Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon. It's as simple as that!
' denotes thought
AN: =author's notes
denotes mental messages
My list of people to thank:
Much thanks to gassy2! You're the best!
bunnymoon13: I want to cry right now....I'm so humbled because you put me as a "favorites" author. It's the best feeling in the world! Thank you!
ATTENTION JADE! I read the message in the review thingy, and I sent you a message, but in case you did not receive it, I'm telling you now that I am so grateful that you would post this l'il fic on your website! Infinite thanks to you! And I appreciate the fact that you put me on your favorite stories list! :::smile:::
Important Story Notes: Mina and Kunzite...the opposing leaders of these vengeful royals, come down in a showdown in this chapter! Place your bets! But this will be a two parter, so you won't see the conclusion of their past meeting until next time. Also, you might be reading some strange things, but it will all make sense in the end. Don't I always find some way to answer the mysterious questions that I stupidly bring up?
And Another Thing: Royalty may be adressed in different ways. For example, people in the palace could call Minako:
Princess Venus, Princess Aino, Lady Venus, or Lady Aino. It would be more informal by using her first name (i.e. Princess Minako or Lady Minako).
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The Winning Losers
Chapter 7: Hair Today, Fair Tomorrow
**Present time**
Even if Zoisite was a girl for just half a day, that half-day locked alone in his room gave him plenty of time to think about the hardships of being a girl. From that day on, he regarded women with much respect--at least with a lot more respect than before. He was still a purebred playboy, but he never cheated nor lied to a woman. With his suave comments and polished, gentlemanly manners, he made every woman feel as if she were a queen.
Kunzite, on the other hand, favored another part of the brain. Kunzite's and Zoisite's personalities and interests were stark contrasts. Like black and white. Night and day. Grade "A" steaks and veggie burgers. To state it simply, there was a major difference between the likes and dislikes of the two men.
And Kunzite detested women. Period.
Often times he would reprimand his comrades about the dangers of women. "Never trust women. They're all-"
"-Lying, conniving, secretive, two-faced, cold-blooded snakes," the rest would recite for him. They heard him complain about the evils of the fairer sex at least twice a day.
Kunzite did not understand women and their ways. He didn't understand why they wore so much make-up or why they were so critical of what other women wore. He didn't understand why they gossiped about every single insignificant detail or why they started vicious rumors. He didn't get why women complained about effortless chores and harmless things such as broken nails. He didn't understand why women went to the restroom in unnecessarily large herds.
'What the hell do they do in there anyways? Do they fall in the bowl and have to fish each other out or something?'
Of course, being the king of the Northern Hemisphere, he was always courteous to a lady. At social gatherings, he would waltz with various partners, make small talk, and retrieve glasses of champagne for his female conversational companions of the evening, as a proper gentleman of the court should do.
But he could still distrust them.
He kept a noticeable distance from women; though he sometimes smiled and made light merry, there was always a thick restrained air about him. The court ladies learned many years ago to stop making an effort to become "Queen Kunzite Acoupser", for every attempt was destined to be an attempted failure.
Most of all, Kunzite was painfully suspicious of and overly cautious around physically beautiful women. To him, their looks were their deadliest trap.
'A trap into which too many men get caught.'
Beautiful women were witches who put their victims under their spell, and once their prey had hopelessly fallen for them, they sucked every penny and every wisp of self-respect from the foolish, unwitting man. Kunzite vowed never to be entangled with such a woman, lest he be taken advantage of and have his heart smeared across the tapestry. Under those severe features was a real, feeling human being, but he wore his bachelor status like a suit of armor, complete with a full coverage face mask.
Looks can be deceiving, and Kunzite himself had learned from experience.
**Present time on the Moon**
"Lady Venus! Lady Venus! If the royal guest chambers in the East Wing are going under construction, where are the queen and king of Earth going to stay?"
"Lady Aino! What decorations should we order for their farewell ball?"
"And in which colors?"
"Princess Venus! Princess Venus! If Lady Jupiter is at the meeting, how can she make lunch for the royals as she said she would?"
"Lady Venus, where did you want to send these letters again?"
"Princess Aino, the ambassador from Callisto is on the line. Do you want me to take a message?"
"Princess Aino! What should I wear for the arrival of the Terran royalty?!"
Princess Minako Aino of Venus rubbed her eyes with a weary right hand and used her left hand to rub her temple. She was surprised to learn that she had enough energy to look up at the group of palace workers flooding into her office, which was littered with papers and cluttered with mugs of various flavors of strong coffee. Minako sat up, sucked in a deep lung- full of air, and rattled off:
"I made sure there would be rooms in the West Wing prepared for their arrival late last night, and that will be their permanent quarters during their stay.
