Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all related characters belong to those who created them. Which, miracles of wonder, is NOT me.

Chapter 3 - Meetings

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Earlier that same day, five men talked among themselves.

No, scratch that.

Four men were talking amongst themselves.

The other was comfortably seated with a very big book in his hands, a concentrated look on his eyes.

He remained oblivious to the other's inane chatter, which never varied from the topics of parties, women and general fun.

Jadeite had been over excited, ever since they had left the castle. The three hour trip had done no good in stopping him.

Nephrite was his latest victim.

"You, or me? Who's gonna win, Nephie? I bet I can get more gals than you ever will!"

On the other hand, 'Nephie' was having a hard time trying to ignore the little lust-ridden fellow which insisted in pestering him. He had tried by all means to attract Kunzite's attention, but his fellow general seemed deeply interested in the stars outside the window...

{Little creep. I'll get you for this}.

Endymion was... how can we put it in a way that doesn't sound displeasing......

We can't.

He was excited.

He was babbling something so quickly to Kunzite that even if he had wanted to, he wouldn't have been able to understand. The prince's eyes were shining, his mind totally overjoyed because he had just been given the chance of meeting the most beautiful girls in the Universe.

Even the most patient of men has a breaking point. A place where no meditation is enough to keep temper in check. Kunzite was harbouring that place very close now.

"If you both don't calm down, we'll have to tie you up and leave you here till the party is over."

It took them three seconds to realize what he had just said, and two more to shut up and make a mad dash for their seats. Silence spread over the ship.

However, it only lasted about a minute, before they both burst out laughing uncontrollably. Kunzite smiled, Nephrite grinned, and Zoisite just sighed.

Just then, the ship landed in the Moon, and they stood up. From the inside, they could hear a voice, announcing: "And now, our guests of honour, Prince Endymion of Earth and his Generals." The door opened, and they walked outside. A huge crowd of Lunarian people saluted them, and they answered politely.

Zoisite enjoyed his view, staring intently at the Moon court. There was the Queen and the Moon Princess, with their hair in those familiar odangos.

{Strange tastes they have in hair-styles}.

Next to her, was a black haired girl. Her hair had purple sparkles, matching her eyes, and reached her knees. She was wearing a red dress, and he immediately identified her as Princess Mars, from the same planet.

{Fiery temper, I've heard. Also some mind abilities, if I remember correctly}.

Standing at the Mars' princess side was a brunette. She had her hair in a pony-tail, reaching her shoulders. She had green eyes, and wore a green dress, very similar to her friend's.

{Boy she's tall. I bet she could match Nephrite. Now, from where may she be? Green, tall, *obviously* powerful... only Princess Jupiter}.

He now let his eyes wonder to the side of Princess Jupiter. A blonde, with her hair down except for a red bow in her head. Her hair moved with the night wind, brushing her thighs. Blue eyes, shining with inner strength. His trained eyes looked at her and one thought sprang up.

{She looks a lot like Princess Serenity. I bet that with her hair in the royal style, they could pass as twins. If I remember right, she is the leader of the Senshi, Princess ... what's her name? Venus, that's it. Weird. Was that my imagination or is she staring at Kunzite with a dreamy look? Nahhh}.

He looked now to the other side of Princess Serenity. Next to her, was a girl (nope, scratch that. Most definitely *woman*), who looked slightly older than the rest. She had light-green hair, reaching her shoulders with green eyes.

{I remember this one. She is famous for her playing in the violin and painting. I think she was Princess Neptune. And if I'm correct, that tomboy standing next to her must be Princess Uranus}.

Her hair was cut short, and a curious thought ran through Zoi's mind:

{If she was wearing a tuxedo, I would've certainly mistaken her for a man}.

It was clear that she didn't like being in there or in the dress, for the way she kept fidgeting with the front strap of it.

To Princess Uranus side, was the youngest of the girls. She had purple hair and the same colour for her eyes.

{She is just a kid. She can't be much older than 12. Is she really a warrior? Now, hold on a sec'. Ahh, now it makes sense. She is Princess Saturn. Strange that such a small girl holds so much power within herself}.

With a protective arm around Saturn's shoulder, was the older of the girls (scratch that again. If Neptune was a woman, this was most definitely a Woman. Capital letter an all) on the court. She also had green hair, though hers was darker, and reached past her knees. Her eyes were red, and seemed to hold the wisdom of eternity.

{And that isn't wrong. Because she is Princess Pluto, the guardian of time}.

He nodded slightly, barely hearing the speaker's welcome speech. He was now looking blankly at nowhere, when suddenly a little warning shot through his head.

{Now wait a minute. If there's a Princess for each planet, aren't I missing someone? Let's see, from the Outer Solar System...}.

