I don't own Sailor Moon. I just own the story and the ideas.

Jealous

Kunzite was lucky he was not prone to jealousy.

That would make today a very, very bad day. And he had no intention of it being a bad day. Bad days and visiting intergalactic dignitaries did not go together in his book, and he avoiding mixing them at all costs. But something about today made him uneasy.

It might have had something to do with how long she was spending in front of the mirror.

Or perhaps it was that she had forgone the Senshi uniform for a loose, cream-colored silk gown, which left her back bare every time she moved to pull the brush through her hair.

Or perhaps still it was the way in which the band on her arm, bearing the symbol of Venus, and a delicate, curving chain of hearts drew one's eyes right to bust level on the gown, which prominently showcased her breasts.

Or perhaps it was the golden notes dancing from her lips, filling the golden chamber with melody.

It might have, actually, been all of those things. But on any other day, it would have been a delight to watch, instead of something that was forcing him to bite the inside of his mouth. Hard. He shuddered at the memory it drew: kisses laced with blood.

"Kunzite?"

He looked up. The vision before him frowned lightly.

"Yes?" He answered automatically, without really wishing to prompt a further question.

"You're upset. What's wrong?" Venus asked, turning to face him, but maintaining her distance. She'd learned long ago not to simply run into his arms to get the answer she wanted. Other men she could smother into submission with soft skin, proximity, and crooned phrases, until they whispered all their secrets into the swell of her breasts. When she tried that on him, she ended up spent and exhausted in his sheets while he left, in a better mood for sure, but without saying a word.

Kunzite looked her in the eye, not letting her make an unseen move. Not that she was likely to; he didn't like it when an adversary refused to attack, and she never showed her weapons at first brush. She held back like this, making him advance, making him go on the offensive. Like Endymion, she knew to wait him out.

He had to marvel, though, that she could read him like this when he knew his face was inscrutable. It was a point of pride; a skill he congratulated himself on. After two lifetimes, it was no longer enough to keep her out. He'd never admit it, but he relished her ability to obliterate his defenses, to know someone was always there, just in case.

Just in case. Someone he could trust to bring him back from the edge, or to destroy him.

Even his men he could fool. He had before. And they too needed someone. Just in case.

It was only his hallowed pair, Venus and Endymion, who he could never fool. And he owed both of them his soul.

"I'm not upset. I'm thinking about today. Endymion is very concerned about the defenses today. But he wants all of us in attendance and none of us on duty. It isn't logical."

Venus smiled. He felt the all too familiar feeling of his heart shuddering.

"Endymion may be worried, but he knows Serenity is right. He's never met them really. He needs to calm down. Serenity has assured him that they are capable of defending themselves, which is why none of us need to be on duty. It's a logical plan; Endymion's feelings, however...feelings are not always logical."

He sighed.

"We need to go down soon, Minako. Are you almost ready?"

"That depends." She said, twirling slowly for his benefit. "How do I look?"

Kunzite wanted to groan. "As if you had any doubt. You're always stunning."

Venus did not smile. Wrong response, Kunzite thought, as her features sharpened. Not enough of a compliment. Gods, she was worshiped for her beauty and she still needed compliments. And the last thing he wanted was to admit why her beauty distracted and upset him on this particular day.

"Why are you snapping at me?" Venus asked, voice clipped.

"It's not you. Like I said, it's Endymion. You look beautiful." He stood, crossing the distance to her, taking her wrists in his hands, smoothing the skin there with his thumbs, hoping she would buy that the soul-bond connection with Endymion was causing his mood and not his own anxiety. She shared one with Serenity, with a lesser intensity by comparison. Since his with his King was newly forged, it was less controlled. It was possible she would accept the excuse.

Then again, she might also give up only because she was in such a good mood. Kunzite found that the latter idea gave him little comfort.

Venus leaned against him, letting him hold her, immersing him in softness and warm honeysuckle scent. It was a privilege, touching a goddess, and he never forgot it.

