Title: Knight In Shining Armor
Author: Princess Destiny
Email: In Profile
URL: destinysgateway DOT com
Couple: Minako And Artemis
Rating: M 15+
Summary: 'One Hour Challenges' #18, 21, 48, 82, 181, 397, 425 and 468 Combined: Response Fanfic. Minako is upset that she no longer serves a purpose as the Senshi's Leader, now that their Princess is in charge, and Artemis comforts her in a most unexpected manner...
Chapters: 1/?
Status: Unfinished
Year Started: 2003
Year Completed: N/A
Year Revised: 2011

One Hour Challenges #18, 21, 48, 82, 181, 397, 425 and 468 Combined:

Your 'Couple' has been arrested for indecent exposure!

"So, let me get this straight-you want to kiss me to support a theory?"

"If you don't get your eyes off the lady's cleavage, you're not going to live to enjoy it."

"This isn't what it looks like!"

"Idiot! I'm an idiot! People hold their breath under water! I'm not a dolphin damn it!"

"I'm not drunk! This is *hick* sparkling cider, right?"

"Arrgggggh! The Titanic has docked in the harbour and the ghosts are invading the city!"

"I think you should explain yourself. Now!"

Comments: Hi everyone! No, I'm not back yet. I have finally, after a year and half of surgery, fixed the cause of my pain for so long. I'd been having a lot of pain and discomfort in my stomach for about seven years and they finally figured out what was wrong and I had my final surgery two weeks ago. My poor computer has been broken the entire time and is still not fixed (I am posting this from someone else's computer), but as soon as I heal and get back to work I will be saving up to buy a new one. I have missed writing desperately! And I thought, why not post the stories from my site that you guys have never read up here at Fanfiction DOT net?

I've really missed everyone so much and hope to be able to write in a few months when I get a laptop. Thank you so much to those who wrote me emails over the last year and half. I very much appreciate it, and you all kept me going with your well-wishes. I was over the moon to still get reviews the entire time for the Fanfiction I had previously posted up here. You guys are the best!

Knight In Shining Armor was written a very long time ago. Before 2000 in fact. I was always intrigued by the fact that Artemis could take human form and although I like Kunzite and Minako together, I thought it might be fun to have her with Artemis. The guy she had always considered a cat and did things in front of, like bathes, changing clothes. Etc. This was the result. There was only a couple of Chapters written, but I'll post them for you.

Please enjoy the Fanfics I find on my site that I hadn't posted here and comments would be wonderful!

Got a Sailor Moon Fanfic? Come on over to destinysgateway DOT com,
the Fanfiction Archives for the 'Minako And Artemis' pairing!
We would love for you to submit your Fanfiction to the Archives.

Please review me! You don't know how much it means to an Author to get a review on their Fanfic and to know that you're enjoying it. Believe me, it makes us want to write more for you. LOL.

Enjoy the Fanfic!

Hugs,
Princess Destiny

Knight In Shining Armor

By Princess Destiny

.

.

.

Chapter One

"Why am I here?"

Minako wondered, gazing up at the night sky wistfully. Her long blonde hair fell loosely about her form, bereft of its usual bright bow. It was nearing 9 PM and she was in her nightdress, waiting till tiredness kicked in so that she could sleep and be fresh for School the next morning. At least, that had been the plan. Lately, things had been bothering her. She hid it from the others with her wide smile, her infectious laughs and her bad jokes...and none of her friends had seen through her facade at all.

That part hurt the most. The five Senshi were supposed to be so close and everyone always knew when Usagi was unhappy, but what about Minako?

"Who worries about me?" She thought unhappily, her blue eyes tearing over. Her hands covered her face for a moment, elbows resting on the window sill. She felt the cold night air blow through her thin nightdress, but didn't care. She didn't care if she got sick, because...because she no longer had a purpose... Because she was no longer leader of the Senshi as she had been in the past.

The Princess had been made Sailor Moon by mistake...or maybe divine interference...and now she was just another protector. Minako knew the others didn't know about her past, much more than that she had been Sailor V and fighting crime long before the Senshi.

The truth was that Minako remembered more of the past than the others. She remembered Kunzite-but by the time that memory had surfaced, he was long dead and Ann and Ail had been terrorising Juuban. Her memories of the Silver Millennium had come in spurts since her role as a Senshi had been revived when Ann and Ail attacked Sailor Moon and they had all remembered her.

