It was one of those Summer nights that Kunzite could believe was truly magical. Not only by the grace of the Goddesses that had returned after so many days, but the not quite full Moon still swollen in the sky and illuminating the grounds with abnormal potency. As she slid her arm to link through his own he was hit by that he could feel her power again, at least that's what he assumed that feeling of his skin seeming to come alive beneath her touch even through his uniform. He observed as he always did, the way she glanced longingly in the direction her Princess had gone.
"The Heavenly Four are wardens to these gardens, my guard won't intrude passed the outer wall." Kunzite gestured with his free hand, hoping to soothe her anxiety some and so she could see the very prominent outside bordering wall to the inner more private gardens. "We reside nearby, or pace through them on guard. Since that is me tonight, they will stay empty. Your Princess will be quite safe with Endymion."
He watched her eyes flicker in the dark, observing what he explained with a slow exhale. Truly he just wanted to take the moment to study her features, to see if he could pinpoint what made her so special even from her Princess. Maybe it was her lack of fear or innate curiosity for everything. The only anxiety she seemed to show was the distance growing between her and Serenity. He took a step, gently tugging on their linked arms to guide her away and into Zoisite's neighboring garden. The motion caught her attention, Kunzite casually looked away as to not be caught staring at the features he longed to memorize, or the eyes that haunted him so in her absence these past weeks.
"I am sorry that I wasn't able to discuss this new arrangement with you." The exhale through his nose was silent, defeated in a way because had she come to him with whatever plan she had in mind he more than likely wouldn't have listened. He was so wrapped up in trying to figure out any other solution to bringing Endymion back into himself, obsessive even in his worry for the Prince, only to find this night that Serenity might have been the only solution. Kunzite peered down at his beautiful companion, meeting her eyes which became rather studious of his expression, the gardens around them seemingly forgotten though the European gardens were rather fascinating to behold. Even her continued response was distracted and soft. "I wouldn't have known how to contact you.."
"I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been contemplating how I'd handle things should you come back." He replied, feeling the defeat of it all. Knowing that he wanted to chase the Goddesses away, to report it to the King or summon the Lunar guard to collect the wayward women from Elysium permanently. And then Venus happened, her selflessness and genuine concern for his Prince, the way she spoke of his Queen and how it was very much like Endymion's late mother to be so accepting and loving. It alarmed him how real Venus was, not trying to make excuses or trick them. It dawned on him that she must have some plan in mind because last he saw her, she was as angry with Serenity as he was with Endymion.
"Well you didn't draw your sword, or tell us to leave. I'd say that's a good start." He looked at her a good few seconds before she realized he busted her staring up at him before she tore her eyes away, finally drifting to appreciate the gardens they'd entered. Kunzite wasn't entirely sure why it made his heart constrict, and he had to laugh a little because telling them to leave was exactly the plan he initially had in mind. It was worth it though wasn't it? To not watch his Prince waste away under the crushing weight of responsibility and heartbreak? It seemed to distract her again and his grey eyes drifted away to spin one of the many copper ornaments lining the walkway that would normally have been moving with a bit of a stronger breeze.
"I guess I decided that certain things are worth taking chances on." He replied, spinning another copper ornament in passing. She giggled, and Kunzite glanced behind him to see that she had been spinning them too, the hypnotic patterns they created entrancing her with childlike fascination. When her face lit up the way it did, her charming, musical laugh filling his ears it churned his insides in ways that frightened him. Because when she smiled at him the way she did now, her wide blue eyes crashing into his grey ones, Kunzite never wanted to see anything else ever again.
"When you love someone... that's worth everything." She replied in a softer tone, and understanding one because of course she would know he loved Endymion. He'd never be able to hide that from her least of all. She heaved a heavy sigh, distracting him with the deep rise and fall of her chest which Kunzite had painstakingly tried to avoid noticing the way her dress hugged her too enticing curves. Truthfully there wasn't a thing about the girl that wasn't distracting, from her long black lashes and graceful long neck down to the pale flashes of her thighs as she walked in that horribly seductive gown. "You and I, our hands are tied in this scenario I think. You must admit we have much to gain from this if it works. I think you love Endymion as much as I love Serenity, even you would find gains in joining our Alliance."
