Disclaimer: see previous chapter.
A/N: This chapter takes place over the course of a year. Sorry about the confusing timeline of this thing. I'll try to fix it when I do a final edit, but for now I'm just churning out ideas. As always, feed my muse some reviews =)
"Absolutely not, mother! You cannot control me this way! You rule the planet but you cannot control whom I marry!"
"Betrothal is popular even in the Silver Alliance, right?"
Rei's mother was calm and it was destroying Rei's resolve. She wanted nothing more than the assault the older woman. "It is against Martian custom!"
"But I'm the Queen. That can change easily."
"The people won't stand for it and neither will I! There is no way I will marry an Earthling! Especially not that one! I'll kill him and you first."
Rei's voice had subdued to a mere whisper by the end of her rant. Her mother merely raised an eyebrow. "There's no way you'd do such a thing. I'll give you a few months to adjust yourself to the idea, but by the end of the year you will marry Jadeite. No objections."
There was no more room for Rei to argue as her mother disappeared from her room. Sighing, she flopped down on her bed. She had no idea how to get out of this, but she knew things would get much worse before they got better.
If they ever got better.
"I can't talk for long, but I don't know when I'll be able to get back to the moon. There's a lot going on here. I wish I could go into detail but it isn't safe here. I may not see you for a few years, but know I love you. I have to go now; they're coming."
Minako didn't know who "they" were, nor what her wife was talking about, but Rei was flustered, and that was never a good sign. Had the older woman been on the moon, she'd ask her what she was seeing in the fire that bothered her so much, but whatever it was couldn't be discussed at the moment because Rei was on Mars.
Minako knew very little of what was going on with Rei, for the woman was so secretive, but she knew quite a few things about diplomacy.
Mars was on harsh terms with every other planet in the Alliance except two: Jupiter and Mercury. Jupiter and Mars were hostile in a pleasant way. There were often wars between the planets, but never with the intent to overrun the other. They fought simply to determine the stronger between the two.
Mercury and Mars were respectful to each other, despite not understanding the other's way of life. Mercurians respected Martians' strength; Martians respected Mercurians' intelligence.
There was an especially strained relationship between Mars and Venus and Mars and Uranus. Venus and Uranus were diplomatic associates; as such, the strained relationship between Mars and Venus destroyed the agreement between Mars and Uranus.
Saturn, Pluto, and Neptune didn't interact with the inner planets much. Their tight bond with Uranus, however, determined their stance with the other inner planets.
Uranus was the most loyal of any of the planets to the Silver Alliance. They worked closely with the Moon Kingdom, Venus, and Mercury to keep the Queen and Princess as safe as possible. Because of this, Uranus, and Jupiter were on peaceful, yet distant terms. Uranus didn't deal with Jupiter closely, but there was no hostility between them.
Jupiter and Mercury were extremely close allies. Betrothal between Mercurians and Jovians was common.
Diplomacy on Venus was touchy, because the people were loving. None of them felt particularly strong animosity toward any of the other planets in the alliance, although Martians hated them. Venusians were wary of Earthlings, but didn't see the need to keep them out of the Alliance.
The wild card of the Solar System, Earth, was impossible to decipher. The Prince wanted to join the Alliance, but the King wanted nothing to do with it. However, the Prince was able to convince the people that he had the right idea, and he had begun meeting with the Moon Princess to carry out his idea.
All of the other planets were against it, and unrest had begun rising within the population.
At the same time, Mars was meeting with Jadite, one of the Earth Prince's guardians, to discuss an agreement. Rei was currently in the middle of that trying to stop negotiations. An agreement with Mars could destroy any potential relationship between Earth and the Moon.
Mars was well on its way out of the Alliance; by joining with a planet that is considered rogue by most of the Solar System, Mars would be kicked out of the Alliance almost immediately.
Minako knew that the relations between the planets had little to do with how the population felt, or even how the rulers felt. The senshi were the only ones who regularly saw people from other planets, and their feelings were what determined how the planet itself felt about the rest of the solar system.
She thought back to the fight between Haruka, Rei and Michiru. She knew that Haruka and Michiru cared about her, but their actions were extreme.
