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

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"Get back here princess!"

Mercury's voice echoed around in the marble walls, as she rushed through the Moon palace corridors, in an unstoppable chase after her sworn-to-protect princess.

"You need to finish this equation!"

Mercury screamed, though knowing that the blonde about to inherit the most powerful kingdom in the universe wasn't listening. The Royal Court was used to these races, and just looked at them with a grin on their faces. How many times had they been run into by their princess, or one of her hunters? But this time, it was something different. They had never seeing this blue haired beauty after Serenity before.

It had always been this friendly blonde, leader of the Senshi, Lady Venus. Last time it had been a brunette, usually with a frying pan in her hand. What was her name... Oh, yeah, Lady Jupiter! But the most common sight was a raven haired young lady, Lady Mars, princess of the planet of fire. Those chases were the worst, since they always ended in one of theirs too well known tongue-fights. They could fight for hours, and never seemed to tire.

However, this was the first time the maids and guards were interrupted by this blue tornado.

After a while, and tired of chasing after Princess Serenity, Lady Mercury stopped, and glowing with annoyance, slammed both of her palms against the nearest wall.

Mercury was thought to be the shyest of the Senshi. And indeed, she was. Yet behind the facade of timidness, lay a fiery temper, able to compete with Mars herself.

Heaven hath no fury as Sailor Mercury scorned.

The last time she had gotten mad at someone, the poor fellow ended up as an ice cube, and took him about a week to stop the shattering of his teeth.

Releasing the now frozen wall, with her hands clearly imprinted in it, Ami walked back to the meeting room. She knew that the minute she looked away, the magical ice would vanish...

She wasn't known for her daring dress code, of for a cocky attitude, of for a striking beauty... Even so, almost every male in the Moon wished to see a smile in her lips, and longed for a word directed to them. It was said that her hair was like the midnight skies, her lips as roses in bloom, her eyes as a pair of stars, and her nose as the bridge to heaven. She had received uncountable letters from anonymous men, telling her how beautiful she was, and a lot of other sappy things.

Gossip spread through palace, as someone dared to say that she was even more beautiful than Princess Serenity. She was aware of this, but didn't pay any attention to it. Poetic praise was not her thing.

She received it.

She never answered it.

At the Senshi meetings, her friends would giggle, and she just *knew* something like the following was coming.

"Hey, Mercury. Guess what? I found out that Vega, the chief of security has fallen in love with you. Aaaaannnd, that Parion, you know him, don't you? He is the champion of the last tournament in fighting skills. Well, he was asking what kind of flowers you liked. Way to go pal! How do you do it?"

And every time she just shrugged, and continued reading her book. She wasn't interested in boys, well, not as much as her friends were, anyway. She was rather lonely, and didn't like dates at all. This lack of attention didn't bother the Senshi, who were always telling her about the new conquers she had made.

As she now patiently waited for her friends to arrive, she prevented boredom by reading. "Plutonian's and Earth's sub-genetics, applied to the structures of galaxies" had proven to be quite interesting, even if a bit complicated.

Lady Mars sat a few feet away, meditating.

Ami could've sworn she heard her snoring.

Not that she would ever tell her, though.

Maybe that was one of the reasons Mars only mediated when they were alone.

Oh well, she was good at keeping secrets.

On the other hand, she had nothing to complain about. The peace was something she welcomed. Being the designed tutor of Princess Serenity was not an easy task, and it took most of her time. Moments like this were the ones that kept her sane, and prevented her from choking Serenity... a secretive smile graced her lips. Maybe she should meditate too. Some time with her inner self would clear her head, and allow her to think about some personal matters.

Oh, the serenity.

The silence.

Peace...

It wasn't going to last long, was it?

Five. Four. Three. Two. On...

SLAM!!

The door was suddenly smashed open, and two colourful hurricanes stormed in.

One, green.

The other, yellow.

Jupiter and Venus ran in and began congratulating her, while screaming in joy.

The book was forcefully removed from her hands, and as she grasped thin air, the strength of well-trained muscles slapped her back.

"Mercury, you did it again! Girl, you have to tell us your secret. This time, you made an impression. And it's reeeaally big!"

She wasn't really interested, but time had told her that the best way of getting rid of them was to play their game. So, she asked.

"What are you talking about?"

Lady Jupiter and Lady Venus giggled again, then looked at each other, and burst out laughing. They continued for about two minutes, when they noticed a slightly angry Lady Mars walking towards them.

