Chapter Text
It was early in the morning when Rei Hino arrived at the Moon Palace. She quickly made her way down several corridors to throne room of the gargantuan castle. Upon entering the room, the Martian warrior immediately noticed the other guardians who were standing in an arc shape in front of the King and Queen. There was Ami Mizuno, of Mercury, Makoto Kino of Jupiter, Hotaru Tomoe of Saturn, Haruka Tenoh of Uranus, Michiru Kaioh of Neptune and Setsuna Meioh of Pluto. Rei could feel everyone's gaze practically penetrating right through her body as she stepped forward, only making eye contact with the King and Queen.
"Queen Serenity. King Endymion. I'm very sorry that I'm late. I don't like making excuses for myself, but travel took longer than expected. I've been traveling all night. Please accept my sincerest apologies for keeping you all waiting." Rei bowed her head in front of the King and Queen.
"Don't worry." Serenity said kindly, a small smile gracing her lips. "It's all right."
Rei silently exhaled a sigh of relief, upon realizing that the Queen was not angry with her. Truth be told, if it had been anyone other than Rei, they could have all but expected a stern tongue-lashing from the Queen of the Moon Kingdom, but Serenity had always been exceptionally fond of the young Martian. Rei took another few steps forward and quickly filled in the empty space between the guardians of Mercury and Jupiter of the inner solar system.
"Now that you're all here, let's get started." King Endymion stood up from the throne and approached the soldiers, followed by his wife.
"As some of you may already know, the Princess of Venus' twenty second birthday is rapidly approaching." Serenity said.
"And under Venusian law, an heiress to the throne of Venus must be wed on her twenty second birthday." King Endymion said. "Since the princess has yet to choose a partner, the king and queen of Venus are expecting a drastic influx of suitors to their planet vying for their daughter's heart. Due to this sudden, heavy increase of people and Venus' demilitarized state, the Venusian Kingdom has expressed a need for additional security to ensure the safety of the princess and their kingdom."
"Venus doesn't have a military?" Hotaru, the smallest and youngest of the guardians, barely even eighteen years old questioned. "Why not? I thought each planet assembled its own military."
"Most do, but Venus has been demilitarized for several centuries now." Ami spoke up. "Venusians aren't exactly known for being good fighters. It's just not in their nature."
"Correct." Endymion nodded. "Venus usually has mainly Martian soldiers stationed throughout the planet for protection."
"Endymion and I are asking the seven of you to serve as personal guards to the princess until she chooses a spouse and things begin calm down and return to normal."
"Depending on how familiar all of you are with the intricacies Venusian law, you may or may not know that a Venusian prince or princess is only permitted to wed another person of royal descent." Endymion said. "For this reason there have been and will continue to be royals from all over the universe traveling to Venus. This has already brought several imposters. So in addition to acting as body guards to the princess some of you will also be working with the Venusian government screening and verifying suitors before they will be allowed to meet the princess."
"Remember, even after a suitor has been verified as royalty, the princess is still not to go anywhere outside the palace without an escort. At least one of you must accompany her at all times." Serenity said. "You'll leave immediately. There are two pods ready and waiting to take you all to Venus right now."
As the guardians began to file out of the room, Rei was stopped by Serenity's hand on her shoulder. Rei turned around to face Queen.
"What is it, Serenity?" Rei asked.
"I want you in charge. Lead the other guardians. They're all strong. But, you're the most experienced."
Rei nodded, but didn't speak.
"Princess Minako is a bit of a free spirit and can be a little reckless. Look out for her. Keep her safe."
"Of course, Serenity. I'll protect her with my life."
"I know I can always count on you. Good luck. And have a safe trip."
"Thank you."
Rei then bowed to Serenity and Endymion and quickly made her way out of the room to catch up with the other guardians. Once she got outside the palace, Rei boarded one of the two large spacecrafts waiting nearby. Rei sat down in one of the huge, leather seats across from Ami and Makoto and buckled her seatbelt. The craft was much larger and much more luxurious than anything Rei had ever encountered during her time serving in the Martian Army.
"This thing is gigantic." Makoto said. "Why are they making us take two vehicles? We could all have easily fit in one."
"It's a safety tactic." Rei said, reaching into the small refrigerator next to her seat and retrieving a bottle of water. "The most powerful guardians should never all travel together just in case the aircraft would crash. Then we wouldn't all die together."
"It's morbid to think about, but it's smart." Ami said. "Royal families also do the same thing."
"I guess that makes sense." Makoto said.
Rei stared out the window, taking in the breath-taking views of the moon terrain and the Earth off in the distance.