She didn't buy it, but she knew when it wasn't worth it. She knew, if it mattered to him, it would be on his mind all day, and she could ask when they did not pressingly have somewhere to be. But he would tell her; that much, she knew for certain.

"Let's not fight," she murmured into his chest. "Too much is going on today. I don't need to worry about you and me along with everything else."

Kunzite smiled softly, knowing she could not see him. Always unpredictable.

"Understood." She stepped up to kiss him delicately on the lips. He always felt like this with her, like he was this wild creature who pawed at the poised goddess. Until she tried to cook, or quote, well, just about anything; or better still, when she would come into the showers of the training facility and proceed to ravish him on the tile, proving that the goddess was not an object to be desired. She was desire made wonderfully human.

"Let's go downstairs. I can't wait to see them!" She bounded out of his arms and pulled him after her by the hand. Kunzite suppressed his urge to keep her upstairs, promising to make it worth her time. He knew Endymion did not want to face this alone.

The corridor outside their room was quiet, as always; the wing belonged to the pair alone. The outer rooms, closest to the central corridor that connected all of the royal suites, were offices and meeting rooms for audiences. The farther down the hallway, the more private the rooms, and the more limited the access. He let the door to the end room close behind him, hiding their chamber from public view. No one else but them was allowed there; it was his one rule in the organization of the space. Everything else was hers, with a few thoughtful concessions, like the no-frills bed. Three pillows. No more. You can guess who got two.

They entered Serenity's main audience room on time, and together, both of which were rare. He was always early, she was always late, so they never arrived together, and the decision had been made long ago that it was an argument not worth having. Serenity, too, was on time for once, and was beaming.

"Oh there you are! Good, we're all here. They should be here any minute!" she squealed in delight, grabbed Venus's hand, and rushed to join the other three senshi on a couch.

Kunzite, for his part, joined a rather grim looking group of men standing by the bar.

"Gentlemen." He nodded.

"Fellow sap." Zoisite said sharply, taking a swig of a dark liquid. Probably scotch, based on his preferences. Jadeite and Nephrite laughed.

"He's been like this all morning." Jadeite said lazily. "Terrified he's going to lose."

"I am not going to lose this bet, Jadeite, so stop banking on it." Zoisite answered, turning on the taller man.

"A whole month. Damn, that's going to feel good." Jadeite said, stretching gleefully. Zoisite narrowed his eyes, and opened his mouth to make a reply. His eyes landed on his glass, and he choose its contents over a come-back. It was not a good sign.

"Drinking at this hour is hardly going to help your resolve, man." Nephrite commented, frowning at Zoisite's rapidly depleting drink.

"Care to fill me in?" Kunzite took the vodka and tonic Endymion handed him, his expression dark.

"The idiots," Endymion replied scathingly, "made a bet over this visit. Apparently, if Zoisite reacts violently tonight to certain people's attentions to the lovely Mercury, then he will have to take Jadeite's morning shifts for a month."

Kunzite sighed. "And in exchange?"

"If Zoisite can keep his temper in control," The timbre of Nephrite's voice plainly expressed his skepticism, " Jadeite has to have a jealous fit over Mars in the middle of the next ball which will inevitably lead to-"

"A month without sex." Zoisite cut him off triumphantly.

"Which is what you'll get as well as morning shifts if you lose," Jadeite countered acidly.

"Stop." Endymion did not turn from the bar to reprimand them. The other men exchanged a look.

"Sorry Master." Jadeite and Zoisite chorused bowing their heads. Endymion looked up. He sighed deeply.

"It's all right. I just don't need both of you to be reminding me about today's events. I am perfectly, overly, obscenely aware of what today is for Serenity, for all of them." He cautioned a glance at the glowing queen and senshi. He turned back to the bar and settled back into his drink. "Obscenely aware."

