Hi, it's Sailor DKC, back for another story.  It's my fourth one and
it involves Lita and Nephlite.  As you noticed, I'm doing stories 
based on some art work of the senshi/general couples from the website
of Generals Love, a fantastic site!

The art work of Lita and Nephlite is from Caper Blossom.  When you
see this *, I am describing the scene according to the drawing.

I don't own Sailor Moon. Naoko Takeuchi does. This is entertainment
only, so have fun reading.  Rated G! 

Dedicated to Caper Blossom.

E-mail me at sailordkc@hotmail.com for comments!



THE WAY WE DANCED
By Sailor DKC


On the Earth in the palace of Prince Darien, four girls were 
conversing in Lita's guest room. The topic was suppose to be about
their training in the morning, but no one was talking about it
literally.
"Did you see the way Jedite stared at you, Raye? He was practically
drooling!" Mina giggled.
"Oh yeah! Like Kunzite was no different," Raye snickered, wickedly.
"He noticed you all right. Enough to say, 'Lady Venus, great legs-
uh, I mean, great workout!'"  She fell back on Lita's bed, laughing,
while Mina blushed red.
"Now, stop it, you two," Amy said, sitting on a chair near Lita's
dresser. "The guys were there at the training room just to observe
our fighting techniques."
"Oh, really?" Lita leaned against the dresser behind Amy, smiling
smugly. "I happen to see you do a quick check of your hair on the
wall mirror before Zoicite came up to compliment on your moves!"
Amy blushed, placed a hand on her cheek, and turned her head slightly
away.

"What about you, Lita? Did Nephlite say anything to you?" Mina asked,
as she sat next to Raye on the bed. Lita then showed a dejected look
on her face.
"Well, he was coming towards me, but then Lady Mollina came in, said
something to him, and then they both took off."
Remembering that scene made the other girls gave sad looks, feeling 
for Lita. "Well, it doesn't mean anything," Raye said. "Maybe they're
just friends."
"And it's maybe rumors around the palace that they're an item," Amy
added.
"After all," Mina said. "Those two knew each other since they were 
kids. It's possible or not they could fall in lo-mmph!"
"MINA!" Raye screeched, clapping her hand over Mina's mouth.
"Hey, it's OK, guys," Lita said with a straight face. "I mean, it's
not as if he's interested in me as a girl, anyway. Mollina looks so 
petite and so full of waifness. I'm just a tall, athletic giant."
"Now stop that!" Raye said, angrily, getting off the bed and facing
her. "You are as much woman as all of us in this room here."
"That's right." Amy stood up and took Lita's hands in hers. "Now 
let's talk about something more pleasant."
"I know!" Mina said, bouncing off the bed. "What we'll wear to the
dance contest coming up in a few weeks!"

Much later, Lita was alone in her room. Looking out her window at the
lovely sunny afternoon blue sky, she thought about Nephlite. His
clear blue eyes. His long dark, rich, brown hair. She sighed
dreamily, visioning herself running her hands through it.  She then
imagined him placing his hands on her waist and pulling her close to
him.  Humming a tune softly, she slowly whirled around the room. 'I
wonder if he dances divinely,' she thought as she twirled about,
imagining the two of them dancing together.
Suddenly, a knock on the door brought her out of her dream.  When she
opened it, Lita gasped in shock. 
Giving a slight bow of his head, Nephlite faced her.

"Lady Jupiter," he said. "May I speak to you, please?"
She replied, nervously, "Oh, um, of-of-of course."
"I just wanted to say how impressed I was earlier in your training.
You have such great athletic ability. I am very awed by it."
"Thank you." Blushing, she bent her head and folded her hands.
"Anyway, the reason why I'm here is because I want to ask you to be
my partner in the upcoming dance contest."
She looked up, surprised. "Me? Why?"
Nephlite then looked puzzled. "Well, I assume by your athletic
movements that you can dance as well. Can you?"
"Oh, well, yes. I love to dance. But, why me, all of a sudden?"
Nephlite then swallowed and pulled on his collar of his general's
uniform. He spoke carefully as if trying to pick the right words.
"My partner, Mollina, had to drop out for an important reason. Now I
need a new partner.  Watching you in your training, I knew you'd be
perfect."
Lita's face fell. "Oh."
There was silence for a while, then Nephlite spoke up. "Well, my 
lady? Will you be my partner?"
She was thinking of saying no, but when she looked into his blue 
eyes, she was lost.
"OK."

When Nephlite returned to his room, he leaned against the door and
let out a deep breath. 'I can't believe I asked her,' he thought.
'And I can't believe she said yes!"
Lady Jupiter -Lita to her friends- is entering the dance contest with
him.  He was going to attend it with his old friend, Mollina, but she
had to cancel on the account of spending time with her love, Lord 
Melvinson who just returned from a long trip. 
It was Mollina's suggestion to go ask his long time crush, Princess
Lita of Jupiter. The first time he saw her was in an ice skating rink
on the moon.  Being one of Prince Darien's generals, he was escorting
the prince to meet his true love, Princess Serena on the ice when 
Lita skated by.

His eyes widened, and his heart thumped wildly as he took in her
lovely form in a green velvet skating outfit.  As she twirled, 
leaped, and then glided right by him, their eyes met.  He could have
sworn that her eyes were like emeralds. Right then and there, he fell
in love.
He was nervous to approach her. Mollina told him to go for it and ask
her out. And he did, but now he felt stupid.  He made his asking her 
to the contest sound like a chore. She had the look of disapproval on
her face, but when she agreed, she had the look of beauty and 
innocence.
If he hadn't thanked her and walked away at that moment, he would 
have grabbed and kissed her.