He began counting, matching up princesses and planets.

{Pluto, Neptune, Uranus and Saturn. That's OK. From the Inner Planets, Jupiter Mars, Venus and ... where's the Mercury Princess? She's the one missing. I was told she was shy, but I didn't expect her to leave before everything was over}.

He searched the group of girls in front of him, but he couldn't see anyone else that seemed to be from royalty.

{Wait a minute. Who is that one there, behind Princess Venus? She is not hiding, is she? She appears to be escaping from someone}.

Zoisite's eyes were barely open, his excellent view enhanced by squinting his pupils.

{Hmm, blue eyes, blue dress, blue hair ... What?? Blue hair?}.

{No, wait. Not blue. Black. Damn this lights are tricky}.

A little more staring proved fruitful.

{But it looks nice on her. Matches her eyes...She surely is cute. *Really* cute. Hey, hey. Hold on Zoi. What are you thinking? Are you feeling attracted to a woman? Can't be}.

However, his eyes didn't leave the Mercury Princess' for the rest of the ceremony. He noticed her fear, fear of something, or someone... who clearly was within the eager crowd.

Her eyes had began scanning it since they had arrived, as if looking for someone... Gosh, was he the only one who noticed her terror?

Those eyes... he had seen those eyes before.

When Endymion and the others went hunting, many times, they had had to end their prey's misery. And every time, the poor animals looked at them with such eyes... the same ones he was seeing on her face right now.

Wide.

Searching.

Pleading.

There!

For a split second, her eyes widened even further, and she sank back, almost disappearing behind Venus' wide hair. He could swear he had heard her gasp.

Trying not to be too obvious, he looked back.

He saw nothing.

Just more smiling people.

Happy to be there.

Pleased with their own money.

Vain in their wants, but harmless.

What was it, then? What had she seen that had made her tremble?

His eyes searched further in the back, where the servants and maids watched the unfolding ceremony...

A princess couldn't be afraid of a servant, could she?

Unless she had a terrible secret, a secret they had discovered by chance.

Blackmail?

No. Not in the Moon Kingdom.

Anywhere but there.

What, then?

It was in that moment, that something caught her eye.

The glitter of jewels... the aura of power. Between servants?

As he looked harder, he saw him.

A guy standing in the dark. He was wearing a black tuxedo, and since his hair was dark purple, it was difficult to see him. He didn't stand out between the shadows. He was just like one of them.

Scratching his memories, Zoi tried to recall his name. He had seen that man before. Purple, purple, from what planet was that colour? Of course!

Saturn.

{He is Ren, the Saturn Prince. He was one time on Earth. Boy, that guy gave me the creeps!}.

As he weighted him up and down, trying to determine whether he deserved any further investigation, he noticed him smiling. And that smile, was enough to send a shiver down his spine.

Though it was nothing compared to what it did to the Mercury Princess.

She was about to faint.

Her complexion had been fair before, but now, it was ghostly white.

God, couldn't they see?

Didn't they notice?

She was fainting, damn it! And no one made a move to help her!

All of a sudden, the ceremony finished, and he watched, grinding his teeth, as the group of princesses entered the ball room.

It was only then that he noticed his anger.

He was shaking with it!

He was furious. Like only a few times before. And just because some princess he had never met had almost fainted at the ceremony, and no one had known? Gosh, this Moon air must be affecting his brain or something!

Shaking his head to try and clean it from messy thoughts, he followed his friends, who were talking loudly amongst themselves. Endymion had forgotten all the formality he was supposed to show, and was clutching Jadeite's arm, dragging him into the room. Kunzite was without result trying to make him show a little more diplomacy.

"Your Highness, I think we should be a little quieter, since we are ambassadors from Earth, formality is very important, and you ... aren't listening to me"

At Kunzite's frown of reproach, Endymion looked at him sternly, and spoke, a grin in his face showing he was thinking the total opposite.

"Of course, my dear Kunzite. You are right. We should behave like proper ambassadors. So, do you hear me?"

He directed a firm stare to the rest of the generals.

"I want formality to be your middle name. We are the royal court of Earth, and we will show this people that in the blue planet, we aren't as barbaric as they think we are. Understood?"

Nephrite nodded, Kunzite sighed, and Jadeite just covered his mouth, to avoid his laugh burst to be heard.

Zoisite just looked at the door through which Princess Mercury had entered the main hall.

Endymion noticed that Zoi wasn't paying him any attention, and left Jadeite's side to approach his friend.

"What's wrong, pal?"

Zoisite hadn't heard him coming, so focused on controlling his rage and newly discovered feelings for the black (blue?)-haired princess, and jumped a little.

"Nothing. I was just ... you know ... looking at the palace?"

