Cycle of Our Souls: Heart's Love (2/?)
by M is for Mars
E-Mail: MCW717@hotmail.com
Rated PG
Disclaimers and the like: The characters mentioned in this story do not
belong to me, and I'm not making any money with this.
Here we go again. :) Remember, all text between the lines of "@-" symbols
takes place in the Silver Millenium, everything between lines of "*" symbols
is Mina's thoughts and takes place in the present, right between Sailor Moon
R and S. Everything else is a few weeks before.
I honestly don't know what the hell is happening in this story. I'm just
kinda writing. It'll get a plot and stuff soon, though, I promise. :)
Hey, stop by and see me on the web at
www.oocities.org/area51/corridor/8809. And, as always, write me!
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Cycle of Our Souls: Heart's Love (2/?)
@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-
"I can't believe they'll be here *tomorrow*!" Makoto, Princess of Jupiter,
cried to her friends as they sat around the lesson room.
Princess Ami of Mercury frowned. "Mako-chan, please! I'm trying to get some
work done here."
"Oh, Ami, don't get your skirts in a bunch!" the Princess of Venus, Minako,
said to her friend and tutor. "We have ages and ages to learn all this
boring stuff. We only have two weeks with the prince and his generals!"
The Martian Princess gave a little snort. "Two weeks too long, if you ask
me," Rei said. "They're already disrupting everything and they aren't even
*here* yet. This whole place is in an uproar because a few boys from Earth
are coming around. I'm sick of it."
"Mother said it's very important that we treat them well, Rei-chan. Earth
and the Moon have never been on very good terms, and this visit is supposed
to change that," Serena, the Moon Princess herself, spoke up.
"I know that," Rei grumped, "but I don't see why we have to show these stuffy
old fools around."
"'Stuffy old fools'?!?" Minako quoted indignantly. "Rei-chan, you obviously
haven't been paying attention. I heard from Artemis who heard from Luna who
heard from *Queen Serenity herself* that these guys are totally kawaii!"
"They are," Ami agreed quickly, much to everyone's astonishment. The
Mercurial blushed prettily and said, "I've seen pictures. If you would ever
pay attention to your lessons, then maybe you would remember." She held out
a book and opened it to the section on Earth.
The girls' eyes widened and each let out a little gasp. "Oh," Minako
breathed, "look at that Malachite! Those eyes... wow! It says here he's the
Head of the Royal Guard. Hey, that's like me!" she cried, delighted. "I
wonder what kind of training they've had to go through to be the Prince's
Guardians?"
"Probably similar to ours," Ami said, "including lessons. Which brings me
back to my original point... can we *please* get back to work?!"
--------
Next day the Princesses were all standing in the Reception Hall wearing their
best gowns. "Do you think they're as kawaii as everyone says?" Minako
whispered to the Princess of Jupiter.
"Iie," Makoto replied softly, "no one is as cute as everyone says *they*
are."
Then they appeared in a flash of light and Minako's jaw dropped practically
to her feet. "I was wrong," she vaguely heard Mako-chan mutter. She had
known this man would be trouble from the moment she saw his picture in Ami's
book yesterday, but no photograph could compare to Malachite in reality. The
first thing (after his face, of course) that struck her was his height. He
had to be close to seven feet tall, over two feet taller than Minako herself.
Suddenly she realized the Queen had said her name. Shaking herself from
thoughts of Malachite, Minako was barely able to step forward and make a
graceful curtsy. He seemed so stern! How in the world was she going to get
him to notice her without making a complete fool of herself?
When she heard Serena agree to them showing the Earthlings around, Minako saw
her chance. she thought, struggling not to giggle
aloud. The two groups - Moon-dwellers and Earthlings - made their slow way
through the palace gardens and Minako managed to inch ever closer to
Malachite.
Finally she was next to him, and she looked up into his darkly handsome face
with what she hoped was a dazzling smile. "Kon'nichi wa," she said brightly,
"I'm Minako. You're Malachite, ne? All those new names made my head spin!
