Disclaimers:
Nope, not mine.
Oh well, at least I can borrow 'em for a little bit. :)
Hey, everyone, this note really will be quick, I promise! As always, the text between the lines of "*" symbols is the present (right between SMR and SMS), and is mostly Raye's thoughts. The stuff between the lines of "@-" symbols is all in the Silver Millennium. And the stuff without any little lines of symbol-thingies around it is just a few weeks in the past.
I've tried to correct any typos that may be present, but a few stubborn little buggers might still be hanging around, so try not to worry about them.
Feeeeeedbaaaaaaaaaack! Please. :)
Have a nice day.
:)
"Sooo, are you planning on telling us about this mystery man of yours or not?" Serena demanded of Raye the next afternoon as they stood around Lita's kitchen while she made them lunch.
"Yeah, Raye, you've been going out with him for over a week and we don't even know his name yet!" Lita complained.
"Is he smart?" Amy wanted to know.
"Is he kawaii?" Mina asked.
"Of course he's kawaii. That's why she hasn't told us: she's afraid you'll try to steal him!" Lita told the blond. "She knows how boy-crazy you are."
"Yeah, well, at least I don't compare every guy I see to my old boyfriend!" Mina replied angrily.
"That's because you don't have an old boyfriend."
"Guys! Will you please stop arguing! Gods, and you complain about Serena and I!" Raye cried before Lita and Mina could get into a tongue war. "His name is Jay Dalinger, and yes, he's smart and cute. And no, he looks nothing like Lita's old boyfriend, though she compares him to so many different guys that I'm not exactly sure what he actually looked like," she said teasingly.
"Ohhh," Lita began happily, "he was tall and dark and--"
"Lita!" the other girls cried in unison. She stuck her tongue out at them and went back to the curry chicken she was making.
"So when can we meet him, Raye?" Serena asked cheerfully.
"Ummm... how about... never?" she answered just as brightly.
"Never!? Nani?!" she wailed. "But why not? Don't you like us anymore?"
"Of course I like you... it's just that I know how you get."
"And how's that?" Lita asked with a frown.
"Well... you kinda had a point about what you said to Mina," Raye explained carefully.
"Raye, I would never steal your boyfriend! You know that!" Mina cried, hurt.
"Nai, that's not what I meant. I know you wouldn't steal him, at least not on purpose, but... I don't know. All of you might overwhelm him. I imagine it wouldn't be easy for a guy to meet the whole lot of us, ne? Darien's even still a little nervous when we're all together."
Serena nodded emphatically. "He is. And he's around us as Tuxedo Mask, too! He says that we're all so close that it's intimidating to try to be a part of that. I've tried explaining that I'm just as close, if not closer, to him... but he doesn't listen. He says it's different."
"Exactly," Raye agreed. "It's not that I don't want him to meet you guys, it's just that I don't want to scare him off. I mean, certainly all of you would be... what, sizing him up? That's gotta be nerve-wracking."
"Well..." Serena began thoughtfully, "maybe you could introduce him to Darien first, and they could become friends, and Darien could be his... oh, his ally! You know, since they'd be in the same situation."
"Ok, so, you're suggesting I introduce my current boyfriend to my exboyfriend in the hopes that they become friends? But of course, that'll all be ok when I explain to him that Darien and I weren't meant to be because of the fact that he was in love with the princess I was -- and still am -- sworn to protect back in the Silver Millennium. Hai, Serena, that'll go over real well."
Mina giggled. "She's got a point, Serena. I think you're just gonna have to face the bullet, Raye. Bring him over sometime and we promise we'll be good! Don't we, minna?"
"Hai, Raye, we promise!" they cried in near-unison.
The dark-haired girl was forced to laugh. "All right, all right, I'll call him right now and invite him for lunch. Serena, why don't you call Darien? You did have a minor point about that ally thing." She agreed, and it was less than half an hour later when the doorbell rang.