"I left a message for Princess Setsuna regarding the decorations. I have complete faith in her, her fashion expertise and color coordination, so she will be in charge of that. She'll be coming from Pluto in a couple of days to discuss the details with the other interior decorators.
"Princess Makoto made lunch before she left for the meeting, so tell the cooks that she left her creation in the pantry, and all they have to do is to reheat it.
"The letters are to be sent to the Princesses Hotaru, Michiru, and Haruka. Make sure you deliver it directly to their hands.
"Tell the ambassador to leave a message and tell her I will 'phone her back as soon as I possibly can.
"And Lucy? You wear a uniform, so it shouldn't be hard to figure out what you're going to wear."
The mob of people in her office made their exit to carry out their orders, and Minako allowed her forehead to smack hard onto her desk. Her head was certainly taking a beating that morning, so she figured that if she hit it hard enough, she would slip into unconsciousness and feel no more painful pressure.
"Ugh...maybe not..."
Her days were always busy, but this day was no ordinary day. In just a couple of hours, the royals from Earth were going to visit the Moon Palace for the first time in eight years, and the palace was in complete chaos. Servants were running amuck, finishing last minute chores and getting everything perfect and ready for the momentous occasion. That entire morning, she had not one moment to herself or a second of peace. Whenever she turned around, there was someone standing near barraging her with questions.
She was ready to take her shiny, voluminous hair in her hands and pull it right out of her head.
"Long hair is a hassle anyways. Maybe I should just go bald and start a trend."
Being leader of the Inner Senshi was more than a hard job; it was a job in which she worked for twenty-four hours a day. Minako was head of security of the Silver Millennium as well as the one who distributed responsibilities and assigned missions to Sailor Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter. The fate of the Inner Senshi rested in her hands; the lives of her three closest friends, as well as the safety of the princess, the queen, and the kingdom's subjects rested on her shoulders. It never bothered her before, but today she was definitely feeling the weight.
An Inner Senshi was a protector of the crown princess of the Moon, and danger could befall her at any time of the day. It didn't matter if it was 1:30 in the morning or if the princess was taking a shower. If something was threatening the life of the princess or the safety of the people in the palace, a Senshi had to be standing by, ready to sacrifice her life without giving it a second thought. That was her destiny, and Minako and her fellow Senshi had yielded to it ever since they were born. Serenity was the future of the Silver Millennium, and Usagi was their best friend. A lesser person would have been buried by the mountain of duty long ago.
But Minako always looked radiant, and she always smiled her famous smile--the smile that thousands of men fell in love with. "Free time" was not in her vernacular, but she did her best to enjoy life to its fullest as if everyday was her last day to live. Stress dogged her every step, but she walked with carefree vivacity. Countless days were spent staring at boring diplomatic documents, but she looked at life with honest optimism; to her the glass was not half empty, but half full. It was simply her nature.
But looking back at her life, there was one exception where her invincible buoyancy revealed it was not so invincible after all.
**Eight years ago on the Moon**
Little Minako was running full speed to her bedroom, a huge smile spread across her cute, chubby face. She had just received the newest book from her "Romantics Anonymous" book club, and she absolutely had to read it in the comfort of her room as soon as possible. Plus, she had to read it before Makoto or Usagi snatched it away and read it, too. Ami didn't quite approve of Minako's reading material, but as long as Minako was reading out of a real book, Ami didn't complain.
Minako's long hair whipped wildly behind her and her copious skirts billowed as she sped blindly through the halls of the Moon palace. The excitement was killing her; the feeling she got when she read her romance books was incomparable. The colorful, saccharine, and overall fluffy pieces put into words everything that Little Minako wanted and wanted to be: a dashing Prince Charming, a bewitching maiden with luxurious waves of golden hair, and a timeless fairytale romance. Her preteen imagination transformed her into the alluring woman described in the pages of the novel, but little did she know that in a few years she would take that woman out of the fiction and become her.
All her pleasant thoughts were knocked right out of her head and her book flew far from her hands when she turned a sharp corner and smacked head first into something.
"Hey!" she heard the thing yell as she somersaulted backwards about three yards. She got tangled in her long blonde hair in the process, so she closely resembled a deformed ball of golden yarn coming undone in the hall. 'I need to start tying back my hair.' She also saw that a few of her skirts had gotten torn. 'Oh great. This is the fourth dress this week...Momma's gonna kill me.'
"Why don't you put your eyes to use and watch where you're going?" inquired the derisive voice.