"Ami, what's our ETA?" Rei asked.
"We should land on Venus around ten a.m."
"Great. Thank you." Rei nodded.
"Have either of you met the Princess of Venus before?" Makoto asked.
"I haven't." Ami said. "I've spent some time doing medical research on Venus, but the labs that I was working in weren't anywhere near the palace, so I never had the opportunity to meet the royal family."
"I haven't either." Rei shook her head. "It's actually been quite a while since I've been to Venus at all."
"Really? When Endymion said Venus usually has Martian troops stationed there, I thought for sure you'd be the one there leading them." Makoto looked at Rei. "You're Mars' strongest warrior. You guys have the most advanced military in our whole solar system."
"Well, during times of war I probably would have been stationed there. But, during peaceful times, I can make better use of my skills elsewhere. Over the last several years, during times of peace, Serenity has had me stationed all over the galaxy training soldiers and helping the other planets build up defenses."
"She might work you pretty hard, but you always were Serenity's favorite, you know." Makoto laughed.
"Not true, Mako." Rei rolled her eyes and shifted in her seat.
Rei went back to absently staring out the window watching the stars fly by and thinking about her new mission. She had never acted as a personal body guard before. As a well-respected lieutenant and tactics specialist in the Martian Army, she was much more used to actual combat in war, or instructing others on how to fight before the need arises. Although Rei thought her advanced military skills could be put to much better use than being a glorified babysitter to the Princess of Venus, she still vowed to take this mission seriously and do the best job she could.
As the aircraft began its descent into the thick clouds of the Venusian atmosphere, Rei could feel the intense heat and atmospheric pressure even from inside the pod. The climate was a far cry from what she was used to experiencing on her home planet. Once the pod had finally landed, the guardians of the inner solar system reassembled with the outer guardians and they all made their way toward the palace. Rei inhaled a few deep breaths attempting to adjust to the change in atmospheric temperature and pressure. Rei's eyes wandered up and down the castle. The castle was a pale yellow/orange hue that shown brightly in the morning sunlight. It was one of largest structures Rei had ever seen, but even so the castle was tiny when compared to the size of the Moon Palace. Rei inadvertently began walking more quickly toward the palace, she felt almost as if some kind of unseen, unexplainable force was drawing her in. The Martian found this feeling particularly odd because she never found herself overly excited to mix with royals, not that she often did. And not that she didn't love and respect Endymion and Serenity, but she just had always felt out of place when it came to interactions with people of royal descent. She always felt as though she never had much in common with them.
The other guardians fell in line behind Rei as they approached the castle. They were immediately met by one of the royal family's many servants.
"Good Morning." Rei said. "Lieutenant Rei Hino of Mars." She pulled her military identification card from her jacket and showed it to the man.
"Nice to meet you, Lieutenant, the king and queen have been expecting you and the other guardians. Everyone, please follow me."
The guardians were led through the castle, they passed several more servants hustling and bustling about the castle. Contrary to most of the other planets, many of the castle's servants were male. On Venus, women were much more highly valued than in most other cultures and the queen was the single most powerful person on the planet.
The guardians were led into the large throne room, which at the present time appeared to be empty.
"Wait here." The servant said. "I'll go get the king and queen."
As the servant exited the room, the seven guardians wandered about the room admiring the decor. The walls and ceiling were painted with landscapes of Venus and portraits of ancient mythological figures important to the Venusians.
"This artwork is so beautiful." Michiru said.
"It really is. It's amazing that this artwork is still so well preserved after hundreds and hundreds of years." Setsuna added.
"I wonder who painted them?" Haruka reached up to touch the wall's painted surface.
"Don't touch it." Michiru grabbed Haruka's hand. "You might leave fingerprints."
Michiru laced her fingers with her girlfriend's in an attempt to keep Haruka's hands occupied so that she wouldn't be tempted to touch any of the priceless artwork.
Rei leaned her head back and noticed straight above her was a huge mural depicting the Goddess Venus and God Mars along with their children.
"You know Rei, Mars and Venus were always destined to be together." Haruka said. "Maybe while you're here you'll find a nice Venusian woman for yourself." She playfully elbowed the Martian.
"Yes. After all who are we to interfere with destiny?" Setsuna joked.
"Oh I really don't think so. I'm here to complete a mission and that's all." Rei rolled her eyes. "This isn't a pleasure trip in the slightest."
"Loosen up. There's nothing wrong with having a little fun along the way." Makoto shrugged. "There are enough of us guardians to look out for the princess if you want to get away for a bit."
"Yeah, you know you've always been weak for a hot Venusian woman." Haruka laughed.
