Disclaimer : BSSM + Co = Naoko Takeuchi-sama's property. I'm just borrowing.

Sunlight First Meetings, Sutaru-to!

Cigarette Salvation

She was running. Dodging past the other models, make up artists, photographer, set designers, everyone. Making a precariously sharp turn in her spindly heels, the blonde goddess tore down a tiny gray hallway, towards the door with the bright red sign at the end. Hiking her ridiculous gold-sequined dress up her thighs, she held out her hands, slamming them into the opening bar mechanism and pushing the door with all her might, all her adrenaline.

And she gasped, smiling in relief, as she breathed in the cold, rainy air.

He was taking a cigarette break. More like a timed evasion. The tall lawyer threw his silver head back, resting it against the somewhat damp wall. Standing under a random overpass, he was relatively safe from the rain that had been plundering the city for days now.

Suddenly, a door not far from him burst open. He watched in silent scrutiny as a slender blonde woman launched out of it. She was gasping as she collapsed against the wet wall by the door. He expelled another billow smoke as she seemed to calm down, her heart now longer racing. She suddenly turned her face towards him and he was pleasantly shocked by the sheer beauty of her features. She then opened her eyes and straightened as she caught his gaze and then proceeded to shock him even more with her next move.

"You wouldn't happen to have another one of those, would you?" she asked with a tired smile as she approached him, stumbling somewhat. He blinked and then pulled the slightly crushed back from his breast pocket, handing it to her as he fished his box of matches out of another pocket. She raised an eyebrow as he flicked the head of a match on the box, but leaned in regardless, letting the flame catch on the end of the cigarette. She leaned back against the wall, biting her lip almost in ecstasy as she expelled a billow of smoke.

He surprised himself then when he asked, "Do you smoke much?"

She smiled again. "Only when stressed. You?"

"The same." She chuckled.

"I figured, considering the condition of your matchbox." He found himself raising an eyebrow in surprise. "It's in too good of condition to be to be used regularly." She closed her eyes and took another drag, settling against the wall more firmly. After a beat, she sighed tiredly. "I hate the rain." He almost smiled at that.

"Why?" She sighed again, looking drawn and pale. He then noticed the odd slenderness to her frame. All long lean limbs and tiny waist juxtaposed against the fullness of her chest and hips. He figured that the best way to put it was that she looked like a Barbie doll, only much prettier.

"It makes me miss home even more, I guess," she suddenly answered, breaking him out of his reverie. He only caught her gaze with his own, lending silent comfort for which she again quirked her lips in that small, tired smile.

"There you are!" The two jumped at the yell of a young girl from down the street. Her face immediately saddened as she took in the girl. Crushing the cigarette under her shoe, she straightened up, tossing her hair back and fixing her dress before she shot him a grateful smile.

"I guess I have to go now. Thanks for the smoke." With that, she walked past him towards the girl. He watched silently at the picture she made, a golden goddess glowing against the gray grounding of the grisly alley.

Flicking his own cigarette to the ground, he turned, figuring it too was time for him to get back to work.

The door finally shifted open and the blonde goddess left out a sigh of relief as she entered her home. The apartment was cold and dark, and even from the door, she could see the blinking red light of her answering machine. Stepping in, she kicked off her shoes and dropped her bag, heading for the kitchen. She flicked on a light, and headed for the fridge. Opening the white door, she leaned against it as she perused the boxes of Chinese takeout and pizza stacked up along side huge bottles of water and her own cooking forays. Pulling out a box of pizza, she grabbed a plate and headed for the microwave. A medium sized white cat entered the room, walking up his mistress and rubbing his head against her ankles.

"Hi Arty," she greeted, leaning down to stroke her fingers along his ears. "Just you and me tonight, buddy."

Watching the plate spin in the oven, she leaned against the counter, yawning as she pushed her golden tresses back. The smell of cigarette smoke still lingered in her hair, even after hours of being in the presence of so much make up, perfume, and the other ever-present smells of set.

