In Another Life
Thank you venusorbit1 for helping out with this chapter - and much credit for your borrowed lines!!!
Started from: I Don't Wanna Wait
Continued from: Change the World
Kunzite hadn’t bothered to return to the overlook - he knew that he would no longer find her there. She had been scared by his presence - that much was obvious - and it would undoubtedly be a while before she made herself known again. Madelyn’s words from days earlier still rang in his ears: words of warning. He could see himself falling for the Senshi if he allowed himself to think with anything other than his head, but he had never been so blindly foolish as to do something like that. It wasn’t in him to make rash choices, and so he refused to let his mind follow any further down that path of reasoning.
They were nearing the final phase of the current cycle of the moon, and the Venusian ambassador for the Alliance would be returning to the Earth to meet with Endymion the next morning. Why did he feel anxious about this? Would she tell Endymion of their meeting even if it would mean trouble for herself? Or maybe it was that it would not be her at all who stepped off the space vessel, but another Senshi assigned to take her place?
Keeping to the shadows, Kunzite walked through the bit of dense woods that made up part of the enclosed gardens. Some of the lower patrol had seen him entering and had made sure to divert their eyes when he passed. They could not understand who he was or what his purpose was - they could not bring themselves to try. In their minds these so called ‘heavenly kings’ were nothing more than the sons of rich men who bought their sons’ way into these esteemed positions.
They didn’t know that only Kunzite was descended from an old royal bloodline, and that the other three were destined to become no one of any importance until the time of their discovery. They didn’t understand the prophecies of the High Four, but those that believed in their gods thought that the Shitennou were the devil incarnate for being the holders of unholy powers that were never proven to exist. Rumors are only rumors, and perhaps it was best that no one knew the truth if it kept them all at bay. If the people of Earth truly understood the powers of the moon people - and most notably the Senshi - he didn’t even want to think of what may happen. He wasn’t wary of their magic though. More than anything he wanted to know more of it, to be able to witness it, to feel it.
A light drizzle had started falling and he almost didn’t notice the way that the breeze around him shifted causing him to pause, ready to catch the elusive Moon Princess attempting a late night rendezvous with his Prince, when he instead felt the cool sensation racing down his spine, stopping him in his tracks. His eyes darted around, taking in his surroundings, trying to find the source of this evasion, when he saw the petite blonde haired girl standing behind one of the tall trees. Her hand rested on the tree’s bark and she seemed to be peering around the side of the tree, almost comically, towards the palace as if she were unsure whether or not to move forward. Drops of rain caught on the strands of her hair accenting the highlights and making the tendrils appear more like spun gold than hair. He cleared his throat to get her attention and her eyes instantly turned on him.
For a brief second he wondered if she would try to flee.
“Are you seeking out your princess or my prince?”
Her mouth parted slowly and then closed as she seemed conflicted by her answer. “Both,” she finally said.
“I would have expected to see the Martian if that were the case.”
“Would you have preferred to meet her here instead?” Venus asked, her voice steady as to not give away her thoughts.
“It is Jadeite who is in love with the Martian,” Kunzite responded. He mentally reeled at his own words. Was he trying to assure her?
“They all inevitably fall in love with the Martian,” she responded with a sigh, stepping away from the large tree that had been obstructing his full view of her.
His eyes looked her over, for the first seeing her not as a senshi, but as a woman worthy of the title of goddess. Silky material hung from her shoulders and cascaded down her body, pooling at her feet. Perhaps it was that alone which caused his guard to become lowered. “Not all.”
Her eyes reflected the way that she contemplated his words, but then the moment passed and her eyes returned to their more innocent expression. “Where will I find my princess?” He quirked his eyebrow at her and smiled as her realization set in. “Oh,” she finally said. “Then perhaps you wouldn’t mind interrupting him so that I can bring back Serenity before her mother notices?”
“You shouldn’t stay out here in the rain.”
“It would be ok for you to do so though?” she countered.
His eyes looked over her body, yet she did not shy away from him as he would have expected. “I’m better dressed for the elements out here. Your dress doesn’t seem to bode as well.”
She glanced down at herself and noticed the way that the sheer material had gained a bit of translucency from being pressed against the wet tree. Then - as if to further prove the point - the rain began to fall harder on them, quickening in intensity. “Would it be better that I walk through the palace as so?”