"Muffin!" Serena said upon opening the door. "Come in! Everyone's in the kitchen, and Lita's cooking and it smells divine! I'm so hungry. We're just waiting for Raye's friend Jay to show up, then we can eat."
Darien laughed and followed his girlfriend to the kitchen. "I feel sorry for the poor guy, having to meet all of you at once."
"Nai, Darien, we promised to behave!" Mina told him. "We'll be sweet and angelic and--"
"Calm?" Amy supplied quietly, interrupting her boisterous friend.
"Calm is good," Raye said.
"I can do calm!" Serena cried.
Raye cringed, and was almost sorry when the doorbell rang -- she wasn't sure if she wanted to go through with this or not. "Remember, minna: sweet, angelic and calm!" With that, she ran through Lita's living room and opened the door.
There stood Jay, a bouquet of exquisite yellow roses in his hand. "Kon'nichi wa, little firefly," he said with a smile.
"Kon'nichi wa, Jay, they're beautiful!"
"I'm glad you like them, but they're not for you."
She frowned. "What?"
"They're for Lita. These," he said, pulling another bouquet from behind his back, "are for you." They were red again, red as blood, but such a violent image was far, far from Raye's mind as she embraced him with a laugh.
"Come in, come in... we're all in the kitchen. Let me warn you: my friends are great people, all of them, and they've promised to be calm, but... well, they're very... spirited. I hope you don't mind lots of happy people."
He laughed. "No, I don't mind happy people."
"Then you should be fine," she replied as they entered the kitchen. Lita had her back to them, busy at the stove, while Serena was engrossed in conversation with Darien and Amy was working on her new laptop. Mina, however, had been watching the doorway anxiously ever since Raye left, and now she cried, "She's back! Wake up, she's back!"
"Ohh, Gods," Raye muttered under her breath. With a stoic smile, she introduced everyone to Jay. "The loud one is Mina, the cooking one is Lita, Amy's over there typing away, Serena's the meatball headed one, and that's Darien, her boyfriend."
Mina and Serena frowned at this introduction, and the latter said, "Raye's told us absolutely nothing about you."
Jay laughed. "I'm not surprised. She's not very forthcoming with information, our Raye." He held the roses out to Lita and she blushed deeply. "These are for you, Lita. I thought they would make a lovely centerpiece."
"Domo arigato, Jay," she replied. Turning to find a vase, she whispered to Mina, "I like him!"
Indeed, Jay seemed to be a hit with the entire group. His knowledge of computers impressed Amy, his jokes sent Mina into fits of giggles, his passion for video games rivaled Serena's own, and his gardening expertise -- roses being his specialty -- captured Darien's attention.<
Raye sat back, watching Jay use his considerable charm on her friends, and frowned slightly. She wasn't surprised they all liked him so much, but it created a conflict in her mind. If he was to become a permanent fixture in their group, what would happen if their Sailor Scout alter-egos were needed? They obviously couldn't transform in front of him, and she couldn't even imagine his reaction if all six suddenly remembered a vague "previous engagement".
Suddenly she realized Lita was talking to her. "Nani?" she asked her tall friend.
"You haven't heard a word I've said, have you?" Lita demanded angrily.
"Hai..." Raye said slowly. "I heard you... I just wasn't exactly... listening," she admitted with a sheepish grin.
"Well pay more attention next time! I was just asking if you wanted to help us with something in the kitchen," she said meaningfully.
Raye rolled her eyes, but before she could say anything, Lita was dragging her toward the kitchen, the rest of the girls pushing from behind. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" she cried, trying to free her arm from the brunette's vice-like grip.
"We love him!" Mina cried once they were away from the guys.
"He is so way cool, Raye!" Serena enthused. "And almost as cute as Darien!"
"Yeah," Lita said as she pulled a pie from the oven, "those eyes, that hair... he reminds me of--"
"Don't even start, Lita!"
"Brad Pitt," she finished with a wink at Raye.
