In an effort to support the future alliance between the Earth and the Moon, the royal family of Venus invited all of the dignitaries from surrounding kingdoms with the visitors of Earth being their special guests. Endymion and his Shitennou arrived on Venus, to stay in the beautiful floating Magellan Castle. The visitors from Earth were amazed as they took in the sights around them. As the color schema of the moon was silver and white, the Venusian Castle appeared to be outfitted in varying shades of gold and lined with brilliant reds. They were given a tour of the Castle upon their arrival and they found the interior to be as breathtaking as its exterior. As they strolled down the halls Venus and Kunzite lagged behind, at which point she teasingly asked him if he planned on sharing her room with her. His only response was to raise one eyebrow at her before turning his attention back to the ambassador giving the tour who was currently in the process of telling an embellished story about an ancient Venusian artifact.
Once they had completed the tour, they were all given the opportunity to return to their rooms to prep for the party being thrown in honor of the alliance. Endymion squashed any grumbling from his Shitennou by explaining that parties on Venus were less formal than those on the moon. Jadeite’s attention had already been lost to his Prince as he started mumbling something about the Martian Princess and the supposed planet of Love. Zoicite on the other hand was rambling on over the similarities between the Palaces of the Moon and Venus. The layouts were virtually identical save for the coloring and a few differences in the landscaping. Nephrite immediately headed out to the balcony, eager to view the stars from such a high vantage point in the sky. Kunzite on the other hand stayed by Endymion’s side to discuss the nights events, yet Endymion couldn’t help but to notice he seemed somehow distracted and had been since they departed Earth. He debated on whether it was the travel that wore away at him or the Venusian Princess who seemed to have taken a liking to him as of late despite the animosity of their first meeting.
All too soon dinnertime came and went and Endymion and his Shitennou entered the ballroom. While the room was no less opulent than the Moon Palace, there was an air of casualty to it that made them feel more so at ease. The night continued to wear on as did the sprightliness of a certain Princess which brought Venus to her current situation.
“Princess,” Venus whispered. The blonde reached for her Princess’s hand and gently pulled her away from Endymion.
Serenity’s eyes fluttered open to look at Venus’s smiling face then drowsily up to Endymion’s to see his doting expression. She snuggled even deeper into his arms, not realizing that she was still outside on the bench. “Maybe later Venus. I don’t want to sit through another one of Mercury’s classes.” She yawned loudly. “I’m too tired.”
“Too drunk is more like it Princess,” Venus laughed. A slight giggle erupted from Serenity’s lips before her breathing started to even out again. “Endymion, your help please,” she looked up at him pleadingly.
“I’ll bring her to her guest room,” he said softly, careful not to wake the sleeping Princess.
“No, the Queen would be furious if I allowed you to carry her to her bed,” Venus jumped at his words. “If I pinch her nose she’ll wake up. She always hates when I do that.” She reached her free hand out towards the Princess’s face but was stopped by Endymion’s hand.
“She looks so peaceful; I don’t want to wake her.”
Kunzite quietly approached the trio and stood by Venus looking over her shoulder. “Do you not trust my Prince?”
Venus quickly turned her head to look at him and dropped Serenity’s hand in the process. “That’s not what I meant,” she blushed lightly at the proximity of the man behind her. “If anyone were to see him I can’t even begin to imagine the talk that would ensue.”
“Perhaps one of your Senshi could escort him. That should satiate the curiosity of any stray party-goers don’t you think?” His voice remained low and even and she felt mesmerized by its tone.
“I suppose Mars….,” she started to reply but redirected her thoughts at a slight shake of his head, “….Mercury could go with him.” He gave her the slightest of smiles and she started to return his sediment but caught herself and looked at Endymion with a frown. “You have to hurry though, no lingering.”
Endymion grasped Serenity tightly in his arms and stood from the stone bench. “I’m not sure which one of you is worse,” he briefly looked from Kunzite to Venus before walking off. Mercury stood near the entrance and Endymion could have sworn that for a moment he saw Zoicite whispering in her ear but quickly dismissed it as a trick of the eye. Perhaps he had more to drink than he realized as well. Alternately he wondered how Venus was able to alert Mercury without speaking to her or contacting her via some device. Serenity claimed that she never understood the ability of her Guardian’s either but he couldn’t help but to wonder if perhaps she was keeping that secret to herself.
Venus watched them depart and once they were gone she turned back to Kunzite, her eyes looking up to meet his. They stood in an open hallway made of golden stone and marble that led from the ballroom to another portion of the Palace. Several plants were strategically placed along the large arch shaped openings along both walls. Light spilled out brightly from the ball in front of them casting long shadows down the dark corridor behind them. “I’m sure you’re worse.”
“I have given my men the night off taking full responsibility for the Prince myself. You have all of your Senshi on full patrol. It seems that you may be the stricter one of us two.”
“Perhaps,” she replied. “No Mars?”
“I’m pretty sure she and Jadeite have gone off to….talk.”
“Ah. I see. Well then, I suppose that you can’t say that all of my Senshi are on full patrol. Watching your Shitennou can be more like babysitting.”
“I thought we agreed not to discuss that issue with Nephrite, especially since it involved one of your own as well.”
“Hmm,” she replied. “I suppose we did agree to forget about that for the sake of the Alliance.”
“Only for that?” he teased her, reaching for her hand.
She smiled sheepishly. “I’m going to have to thank Serenity later.”
“And why’s that?” Kunzite mused.
“A girl should have some secrets no?” She pulled her hand free and turned to walk further into the shadows of the hall. Kunzite looked over his shoulder to make sure they were still alone before turning to follow her. As he rounded the dark corner where he had seen her turn, he found himself alone and looked around trying to decipher where she would have disappeared to. He was on her turf tonight and she would most certainly take pleasure in letting him know that. As he turned another corner a hand reached out and grabbed him pulling him into a room dimly lit by the grounds lighting shining through the windows. He pushed the door closed and spun Venus around holding her against the wall. “This is exactly what I planned to do to you,” she pouted.
“Then tell me your secret and I’ll see what I can do to accommodate you.”
“And what’s in it for me?” she asked.
“Depends what you’re asking for.”
“I may have encouraged Serenity to have a drink or two,” Venus smiled mischievously.
“And how did you do that?” he smiled acknowledging that she obviously had some ulterior motive yet to reveal.
“I challenged her to a drinking contest.”
“Should I bother to guess who won?” he teased her.
“As long as I’m still standing I think it might be me,” she pointed at herself with her thumb, yet somehow managed to be slightly off and ended up pointing at the wall. Kunzite raised one eyebrow at her and she laughed harder.
“And what was the point of this game?”
“To buy us a few minutes together. It seems that I’ve found a way to get us off duty. Our Prince and Princess are safely tucked away.”
“You could have just asked me for a dance; it would have been an easier option.”
“But not nearly as fun,” she giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck and lightly placing a kiss on his lips.
“This is a different side of you.”
“For once I thought we would be the ones to enjoy ourselves instead of pretending to barely know each other and standing on opposite sides of the room.”
“It doesn’t have to be this way.” His face softened in response.
“For the next 5 minutes, it can be anyway we want.”
He picked her up and carried her over to the nearby couch, seating himself and pulling her onto his lap. They sat there for a few minutes with their arms wrapped around each other until he noticed that her grip was starting to slacken and her breathing came out deeper and more even. He tilted his head back and to the side to notice that her eyes had drifted closed and he couldn’t help but to smile at the irony of the situation.
