AN: Very little actual plot happens this chapter, but there is shameless smut. Hopefully you will enjoy anyway. Thanks for everyone who is reading; I know I slowed down a bit recently but it's been a stressful couple of weeks at work.
Chapter 18: Mars Flame Sniper
February 15, 8983
It was going to take the servants days to clean the suite used by the senshi while they visited the moon. Dozens of white-garbed men and women changed sheets, cleaned and re-stuffed mattresses, replaced the bed frame in one room, cleaned carpets, and fixed broken furniture. One young boy was assigned to remove the broken lamps in Princess Michiru's room, and he made sure to pick up every last shard of glass before reporting to the headwoman. His superior and the leader of the household servants, the headwoman nodded in approval as she scanned the list in her hand to find him another duty. Since he was small, there were a number of tasks that would be suitable for him. "It seems that the computer in Princess Makoto's room is non-functional, and the tech suspects burned wiring. You're small enough to crawl into the wall and check."
"Burned wiring? An electrical fault? That seems unusual."
The headwoman shrugged, her brown eyes unconcerned. "It's said that the Senshi of Jupiter has the power of lightning. It was probably an accidental discharge on her part. Go report to the techs and they will show you where to enter the wall."
Sighing, the boy nodded and walked to Makoto's room, avoiding the servants replacing the curtains in the living room and the boxes of new ornaments ready to be installed on the wall. The head tech smiled as he entered the bedroom, pointing at an access panel under the computer desk. "You know what burned wiring looks like? Good. Just check everything and tell us if anything looks suspicious." The boy took the offered crystal, tapping it to activate its light mechanism before crawling through the tiny hole.
"Serenity save me," he whispered, eyes wide in shock. Inside the wall, where the wires for the computer were supposed to be, he found nothing but a charred mess and frayed fiber optic cables. "Sir, everything in here will have to be replaced."
"Great." The resigned sigh that followed the word echoed the sound made by the other servants many times over the last two days; it was the sound of a suite so destroyed by women as powerful as gods that nothing could be done except to tear out and replace everything. "Fine; sit tight for a minute while I send someone for new wires. You can go ahead and cut out the ruined sections while you wait."
The boy nodded and glanced to the right, accepting the cutters passed through the small hole by one of the techs. Placing his light-emitting crystal on the floor beside him, the servant began to cut away the wires.
As soon as the mass of char and filament crashed onto the floor in a dust-spraying heap, the boy coughed to free his lungs from the aftereffects of the electrical surgery and turned to the panel revealed before him. The ends of the wires all had to be unplugged, so he reached out to begin that operation, freezing as his young fingers touched the sharp point of a data crystal. It was wedged between the edge of the panel and the wall, accessible from the other side for someone with long, slender fingers, and something hidden so well was clearly important. Hesitating for only a moment, the servant slipped the crystal free of its home, dropping it into a pocket to be examined or copied later, instantly returning to his assigned task.
As soon as all of the wires were free, he pushed the entire mass of destroyed computer parts out of the hole in the wall, following them a moment later. The techs, still gathered around the room waiting on whatever servant was supposed to deliver the wiring, glanced at the boy and smiled. Their leader gestured for one of his minions to dispose of the mess while he used a nearby cloth to clean dust and soot from the boy's face. "Go tell the headwoman that I have given you a break to clean up. The wiring will be here in an hour; go wash your face, change your clothes, and have a bite to eat before then, okay?"
"Yes, sir," the boy replied, smiling appreciatively. His pale brown eyes conveyed his thanks as he dashed away, heading for the servant's wing, one hand on the precious data crystal in his pocket.
Changing his clothes and washing his face took only a few minutes, and he used the time to make a quick copy of the pilfered crystal before heading to the lower kitchens for a brief snack. A pastry in one hand and his copy of the crystal in the other, the servant found an open alcove in the great dining hall and plugged it in, making sure the volume was muted in case anyone walking by wondered what he was looking at. The chances of anyone taking interest in the actions of a young servant were slim, but his time in the Temple of Serenity had taught him to always be fearful of the actions of non-believers.