Kunzite tightened his grip on his glass, looking from Venus to Endymion. Both of them had him worried today because, for both, today was a test. Everyone thought they knew the outcome, were almost certain of the outcome. But just the off-chance, the improbable, the seemingly denied-by-fate chance that their wives had made a choice they would regret in light of this visit weighed heavily on several of them. His train of thought was punctuated by the flood of light that announced the arrival.

Glasses were dropped as the men formed a diamond shape around their king.

"Serenity!" A bell-like voice rang out in the high ceiling.

"Kaki!" Serenity trilled back, rushing forward, holding out her hands while her eyes shone. The senshi were positioned behind her, their approach unnoticed in its speed. "I've missed you." She smiled at the three behind the princess. "All of you. You are most welcome."

"I've felt more welcomed." Yaten said cooly, raising her eyes to focus on the five men in the corner. Seiya smirked, but it had little of its old power. Taiki smiled softly.

"Oh!" Serenity said, bewildered, to the men surrounding her husband, "What are you doing? Endymion?"

Endymion brushed passed his men to join his wife.

"Just instinct. They've never met before. Their natural reaction is to defend me." Serenity frowned at them before nodding. The senshi's expression did not change, having understood the reaction.

"Very well. Kaki, you remember Endymion?"

"Yes. It is good to see you again."

"And you as well. I welcome you, and your senshi. I believe you have yet to meet my generals." His hand gestured to the four men now standing at attention. "These are the Shitennou. Kunzite, their leader. Jadeite, second in command. Nephrite, third. And Zoicite, fourth-in-command and head of intelligence. Gentlemen, Queen Kaki." They bowed in unison.

"A pleasure." Kaki said pleasantly, inclining her head to them. "They have not meet my senshi then. Seiya, Fighter. Yaten, Healer. Taiki, Maker." The Shitennou and the lay-clothing wearing senshi bowed wearily.

"Well, then, you have to come and eat with us! There will be a ball this evening and I'd like to catch up with all of you before then. We have something in here." Serenity gestured to the servants, who opened the doors to other servants bearing trays laden with food. All of Serenity's public events started with food.

In the hustle and bustle of getting settled with food, Kunzite had the first opportunity to reflect on the rather, in retrospect obvious, revelation: Yaten was a woman. Of course she was. She was a senshi. It was only because of the stories relating to this woman's relationship to Minako, and to her position as an idol that he had assumed otherwise. But here she was; androgynous, to be sure, but undoubtedly female.

And the implications were blowing his mind.

Minako had been involved with a woman in his absence. Had pursued a woman, been attracted to a woman. His rival was a woman. He did not know quite how to handle the situation. It was, how to put it, unprecedented. It wrecked any irrational plans he'd thought through for challenging a rival.

He sat with an equally winded Zoisite, making pathetic conversation as a cover for watching their wives.

And watch he did, feeling his hands tense without his bidding as the pale haired woman sleekly approached Venus. His goddess stood taller, smiling openly. An invitation. Kunzite prayed that it offered no more than kindness. He strained his hearing, listened keenly to their exchange.

Venus felt her heart speed up at her approach. The girlish anticipation of proving herself beautiful and graceful in front of a former flame was still a draw. It was a second chance to shed the insecurities and the weaknesses of Minako. It was another step in embracing her identity as Venus fully again. She would be ready.

"Yaten. It's been a long time."

"Well, that's obvious. You never were very original, Minako."

"Think what you want on that, but you can't say I didn't wear you down, original or not." The taller woman smiled at Venus' remark.

"Yes, I believe you did. None were immune to a little girl's games and smiles." She looked Venus up and down slowly, carefully...appreciatively? Venus dismissed the thought. "But you are no little girl anymore, are you? My, my, how you've grown."

"I am Venus' heir." Venus allowed with a flip of her shinning locks. Kunzite felt nerves at her reverting to the teasing flirting she had once used with him as a girl so many lives ago. The type that he often missed but which was completely beyond them in trying to reestablish what had been broken. If he was very lucky, she might tease him like this in the early morning when they lay entwined in the warming sun. To see it so easily showered on this stranger bothered him irrationally; it bespoke his favorite intimacy.

