“Lady Venus?”
Venus looked up from her papers, regretting the look she gave the servant the minute it crossed her face. She was not normally so short with strangers, but the past few days had not been easy on her. She had been called away from the moon with news that her father had died unexpectedly. She returned to her home planet for the first time in well over a decade to attend the various ceremonies.
Normally, that would have been quite enough to upset her, but as usual, there was more to be dealt with. For one thing, King Oengus’s death had not been anticipated by anyone, not even the mystics who were charged with predicting these sorts of incidents. Several of his remaining advisors and Eros, her brother as well as her father’s heir, suspected that he had been murdered. Of course, no one had any idea how such a deed would have been committed much less whether or not that was true.
To make matters worse, Queen Serenity had not heard anything from the wild planet, Earth, for many days. The last intelligence report they had received spoke of increased unrest and dissension among the populace; more and more people were speaking out against the monarchy of the Moon and of Earth. Venus would have liked to have been on the Moon to help with such matters, but her home planet had to take precedence for the time being. If her father had indeed been murdered, it was likely connected with the Terran revolts. It was imperative she remain on Venus to try and discover the truth.
But that stress was no reason to be rough with an ignorant servant. “Yes? What is it?”
“There is a man here to see you,” the maid explained uneasily.
Venus raised an eyebrow, her lips curling into a smirk. That was certainly no surprise. “Much as I would enjoy some company, I’m afraid I have no time for that.”
“That’s what I told him, Lady Venus, as you requested,” the girl said quickly. “But he said it was urgent.”
Venus laughed. “Of course it is. Did he happen to also say what his name was?”
“Kunzite.”
Venus froze. Her skin went cold even as her blood began to feel warm. She felt her mouth go dry, making it so that she could not repeat the name to be certain she had heard correctly.
It was impossible. Not even someone as well-respected as Kunzite would be able to travel to her planet without invitation. For one thing, Terrans lacked the capabilities; for another, it was forbidden. He had obviously been careful enough to select a maid dim enough not to realize who he was, but that didn’t change the gravity of what he had done. He had violated interplanetary law.
Granted, she’d done that time and again by sneaking off to Earth to see him, but that was completely different.
“Where is he?” Venus asked, getting to her feet.
“Waiting in your chambers,” the girl explained. “I wouldn’t have left him there, but he insisted. He seemed to know the way, so--"
Venus frowned. “Yes. Thank you.”
She left quickly, pausing only to brush the wrinkles out of her dress and tuck a few stray hairs back in place. She told herself that she didn’t want to be caught looking disheveled, but she knew that it was really her nerves. Much as she wanted to see Kunzite, this was not a development she welcomed with open arms.
The question of how he had gotten there was an important one to consider, but she was more concerned with why. It was possible that he had heard of her father’s death and come to console her, but she doubted it. He would not risk his neck and their secret for that; he would wait until she came to him. They both knew it was safer that way.
The state of the Earth also worried her, though she couldn’t say exactly why. She and Kunzite never spoke of their opinions on relations between Earth and the Moon. They had let politics seep into the conversation once, and it had resulted in a row with some collateral and even minor bodily damage. She knew that he preferred the Earth be regarded as an independent planet, free of the Moon’s watchful eye. She also knew that he did not desire to have a war with the Moon. It may have been a peaceful planet, but Kunzite knew that ultimately the magic of Earth was no match against the Ginzuishou. Not to mention, it would have made their liaisons awkward to say the least.
Venus entered her chambers without pause, sure that Kunzite would know if she hesitated at the door. She found him standing with his back to her, waiting.
“So it is you,” she said with some relief and some trepidation, locking the door behind her.
Kunzite did not turn. “You were worried?”
“Concerned,” Venus corrected, playing with semantics. “Just as I’m concerned about what you’re doing here.”
He laughed. The sound of it worried her. “And now you’re suspicious of me?”
