Rei and Jadeite walked down the white marble hallway briskly – or rather Jadeite pursued Rei down the hall as she kept her quick pace ahead of him. She was draped in a silky red gown that swirled around her with each step. He wore his Shitennou uniform, his cape flapping behind him. It had taken him the better part of the day to find her again after enduring one of Kunzite’s lectures, only to find himself the subject of another one coming from the raven haired beauty he currently pursued.
“I don’t understand why you’re acting like this. It was just a kiss on the cheek,” he protested.
“You know the rules, Jadeite,” she replied firmly not bothering to look back to him. “There is to be no fraternizing between the Prince’s Shitennou and the Princess’s Senshi.”
“That’s not what Kunzite said. He said we need to work together and pairing off wouldn’t be a bad idea until we learned our way around.”
“Don’t patronize me. You know your way around just fine by now, this is hardly your first visit. I can’t imagine Endymion would want someone protecting him who gets lost when he turns a corner.”
“Perhaps I still find certain aspects to be confusing in their nature. I’m only obeying orders.”
“I have no interest in what your Kunzite has to say. I don’t answer to him.”
“Then why are you running away from me?” He reached out and grabbed her arm bringing her to a halt in front of him.
Her eyes narrowed as she stared at his offending hand. “I don’t want another encounter like our last.” They had reached the end of the hall and now stood in the doorway leading out to the Palace gardens. The Earth shone brightly above the moon’s horizon casting the landscape in a warm glow. Her eyes drifted over to see the Royal couple approaching them with Mercury and Zoicite in tow several feet back, allowing the Prince and Princess some privacy. They seemed to have a pleasant banter going on between them, but Rei couldn’t help but to notice the looks Zoicite slipped her when she wasn’t looking. ‘Has the whole moon gone mad?’ she wondered to herself. As Serenity and Endymion neared she curtseyed and Jadeite nodded his head in a modest bow.
“Rei, Jadeite – were you both going for a stroll around the garden?” Serenity asked smiling.
“No, we were –“ Rei started to reply.
“We were just walking through the Palace and Rei was giving me a tour. But since we’re out here we would love to join you.” He held out his arm and smiled charmingly at Rei, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief. With mild annoyance she took his arm and they walked alongside the Prince and Princess. Rei could hear Mercury and Zoicite whispering to each other and without even hearing their words she knew that she was the subject of their discussion. At least someone was getting some enjoyment out of this situation.
“So how was the tour Jadeite?” Serenity asked. “I’m almost surprised that you don’t have the layout memorized by now.”
“Rei has been a wonderful source of information during my stay. I’m not sure what I could do to thank her for her hospitality,” he smiled broadly at Rei.
“I am simply doing my duty,” Rei replied off-handedly. “Where are Makoto and Nephrite?”
“Sparring again I suppose,” Serenity answered thoughtfully. Endymion seemed to smile with his own secret. Rei’s ears twitched from the sound of Mercury and Zoicite’s continued whispers. Whatever secrets she was holding out on Rei would be sure to extract from her later.
“And what of Minako and Kunzite?” Jadeite asked.
“I don’t know…..”Serenity’s face scrunched up as she tried to remember her last encounter with either of them.
“I’m sure they both have security matters to deal with during our stay,” Endymion replied for her.
“Just forget about your earring, Minako,” Kunzite hissed looking around to make sure they were still alone among the labyrinth of hedges. As they were walking through the gardens she suddenly cried out that her earring had fallen out leaving her unable to do more than to watch it bounce helplessly into some bushes which brought them to their current predicament. She was crawling through said bushes in her gown with her backside sticking out in the air. He had offered to help her look but his build was much too wide to crawl through the underbrush and she refused to let him cut back the hedge with his sword.
“No, these are my favorite earrings,” she protested, her voice visibly upset as it carried from the undergrowth.
“I’ll bring you a new pair the next time I’m here. I promise,” he tried to reassure her.
“What does it say for my feelings if I can’t take care of the first pair you gave me? Now either help me or stop protesting.” Silence ensued for several minutes and he continued to look around nervously. “I found it!” she cried slowly crawling backwards. “Uh-oh,” she mumbled coming to a stop.
“Uh-oh?” he replied calmly kneeling down by her.
“My dress is stuck and I can’t get out of here.” He chuckled lightly in response. “Don’t laugh at me, this is embarrassing.”
