Minako pulled her door closed and whipped around to stare around her room. A determined glow on her face as she began tearing apart her top shelf. An orange shine drew her attention. She clumsily grabbed it with all her fingers and turned her back to the drawer. "I'm 15 now! I should be allowed to help. I need protect my people! Besides who knows if they'll ever be able to catch them? I am young woman not just a princess! Ooh!" she squealed. "This is so exciting." She threw open the window and tossed back the delicate hangings. She put one foot out of the window and sat on the sill. She whispered into the dark and held up her hand. Deftly, the chain she usually wore around her waist flew to her hand. "Venus love me chain!" the golden light sliced through the molasses dark of the room and wrapped it's self around a bedpost. She then flung the rest of her body out the room, one hand gripping the golden train, the other, the henshin stick. Her way down was slow, one foot over the other as she made her way backward, sliding three stories down, onto a ledged roof. From there, gaining her footing again she pulled the chain down, it lost it's luster and fell into waiting hands retracting it's self back to the size of a bracelet, like a fighting firecracker dieing out. After slipping it around her small hand she bent her knees to gaze around.
The night was comfortable and cool against her skin. She took a breath in, filling her lungs with the fresh air as if she had never been alive before. From one roof to another, she bounded, her eye scanning the ground for a bare place to land, she didn't want to be seen and made to go back to her room. She found one. Once her bare feet touched the damp grass, she dashed up toward an old statue of a queen and her princess: the only time two Queens had been alive at the same time. Minako knelt next to its base, so as to be hidden by the statue in the middle but not be IN the fountain. Her hand ran over the ground when she spotted something wrong, one of the pillars in the distance wasn't strait, it has a funny lump in the side. Mesmerized by the strange sight, she crossed to the edge of a building. Her eyes were focused on this bump that grew more and more to look like a figure. A man's figure…
Almost a half an hour had passed in the night since he's been seen. He was enjoying the chase for the most part, but here he stopped to rest. He could leave soon, knowing all along he could not see again that figure in the window. He felt the area was cleared so he moved forward to see; once again his judgment failed him. Out of the corner of his eye a movement told him he had been seen. Pressing his back up against the pillar again he turned ever so slightly to see if the movement was a person or just a trick of his imagination which happened much more often than he liked to admit. It was a little figure, delicate with soft curves of the body; he could tell by the shape that it was a woman maybe a little younger than him. To his great surprise, she stepped forward into the light of the earth, hanging above them. She spoke.
"I am not afraid of you!" she held up her finger like a gun before her. Excited determination glinted in her eyes. They were golden eyes, capable of joy and sorrow. Deep eyes that made him involuntarily relax. He came forward a little to see her more clearly. The Earth now lit his face. She could see him clearly. But he didn't care.
Her silky yellow gown was light in the wind and shone with magnificence. Her figure was silhouetted in the pale glow of the earth behind her. Her hair framed her face and blew against her soft, pale skin skimming her nose and her delicate cheek. Clearly, she was the one in the window. And she was the lead protector of the moon princess, princess of Venus, Goddess of love, and as kunzite forever after called her, beauty of the universe, Minako. She was everything he'd heard of.
"Who are you?" her hands dropped slightly and the wind picked up.
He stood tall with silvery hair. A man few years older than her, strong in stature and graceful in features. His eyes were silvery too. They had the air of truth to them. Minako could not understand for a moment if this was the intruder or not, he seemed to show his face willingly to her, but nothing more. When she first decided to make the first move and announce herself, she had expected him to run or to attack. In ether case she had tightened her muscles. However, now this youth seemed so still and unafraid. She wanted to talk with him for a little bit. His chiseled features were worn with worry over…a loved one? She could not tell, but some anxiety hung in his face, most particularly those solid silver eyes. She was about to speak again when his gaze shot to the earth glowing brightly behind her. Its gray glow was nothing to the eyes of this man of whom she beheld. He seemed hesitant at first as if he wanted to say something. He suddenly looked as if he were trying to form the words. He parted his lips and a strong voice rang like a sword in the silent night air. They were not the words she wanted to hear.
"I…I…hope…I beg your pardon my lady." As soon as he had finished these words he had vanished. Minako rushed to the place where he had last been standing, not eight feet from herself. Franticly, she turned around in the spot to find some clue of where he'd had gone to. Almost hurt by his sudden disappearance, she touched the top of her head. He bow was missing. She had probably left it back in her room. She pulled her hand though her hair, gripping the over-soft texture of each fine hair.
Her nights had been troublesome and lonely. She longed it speak with anyone about them. They always seemed to be in colors of red and blue. A bad mixture, she hated the contrast. Like someone poking her with a stick over and over. Now she felt as if there was a throbbing place in the back of her heart. A similar soul, she thought she'd like, a man who'd listen to her cries, had vanished into the night.
Wandering aimlessly through the night, she gazed up at the earth shining above her like a makeshift moon. Suddenly aware of the cold night air, she pulled at her golden shawl and took another deep breath. "Maybe he's on earth." She decided he was because it made her feel better to know something about him even if she knew she had made it up herself. She lowered her head and resolved to get back to her room before anyone noticed she had been gone. "Maybe this man will come again!" feeling she had thoroughly tricked herself, she quickly made it back to her bedroom.
A bead of sweat fell from the side of his face. Jedite took another swing at him with his sword. Kunzite jumped back but it was too late. The sword came down and stuck his own sword, knocking him to the grass below. His weapon was forced to his own neck with his opponent pinning him down. His body relaxed. Jedite raised his sword threateningly.