Venus was beginning to feel alarmed. Her instincts told her to back away, but she stepped forward. She would never show him any timidity. “Kunzite, you know it’s forbidden for you to be here. If you’d been found by anyone but that maid, you’d be dead. And Sailor Soldier or no, I wouldn’t be able to save you from my brother – particularly if he knew why you--"
She was cut off by Kunzite turning and pressing his mouth against hers. She squealed in shock as his arms circled her body, pulling her as close to him as possible. She had to throw her arms around his neck to keep her balance, and she tried to tell herself that that was the only reason why she clung to him. She didn’t acknowledge how her heart threatened to explode; how she felt pleasantly dizzy; how she would have been content to kiss him until she suffocated, knowing that she had been perfectly happy just before her death.
She was about to pull away responsibly when he did so for her. She took a moment to catch her breath, resting her forehead against his. “Someone missed me.”
“You have no idea,” he said quietly, his fingers splaying out against the small of her back.
“I wanted to see you,” she confessed, keeping her eyes closed so that it was easier. “But with my father and everything else, I haven’t had the time.”
He nodded slowly. “I heard. I’m sorry.”
Venus let out a trembling breath. There it was. “But that can’t be why you came. You wouldn’t risk--" She opened her eyes, prepared to look into his green eyes and ask him why he was there. But when she looked, she found that his eyes were not green; they were grey.
She felt her heart drop to the floor, and she pushed him away. His arms had gone slack the moment he saw her recognition. He did not fight her retreat.
“Who are you?” she asked fearfully, prepared to fight. “What have you done with Kunzite?”
He simply looked at her. “I am Kunzite.”
“Liar!” she spat, the symbol of Venus beginning to glitter on her brow. “You’re not him! He doesn’t--"
“It’s me, Amarante.”
Venus stared. Her name. He had used her given name. She had been born with the symbol of her planet, a sign of her destiny as a Sailor Soldier. She had been given the name Amarante by her parents, but it had been sacrificed for the title of Sailor Venus. It was forbidden for her to be called by that or to say it to anyone, but she had told Kunzite. She had already broken so many other laws on his behalf; one more made no difference.
“Goddess,” she whispered, walking back to him. He did not move as she approached, not even when she was close enough to kiss or kill. She reached up and touched his face, her fingers brushing against his cheekbones, just below his eyes. “It is you. Isn’t it?”
He nodded, swallowing.
“Kunzite, what’s happened?” she questioned, locking eyes with him, forcing herself to recognize that something in him had changed. And forcing him not to look away from her and make it easy on himself.
She needn’t have done so of course. He was never easy on anyone, least of all himself.
He remained straight as always, though she noticed that he was no longer proud. “There has been rebellion against the monarchy. Queen Helia is dead.”
Venus gaped. “Prince Endymion’s mother? Murdered?” Venus closed her eyes in grief. She had only met Queen Helia briefly on the one official visit Serenity and her mother had made to Earth. Their interactions had been brief, but not even the harshest of Earth’s critics could have spoken a rough word against her. She was curious, sympathetic, and above all, kind. Venus thought she would have liked her had they been given more time to know each other.
“Both of his parents killed then,” Venus whispered, taking her fingers away from Kunzite to cover her mouth. “Do you know who did it?”
Kunzite nodded again.
“Who was it?”
“Jadeite.”
Venus stared at Kunzite in disbelief and was about to question him. Then she thought about his eyes, his presence there, the rebellion on Earth, and his views that contradicted her opinions as well as the monarchy’s. Everything that had once been unclear was beginning to sharpen into a sickening clarity.
She started to move away from him, knowing that she could not be prideful now. “Kunzite.”
He looked pained by her caution; her fear, though she would have been loathe to admit it. “I knew you would be this way.”
“Well, of course!” Venus shouted. “You’ve betrayed Prince Endymion. You’ve killed the Queen. You’re… mad!”
“I’m not mad!” he snapped, harsher than she ever remembered him being. He paused, still glowering. “I’m not sane, but I’m not mad either.”
