Disclaimer: Here's chapter two!! Hope ya'll like this one better than chapter one, only got a few emails... =)... Oh yeah, disclaimer... I don't own Sailor Moon, Naoko Takeuchi does though ;), so please don't sue me! Please, please email me at my addy: inspiredthoughts@hotmail.com Notes at the end...*g* Chapter Two Mina waited expectantly for his answer. Her blood rushed through her ears, first searingly hot, then bitingly cold. But his answer was not in words, but in actions. He swept her up in eager arms and kissed her soundly on her lips. Mina went rigid at first, shocked senseless in response, and she felt him start to pull away at her resistance, disappointment in every line of his handsome body. Suddenly afraid of losing the man she had just won over she linked her hands behind his neck and firmly kept him anchored to her. Now it was his turn to be surprised, though whether it was from her eagerness to resume the kiss or her so unladylike response she didn't know. She smiled as she kissed him. He should know by now that lady was not a term many would choose to use in the same sentence with her name. His hands wrapped themselves in her hair and Mina bit back a deep, satisfied chuckle. By the planets, he was a good kisser! When they finally broke apart for air color stained his cheeks and he started to stammer an apology. She shushed him with a silly remark. "Persistence really does pay off!" He looked at her for a moment, silver eyes wide before tossing his head back and roaring with laughter. He swung her around and set her reluctantly down. "Its about time!" stated a relieved voice behind them. "Do you know how long we've tried to hook him up with someone, anyone? I mean we even almost had a thing with the Princess of Atlantis's personal maid... I mean they were talking prenuptial agreements and stuff but then Jadeite had to go and dump that bowl of tapioca pudding on the diplomats..." "Zoicite," Kunzite growled darkly. Mina tried to hide her laughter but couldn't. The unrepentant Zoicite only grinned and sauntered past. "Couldn't have happened to a nicer man, my dear," he called over his shoulder, "but we all know you could have done better. Oh well, there will be other bets. I'm off to tell Nephrite he won, though personally I don't think he should have been let in our little pool, I mean he does read the stars and all..." Kunzite was rapidly turning bright red in embarrassment as he shook his head, trying to speak through his outrage. Finally he managed a single word-- well, this *is* rated PG-13, use your imaginations! (I'm sure that'll be better than anything I can come up with ^_~) That did Mina in and she spent the next twenty minutes laughing until she cried. Finally they both calmed down and looked fondly at each other. "Wanna go get cake?" the Venusian Princess asked with a gleam in her eyes. Kunzite raised an elegant eyebrow. "Excuse me, my little Mi-chan?" he asked as he put an arm around her waist and drew her closer to him. Mina smiled at the nickname which rolled so easily off his tongue, savoring the moment, before answering and spoiling it. "Welll," she drew out, "I already have the icing so we might as well go eat the cake too, or at least put you on it." Kunzite coughed as he tried to hide his laugh. Composing his features he drew himself to his considerable height and looked haughtingly down at her. "I would like it to be noted that I object to being called a pastry item and I am the man, shouldn't I be wooing you?" Mina batted her eyelashes as she looked up at him from momentarily guileless blue eyes. "Pastry accessory Kunzite, there is a difference," she amended in complete seriousness, "and I've been wooing you for forever, why should this particular tabby cat change colors?" Kunzite stared mesmerized in the sweet innocence she radiated before tweaking her nose. "You, Mi-chan, should have been an actress," he said with a rare quirk of his mouth. Mina snorted. "Then I'd never get to eat any cake, or icing," she said plaintively. Pretending great dismay, Kunzite picked her up in his arms, both of them restraining from giggling the entire time. "Well that is a mortal crime, so just in case you turn into an actress behind my back we'd better go have dessert." Trying to arrange herself primly in his arms--no small task--she flicked her golden hair back. "Yes, we'd better, shouldn't we?" * * * They got thirteen days of peace and happiness, not near enough for most to last a thousand years but for people who never believed that love would touch them it was enough for a lifetime, several in fact. * * * "Mi-chan, promise me you'll be careful," Kunzite said firmly as he pulled on his boots and tied up the shoelaces. "Please humor me..." Mina sighed deeply as she transformed into Sailor Venus. Her reply was bitten back though by her love's fascinated gaze. "What?" she asked, bewildered as she