To the trained eye, though, one could see the tingle of mischievousness behind her lashes. And since the girls had spent most of their lives together, fooling each other was definitely out of the question.

"Whatever it is, say it quickly and shut up"

To anyone else, it would've been an insult.

To Jupiter and Venus, it was an invitation to speak.

"Mercury, remember this morning when you went horse riding?"

The blue haired girl nodded. How could she forget? All along, she had been uncomfortable. The horse was just a tad bit wilder than she liked, and she had ended up with bruises in her hands, so firm had she had had to hold the reins.

"Well, the prince of Saturn, Ren, was there, and saw you. It took him five minutes to get your name, title, and tastes. I am sure that when you return to your room tonight, you will find quite a surprise"

Venus took her turn.

"I bet you a big cake that it will be a bunch of white roses", referring to Mercury's like in flowers.

The tall brunette pondered the thought and nodded.

"Done. But I think it will be chocolates. If you loose, you will have to present me that cousin of yours, Maximilian. He is soooo hunky!"

The two girls giggled again, and Rei rolled her eyes, while muttering under her breath about children with too much power on their hands.

"This two will never grow up"

Then, she left the room, saying goodbye. Her two friends, on the other hand, had *much* different plans. They began giggling together, as they whispered to each other in hushed tones.

Mercury sighed. This wasn't looking good. This wasn't looking good at all.

{I bet they are playing match-maker again. I hope it doesn't turn out like last time}.

She sighed again, and looking through the window, she saw it was dark already. She picked up her books, and turning to face the two self-proclaimed-cupids, said: "Good night, guys" The girls looked at her, and answered politely.

{Too politely, if I may say. They must be up to something}.

Ignoring the stares she knew was recovering from behind; she left the room, and walked slowly to her quarters.

As she walked through the halls, she couldn't help but think about her life, and comparing it to that of her friends.

She was always in the library, reading, studying, learning something new. However, she knew very little about *life*. It was amazing to realise how much Venus, or Jupiter could say that she didn't understand.

For example, why this insidious habit of always trying to get some guy to look at?

She had heard several times, when Mako had told the rest about her latest adventure with a man. Although every time she seemed oblivious to the conversation, and continued reading, she was paying more attention than anyone else. It was intriguing to hear what they had done.

Also, what was this kiss they always talked about? According to the dictionary, to kiss, is 'to touch something with the lips to show affection'. The only kisses she had received were the ones her mother gave her when she was little, and they had been nice, not 'the-world-seemed-to-stop-and-all-I-could-think-about-was-him-and-his-lips' sort of thing.

The romantic novels she read, (hey, it was easy to conceal 'Secret Desire' in between the pages of 'Quantum Physics and Magic: The Cauldron of power'. None of her friends bothered to check what she was reading after the first fifteen hundred times of snatching a book from her grasp), made her heart beat faster, but she still couldn't pin-point why.

Also, she had promised herself only to "kiss" the man that made her feel like that. Sighing again, she entered her room, and closed the door behind her...

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Meanwhile, in the Earth, one of the four generals was trying to convince his friends that he wasn't feeling very well to go to that party. That really, really, he would rather stay here, where it was calm, and quiet, and he didn't have to tell off all of those women who continually pestered him at balls and receptions.

And pretty much everywhere he went.

Pity for him was, he wasn't convincing them. He wasn't convincing them at all.

Jadeite and Nephrite knew exactly that wasn't the real reason for not wanting to come.

"Come on, you'll have fun. Every once in a while you need to get out of here."

The orange haired general nodded.

He had a point.

He wasn't going anywhere though, point, or no point.

"I know that, but I can't leave know. I've just discovered something really important, and I need..."

He was abruptly interrupted by Nephrite.

"Don't try to fool us again with that. Last time you were too busy learning how to improve your powers, and remember when you couldn't come with us because you wanted to explore the Mercurian's genetics? Excuse me partner, but that's no important reason for staying like a bookworm here in the library."

Jadeite added, not wanting to be left behind:

"Besides, the party is being held at the Moon Palace, and we can't miss it. We are Endymion's Generals after all"

Zoisite knew defeat, especially when it slapped him in the face like that. He sighed dramatically, and relented.

"OK, you win. I'll go. But, and listen to this, this is the last time, do you hear me?"

His companions grinned.

"Yes sir, Commander, sir!"

Their impersonations of Earth's Elite guard were very impressive. Zoisite couldn't keep himself from laughing, and he was soon joined by his friends...

Little did he know, this was going to be a ball he was never going to forget...