The words scrolling across the screen filled him alternately with warm joy and frigid dread. Prophecies. The crystal . . . those princesses had found prophecies relating to the rebirth of the Goddess Serenity and they were hiding them! Jerking his data crystal from the computer, the servant boy glanced at the nearby clock and made a decision. He had more than forty minutes before he was expected to return to duty, plenty of time to run to the Temple to deliver this information and return. Slipping the crystal into his pocket once more, the boy left the palace.
As soon as the senshi had decided that they would need to travel to each of their worlds to search for the planet crystals, the four Inners had sent messages to their parents with a few locations they were considering on using for training purposes. Each of the four queens had ordered those locations blocked off by force fields and guards while the small army of princesses were visiting in order to protect their people from the wild energies of senshi training. As the group appeared on a low promontory overlooking Sunrise Bay, they thanked Asakaze for emptying the usually-crowded location for their use.
Minako was the only princess who had ever visited Sunrise Bay, so she was perfectly happy to stand back and enjoy the awe in her friends' eyes. Behind them, covering the verdant hills in brilliant jewel tones, the city of Sunrise Bay shone in the golden sunlight streaming through the dome overhead, its citizens often considered the loveliest people born from a planet that prided itself on absolute beauty. Overhead, the thick dome that protected Sunrise Bay reached through the thousands of miles of dense yellow, sulfur-rich carbon dioxide clouds to let in actual sunlight, the star much larger and brighter over Sunrise Bay than any of the artificial suns used under the other domes of Venus. It was the only place on Venus, and possibly the only place on any planet except for Earth, where true sunlight reached the surface. The inside of the dome possessed the light-emitters used on other worlds, but they were off for the hundred and seventeen days that Sunrise Bay faced the sun, only used during the long Venusian night. A lower layer of emitters—almost completely invisible thanks to Mercurian cloaking technology—floated over the hundreds of miles of trees and water, offering simulated full-spectrum light to the thousands of life forms that shared Venus, each one programmed to detect a person underneath and block most of the harmful UV rays, protecting visitors from the hazards of non-visible light. Every Standard Night, the same emitters would block out the real sunlight for a few hours, though days over the bay were twice as long as the nights.
Below them, stretching for hundreds of miles in all three directions, the Bay itself shone in the daylight. It was just a few days before Venusian noon, the sun a few degrees off from center, and the light from their star danced across the perfect cerulean blue of the bay itself, penetrating the depths and sparkling off the waves. Sunrise Bay was a giant lake, the largest free-standing body of fresh water in the Silver Millennium, and its white sand beaches shone with the brilliance of diamonds, the color offset by the myriad blues, greens, yellows, purple, oranges, and reds of the trees crowding for space at the shore. Nothing on Venus was monochromatic, not even its plant life, and it was full spring on the golden world. Every tree was in flower, every plant in bloom, and the heady scent of the thousands of natural perfumes surrounded the stunned senshi, titillating their senses and testing their resolve.
"By Serenity," Rei breathed, the first to find her voice, and Minako giggled.
"As beautiful as I am, did you think my world would be ugly?"
"Gods, no, but I never imagined . . ." Rei spun to face her lover, pulling the blonde into her arms and offering her a gentle kiss. Minako could feel her Martian restrain herself from pushing any further, almost unable to resist the atmosphere of the Bay. "You're still more beautiful," she whispered in Venusian, letting her love wash over her partner.
"Good answer." She grinned as she kissed Rei's cheek, running her fingers through her lover's crimson hair. "My people have a belief that a person's entire life, entire destiny, is determined by the place they are conceived. It's one of the most important things for a mother to tell her child. If you are conceived in a place of darkness and death, you will never know light. If you are conceived in a solitary palace, you will live alone. But if you are conceived on a beach surrounded by beauty and light, you will be a person that brightens every room and live in beauty all of your life."
Rei smiled, knowing Minako's point. "You were conceived here."
"This place is sacred to me, maybe more than it is to my people. I've wanted to bring you here since I first touched your hand."
Makoto recovered from her shock as Rei kissed Minako again, her emerald eyes almost unable to leave the breathtaking sight of so many plants crowding the view. "These are forests I would love to explore."
