to belong to someone so, well, handsome.
"Who are you?" he asked, and now that she had seen his face she was suddenly aware of his body that was still covering hers. "You're from the moon, aren't you?"
Her body went stiff at that, unsure of what to say or if she should answer at all. His face was inches from hers and his dark, black hair draped carelessly over one eye; his right eye. She felt curiously aware of everything: the way his chest moved as he breathed, the bite of his fingers in her shoulders, the way his head seemed to fill her whole vision, as if the sky had disappeared and been replaced by this stranger. Swallowing thickly, she said the only thing that came to her mind.
"How...how did you know?"
The man above her frowned slightly, as if disturbed that he had known somehow but couldn't quite figure out how. His eyes searched her face for a moment and she felt her skin flush under the scrutiny.
"You're different," he mused after a moment, his eyes thoughtful. "Your skin seems to glow. Are you here with the royal family?"
"Yes." The word rolled off her tongue before she could stop it. Horrified, she continued, "I am an aide to the princess."
"And your name?"
He was looking at her curiously (in disbelief?) and she knew she had to answer quickly. Her mind shot back to earlier that night, to Minako's smiling eyes in the mirror.
"U-Usagi," she said. She had stuttered but was nonetheless surprised at how easily that lie had rolled from her tongue. He looked at her a long moment and she felt that rebellious part inside of her sparking up in defiance. Pulling her eyes up to his, she forced her gaze to be hard, assured. An electric shock passed through the air between them, so sudden and unexpected that Serenity had to gasp in a breath. The world around them seemed to expand, as if the entire universe had chosen that moment to take in a massive breath, and she suddenly felt how big it all was. Surprisingly, however, she didn't felt insignificant in the scheme of things just then. Oh, no; quite the opposite. Staring into this stranger's eyes, both mouths open and panting, their breaths intermingling like two lover's... no, in that moment she felt towering, powerful even. She felt like she could do anything.
Startled by these feelings, Serenity jerked her gaze to the side, away from his eyes. She could hear the stranger's heavy breathing above her and wondered through a haze, did he feel that too? Almost unaware that she was doing it, she shook her head and tried to act like the moment had never happened.
"Seeing as how you're laying on me, do you think you could at least tell me your name and why you're here as well?"
Her voice had shook, she knew it had, and she hated herself for it. Risking a glance up, she saw the man looking at her with a strange look in his eyes- anger? No, it was definitely amusement- that disappeared just as quickly. It was just long enough for Serenity to think how gorgeous his eyes were. A moment too long.
The man leaned back to climb off of her and for a moment he had to straddle her body to get his balance. Serenity laid still and flushed in the dark, not moving until she knew he was completely standing. Then his hand was in front of hers and he was looking down at her in a look of patronizing amusement that made her want to hit him, handsome face or not. Her blood began to boil in her veins even as she rejected his help and stumbled, quite unladylike, back to her feet. Now his smile was fading, but a spark of it still stayed there, imbedded in his eyes and just along the corner of his lips.
"I wouldn't have had to lay on top of you if you hadn't insisted on attacking me. I'll have you know that you pack quite a punch," he said, bringing a hand up to touch his nose. Serenity looked over and melted slightly from her stiff position as she saw him wipe away a small line of blood from the area, but still could not force herself to say anything. The man took this as his chance to continue.
"To answer your question from earlier, I live and work in the palace."
He seemed to choose his words carefully, but she didn't think too awful much of it. Already this man, with his broad shoulders and dark eyes, struck her as a man that prided himself on being careful with all things, especially words.
"And your name?" she asked, surveying him, trying to make him as uncomfortable as she had been a few minutes before. He hesitated, then answered.
"Mamoru."
"That's an odd name."
"And Usagi isn't?"
Again, her blood leaped up in her veins, liquid fire and molten anger. She was not used to being addressed like she was stupid and it burned her in a way she had never felt before. One more look or comment would be all that it would take, she knew. One more patronizing gaze or implying comment and it wouldn't matter if this man pulled the whole army of Earth out of that cape of his. She would attack him, and she would give him far worse than a bloody nose this time.
He regarded her anger with another smirk and went on.
"Now, are you going to tell me why you were sneaking around the royal gardens in the middle of the night?"
"I wasn't sneaking..." she started.
"Then why did you run?"
She ignored him, going on as if he had never interrupted.
"I wasn't sneaking, I was looking around. We have gardens on the moon, but I had never seen one as beautiful as this one. I felt drawn to it and I wanted to explore. Is that such a crime?"
He regarded her for a moment in silence, and she held his look as honestly as she could. The fear of being discovered as the princess had faded somewhat but the threat was still real, throbbing like a pulse in the back of her mind. She hoped he wouldn't make her leave and go back to the palace with him, because then there would be no escaping. The truth would have to be told, and then what would happen? Serenity didn't want to think about it.