"A bold assumption all around. I know there are gains to joining the Alliance, but I have no need to be so long lived and powerful. An Earthen life is made more precious by our short spans of time, keeps us motivated in our goals with a more precise limit. There are always scenarios to consider, I refuse to allow my hands to be tied in anything without an escape plan." Kunzite frowned, swallowing hard when her fingers began to toy with the cuff on his uniform, glancing up at him through the gold fringe around her eyes and he began to sweat. Something told him it wasn't only from the Summer's heat.
"Pity Terrans aren't so adventurous...I would think people like us would get so used to being tied down that we begin to enjoy the routine of it. Maybe resent it for its restrictions. Or maybe we secretly relish in the wild freedom events like this give us. To have no option but to break some of those ties so that we might be able to touch something new. Create something beautiful." As a man, the dual meaning behind some of her words were trying to kill him. It helped nothing that everything she did was sensual but even her words, which were that of a strategist, were laced with imagery that stole his breath.
She wasn't wrong though, Kunzite was a man of routines and found comfort and solace in it. He hated this new arrangement for the very reason that it interrupted the norm with such dangerous implication. Even he had to admit the gains of their union to the Alliance would prove to be fruitful on many economic levels. To have access to Mercurian medicine, Jovian weaponry, and Martian training...to awaken magic in humans dormant with it was what frightened him. Kunzite knew little outside human nature but was quite certain their world wasn't ready for power on that level. To live near immortal lives had always felt like somewhat of a waste.
She gave him a small smile, the fact that she could see straight through him should have alarmed him but he found more amusement in it. He wiped his brow with the handkerchief he kept handy in his pocket, noting further their intimate slow pace, how Venus leaned into his arm just slightly and the soft romantic light made their walk feel all the more forbidden.
"I'm sure there was another solution than just to cave to their desires...I assume you have some sort of plan?" Venus laughed a little again, a defeated sigh passing her lips as though she had tried to explain something obvious that Kunzite just wasn't understanding.
"Oh General, if only you knew just how painful that would be for them you wouldn't say that. I think that in time, and with your help, I could possibly build a case with the Queen. Find a way to get him in front of her to discuss the goals of the Elysian royalty in line with the Silver Millennium. From what Serenity has told me they are rather similar, in the end peace is all any civilization strives for." He felt dumbfounded, suspicious was a knee jerk reaction of course, he could see the harm as well as the good in joining the Silver Millennium. The timing was too convenient, Endymion breaching his prime and no doubt whispers of legends surrounding the Shitennou who guarded him. Was Venus using her charms to sway him? Was she being too eager about this where she was so opposed before?
"That's ambitious." He remarked, studying her face in the dangerous task of looking passed her beauty for signs of other things Kunzite knew he should be wary of. Like those other women of town who tried in vain to gain his affections in order to gain status of some kind. Dangerous indeed because he seemed to find no ill intent in her depth, her many layers of varying beauty. "Surely the Queen wouldn't be so open to meeting until the Golden Crystal is found and in his grasp. As you now know some of us are blessed with magic... none of us are worthy or ready to hold such power."
"We could train you... she could train him to strengthen his powers. It's difficult, and might take time but if you let us, we could help you." Kunzite lost track of how long they stared at the other, walking so lazily down the stone pathway of Nephrite's garden, he didn't quite remember entering it really. His eyes widened, unsure at this point how to take her offers to help, her solid determination that her plan was the best course of action while there were still so many variables on his side he couldn't quite voice because he was sure there was reason he shouldn't.
"Why? Why would you help place such power in our hands when you know the risk of rebellion after so many years we've been.. displaced." He stopped at the base of a hill housing Nephrite's beloved gazebo, housing a massive telescope Kunzite thought he might show Venus. He didn't think of this now, to nailed down to think a proper thought let alone maneuver a telescope he wasn't proficient at to begin with. Rebellion was his main concern, the Silver Millennium would open Earth up to magic and they would immediately turn on them in retaliation. Surely Endymion, assuming that he held the Gold Crystal, would not allow it. Kunzite's brain had begun to work overtime, a million scenarios to consider.