"This is the most romantic sight on Venus, and you want to explore the forests?"
Ami blushed as she answered for the Jovian, remembering something Makoto had whispered to her days earlier. "Jupiter's moons are mostly forests, often deadly, so Jovian warriors focus their combat training among the trees. They have such a close connection with the plant life on their world that it is considered the greatest declaration of love to take a woman into the forest for . . . intimate relationships."
"You have sex in trees?"
"I liked the way Ami said it better," Makoto snorted, pulling her blushing lover into her arms. "I met Ami as her guard for an ecological survey that was supposed to take her to all of the planets and major moons to gather samples of the plant life, but we never made it this far. Seeing your world, I wish we had. A place this romantic would have cracked Ami in a second." Ami's blush darkened, the petite Mercurian hiding her face against Makoto's chest while the other inner senshi laughed.
Minako silenced her three friends with a wave of her hand, suddenly realizing that Haruka and Michiru were still standing silently, staring across the lake as if in a trance. As the four senshi watched, a gentle breeze floated up from the lake, caressing the two lovers and bringing with it the scent of the sea-sized lake and the flowers crowding its shores. Haruka's right arm slowly found a perch around Michiru's waist, the aquanette leaning her head on her wife's shoulder. "Serenity was right," the blonde managed, her husky voice filled with a strange assortment of emotions. "This is a very romantic place." She turned to face the other senshi, a warmth in her emerald eyes that Minako had never seen before, something that very closely resembled contentment. "Sailor Pluto probably hoped that the allure of this place would make any Sailor Venus forget her mission to find the planet crystal." She seemed so at ease, so relaxed, and Minako knew that the rumors about Uranians needing to find beauty were true. This place was a balm to Haruka's bruised soul, a place where she could let Michiru heal her at last, the kind of lover's paradise a Uranian warrior needed. Minako smiled, glad to see her senshi happy, accepting Haruka's reminder to finish her mission before surrendering to her hormones.
"Let's go find my planet crystal, shall we?"
"This is taking longer than I expected."
Minako glared at Haruka over her shoulder, the topaz in her hand emitting a faint orange light. "It's a big place, Haruka. You were late yesterday or you would know that it took just as long for Ami to find hers."
Haruka shrugged as she ducked under a branch, wondering how many miles they had walked so far. The lake was huge, much bigger than it looked from above, and she was beginning to wonder if Pluto had chosen her hiding spot too well. The light from the keystone had been faint for hours, telling them without a doubt that the planet crystal was near, but not giving them any hint as to the direction they should travel. The blonde shifted the annoyingly awkward bag of supplies from one tired shoulder to the other, wondering again why Minako would not just let them transform so they could finish this search faster. She was wasting time trudging through an admittedly beautiful forest when she could be worshipping her wife on a white sand beach.
The senshi of wind narrowed her eyes at Makoto, the tall warrior at home in the dense forest, her rust-brown and green armor letting her blend into the shadows with a little more ease than Haruka's dark navy and black armor. "Hey, Thunder, want to take a turn with this bag Minako packed?"
"Getting tired, Wind?" Haruka wasn't sure when they started teasing each other by using their powers in place of their names, but it was certainly a common feature among the warrior races to call each other by a nick name of some sort. The green-haired Jovian reached out to take the bag, accepting that it was her turn to lug the supplies through the dense forest, reaching out to tap Rei on the shoulder as they avoided another tight cluster of trees. "It's your turn next, Pyro." The three warriors silently agreed that the more delicate members of their party would not be required to help in this case, since none of them would be able to stand the sight of their lovers weighted down by the ungainly pack. Haruka, however, couldn't help but think that Minako was welcome to help carry the supplies that she had none-too-carefully shoved into this one bag.
"If we don't find the stone first," Rei replied absently, her entire attention on the orange stone in Minako's hand that had suddenly begun to pulse in a steady pattern.