She sighed then as she remembered how she had nearly suffocated on set. The people, the make up, the clothing, the yelling, the sounds. She had felt her throat close on her, her breaths too small in her too large lungs, and her blood was pounding fiercely. It was too much. She had bolted, running to the exit in the back alley, under the overpass. It was a disgusting dark alley; dank, damp, graffiti filled. It was salvation. The microwave oven's bell dinged and she got off the counter and pulled out her plate. Grabbing the kit in one arm and her plate of pizza in the other, she headed for the living room and her favorite spot on the creamy couch.

Even more salvation had been the cigarette. She hadn't been lying when she said she only smoked in times of stress. As a preteen model, she had found it to be a rebellion, but she had quit at the instance of her best friends almost immediately. Now, it often took her a great deal of stress until that point, but with her modeling career, her upcoming apparel line, her endorsements, and then her parents, she was ready to engage in some disorderly behavior.

A true smile fitted itself on her face when she mused that the man hadn't been too shabby either.

The tall lawyer walked into the busy restaurant steadily. He scanned the floor for a moment before spotting his partner, a silver-tongued, seraph-faced devil sitting along with their clients. Fixing his tie, he walked over with a serene face.

"Sorry I'm late. Yamada-sama, Takeuchi-sama, Takeno-san," he murmured, bowing his head. The older man only laughed as he sat himself.

"Not a problem, bengoshi-sama!" he cried as he slapped to be with a meaty palm. "Your partner has quite the stories. I was just telling him that he should forgo the courthouse and put his talents to use as a hissha, yo!" The silver haired bengoshi only smiled indulgently.

"Shall we order?" his silver-tongued partner asked with a smile. The two clients agreed and he raised his hand, waving over a waiter.

The silver haired man saw the small smirk on his partner's face and knew that he owed him a big one this time. He could nod gratefully in return.

"Mina-chan!" the blonde goddess smiled as a tiny silver haired girl squeezed her tightly. "I didn't think you'd come!" she cried with pleasure. Mina smiled indulgently.

"And miss your bachelorette bash?" she asked laughing.

"Oh Mina-chan!" The girl hugged her again before pulling her into the room where eight other girls stood chatting.

"Mina-chan!" The seven-part shriek from the girls was resplendent with joy and memories of childhood. The blonde goddess laughed as she greeted her friends, her sisters. It seemed like ages since she had last seen them and it was cataclysmically refreshing.

"So?" a curvy Amazon asked as she wrapped an arm around the blonde goddess's shoulders. The goddess smiled.

"So what?" The Amazon rolled her eyes.

"I haven't seen you ages, sweetie. Tell me some gossip!" The goddess laughed.

"I don't have any." The Amazon yelped in surprise, almost spilling her cosmopolitan in shock as she stared at the goddess.

"You don't have any?" she parroted. "No men, no dates, no bitch fights with those crazies on set?" The goddess laughed again, her eyes lightening with amusement.

"The last man I saw," she began dryly, "was this old French photographer with more vinegar than your bean salad. If fact, the last time I got any action was definitely not on a date, nor were we in any set. In fact, we were out in the alleyway behind the studio, and this guy—man," she stopped short, remembering the silent comfort in his eyes when she had told him about missing home. She however didn't see the speculative look in the Amazon's eyes.

"And what?" she prompted, smirking. The goddess looked up at her, lips parted in shock.

"He let me bum a cigarette," she finished weakly.

"Mina-chan!" Before the amazon could even comment, a slender blue-haired doctor stepped in, scolding the goddess. "When did you start smoking again? Don't you know how bad it is for you? Especially with you as underweight as you are!" The blonde goddess could only smile weakly as the doctor berated her for not taking better care of herself and then recklessly endangering her health on top of that. The blonde listened to the doctor, nodding and promising to take better care before escaping to the balcony.

Standing out in the silent night, she let herself go back to the alley and to his eyes. Her lips again parted in small pout as she remembered. One cigarette. After all those men who had tried to woe her with money, dates, flowers, romance; how did one cigarette make her gasp like her heart had been stolen?