“I warned you against crawling around down there.”
“What am I supposed to do now?” she asked, her voice sounding visibly upset.
“You can take off the dress and we can try and pull it free once you’re out,” he suggested.
“Are you making a pass at me?” she flirted with him.
“I’m trying to help you out of your current predicament,” he sighed as she giggled. “I could rip the dress and get you unstuck.”
“And walk back to my room with a large tear down the backside of my gown? Do you know how that will cause people to talk?”
“I will give you my cape to cover yourself.”
“That would be worse yet,” she groaned.
“How could that possibly be worse?” he asked exasperated.
“Because then people would assume that we had been off together.”
“We are off together.”
“Not like that,” she mumbled.
“Oh,” came his curt reply as the meaning of her words sank in. “Then what would you suggest we do?”
“I’ll take the dress off,” she mumbled almost incoherently.
“I’ll give you some privacy,” he started to stand but her hand flailed out reaching for him.
“I need your help.”
“I just want to make sure I understand this first. It’s ok for us to in fact be alone together but it’s not ok for people to think we were alone together when we weren’t.”
“The longer you talk the more likely we are to get caught. Now make sure the dress doesn’t tear as I slip out of it.” There was some rustling in the bushes as she climbed out of the dress. “Here we go….”
“I’ll keep my eyes closed.”
“Well that’s no fun,” she teased.
“You are something else Minako,” he shook his head and pulled off his cape draping it over her back. She slowly pulled herself free of the dress and grasped his cape against her, blocking her nude form from view. He deftly moved at pulling her dress free and handed it to her. Her hand carefully reached out to take the material from him and he diverted his eyes as she pulled the silky fabric over her head.
“I’m dressed now,” she said. He looked back to her as her dress still hung loosely over her shoulders. They were still kneeling on the ground and he found her to breathtakingly beautiful the way her eyes were bright with excitement and her cheeks were flushed. “Weren’t you even just a bit curious?” she asked him.
“I wouldn’t have been a gentleman if I looked,” he smiled at her.
“That’s true. Then you would be just like all of my other admirers,” she smiled teasingly in return. “Can you help me with the back of my dress?” she handed him back his cape and he started to refasten it on his shoulders. “There are two small hooks that I can’t quite reach.”
She stood up and turned her back to him, lifting her hair over her shoulder to expose her back. Two small golden chains hung from the one side of her dress and he could make out the shape of the hooks to fasten them onto the other side. The material hung loosely over her back leaving the better part of her exposed save for the small of her back where the dress was bunched together causing folds to form over the backside of the gown. With bated breath he stood up, towering over her petite form and he could feel her inhale as his fingers brushed skillfully against her skin. He paused after securing the first chain and leaned over to kiss her softly on her neck. She giggled as his breath tickled her skin and he finished clasping the final hook. “Perfect,” he said softly, the admiration evident in his eyes. She turned her head to look at him as his fingers lingered on her back and she gasped, her eyes growing wide with alarm.
“I hope we’re not interrupting anything,” Serenity giggled.
Minako immediately turned red and Kunzite stepped back from her. “It’s not what it looks like,” Minako quickly replied. “I dropped my earring and I had to crawl around in the underbrush here to find it.”
“It looks like you have both earrings on to me,” Rei drawled sharply.
“I do!” Minako exclaimed reaching up to feel both earrings. “I found it, but then my dress got stuck and I didn’t want to tear it….and I’m not making this sound any better….” She looked around at the faces of her Senshi and Endymion’s Shitennou. “I have to go,” she stammered. “I’m sure there’s something that the Queen needs me to do…..” With one last glance back to Kunzite she dashed off across the gardens heading back towards the Palace.
“Minako!” Serenity called after her. When the other girl didn’t respond she pulled up her skirts and chased after her.
“That’s it!” Jadeite declared. “If he doesn’t have to be discreet” he pointed sharply at Kunzite “then I don’t have to be discreet!” He grabbed Rei and pulled her against him, pressing his lips firmly against her own. With a sharp shove she pushed him away and stepped back slapping him sharply across his face. Putting on her most dignified expression she turned and walked away following after Serenity.
“Always the charmer,” Zoicite laughed. Mercury at least had the decency to place her hand over her mouth to shield her smile from the others. This had certainly turned out to be an interesting patrol after all. Makoto would be mad that she asked her to trade.