"You love Endymion as much as I love Serenity. Their love will end in tragedy if we don't act, I can see that you know this. Earth and Moon were supposed to be great allies and something happened... something stole that from your people and no one knows why. There are myths and legends written about everything but this, and we are told to fear this planet. If there is something to unite us... is it not worth it? If for nothing else than for those we love above ourselves?" She was right. If they played their cards correctly then Endymion and Serenity might be the key to everything coming together as it should. There were more variables than he could properly process on the spot like this, and so he fell content to watch her cheeks turn about four shades of crimson by his reaction to her passionate words.
"It is what it is for now... I'll be vigilant in keeping the gardens free of other guard. The other three know about your visits and will aid me in keeping this discreet as possible." Her blue eyes hardened just slightly, irritation on her brow when she issued her affirming nod he'd seen a few times by now. It wasn't a matter of him being cold that he changed the subject for the moment, but a move of caution. "I wasn't prepared for a debate on such heavy topics right away. You speak with passion though, it makes me sorry we didn't speak much before."
"Admittingly I was very much on a mission General... a flurry of emotion not suited for proper conversation. Does Endymion ever make you so angry you forget yourself? I think we very much got off on the wrong leg."
"Foot? Is how I'm certain the expression goes. We got off on the wrong foot." He smiled in amusement, furthering the appealing flush over the freckled bridge of her nose. Kunzite barely remembered the last time their eyes left the other, but she tore her stare away to appraise the flowers around the winding path they took. "And to answer your question, of course Endymion infuriates me. I believe you've been allowed to bear witness to this already."
"Is that why you were so rude before?" Her head snapped back up at him, if only briefly to raise her brow. The shift of her gold hair vibrant and distracting in the moonlit break between the shadows. He smiled, he couldn't help it because she didn't know him the way others did. How short and crass he could be, especially when dealing with things like emotion he wasn't accustomed to. The arrival of this Goddess had haunted him for weeks from the vanity of his appreciation for her beauty, to the idea that there was so much more to her that he so dangerously wanted to know, and how similar they were. Of course speaking to her in more depth Kunzite easily realized they were in fact similar, but so very opposite the other. He coughed with purpose to reign in his face some, disarmed by her yet again that he was left so unguarded by her blunt honesty.
"I'm sure you would have reacted much the same if my Prince and I crash landed onto your planet without warning." He almost wanted to tell her, that her presence was dangerous to him. Distracting in ways he'd never experienced before. Things Venus had probably heard a million times. That she was beautiful, alluring, a unique creature of softness and harsh command, a warrior and a Princess. He wanted to ask her about the stories he'd heard of her wrath, because tonight the way the gold fabric danced around her legs when she walked and the way that dress softened her, he found it hard to see the soldier.
She paused as Kunzite once more wiped a bead of sweat from his hairline, seemingly enraptured by the beds of lilies surrounding the statue of the Goddess Nephrite had been knighted under.
"General, what do you call those?" She was so excited over a flower. It warmed his heart how childlike she was, reveling in the strange new flora that were all so common to him. Venus never released his arm but bent down slightly to smell one of the pink flowers. "These are beautiful! They remind me of one of my friends."
"Stargazer Lilies I believe." Kunzite placed the handkerchief back into a pocket, taking a small step closer to her to prevent her hand from slipping from his arm. Hot as it was out, he knew he'd miss the contact were it broken.
"They're fierce but feminine and they smell nice. They're much like one of my soldiers." Kunzite frowned, not that she'd notice. It was hard to be upset the way she pressed her nose in the flower to smell it, getting a light dusting of pollen on her freckled skin.
"You may take one back with you if you wish to give one to him." He tried to tell himself the sound of his own voice wasn't jealous, that there wasn't a man she was thinking of while she walked with him with linked arms. She laughed, it was a bell-like sound that made church bells sound foolish.
"SHE would love it, if I may." He'd forgotten like an idiot that her guard were female. He looked off to the side trying to regain the modicum of dignity he'd let slip between his fingers. He was a fool to think this Goddess belonged to anyone. The way she carried herself so sensual and free she seemed wild, and utterly her own.
"My apologies, it is uncommon for there to be female warriors on Earth- I forget my place." He wiped his brow, the heat suddenly becoming stifling. He was too proud to admit it was his nerves, even to himself. "I don't think Nephrite will mind."
