Guardians of the Millenium:
Ch3: A Fairy Tale of Days gone by
*******************Past:*********************
After dispensing with his weapons, and freshening
himself up, Jaedite slipped out into the still
air of the night. Somehow, though it had been
a year since he'd seen the young princess of Mars
the feelings she evoked in him had not lessened.
He remembered their evening by the canal and
felt her pull as strongly as the gravity on
the moon was light. Perhaps part of the reason
she fascinated him, he noted wryly, was the
way she seemed unreachable. She was a
challenge. The night he'd met her
on Mars, he didn't even get to dance with her
once. She'd sat by her father or cousin on the
raised platform observing with amusement
the spiraling figures. Once or twice she seemed
to notice his staring at her. He whirled
with one lady or the other, but his eyes stayed with her.
Her expression always suggested she didn't even see him.
Only when Endymion angrily asked him what he'd done to
entrance his cousin had Jaedite realized that her
indifferent expression was a facade.
Jaedite even to himself couldn't articulate a
reason for his stealthy approach to the wing
of the palace where Mars lived. Unlike the
silvery gracefully curved lines of the rest
of the palace, these halls were more angular.
They didn't immitate the square red rock construction
of open planes and slabs used in Mars, but did manage
to produce the same open feeling. The doors
of the suite had sharp overhangs as if they
were roofs outdoor.He ran his hand along the thin dark
lines that decorated the surface of the wall.
He could see a maid carrying a tray slowly
approaching the door he assumed led to
her prayer room. He'd observed her routine
enough to realize that she reserved the late afternoon
hour for contemplation.
On Mars she told him she read
the hot winds at that time. He was curious
what she would do in the Moon Kingdom's cool
breezes?
He approached the maid, who steadily bowed
despite the weight of the tray.
"I'll take that." He said.
The maid protested "This is tea for
the Princesses of Mercury and Mars" , so he
used a low grade mind control suggestion.
Holding his hand up, he formed a small
ball of light in his fingers. This he
held in front of her eyes which widened.
"Yes Lord Warrior Jaedite. I'll
see that you are not disturbed. ..I'll
inform the Lady Mercury that the Lady
Mars has cancelled. " She bowed
respectfully again, and returned down the hall.
He smiled, as his soft knock was answered with Rei's
"Enter."
He did so, surprised to see her sitting
before a rather large fire in a square pit.
"Please set the tray on the table" She said
without looking up. "Would you please check
to see how much longer the Lady Mercury will
be?"
He answered her then. "She will not be
joining you this evening."
At the sound of his voice, she whipped around
in surprise. Once again, he was surprised at her
beauty as he tried not to stare at her in the dim glow
of the fire.
He manufactured some excuse for his appearance,
which she accepted. He sat down, marvelling
that his goddess was actually before him.
"Endymion would kill me" Jaedite thought... "He
thinks of her like his little sister....and
since Endymion doesn't have any closer family..."
He suppressed these thoughts--he wanted to
charm her, which he couldn't do if he
were thinking of the consequences. "At least,"
he thought looking at her graceful movements
in pouring the tea, "I'll die happy
if I'm with her."
"Trust me, I'm better company than fire."He
teased her.
"That remains to be seen." She said demurely,
handing him his cup.
"Fool...ask her!" He thought...all he had to
say was he wanted to escort her to the ball
the next night...to make up for the
dance she owed him from that evening on Mars.
He could think of a thousand different
ways to phrase it--but he couldn't utter
a single one. They seemed to talk about
everything else but the ball....after
awhile, he found himself lost in the
conversation...
When at last they finnished their tea,
he mustered a final attempt.
""I must get back...but I will see you at the
ball tomorrow. " He said in a rush,
hoping he didn't seem as awkward as he felt.
He bowed nervously, and left wondering
what she would have said had he simply
asked her?
*****************************************************
PRESENT:
*******************************************
Rei was shocked at how young Sora looked. She'd just
assumed she'd be older than herself, but the girl looked
about a year younger. Perhaps too young to get married,
Rei thought.
"I'll finnish the high school in a month." The girl said.
"But my father said I could complete the course work later
--he wants the wedding soon."
She was pretty. Rei couldn't deny that, the girls narrow face
was delicate and framed by long tawny brown hair that was
straight. Her eyes matched, but rather than looking dull,
again had that caramel glow that warmed them. She was thin,
and which made her look slightly taller than Rei, though they
were roughly the same height. She oozed niceness..just as Rei
seemed gaurded and controlled, this girl seemed as open,undirected
and warm as a field on a summer's day. Rei liked her,
but immediately found her irritating. She shrugged it off.
"Why is that?" Rei asked, pouring the tea.
"Oh! Because Chad's going to run for an office, a
low-level one, of course. You know how this is...
Isn't your father in politics?"
"Yes." Rei said. She didn't want to talk about her father.