looked around the room, trying to find his point of intense interest. "By the planets, you look really hot in that uniform..." She stared at him, open mouthed, before grinning from ear to ear. Kunzite had changed, in good ways, during their time together. A lot of the coldness had melted away and Mina cherished the times that he would speak unguardedly, without reservations. "Really?" she asked flippantly as she craned to look down at herself. "I always thought that orange made me look fat..." Kunzite groaned and shook his head before rising from the bed and walking forward to crush her in a hug. "Must you always joke?" he queried in her ear before kissing it. Mina shivered and chuckled before moving her head so she could kiss him on the lips. "Well it gets such good results..." the rest of her sentence was effectively cut off as he reclaimed her lips for another kiss. "You are a wonderful kisser, you know that." "Practice makes perfect," he murmured. Biting back more laughter she sighed and pulled away. Kunzite stared down at her sadly now, all amusement gone. "Promise me," he said firmly now, doggedly returning to his former demands. Mina snorted exasperated. "All right lover, I'll be careful. I won't put myself into any undue danger but only," at this she pointed an accusatory finger at him, "if you agree to the same. No playing hero, you hear me! I've just gotten you to come to your senses, don't you dare go and get yourself killed." His stern expression softened at her vehemence and he folded her once more in his expression. "I'm scared, Kunzite," she said quietly as he held her. "I'm scared because what we have can just as easily be taken away..." "Never," he replied fiercely and he held her closer to him. "I won't allow anything to come between us, Mi-chan, nothing at all." "Except duty, Kunzite, except duty." Kunzite closed his beautiful icy eyes at the bitterness in her voice. He rocked her back and forth as she sobbed into his uniform. "I'm sorry Mi-chan, I'm sorry. We can't escape destiny or fate but we'll always have each other, I promise. Even if we're flung worlds apart we'll always be one in heart and spirit and soul." * * * Mina growled and sent her power coursing towards the man who was about to kill Zoicite from behind while he was engaged with another adversary. She had promised herself that she would watch out for the generals. She didn't have the heart to return to the moon and tell her best friends the men they loved were dead. Zoicite finished off the man and shouted quick thanks in her direction before the tide of battle tore them apart. In many ways the fight reminded her of a storm, a raging storm that pelted down harsh rain and left pools of water and swollen rivers. Only now the water was blood. She had never been so frightened in her entire life but that seemed to be another part of her, a little quaking girl that was crying at the brutalities she saw and committed. The part of her enemies saw was cold and calculating, strong with purpose and filled with magical power. Mina didn't know where the other part of her nature came from and at the moment, she truly didn't care. It was keeping her and the generals alive and that was all that mattered. She was glad for the bright blues and greens that the earth soldiers were wearing. Otherwise it wouldn't be possible to tell friend from foe. The dark warriors were magicked to look like normal people. Mina wished they were monsters instead. Somehow nightmares filled with their dying forms was less terrifying than those filled with creatures that looked human. A loud resounding roar broke her rhythm of fighting. In an instant everyone stilled and looked skyward. She shivered at the rapt awe on the faces of the enemy and felt a sickening lump of dread as fear filled the faces of her own. She glanced around her quickly and was comforted that all the generals were within her eyesight, and that her beloved Kunzite was only a hundred yards or so away. For some reason it seemed very important to keep him close... Mina looked back to the sky and felt her mouth drop as the boiling clouds that had hung oppressively over the battlefield parted and revealed a woman. She was beautiful, in a way that had Mina trembling with fear. Her hair was violently red and floated in an opaque cloud around her twisted features. They were cruel, and her full mouth was sneering with superiority. The woman was dressed in a flowing purple and silk dress. The lower half of her body was obscured by dark mist which trailed after her like a train which reminded Mina of a ghastly bride of darkness. And she knew who she was. The evil power that radiated off of her left no doubt. This was Beryl, Queen of the people who called themselves the Negaverse. Piercing eyes traveled among the silent fighters, pausing for an instant as she marked each of the generals before pinning Mina