"I'm so sorry for running into you-"
"Don't be sorry for anything. A proper lady doesn't run through the tranquil palace halls like a crazed bull, but judging by your Olympic dash and unkempt form right now, you are obviously not a respectable young lady. So do all future innocent pedestrians a favor and start acting like a lady."
Minako couldn't believe her ears. She had tried to apologize, and the incident was clearly an accident, but here was a person she had just run into, literally, who was already insulting her. She tried to get a good look at her antagonist through her mussed mane of hair, and she saw a tall boy with long, straight black hair.
For just a stupid boy, he should have known better than to mock a princess of the Silver Millennium. After brushing most of her hair away from her face, she looked closely at the scoundrel who dared to insult her, the crown princess of Venus.
Prince Kunzite (AN= you read correctly...don't doubt my sanity) was glaring down at her as if she were lower than the dirt on which he tread.
Minako was about to pick up her dignity off the floor and slap him with a witty remark, but before she got anything out of her mouth, Prince Kunzite picked up the romance novel that had she had flung during her poor gymnastics display.
"*True Love You*?" he scoffed. "Do you mean to tell me you were so excited to read some idiotic romantic drivel that you would run someone over just to indulge in it? You, girl, need to pick up something educational and learn something....or are you as blonde as you look?"
"Excuse me, you pig-headed bastard-"
"You're quite excused."
"Just shut up for one second! Can I say something without your rude interruptions?"
"I believe you meant to say '_may_ I say something'."
"That's not my point...and stop trying to act so damn superior. You're just a kid, like me."
"By standing next to you, I don't have to act."
One could see the steam smoking from Minako's ears. "Who do you think you are? You may be some small town Earth prince, but I am crown princess of the planet Venus, and you know as well as I that you have no right to speak to me in such a manner. First, you say I'm not a proper lady. Next, you stick your nose into my business, insult my intelligence, and discriminate against blonde people. And for your information, blonde jokes are so old. I could have you beheaded because now you're on my turf. So why don't you take your own advice and learn some manners before you go criticizing me!"
"So-called leaders who don't keep their fellow soldiers in line don't deserve to be shown any courtesy," Kunzite coldly replied.
"What do you mean 'so-called'? I am the chosen leader of the future Senshi, and I am being specially trained for that position," she returned proudly.
"Ha! I heard that you weren't even truly chosen for that position. You only got that title because no one else really wanted it."
In the corners of her eyes, Minako could feel the shameful tears welling up, just waiting to fall and betray her. She was painfully aware that what he said was born in truth.
The current head royals had discussed the matter when the girls were about seven years old. They debated over who would be the next future leader of the Senshi, which was a very serious and energy consuming position. Even at a young age, each of the four girls displayed much promise, so it was nearly impossible to pick one out of the quartet of equally talented girls. Before the elders chose any possible candidates, they first asked for the opinion of the girls themselves.
Makoto didn't like the idea of being commander--she liked to jump into a fight head first without worrying about the ethics.
Ami said the extra chief training would keep her from her studies-- she felt she would rather be an authority in the field of the mind.
And Rei? She just didn't give a damn. But Rei's lack of ambition towards the Senshi Commander position came as quite a surprise to everyone since her mother, Queen Azalynn of Mars, was the leader of the Senshi in her generation.
That only left Minako, who was spirited and enthusiastic about the position. She liked making important choices and being an active participant in anything. It gave her a burst of self-esteem, and she felt that she really could make a positive difference. The elders had no choice but to pass down the title to her.
Minako did her best to learn leadership skills and procedures, and she excelled. She was proving to everyone that she deserved the title; the elders nodded in approval. But every now and then, she reminded herself that if Makoto, Ami, or Rei had competed against her for the role of Senshi leader, she probably would not have stood a chance.
Clutching her fists tightly against her thighs, she stood to her full height, a bare 4'11", and looked Prince Kunzite straight in the eye. Without uttering a word, she was telling him that he had crossed the line.
Kunzite saw the result of his cutting words, but he still retained the stony face he had practiced millions of times in front of the mirror. He pretended not to notice the hurt in her soft blue eyes. "What, no words of protest? This must mean that you admit that you didn't truly earn that shiny badge on your sailor fuku bow."
Minako chose not to respond.
"And it's apparent that that meaningless badge doesn't help you control your immature lackeys."
That got her talking again. "Shut your cake-hole! You can insult me as much as you like, but don't you _dare_ talk crap about my friends! I swear, if I ever hear you say something like that again, I'll-"
"You'll what? You can't even organize your Sailor Senshi into a _decent_ force, so what could you possibly do to me? A team is only as good as its leader, and judging by their childish and mean-spirited pranks, their leader must not be all that good. You're friends terrorized Nephrite to an unnecessary and ridiculous extent, and I don't know what they did to poor Zoisite, but he's hardly come out of his room these past two days! What kind of commander allows his troops to wreak havoc and attack important royal guests?"