She barely talked to him, and therefore, it
didn't seem fair to talk about him. And she never really
wanted to do that. "I didn't realize
Chad was interested in government."
"He's not--at least yet.. Daddy, and his father
really want him to get into government...and it would
be exciting. Oh its not for a year of course. He's
going to take over the company--it's just one
now that our fathers merged the companies. He'll be a
vice president. " Sora chattered on. She didn't
say all this in one stream, but with prompting from
Rei slowly the picture emerged..
"Chad is so strong, brave..."Sora was chattering.
"He's helped the scouts even..oh, he
wouldn't claim that, but he's told me how monsters
have attacked here and ...weren't you scared? I
guess I wouldn't be if Chad were there..."
Her love glowed so strongly...Rei wryly noted
that she was so sweet the
cakes didn't need sugar.
Afterawhile, as the sun descended a little
lower, Sora began to take her leave. "I was
scared to meet you Rei. My Chad always speaks as
if you were perfection itself--and I was honnestly
a little jealous at first." She confessed in a rush.
Rei, to her credit, had the grace to blush and
sound genuine asking "Jealous of me? You're
his fiancˇ! I'm just an old friend."
"You're not *so* old! He worshipped you...you know
that...and he told me that if you would have wanted
him...he'd not have wanted to meet me."
"But I didn't." Rei said, her tone flat.
"Yes! As wonderful as my Chad is, I"m glad you
didn't find him so...my life
would be so unfufilled without him...and I
feel so thankful...it was like I was destined to
meet him and love him. " She smiled. "So you were
my one worry...meeting you. You sounded like a goddess
to hear him describe you."
"But I'm not." Rei said.
"OH! But you're so delightful, I see now why he cared for
you as much as he did...and I can't help
wonder at why he loves a silly girl like me, after
you! But he explained that to me.."She smiled
lost in her own memories. "You were so wise to
know that you and my Chad weren't meant for each
other, when he didn't!"
"Wise...that's me." Rei said.
"I' m so glad we had this tea--but I
need your help!" She smiled, though her
tone was dramatic. "I shall be miserable without
your help! "
"What?"
"I need you to be -my maid of honor..you must."
"I though you were to do a traditional ceremony
here at the temple?"
"Yes, but not that tradition! We just thought
this would be a beautiful location. Oh, Chad
at first did, but Daddy talked him out of it.
They'll be a lot important
dignarities, some foreign, so we want to make this
a blending of modern and traditional ....it'll be
beautiful..." She dashed off. "Say you will! Rei, you
must help me. I shall be miserable if you don't!"
The big brown eyes fixed on her, pleading, trusting
innocent--what could Rei say? "Yes" She felt as if she had no
choice.
"I knew it!" Impulsively, Sora threw her arms
around Rei and hugged her. "Oh! I'have so much
to do! We'll go shopping later for your dress!
We're going to be such good friends!" In a flurry,
the girl hurried out.
"She'd give Serena a run for energy. "Rei muttered,
exhausted emotionally as she sank back against the door.
"So how was the tea?" Jaedite said as he slipped
into the room.
"She's very sweet." Rei said.
"I know...I have a toothache, just from
seeing her..." Jaedite grinned. "I'm sorry
but I overheard her "request." You
made quite an impression."
"Obviously..."A long sigh signalled that Rei
was done discussing the subject. "You were wrong."
"I was? I don't think so.. So she loves him.
Does he love her?"
"She's devoted to him! I couldn't intefere with that."
"Again, you wouldn't be. She is very young. She may have a
crush, and she may idolize him. But is that love?
It sounds as if her father told her she should marry Chad,
so she did. What if her Daddy had
told her to love another? I bet she would." Jaedite said
cynically.
"You have no faith in love." Rei snapped. "I should
not have listened to you--I know that your soul
is empty. I won't hurt them. Stop subverting
me."
To himself, he thought it was strange that he
didn't feel empty--when he was with her....but he
didn't say anything . He shook the thought. "Rei,
don't misunderstand me."
"You're the one who misunderstands...You don't know Chad."
Rei said. "He's nothing like you. His honor means much
to him. He wouldn't agree to marry her if he
did not feel the same."
Jed nodded. "So he's honorable. Why are you
suggesting that I am not?"
She scorched him with a look. "Because you suggest
I act dishonorably..."
"Am I? If you act dishonorably because of how you
interpret what I said, am I to blame for that?" He questioned
her. "If you don't like my advice, don't follow it."
Tired finally of her accusations, his voice was sharp
and dismissive. "I offered my opinion because I
wanted you to be happy..but you're determined to
be miserable. Don't make me so as well."
With quick strong steps he marched out, leaving
Rei alone with her thoughts. Helplessly,her
mind tumbled backwards...to another day,
in another life.
The next day, Rei waited impatiently with the other
girls for Serena to show up for their day of shopping.
