Endymion sat at the table with his Shitennou, each man with a glass of wine in front of him along with several empty bottles. They had gathered earlier that night in Endymion’s guest chambers at the Moon Palace to “discuss” the ongoing Alliance talks. This was the first time that the Shitennou had travelled to the moon and also the first time they had been introduced to the Senshi. For the better part of the day the men had managed to keep their thoughts about the Senshi to themselves, but now that they were in private – and each had several drinks in them – they allowed themselves to discuss the topic. Nephrite had been the first to start the dialog by asking if any of them noticed the legs on the brunette. Kunzite shot him a look to silence him not wanting to start out their first meeting on this note. He was quickly overruled by Jadeite who had some comments of his own for the Martian beauty that paid him little to no heed. Kunzite shook his head and allowed for the men to continue their discussion while he sat back and continued to drink the sweet moon wine.
A couple of hours had since passed and the conversation had not improved in the least now that they were all becoming more and more inebriated by the glass. Even Endymion had joined in the conversation letting them in on some of the more finite details of his affair with the Moon Princess. Eventually each man had decided that they had enough to drink and one by one left the table until only Endymion and Kunzite remained.
“You’ve been silent most of the night,” Endymion mused.
“I believe my fellow soldiers have made more than enough comments about the Senshi’s anatomy without my help,” Kunzite replied. Although, he thought to himself, the one topic on his mind that no one else seemed to vocalize was the issue of these scantily clad women being soldiers, let alone protectors of the most powerful magic in the universe.
“And your thoughts about working with them?”
“I have none.” Kunzite’s reply was firm and simple. He reached for the last remaining bottle of wine and having forsaken his wine glass sometime ago, simply downed the remaining fluid in a single gulp straight from the bottle.
“You will be spending a significant amount of time with them if the negotiations go as planned,” Endymion prompted.
“If that’s what it comes to.”
Seeing as he would get nothing further from his lead Shitennou, Endymion decided to retire for the night leaving Kunzite alone at the table. Kunzite sat there for sometime rolling the empty bottle around in his hand and watching as the fire started to burn out in the fireplace. Feeling restless he decided to walk around the Palace to better acquaint himself with the grounds. Although after several turns he realized that he would never be able to remember his adventure from tonight as tomorrow’s hangover would probably dull his memory. None the less he continued walking through the halls trying to keep an air of composure to at least give the illusion that he wasn’t drunk beyond all comprehension.
Somehow his natural instincts managed to send him in a direction he was familiar with and he found himself in the main ballroom. There was to be a party thrown in their honor the next night (or was it after midnight already?) and he was supposed to meet with the Palace’s head of security in the morning to review their security plans.
He wandered through the room and took in his surroundings from the pale colors of the walls, to the intricately carved designs of the ceiling. There was nothing simple about this Palace whether he was in the library or the kitchen everything was lavish and well decorated in its design. His ears detected the slightest sound of footsteps lightly approaching behind him and he turned to find one of the Princess’s guards standing several feet away. His brain was slow to process her name after all of the alcohol that he imbibed, although what was slow for him was still quicker than for most. “Sailor Venus.” He nodded his head in a gentlemanly sense and continued to watch her as she slowly moved forward. She was probably – no, that’s not right – she was the most beautiful of all the Senshi if not the most beautiful woman who had ever taken breath. Stories about her beauty had circulated far and wide about her ability to enchant any man with a single breath but he had scoffed at all of them until he had seen her with his own eyes. Her blonde hair sparkled and her body was absolutely perfect in design. It had taken all of his will power to not stare at her as if he were some love sick adolescent. Even now in his somewhat drunken state he found it difficult to keep his composure. Would her skin be as soft as it looked if he touched it?
“Your majesty,” she replied and gave a slightly curtsy in response.
“Please, don’t call me that. The title of King is more for decoration than for any practical purpose. Kunzite will do.”
“Kunzite then. Is there something I can help you with? It’s rather late in the night to be out for a walk,” she replied coolly eying him up.
“I wanted to inspect the ballroom for the upcoming event,” he lied quickly.
“You’re not supposed to meet with me until the morning?”
“You are head of the Palace’s security?” The question came out sounding more incredulous that he intended.
She frowned at his tone. “Is there something wrong with that?”
“Nothing,” he muttered and turned to walk away before he allowed himself to say anything further.
“If there is going to be a problem perhaps we should discuss the matter,” she challenged him.
“We will have plenty of time to discuss everything in the morning.”
“Typical,” her tone was firm but he could detect the bitterness underneath.
He turned back to face her and couldn’t help but to allow the slightest of smiles to show on his face. It was at that point that he realized he shouldn’t have engaged her in his current state of mind. But the way she tried to hide her resentment towards him somehow seemed entertaining. “Typical? Perhaps it is you who is judging me if you assume that I am passing a judgment on you. I made no comment about your abilities, I only suggested that we discuss the issues in the morning. Any short comings you may have about yourself do not assume that I believe them as well.”
“Kunzite, you are not the first soldier to pass through these halls and assume that only a man can do my job. I assure you that I am the best that there is when it comes to protecting my Princess from any threats. If you have any doubts about my abilities I will be more than happy to give you a demonstration.”
“Venus, I have no doubt that you are capable of doing your job and it would be rude of me to assume otherwise. I’m just not sure that a woman makes a better soldier than a man.”
She closed the distance between them and could smell the alcohol on his breath. “Or course, how could a woman compare? I am obviously smaller than you and perhaps much less stronger than you. Based on our ages I doubt that I even have as much as experience as you.” She watched his face for any changes as she spoke and was impressed at how he managed to stay unchanged even by her proximity. All the better for her she supposed. “You know what the difference is between us though?”
“And what might that be?” he asked with amusement.
“My ability to get close to an enemy. I can set an unsuspecting trap and spring it when I’m ready.” She smiled at him and he resisted the urge to smile back, an effect she seemed to have on him. Was this her best defense he wondered? A pretty smile? While he thought over the simplicity of her words she surprised him by quickly pressing against him and catching his lips in her own. She tasted sweet and her touch made his brain feel numb. All too late he realized what she meant by her ability to get close to an enemy – he was her enemy – and before he could react she had unsheathed his sword and now held it against his throat. She pulled back from him and he could see the spark of excitement in her eyes. “Does it matter now whether I am a man or woman? Either way you are a breath away from dying by my hand.”
“And you think this proves your point?”
She nudged the blade closer to his neck. “Do you doubt this proves my point?” His eyes matched hers and they stood there locked in a battle of wills. Finally she smiled and stepped away handing him back his sword. She turned and walked out of the room pausing at the doorway. Slowly she looked back to him still standing where she left him and she smiled. “Thank you for the kiss Kunzite. We will discuss the security issues in the morning after breakfast.” She continued out of the ballroom and was quickly out of sight.
He stood there trying to shake off the lingering effect of her kiss. She fascinated him and he found himself intrigued at the abilities of this woman who previously stood before him. Without a doubt he would enjoy getting to know her better.
