Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Shitennou ❯ Found ( Chapter 2 )

AN: The dance scene is probably my favorite of the whole story - Strictly Ballroom, the dance scene from Mask of Zorro, and A Cinderella Story all played a part in my imagination. So keep those films in mind when you watch. Also, teaching anyone to dance is definitely the way to start a relationship ;)

I do not own the characters or stories of Naoko Takeuchi. They are hers. I'm just borrowing them for a story.

Chapter 1: Found

"You are the star tonight.
Your sun electric, outasight.
Your light eclipsed the moon tonight.
Electrolite.
You're outasight."

-- REM, Electrolite

"I don't expect my love affairs to last for long

Never fool myself that my dreams will come true

Being used to trouble I anticipate it

But all the same I hate it--wouldn't you?

So what happens now?"

-- Evita, Another Suitcase in Another Hall

Mina rode hard, getting ever closer to the palace. Along the way she stopped in the small towns she passed through, gathering information when she stopped for the night. The mighty shitennou lived in the castle serving under a great Prince. Their powers were legendary and through their different skills and strengths they had brought peace and prosperity throughout many lands. Prince Endymion led Shitennou and controlled the armies. He was whispered to have a shock of ebony hair and midnight blue eyes that could see into your soul.

Mina gathered her thoughts while she continued riding, trying to determine myth from fact. She was surprised to learn there were four generals - much like her own team of Inner Scouts. They were all, she rolled her eyes, exceedingly handsome. "That's the last time I ever stop at a brothel," Mina thought to herself smiling and wondering. She had her share of beau both on the Moon and Venus, but she had never dated a Terran before. She continued her mental dossier. The senior general was named Kunzite, with long platinum hair and steel gray eyes. He answered only to his Prince and his duty. The strict General had left a series of broken hearts in his wake. Next was blond Jadeite, a jokester and a flirt, but deadly with a bow and arrow. His sword skills were legendary throughout the kingdom, as was his ability to charm anything in skirts. Nephrite, with flowing auburn locks and a devastating stare, was ranked a Third General, he was mainly responsible for recruiting. Finally, there was Zoisite. Smaller than the rest of the shitennou, Zoicite's prowess was in his ability to heal and reason....and wield the kitana.

Mina knew they could help. How far would she have to go to convince them? She didn't know if she wanted to answer that question. As senshi, they were taught to arm themselves in many ways of persuasion.

Riding further and further, Mina finally came into the outskirts of the castle and surrounding town. People stared as she rode through the streets. Who was this mystery man? Where had he found such a beautiful horse outside the palace walls? Was he friend or foe? Word spread quickly and Mina was not surprised when she soon found herself with an escort.

A handsome young man with short blond curls rode up to her. His shield bore a unique coat of arms on it. It appeared to be a deck of cards, with an Ace on top. His horse was decorated with the Prince's colors - sapphire and silver. Mina felt slightly uneasy towards this man, however she had no weapons, so decided to give him as little information as possible.

"Which business do you have here?" The young man asked.

Better play this one vague. "I can only reveal that information to the shitennou."

"That's quite impossible."

"I'm sorry, but I can only speak to them. It is of a personal matter, but please know that I do come with peaceful intentions. I only ask to seek their help. As you can see, I am unarmed."

"Well, I can't very well help you if you don't give me information. What am I supposed to do? Walk up and just present you?"

"That would be sufficient." If the officers were anything like this young solider, the Moon Kingdom was going to be in trouble, Mina thought to herself.

"Well, they are preparing for a ball later this evening. But perhaps you can see them tomorrow during their morning tour of the barracks."

"Yes, but please, the sooner the better."

"Fine…please follow me this way. By the way, my name is Adonis."

"I am called Minako."

Mina followed Adonis into the expansive stables that were situated in close proximity to the soldiers' barracks. She took care of Shadowfax, currying and brushing him out. She whispered softly to him, "Thank you friend, I may need you still, please stay here." Shadowfax whickered in reply. Mina gave him one final pat and followed Adonis out of the stable. For the rest of the afternoon, Adonis showed Mina some of the sights of the castle and its grounds. Mina, with a discerning eye, saw the large number of troops that had obviously been well trained. They could be a large threat. As the time for the ball neared, Adonis excused himself telling Venus that he had guard duty tonight. He showed her to a small, clean room and told her he would be back for her in the morning.

"As a security measure, I'm going to lock you in here tonight. I'm sure you understand."