"So?" He jumped at his partner's voice. Looking up, he saw the silver-tongued devil leaning against the door of his office. Seeing the questioning look on the man's face, he raised his own eyebrows. "You gonna tell me why you were so late and why you smelled of smoke?"

The tall man sighed. "I went for a walk," he explained. The devil shot him a look, 'try again'. "I might've had a cigarette on said walk." The devil uncoiled himself from the door frame and stalked towards the tall man. Seeing the anger in his eyes, he held his hands in placating motion. "Jin…" he started.

"Don't," the devil barked darkly as he held out his hand. The tall man sighed before reaching into his pockets and pulling out the pack of cigarettes and the matches. The devil pocketed them and then looked back into his eyes.

The tall man was surprised then as the devil smirked.

"So what's her name?"

"I'm sorry?" he choked. The devil's smirk widened.

"The girl whose perfume is all over you, Ken-ko." The tall man's eyes widened. "That's right, Ken-ko. I can smell it and I know women and their things better than anything else. So spill it!" The tall man glared at the smirking devil before walking back to his desk. Seeing that the devil wasn't going to leave him, he relented.

"I don't know her name or anything. She just burst out of this building and then asked me for a cigarette. I gave one. I asked if she smoked much. She said no, only during stress and you could see it on her face. Her bags were even worse than mine. Pretty smile, a little tired though. She then pointed out that she figured I was the same since my matchbox was 'in too good condition.' Big deal, right?" he ranted as he fished through case files and subpoena documents.

"Then she went onto say she hated the rain because it reminded her of home. She was this awkwardly thin thing too. Like a Barbie doll but more exaggerated. You could tell her job was drying her crazy and pushing her to her limits. And then of course, some girl shows up yelling for. So she puts out the cig, says thank you and walks off, even though I knew she didn't want to. And I came back. Happy?" he asked looking up.

And then blinked at the smirk on the devil's face.

"She said all of that? Talkative little thing, huh?" He frowned.

"Not really. I mean, she said it, but then I also noticed most of it too."

"So you noticed her?" He looked up at the grin on his partner's face and scowled, realizing what the devil was on about.

"Can it Jin. So I noticed her." The devil only burst into laughter as he got to his feet.

"Damn. I wish I had been there," he called, chortling as he left the office. The tall man frowned. So what if he had noticed her? It wasn't hard to. Anybody would've been drawn to her paradoxical glowing yet melancholy beauty. Right?

The blonde goddess sighed as she slouched further into the plastic chairs. She had been sitting in the police station for hours now, but somehow the smell of blacker-than-tar coffee, dingy yellow lights, and the crude humor of the officers seemed almost relaxing.

Some crazed fan had attacked the studio and so she with five other models, the photographer, and the set team had been carted immediately to the police station. Most of them had left, but she was still stuck there, waiting for the officers to talk her statement.

Yawning, she stretched out her feet, wiggling her bare toes. She had kicked off her shoes and stripped off her ridiculous make up hours ago. Leaning back, she watched through sleepy eyes as a young cadet dragged an old drunk into the back, swearing as the old man snarled, throwing his arms and managing to hit the poor cadet in the face.

"Miss?" The goddess looked up at a chestnut brown haired officer in mild surprise. She hadn't even noticed his approach. "I'm ready to take your statement." She smiled and straightened. "Alright, have you ever gotten threats like these?"

The goddess sighed and pushed her mess of curls off her forehead. "I've gotten many threats before officer. As for this specific instance, I think I have a weird clipped post card of a picture taken of me while vacationing with friends. The stalker came to the set, vandalized it, and then pulled out a knife threatening me and the other models. I didn't recognize him until he shouted about my habit of wearing orange nail paint while on vacation." The officer jotted down all of her comments and then looked up at her.

"I don't feel like pressing any additional charges." He nodded.

"You are free to go then." She smiled, getting to her and picking up her shoes and cell phone.

