The grand hallways of the Moon Palace laid sprawled out before the couple walking down the hall. Her blonde hair and orange fuku stood out brilliantly in contrast to the dim lighting and the white and silver colors embedded in the marble designs. These halls that they currently patrolled had long since been forgotten by the Palace inhabitants, but not to this couple. They strolled leisurely towards their destination, for a few moments unhurried by Palace life. “Are you sure it’s worth it, Minako?” the silver haired man asked her as they walked arm in arm. His voice was firm and held a fatherly tone that she had long since become accustomed to.
“Yes, he is.” The resolve in her voice was as short as her answer.
“You’ve been remiss in some of your duties around here. I felt that as your Guardian I should be the one to talk to you before anyone else starts to notice.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Is he more important than your Princess?” He could see the pensive look on her face as she prepared to answer his question. “I am here as your confidante.”
This was a test. Everything was always a test. “No one is more important. I will guard her with my life.” The answer to that question had been embedded into her mind long ago when she had accepted her responsibility as the head guardian to the future heir of the Moon Kingdom.
“Then maybe you should end things with the Earthling soldier – the leader of the Shitennou as they are called. He poses as a risk to all that you have worked for. It’s time to move on.”
“I can’t move on,” her hand came to rest in front of her chest, her palm resting softly against the orange bow of her fuku. “He’s in here now. We made a promise to each other.”
“Please tell me that you haven’t been so foolish as to invoke your Venusian bond?” She slowly nodded her head while looking down at the ground ahead of her. “Does he understand what you have done?”
“I think so. It’s not something that I meant to do, it just happened between us. He said that he wanted it this way.”
“You will never be able to part yourself from him now. So I pose the question again – is he worth it?”
She stopped walking and turned to face the man in front of her. “He is worth my life.”
“Then it is done,” the man shook his head and they continued down the hallway in silence.
