Gifts and Regrets
Sailor Mars slowly walked side by side with the blonde haired Shitennou, his fingers lightly brushing against her own. Jadeite would catch her glancing at the contact from the corner of her eye from time to time and so would reach for her hand in a teasing manner. She would roll her eyes at him and pull her hand back, but he knew that she was enjoying this moment as much as he was. They eventually reached the end of the forest where the tall trees were now surrounded by smaller ones thriving from this opening where the sunlight could reach them, no longer trapped in the shade of the larger oak trees. Cherry blossom trees were intermingled with the smaller shrubs leaving their delicate pink petals to blanket the surrounding grass.
The dark haired Senshi stepped away from her escort to inspect a tree with small white blossoms growing across its branches. There were no other trees like this in the area and so she became drawn to it much like a moth to flame. As she leaned over to smell the sweet fragrance of the plant she felt a cool weight settle against the flesh of her neck. Immediately her hands moved to touch the object and felt the design of the tear drop shaped pendant. She glanced down and marveled at the beauty of the object, momentarily left speechless by its sediment. Jadeite quickly leaned in to kiss her, his hand resting against her cheek as he turned her face up to meet his.
The sounds of water splashing caught their attention and they both quickly looked up to see that Princess Serenity had leaned too far over the edge of the small pond and had nearly fallen all the way in before Endymion had been able to catch her. Sailor Mars smiled lightly at her Princess’s playful nature while Jadeite openly chuckled in response. His eyes twinkled with amusement and she resisted the urge to throw her arms around him to regain his attention and reward him with another kiss. Jadeite quickly excused himself to check on the couple leaving the dark haired beauty to stand by the white blossomed tree awaiting his return.
She had accidently discovered the Princess sneaking off to see the Earth and so followed after her to retrieve her. Needless to say, she had been quite surprised to find that Sailor Venus had already followed after the Princess only to turn her attention to the tall man with silver hair standing with the Prince of Earth. Somehow that encounter had led her to form a comfortable companionship with the blonde haired man who now made every attempt to court her.
“I have to admit that I was a little surprised by Minako’s falling for the enemy,” Sailor Uranus spoke evenly, appearing behind the startled Martian Senshi. “But you, Rei,” she clucked her tongue. “I expected more from the one who swore her chastity to the Princess.”
Sailor Mars turned around to find both Sailors Uranus and Neptune resting against a large oak tree in the clearing. “I have done nothing to dishonor my vow,” she replied indignantly.
“He gifts you with a silly trinket and you allow yourself to fall all over him,” the blonde haired Senshi responded arrogantly. “I would think that you would at least wait until he promises you all the stars in the sky before you shame yourself.”
“Uranus,” Neptune chided, shaking her head and causing waves of her turquoise hair to tumble down her back. “We are concerned about our Princess’s affair with the Earthen Prince and we were hoping that perhaps you would be the voice of reason in all of this.”
“He does not seek to harm her,” Mars responded cautiously. “She will quickly lose her infatuation with him and move on.”
“And what of your infatuation?” Uranus goaded.
The raven hair girl pursed her lips together, trying to remain calm despite the words being hurled at her. She had only twice before encountered the two legendary Senshi and knew that if she did not choose her words carefully she would risk bringing the wrath of the two women upon herself. It seemed that only Minako was bold enough to speak her mind around these Senshi, although her title as leader prevented any repercussions on their parts. Rei often felt angered that she would be intimidated into silence. Although these women were older and more experienced in their duties and so had earned their reputations as well as the respect of the other Senshi. “I have no ties to this man. If he wishes to gift me with trinkets I will accept them even though they have no meaning to me.”
“Minako has always been notorious for collecting trinkets from mortal men,” Uranus mused. “I have seen the way she has taken these gifts and laughed at the adoration she was showered with. The look in your eyes tells me that you are lying.”
“Is a kiss really just a kiss?” Neptune asked pleasantly.
“It is nothing more,” Mars answered softly, steeling herself with each word.
“Then you will leave here with us and we will report the Princess’s escapades to the Queen,” Uranus responded with disinterest, the hints of a cruel smile pulling at her lips.
“Her mother will not be happy with her if she finds out that she has once again returned to Earth.”
“What we do is for the safety of the Princess,” Neptune spoke coolly as she approached the red clad senshi. “It is the same as forfeiting your duties if you do not do all that you can to protect her.”
Sailor Mars turned back towards the lake and watched as Jadeite took off his dark cape and draped it over the shoulders of her Princess. In her heart she knew that these men would never do anything to harm her Princess, but as a Senshi she knew that her heart could not rule her.
Jadeite chuckled to himself, laughing at the antics of the Moon Princess. She never ceased to amaze him with her childlike innocence. His Prince was instantly smitten with the girl and Jadeite knew that nothing would come between this couple, not even death itself. When he returned to the white blossom tree where he had last seen his own dark haired Princess he realized that she was gone. He looked around for any trace of her but was disappointed to find that she was nowhere to be found. As he turned to return to his Prince he noticed something sparkle amongst the branches of the white blossom tree and reached forward to clasp him hand around the dark pendant he had just placed on the neck of his love. The color drained from his face and he could feel a pain in his chest over the place where his heart rested.
Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune sat high in the branches of the oak tree watching the light haired Shitennou below them. Neptune shook her head sadly watching the heartbreak spread over his features. Uranus placed her hand on the other woman’s arm and frowned at her. “You cannot become weak, Michiru. We cannot allow this to happen.”
“I don’t think we can stop it from happening, Haruka,” she answered sadly.
“You know as well as I that this love affair between the Prince and Princess will only bring an evil upon the Moon Kingdom.”
“Maybe the Silver Millennium has reached its end and this all is supposed to happen.”
“You have always been the soft one.”
“Me?” Neptune laughed lightly. “I believe that it is you who has a soft spot for our Princess otherwise you would act to stop her yourself instead of forcing her closest companions to do it for you.”
Sailor Uranus stood from her perched position and looked at the woman beside her knowingly. “I think that we both know who I really have a soft spot for.” With a playful wink she transported herself back to the moon leaving Sailor Neptune alone high up in the branches of the mighty oak tree. From where she was seated she could still see her Princess in the arms of her Prince as he whispered playfully into her ear. With a sigh, the Senshi of the Sea jumped down to the ground, landing with barely a sound. She gracefully walked towards the edge of the clearing and broke off a small branch of the blossoms to leave as a gift for the Martian Princess for when she returned to the moon.