And he didn't like it.

"That ego again." Yaten said, stepping forward, running a hand through her hair. Kunzite moved to stand. Yaten flipped the lock in front of Venus' face, causing her to sputter. "Maybe you're something now, but you were painfully average as a teen. Stick with Serenity. She's good for you it seems. Unlike for others..." The woman trailed off meaningfully. Kunzite was left perched in his seat awkwardly, unsure of how to follow the strange exchange.

"How has she been?" Venus managed to sound deathly serious while finger combing hair back into place.

"The first century was bad. Then she took a lover, and things seemed to improve some. I don't know what this reunion will mark. What of Serenity? Does she miss her?" They both looked at the dark-haired woman sitting a bit stiffly between the equally animated queens, eyes taking in Serenity in short, covert, and hungry glances. Jupiter watched them carefully too, entering into the conversation infrequently, while Nephrite sat uncomfortably at her side, kept quiet by cookies. Rei and Jadeite were whispering to one another soberly; the kind of mature, graceful exchanges that reminded you that their relationship was not built on their frequent fights alone. Ami and Taiki were still laughing gently in the window seat some distance away.

"I think so. Seiya was as close as anyone can get to her, excepting Endymion."

"Yes, a rather important exception." The woman leaned against the wall next to Venus, looking forward at the rest of the room.

"Yes." Venus conceded, her gaze also on the others in the room.

"What was our exception, Minako?" Yaten said softly. Kunzite's mind reeled, unsure if he wanted to hear the answer. Venus was silent for a moment.

"There were many. You know that." She said, voice tight but soft.

"Like what?" Yaten said turning to face Venus' profile, eyes bright and hard, "Don't tell me intergalactic distance scares the great leader of the senshi."

Venus smiled mysteriously. "No, I can handle all kinds of distance. There is no distance I shun if the goal is worth it." He felt strange warmth along their bond for a moment, but it passed almost instantly. "We were not fated for life. I think we were meant to meet. I grew because of you, and I flatter myself to think the same is true for you. We worked to the degree we were supposed to for the time we were supposed to."

"So sure, Minako?" Yaten's hand slipped to caress the bare skin at her back. Kunzite held himself back, reminding himself that Venus was more than capable and would resent the interference. "You and I never really had a chance then. What if this is another chance, and chance to see what might have been, what should have been?" Her voice, usually so harsh, was warm, welcoming, and fainter than expected. She was hesitant, careful not to startle. She was not herself; she was nervous.

That realization shocked Venus into the present, into realizing the distance between the past and present, between now and the last time they'd spoken. Everything was different now. Yaten was different, that was clear: older, wiser, and ready to love the girl she'd left behind on Earth. Venus knew suddenly that didn't need to prove she was better than she had been, that she was not the Minako Yaten had once scorned. She couldn't have been Minako if she tried. Venus was a different person. Minako would have jumped at this beautiful, confident creature declaring, in their own way, their willingness to love her. Just as a little princess had, once, with Kunzite.

But that was no longer enough. What Minako had wanted then could not match what she had now. She regretted being so quick, so happy, to shed her younger selves who had wanted such simple validation. It was no fault to have been innocent, to have had simple dreams. She shouldn't want to cast all that had once been her, just because the universe was held in place by an impossibly complex web of power, most of it emanating from a giggling woman and a stone seated not twenty feet from her. It was all illogical and made of magic; the simple girl she had been could not hold up under the knowledge. Minako was gone. But she didn't need to throw off her legacy, to scorn all that Minako would have done. So she went with the Minako answer, the simple answer. The brisk but ultimately kinder answer.