Minako sighed. There was an intricate dance being done by each of the senshi. Tempers were stronger, insults were harsher, training was more intense, and their personal friendships were strained. Michiru and Haruka had been around more often, each having a vested interest in the outcome of the diplomatic meetings. Dealing with the two was usually fun, but having them around for weeks on end was beginning to bother her.
She loved them both like sisters, but sisters that should never live in the same house with her. Their constant bashing of Martians more than irritated the blond, but she didn't need to fight with them. She was trying to hold the team together without falling apart herself.
She severely missed her second in command.
"Rei, it's almost time. Have you changed your mind or should I change the law?"
Rei scowled. She wished she could ignore her mother, but she couldn't live with herself if she subjected her subjects to what she was experiencing. There was a reason for the law being in place. Martians didn't do well with betrothal.
Her mother knew that, too, but was hell bent on furthering her agenda.
And Rei was hell bent on stopping her.
"I've changed my mind. I'll marry Jadite. I'll be ready by the date you've chosen."
Her mother smiled. "I'm glad you've come to see things my way, dear."
Rei sighed and ran a hand down her face. She was beginning to feel her age. She had been on Mars for months trying to figure out what her mother was thinking.
Mars hated the Silver Alliance, and was trying to leave. Rei was determined to stop that from happening. She wanted to prove the good the Alliance was for her people and her presence in the Moon Kingdom was the only thing keeping Mars in the Alliance.
Her mother wanted to end that. If she could get Mars to ally with Earth, they'd be immediately kicked out of the Alliance, but only if it happened before Earth could join. At that point, Rei could spend the rest of her life trying, and never get Mars to rejoin the Alliance.
Rei knew what her mother was up to, but there was no way to stop her. She had been trying to figure out how to convince Jadite that joining forces was useless and would only strain the balance of the universe, but he never heard a word she said.
"He's too busy trying to..." Rei scowled at the thought of what Jadite wanted. The man had confessed his love to her multiple times, always with a smile on his face. Rei attacked him every time.
Rei looked down at the small burn mark around her left ring finger and rubbed it gently. She missed her wife greatly, but she had no way to talk to the woman without revealing the wrong thing to the wrong person. Her every move was being watched.
A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts. "Yes?"
A small maid entered the room and smiled nervously. "Your- Your Majesty?"
Rei smiled gently to quell the girl's fears. She looked no older than 16. "Yes?"
The girl bowed, fidgeting with her hands. "Is- is- is there anything that I could... assist you with?"
Rei raised a curious eyebrow. She had been in this scenario before, but never from a girl so young and never on Mars. "I don't remember calling for you. Were you sent here by someone?"
"L-Lord Jadite. He advised that I help you... relax."
"I see." Either the man was trying to set her up or he was simply a fool. As thick headed as he can be at times, Rei knew better than to think the man a fool. "Have a seat." Rei patted the spot on the bed next to her and motioned for the girl to sit.
Cautiously, the girl approached and took the aforementioned seat.
"Have fun earlier tonight, Princess?"
Rei grimaced. She didn't have the strength to ignore the man tonight. He had gone too far. "I don't know what your problem is, Jadite, but that stunt you pulled isn't acceptable. I told you to be professional in your dealings with me."
"You need to lighten up; seeing how we'll soon be married."
"I'll kill you."
"I'll kill you."
Rei frowned. Jadite looked serious. She wasn't scared, but this was a part of him she had never seen. She made a mental note to tell the others when she got a chance.
Whenever that would be.
Rei looked up from her book at her mother. Each day brought stranger and stranger requests from the older Martian and Rei was weary. Her visions were getting more intense, but no more clear. In addition to not being able to see her wife, Rei was newly wed to Jadite and had begun sharing a room with the man. She refused to share a bed with him, but with her stringent daily ritual and inability to alter it thanks to her mother, the raven hadn't slept in days.
"Have you begun trying to have children, yet? It's no rush, but I won't be alive forever and you have to have an heir to replace you."
"I refuse to have a child until I see your cold dead body lowered into the ground slowly..." Rei mumbled.
"Don't mumble. It's unbecoming. Anyway, I expect you to begin trying."