"Hold a sec, you hypocrite. My friends wouldn't have had to retaliate if your stupid friends hadn't started being horrible little freaks first. Your boys were the ones who started it, and my girls were only teaching them a much-needed lesson because you weren't doing your job in teaching them common sense and chivalry. It's not our fault that you little boys weren't reared properly."
"I lectured them when I first heard that they offended two of the inner princesses, and I am making sure they are going to be severely punished when we return to Earth. That's what a responsible leader does. And what do *you* do? You go and ENCOURAGE your soldiers to get heavy revenge and put my friends in danger! I bet you even had a big part in helping them viciously attack Nephrite, and you must have done something really low and dirty to scare Zoisite that badly. I'm only fifteen, but I've learned to mature for the good of my boys and my people. And perhaps if you tried, you might be half as mature as myself. Unfortunately, you are a bad example as a friend, a princess, a leader, and a human being!"
Young Kunzite paused long enough from his ruthless speech to hold Minako's book and wave it around in her face. "Stop wasting that pretty little head of yours on this teeny-bopper trash. Once you do that, then you can tell me about being a real leader." With a swift flick of his wrist, he tossed the book hard against the far wall, pivoted sharply on his heel, and briskly walked away.
Watching the whole process in silent rage, Minako waited until his stiff form disappeared before she ran over to her brand new book. The spine was bent out of shape and its pages were almost completely torn out, but the damage to the book could not compare to the damage he had done to her pride.
"He says I'm not mature enough?" she hissed through clenched teeth. "Fine. I'll make sure everyone sees how mature he is."
Prince Kunzite was taking a nice, long, hot shower when he realized that there was no more shampoo in the bathroom. 'Damn Zoisite. The bottle was full yesterday! He's not allowed to bathe here before the rest of us anymore.'
"Jadeite! You in the room? Jadeite! JADEITE!! Somebody please just hand me some shampoo!" he hollered, hoping that one of his friends or one of the maids heard him.
The steam fogged up the whole glass shower door so much that it was almost opaque, but Kunzite was able to see the bathroom door opening and a figure walking through. He couldn't tell who it was, be he saw a head of tied-back blonde hair. "Hey Zoisite! Thank God you heard me because I didn't feel like running through the halls in a towel and having the young servant girls ogle me. For a rich place, they should really stock up the bathrooms more."
Kunzite caught the shampoo bottle that was thrown over the sliding door and said thank you before the bathroom door closed again. 'Geez, Zoisite has been really moody and reticent lately. He hasn't made any smart-ass comments in the past two days. Hopefully he'll tell us later what's been bothering him.' Letting the hot water wash his concerns away, he lathered the shampoo all over his long ebony hair.
Fifteen minutes later, Kunzite was in his bedroom, drying his excessively moist hair with a towel. It was then that Endymion and Jadeite walked in and said, "Hey Kunz."
"Hey guys," Kunzite said as he bent over, still rubbing the now soaking towel on his hair. "You guys should congratulate me for my community service today."
"Community service?" asked Endymion.
Kunzite smugly stood up straight and threw the towel in the hamper. "I gave that Venus girl the reality check that no one else had the guts to give her. You should have seen the look--why are you staring at me like that?"
Jadeite and Endymion stood motionless, eyes bulging like inflated balloons and jaws nearly grazing the floor. For a moment, Kunzite had the impression of two dead fish with mouths agape. Then Jadeite violently shook his head, as if he had just woken up from a hypnotic stupor. With a shaking hand, Jadeite reached up and yanked out a few strands of Kunzite's hair.
"Ow! What the hell was--"
Kunzite never finished his sentence because the purely _white_ hairs in Jadeite's hand stole the words from his mouth. Kunzite bolted to the vanity mirror on the wall to his right, praying to see his normal self and his normal dark hair in the reflection. He did see his old self, only now with an *old* man's head of hair. Not a black hair was in sight. Not even gray! Just snowy, undiluted white.
"Oh. My. GOD!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
And thus do I answer the question, "Why is Kunzite's hair so white?" The details of this evil plan will be revealed in the next chapter....AND *drum roll please* the two fiery young ones, Jed and Rei, will humiliate each other as I have set as a tradition in this stupid l'il story!
Review, please, you wonderful people you. Thank you!
I SAID REVIEW, DAMN IT!!!!