"We're close." Minako began to move faster, her anticipation helping her slip through the trees even faster than before, Rei by her side to make sure that she didn't trip in her excitement. They broke through a cluster of golden-leafed trees and found themselves on the beach once more, the area very private and secluded from the rest of the bay. In the center of the clear area, a single baythorne tree rose against the sky, its bark a rich purple and its leaves brilliant blue. It was incredibly old, its roots reaching back into the forest on one side and diving into the lake bed on the other, its crown shading half of the rather large beach. Some of its longest branches, weighted down by thousands of tiny pale pink flowers, caressed the surface of the calm lake, hundreds of birds and insects drawn to the shelter of its branches. Minako walked toward the tree, her keystone glowing with wild abandon as soon as she stood next to its trunk. "It's here."
Makoto dropped the bag on the ground and stepped forward, flicking her wrist to summon her talisman as she rested one hand on the smooth bark of the baythorne tree. Her quarterstaff, originally crafted from a dark green tree before being imbued with the powers of Jupiter, began to glow with her power, the tiny gems and metallic runes that covered its surface pulsing in a strange pattern. Her long fingers tightened around the smooth wood as she leaned her forehead against the tree, whispering something in her native tongue. "This tree was planted thousands of years ago and instructed to guard something. A . . . seed? She says that it is a golden seed."
"My planet crystal is inside that tree?"
Makoto glanced over her shoulder, the symbol of Jupiter glowing fiercely from her forehead. "That would certainly insure that you couldn't find it on your own. I think I can help her expel the stone. Stand beside me and focus your senshi power through your keystone. Try to call your crystal and I will do the rest." Minako nodded and moved to stand beside Makoto, holding her keystone to her chest and leaning her forehead against the tree, her free hand on Makoto's shoulder. They both began to glow, one orange-gold and the other forest green, their powers pulsing in time with the keystone. The tree began to shake, its branches whispering against each other in something that almost sounded like speech as a tiny hole formed in its purple trunk next to Makoto's hand. Slowly, while the other four senshi watched in silence, the hole grew larger, a fist-sized golden stone emerging from the purple bark. Makoto held her palm under the hole, a final flash of green light from her staff pulling the crystal into her hand, the tree healing itself as soon as it was free of the foreign body it had guarded for so long. The senshi of thunder handed the crystal to her leader, whispering a word of thanks to the tree as she collapsed.
Ami fell to the ground beside her partner, helping the exhausted senshi move into a sitting position against the trunk, watching as a small stream of green light flowed from the tree back into Makoto, giving her strength to open her eyes. "Are you okay?"
"I will be," the Jovian replied, letting her talisman vanish. "She's a very old tree with a lot of power, and she's sorry for needing so much help ejecting that crystal."
Minako stared at the orange crystal in her hand, mesmerized by the gold striations filling its depths, the keystone silent at last. "It has so much power, so much promise . . . but I can sense the seal that holds it. This is the key to receiving the full power of Venus, but something is preventing it from . . . Ami, I see what you were talking about."
The genius nodded, carefully helping Makoto to her feet. "They are sealed by a power greater than a senshi's. I think the patron gods of the planets helped the Sailor Pluto of that time seal the crystals before hiding them. If we could just figure out the link between the planet crystals and the keystones, we could access our full power."
Rei felt a flash of power behind her, and she spun on one heel to find that their Outer counterparts were gone, the bag of supplies having been raided moments earlier. Chuckling, the Martian tapped her lover on the shoulder, nodding at the empty spot Haruka and Michiru had recently vacated. "I guess they decided to take off since the search is over. They don't like to waste time."
Minako glanced at Makoto and Ami, the Jovian nodding her head toward the forest as she took her lover's hand and headed for the supplies. They took some of the food and wrapped it in one of the blankets, Makoto using a rope from the pack to form a makeshift bag of her own. Tossing it over her shoulder, she led Ami back into the forest, the blue-haired Mercurian already blushing.
Minako stared after the pair, slipping her crystal into the pouch attached to her armor for that purpose, shaking her head slowly. It seemed that Makoto didn't like to waste time any more than Haruka did. The blonde furrowed her brow in confusion as she realized that she could no longer sense the position of her soul mate, shifting her muscles so that she could turn around and find the redhead.