"Who's Nephrite?" She said it quickly and he almost laughed at her tone but kept it to himself. She held on to his arm, he didn't want her to let go so when he bent down to select the nicest Stargazer Lily he could find, he bent across her, their faces were so close he could almost feel her breath on his cheek. Silently pleased that she further hooked her arms with his again. He lingered there when he handed the flower to her, so thankful it was too hot for white gloves when their fingers brushed and it was like the sensory nerves in his skin exploded upon contact. Their eyes met, and Kunzite was painfully aware of how close the back of her hand came to brushing his chest with the hand that held the flower. He stood up straight as slowly as he could manage without looking odd before he could drown in her scent.
"Nephrite is next in command to myself, this is his garden. The previous one was Zoisite's, adviser to the royal family." Venus seemed to ponder something for a minute, a gleam hitting her eye and she giggled again. He glanced down at her with a raised brow but she only stared hard at the flower in her fingers.
"What's so amusing Princess?" He couldn't help but smile when she glanced up at him. Her eyes widened slightly but her smile did not fade.
"Nothing General, just thinking is all." She replied simply but looked away quickly to the flower she held with a delicate hand. Kunzite was pleased that they were talking so casually, finally about anything that didn't involve their unruly Prince and Princess.
"Do share so that I might have a laugh as well? I'm afraid laughter has been hard to come by these days." He grinned when Venus nudged him playfully with the sexiest smirk he'd ever seen on a pair of lips.
"I didn't think you dared do such a thing as laugh General, you're always so serious." His smile broadened, amused she could confirm his otherwise uncouth demeanor. Kunzite was a little surprised when she flushed an appealing pink shade, never tearing her eyes away from his.
"Of course I laugh. I'm known to do that, and many other things that might surprise you Princess." The lily twirled in her fingers as playfully as their conversation was going, he almost stopped breathing when she leaned against his arm as they strolled so casually. "Well...I suppose it's not a trait I'm known for."
"Consider my curiosity piqued General, do elaborate." She was biting her lower lip in that all too appealing way again, sneaking a sideways look up at him through the gold fringe of her hair. He kept his eyes forward, pretending he didn't see her pretty blue eye peek up at him.
"Oh you know... rescue distraught kittens from trees, save little children from runaway carriages... occasionally I even take a days rest from my duties." He knew there was a wicked gleam in his eye, the wolfish grin on his lips spreading when she gasped dramatically before laughing lightly.
"Something tells me you're omitting a lot of information General, pardon my skepticism." He chuckled lightly, suddenly a little squeamish about what she really might know. Kunzite held a curtain of ivy aside, allowing her to step through it and into Jadeite's more traditional gardens to his lands. Venus took a few moments silence to gaze around in wonder as she did with each garden, and he fell captive to her wonder of it all. Things he saw every day had become mundane and normal made beautiful again with her enraptured and frenzied appreciation for her surroundings.
She paused, pulling him gently to lean against the railing of a bridge overlooking one of the many Koi filled ponds, her arm never breaking from his. He almost wanted to brush the hair from her shoulder, the moment too good, too perfect. One of those moments that were she a normal girl he might have kissed her. Instead he leaned against the railing beside her, leaning against her arm the same as she leaned on him.
"You seem to know something, I'm curious about your theories." His lips twitched, knowing curiosity was a dangerous thing under most circumstances, this was no exception.
What about your brutish reputations? Your armies are well known even to the Alliance and yet you seem to be the cause and symptom of your soldier's pains. Not to mention your scandalous reputation with women? I understand harsh training regimens but are you so harsh with women that they describe you as barbaric?" Kunzite deflated, his head falling forward in defeat of the Venusian's very forward wording. He half whimpered, half laughed to himself before he allowed his eyes to shift over his shoulder to her rather amused blue ones.
"And where pray tell are you getting such stories from? Not exactly conversation a Princess should be having." He stood straight, watching her silent appraisal of him with a deep exhale.
"Your Prince is a vicious gossip and my Princess is no better." Her smile was brilliant and all too amused when she gazed back up toward him. Kunzite could only shake his head, raking his free hand through the length of his hair to tame some of the strands. "And I am more soldier than Princess, General, I do not place limits on the topics I can discuss."
