Prompt 21:
The First Christmas in Crystal Tokyo
“Why does it not surprise me?” Mamoru sighed over his glass of scotch. It was almost empty, and he was feeling quite warm, even out on the balcony as Noboru smoked a cigar.
“Forgive me,” Katsumi spoke as he usually did, apathetically. “To which part are you referring? Jadeite’s sudden departure?”
Noboru exhaled smoke through an evil grin. “Or the fact that the goddess of love and beauty bedded him already?”
Katsumi’s eyes narrowed, but Mamoru chuckled and held his glass up to Noboru. “Well, it wasn’t what I meant, but that, too. It doesn’t surprise me at all that you two got right back to where you left off with those two girls.”
“What can I say? I don’t like wasting time, sire.” Here in the privacy of the balcony, the three men had slipped back into the old days. They easily used names and titles that hadn’t been heard in a very long time, and all discomfort brought on by the names was absolved by a few drinks.
Mamoru shrugged this off. “To each his own, Nephrite. But, really, I should’ve guessed that all of this was because of Minako making a wish.”
“Please, do not come down hard on her, milord,” Katsumi straightened, but his voice was still calm. “I am sure she meant no harm by it, and doubt she even thought anything would come of it.”
Mamoru placed a comforting hand on the silver haired man’s shoulder. “No, Kunzite. I’m not upset at all. In fact, I’m quite grateful for any benevolence from the universe that would bring you all back. I’m only saying that it seems fitting that Minako would be the one to wish for it.”
Katsumi smiled into his own scotch at his master’s kind words of his lover.
“It’s true,” Noboru puffed on his cigar once more. “Only Minako would be childish enough to believe in Christmas wishes.”
“Not so, Nephrite,” Mamoru said, smacking his lips on another sip of scotch. He glanced inside at the three women who were chatting inside. A bright, blue-eyed girl turned her head immediately, as if sensing his eyes on her. “I would have bet money that Usako had done something like this, if I wasn’t wise to the truth. But that’s not why I think it fits Minako so well.”
“Then why?”
“Because Minako is selfless. If there’s anything about that girl, it’s her unlimited well of self-sacrificing for her friends. She’s no martyr by any means, but she acts out of love for others. I think that she wanted her and her friends to find love for Usagi alone. Minako knew how hard it must’ve been for Usagi to watch four lonely friends guard her life without questions. I think she did it so her Princess wouldn’t feel bad for having me. And I think that’s exactly something Minako would do.”
Katsumi’s eyes had found Minako as he listened to Mamoru speak of her. He took in the sight of her golden hair, the signature red bow, and the line of her jaw as he watched her from behind. She was not perhaps as intuitive to his stares as the Prince and Princess were to each other, so she did not turn, but this would come in time. Katsumi took another gulp of scotch, and found it a bit hard to swallow as his heart swelled with pride into his throat. “She’ll never admit to it.”
“But this is all thanks to her,” Noboru added thoughtfully. He had his eyes on Makoto, who did glance at him playfully from her chair, but quickly went back to her wine and conversation. “All of us owe her, no matter who she meant this for.”
“Indeed,” Mamoru nodded with a smile from watching Usagi get scolded for staring out at him by Makoto. “I should do something for her. As thanks.”
Katsumi and Noboru waited for something further from the would-be King, but they never got an answer from him. For the months that would come, it was always the same answer that he was thinking. After enough time, they stopped asking. It would be years until they got their response, when Crystal Tokyo was barely a year old.
…
Minako floated effortlessly in King Endymion’s arms around the dance floor, her gold gown sprawling out around her feet as they twirled. The fine garment was still a bit foreign to her, but she faked an elegant comfort better than any of the other Guardian Senshi. She had grown up so much that it was hard to remember the young woman who made a foolish Christmas wish this very night so many years ago, but she was still the same in the ways that mattered. Her eyes, always alluring in their brightness, stayed locked with his, paying her partner the attention as though there were no others in the room. A finer ribbon adorned the crown of her head above the curtain of golden locks, though the bow was still as big and bold as that of her youth. More than anything, her smile was still as charming and gracious as ever.
The King, despite his heavy cape, moved with grace as he led her in large circles in front of the whole court of Crystal Tokyo. Behind his domino mask, his kind eyes met hers with pride and gratefulness. A single rose was pinned in the lapel of his lavender suit, and his gloved hands held on to her tight enough for her to feel secure but loosely enough that she had freedom. Even in the few moments that they danced, Minako thought Usagi was a lucky woman to share a kingdom with this man.
“It is an honor to have the first dance, my King,” Minako said through painted lips. “Though I believe it is one reserved for my Princess.” Even after Usagi’s crowning, Minako could never remember to call her Queen now.
“Not tonight, Lady Venus,” Mamoru smiled, the regal terminology coming easy to him. “Tonight, you are the honored guest. This ball is for you. Besides, Usagi will get the chance to step on my feet the rest of the night, I’m afraid.”
“She still can’t be that bad.”
“It’s only her second formal dance,” he sighed. “She’s getting better, but believe me, just having the title of Queen does not refine one’s dancing instantly.”
Minako giggled, and at this Mamoru spun with her in a tight circle, changing the direction of the waltz. She kept up with ease, always having been light on her feet. Her blue eyes tainted with concern, however. “I am grateful for the honor of tonight, King, but forgive me for asking this. Why me? Are the other guardians going to have balls dedicated to them as well?”
Mamoru looked over her head at someone in the crowd, keeping a smile on his face. “No, I don’t think so. Not unless they can do something greater for me than what you do, though I can’t think what it would be.”
Minako blushed, but his smile made her remember to keep hers on as well. “My King, what could I alone have done for you? If you credit me with saving your life, or Usagi’s, I assure you, I had the help of my team.”
“No, it is not that. I hate to say this, but you all have saved my life and my wife’s so often, it has become very natural to expect it of you. We don’t say thank you enough for that, do we?”
“Usagi says it enough for both of you,” Minako blushed. “But sir, what have I done to deserve this?”
The music faded out. King Endymion ended by spinning her out to his side, letting her gown settle as both of them kept their gazes locked. Their audience erupted into applause, and the King gestured to her. Minako curtsied to the onlookers and then to the King. He returned with a bow and offered her his arm to return to the dais where the rest of their friends waited. She took it as she bit her lip, worried that her question would never receive an answer.
Yet as Endymion drew her to his side he spoke low so only she could hear. “Surely, you notice my men who wait for me beside my Queen and your team? The ones who got a second chance because of a single wish. Your wish, Minako. It is because of you that my men were returned to me, and words alone were not enough to express my gratitude. This ball, and every Yule ball in Crystal Tokyo, will be in your honor, and I hope that can begin to show you how truly grateful I am.”