Venus would have liked to ask him what he meant by that, but her questioning didn’t seem to be getting them very far. She took a different approach. “Does Endymion know? And don’t try to tell me he is with you; he would never do that to Serenity.”
“No, he wouldn’t,” Kunzite said, and his bitterness made her stomach turn. “He knows. He was there.”
“Goddess, Kunzite!” Venus shouted, her whole body trembling. She knew she should transform; she knew that he was a danger to her now. But she couldn’t bear it. She would hold off until it was her last resort. She didn’t want to fight him. “In front of him?”
Kunzite shrugged. “It was the only way.”
Venus shut her mouth tightly to keep from being sick. “Stop it. I don’t want to hear anymore.”
Kunzite looked away from her. “I’m sorry,” he said, and she thought he meant it. He sighed, shaking his head. “I shouldn’t be spending time on this. If I’m gone much longer, they might come find me.” He looked at her meaningfully. He meant that they would find her, and she would suffer the consequences of that discovery.
Venus felt her knees give way when she reached a seat.
“He fled the palace after it happened,” Kunzite explained quickly. “We know that he is hiding in the forest surrounding Elysian, but we can’t locate him. It seems he’s picked up cloaking magic from your princess.”
Venus winced again at the venom in his voice concerning Serenity. She had always suspected that he had little or even no love for her liege, but he had never been so outwardly antagonistic. “I won’t help you find him,” she maintained. “You know better than to ask me that.”
“But I can ask you to find him and get him out of there.”
Venus’s head whipped around. “What?”
Kunzite sighed. “Jadeite and the others want him dead. They are searching for him now, and they will kill him when they find him.”
Venus closed her eyes and let her head drop into her hands. She knew that Prince Endymion’s death would kill Serenity. The princess would know the moment it happened, and there was no predicting what she would do.
“I don’t want that to happen,” Kunzite continued, moving closer to her and further mystifying her. “You’ve found Serenity even when she’s tried to conceal herself from you. You can find him.”
Venus shook her head. “No. I’ll do no such thing. You allowed Jadeite to slay his mother before his eyes. How can I trust you not to take him out of my hands once I have him?”
“I would not hurt him!” Kunzite raged, making her jump. “Don’t you ever, ever suggest that I would lay a hand on him!”
Venus looked at him for a moment, wondering if now was the time to give up and transform. She felt utterly out of her depth in this situation. It had not been so long ago when she had been lying naked in his arms, completely exposed and vulnerable. She wanted nothing more than to go back to that feeling of being comfortable and safe with him. Now she was speaking to Kunzite as though he was a dangerous enemy, and he was that. She ought to have been shocked into stupidity, but she couldn’t afford to be like that. She ought to have been spurred into action, but she didn’t want to fight him. Not for the first time, she wished she could be foolish and frivolous like other princesses.
She swallowed. “If that were the case, why are you sending me?”
Kunzite shut his eyes tightly. “I just told you--"
“Bullshit,” she said, hoping to surprise him. She didn’t. “You could find him if you tried. But you’re afraid you’ll hurt him even though you swore you wouldn’t.”
They were silent for a moment. They both knew that she was right. Eventually, Kunzite’s shoulders sagged as he admitted defeat.
“I wouldn’t want to,” he said quietly. “You have to know that.”
“I don’t know,” Venus said. “But I can hope.”
Kunzite looked as though he were in agony, his face showing more emotion now than she had ever seen. She couldn’t stop herself from rising and starting to walk over to him. He held out a hand to stop her. “Don’t!” he shook his head. “Don’t tempt me.”
She did not know what she would have tempted him to do. She didn’t want to find out.
“I love Endymion,” Kunzite said, his voice hushed so that she thought he might be on the verge of tears. It was the first time she had ever heard Kunzite says his master’s name.
She nodded. “I know.”
“I want him safe,” he insisted, his grey eyes full of grief. “You’re the only one I can turn to for that. Please. Help him.”