' denotes thought
AN: =author's notes
denotes mental messages
My list of people to thank:
Much thanks to gassy2! You're the best!
bunnymoon13: I want to cry right now....I'm so humbled because you put me as a "favorites" author. It's the best feeling in the world! Thank you!
ATTENTION JADE! I read the message in the review thingy, and I sent you a message, but in case you did not receive it, I'm telling you now that I am so grateful that you would post this l'il fic on your website! Infinite thanks to you! And I appreciate the fact that you put me on your favorite stories list! :::smile:::
Important Story Notes: Mina and Kunzite...the opposing leaders of these vengeful royals, come down in a showdown in this chapter! Place your bets! But this will be a two parter, so you won't see the conclusion of their past meeting until next time. Also, you might be reading some strange things, but it will all make sense in the end. Don't I always find some way to answer the mysterious questions that I stupidly bring up?
And Another Thing: Royalty may be adressed in different ways. For example, people in the palace could call Minako:
Princess Venus, Princess Aino, Lady Venus, or Lady Aino. It would be more informal by using her first name (i.e. Princess Minako or Lady Minako).
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The Winning Losers
Chapter 7: Hair Today, Fair Tomorrow
**Present time**
Even if Zoisite was a girl for just half a day, that half-day locked alone in his room gave him plenty of time to think about the hardships of being a girl. From that day on, he regarded women with much respect--at least with a lot more respect than before. He was still a purebred playboy, but he never cheated nor lied to a woman. With his suave comments and polished, gentlemanly manners, he made every woman feel as if she were a queen.
Kunzite, on the other hand, favored another part of the brain. Kunzite's and Zoisite's personalities and interests were stark contrasts. Like black and white. Night and day. Grade "A" steaks and veggie burgers. To state it simply, there was a major difference between the likes and dislikes of the two men.
And Kunzite detested women. Period.
Often times he would reprimand his comrades about the dangers of women. "Never trust women. They're all-"
"-Lying, conniving, secretive, two-faced, cold-blooded snakes," the rest would recite for him. They heard him complain about the evils of the fairer sex at least twice a day.
Kunzite did not understand women and their ways. He didn't understand why they wore so much make-up or why they were so critical of what other women wore. He didn't understand why they gossiped about every single insignificant detail or why they started vicious rumors. He didn't get why women complained about effortless chores and harmless things such as broken nails. He didn't understand why women went to the restroom in unnecessarily large herds.
'What the hell do they do in there anyways? Do they fall in the bowl and have to fish each other out or something?'
Of course, being the king of the Northern Hemisphere, he was always courteous to a lady. At social gatherings, he would waltz with various partners, make small talk, and retrieve glasses of champagne for his female conversational companions of the evening, as a proper gentleman of the court should do.
But he could still distrust them.
He kept a noticeable distance from women; though he sometimes smiled and made light merry, there was always a thick restrained air about him. The court ladies learned many years ago to stop making an effort to become "Queen Kunzite Acoupser", for every attempt was destined to be an attempted failure.
Most of all, Kunzite was painfully suspicious of and overly cautious around physically beautiful women. To him, their looks were their deadliest trap.
'A trap into which too many men get caught.'
Beautiful women were witches who put their victims under their spell, and once their prey had hopelessly fallen for them, they sucked every penny and every wisp of self-respect from the foolish, unwitting man. Kunzite vowed never to be entangled with such a woman, lest he be taken advantage of and have his heart smeared across the tapestry. Under those severe features was a real, feeling human being, but he wore his bachelor status like a suit of armor, complete with a full coverage face mask.
Looks can be deceiving, and Kunzite himself had learned from experience.
**Present time on the Moon**
"Lady Venus! Lady Venus! If the royal guest chambers in the East Wing are going under construction, where are the queen and king of Earth going to stay?"
"Lady Aino! What decorations should we order for their farewell ball?"
"And in which colors?"
"Princess Venus! Princess Venus! If Lady Jupiter is at the meeting, how can she make lunch for the royals as she said she would?"
"Lady Venus, where did you want to send these letters again?"
"Princess Aino, the ambassador from Callisto is on the line. Do you want me to take a message?"
"Princess Aino! What should I wear for the arrival of the Terran royalty?!"
Princess Minako Aino of Venus rubbed her eyes with a weary right hand and used her left hand to rub her temple. She was surprised to learn that she had enough energy to look up at the group of palace workers flooding into her office, which was littered with papers and cluttered with mugs of various flavors of strong coffee. Minako sat up, sucked in a deep lung- full of air, and rattled off:
"I made sure there would be rooms in the West Wing prepared for their arrival late last night, and that will be their permanent quarters during their stay.