"Your blunt tongue tonight suggested as much. I fear anything I admit to may be used against me." His smile took her off guard, only made clear by her flush and sudden readiness to continue their walk with a light tug on his arm. "You should know, when you lead the worlds armies you must be a brute to an extent. It is only to make my men better." Venus glanced at him and nodded. She commanded the Galaxy after all.
"Of course I understand this, though I'm more curious about the women." Her brow raised, her gaze fixed ahead smugly. A smugness which he returned in the devilish smirk on his face, almost arrogant in nature. Somehow she bolstered his confidence, he didn't feel the need to hide himself so much or he couldn't help it. Venus was an infectious creature if he'd ever met one. The very nature of their conversation turning into something far more interesting to him than the rather concerning topics of earlier.
"The same could be said of the women of course." She was nibbling on her lip again when her elbow nudged his ribs.
"Brute." Venus commented shortly through a betraying smile. They both laughed, he hadn't felt so light in a long time. Speaking to her was like speaking to an old friend, although flirtatious in nature. Kunzite was almost sorry for how he mistrusted them, knowing well in his gut he'd be a fool to drop his guard so quickly. It had been so horribly long since he truly enjoyed the company of a woman without agenda. But Venus was special, her kindness almost enough to make him believe in love in ways he hadn't before. Her regard for his late Queen, the dire lengths she was willing to go to for her Princess and most of all his Prince. It was humbling to see from someone with such Goddess like power. Power that she hadn't flaunted, it was easy to forget she possessed it in conversation alone.
They finally came to the gates of his garden, the only silver ones, ornate and suited to him. The air became familiarly fragrant to him, the gentle sound of the ocean mingling with the breeze that picked up by their proximity to the shores, taking on a fresher quality. His gardens truly did suit him, monochromatic with all white flowers and stone made regal with carvings relevant to his home lands. The only difference was Aphrodite's statue in the very center, a newer one he'd had commissioned recently. He knew it was no representation of the girl at his side, she was a divine thing where the other soldiers under her were not and so she was Aphrodite, and she was also someone else entirely. Her arm slipped from his at the sight of the statue, stepping forward and away from him so he could see her so much clearer without the burden of shadows.
"I really do want to thank you." His face had fallen from their previous conversation and the nervous look on her face made him regret saying the words, but he knew without a doubt they needed to be said. "Endymion has been beside himself, first when Serenity stopped visiting him he became withdrawn.. then the Queen died..neither myself or my men have been able to bring any life back to him. You've brought him light no one else could." Venus's face turned almost as red as the thick ribbon in her hair, face tilted down to the flower in her hands.
"It does not change the fact that their love is forbidden..." Her voice was nearly a whisper, sad as he suspected a Goddess of Love might be when the person she loves above all is in love with someone she by all purposes couldn't be with. Not truly anyways.
"No more forbidden than us here... having this conversation right now." The realization hit him as the words left his mouth. He appraised her again, her full pouty lips, utterly perfect skin, how long her lashes were when they drifted over her stunning eyes, the curves and valleys of her body beneath the silk gown she wore, the bead of sweat that drifted to the gentle curve of her ample breasts so achingly slow. Kunzite wondered if he would be able to turn back after tonight. They had spoken but he didn't know her still. What she loved outside the line of duty, if she had hobbies, what her favorite food was, if she had a true name.
This notion struck him harder than anything as they stepped into his gardens all fragrant and white. Surely Venus wasn't her real name. He tried to imagine what her name could be, what would Aphrodite name her daughter who's beauty seemed to challenge everything she encountered, her every word, thought and action. Kunzite was brought out of his thoughts by the straightening of her posture. She was regarding the statue of her mother with awestruck wide eyes. He felt the absence of her arm on his, watching as she nearly floating over to the massive white statue of Aphrodite holding the gold pearl that seemed to haunt him triumphantly over her head.
Kunzite walked slowly toward her, standing directly behind the young Goddess. The floral scent of her hair overpowered his senses, he didn't even notice the gardens around them, it was only her. He wasn't surprised, her presence was the Sun in the middle of the night, commanding and impossible to ignore, warming and welcome.
"Terrans hate us so much... why do they carve such beautiful images of us?" He wasn't sure he was meant to hear her words, but of course he did, he stood directly behind her.