Sailor Venus had been the proud Leader of the Senshi. The Princess's protectors and Minako had even been Serenity's best friend. Now Rei was Usagi's best friend and things were so different. She knew that the others looked down on her in way. She never said things right, her jokes and sayings came out wrong and she was sometimes treated even worse than Usagi for acting 'blonde'.

Wasn't there anyone who would accept her for her?

She chased boys, but none really chased back."Why is that?" Minako wondered, blinking back the tears. Crying wouldn't solve anything! She had to be strong-

The door opened and a small white cat padded in. The door closed magically behind him and he stared silently at the figure silhouetted against the moonlight. Minako looked like the Princess she had had once been, at times like this. He sighed. Venus had been different back then. Minako was a beautiful person, but without all her memories, she could never be one with her true soul.

And she wanted that, he knew.

Artemis understood her more than she realised. He was the one that curled up next to her when she cried herself to sleep. He rubbed his head under her chin when she was depressed. He bantered with her when she needed cheering up. Her friends were really wonderful-but he had to wonder if they really understood her. They hadn't seen her as Sailor V and god's she had been magnificent!

The white cat blinked and cocked his head slightly. Minako had sensed him, but wasn't turning. "Minako?" He asked her softly, walking towards her on silent paws.

Minako turned finally, wiping her eyes clean of water. She smiled for her guardian, trying to pretend nothing was wrong. "Yes, Artemis?" She said, lips trembling.

"What's wrong, Minako?" The white cat asked gently, leaping up onto the bed and crawling onto her lap as she settled on the covers. He often wondered if she would have let him do this if she knew he hadn't always been a cat. He'd seen her in the shower and getting dressed...his furry cheeks flushed and he hid his face in her stomach. Why had he bee cursed with white fur?

"Oh Artemis!" Minako cried, wrapping her arms about his furry body and holding him to her chest. "I want someone to understand me! I want to be held." she rubbed her face against the top of his head, sniffing. "Usagi had Mamoru, because they share a past love...but I can never have that," she fell silent, tears trickling down her face. "Kunzite was dead before I even remembered him..."

Artemis stiffened. "You knew about that?" He questioned sharply, face pulling back to gaze up into her shimmering eyes.

"I remembered when I awoke while Ann and Ail were here," she whispered sadly. "I'm so glad that I don't remember him that well...what we had I mean. Just images here and there. If I remembered anymore, my heart would break. We fought him and we killed him."

"Minako..." Artemis said, swallowing past a lump in his throat. His poor Minako. She kept more to herself than he had realised. And she was so very lonely. If only he could help her some way. "You know Minako," he said somewhat shyly. "I'm always here for you."

"I know," The blonde hugged him closer to her chest, making him squirm uncomfortably. She peered down at him in concern. "I'm sorry! Did I squeeze too hard?" She apologised, loosening her hold.

"No, no!" Artemis said hastily, not meeting her eyes. How on earth could he tell her that he was still a warm-blooded man inside? Even if he couldn't be one again.

Minako gazed at his averted profile and red cheek and then she blushed also. "Artemis! Are you having perverted thoughts?" She scolded, not really meaning it. "What would Luna think?"

"I'm not a pervert!" He yelled at her indignantly, lying through his teeth. Wouldn't she have been shocked to read his mind right then! Being pressed into her ample chest was quite distracting and she did it so often.

Artemis gritted his teeth. "And I don't care what Luna thinks." he declared, eyes stubborn.

"What about Diana?" The blonde said in surprise.

"No future is set in stone/" he retorted, squirming to be let go. But Minako wouldn't let him go that easily.

"He doesn't want Luna? Or Diana?" Minako thought in astonishment. She blinked and stared hard at her cat. "You get jealous over her though!"

"Luna and I have a past too," he said uncomfortably, feeling as if he were betraying Luna somehow. "But I don't want to have no control over my future."

"You're very human sometimes, Artemis," Minako said, smiling at him. She rubbed his ears and watched as he closed his eyes in ecstasy. She paused and looked over his head, staring into space. "It's a shame I can't meet any cute guys that are like you."