"Yes. I am sure, Yaten." She said slowly, and took the woman's hand at her back, entwined their fingers, bringing their joined hands between them. "I am not the girl you're now ready to love. My name is Venus. I am head of my Queen's guard, a woman who is Queen of a world I fought years to create, which I sacrificed Minako to create. I am married to my soul mate, a gift and a responsibility for my service to the crown. I don't want to be an idol, to sing for anyone other than my friends, and I don't have any doubts that I would fail to love you like you need. I am sorry that I killed the one you think you could have loved. When you leave here, you leave with my blessing, as Venus, that you may find a truer love. But I, Yaten, I cannot love you."

She released the stunned woman's hand, and kissed her forehead, murmuring the blessing. Then she walked away.

"How you've grown," Yaten muttered ruefully, watching a different woman leave than the one she had approached. She watched the new woman walk to the white haired man who had been tensely watching their exchange: the soul mate, she presumed. Venus wrapped her hand around the back of the man's neck firmly, holding his gaze for a heated moment, taking a glass from his hand and placing it on the table. Then she sat down next to him, letting him engulf her hand in his, leaning against him lightly. "Venus."

Healer took a seat on the other side of her Queen and let the word settle in.

Kunzite sat holding Venus' hand firmly in his own, the power of the exchange he had just witnessed still jarring. He had seen the moment he feared most, the moment where she could choose other than him. The moment he feared most because he knew that without him she could and would live, but that without her, he would be eternally lost. He held on to her, the lifeline that had chosen, again, to save him.

They sat like that, watching the tableau of jealousy and lost love playing out all around them, but lost in their own connection. They laughed appropriately when Zoisite finally snapped at the graceful Taki who has been making Mercury laugh softly for the last hour, demanding to know what was so funny. Jadeite, to his credit, hid his joy, merely kissing Mars' shoulder gently, making her smile, as Nephrite reluctantly left Jupiter to pull Zoisite back. Kunzite and Venus noted the hovering presence of Endymion, not aggressive, but hyper-present, filling the space with his energy as he watched over Serenity talking warmly to his rival who had never really been a rival, except in a dark dream.

They escaped the moment they were dismissed, fleeing to the confines of their room. Clothing fled from the intensity of the couple. The door swung shut.

"Venus." Kunzite called out throatily as her hands slipped down his back to grasp his hips, pulling him against her. She gasps at the contact, reaching up to wrap a leg around his waist, impatient. He pulls her up so that she can wrap the other leg around him, before forcing her against the wall. He feels again that common tug between wanting to take her with no conditions and between wanting to be gentle, to show her deference, kiss her hair, softly caress her skin. As usual, she made the call, running her hand down his abdomen, one indentation at a time, before grasping him firmly. He bit the back of her neck brutally and slipping a hand between her legs in retaliation.

"Kunzite!" She cried, arching against his forearm. "Kunzite!" She repeated, more loudly, when he removed his hand and connected their bodies. And for a moment he could not remember what life they were in, or what had happened that day, or that he had almost lost her forever once long ago, or that she had ever wanted another. The exchange of those two names in those heated tones was eternal, destiny, and he was a fool to think he was powerful enough to derail destiny.

In the blue light, her skin glowed as she moaned and writhed against the warming stone behind her. He whisper praise into her ear, saying the one beautiful word with the passion of a devotee: Venus. And in return, between the fleeting high notes of pleasure, his name fell from the goddess's lips.

Her voice changed, full and deep, and her body clung to his, collapsing, shaking, pulling him into her. He gave up fighting it, giving in to her when she asked again for what he so desired. And one last time, in a shuddered whisper he called out, Venus.

In the aftermath of the short assault, by their standards, they held on to one another, riding out the last shocks from the exchange. He bore her weight as an extension of self to wash briskly before they attended the mandatory ball. She pulled her little trick after to dry her hair instantly, transforming quickly and then letting the glamour fade to change into a gown. It was a maneuver he had not quite mastered, so after yanking on his ceremonial garb, he settled down with a towel to watch her change into a deep blue number, in a similar shape to the one she'd worn earlier, the gold arm band still on.

"Kunzite."

He smiled at her. "Was I staring?"

She smiled back.