I'm terrible with names."
"You remembered mine well enough, Lady Minako," he said formally.
She shrugged. "Why do you think I came to talk to you?"
A smile seemed to tug at the corners of his mouth. "Good point. So what
else are you terrible with?"
Now Minako's smile truly was dazzling. "Well, my mother and I have problems
sometimes. She can be so annoying! She thinks just because she's the Queen
of Venus, and I'm the head of Princess Serenity's protectors, that she has
some right to..." she trailed off and blushed profusely. "Oh dear, don't get
me started! Why don't you tell me something about yourself? Or about Earth?
Oh! I've often wondered what kind of training is required to be one of
Prince Endymion's protectors."
He actually laughed! Minako thought the sound would lift her off her feet
and send her flying away on its velvet wings. She let out a little sigh and
almost missed his next words. "It's nothing too difficult, really. I could
show you if you'd like," he was saying.
"Hai, that would be great! Come on, I'll take you to our training grounds.
I designed them myself! Well, Mako-chan helped some... and Ami-chan... and I
guess Rei-chan did too..." She smiled up at him again. "Ok, so we all
designed them! But everyone knows that it's *my* territory."
"I don't doubt it for a moment, Lady Minako," he murmured, laughing as he
followed her - and her stream of happy chatter - across the palace gardens.
----------
"And so then Rei-chan shot back at Mako-chan with a fireball, and boy was
Makoto mad! I've never seen her so mad, but I guess I would be angry too if
Rei had burned my hair like that! It took six whole months for it to grow
out again! Mako-chan refused to come out of her room at all for the first
three, but then finally Queen Serenity convinced her that she was just as
beautiful nearly bald as she was with a full head of hair!" Minako cried with
a laugh.
Malachite couldn't help but chuckle - not so much at the story, but at Minako
herself. The girl was so bright and enthusiastic about everything that it
was contagious. Soon he found himself telling her his own stories - pranks
he'd pulled, pranks that had been pulled on him, ingenious plans he and the
Prince had hatched up to escape tutoring sessions. "It wasn't that we
disliked it so much," he explained, "it's just that Zoisite took it all so
*seriously*. I've never been so bored in my life as when I had to sit
through one of his lectures on Great Sovereign Such-and-Somebody from five
thousand years ago!"
Minako giggled. "That's exactly how Ami-chan is! Did you see the two of
them together earlier? I bet you a whole sack of emeralds they're heading
for the library."
"I'm sure Zoi-kun is betting something of his own that *we're* heading for
the training grounds," he replied.
"Not heading, Lord Malachite, we're here!" She gestured all around her and
Mal drew in a sharp breath. Nothing on the Moon was ever plain, or boring,
for Queen Serenity had a great love for beauty. These grounds, devoted to
preparing the Princess' Senshi for their roles as protectors, were no
exception.
"How did you get those bushes to grow in such perfect walls?" he asked,
surprised at himself - Jadeite was the gardener among them, but these blue
bushes, their leaves tipped by dangerous-looking silver barbs, fascinated
him.
"Oh," the Venusian said carelessly, "that was Rei-chan's doing. Her *idea*,
I mean... she loves flowers, but she definitely doesn't have a blue thumb."
Malachite frowned in confusion, thought about correcting her, and then
dismissed the idea. "I was wondering... I've heard the Sailor Senshi draw
their power from each planet, but how is that possible?"
Minako chewed her lower lip, thinking about this. "I'm not sure, exactly. I
just know we call on our planet when we attack, and when we change into our
senshi forms. It has something to do with... planetary alignment when we
were born, and forces and something-or-nother... I don't know. You should
ask Ami-chan."
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I'll do that. Now shall we
begin?"
In a flash of light, Minako became Sailor Venus. "I thought you'd never
ask," she said with a delighted grin.