"I'm a special cat," Artemis said loftily. "There aren't any guys like me!"

The blonde giggled, hugging her guardian to her chest again. "Well, if there was a guy like you, I wish he would hold me and tell me everything was okay. Someone I could tell all my secrets too safely." she said wistfully.

Artemis' mouth worked for a moment, but he said nothing for a long time. "If I could hug you-would you let me?" He asked her quietly, face still buried in her chest. She smelt so wonderful…

His Minako…

What if he could become human again? It had been so very long since he had changed. More than a thousand years. He had been born human, but it had been necessary to take on cat form to train the Senshi when they had been born. Queen Serenity had given he and Luna certain powers, which had also resulted in the royal crescent moon family appearing on the cat's foreheads.

"Of course I would," Minako said, rubbing her face against his head again. "But your paws are too small, silly!"

Artemis sighed and then blocked the blonde out completely, drawing on an almost-forgotten power inside. It had been so very long…suddenly the power was surging through him and he gasped as he realised that he was growing!

"Minako!" he gasped to her, as he felt his body getting larger, fur disappearing. He suddenly found his very human face pressed intimately against her brests.

"Mmm?" She said, lifting her head. Her eyes boggled when she saw her beloved cat vanishing before her eyes. His fur receded, his limbs lengthening and taking on new form...and his face!

"Artemis!" She screamed, still holding on. "What's happening? Is it some evil?" She looked around wildly. "He's-he's becoming a human!" She realised in complete shock.

Moments later, she was holding a man in her arms.

A gorgeous man.

A gorgeous man with hair as long as hers.

A gorgeous long-haired naked man!

She shrieked and shoved him away, covering her eyes.

Artemis's eyes were as huge as the blonde's as he stared down at his naked form. God god! It had been so long! He stumbled and fell onto his butt as Minako shoved him away, but he really didn't blame her. Her cat had just turned into a naked guy! "I…didn't expect that to work." he said weakly, just laying there, hair pooling about him.

"Artemis!" Minako wailed at him, still covering her eyes. Her cheeks were burning bright red. She hadn't seen below his muscled chest, but she'd just KNOWN he was all naked! "You turned into a man!"

"I'm sorry," he said sheepishly. "I guess I should have told you this was my true form. I've been trapped as a cat for over a thousand years."

"Whaaaaa?" She shouted, peeking through her fingers. She glanced down and flushed brighter, covering her eyes again. Boy, was he well-endowed! And he really was a guy? Not a cat. She peeked at his bewildered face again, and then let her hand drop, forcing herself not to look below his face. "You were a man originally?"

"Yes." Artemis crossed his legs modestly and put his hands in his lap to save them both more embarrassment. Why couldn't his transformation have given him clothes? The Senshi got clothes, damn it!

He suddenly blinked as a thought hit him and he found himself half-rising to his feet. "Minako! What do I look-" he began.

"Artemis!" Minako howeled at him, slapping her hands over her eyes again. "Clothes! Clothes!" she yelled.

"Oops, sorry." The man sank back to the ground, eyes wide. He'd once AGAIN forgotten how he wasn't dressed. "This is stupid," he said almost-sulkily, his pout appearing extremely sexy to a poleaxed Minako, who had been unable to stop herself from peeking briefly again. He, of course, never noticed. "I never needed clothes as a cat!"

He looked around the room for something to cover himself with. "Throw me a sheet off your bed." He ordered the blushing blonde.

"Are you er...covered?" The Senshi of Venus asked tentatively, hands still firmly in place over her eyes. "Oh god! I bet my cheeks are so red!" she moaned mentally in mortification.

"Yes," Artemis said sourly. He watched as Minako took her hands away cautiously, then smiling, she turned towards the bed to strip it. "I only wanted to know what I looked like." he muttered, crossing his arms. He stared down in surprise. Hmm, it looked as if his body remembered his old human habits, even if his mind didn't! His coordination wasn't even off and he seemed to also remember how to walk.

Abruptly, he wondered if Sailor Pluto had foreseen this-or had even had something to do with his wanting to turn human to comfort Minako.

Minako finished yanking the top sheet from the bed, dumping the quilt and pillow onto the floor carelessly. She whirled when she heard his low words, her blue eyes huge. "You don't remember what you look like?" She squeaked in shock, mouth gaping.