"Of course. But that wasn't why I called you."

"Oh, go on then, mistress."

She smiled that satisfied smile that he so loved."What was your mood this morning really about?"

He felt his heart sink. "Ah. You didn't believe it." He said, buying time to think of how to explain.

"No. So why don't you explain yourself?" She faced him now, a distance away, deja vu.

"I didn't like the idea of you meeting with my rival, of opening an unfinished story to find that there might be more to do." He swallowed. "More that I did not have a place in."

She looked at him, unblinking. "You thought you might lose me?" she said seriously, feeling the weight of the day bear upon her.

"I wondered, for a few moments, if the fates could be so cruel again as to take you from me. I am a simple man, Venus. I need few things. Unfortunately for me, a goddess is one of them."

Venus made a face, torn between smiling and rolling her eyes. "I am human, Kunzite. Long-lived, yes, but human, not a goddess, though the endearment is welcome. I choose you, always." She went to sit in his lap, kissing the nape of his neck where the skin was still damp and cool. He held her tightly, but did not speak. She understood. She let the moments slip by before she acknowledged that it was time to leave, and that the mood needed to be lighter.

"Kunzite, it looked to me today like something unheard of happened while I talked to Yaten." He listened warily to her too light, casual, mock-wise tone.

"Go on."

"You cracked your glass." She whispered in his ear, voice deviously sweet. "Did you even notice? Kunzite, I do believe you were jealous." She spoke the word low, like a dark, dirty secret.

He debated.

"I was terribly jealous, Venus," he said, giving in to her teasing willingly, even if it wasn't the whole truth; even if the whole truth was darker, uglier, and more insecure, than the half-truth of his jealousy. He knew, from their brief exchange, that she understood his inadequacy when it came to her, his fear of loss not to someone but of someone, and from that, of himself as well. But she offered him the playful cover generously, and he took it, because he knew she knew the truth.

"The great, untouchable Kunzite was jealous. What a shock!" She purred.

"Don't tell the others. I'd hate to be compared to Zoisite tonight," he said, caressing her back.

She laughed. "I'll never tell as long as you go shopping with me tomorrow."

"Venus Minako Aphordite. That's just cruel. You have no need to go shopping; anything you need could be made for you here." He never understood her attachment to the ritual of shopping.

"My offer is firm, general," she said, raising her head haughtily. He smiled to himself; it was his favorite kind of intimacy.

"You drive a hard bargain, Senshi."

"I always do. All or nothing. I told you that the first time you went to kiss me. You can't say I've been inconsistent."

"No. I suppose I can't." He kissed her turned cheek, whispering softly into the smooth skin. "I accept your offer."

She smiled brilliantly."Then we should go. They'll get suspicious."

"You first." He gestured at their seating arrangement, which had him pinned.

"You're a smart boy. I'm sure you can figure a way to move first." She wrapped her arms around his neck, clearly ready to make him carry her. She was unprepared when she was unceremoniously dumped onto their bed

"You're right. I did. Now if you don't cover your legs, I'll never let you make it to that ball."

She pulled down the fabric quickly in distress. "Kunzite!" She stood hastily, promptly losing her balance on a bit of sheet caught on her heel. He caught her.

"Yes?" He asked, leaning in close, keeping her dipped, slightly off balance, knowing she loved the romance in such traditional gestures.

"I..." She trailed off, caught off guard in more ways than one. "Oh, can we just go?"

"Of course." He set he down, chuckling to himself at her expense. She'd make him pay, naturally, since the early competitive spirit in their relationship had never really worn off and they both were ruthlessly devoted to evening the score.

But for the moment, she took his offered arm, tucking the last of her hair into place, and reached up and kissed him firmly on the lips.

"I love you." She said simply, the words common. Everyday utterances. "You're the one."

She pulled him after her down the hall.

The words had never meant so much to him.

A special thank you to VO1. She meticulously combed over and edited this to make it shiny and pretty. She is just that wonderful.