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"Will you WAKE UP!!" a voice screamed at her, ripping a hole in her sweet,
lovely dream. "MINA! You're going to be late!! WAKE UP!"
The girl shook her blond head and batted the small white cat off her chest.
"Go 'way," she muttered.
"Mina, don't you remember? You gushed all week about your date with Malachy,
and if you don't wake up you're going to be late!" he cried again, returning
to his position just below her chin.
Sure enough, the mention of the name "Malachy" got Mina to sit up so fast
that Artemis went flying, landing in a dazed, fuzzy heap on the other side of
the room. "Oh Gods! How could I've slept so long? Oh no! Artemis! Why
didn't you wake me up sooner?!"
He ignored her and carefully used his tongue to smooth ruffled fur.
"Oh, Artemis! You're useless! Nai, gomen nasai, I didn't mean that! You're
a wonderful little cat, Artemis, and I love you dearly." She ran to her
closet and threw it open, pulling out the first thing that came to hand: her
blasted school uniform. With a most unladylike curse, she tossed it across
the room where it promptly landed on the already disgruntled feline.
With an angry little "Humph!" he stood up and padded from the room with all
the dignity he could muster. Mina didn't notice, busy as she was removing
and discarding the contents of her closet at lightning speed. "Finally!" she
said, emerging triumphant.
After slipping into the short blue dress, she checked her appearance in the
mirror and flew out the door. "Itai!" she cried as her quick progress was
halted very suddenly by something very solid.
Two strong arms grabbed her before she could hit the sidewalk. "We always
seem to be meeting this way, don't we?" he said, laughing.
"Malachy! Oh dear, am I late? I'm so sorry, but Art - I mean, my alarm
clock - didn't go off on time, and so when I finally woke up it was almost
eight, and then I had to find something to wear, and by then it was-"
He laughed again, interrupting her. "It's ok, Mina, really. I just thought
I'd stop by to pick you up since it's the polite thing to do. Besides, I
figured this way we wouldn't miss the movie."
She took a step back and glared up at him. "I'm not always late, Malachy
Levinworth!"
"I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad thing. If you hadn't been late, we
never would have met, ne?" He wrapped a gentle arm around her and they
walked slowly through the balmy night.
Mina let out a little sigh and leaned into his warm embrace. "That's true.
But if you hadn't written that song, I wouldn't have come to talk to you."
He stopped under a streetlight and turned to face her, lifting her chin with
the tip of his index finger. "I had no choice but to write that song, Mina
mine. From the moment I looked into those blue eyes of yours, I was lost.
You were like... like... Venus, Goddess of Love. You infected me, and I
prayed that you might come into the coffee shop and hear me sing about you."
A line appeared between blond brows as she frowned slightly. "Venus? Why
Venus?" He couldn't possibly know about her being Sailor Venus... could he?
She almost smiled when she realized this is how Raye must've felt the first
time she heard Jay Dalinger call her "firefly".
A bright smile lit up his dark face and turned his eyes silvery purple. "She
was beautiful and enchanting and known to capture the hearts of poor,
unsuspecting men she barged into while running down the street."
Mina laughed. "Oh, hai, I make a practice of it. I figure I can kill two
stones with one bird: my daily workout and falling in lo..." her voice
trailed off as she realized what she was saying.
"Mina-"
"Matte," she whispered, pressing her fingers up against his lips, "I want you
to tell me something first. I listened to your song, and I loved it... and I
want to know if you meant it."
"Meant it?" he asked, confused.
"That about... that about loving me, Mal. I know you didn't say the words
directly, but you did say it. At least... that's what I heard." She looked
up into those exotic eyes of his and held her breath. Maybe she should have
kept her mouth shut. With her luck, he would get completely freaked out and
run for the hills.