"I left a message for Princess Setsuna regarding the decorations. I have complete faith in her, her fashion expertise and color coordination, so she will be in charge of that. She'll be coming from Pluto in a couple of days to discuss the details with the other interior decorators.
"Princess Makoto made lunch before she left for the meeting, so tell the cooks that she left her creation in the pantry, and all they have to do is to reheat it.
"The letters are to be sent to the Princesses Hotaru, Michiru, and Haruka. Make sure you deliver it directly to their hands.
"Tell the ambassador to leave a message and tell her I will 'phone her back as soon as I possibly can.
"And Lucy? You wear a uniform, so it shouldn't be hard to figure out what you're going to wear."
The mob of people in her office made their exit to carry out their orders, and Minako allowed her forehead to smack hard onto her desk. Her head was certainly taking a beating that morning, so she figured that if she hit it hard enough, she would slip into unconsciousness and feel no more painful pressure.
"Ugh...maybe not..."
Her days were always busy, but this day was no ordinary day. In just a couple of hours, the royals from Earth were going to visit the Moon Palace for the first time in eight years, and the palace was in complete chaos. Servants were running amuck, finishing last minute chores and getting everything perfect and ready for the momentous occasion. That entire morning, she had not one moment to herself or a second of peace. Whenever she turned around, there was someone standing near barraging her with questions.
She was ready to take her shiny, voluminous hair in her hands and pull it right out of her head.
"Long hair is a hassle anyways. Maybe I should just go bald and start a trend."
Being leader of the Inner Senshi was more than a hard job; it was a job in which she worked for twenty-four hours a day. Minako was head of security of the Silver Millennium as well as the one who distributed responsibilities and assigned missions to Sailor Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter. The fate of the Inner Senshi rested in her hands; the lives of her three closest friends, as well as the safety of the princess, the queen, and the kingdom's subjects rested on her shoulders. It never bothered her before, but today she was definitely feeling the weight.
An Inner Senshi was a protector of the crown princess of the Moon, and danger could befall her at any time of the day. It didn't matter if it was 1:30 in the morning or if the princess was taking a shower. If something was threatening the life of the princess or the safety of the people in the palace, a Senshi had to be standing by, ready to sacrifice her life without giving it a second thought. That was her destiny, and Minako and her fellow Senshi had yielded to it ever since they were born. Serenity was the future of the Silver Millennium, and Usagi was their best friend. A lesser person would have been buried by the mountain of duty long ago.
But Minako always looked radiant, and she always smiled her famous smile--the smile that thousands of men fell in love with. "Free time" was not in her vernacular, but she did her best to enjoy life to its fullest as if everyday was her last day to live. Stress dogged her every step, but she walked with carefree vivacity. Countless days were spent staring at boring diplomatic documents, but she looked at life with honest optimism; to her the glass was not half empty, but half full. It was simply her nature.
But looking back at her life, there was one exception where her invincible buoyancy revealed it was not so invincible after all.
**Eight years ago on the Moon**
Little Minako was running full speed to her bedroom, a huge smile spread across her cute, chubby face. She had just received the newest book from her "Romantics Anonymous" book club, and she absolutely had to read it in the comfort of her room as soon as possible. Plus, she had to read it before Makoto or Usagi snatched it away and read it, too. Ami didn't quite approve of Minako's reading material, but as long as Minako was reading out of a real book, Ami didn't complain.
Minako's long hair whipped wildly behind her and her copious skirts billowed as she sped blindly through the halls of the Moon palace. The excitement was killing her; the feeling she got when she read her romance books was incomparable. The colorful, saccharine, and overall fluffy pieces put into words everything that Little Minako wanted and wanted to be: a dashing Prince Charming, a bewitching maiden with luxurious waves of golden hair, and a timeless fairytale romance. Her preteen imagination transformed her into the alluring woman described in the pages of the novel, but little did she know that in a few years she would take that woman out of the fiction and become her.
All her pleasant thoughts were knocked right out of her head and her book flew far from her hands when she turned a sharp corner and smacked head first into something.
"Hey!" she heard the thing yell as she somersaulted backwards about three yards. She got tangled in her long blonde hair in the process, so she closely resembled a deformed ball of golden yarn coming undone in the hall. 'I need to start tying back my hair.' She also saw that a few of her skirts had gotten torn. 'Oh great. This is the fourth dress this week...Momma's gonna kill me.'
"Why don't you put your eyes to use and watch where you're going?" inquired the derisive voice.