Venus knew she should say no. She had no loyalty to the Prince or Kunzite officially. But she knew what would happen to Serenity if she refused, and she didn’t want to think about what might happen to Kunzite.
“All right,” Venus whispered.
“I won’t turn on you,” Kunzite promised.
Venus dug her fingernails into her palms. “Please, Kunzite. You already have.”
He swallowed. He could not deny that.
“You should go now,” Venus instructed, folding her arms in front of her chest.
“And you should kill me where I stand,” Kunzite said, almost taunting her.
Venus turned away from him and hugged herself. “Don’t you think I know that, you… bastard!”
The room felt like a tomb after she said that. She hoped that he had gone. She didn’t think she could stand another moment with him without breaking.
She felt the shadow loom over her like a warning and saw his arms stretching out for her. She began to panic and call on the power, but he reached lower than she had feared. He grabbed her around her waist, pulling her to him once again. She molded her body to his even though she knew she should have tried to escape. They stood there for as long as they could risk in their last embrace.
He traced a finger across her cheek, brushing away a single tear. “You’re crying.”
“First time in ten years,” she admitted softly.
He paused. “I hurt you that much?”
“More,” she whispered, her lips trembling.
His grip on her tightened, trying to heal the wounds he had caused. “You know I’m you’re enemy now.”
She nodded. “How long do we have?”
“Three days at best,” Kunzite told her. She didn’t doubt his honesty. “Probably two.”
Venus took a deep breath and prepared herself. “I'll find Endymion. I swear.”
“Amarante?”
She shivered when he said her name. “Yes?”
Venus thought she heard him start to say something, though she couldn’t make out what it was. Finally, he bent down and kissed her neck. He lingered only for a second longer before releasing her. When he did that, she knew that he was gone.
Venus wasted no time in his absence. She brought her right wrist up from her side and opened the comm-link wound around it. She flipped it open, instantly contacting Serenity’s other Guardians.
“Venus,” the three of them chorused automatically.
“What happened to you?” Jupiter asked, when she saw Venus’s face.
“Nevermind that,” Venus instructed. “I’ve just received word about the start of Elysian. There has been rebellion, and Queen Helia has been assassinated by Jadeite.”
Mars gaped. “Jadeite?”
“The Shitennou have turned on Prince Endymion,” Venus continued without pause. “He’s hiding in the forest around the palace. Mars, I need you to go Earth immediately and find him. He’s using one of Serenity’s cloaking spells. Break it as always and bring him back to the Moon. Jupiter, start preparing an army. Send word to Mars and any other kingdom you think can send us soldiers in the next two days. I expect there will be an attack by that time if not before. I’ll bring as many as I can from here. And Mercury, inform Queen Serenity, but not a word to the Princess until Prince Endymion’s safe. I’ll return with soldiers as soon as I can.”
Once the assignments were communicated, the Guardian Senshi signed off to go perform their tasks. Finally, Venus was alone again.
There was much to be done. She had to inform Eros of what she had learned. She could distract him from wondering how she had gotten the information by blaming the death of their father on the Terran rebels. She had to round up as many capable soldiers as she could, although she had regrettably loaned out some of her best to Elysian. They were probably dead or somehow turned against them. She had to start strategizing to counteract Kunzite’s techniques and possibly aid Mars in Endymion’s rescue if it were necessary.
But more than anything else she needed to weep.
She collapsed to the ground, the heels of her hand landing on the marble floor and sending pain up through her elbows. She gasped, sobbing, and curled up in the tightest ball she could manage. She hugged her knees to her chest and poured all of her sorrow out of her. She mourned her father, she mourned Kunzite, and she mourned an impossible future she had been so stupid to hope for. She would cry until she was completely empty. And when that was done, she would fill up that space with hatred. She would turn Kunzite into a demon in her heart, and then she would not falter when she saw him again.
She knew that when she laid eyes on Kunzite for the last time, she would be the one to kill him.