The Martian's arms appeared on either side of the Venusian as she completed her turn, trapping her against the purple bark of the ancient tree, amethyst eyes pinning her in place as heat filled her slender frame. "No reason to waste time, I suppose," Rei whispered, crimson hair fluttering in the faint breeze wafting across the lake. She leaned forward to capture Minako's lips with hers, pausing when the blonde's slender fingers wrapped around her wrists. The Venusian slipped one knee forward between Rei's spread legs, smiling at her lover's shocked gasp. As soon as she sensed the redhead's concentration waver, she used her other leg to reverse their positions, slamming Rei's back against the trunk of the tree, holding her wrists against the purple bark.
"Sorry, love, but it's my turn to be on top." A flash of orange light from Minako's fingertips heralded the return of her talisman, the chain winding around Rei's wrists, somehow long enough to encircle the huge tree in the process. Rei glanced first at one wrist than the other, confusion darkening her amethyst eyes.
"How is it long enough for this?"
"In my hands, its length is only limited by my power." As if to illustrate her point, Minako grabbed the end of the chain and tugged, watching as it created more links from the glowing tip, the extra bit vanishing as soon as she let go. She let her hands wander down Rei's sides, searching for the clasps that held her armor on, smiling as her lover began to struggle against her bonds.
"I never said I wanted to be tied up."
"Your body says how much you like it, though," Minako purred, pulling the red and black leather jerkin off and dropping it to the ground, making quick work of the dark, skin-tight shirt the warrior had worn underneath. Her fingers danced across Rei's breasts, avoiding the nipples that so desperately wanted her attention as she leaned down to remove the rest of her lover's leather armor.
Makoto kept a light hold on Ami's hand as they slipped deeper into the colorful forest, desperate to leave the beach far behind before Rei's hormones overcame her reason. The Jovian had seen the fire in her fellow warrior's eyes, and she did not want to be anywhere near the pair when that passion finally erupted. Ami kept up with her punishing pace easily, the blush on her cheeks evidence of her own eagerness to leave their friends far behind. They moved through dense groves of white trees with silvery leaves, finally reaching a section of the forest where green was the predominant color, clusters of red trees with purple leaves brightening the area. Still a little tired from pulling the stone out of the baythorne tree, Makoto dropped the bag of supplies to the ground and leaned against the nearest red tree, pulling strength from the plant life around her.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Makoto replied, her voice gaining strength. "What I did with that tree took more out of me than I thought." It certainly took more out of her than she was willing to admit to her leader.
"We could have stayed for a while, let you rest before running through the forest." Ami placed a gentle hand on Makoto's shoulder, concerned at the tense muscles flexing sporadically under her fingertips.
"Unless you were interested in participating in an orgy with the Venusian and the Martian, I think you should be grateful that I took you away before she lost control."
"Minako looked fine . . ."
Makoto glanced over her shoulder, amusement in her emerald eyes. "I wasn't talking about our esteemed leader. Rei has been holding herself back for hours, and a sexually frustrated Martian warrior is not something you are ready to see, my love." Ami blushed, her next question obvious in her sapphire eyes. "Yes, Haruka was just as high-strung, but I'm pretty sure she's always an inch away from pouncing on someone and she had the decency to vanish before doing it."
"Why does this place affect you warriors so?"
Makoto pushed herself away from the tree, hoisting the bag of supplies and grabbing the lowest branch to pull herself off the ground. "Follow me and I'll show you." Shorter than her lover, Ami had to jump in order to grab the first branch, but she was easily able to follow the Jovian after that. The tree they were in, a sturdy blood berry ash, rose above the silvery linyon willows, the golden jasiyion,and the blue sea sylphs, and the senshi climbed to the very top. Makoto sat on one of the tallest branches, even the smallest one easily able to hold her weight, pulling Ami up beside her. Hooking their supply bag securely over a nearby limb, the Senshi of Jupiter placed one hand on the trunk beside her, whispering a request to the tree. Though not as old as the baythorne tree on the beach, the blood berry ash she had chosen was still old and powerful. The branches around them shivered and moved, weaving together beside the senshi to create a nest, only the smallest gaps visible between the intertwined red branches. At the same time, the branches in front of them moved to the side, revealing a breathtaking view of the forest they had traversed and the sparkling waters of the bay in the distance.