"I'm so sorry for running into you-"
"Don't be sorry for anything. A proper lady doesn't run through the tranquil palace halls like a crazed bull, but judging by your Olympic dash and unkempt form right now, you are obviously not a respectable young lady. So do all future innocent pedestrians a favor and start acting like a lady."
Minako couldn't believe her ears. She had tried to apologize, and the incident was clearly an accident, but here was a person she had just run into, literally, who was already insulting her. She tried to get a good look at her antagonist through her mussed mane of hair, and she saw a tall boy with long, straight black hair.
For just a stupid boy, he should have known better than to mock a princess of the Silver Millennium. After brushing most of her hair away from her face, she looked closely at the scoundrel who dared to insult her, the crown princess of Venus.
Prince Kunzite (AN= you read correctly...don't doubt my sanity) was glaring down at her as if she were lower than the dirt on which he tread.
Minako was about to pick up her dignity off the floor and slap him with a witty remark, but before she got anything out of her mouth, Prince Kunzite picked up the romance novel that had she had flung during her poor gymnastics display.
"*True Love You*?" he scoffed. "Do you mean to tell me you were so excited to read some idiotic romantic drivel that you would run someone over just to indulge in it? You, girl, need to pick up something educational and learn something....or are you as blonde as you look?"
"Excuse me, you pig-headed bastard-"
"You're quite excused."
"Just shut up for one second! Can I say something without your rude interruptions?"
"I believe you meant to say '_may_ I say something'."
"That's not my point...and stop trying to act so damn superior. You're just a kid, like me."
"By standing next to you, I don't have to act."
One could see the steam smoking from Minako's ears. "Who do you think you are? You may be some small town Earth prince, but I am crown princess of the planet Venus, and you know as well as I that you have no right to speak to me in such a manner. First, you say I'm not a proper lady. Next, you stick your nose into my business, insult my intelligence, and discriminate against blonde people. And for your information, blonde jokes are so old. I could have you beheaded because now you're on my turf. So why don't you take your own advice and learn some manners before you go criticizing me!"
"So-called leaders who don't keep their fellow soldiers in line don't deserve to be shown any courtesy," Kunzite coldly replied.
"What do you mean 'so-called'? I am the chosen leader of the future Senshi, and I am being specially trained for that position," she returned proudly.
"Ha! I heard that you weren't even truly chosen for that position. You only got that title because no one else really wanted it."
In the corners of her eyes, Minako could feel the shameful tears welling up, just waiting to fall and betray her. She was painfully aware that what he said was born in truth.
The current head royals had discussed the matter when the girls were about seven years old. They debated over who would be the next future leader of the Senshi, which was a very serious and energy consuming position. Even at a young age, each of the four girls displayed much promise, so it was nearly impossible to pick one out of the quartet of equally talented girls. Before the elders chose any possible candidates, they first asked for the opinion of the girls themselves.
Makoto didn't like the idea of being commander--she liked to jump into a fight head first without worrying about the ethics.
Ami said the extra chief training would keep her from her studies-- she felt she would rather be an authority in the field of the mind.
And Rei? She just didn't give a damn. But Rei's lack of ambition towards the Senshi Commander position came as quite a surprise to everyone since her mother, Queen Azalynn of Mars, was the leader of the Senshi in her generation.
That only left Minako, who was spirited and enthusiastic about the position. She liked making important choices and being an active participant in anything. It gave her a burst of self-esteem, and she felt that she really could make a positive difference. The elders had no choice but to pass down the title to her.
Minako did her best to learn leadership skills and procedures, and she excelled. She was proving to everyone that she deserved the title; the elders nodded in approval. But every now and then, she reminded herself that if Makoto, Ami, or Rei had competed against her for the role of Senshi leader, she probably would not have stood a chance.
Clutching her fists tightly against her thighs, she stood to her full height, a bare 4'11", and looked Prince Kunzite straight in the eye. Without uttering a word, she was telling him that he had crossed the line.
Kunzite saw the result of his cutting words, but he still retained the stony face he had practiced millions of times in front of the mirror. He pretended not to notice the hurt in her soft blue eyes. "What, no words of protest? This must mean that you admit that you didn't truly earn that shiny badge on your sailor fuku bow."
Minako chose not to respond.
"And it's apparent that that meaningless badge doesn't help you control your immature lackeys."
That got her talking again. "Shut your cake-hole! You can insult me as much as you like, but don't you _dare_ talk crap about my friends! I swear, if I ever hear you say something like that again, I'll-"
"You'll what? You can't even organize your Sailor Senshi into a _decent_ force, so what could you possibly do to me? A team is only as good as its leader, and judging by their childish and mean-spirited pranks, their leader must not be all that good. You're friends terrorized Nephrite to an unnecessary and ridiculous extent, and I don't know what they did to poor Zoisite, but he's hardly come out of his room these past two days! What kind of commander allows his troops to wreak havoc and attack important royal guests?"