"Ohhhh, that reminds me of a dream I had!" Mina said, grinning from ear to ear. "See, someone decided to make a live-action Sailor V movie, and I was picked to be Sailor V, and Brad Pitt was cast as my romantic interest. Well, I wasn't going to take the part because it might expose my secret identity, but you know I always say not to mouth off at a horse's gift, so--"
"He looks nothing like Brad Pitt," Raye told Lita, interrupting Mina's story.
"Well, they're both blond."
"So are Serena and Mina," Amy pointed out mildly.
"And I'm much cuter than Brad Pitt!" Serena cried with a laugh. "Now come on! We don't want them to think we're in here talking about them, do we?"
"And what could possibly give them that ridiculous idea?" Raye asked under her breath as they moved back into the dining room.
"Wow, Lita, that pie smells great!" Darien said appreciatively.
The chef beamed. "Wait until you taste it! It's a recipe I got off the internet: strawberry rhubarb. I'd never had anything like it, but it's really good!"
"My grandmother used to make this!" Jay said, taking a piece. "It's my favorite pie, but you can never find it anywhere in Japan. This is great... arigato, Lita."
"Hai, Raye told me... you don't think I would make anything with strawberries and rhubarb together unless prompted by someone else, do you?" she asked with a laugh.
Raye blushed and glared at her friend. "You weren't supposed to tell him, Lita," she hissed as Jay laughed.
"I think that's one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me," he said sincerely. "Thank you, firefly." He kissed her, which normally would have made Serena, Mina and Lita ooh and aah, but they were too busy worrying about the nickname.
"'Firefly'?" Serena asked carefully. "How come you call her that?"
"Because of my fire-reading, of course," Raye supplied hastily. "And my temper... you know all about my temper, huh, Serena?"
Mina said, "I think it's sweet." She gave a gusty sigh. "I wish I had someone to give me a kawaii nickname like that."
They all laughed and the tense moment passed, but Raye still remembered the looks on her friends' faces. Do they really think I would tell him about Sailor Mars? she wondered. I would never... could never... do something like that! It's too important... But another part of her, the more rational part, knew that she indeed could, and might if she weren't careful.
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"When he smiles at
me, it makes me feel like I'm flying, and when he laughs... it's like music!
He's just so... so kawaii!" Minako cried as she spun around and around
the room.
"Kawaii?" Rei questioned skeptically. "That's not how Jadeite describes him."
"Well Jadeite wouldn't, now would he?" she demanded, no longer spinning. "I know he doesn't seem that way on the surface, but when you get to know him..." she let out a sigh, "Mal-chan is really just a softy!"
Makoto giggled. "So's Nephrite!" she told her friends. "Those eyes, that hair... he's so very handsome! I hope he asks me to the ball tonight."
"Why wouldn't he?" Serena asked. "He seems as head-over-heels for you as you are for him."
"And what about the Prince?" Ami asked. "Has he asked you to the ball, Serena-chan?"
The Moon Princess frowned. "I'm sure he will. He's just shy..." She looked up at the blue-haired Mercurial and demanded brightly, "And Zoisite? Aren't you going with him?"
Ami blushed bright red, but a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "He asked me to save him a dance," she admitted.
"That's close enough!" Minako cried, her blue eyes dancing with merriment. "Tonight is going to be wonderful," the senshi of love sighed. "We'll dance and we'll fall in love..."
"Aren't you already in love, Minako-chan?" the Martian Princess asked with a smile.
"Aren't we all already in love?" Ami said softly.
Rei knelt to dodge Jadeite's blow and hooked her foot around his ankles and pulled. She laughed, jumping to her feet, as he fell to the ground with a curse. "I guess I win," she said brightly, "again."
She held a hand out, and he accepted, pulling himself up. "It's not fair," he grumped. "You're too quick!"