beneath their oppressive force. Then Beryl smiled, her fangs gleaming so that even Mina could see them. And in an instant Mina knew what was going to happen. With a cry of helpless fury born of desperation Mina flung up a shield of golden light before dark power coursed toward her. Mina gasped as she was driven to her knees and could hear faintly Kunzite's shout of outrage as the black lightning danced and hissed and tried to break through her shield of protection. "No," she moaned as she saw the shaft of evil energy branch and shoot like ill-fated arrows towards four others. "Kunzite!" she screeched as she stumbled to her feet and tried to go to him. Mina saw his face; fear for her replaced by shock as he turned just in time for the magic to hit him full in the face but not in time to save himself. The others shared his fate as the Negaverse power knocked them to the bloodied ground. They writhed as they fought off the chains of darkness that bound them but not for long as their limbs stilled... Mina angrily brushed away burning tears as she determinedly shrugged off the opposing energy of Beryl and half walked, half crawled to her lover. But she was too slow, and in the end too weak to save them, perhaps too weak to save herself. As Beryl subdued her new minions she used the same power to gather them to her, to lift them to the sky and her greedy arms. Those faintly amused and arrogant eyes found Mina's anguished ones as Beryl cackled. The four generals' limp bodies hung like puppets before her, their faces frozen in unholy pain. "Kill her," Beryl ordered harshly, the only words she had spoken, as she looked at Mina coldly. And with a wave of her slender arms Beryl was gone, along with Mina's heart and soul. She sank to the earth, shocked senseless, as the energy fighting her dissipated. Her own shield faltered as great sobs tore through her shaking body. Mina turned her face towards the heavens where her hopes and dreams had fled and cried out in a voice that came from her shattered spirit. "You can't have them, you can't have him!" And, broken by the odd spell that held them, the rest of the men were unfrozen. She looked up dully and felt a flicker of terror as she realized that she was surrounded completely by Negaverse creatures. All those of earth were outside the tight ring of blackness that was rapidly closing in on her. Their masks of humanity shifted and then dissolved, showing clearly their hideous faces, which leered at her as they closed in for the kill. * * * The remaining three senshi sat in a small circle, their hands clasped, in the war room. Outside their ring was the nervous Queen Serenity, the Moon Princess, Endymion, and Luna, all who watched the proceedings with large worried eyes. The scouts were using their combined powers to 'watch' Mina through the scout link that they shared, the same link that told them that the Outers were dead. They couldn't actually see her but with their combined strength they could sense if something was wrong... Their faces were cool and serene as they tranced. Suddenly though the three young women gasped as one and were flung backward, their ring broken. Rei and Lita were knocked unconscious but Ami was still groggily awake. Queen Serenity and Luna went quickly to her and knelt by her side while Princess Serenity clung to Endymion and buried her face in his comforting shoulder while he looked on with disbelieving eyes. "Ami, please what happened... Come on Ami, tell us, stay with us..." Ami coughed as she looked up with a glassy stare. Luna pounced on her chest when it was clear that the Queen's words weren't penetrating. "Ami," she snapped, voice commanding and desperate, "what happened?!" Her full lips mouthed the words softly and Luna bent closer to hear. "Now Luna... pain, so much pain..." Luna looked up, face fearful for Mina. "Use the crystal, it's worth a shot. Ami says there's pain and with the others," Luna paused, unable to go on for a moment before managing, "with the others there was just nothingness..." Queen Serenity nodded grimly and took the Silver Imperium Crystal from the pouch at her waist. She raised it before her and using her precious energy sent the seeking magic towards Earth in an effort to save Mina, Princess Venus, leader of the Sailor Scouts and a very dear friend. Author's Notes: Hi ya'll. Hope you liked it! Email me and let me know, kay? Thanks...LOL... Thanks for everyone who did email me; Lady Raye(who posted my stuff on her page), Yoshi(who put my fics on her page =>), FlameAngel16, JaToya Love(who posted my fics on her site), and Sonya. Thanks again everybody, man I'm branching out! LOL Oh and kudos to mercurami for proofing this for me!! Dunno if a double chapter is going to happen or not, depends on when everything gets edited and I take it and rewrap anything that needs it... Have a good week everyone, until next time!--ST