"Hold a sec, you hypocrite. My friends wouldn't have had to retaliate if your stupid friends hadn't started being horrible little freaks first. Your boys were the ones who started it, and my girls were only teaching them a much-needed lesson because you weren't doing your job in teaching them common sense and chivalry. It's not our fault that you little boys weren't reared properly."
"I lectured them when I first heard that they offended two of the inner princesses, and I am making sure they are going to be severely punished when we return to Earth. That's what a responsible leader does. And what do *you* do? You go and ENCOURAGE your soldiers to get heavy revenge and put my friends in danger! I bet you even had a big part in helping them viciously attack Nephrite, and you must have done something really low and dirty to scare Zoisite that badly. I'm only fifteen, but I've learned to mature for the good of my boys and my people. And perhaps if you tried, you might be half as mature as myself. Unfortunately, you are a bad example as a friend, a princess, a leader, and a human being!"
Young Kunzite paused long enough from his ruthless speech to hold Minako's book and wave it around in her face. "Stop wasting that pretty little head of yours on this teeny-bopper trash. Once you do that, then you can tell me about being a real leader." With a swift flick of his wrist, he tossed the book hard against the far wall, pivoted sharply on his heel, and briskly walked away.
Watching the whole process in silent rage, Minako waited until his stiff form disappeared before she ran over to her brand new book. The spine was bent out of shape and its pages were almost completely torn out, but the damage to the book could not compare to the damage he had done to her pride.
"He says I'm not mature enough?" she hissed through clenched teeth. "Fine. I'll make sure everyone sees how mature he is."
Prince Kunzite was taking a nice, long, hot shower when he realized that there was no more shampoo in the bathroom. 'Damn Zoisite. The bottle was full yesterday! He's not allowed to bathe here before the rest of us anymore.'
"Jadeite! You in the room? Jadeite! JADEITE!! Somebody please just hand me some shampoo!" he hollered, hoping that one of his friends or one of the maids heard him.
The steam fogged up the whole glass shower door so much that it was almost opaque, but Kunzite was able to see the bathroom door opening and a figure walking through. He couldn't tell who it was, be he saw a head of tied-back blonde hair. "Hey Zoisite! Thank God you heard me because I didn't feel like running through the halls in a towel and having the young servant girls ogle me. For a rich place, they should really stock up the bathrooms more."
Kunzite caught the shampoo bottle that was thrown over the sliding door and said thank you before the bathroom door closed again. 'Geez, Zoisite has been really moody and reticent lately. He hasn't made any smart-ass comments in the past two days. Hopefully he'll tell us later what's been bothering him.' Letting the hot water wash his concerns away, he lathered the shampoo all over his long ebony hair.
Fifteen minutes later, Kunzite was in his bedroom, drying his excessively moist hair with a towel. It was then that Endymion and Jadeite walked in and said, "Hey Kunz."
"Hey guys," Kunzite said as he bent over, still rubbing the now soaking towel on his hair. "You guys should congratulate me for my community service today."
"Community service?" asked Endymion.
Kunzite smugly stood up straight and threw the towel in the hamper. "I gave that Venus girl the reality check that no one else had the guts to give her. You should have seen the look--why are you staring at me like that?"
Jadeite and Endymion stood motionless, eyes bulging like inflated balloons and jaws nearly grazing the floor. For a moment, Kunzite had the impression of two dead fish with mouths agape. Then Jadeite violently shook his head, as if he had just woken up from a hypnotic stupor. With a shaking hand, Jadeite reached up and yanked out a few strands of Kunzite's hair.
"Ow! What the hell was--"
Kunzite never finished his sentence because the purely _white_ hairs in Jadeite's hand stole the words from his mouth. Kunzite bolted to the vanity mirror on the wall to his right, praying to see his normal self and his normal dark hair in the reflection. He did see his old self, only now with an *old* man's head of hair. Not a black hair was in sight. Not even gray! Just snowy, undiluted white.
"Oh. My. GOD!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
And thus do I answer the question, "Why is Kunzite's hair so white?" The details of this evil plan will be revealed in the next chapter....AND *drum roll please* the two fiery young ones, Jed and Rei, will humiliate each other as I have set as a tradition in this stupid l'il story!
Review, please, you wonderful people you. Thank you!
I SAID REVIEW, DAMN IT!!!!