Lita and Nephlite made arrangements to meet two hours a day and 
practice for the contest. Lita looked forward not just to practice
dancing with him but to feel his arms hold her as they danced.
Oh, his strong yet gentle arms enclosing her tightly for a brief
moment, then swinging her away yet never letting go of her hand. She
felt like she was dancing on air.
Nephlite also looked forward to being close to Lita every chance he
got.  Every time he pulls her close for a prepared dip, he looks 
deeply into her lovely greens for a second. Then he dips her and 
takes in the alluring sight of her head thrown back, her long, soft 
brown hair, flailing around her like shimmering waves, her neck 
arching and exposing her elegant throat.  It took all of his will 
power not to place sweet, tender kisses on her lovely nape.

The event finally arrived. During the contest, Prince Darien and
Princess Serena, as judges, observed the dancing couples.  Finally,
it was Nephlite's and Lita's turn.  Stepping forward onto the dance
floor, they looked at each other and smiled. "Good luck," they 
whispered to each other. 
Then Nephlite noticed Mollina in the crowd of onlookers, waving at
him and giving him a thumbs-up for good luck. Grinning at her, he
waved back.  Lita noticed this, and sadness filled within her. She
thought for sure during the practice lessons that Nephlite would fall
for her.  But it turns out that his girlfriend is here to support 
him.
The music began, and they started dancing. (DANCE MUSIC from the film
NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN in the dance scene with Sean Connery and Kim
Bassinger- NOTE: also an inspiration idea to this story!)
After a while, Nephlite noticed that Lita didn't look at him as she
usually did when they practiced. He wondered what was wrong. Then
came a point in their routine when they had to look at each other for
a dramatic pose.

* Slipping her right arm around his back, Lita looked into Nephlite's
eyes as he placed his left hand on her bare upper left arm. They
twirled backwards, his general's cape flowing in rhythm and her satin
green dress fluttering and showing, once in a while, a glimpse of her
slender leg. *

Nephlite was startled to see sadness in Lita's eyes. Something was
definitively wrong.  The dance ended and there was applause. After a
long discussion, Darien and Serena stepped onto the dance floor, each
holding a gold medal.
"We have decided on the winners of the contest," Darien said.
"The best dancing couple awards go to-" Serena dramatically paused,
giggling. "-Lita and Nephlite!"
Everyone applauded as the prince and princess gave the medals to the
winning couple. They were suddenly separated as the crowd moved 
forward to congratulate them.

As the other generals congratulated Nephlite, Mollina burst through
the crowd and jumped into his arms. "Oh, Nephlite! You were 
wonderful! You and Lady Jupiter looked so divine out there."  She
gave him a hug.
"I agree," Jedite replied. "You two are the greatest hit this 
evening."
"I have never seen such passion in that kind of dancing before,"
Kunzite complimented. "It's as if you two were made for each other."
Lita was just thanking her friends when she saw Mollina jumping into
Nephlite's arms.  Suddenly, it seemed that the whole world was
crumbling down around her. Letting out a gasp of despair, she fled
from the ballroom, dropping her medal.  The girls expressed sad looks
when they also saw the whole thing.
Zoicite saw everything, too. "Um, Nephlite, I think your partner is
feeling left out."
"Huh?" Nephlite looked around. Lita was gone. Then he noticed her
medal on the floor. Mollina then let go of his arm which she had been
clinging on to. "Oh, no! She must have seen my hugging you!"
"I have to find her." Nephlite scooped up the medal and dashed from
the ballroom.

Tears streamed down Lita's cheeks as she ran through the hallway.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Lita muttered to herself. "Why did I ever
think he could actually fall for me!"
"Lita, wait! Wait, please!"
Stopping in shock, Lita could not believe her ears. "He's following 
me?"  She turned as Nephlite caught up to her. Placing his hands one
her shoulders, he pulled her to him.
"Lita, listen, that scene back there. It wasn't what you think!"
"I don't understand. Isn't Lady Mollina your girlfriend?"
"No, she's an old friend. She was just congratulating me."
Placing her hands over her face to hide her blush, Lita said, "Oh,
how embarrassing! I can't believe I ran out like that!"
Taking her hands from her face, Nephlite stared into his eyes. "It's
my fault, Lita. I should have said something the first time I saw
you, but I thought you knew by the way we danced."
Taking a deep breath, Nephlite said, "I'm in love with you. Holding
you close to me while we danced, I never felt so complete. I never
want to let you go. In fact, not being able to kiss you is driving me
nuts!"

There was silence for a while as Lita stared into his deep blues.
"Why didn't you?"
"What?"
"Kiss me?"
Blushing, Nephlite looked down. "I-uh, I didn't think you want me to,
and I don't want to take advantage of-" He broke off as he noticed
that she came very close to him.  Her lips were nearly close to his.
"Lita."
"Nephlite."
Their lips met passionately as their arms quickly wrapped around each
other.  Breaking off the kiss, Nephlite kissed down Lita's cheek, 
then her chin. Lita lifted up her head to allow Nephlite to devour
her throat. "I'm in love with you, too," she gasped as he nibbled her
neck.
Pulling back, he stared at her. "You are?"
She laughed softly. "Well, I wouldn't allow you to show that much
affection if I didn't."

Smiling hugely, he kissed her again. Then faint sounds of music 
began floating through the hallway. Lita and Nephlite then slowly
withdrew from each other. "I guess they're starting the dance again,"
Nephlite murmured. He placed her medal in her hand and offered his
arm. "Shall we?"
Taking it, Lita led him to a nearby balcony door. "In a while. I want
to dance here alone with you."
They both walked out on to the balcony. Taking her in his arms, he 
held her close as they waltzed into the night. Under the twinkling
stars, they stared at each other as they danced to the faint music
from the ballroom.


					THE END


3/01