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

There weren't many things that could faze Ami.

Serenity actually learning her lesson.

Venus *not* klutzing.

Sun beams reflecting the curvature of Orion's power plant.

And this.

Her room was covered in roses.

White, snow white roses.

Everywhere.

In the floor, in the window, even in her bed.

Hadn't she known any better, she would've bet this was the Palace's greenhouse.

It was dark. No light was on, the lamps turned off. That was weird on itself. Every light in the palace turned itself on at the stroke of twilight.

The only thing that allowed her to see anything at all was the silver glow of the Moon itself, that shone through the window. This semi-darkness made the flowers look like silver, as if they shone with their own light.

Her eyes wondered around the room, and sudden realization dawned on her.

"Ren"

She walked a few steps, marvelled at the beauty of the flowers.

"It's wonderful"

"Thank you"

The voice startled her. It had come from her left. She whirled around, her heart beating quickly... a thief? In the Palace?

No. Not a thief. A Prince.

Ren, prince of Saturn.

He had black hair, and purple eyes, bearing a strong resemblance to Lady Saturn, whom she had met years ago. They weren't siblings though, belonging to different families.

She was taken back, and tried to regain her composure, by talking in a formal tone.

"What are you doing in my room?"

The prince only grinned, and as he jumped off the window, replied.

"I was expecting you, my princess."

She couldn't manage to respond anything. Her brain was dead. There was something about those eyes... those eyes... looking at her...

"W--what?"

Ren was now about two steps away from her, his eyes sparkling in the darkness:

"Princess of Mercury, today when I saw you in the gardens, your beauty captured me. I haven't done anything since then but to think about you."

She was too surprised to move or speak, and just kept looking at him. Ren saw his opportunity, and moved closer to her. Ami now understood his intentions, and walking away from him, spoke, trying to put as much of an order as she could in her voice.

It didn't help the fact that her voice was trembling.

"Get out of my room."

Her slender arm pointed towards the door, trying to will him away.

There would be no such thing.

The prince of Saturn smiled evilly, and whispered:

"Make me."

Mercury felt a shiver ran through her spine, knowing that this man was far stronger that she was. Looking around, she discovered with panic that she had reached the wall, and had nowhere to escape. Ren was now almost over her, and repeated:

"Make me."

She suddenly understood. Gods, no! Please, no! She couldn't scream, she couldn't move, she couldn't think... what was going on?

Panic grabbed hold of her, and a strangled moan left her lips.

To anyone, it would've been a sound of fear.

To Ren, it was a moan of excitement.

He hovered above her, a huge shadow, covering her whole body, hiding her from view. All she could do, was stare into those eyes, full of lust, directed only at her. Those eyes... they swam, they whirled, they oozed... her grip on reality began faltering, and everything began to get blurry.

Even so, she knew what was coming next, and closed her eyes. Tears started to run through her closed eye lids, watering her cheeks. She didn't want to see it. Heck, she didn't want to *feel* it!

Ren didn't mind them, and moved his mouth closer to hers. One of his hands reached her shoulder, and she jumped in surprise to feel how hot it was. The hand slowly started to caress her skin, making her shiver.

Ami could now feel his breath in her lips, and tried to back away again, not being able to move anywhere else. She heard him whisper, his voice filled raw need:

"If the rest of you is as delicious as your face, I can't wait to see it."

{No. No. No. Not this. Anything but this}.

Her thought fell on empty ears. Ren was going to get what he wanted, whether she was willing or not. Only inches separated their lips, and Ami could feel his heat, even with barriers of clothing still between them.

Clothing which she was *not* going to loose.

She might not be able to stop him, but, hell be damned, she wasn't going down without a fight.

She stilled herself for the inevitable.

Her first kiss. Her first kiss would be shared with this... this monster.

This monster who had broken into her bedroom, and now was going to take her to bed...

A whimpering sound left her throat, too tight to do anything else.

And she surrendered.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

"Mercury, come on, open the door and tell us what you got!"

Ami could feel the tension flowing into Ren's body. And to her relief, he immediately stopped. Yet, a second later, his mouth was on her ear, on a hot, husky whisper.

"We shall continue this the next time. Tell them about this, and I'll kill them both"

The next second, he had disappeared.

Mercury fell to the floor, her body shaking in sobs of despair.

Another knock, and this time Venus's voice could be heard.

"Mercury, are you OK?"

She couldn't speak, her mind was a whirlwind of emotions, all erupting inside her at once... rage, despair, anger, grief, fear, panic... she could only remain in the floor, crying her soul out.