He smiled sadly. "You heard perfectly, Lady Love. I... don't believe in
love at first sight, Mina, at least not usually, but it was different with
you. I felt like, like I-"
"Knew you," she breathed, "and that our meeting was somehow-"
"Destined! I knew you'd be back, because I knew we were-"
"Meant to be together. Oh, Mal!" His arms were around her and his lips were
on hers and she couldn't think about anything but him. "Malachy," she gasped
when he finally pulled his mouth away, "do you think maybe we could skip the
movie?"
*******************************
Oh dear. I hope my mother never reads this. I know what she'd say: "Mina,
you'd only just met this boy! How could you be truly in love with him so
soon?" Oh, Mama, I know... it seems so impossible, doesn't it? But I *do*
love him! Especially now, since we've been through so much...
That night was magical and amazing and I'm still walking on air, even after
all this time. I was so spacey the entire next week that I was actually on
time every morning. I thought Artemis was going to faint, honestly. I
remember every morning when I looked in the mirror I'd see the same
expression we had been seeing on Raye's face since she met Jay Dalinger.
Could Malachy and I have something like Raye and Jay? (It still makes me
giggle that their names rhyme, but that's another subject.) Or like Serena
and Darien? Their relationship, truly, is the one against which all others
are judged. Raye and Jay (oh dear!) are very much like Serena and Darien...
and so are Malachy and I.
And so I was in the same quandary as Raye. Should I tell him about being
Sailor Venus? I advised her to tell Jay... but things became different when
*I* was the one facing the possibility that the man I loved wouldn't believe
me, would even laugh in my face. I guess that's the point Raye tried to
make, isn't it? It's easy to say, "Yeah, Raye, tell him!" but something else
altogether when it's you... and your huge secret you've never told anyone.
But you're growing impatient with me, ne? There's more to this story than my
ramblings, of course, so shall I continue?
*******************************
It was dark when Serena opened her eyes, dark and cold. What had awoken her?
A dream? No, she couldn't remember any dream... nai, it was something else,
something darker and colder than even the night that surrounded her. She sat
up in bed and strained to listen, but there was only silence.
Silence? That couldn't be right! There should be the normal sounds of the
house: the furnace, her parents, Sammy. So why was it so quiet? She leaned
over and flipped on her bedside lamp, the sudden brightness making her blink
hard.
Her room was empty except for Luna, and she was sound asleep. So why this
feeling...? Serena shook her head. she told herself
rather harshly. She turned the
light off and curled up under the covers again.
The feeling wouldn't leave her. Something was there... nai, not in her
room... outside? She stood up and tiptoed to the window. Naturally there
was nothing, and again she felt completely silly. But then suddenly she saw
it... the Darkness, like a living thing, a cold, strange, paralyzing force
that threatened to rip away her very soul... "Gods!" she cried, not knowing
whether it was for actual protection or just out of habit.
It laughed. The Darkness *laughed*? "Your godsss cannot help you, little
one... only I can. Come with me. Come with me *now*!"
"Nai! What are you? Let me go!" She felt the Darkness pulling her, tugging
at her senses, and she tried to push it away. It was so strong, so damn
strong. It pulled, and she pushed, and fear filled her so that she almost
let the Darkness win. "Nai! Moon... Crystal... POWER!!" In a flash of
light, she transformed into her alter-ego, Sailor Moon. "I don't know what
you are or what you're doing in my room, but I suggest you leave. In the
name of the Moon, I'll punish you!"
The Darkness laughed again, but the only sound that could be heard in the
unnaturally still, unnaturally cold night was a girl's shrill scream of
terror.
---------
The scream woke Mina from her deliciously deep, dream-filled sleep. "The
Princess!" she cried, then wondered why she did so. She had never called
Serena "Princess"... it just didn't fit the fun, cheerful, rather klutzy girl
she knew and loved so well. Mina closed her eyes and concentrated on the
scream, long since faded. It *was* the Moon Princess who had screamed, much
more so than Serena... gods, what could've happened?
Mina reached into the nightstand drawer for her communicator and hit the
"all-call" button. If her instincts were correct, this was one meeting
Serena would *not* be attending.
End Part 2/?