Mina, who had no intention of staying in for the night, smiled and nodded, "See you in the morning."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

Adonis left, locking the door from the outside behind him. As soon as he was a safe distance away, Mina got to work on the lock. Her senshi training had included a number of different aspects, and picking locks was one of the most useful. Within seconds she had the easy lock open and was free to go.

"I would do anything for a bath," she thought to herself. Mina noted where the baths were during her tour earlier. Now, how to get in when still disguised as a boy? Easy enough, taking off her hat, untying her kerchief, her long blonde hair quickly cascaded down her back and easily made her transition from male to female. At that moment a maid from the castle came along.

"Come on then miss, if you don't get washed up you'll be late for the ball."

"She assumes that's what I'm here for…well I wouldn't want to disappoint her," Mina thought to herself as she followed the maid.

Minutes later Mina was soaking off the hard riding and worries of the Moon Kingdom in a large communal spa. Other women were there, Mina closed her eyes and listened in on their conversations.

"I hope Kunzite is at the ball tonight!"

"You know he never dances…what good is it just to see him?"

"Well, obviously you don't know how to flirt."

"Girls, I just heard the mot glorious rumor. The Prince is looking to marry soon. Maybe I could be his Princess."

"…and that's not all, I heard once the Prince marries, the Shitennou are able to marry as well."

"Well, I better get out of this tub and get ready!!"

After a flurry of soapy bubbles and soft towels, Mina soon found herself very alone in the large tub. The maid who had shown her the way to the bath now motioned for Venus to follow her. Mina was led to a dressing room full of gowns. Mina, solider that she was, was still a girl who hadn't worn a pretty dress in quite sometime. She found one that was perfect - light blue and very sexy. It was a fabric they didn't have on the Moon. The satin clung to her like a second skin. After almost a week of her breasts being bound, it felt good to have them properly supported and in this case, displayed proudly. Mom would be proud. Apparently and in her good fortune, this was to be a masked ball, so Venus topped her outfit with a red sequined mask (similar to her Sailor V mask). Feeling confident that no one would know who she was and therefore she would be able to get close to the shitennou, Mina left for the party.

Mina had been to many parties and dances on the moon, but nothing could prepare her for the amount of people, colors, and smells of the evening. She walked around in a half daze until someone tapped her shoulder. She whirled around and assessed the man in front of her. He was tall with ebony hair and sapphire eyes behind his mask. He was dressed in a well-cut tuxedo complete with a rose in the lapel.

"May I have this dance?"

The masked man whirled Mina out on the dance floor for a spirited waltz. From across the room, Kunzite took a sudden interest in his liege. Who was this woman Endymion was dancing with? She wasn't from the court, because Kunzite would have remembered her. Kunzite began to move down to the dance floor, leaving the woman he was talking to in mid-conversation. There was something about this girl…could she be a threat? His instincts told him there was something different about this young woman.

Kunzite wasn't the only one who noticed the stunning blonde. The other generals were drawn to her as well. There was something about her that made them take notice - she was unique.

As the song came to an end, the masked man walked Mina off the dance floor, "By the way, I'm Prince Endymion. Please enjoy your time at my castle."

"My name is Aphrodite. Thank you."

The Prince walked off, but could not shake the feeling that he somehow would be seeing this girl again.

Mina stared after the Prince. "Well, he's definitely cute, but there's no way I could marry a Prince - too many extra responsibilities. I'd rather be working behind the scenes. Although…maybe after everything gets worked out, I can introduce him to Serenity."

At that moment, Kunzite walked up to Mina, noting that she was even more beautiful up close. With her long legs and stunning blonde hair, she was also the perfect height to fit right under his chin and at 17 or 18 years old…there was plenty of time to have a lot of fun together. He saw her staring after the Prince and, somewhat defeated, began to turn around, but then stopped. He saw something in her look that he had not seen very often, she was looking at his liege with an almost scientific interest - not love or lust or romantic fantasies. There was hope for her yet…

The strains of El Tango De Roxanne began to be played by the orchestra.

"May I have this dance?"

Mina turned around and took a deep breath. Here was someone she wouldn't mind partnering with. Better play it cool, Mina. Although he was masked, Mina felt a desire to run her hands through that long platinum hair and over those impossibly broad shoulders.

Mina licked her lips. Kunzite's eyes were instantly attracted. They're so red. He realized that she was responding. "I'm sorry, but I don't know the steps to this dance." It was the truth, I've never heard this type of song ever played on the Moon.

"The tango? If you don't want to dance with me, just say so, milady," Kunzite said, trying to, but not completely masking the disappointment in his voice.

Crap!!! "No sir, I would love to, but I fear your feet may suffer."

"Let's get out of here then. There is a courtyard right outside…we can still hear the music, but it won't be as crowded."