Between her sobbing, Ami could barely hear two cries on the other side of the door.

"Venus Power..."

"Jupiter Power..."

"Make-up!"

Only a few instants later, a kick threw the door open, and in the opening stood Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus. When the dust dissipated, they saw her dearest friend lying on the floor, her hands covering her face, crying. None of them noticed the flowers, or the dark shadow that was hiding behind the curtains.

They run to her, and Jupiter took her in her arms, trying to soothe her sadness. She rocked her back and forth, just like her mother used to. The young princess started sobbing on her shoulder, grabbing her like a life saviour. Jupiter looked at Venus, and a silent command passed between them.

"Call the Queen and the other Senshi. This is serious."

The blonde nodded, and flew to the Queen's quarters.

When they arrived to Mercury's, they saw that Lady Mars had also checked in, and was trying to keep the curious mass of people gathered at the door from entering the room. Everything went silent as the Queen approached, and spoke:

"I appreciate your concern for the Mercury princess, but your presence is no longer required. You may leave now."

Worry was easily heard in Queen Serenity's voice, and the crowd disappeared within seconds. Then, they entered the room, and closed the door behind them.

Inside, a still sobbing Mercury, and Lady Jupiter were sitting on the floor, the brunette whispering soothing words in her ear.

Looking around, the Queen noticed the large amount of white roses in the room, and how, one by one, they began to turn black. They shone a couple of seconds, then slowly started to drift into darkness, until they were totally dark.

However, she failed to notice the shadow too.

Kneeling near to the pair of friends, the Queen said:

"Lady Mercury, what happened?"

The young girl tried to answer, but her body didn't respond her. Princess Serenity also sat down, and her caring, friendly voice spoke.

"Don't worry. We are here now. Nothing can hurt you anymore."

At least, Ami was able to stop crying. She slowly let go of Jupiter, nervousness dominating her. Her eyes were still watery, and looked around as if looking for someone. Queen Serenity, seeing that the princess had calmed down a bit, asked again, now using a motherly tone, and a name only the occupants of the room knew:

"Ami-chan, it's OK now. Can you tell us what happened?"

Ami stroke her eyes, and washed the tears away. She was about to answer, when a low whisper reached her ears.

"Remember, if you tell anyone, I will kill them. And you know I can."

Her heart stopped beating, and a cold breeze that was not natural at all made her shiver. Looking towards the window, she saw the shadow looking at her, and a couple of purple eyes shining with evil. Her eyes went wide, as she repressed the urge to scream, and answered to her Queen.

"It's nothing, your highness."

Everyone was shocked with this answer, and Lady Mars stood up, not being able to control her temper:

"Are you telling me that all this mess was for nothing? Excuse *ME*, Mercury, but that's a lie."

Jupiter threw a killing glance at her Senshi friend, but said nothing. She also knew Mercury was lying, but also could tell that yelling wasn't the proper way of questioning her. Venus just shook her head.

"Come on Mercury-chan, you know you can trust on us. We're your friends"

The blue haired girl hated lying, and never thought of doing it to her dearest friends, sisters, but it was too risky. Looking at the window again, she saw the shadow grinning wickedly, and breathing deep, repeated.

"It really was nothing, guys. Just home-sick I guess."

She tried to reassure her answer by smiling, but only managed a faint grin. Princess Serenity tried to ask her again, but one of her mother's hands in her shoulder, stopped her. She looked up, and saw her shaking her head.

The Queen understood something was wrong.

And that for tonight, they wouldn't get any answers.

"It's OK Lady Mercury, if you don't want to tell us what happened. But if you feel you need someone to lean on, I want you to know that all of us will be expecting. Now, come on girls, let's give Lady Mercury some peace."

As they all stood up, wary glances directed her way, Ami looked at the window. There he was, still perched like a dark bird, a childhood monster coming to life. As she stared, he got up, blew her a kiss, and leapt off the window, disappearing in the night.

However, she didn't feel safe, not yet.

Not ever.

"Mako-chan, wait. Could you stay with me tonight, please?"

She knew he wouldn't come back, not tonight at least. The Palace had already been awakened, and even he couldn't slip through full-fledged security. Yet, alone was not a choice. She would never be alone, ever again. It was too risky.

"Of course I'll stay here if you want, Ames."

"Thank you Mako-chan."

That night, Mercury had awful nightmares, where her body transformed into a white rose, and a big black rose with some resemblance to Ren stood over her...