Mina's family was going
back to England, though Mina had informed her parents
that she intended to live in Japan. Still the trip
was the perfect excuse for Ami to find Gregg and
convince him he was wrong about giving up on her.
So Mina had talked Ami into going on a vacation
in England with her family...and everyone else
into helping the pair shop for travelling clothes.
"Rei, *DON'T* tell me you're fine with Chad's marriage"
Serena blurted out, as they passed a wedding gown
store..
Of course, when Lita had talked to Serena, right
after Rei had left her apartment, she'd mentioned
what Rei had told her. There were few secrets in this group.
"I'm not." Rei said.
"So what are you going to do?" Serena said "What
can I do? You need to get him back!! I won't see those in love
kept apart!"
"This isn't a battle, Moon-brain." Rei shot back.
"What about Jaedite" Ami inquired.
"What about him? Rei asked, handing Ami a blue halter
dress that would look great with the jacket Ami
was fingering. "Actually, he said I should go
after Chad."
"HE DID?" Mina asked surprised. "Wow, that's liberal."
"He's not in love with me. I don't know why he
told me that."
"Because it makes sense" Serena said. "Anyone could
tell you not to give up!"
"So, if he's not in love with you,Rei, maybe I'll
pay our amnesiac a visit before I go to England. " Mina
said, fingering a light orange dress "Think he'd
like this dress?"
Rei all but exploded. "Stay away from him."
"Oh yeah? Why can't I see him!" Mina said.
"Because he's eng..." Rei paused, not sure why
she'd been about to say he was engaged..."He's
still under observation."
"I know.. I want to observe him." Mina laughed.
"MY observation. We can't trust him." Rei said.
"Find someone else to flirt with."
"Told you" Lita whispered to Mina. "Doesn't
want a second chance, but won't let us near him."
>>>@>------>>>
The soft pink and white cherry blossoms
hovered over their heads
as Rei and Chad strolled in the park.
The day was soft and warm,
perfect really, thought Rei, except
that an odd tension hung
between her and Chad.
He was at ease. She could tell. All the
tension started and ended with her,
pulsating from her own thoughts.
"Sora is very nice." She said at last,
breaking the silence. He had always waited for
her to speak, when they walked here.
At least, he did ever since the first time
when she yelled at him for disturbing the
peace of the afternoon. He'd been silent for
fear she'd not let him go with her. That
seemed so long ago.
"Yeah...*she's* great...."He said
distractedly. He looked tired.
"Something wrong?" Rei inquired,
noticing the sleepy expression
and his lagging step.
"Her Father..he's been working me
really hard with this merger...
Our competitor is this totally
unscurpolous mega-company...
We'd never been a threat to them,
but now that we merged
the two corporations...it's a
different story."
"You shouldn't let him work you
so hard Chad! You know
that at the temple we always
maintained limits."
"I don't have a choice...Even as
hard as I worked at the temple,
it strengthened me...this work
drains me out...but I can't
do anything else--"
"Why not?"
"The merger took a lot of
cash to buy out shareholders--
we've got some major loans...
and the bank's just
been bought out by our competitors...
Stanton Industries....they're merciless.
If we're late...we're
afraid of what could happen."
"I see." Rei said. She was only half
paying attention. Business not being her
strong point, nor the point of their
stroll.
"Enough of my problems...what was on your mind?
How's the wedding planning?" He asked, trying to change
the subject.
"OK. " That topic was even worse. " Look Chad, if you don't
want to do this kind of work--don't let them run your life.
That's why you ran away to the temple in the first place.
I hate to see you lose your independence." Especially to
Sora, she thought.
Chad laughed. "I didn't feel so independent when
I showed up at the temple...but you are right. I shouldn't
let them walk over me...Grandpa taught me to
face my fears...and I should."
"But not right now...let's just enjoy the park.
How about a row boat ride?" Rei said...that should get
his mind off his work and onto her..."We never
did this when you lived at the temple did we?"
"Speaking of facing fears...I always wanted to ask you Rei...
but you had me so scared!" He laughed...
"Of What!" She said idignantly...
"That you'd say NO..." he laughed..."or yes, and then
get angry at me and push me in the water!"
Rei tried not to let her irritation show..."I wouldn't do
that."
He smiled at her. "Then let's go!"
Jed, observing the scene swore to himself, that they would
now be harder to follow. He shook his blonde hair and melted
back into the trees.
He was not the only one observing the pair...
Less well hidden were two figures, They shared
the same thoughts about Chad's
and Rei's excursion onto the water.
One was cursed with a thick, stupid looking
face and a voice to match.
"Duh boss ain't goin' like dat we didn't
nab her now...why couldn't
they stayed in duh trees? Dere's too many people
to see out there."
The other hushed his dimwitted, uglier
friend, and pushed back his
own tawny brown hair. "I'm still not
sure that is our target.
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