"Iie, Jade," she said, grinning, "you're too slow." He said nothing, just pulled his silver and red uniform jacket on over the white undershirt and motioned for her to accompany him back to the palace. They walked in silence, enjoying the sights and sounds of the moon and each other's company.
"So..." he finally managed as they passed Minako's flower bed, "are you going to the Queen's ball tonight?"
"Of course," she said lightly, though her heart was pounding. "As a senshi I'm required to be there, but I would probably go anyway. All my friends are, after all."
"Hai... I heard Mal-kun is taking Minako-san, and Nephrite is going with Makoto."
Rei smiled. "And they're thrilled. It's all they talked about the entire morning... but don't tell Malachite or Nephrite. I think Minako and Makoto would kill me if they knew I told you!"
He nodded and said, "Zoi-kun told me he wanted to ask Princess Ami-san, but couldn't get up the nerve, so he just asked her for a dance. I was rather surprised by that... Zoisite isn't usually so shy."
"Love does funny things to people," she replied, being careful to not look at him, but instead at the dancing, shimmering patterns the water of a nearby fountain made.
"Once again," he said softly, "that leaves just you and I, Rei-chan."
Something in his tone surprised her into glancing up at him, and she was instantly lost in the deep, bright blue of his eyes. "I... I guess it does." She backed up closer to the fountain and ran her fingertips over the surface of the water, trying to calm her racing heart. Water, though, was not her element, and it did little good.
He walked toward her until his face was inches from hers and whispered to her lips, "So will I see you there?"
Her mouth parted to
answer, but he kissed her before she could utter a sound. His tongue
caressed hers, moving in and out of her mouth in a way that made her melt
in the strong arms he wrapped around her waist. He pulled his lips
from hers and she made a little whimper of protest that caused him to chuckle
in a deep, husky voice.
"So will I?" he asked again, letting go of her waist and taking a step
back.
Rei ran a hand through her long raven hair, trying to regain her composure, and said with a mischievous smile, "Certainly, Lord Jadeite. I wouldn't miss it for the world."
He laughed and, with a bow, disappeared down the shadowy corridor of the Moon Palace. "Well," Rei whispered bemusedly once he was gone, "I guess Ami was right: we are all in love!"
It was beautiful, absolutely
the loveliest thing Rei had ever seen, and she had been to many balls held
by Queen Serenity of the Moon. This one, however, was something new
altogether: the spacious, airy ballroom was garlanded with silk of every
color of the rainbow, and more besides; flowers were strewn
everywhere; jewels
glittered from the throats, hands, wrists and hair of every woman present;
and presiding over the whole thing was the peaceful, silver beauty of the
Queen herself. Rei laughed as she caught sight of Serena, the Moon
Princess, talking excitedly to the darkly handsome Prince of Earth,
Endymion. If
her princess was happy, then Rei was happy, and no one made Serena-chan
happier than Endymion-san.
Suddenly Rei was swooped up by strong arms and danced out onto the floor. "Such a beauty as yourself, Lady Mars, should never be a wallflower!" the auburn-haired Nephrite cried with a grin.
"Where's Mako-chan? She might sick her Thunder Dragon on you if she catches you dancing with another woman," she said with mock sternness.
Nephrite laughed and pointed across the room to where Makoto was dancing with Malachite. "She stole Mal-kun from Minako-san."
"So where's Minako?"
"Over there!" The blond was dancing with Zoisite, and a bright, laughing Ami was twirling around the floor with Jadeite.
Rei frowned. "So does that mean I'm stuck with you all night?" she asked with a wink.
"Alas, lovely Rei-chan, I'm afraid not. Eventually Malachite will tire of my beloved Makoto, and will commence beating Zoisite about the head and face -- something he really wouldn't do, for Zoi-kun would never forgive him for ruining his beauty -- until he releases Minako, at which time Ami will let go of Jadeite to tend to his wounds, and Jade-kun will come searching for you, Mako-chan for me. Then, my dear, our night of forbidden passion will come to a violent end with -- hopefully -- not too much permanent damage."
