Can't Change The Inevitable by Starsea

And so it is:
The shorter story,
No love, no glory,
No hero in her sky.
Damien Rice
The Blower’s Daughter

Kunzite was aware that life was full of irony but he had never been quite so aware of it until now, when he was standing with his master and his comraders, waiting to be presented to the Queen of the Silver Millennium and her government, which included the Princess of Venus. Or Sailor Venus, as she was better known.

Aphrodite.

No. Not any more. She didn’t use that name here. She was Venus and that was all. She was not a person any more, she was a symbol, a soldier. Oh, he knew that feeling. He knew it so damn well that it often felt like that it was the only feeling he had left.

Kunzite almost cursed. He hadn’t even looked at her yet and already the old bitterness was rising up. It came from frustration, from an unfulfilled liaison, and none of that was her fault, but the feelings were inextricably linked to her. Just the memory of her eyes, of the sunlight on her hair, and it would rise up in him. A chronic sickness, manageable but incurable.

“Kunzite.”

Endymion was looking at him, his eyes dark with worry. Kunzite knew what he wanted to say without even guessing: You don’t have to be here. You can go. I will say you are indisposed. I don’t want to push you beyond your limits. He shook his head in reply and Endymion sighed and looked straight ahead, watching the door. Ever since they’d been told of this private audience with Queen Serenity, he’d been anxious, constantly reassuring Kunzite that he didn’t have to come. As if one glance at Venus would either kill his head guard or enchant him so completely he’d never come back to Earth. If only things were that simple, Kunzite thought, allowing himself an ironic smile.

He wasn’t worried about himself. He was worried about Jadeite. This would be much harder on him. It was easy to live with unrequited love if you never saw the object of your affection, but having to stand there and pretend like she was nothing, like you had never met… Kunzite knew that would be a strain on Jadeite. In fact, this whole visit was a strain on Jadeite and Kunzite had no idea how it would end. Jadeite was not the kind of person who could be divided: if you divided him, he split apart. Kunzite had watched this happen over the past three years and he didn’t think an audience in Erinya’s presence would help.

“They’re late,” Jadeite said, the tension in his voice confirming all of Kunzite’s fears. Jadeite was very rarely nervous. Usually, he thrived on tension, but this was different.

“We’re on their time, they can’t be late,” Zoisite pointed out, his voice completely blank. Kunzite couldn’t have faulted him.

“It’s rude,” Jadeite said with gritted teeth. “We should have been let in ten minutes ago.”

“They’ll have their reasons,” Endymion said, calm without being pacifying. Kunzite couldn’t have faulted him, either. He felt a warm glow for a moment: we are ready. He knew that once they got into that room, the adrenalin would kick in and Jadeite would perform perfectly. After all, he hadn’t been chosen as the ambassador to Mars for nothing.

“The point is, they can’t fault us,” he said out loud and they all looked at him, surprised that he’d spoken, more surprised that he sounded so confident. He smiled back at them and the shadows melted from Endymion’s eyes.

“Well, if you’re so assured, there really is nothing to worry about,” he murmured, and as if these were the magic words, the carved doors suddenly opened with a whish and a voice announced, “Endymion, Crown Prince of Earth, and his guardians, the Four Kings.”

Kunzite saw Endymion straighten his back, pulling back his shoulders a little further. He wanted to put a hand on Endymion’s shoulder, give him some physical suggestion of support, but that was impossible. Instead he concentrated on seeing an outline of golden light around his master, a light of grace and loyalty, a protective aura, feeling the others join in. It didn’t matter that Endymion would not see it, the point was that Queen Serenity and her government would. They would see Endymion literally surrounded by his support. One of the lessons that Kunzite had learned early was never underestimate the power of symbolism when dealing with government officials.

They walked smartly into the white room and found that Queen Serenity’s government consisted of her and two cats. One black, one white, both with the moon emblem on their foreheads. And Kunzite knew the white one immediately from the heat in the green eyes, just as he knew from one glance that Venus wasn’t there. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sailor Mars pale slightly and he felt Jadeite breathe in beside him. He could feel the air thicken with emotion, with long-suppressed desire.

It didn’t matter that she wasn’t here. He knew that they would meet sooner or later. It was inevitable. He felt it in his skin. Artemis could delay the inevitable as much as he liked… he could not change the fact it was inevitable.

All he had to do now was wait.


DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters. They all belong to Naoko Takeuchi.