"Mother, I'm a diplomat in the middle of negotiating with several planets. I'm a senshi of the Moon Kingdom. I don't have time to raise a child."
Her mother simply waved her off. "You'll have plenty of time to raise a child when you quit all of that."
Rei frowned and returned to her book. She had studying to do; she didn't have time for her mother's fantasies.
"I expect you to start trying, Rei."
Rei rolled her violet eyes and turned the page as her mother disappeared.
It wasn't long before a grinning Jadite took her book from her.
"Give it back."
"I was told not to let you leave the room until we copulate."
Rei frowned. "That'll never happen."
"Then you won't be leaving the room."
"I'll get out of here if it costs your life."
Jadite simply kept smiling.
Rei frowned. The man was trying her patience.
"Don't frown; it's unsightly on a face so beautiful."
"Leave me alone."
Jadite took a seat on her bed and took off his shirt. "You know, there are a lot of women who would kill for the attention I give you."
"I'd kill to get rid of it."
"You're so mean to me. What did I ever do to you?"
"I hate you."
"Why?"
"You know exactly why."
"You should at least try to get along with me; we're married, Rei."
"This," Rei pointed to the silver band on her ring finger, "means nothing to me."
"It means something to your mother."
Rei barely resisted the urge to throw something at the man and instead ground her teeth.
"Listen, I'm not asking you to return my love. I'm more than honored to have married you. But your mother will only make your life and mine more difficult if you disobey her."
"I don't care."
Jadite smiled. He had seen that first hand. "I know that, but I care. She asked me to force myself on you."
There was no end to the woman's craziness.
"I'll kill you."
"I wouldn't harm you in that way, ever. If you open your legs for me it will be of your own will."
Rei growled. She no longer had a will. It was being destroyed by her crazy mother.
Rei's visions were getting worse. Something ominous was coming; she knew it. She just didn't know what. Sighing, she stood up on her sore legs and teleported to her room.
"You look down; what's wrong?"
Rei didn't reply. She simply walked to her dresser and grabbed a small piece of paper that lay there. It didn't have any words, but it meant a lot to the raven.
"What's that?"
Rei continued to ignore Jadite and let her mind wander.
"This is just a blank piece of paper, father."
"No, my child. It's a promise of the future. Do you know how many possibilities a piece of paper has?"
Rei smiled at the memory of her father. She knew that the future wasn't set in stone. It was up to her to do what she could in the present so the future could be bright.
Jadite walked up behind Rei and put his hands on her shoulders, sighing when he felt her tense up. "Rei, your mother is going to beat both of us if we don't obey her."
"I'm going to beat you if you don't stop touching me."
Jadite let his hands drop and lowered his hand to a whisper. "Rei, I'd rather be beaten by you than by her."
Rei spun on her heels quickly. Just as quietly, she replied, "Do you know what you are saying?"
"I- Rei, we have to do this. I'll try not to hurt you-"
"You will not touch me!"
"Why are you so stubborn? I don't want to do this like this either."
"I don't want it at all."
"We have no choice."
"You always have a choice, Jadite. When you give that away, you lose your humanity."
Jadite smiled bitterly. "I've never had a choice in anything."
Rei's features hardened. "Then you have no right to say anything to me ever. I'll never give up my right to chose. I'll be a Queen someday."
"You have no idea how much I respect you."
"That means nothing to me. You're worthless."
Jadite walked to the bed and laid down. "Your words are always so harsh, but I've been nothing but nice to you. Why do you hate me so much?"
Rei didn't respond. She didn't have an answer for that.
"I know I showed up in your life and things abruptly changed, but I didn't have a choice. I followed my prince to the Moon because that is my duty. I came here because my prince sent me here. I married you because your mother told me to. I haven't touched you because you said not to."
"You're a spineless-"
"I'm no coward, Rei. I fulfill my obligations. I was born for the sake of my prince, and he told me to obey the Queen. I don't want to be here with you. I'd rather be fucking a different woman a night on Earth. I'd rather have a normal life span. I'd rather be human.
"I didn't ask to be a pawn; it's my duty. And I will do my duty until the day I take my last breath."
Rei didn't have to respond. The look on her face told Jadite she understood.