Makoto pulled the blanket out of the supplies she had packed, spreading it across the nest the tree had created and gestured for Ami to join her in it. The genius leaned against the warrior's chest, smiling as Makoto's strong arms wrapped around her. "When you look out there, what do you see?"
"I see a spectacular example of biodiversity in a multitude of colors . . ." Ami trailed off as the arms around her tightened, the Jovian requesting her silence.
"You know what I see? A place that has never seen conflict. A world that has never known war." Makoto ran her fingers through Ami's hair, smiling gently as the Mercurian turned to her in shock. She would never have expected that answer. "I am a warrior, bred and trained to destroy. The calling of my god is to fight, to destroy enemies, to protect those we love. Someone like me dreams of a world where there is no war, a planet that knows only peace, and a life that does not require a soldier like me to defend it. This place . . . the simple beauty, the purity, they call to me. Rei and Haruka are the same as me, bred to fight and die, but we need this. As a fellow senshi, I think that you might one day understand even though you come from a planet of peace."
Ami smiled as Makoto's free hand began to release the straps of her traveling armor, the Jovian finally giving in to the beauty of the world as Rei and Haruka had already done. "I think I might see things your way, some day. For now, it is quite a beautiful view."
"Yes, it is," Makoto purred, her voice deeper than Ami had ever heard it before, emerald eyes never leaving her lover's neck. Every flutter of her fingers across Ami's armor loosened it more, revealing her lover's pale skin covered in the faintest blush. "You don't have to be nervous, Ami. No one can see us up here."
"Is that why your people are fond of trees?" Ami watched as the pile of clothes beside her grew, goose bumps covering her skin in the wake of her lover's touch despite the brilliant sun beating down on them through the protective dome. She tried to turn around to help Makoto remove her own armor, but the Jovian's arms held her firmly in place.
"We're fond of trees because they sing to us," she whispered in Ami's ear, her hands finding the smaller woman's breasts. She used one arm to pull Ami closer, her free hand sliding down toward her lover's core. "Sing for me, my love."
Haruka watched in silence as Makoto used her powers to pull Minako's planet crystal out of the huge tree, her stormy eyes flicking to the bag of supplies at her feet. Silently, only her wife's sapphire eyes watching her, the wind senshi opened the bag and gathered the few things she and Michiru would need for a few hours at the beach, not even bothering to close the pack before turning to her partner. She felt Michiru's hand slip into hers as Minako stared at her newfound planet crystal, the wind and sea senshi vanishing an instant later. The search complete, they were now free to enjoy Sunrise Bay.
The pair reappeared on the private beach under the promontory where they arrived hours earlier, the waves of the huge lake rolling gently onto the white sand. Haruka dropped the supplies and pulled Michiru into her arms, content to just hold her for a few minutes. "I didn't know the hike tired you out so much," Michiru teased, already in the process of removing Haruka's armor. "We can go for a quick dip to cool off."
"I'm sure that if I get in the water with you, cooling off would be the last thing on my mind." Michiru's armor, being Neptunian in origin, was more for show than anything else, so it only took an instant for Haruka to strip her, the sea senshi running for the crashing waves as soon as she was naked. Shrugging, Haruka chased after her.
Michiru's element was the sea, but a giant freshwater lake was water enough for someone who had not been able to swim since days before her coma. Slicing through the waves, Michiru spun underwater to watch her lover follow, pushing to the surface for a quick breath of air before diving down again. Patient emerald eyes watched her dance with the waves, the blonde content to enjoy the sight of her siren, free in her element for the first time in days. Watching Michiru, Haruka was able to forget about the coming battle, the book of prophecies, the problems brewing on her world . . . everything melted away and there was nothing except her aqua-haired siren embraced by the gentle waves.