"Now tell me! You can longer deny it!" he brought down the sword-chopping place next to kunzite's head making him wince. "What is wrong with YOU?" Ten feet away two other general held there stomachs and laugh heartily.
"Get off would yah?! It's not funny!" Kunzite pushed off his friend and rubbed the back of his head. "You two too!" Konk! Konk! Two apples stuck Nephrite's and Zoicite's heads. Dazed, they comically fell over off the bench. They sat up feet in the air and pointed at Kunzite.
"But it was so funny!" they barreled over in another round of laughter. Kunzite said nothing put continued to rub the back of his head muttering to himself something like, "…not that funny…. middle of the night…small bunnies…" but soon his muttering was stopped because the other three generals had gathered around him in the grass in the shade of the apple tree. It was a cool summer morning, the weeks had gone by with so much leisure, and it was hard to focus on any thing serious.
"So!" began the brown haired man. Today he pulled it back into a ponytail. Its brown tresses were in small knots but they shone gently in the sun. "Tell us what's really wrong. Does it have anything to do with," he looked around mischievously as if to make sure the secret was safe. "Where you were last night?!" The other three men gasped, for entirely different reasons.
"You weren't in bed?"
"You told?!"
"I swear I didn't tell Kunzite!"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I'll pummel you for this!"
Nephrite sat back and laughed, Zoicite gripped his cloak, and Jedite held up his hands in defense of his mistake. A new voice entered.
"What up with you guys?!" The prince of the earth was running toward his friends waving his hand in the air.
"Endo, your finally awake!" Jedite hurried to change the subject. "Have a good sleep? One of us did." he jabbed Kunzite in the ribs. "We were just trying to find out what happened that made the boy weak!"
"Must have been devastating." Commented the long blond haired man. Zoicite's eyes turned to the sky.
The prince offered, "Or else a woman." The moment the word crept out of his mouth the men exploded into another frenzy. Zoicite fell over from shock, Nephrite laughed even harder than before and held his gut with one and hand and holding on to the prince with the other, and Jedite took to poking Kunzite's very red face. The prince blushed ferociously but laughed as well. Mostly, Zoicite was very glad no one knew his secret.
"Eeeyahhhh!" the princess of Venus threw up her hands and ran to the other women sitting on a white park bench in the moon gardens. The other princess of the moon too, jumped up, gathered up her folds of lace, and dashed to her friend.
"Minako-san! How I've missed you!" the white lady wrapped her arms around her friend's waist. The two jumped up and down excited in their reunion chattering and acting like teenage children should. Soon they held hands and made there way the on-looking princesses. Minako took both hands on the princess of Mercury's and kissed them commenting on her lovely hair decorations of baby's breath. She gave a big hug to the brunet beauty from Jupiter. Finally, Minako made a special point of turning to the princess of Mars last. She clasped her hands around the mars princess and they pressed their foreheads together murmuring how much they had written and how they must talk very soon. About something specific.
"Ah! How I have missed you all! It's been too long." The princess of Mercury beamed in her simple way. She motioned to sit down in the white wicker chairs and they did so.
The princess of Mars sighed internally. 'I must admit, we look quite picturesque. But I feel times like these days will not last long.' She shook off the shiver climbing her skin and turned to the jovial princesses. "Serenity was just telling us about what the meeting is about."
"Yes the council is tonight, is it not?" Mako wearily brushed her hair behind her shoulder. "I mean that is what were here for. To decide the conflicts between the moon and the earth." She sighed and glanced at the Moon princess. Fortunately Ami-Chan had enough experience with her serene friend to know what to say next.
"It is tonight. But let's not think on that now! (She smiled) Minako! We can show you to your room! How long will you be able to stay? I know that I'm here until after the Trinket festival." She motioned to a maid standing near by.
"If it doesn't disturb you Selene, I'd like to stay until a few days after the festival." Mako followed Ami's direction and put her empty glass on the tray of the passing maid and stood, taking Selene's hand gently helping her stand. "Your room is on the second floor Minako."
The princess of Mars linked her arm with Minako's as they began their walk into the house. Her skin was externally warm from being the first to arrive at the palace of pearl and sitting so long with the moon princess in the garden. "Yes. Do stay at least until the festival!" happily Minako agreed and they made their way to the room.
"This will be the best one yet! Mother had got this beautiful theme of pearls hung form the ceiling with large feathers! But I told her I thought that if we did the feathers people might think the moon was eccentric! But she told me that-" but the princesses of Mars and Venus were not listening. In fact they had started to fall significantly behind due to the slight pulling on Minako's arm.
The golden girl turn to face her friend only to meet eyes more worried than she had expected. "Minako-san I've got to talk to you. I- I mean," Minako was not used to seeing her elegant friend shake so much and avoid her eyes so carefully.
"Nani? Enyalis? You want to talk now? Before the council? Or afterward?" she took her hands in her own. They were suddenly cold. Odd for this fire princess.
"After, I'll come to your room. K?"
"Hurry up you two!"
"Yeah what are you talking about so secretly?"
"Nothing Selene! Were talking about music!" Enyalis beamed up at the three girls leaning over the banister.
"Music! Oh yes we must have an orchestra of violins this year!" the daisy blue princess clapped her hands and beaconed the two on the ground to hurry and follow up the stairs.
'She is so good at distracting the moon princess!' thought Mako. But she soon joined her friends and the thought of what could be so important to Rei was quickly swept from her mind as they found their way through the labyrinth hallways to Venus's chamber.