The Prince wasn't fooled, and grinning, he closed an eye, and whispered, as if telling one of the most important secrets in the universe.

"Guys, wanna hear a secret? Zoi is in love."

"WHAT???"

Endymion just nodded his half grin still on his lips.

"That's right. Our little friend here has fallen for a girl"

Nephrite had always had this unnerving ability to raise his eyebrows way above his eyes.

He was breaking his own record now.

"Is that true Zoi?"

The orange haired General had the grace to blush.

"Of course not. Endymion is just making it up."

The Prince smiled. Whole-heartedly.

"Really? Then, if 'I'm making it up', could you please tell me why where you looking at Princess Venus with puppy dog eyes through the whole ceremony?"

Zoisite shook his head back and forth, denying his words. Good, he had fooled them. No good on having the three of them shouting cat-calls at him every time he approached her...

"I wasn't looking at her. Blondes aren't my type. I was looking at..."

Rats.

{Me, and this big mouth o' mine}

"Then who is the beauty we're speaking about? She must be *very* pretty to have held your attention for so long."

Jadeite's voice was filled with laughter.

Zoisite was beginning to sweat now. His feelings were yet too alien even to him. How did they expect him to explain them to them? Besides, he really, *really* didn't want to spend the rest of the night watching their moronic attempts of match-making.

Kunzite was the one who came to the rescue.

He had always had this 'damsel in distress' fetish.

Though Zoisite was no damsel, and he could handle himself perfectly well, thank you very much.

"Guys, leave him alone. He will tell us when he wants to."

He had always had this strange commanding voice, to which *everyone* responded.

Even his fellow generals.

As Zoisite mouthed an 'IOU big time' to him, he began pushing them all towards the ball room, ignoring the loud protests of Endymion and Jadeite, who had yet to pester the hell out of Zoisite.

"Now, children, you will *behave*. Or, I will have to drag you back to Earth, and beat you all to a bloody pulp. Understood?"

No more protests were heard.

--------------------

While they had this little chat outside, Mercury had reached her friends a long time ago, after her interlude with Setsuna. Her long lost confidence was slowly returning to her, and her stance was no longer that of a frightened mouse.

Make that a frightened parrot.

Which, in size terms, was pretty much the same... but hey, step by step, right?

She was still trying to hide in between her friends, but that was proving to be more difficult by the second, as one by one, they all left their secluded circle, to 'mingle with the peasants', as Rei had put it.

Actually, without her noticing, this had devolved into a man hunt.

Jupiter and Venus, the last ones remaining with her, now had hearts in their eyes, and literally drooled over the polished marble floor.

Maybe that's why no one dared to ask them to dance.

But hey, that's just a hunch of mine.

"Look at that one Ven, green eyes, black hair. So my type... What?? He invited that ugly green-headed duchess to dance and ignored me? Boy, he needs glasses for not to notice this beauty standing here."

She lowered her voice, so that only those within a few inches could hear her.

"That Neptunian woman, duchess or not, could surely use a Jupiter Thunder..."

"Relax Jup. You know that men never see what's in front of them unless it hits them with a baseball bat. Besides, you are getting in my way, I can't see with you in there. Move! Oh, look at that hunky guy over the window. Red hair, blue eyes, Oh my God, he's looking at here. Jupiter, how do I look? For Queen Serenity, he's coming. Oh God, Jupiter, what I am going to say? 'Good night, m'lord', uff, that sounds so dumb, but ohhh, what can I do? Is my hair right, my make-up still in place? Come on Jupiter, you are not helping me!"

The young man had reached the boy-crazy couple, but before either of them could throw themselves at him, he spoke.

"Would you honour me with this dance, lady Mercury?"

As Ami rendered the man helpless with her smile, even if it was fake, she couldn't help but hear mumbles from her friends.

"Jupiter thunder..."

"Venus Crescent Beam..."

Luckily for him, Mercury's hands placed on their shoulders calmed them down.

"Thank you, Lord Jitsu, but I will have to decline. Maybe later, perhaps?"

Lord Jitsu could do nothing but nod stupidly, a grin so wide she was sure was hurting him on his lips. The lord hadn't heard a thing after her thanks, and there was only one though crossing his mind:

{She knows my name!! She knows my *name*!!}.

"Mercury, what are you still doing here? I thought you'd be dancing with four guys by now."

Ami just shook her head, as if awaking from a dream.

"Sorry Venus, what did you say?"

"I said... oh my God, Jupiter, look who's coming. It's that Saturn Prince, Ren."

They never saw Ami's sudden stiffening, or how her widening eyes frantically searched for a way out.

Ren had by then reached the princesses, and was asking, his voice so husky and tender, Jupiter and Venus took a one-way trip to cloud nine.