The Martian Princess laughed -- she was quickly coming to understand what attracted her friend to Nephrite so much. "I see you've planned this well, Lord Nephrite. And it looks like your plan is already in motion," she said, gesturing to Malachite, who was bowing respectfully to Makoto as the song ended.
"Perhaps we can avert disaster by saying goodbye and finding our respective partners now?" he suggested with a smile.
She nodded and curtsied. "Thank you for a lovely dance, Lord Nephrite. I do hope we can do it again before the evening is over!"
"As do I, Lady Mars," he replied, bowing before making his way through the crowd to the Princess of Jupiter's side.
Rei smiled at the way her friend's face lit up when Nephrite joined her, and turned away to go find Jadeite. As it turned out, he found her. "Rei-chan!" he cried happily. "I saw you dancing with that old wind-bag, Nephrite. I hope he didn't bore you too terribly."
"Nai, actually," she replied, raising an eyebrow speculatively, "I found him quite amusing, and if Mako-chan wasn't such a good friend..." she trailed off, thoroughly enjoying Jadeite's confusion. "I'm kidding, Jade-chan, relax," she said after letting him squirm for a moment.
He smiled, but his tone was serious when he said, "Would you walk with me, Rei? There's something I wish to talk to you about..."
"Hai," she said, taking the arm he offered, "let's go out onto the terrace."
The sky was perfectly clear, not a cloud in sight, and the earth was as full and round as it had been the first night they met. Jadeite smiled at the memory, and stopped to lean on the railing before looking down at the beautiful Princess of Mars. "My fiery one," he whispered, tracing along her lower jawbone with a fingertip, "how I'll miss you when we leave."
"Leave?" she asked, alarmed. "When are you leaving?"
He frowned and turned away, running a hand through the waves of his short blond hair. "Soon... I don't know when exactly, but there's some trouble on Earth... we probably shouldn't have stayed this long."
"But the Prince loves Serena," Rei said in explanation.
"And his guardians love her senshi," he replied, turning to face her, something sparkling in his hand.
She gasped as she noticed what he was holding. It was a silver ring, its setting different from any she had ever seen: the main stone was a clear red ruby, which was set between what looked similar to two silver wings, a small diamond in the center of each.
"I wanted you to have... something..." he sighed and shook his head. "I love you, Rei-chan," he finally said, "and I don't want you to forget about me, because I fear that it will be a long, long time before we're together again."
A single tear trickled down her cheek as she remembered thinking the same thing only days before as she sat in front of her sacred fire. "Oh, Jadeite," she whispered, throwing herself into his arms. "I love you too," she said over and over as the tear turned into wracking sobs.
"Rei, don't cry! Please don't cry... Gomen nasai, I didn't mean to scare you!" he said desperately, running his hands through her long, dark hair.
"You didn't scare me,
Jadeite, for I've been afraid of the same thing," she was finally able
to say. She slipped the ring onto her finger and smiled. "I'll
wear it always, for I could never, ever forget you..."
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Raye woke with a start, her cheeks wet with tears and the last words dream-Raye had uttered still echoing in her mind: I could never, ever forget you... She lied to him that night, for she had forgotten, forgotten everything! How was that possible? How had her mind blocked out the memories of such love, such an over-whelming need for him?
She shook her head, angry suddenly. Jadeite was a traitor. He chose Beryl and empty promises of power in favor of loyalty, love and friendship. Raye had no need for such a shallow man anyway: she had Jay, and Jay was the exact opposite of everything Jadeite represented in her mind.
So then why were her dreams about Jadeite rather than her current boyfriend? The past... it was far, far in the past, and it was high time everyone -- she included -- realized that the world didn't have to be governed by things that happened thousands of years ago. With that thought, she jumped out of bed and pulled her school uniform from the closet, looking forward to another day of being Raye Hino... just Raye Hino.
End IV