Michiru vanished underwater, appearing in front of Haruka moments later, a mischievous glint in her sapphire eyes. Taking a quick breath, the Neptunian dove again, her long hair ticking the blonde's stomach as two slender hands came to rest on her hips. Haruka's gold eyes widened as she realized what her wife intended to do, but she couldn't exactly close her legs while treading water and she couldn't escape Michiru's strong grip. She gasped as Michiru's tongue entered her, the aquanette moving one hand from her hip to her clit, pushing the blonde over the edge as quickly as possible. Michiru couldn't hold her breath forever, but she wanted to please her lover in her element, the blonde's scream barely audible through the gentle waves.
Haruka had nothing to hold onto when she came, her fingers twining desperately in Michiru's hair as every muscle in her body tensed. She felt herself begin to sink, Michiru's arms wrapping around her waist as the siren surfaced, the smaller woman offering her strength to keep the warrior afloat. Haruka's gold-emerald eyes opened as the final aftershocks of her unexpected orgasm faded from her body, smiling at her wife's unrepentant sapphire-teal eyes. Michiru helped the shaky blonde swim back to the shore, finding a blanket among the supplies that Haruka had dropped and spreading it on the sand. She forced the blonde to sit, kneeling between her raised knees. "I've wanted to do that since the first time I saw you naked," Michiru whispered, one hand teasing Haruka's breast while the other slowly slid up her leg.
Haruka's hand stopped Michiru's exploration, the blonde slowly pushing against her lover until the Neptunian was lying on the blanket, the bright sun caressing her creamy skin. "The list of things I've wanted to do to you since I first saw you naked would make even a Venusian blush." She leaned down and feathered her lips across Michiru's pale stomach, smiling when her lover gasped and fingers began to play with her feathery blonde locks. "What?"
"I love you like this," Michiru whispered, the muscles under Haruka's lips flexing with her words. "I especially like that you can sense when I have something to say."
"You love me like what?"
"When you're not hiding behind anything. When all of your masks are gone and you're beautiful and perfectly balanced. Mostly I like you naked."
Haruka chuckled as she moved up Michiru's body, nibbling on one of her lover's breasts while her longer-fingered hand encompassed the other. She loved Michiru's breasts; they were the perfect size for her hand, hardened nipple poking the center of her palm. "I like you naked, too." She sucked Michiru's nipple into her mouth and purred, straddling the aquanette's body as she arched her back and gasped. Haruka's free hand slipped between Michiru's legs and slipped inside her, the smaller woman moaning at the unexpected intrusion. She thrust into her lover at a punishing pace, one hand on Michiru's hip to still her squirming while she continued to nibble her breast. Haruka felt Michiru raise her knee between her legs, and she leaned back against the swimmer's thigh, grateful for the stimulation. She ground against Michiru's leg at the same speed she thrust into her lover, already very close to her next orgasm as she felt her wife tense. Haruka gasped as she came again, emerald eyes widening in shock as Michiru screamed with the power of her own orgasm.
When the heat of the aftershocks finally faded from her body, Haruka glanced up from between Michiru's breasts to find her wife's sapphire eyes laughing at her. "You screamed."
"I did."
"I thought you didn't scream."
"I don't when people can hear me," Michiru returned, her fingers playing with Haruka's blonde hair. "Right now, no one can hear us."
Haruka chuckled, the wind dancing around the pair as she pulled Michiru into her arms and kissed the top of her head. "I guess I shouldn't waste this opportunity, then."
Clouds began to gather over the Bay, the wind rushing out to meet them as Michiru's stormy eyes met Haruka's. "No, I guess you shouldn't."
Rei screamed as she struggled against her bonds, amethyst eyes tinted red as she looked down at the blonde kneeling before her, fire dancing across her fingers. Minako's fingers moved from Rei's hip to hover over her core, teasing the Martian as her free hand struggled to hold the warrior still. "Don't burn the tree down," Minako whispered, blue eyes rising to meet red-tinted amethyst. She watched Rei reign in her wild power, her lover desperate to be released, to be allowed to touch her golden goddess, but Minako's chain was stronger than it looked.