"Excuse me, ladies. Have you seen Princess Mercury?"

The heart-shaped eyes of Jupiter and Venus disappeared immediately, and their attempts at hiding their disappointment were *very* unsuccessful.

"Yes, she's right... here. Where did she go? She was with us just seconds ago."

Again, they failed to see the spark of anger which ignited in Ren's eyes, or his sudden departure. Though this time, they had a plausible excuse.

Ami was missing.

Once they turned their attention back to Ren, it was already too late. He had left, his hands curled in shaking fists.

Later on, though, they would remember the anxiety in his voice, when he asked for her whereabouts.

They would remember the lust in his eyes.

And the fear which had plagued Ami all night long.

And they would weep for their carelessness.

On the other hand, Ren was silently cursing the little witch, who had dared to run away from him. Hell, *she* had been the one moaning under him that night at her quarters! He was just doing what she wanted!

{How could she even think that I wouldn't go and search for her?}.

No one tempts the Saturn prince, and gets away with it.

Play with fire, little girl.

You just might get burnt.

His smile was far from pleasant, as he located her aura in the Moon Gardens.

So, little princess wants to play hide and seek?

He could grant her *that* much.

After all, before this night was over, she would be entirely his.

All his, for all eternity.

An eerie chuckle left his lips.

Sadly for Ami, there was no one around to hear him.

--------------------

Zoisite was standing near his friends, but his mind was in a completely different place.

He was trying to find the Mercurian Princess that had captured his attention earlier.

She was proving hard to find.

He had seen a blue glint or two in the crowd, but with Jadeite, Endymion and his other friends moving around him like hens around their chickens, he wasn't able to check them out.

What he *had* seen, though, and had enraged him even further, was that the Prince of Saturn, Ren, always seemed to hover close to them. He kept telling himself it was just curiosity.

He was not infatuated.

He did *not* have a crush.

He was not a hormonal teenager anymore.

He did not believe in love at first sight.

{Whoa, whoa! Hold your horses, Zoi! Love? Where did *that* come from?}.

A sudden tackle on his ribs snapped him out of his little chit-chat with this insidious part of him who refused to stop talking about how beautiful and helpless she had looked, and that how he could be her knight in a shinning armour, coming to the rescue...

SMACK.

{So there. Shut up!}.

Removing his imaginary hand from a suddenly pancake-sized romantic-self, he looked to his right.

The look in Jadeite's eyes made him wish his Steel-willed self hadn't decided to take a vacation just then.

"Hey, Zoi. Guess what? I knew you would get bored in here, so I got you some lovely company. She is a Venusian duchess, Dana. And here she comes."

A woman with red hair in a long ponytail, wrapped in a braid that reached her waist, was just then walking towards them. She had red eyes, and wore a really revealing dress.

Wait. No.

That *thing* didn't have enough cloth to be called a dress.

More like a... bikini?

Also, what was wrong with her hips? They swayed in this ridiculous circle, as if she was going to fall apart any minute now.

Let's not talk about her make-up. What was she, the party's entertainer?

They had a name for people like this, back on Earth.

He had no idea what they called them here on the Moon, but one word just sprang into his mind the minute he laid eyes on her.

Clown.

On the other hand, his Princess of Mercury did not wear any make up. Her rosy cheeks, her ruby red lips, his wonderful big blue eyes...

{Here boy! Come on, come on!}.

His mental self waved a frisbee in the air, attracting Romantic's attention.

Luckily, Romantic was a sucker for frisbees.

So, as he threw it away, Romantic went along, leaving him alone, quiet and peaceful inside his head.

Just as it should be.

"Good evening, lord Jadeite"

Okay.

Breathe.

Do *not* grind teeth together. Might break one.

Gosh! Her voice!

It was like ten fingernails... long, sharp, pointed fingernails being slowly, veeeery slowly dragged down a very, very used chalkboard.

Maybe it was just the fact that Zoisite had hated her the minute he had looked at her. "Just Jed, Dana, just Jed. Remember what I told you last week? Well, here he is, my friend Zoisite, Lord of Crystal." He made a graceful gesture to his left, and bowed, waiting for Dana to speak. However, time went through and nothing happened. He opened an eye, and looked at the Venusian duchess. She was staring behind him, and was quietly laughing to herself.

"What is it? Zoi, what are you doing? --- Hey, where did he go?"

The poor General looked mortified, and circled around himself like a dog trying to catch his tail.

"Man, where are you? Damn. Look Dana, I'm sorry. This wasn't supposed to happen. Zoisite was with me just seconds ago"

"Dear Jed, don't worry. I'm sure you'll make a much better company than he would ever be. Now come here, let's dance..."