Finally, much to her surprise and relief, Mamoru nodded.
"I can understand that, I suppose. I've lived here my whole life and I still come for the same reasons."
Serenity found herself smiling and clutched her skirts in her hands.
"Well then, now that we understand each other, I think I'll be off..." but she had only made it two steps before he caught her arm in his strong grip.
The electrical shock this time was instantaneous, and even stronger than the one before. As he held her arm, she felt the breath knocked out of her and her mind cleared like a slate ready to be written upon. It is beginning, a voice whispered in her ear, but she was sure that was her imagination. What could be beginning? All she wanted was to get the hell away from this strange man who kept surprising her with his contact. She wrenched away from him but she didn't have to pull hard. His hand had been slack and his face showed the confusion he felt as well. Again she tried to walk away, and for a moment she was on her own, but then she heard the sound of footsteps behind her and spun angrily.
"What are you doing?" she screeched, as frustrated and confused as she had ever been. Sure enough, there was Mamoru behind her, his dark hair falling over his eye and his gaze quietly unreadable.
"I don't trust you, therefore I am following you," he told her matter-of-factly. Serenity, beyond all words at this point, could only stomp along in the darkness beside him while she attempted to work on a plan of escape in her mind. It would have been easier if he hadn't kept looking at her.
Why the hell was he smiling at her like that anyways?
Endymion, or Mamoru now as it seemed, didn't think he had ever smiled so much in a single night before in his life. He was usually so serious, reserving smiles only for Eizou and only then when she had earned them. For some reason this small blonde girl, who was looking more and more agitated with him by the second, kept eliciting this response from him. Maybe it was her look as she stomped along through the woods, her face so open and innocent that the anger, no matter how genuine, looked like that of a pouting child. Maybe it was the way he could so easily get under her skin already, the way she flushed red in the dark, her fists clenched at her sides and her eyes angry, simply because he had taken a certain tone of voice with her. It was certainly interesting to watch her emotions change, from wonder at the beauty around her, to frustration with him, to reluctant gratitude when he stopped her from stumbling for the third time, back to anger when she saw him smiling at her clumsiness. He wanted to tell her that he couldn't help it, that he had never seen anyone like her that advertised every single emotion that ran through her heart over her face, that smiling was only natural in this situation, even though under normal circumstances there couldn't have been a more unnatural reaction from the prince of Earth. But since he could say none of these things, at least not the way he needed to, he kept quiet as he walked beside her through the gardens, letting her lead and explore. He kept quiet...but still he smiled.
The gardens lead out into a clearing and in the middle of this clearing stood a large, impressive fountain. The middle of it stood tall, spraying water out as a dome that landed into a small pond at the bottom. Roses were carved into its base, and ivy curled around the edges, perhaps inviting friends and guests to join it on the climb up and into the fountain. The moonlight shining into the gleaming water finished the picture and to both parties, it looked like the most beautiful place in the universe.
Endymion was broken from his thoughts by a playful squeal and looked up to see the girl (Usagi, he reminded himself) running toward the fountain with her skirts in her hands. Her hair, half of which had escaped the confines of the cape, streamed out behind her in a gleaming wave of gold. He followed her, that same smile twitching at his lips uncontrollably, and watched as she climbed up onto the base of the fountain.
"What are you doing?" he asked. She promptly ignored him and began balancing her way around the edge, ignoring him yet again when he sat down in her way. Pivoting on one foot, she changed direction easily and wobbled that way for a while, giggling every time she almost fell in. He watched all of this with amusement, knowing what would inevitably happen if she kept tempting fate that way.
"You're going to fall," he told her simply, and she looked up with a look so withering that he wanted to feel bad but could only continue smiling. She had looked up at him while balancing the arch of her foot on the very edge nearest the water, and her anger had snapped what little bit of concentration she'd had going for her. Just as quickly as the prediction had left his lips, the little blonde-headed girl was tumbling face first into the base of the fountain.
Water sprayed up, soaking what part of her hadn't been submerged, and she looked up at him, her gaze defeated. Laughter bubbling past his lips, he reached and hand out and offered it to her. Quietly she brought her own hand up and took his, but not before offering him her first smile of the night.
"Baka," she said, and promptly pulled him in the fountain beside her.
Sitting beside her, his entire body dripping with water from the fountain and her laughter ringing in his ears, he couldn't believe when his own joined hers. Looking up at the full moon above them, a stranger in the water beside him and all rules and decorum long lost, he felt as Usagi must have when she had been balancing on the edge of the fountain.
He felt as if he was tempting fate.
And he liked it.