Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ All's Fair in Love and War ❯ The Ride ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Selenity loved the feeling of wind in her hair. They had decided to go on a horseback ride soon after lunch. Helen and Paris had left that morning to travel back to earth.

Poor Helen, Selenity thought to herself. She could still remember the feeling of shock when Kino had returned to her the evening before.


That morning they left. It was understandable that Helen wanted to return to Earth as soon as possible. The messenger had been unable to bring any details about how the tragedy had occurred. Selenity hoped that Helen would be able to get over this soon. She hated to see her so sad.

Jupiter had stayed behind to spend time with Hera, who was terrified of horses that morning. So it was only Mercury, Venus, Mars, Kino, and Selenity who were on the ride.

The small group reached a log, which covered the path. Kino and Venus were riding out front and got their horses to clear the log easily. Mars was ahead of Selenity, but his horse refused to go over the log on the first try. He backed the mare up and tried again, but the failure of the first attempt put the animal on edge, and she refused to make it a second time.

"Mars, lead her around. She's too spooked to try again," Selenity called out to him. She stopped her stallion far enough back to give Mars room to back up the horse, and Mercury stood beside her as well.

Mars shot her an angry look. "She will make it. She just has to know who's the boss!" he called back, and proceeded to pull out a whip.

"No, don't!" Selenity cried out, but it was too late. She heard the crack of the whip and the frightened mare ran to the log. Her confidence was completely shattered however, and she reared as soon as she reached the log.

Mars wouldn't give up. "You will go over!" he yelled at the horse as he repeatedly cracked the whip, smacking the horse's rump a few times. The mare let out a painful whinny and started to prance around. Mars was getting angry.

"Mars stop, you'll hurt her!" Selenity shrieked, and started to ride toward Mars and the mare.

"Stay out of this. She has to learn," Mars snapped, and directed the mare to the log again. He tried again, but the mare would not go over. He was infuriated, and he hit the mare again and again. Selenity saw another horse fly over the log, and suddenly Mars no longer had a whip in his hand. He looked up, surprised.

Kino stood a few feet from him on his stallion, holding Mars' whip. "Walk. Her. Around. The. Log," he said, enunciating each word. Mars glared at him. "We're all on edge Mars. That's not an excuse to mistreat an animal though," he added, his voice dripping with an unspoken warning that if Mars did not do as he was told, there would be hell to pay.

Mars glared at him for a few more moments, and no one dared move. Finally, Mars swung his mare around and led her around the log, although everyone could clearly see his anger. Selenity jumped her horse easily over the log, although she could feel the animal's anxiety due to the scene it had witnessed. Mercury had a hard time with the log as well, and walked his horse around it too. They then continued their journey in silence until they reached a clearing next to a river.

Everyone dismounted and tethered their horses to a tree, which munched at the grass happily. Mars, Venus and Mercury headed to the water right away for a swim. Kino stayed behind and Selenity noticed this. He sat down on one of the slopes of a hill that overlooked the river. Selenity came over and sat next to him.

"Kino, what's wrong?" she asked.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I feel bad for Helen," he said as he gazed at the three others playing in the water.

Selenity continued to stare at him. "I do too. I can't imagine what it would be like if mama was suddenly gone," she said.

Kino looked down at her, and smiled gently. "Don't worry Tenshi. Nothing is going to happen to your mother," he said.

She sighed and looked down at the grass. "But what if something does happen to her? Helen wasn't expecting her mom and daddy to die. It just happened. I'm scared Kino," she said, and looked back up into his eyes.

He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him in a comforting way. "I promise you Tenshi, if anything ever happened to your mother, I'll be there to protect you. I'll protect you with my life," he said.

Selenity leaned against him, feeling very safe at the moment. She heard him sigh again, and pulled away a little to look at him. "Kino, there's something else bothering you," she said.

He looked down into her shining eyes and slowly nodded his head as he looked back out to the river. "I have to leave Tenshi," he said quietly.

Selenity looked up at him, a little stunned. "What do you mean? We just got here!" she exclaimed.

Kino chuckled. "No, not from here." He looked back down at the girl still holding onto his chest, enveloped in his embrace. "Remember how a few years ago I explained to you that future rulers of my kingdom had to leave for certain periods of time to one of the further galaxies in order to maintain peace treaties?" he asked her. She nodded. "Well, I have to go and do that now."

She gripped tighter onto him. "Why now though?" she whined.

He smiled. "You may be only twelve Tenshi, but I'm almost eighteen already. It's my responsibility to go." Selenity pouted. "Besides, think about it. The sooner I go, the sooner I'll be back." He said cheerfully, although inside his heart he was already dreading leaving.

"How long will you be gone for though?" her eyes were wide with fear that he would leave for a long time.

He stroked her face tenderly. "Five years," he replied.

"FIVE YEARS!" Selenity shrieked as she jumped up so that she was looking down at him. "That's too long Kino! Five years? That's forever!"

He took her hand and made her sit down beside him again. He pulled her into a hug as she started to cry. "You can't go for that long Kino," she whimpered.

He sighed as he stroked her hair. "There's nothing I can do about it," he said calmly.

"How often can you come back to visit?" she asked, a spark of hope in her voice. She felt him tense up a little.

"I can't," he could feel her sink further into his chest and start crying again.

"I'll miss you too much!" she cried.

He tried to comfort her. "Hey come on, cheer up. It's not that long," he said and pulled her away from him a little, wiping her tears from her face. Her lower lip trembled. He smiled at her reassuringly. "I promise I'll write you all the time," he said, trying desperately to think of a way to cheer her up.

She seemed to brighten up a little at the comment. "Really? Can I write you back?" she asked, not allowing herself to get enthusiastic too much. He nodded and she smiled, and wrapped her arms around his neck. He hugged her.

Suddenly she felt him lift her up. He started to walk with her, her petite form slung over his shoulder. "Kino what are you doing?" she cried out, not able to see where he was going. She realized that the sounds of Mercury, Venus, and Mars were getting closer, and realized what Kino was planning on doing. "Kino, no, you can't! " she shrieked as she started to squirm, trying to get out of his grasp. He laughed, as he plunged into the cold water with her, and they joined in the fun.

Three weeks later, Kino left. However, not before being there to witness the first wedding their small group had. Jupiter and Hera started a life together as soon as Jupiter turned seventeen.