"Thank you." Slinging her heels over her shoulder, the goddess headed for the nearest exit. It had started raining again while she had been waiting, but the blonde couldn't find it within herself to deal with putting on shoes or asking for an umbrella. Walking out into the early morning darkness, she smiled as she spread her arms out and tipped her head back. Though she usually hated rain, right then and there each drop felt like a gift, cleansing her skin, wiping away her troubles, and rejuvenating her soul. She left it wash off the rest of her make up and her exhaustion. Smiling, she spun around to catch even more of the beautiful drops.

With a laugh, she opened her eyes, and that's when she saw him.

He was standing barely twenty meters away, wearing another sharply cut suit, accentuating his tall stature. Her eyes in took in his drenched silver hair sticking to his face, his chiseled chin, and the cigarette he was currently trying to light with his elegant pianist's fingers. When he finally got it, he looked up and froze.

The goddess felt her breath catch in her throat as he stared back at her, standing there, outside the police station, wearing only the horrendous dress from set and no shoes. His eyes softened and then darkened with emotion, sending warmth through her body. With a wide smile, she broke out of her frozen stupor and ran at him, launching herself into his arms. He barely had time to catch her before her lips settled against his. He tasted of cigarettes, coffee, and something that immediately sent frissons of heat through her freezing body. His arms, after catching her, tightened around her slender back as he lifted her off the ground and changed the angle of the kiss, uncaring of the cigarette that had fallen into a puddle by their feet. The goddess sighed contently and fell deeper into his embrace. Finally, he pulled away, resting his forehead against hers.

"Wha…" he started, but she cut him off.

"I needed another smoke," she whispered mischievously. He gave her a searching gaze with his unusual gray-green eyes and then smiled.

"That all huh? I don't see how that helped, sweetheart."

"Minako," she corrected. "Aino Minako." He only raised an eyebrow, his smile still present.

"See Minako, I work in a court of law and you just committed an act of reckless abandonment, so I think you might need a lawyer." She smiled coyly.

"That's funny, because I was actually looking for one," she returned.

"Really then? Well, Toriyama Ken would be a great choice," he returned with a wicked smirk. The goddess only laughed.

"Oh yeah? I think I'll take your word for it." With that, she leaned in again to press her lips against his, and again he responded, taking her breath away with just his kiss. Pulling back, he gasped at her through ragged breaths.

"I think I've been obsessed with you since you told me that you hated the rain," he whispered. Her eyes lit up as a gentle smile, completely open and vulnerable spread across her face.

"I think I've been obsessed since you gave me a smoke," she whispered back.

He laughed then, pressing kisses against her eyes, her temples, her cheeks. Leaning away from her then, he pulled out his somewhat smashed cigarette box.

"So how about that smoke?"

It was needless to say that she found that she didn't want one anymore as she found his lips with her own again.

OWARI

(A/N): Wow, I can't believe this reached almost 8 pages in light. The Lightning and Fireflies versions of First Meeting barely topped out at 5. It's nice though. Unlike those two, this has a lot more dialogue, which I first felt was weird. But I'm hoping I was able to balance dialogue with the very omnipotent narrator that the other two also had.

As for the last scene, Kunzite's use of "reckless abandonment" is most likely NOT in the right context. Consider payment for inspiration attacking me at 2:30 am, right when I was about to go to bed. Let me know and I'll change it.

It's funny, because this also is the first version of First Meetings that doesn't use a night club as a setting, or the Starlights as minor characters. I just didn't want to add to many things away from Minako and Kunzite. Jadeite, however, makes an appearance as Jin, the seraph faced devil. I thought it was fitting. So do the other girls at Usa-chan's bachelorette bash, even if only for a bit.

As for the actual smoking, I know that it might seem a bit OOC, especially considering that we all see Kunzite as the straight laced, by the book, "would never do anything that could be frowned upon" type of guy. But I figured that everyone has their vices. Even him. Especially since this is AU.

Anyway, let me know what you think! As always, review and recommend!