"Terrans don't hate you... they fear you. They long for your power, your gifts. They worship you and beg for you to bless our lives. They pray to you most of all Venus." She was leaning back against him suddenly, the top of her head coming just above the center of his chest. Her every curve seemed to mold to his form so perfectly. Gods he wanted to wrap his arms around her. Kunzite bent slightly, bringing his lips closer to the shell of her ear. "This is called Aphrodite's Victory."
"These gardens are yours." Her voice was a slight on the light breeze, the ocean spreading its fresh and salty scent to mingle with the lilies and various florals in his garden.
"They are." The tension seemed to increase between them. His body ached from the self restraint he was often so proud of. There were many factors as to why he wanted to gather the girl in his arms and he predicted that more than half of them were not exactly honorable or conducive to their situation. After all, he didn't love her.
"I'm no idol to be worshiped. I've proven myself destined to fail no matter how hard I try. I wanted to be good... strong...absolute in my duties and oaths. I wanted to prevent their love from becoming unstoppable so that no one had to risk everything to keep it sacred. I'm not sorry that I failed in this, only that I wasn't strong enough to stop it entirely..." Kunzite had felt her tense against his chest, he couldn't tell if it was because his body betrayed him and he rest his hands gently on the velvet skin of her arms or if she'd realized she was leaning against his chest. She walked away suddenly without another word, heading up the stairs toward the terrace that held such a spectacular view, high on Elysian's cliffs of the vast ocean.
He followed her of course, and it was almost like the scene from his dream when he first found her. Of course her dress was different and hardly see through enough, but the way the wind seemed to gently float her hair and silk gown around her was enchanting, she didn't even seem real. Kunzite came up beside her, leaning on his elbows against the railing to peer down at the turbulence of the waves below them. A rather adequate depiction of his insides churning against themselves. If anything he was grateful for the fresh cooler air that left the lingering salt of the sea on his lips. Venus seemed disturbed, he could sometimes see the weight in her eyes and right now they were far away and strained.
"We are both failures then. They fell in love at first sight and neither of us were there to stop it." She smiled over at him briefly, Kunzite only wanted to ease her burden some. Let her know that they were in this mess together. It was true, and it stung him at the same time. That alarm was always ringing near her- She shouldn't be here.
"This is not your failure to carry... she came here of her own accord and there was nothing you could do." They smiled at each other then, and he didn't want to argue, but there was no way he would let her take the blame for this. "I should have been better..." He fell enchanted for a moment when she shifted, leaning her back against the railing and turning away from the raging sea below to stare at the path they came from. Kunzite slid forward on the railing to be closer, his body betraying him completely and his hand brushed some of her hair from her face. Her lips were intimately close when she turned her head to look at him, both struggling to hold the others eyes when they clearly wanted lips instead. "I didn't peg you as a man who believes in things such as love at first sight."
"As I mentioned Princess... there are a great many things about me that might surprise you." He further turned into her, voice weakened in a whisper that fought the waves crashing below them. "As the Knight of Purity and Affection I have been placed under Aphrodite's favor...I do not believe in love at first sight, but I do believe that the soul knows its place, and the heart wants what it wants. Love is not a place a man like myself believes in."
"The pure white flowers of your gardens make sense now... they're very beautiful. I think I like your gardens most of all." Her voice was nearly muffled by the waves below but he was close enough for her breath to mingle with his, he heard her perfectly. She'd shifted to face him more, his hand came up to move her thick curtain of long hair back behind her shoulder so that he could see her unflawed skin better, the press of her chest against the bodice of her gown was exquisite and he allowed his fingers to lightly trace the length of her arm.
"My gardens pale in comparison now that you have graced them." She took another step into him, Kunzite thought his heart my escape his throat. They'd never been so close and he failed to hold her eyes for long, so taken by the soft contours of her lips and he felt this ache in his chest, breathless.
"What if I am more like the sea?" He felt her press against his shoulder, his body was reeling she was so intimately close he could kiss her with the slightest movement of his head. And yet he restrained. Denial repeating itself in his head with their every slight movement. The word 'Forbidden' echoing with every thud of his heart in his ears.
"I would say the sea does not compare." He kept taking in her face, doing his best to memorize every adorable freckle and eyelash before meeting her eyes again that were sometimes too intense to look at for long but he managed. "Surely Venus isn't your real name..." That urge took over, almost stronger than his urge to claim her lips, her body, her mind, whatever she'd allow him to have. Everything he'd promised he wouldn't fall victim to.