"It's been a thousand years!" he snapped pointedly, holding out a hand. He noticed Minako glance down at his naked body once more and felt an almost unknown emotion-and an evident bodily reaction-stir in him. In fact, he hadn't had it in all the time he'd been a cat.

Swiftly, he covered his lap with one hand, while grabbing hastily at the sheet with the other. If he hadn't, his Minako would have gotten quite an eyeful. Thank the gods she was only fifteen and very innocent!

"But-but-" The blonde gaped at him the more as he covered himself with the sheet from the waist down and then tied it off at the side.

"What is it?" Artemis frowned at her, wondering why she was acting so strange. In fact...he peered closer at her. She had that look in her eyes. Like when she'd spotted a cute guy! Huh?

"Artemis! You're gorgeous!" She squealed at him, clasping her hands in front of her chest. Oh my god, but was her guardian a FINE specimen of manhood! So BUFF! She quickly looked him over again, now that his er-crotch was safely hidden. His chest was sculptured like Adonis! The lightly muscled physic of a god! And that HAIR! It fell past his waist in a light blue waterfall that just made her itch to run her hands through it.

'"Oh god!' she wailed mentally. '["My cat is a stud-muffin and I have a weakness for long-haired guys!'

"What?" The man said, following her gaze to his body. He frowned down at his chest and then his arms and his flat stomach. How on earth had he kept in such great shape as a cat? He vaguely remembered his body looking that way...but for the life of him, he couldn't remember his own face.

Artemis grabbed handfuls of his hair and brought them around to inspect. "Minako! My hair is as long as yours," He protested. "I look like a girl!"

"A girl?" The blonde's eyes glazed over as she walked towards him. She placed her hands on his warm shoulders and turned him towards the mirror. "Buddy, you couldn't look further from a girl if you tried! You are majorly hot!" She said eagerly, shoving him in front of the glass so he could see his own reflection.

"Minako!" Artemis said, shocked. His Senshi thought he was that good-looking? It couldn't be-his thoughts all went out the window as he caught sight of himself. He'd made a handsome cat and seeing himself as a human suddenly made it make sense. He WAS good-looking by human standards...at least, he thought so, going by the magazines and TV shows Minako watched and drooled over.

"Gorgeous?" He said doubtfully.

"Yup!" Minako bounced up and down on her feet.

"Hot?" He said again, with the same amount of doubt. His cheekbones were high, his eyes a light blue and his hair didn't actually look too bad. She was right; he didn't look like a girl at all.

"I'm going to have to beat Makoto and Rei off with a stick." The Senshi said, nodding furiously. Her expression darkened and she crossed her arms. "That's it-you can't leave the house!" She announced.

"What?" He exclaimed, whirling to face her. The blonde looked completely serious! Was he an embarrassment to her? His face fell.

"What?" She said anxiously, seeing his downcast expression.

"Are you ashamed of me?" The man asked hesitantly.

"God no!" Minako was horrified. She smiled at him sheepishly then, a flush blooming on her cheeks. "It's just that...you're far too good looking to let out there. Every girl in Juuban would be falling at your feet."

He just stared at her for a long moment, then took a step forward and placed both hands on her shoulders. For the first time in his life, he was actually looking DOWN at Minako. He was actually a few feet taller.

"Minako..." he breathed, picking up a lock of her silky hair from one shoulder and rubbing it through his fingers. It felt wonderful to finally touch her this way. Artemis gave her an intent look, for once letting his true feelings for her emerge in his gaze. "You don't have to worry," he murmured, face moving in closer. "I'm all yours."

.

.

.

To Be Continued...

Write me if you liked! Comments are adored and much appreciated.

The next few Chapters might be out in a couple of days if I feel better and can post.

Please don't forget to check out my Archives 'Destiny's Gateway Romance Fanfiction Archives'. We're a 'Couples' Fanfiction Archive, pure romance in any rating and always with a happy ending. There are over 3,770 Fanfics for over 100 Couples and growing daily. We would love you to come on over and have a read and even submit your own Fanfiction there. :) The link can be found in my Profile, so just click on my pen name above this Chapter and come on over. All of my Fanfiction is up there, and I've written over 130 Fanfics.

Hugs,
Princess Destiny