"That sounds wonderful. I could use some fresh air anyway."

"Milady?" Kunzite offered his arm and wondered what the hell was coming over him. He had never been this nice to anyone, male or female, that wasn't Endymion or one of his generals.

"You may call me, um…just call me Aphrodite."

"After the goddess of love? A beautiful name for a beautiful woman. I'm Kunzite."

The leader of the shitennou!! Wow, they weren't lying about that devastatingly handsome thing.

Mina took his arm. Nice biceps. The couple walked outside. It was a beautiful summer evening. It was warm with a slight breeze. The remaining generals and Endymion took notice of their icy, strict general and the lovely creation on his side exiting the ballroom together.

"It's really quite easy the tango. You just spell the letters. T-A.N-G-O. Slow, slow, slow, quick quick.

Kunzite led Mina through the basic tango.

"See - you're a natural."

"Thanks, I have a good teacher."

"Well, the orchestra is playing another tango, let's see if you can follow more complicated steps."

The song played and Mina and Kunzite danced unaware of anything but the music and themselves. >>Was it her imagination or was Kunzite holding her closer than any "teacher" need to?<< Kunzite looked down at the vision in his arms…maybe he should have tried this whole dancing thing a lot sooner. >>The tango is my new favorite dance, Mina thought to herself and smiled up into steel gray eyes.<< The generals and Endymion gathered on an overlooking balcony watching the couple dancing below.

"Who would have thought?" said Jadeite, "Our little Kunz is all grown's up and he's grown's up!" (AN: Please pardon my Swingers reference.)

"I hope he didn't hear you say that - he'd kill you," chuckled Nephrite.

"I didn't even know he knew how to dance," said a confused Zoicite.

"I didn't even know he liked women that way," said Endymion as the generals and the Prince turned to go back into the party. There was plenty of time to tease Kunzite tomorrow.

The song came to an end with Mina and Kunzite against a wall. Kunzite dipped her elaborately - his strong arms were around her waist and one of her legs wrapped around his for balance. They both held the pose, neither wanting to move from such a close position. Maybe it was the moonlight, or the music, or the intricate steps of the tango, but before Mina had a chance to break the pose, Kunzite leaned in for a kiss.

Mina had been kissed before, but never like this. With her back to the wall, Mina wrapped her leg around him more closely and returned the kiss with passion. Her arms went around his neck. As they kissed, it was as though time stopped…they were taken away to a place where time and duty didn't exist. Mina had to get closer to this man - she began unbuttoning his stiff dress shirt. Nice abs - I guess they match the biceps. Kunzite uttered a slight moan, so Mina knew she must be doing something right. He returned the favor by switching his attention from kissing her pink lips to placing butterfly kisses her neck and ear. His hands felt their way around her curvy figure. Goosebumps flew up and down Mina's body. She shivered in his arms.

"Cold?" Kunzite asked huskily.

"Hardly," Mina replied seductively.

Neither knew how much time had passed, but a small cough behind them broke up their intense make-out session. Kunzite had to quickly button his shirt, while Mina smoothed her dress back down around her legs. When did that happen?!

"This had better be important," Kunzite growled.

"General Kunzite, there's a security issue at the door."

"Thank you Adonis. You are dismissed. Please wait by the door to escort this young lady back to the party." The younger solider saluted smartly. Kunzite turned to Mina and smiled as he looked at her lips; plump from the amount of kissing that had just taken place. "I apologize for being interrupted…can I meet you again?"

Sooner than you think. "I'm afraid that's not possible, I have to return to my kingdom in the morning. Thank you for a wonderful evening Kunzite…" Mina gave him one final kiss and walked over to Adonis.

"Goodbye mon amore," whispered Kunzite as he strode off, his cape flashing.

Better that things end this way, they both thought, a night like this would only lead to distraction…

Adonis was like a lovesick puppy escorting Mina back to the party. Mina didn't even notice his attentions. She didn't dance the rest of the evening. She was still going over the steps of the tango in her mind. She made her way back to the dressing room. Taking off her beautiful gown, she ripped a small part of it to take with her as a memento of the evening. She changed back into her men's clothing and found her way back to her room. Sighing…she went to sleep, if only things were different…

"I'm not talking of a hurried night

A frantic tumble then a shy goodbye

Creeping home before it gets too light

That's not the reason that I caught your eye

Which has to imply

I'd be good for you

I'd be surprisingly good for you"

-- Evita, I'd Be Surprisingly Good for You

AN: Sorry for all the Evita song lyrics…but they really do fit the situation.