"No... it isn't." Venus admitted, they drifted ever so slightly closer and he was glad she seemed to struggle as much as he did, and pained that they even had to struggle, to dance around this. He was so wrapped up in her in this moment he couldn't care. All he cared about was that simple word, her name.
"May I know it?... Your real name?" His fingers bravely traced her jaw line, almost pulling and urging her lips to his with a siren call of his own. She gasped suddenly, turning back to face the water and leaving him there with his brain swimming until he could regain his composure enough to stand up straight.
"It's not important General.." She turned again to face the path they came from, it was clear by her shaking hands she was as rattled as he was. He saw the struggle, the war playing out in her eyes. Part of him was grateful that she was strong, strong enough to fight whatever just conspired between them because Kunzite found himself confused. He felt something, longing and aching, wonderful and horrible at the same time. The beat between them was silent and long before she offered a weak attempt at a smile, her eyes sad and haunted like a painting when she stepped away from the railing. "It's getting late, we should get back." Her smile was nervous and she headed back toward Endymion's garden to retrieve her Princess. The walk back was anything but comfortable.
He'd given her an agreeing nod, it was in fact getting late. They'd walked far slower than he anticipated, taken more time than they should have in walking through the four gardens. Kunzite made note he didn't show her most of the things within them he planned on. Too caught up in conversation, wrapped up in her, to even think about it. This would be about the time he'd let anger take over, but it didn't come. Of course it took no time to get back, undistracted by each other or the gardens, and before she could walk back into Endymion's courtyard Kunzite found himself reaching for her arm. It stopped her dead in her tracks, Venus turned wide eyed to address him and to him it was a breath of fresh air just to touch her skin again.
"Thank you." He whispered softly, leaving it at that because he had so many things to thank this girl for. Kunzite took her hand, pressing the softest kiss to her knuckle. His grey eyes had yet to release her blue ones, her bottom lip being pulled between her teeth again. No more words passed between them before she simply turned and entered the courtyard just in time for Endymion and Serenity to come rushing back, thinking they had taken too much time themselves. He offered a polite bow goodnight, slinking back into Zoisite's garden to wait for their departure because there was no way Kunzite would let Endymion slip away from him without a word.
Endymion eyed Kunzite when the girls teleported away in their flash of magic and he was still reeling by the tight chord that had strung between them. He pulled the Prince into a tight hug, and he couldn't bring himself to feel bad about the way they embraced fro longer than perhaps a man should embrace another. It wasn't like he hadn't before. The two went down to the kitchen, sitting on stools and eating cheese and bread, talking and sipping water until the head of the kitchen staff came down to do her early prep work and kicked the two men out.
Morning was in full swing, streaming light through the tall windows and when Kunzite entered his library with Endymion at his side. The other Shitennou looked up with lively and happy eyes at the sight of their bright eyed dark Prince. Needless to say a clumsy dog pile occurred and the Shitennou gave Endymion noogies, wet willies and poked at him with howls of laughter as he was pinned underneath their bulky masses. Nephrite even shed a happy tear and Kunzite had never felt more alive in his life, a relief he wouldn't soon forget.
When he finally close himself in his room to sleep, he gazed up at the pale Moon ever present in the sky, ignoring the bright Northern Star he knew to be Venus and he whispered a quiet thank you at the silver planet, knowing that she was up there. Kunzite became plagued by foolish thoughts, wondering if she was maybe gazing down toward Earth. He went back and forth with himself, replaying moments in his head and trying to decide if he was grateful or not things ended the way they did. Regardless he was grateful to her, she had been the Goddess to deliver his first answered prayer in breathing so much life back into his Prince.
Kunzite sighed and drew the curtains to block out the Sun, exhaustion making him feel drunk and delirious as he stumbled toward bed, certain he was going to dream of her. Venus, who turned out to be so disarming, more beautiful in action and spirit and Kunzite was humbled by her good intentions. He felt a pull toward her, telling himself that everyone probably did, he wasn't special, but he decided he would have liked to kiss her. His final betraying thought before sleep claimed him, now if only he knew her name.