He wanted to smile at her response, but he found that there was no humor in his thoughts at the moment. The thought of the many other eyes seeing her as he did bothered him. It was him that she pursued and he didn’t want to know how he would feel if her attentions changed, so he slowly approached her, sensing the way that her body tensed by his closer proximity. He didn’t know why she was wary of him, but he felt it was probably better she of him than the other way around. “At the very least let me give you something to cover yourself up with.” His fingers deftly unhooked the clasps to his cape and had it removed and around her shoulders in seconds. The material that stopped mid-calf on him was nearly to the ground on her.
She looked down on the heavy cape now covering her sodden, clinging gown which had begun to hug her body from the collecting moisture. The material smelled of him, and she found that she wanted to be closer to him so that she could inhale the scent of his skin rather than just the lingering cologne that surrounded her. “I have to tell you -.”
The sound of dogs barking nearby interrupted her and her eyes grew wide as she saw approaching figures in the distance. She took a step back and the golden aura of her powers encompassed her. Without giving himself a chance to think over his actions, Kunzite reached forward and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her to him, noticing the way that his arm wound easily around the waist of her lithe body. She smelled sweet, like flowers and candy, and he couldn’t stop himself from inhaling deeply as his face came in contact with her hair.
His eyes closed despite his mind urging against it so that he could remember every detail of what he would see. Before he knew what happened, they had materialized further inside the palace grounds to a place where they were momentarily free from the pelting of the rain. Her residual energy surged through him, making him feel as if small shocks were exploding in his mind.
For a moment he felt as if he should be embarrassed at the look that surely must be on his face, but she gave no inclination that she was thinking anything of the sort. Instead her eyes seemed hooded and her lips slightly parted. How had they gotten so close?
Was it he leaning in towards her?
Her breath came out in short breaks, warm against his own lips.
“We should go inside,” he said, breaking the silence. “Your princess….” His voice trailed off as his thoughts were pulled towards the sensation of her form pressed against his. Her toned body creating ample curves, and the ever lingering sensation of her breasts pushed against his chest made his mind drift towards thoughts that did anything but revolve around her princess.
“Kunzite!” Jadeite’s shout floated across the courtyard. The sound broke his attention away from her for just an instant, but it was enough. He looked back to her just in time to see her hands cross over her chest as she faded away from his sight, leaving a faint layer of gold dust on his fingertips as he reached out for her, his hands not realizing what his mind already knew until they passed through the space that she had previously occupied. Jadeite had called his name at least half a dozen times before he could finally pull his eyes away.
He cursed silently at the interruption, and paused to take a deep breath before speaking. “Tell Endymion that the Princess is to return to her home now.”
Jadeite looked at him, confusion evident in his eyes. “The princess isn’t here. Endymion’s in the kitchen with Zoicite and Nephrite already halfway to being in a total drunken stupor. They sent me to find you, although I was expecting to find you in the gardens rather than here in the courtyard.”
Kunzite turned his head to look at the blonde haired man who stood several inches shorter than him. He fought to keep him mind from straying back to the girl he had been holding in his arms just moments ago. Visions of the goddess in the pale golden gown invaded his thoughts as he could still see the way that the material had clung to her, and he began to think how it would feel to peel the matted cloth away from her cool skin and how quickly it would start to warm up under his touch.
“Endymion is where?” he asked, not having heard all that Jadeite said.
“He’s on his way to becoming completely shit-faced, with Nephrite convincing him to go shot for shot. He’s officially throwing down the challenge to you, too,” Jadeite said in an attempt to regain Kunzite’s attention.
Kunzite strode from the courtyard without another word, his shoulders squared as he fought to keep his anger from his face. He was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t even realized that he made it back to his room until he was standing outside the door.
She had lied. For whatever reason, she had lied about her purpose on Earth and shattered his armor with a soaking, see-through dress taut over perfect curves, with eyes deep and blue enough to drown in. And he had fallen for it, almost, and even now the memory feel of her soft body pressed against him was enough to make him want to throw himself in without holding his breath.
And they said that the Shitennou were devils incarnate. The devil had nothing on a breathtaking blonde standing soaking wet in the rain.
Continued in: This is How it Feels