"Let me go, Mina. Please. Let me touch you." Something in Rei's eyes made Minako relent at last, the chain binding her wrists fading into orange light as the crimson-haired Martian collapsed. She recovered in an instant, a grin spreading across her face as she grabbed Minako and pulled her to the center of the beach, pushing her back onto the sand. "Finally," she growled, leaning down to bite Minako's neck. The fire she had been struggling to control exploded from her fingertips at last, arrows of flame arcing into the sand around her. Minako smiled and released her own power, light glowing from her slender form as the sand around them melted into gold-tinted glass. The fire around them scorched the ground, protecting the Martian and her lover as Rei buried her fingers in Minako's heat, finally free to touch her Venusian.
Over the bay, a storm began to gather, winds rushing across the water to fan Rei's flames as the rain-heavy clouds threatened the lovers on the beach.
Ami arched against Makoto's arm, the Jovian's breasts against her back as fingers danced within her. Makoto bit her neck while her free hand played with one of Ami's breasts, the trees around them singing in the sudden wind. Ami reached blindly for Makoto's core, slipping her fingers inside her warrior as she struggled to match the Jovian's punishing pace, a scream tearing from her throat as she reached her climax. Makoto followed her a moment later, relaxing into the tree-branch nest as her heartbeat slowly returned to normal. Ami twisted around in Makoto's arms, a devious smile on her face as she slid down her lover's body, pinching nipples as she went. Makoto groaned as Ami's tongue found her core, the Mercurian eager to please her lover.
As a vicious storm gathered over the bay, winds whipping at the trees, lightning began to dance through the clouds and the waters of the bay began to pound against the shore with a fury they had never known before. The elements raged while the six senshi enjoyed their vacation.
Wrapping up her tour of the Venusian capital city thousands of miles away, Serenity paused in her shopping and smiled knowingly, waving away Asakaze's question. Her senshi deserved a day of peace.
Planets away, garnet eyes sore from hours of staring at time stream iterations, Setsuna froze, one hand reaching for her Time Key. The Garnet Orb showed her a massive storm, lightning and fire raging within its depths, and she frowned at the image.
AN2: One more chapter before the meeting. The next chapter will have significantly more plot, but the senshi deserved a break. Also, for anyone who has read CSS: Blood of the Rose, the dome that was destroyed in the Uranian attack on Venus was the one over Sunrise Bay. This scene is pretty much the reason she surrendered after that.
Haruka Tenou: The arrival on Uranus is going to be a fun affair. While her father might not understand her, Haruka's people are never going to care who she sleeps with or marries, and they are the ones that developed the idea of a consort. There will be yelling, but most of it before she returns home and there is still the fight scene between the queens and our errant lovers.
Meneldur: I always thought that Beryl would fit in with the Cult of the Broken Wing very nicely, what with her love for Endymion and all. She doesn't care what she destroys as long as she can have her prince, but now the senshi are going to have a lot more to worry about once she and the other Cupids get their hands on the prophecies that servant found. I used the fight between Minako and Michiru to develop and explain her mirror power and to show how a pacifist could be one of the most ruthless warrior senshi in the third season of the anime. I used the dinner to make a point: everyone has been looking for Haruka for months, but how can they look for someone they would never recognize? It also shows why she can hide under the noses of the women who knew Kazeko best, because her mother looked like a woman but she looks like a man. There will be flirting with Laira and Lilia later, but for now the actress is too shocked and the duchess too caught up in her new relationship to be flirting. Asakaze is beginning to realize that something is off but she won't see the truth until it's too late. The scene between Shinrai and Asakaze served the same purpose as the scene between Haruka and Laira: it shows that the people of different planets can see things that outsiders never would. Laira recognizes Haruka instantly, as Hikari did on Uranus and as most Uranians would eventually be able to do, just as Shinrai realized that Rei was fighting for her mate and not just her henshi stick, something only a Martian would be able to see.
Samaka: I'm not sure I expected Michiru and Minako to tie until I wrote the scene. Haruka's commentary was pretty much just my thought process as the fight progressed, and I realized that neither could win at the same time that Haruka said it.
petiyaka: Thanks. It's hard to write Beryl, since she's basically insane and grasping for power, but I hope to give her character a little more depth through the Cupids.