"Geez. Date a few Venusians and no one lets you forget it." Rei rolled her eyes again. "I've dated other women too."
"Well, Just make sure you're extra careful with Venusian women though or else, like Mars and Venus, you could end up with several love children of your own." Makoto laughed.
"Come on, Mako. Not in front of the kid." Rei motioned over her shoulder to Hotaru who was looking up at the mural on the ceiling.
"Hey! I'm not a kid anymore. And for the record, I'm just as strong and mature as any of you. I could destroy this whole planet if I wanted to, you know."
"Easy there, little one." Rei chuckled. "Today, your temper's almost as fiery as mine."
"I just don't understand-" Hotaru narrowed her eyebrows in confusion.
"She's right though. She's not a child anymore." Michiru interjected. "But, she hasn't had much exposure to Venusians, she's not familiar with the differences between all of us and Venusian women. Maybe a crash course in Venusian female biology would be in order?"
"Sounds like a job for a Mercurian." Rei smirked.
"Um, well..." Ami said. "Through the course of evolution, Venusian women have developed a type of anomaly that causes a possibility of a Venusian woman becoming pregnant when bodily fluids are transferred during sexual contact with another woman."
"Wait...so what you're saying is that Venusian women can get pregnant by either a man or another woman?" Hotaru asked. "That's crazy."
"Yes." Ami nodded. "It's the result of a very unusual mutation in the Venusian genetic code. We're still trying to understand it. But, it has been dubbed the 'Aphrodite Mutation.' This is something that we've never observed before in any species. We think it has something to do with Venusian hyper-sexuality and extremely high fertility causing their genes to change over time. Like with men, unprotected sex with a Venusian woman won't always result in a pregnancy, but it's definitely a possibility."
"I'm just glad that neither Neptunians nor Uranians have that kind of a mutation." Michiru said. "Isn't that right, Haruka?" Michiru smirked and winked at her girlfriend.
"Uh, yeah." Haruka chuckled sheepishly as a dark shade of red crept across her cheeks and neck.
"That's amazing though." Hotaru was unable to wipe the surprised look off of her face.
"It really is." Ami agreed. "Scientists were completely shocked when they first discovered that this was happening. Women in homosexual relationships were obviously assuming that their partners were unfaithful and had been involved with a man, but DNA tests proved that the child was a combined product of both women's DNA."
"They have advanced birth control methods to prevent pregnancies though, don't they?" Setsuna asked, looking at Ami.
"They do." Ami nodded.
"I heard it was some kind of new weird medical implant or something." Makoto said.
"Sort of." Ami said. "It's a microchip that gets injected into the back of every Venusian woman's neck when she turns thirteen. That's the age when they typically mature sexually. Once they receive the chip, the doctor can then enable it to block all regular pregnancy hormones as well as the Aphrodite Mutation and since the chip is computerized, it's simple for the doctor to disable the chip once the woman decides that she wants to try to get pregnant. Then she can begin trying immediately."
"Everything about Venusian culture is so interesting." Setsuna said.
"They're one of the most unique and beautiful races in our star system." Haruka said.
"That's for sure. Even their thrones are incredibly beautiful." Makoto took a small step closer toward the two large seats in the room.
The thrones were made entirely out of intricately etched designs and many shaped metal hearts which glittered a shiny golden color from the sunlight that shined down through a large oculus in the ceiling. These thrones looked quite drastically different from the thrones of Endymion and Serenity which were made of intricately carved wood from Earth.
"Venusians are known for their brilliant metal work." Haruka said.
"It's true." Rei nodded. "They supply the Martian Army with a lot of our weapons. They're excellent craftsmen and women."
It was only a few moments later that the guardians heard voices approaching closer and closer to the throne room. When the doors to the room opened again, the same servant who had first greeted the guardians returned with the king and queen following behind him.
"Welcome to the Venusian Kingdom." The King said, he was a tall, large and muscular man with short dark hair and dark eyes.
"We appreciate you all getting here so quickly. And on such short notice." The queen added, she was a tall, slender woman with long blonde hair and kind blue eyes.
Each guardian then took a moment to introduce themselves.
"It's nice to meet all of you." The queen smiled. "We'll have one of the servants show you to your rooms shortly. You'll be staying in the west wing of the castle. But, you should all know that Minako isn't exactly thrilled about needing to choose a mate in such a short amount of time. She's a little headstrong."
"She's met many suitors over the past two years and she just hasn't been taken with any of them." The king sighed. "If she doesn't choose a spouse soon, we'll be forced to choose for her."
"We're hoping it doesn't come to that. We'd much prefer for her to choose someone herself." The queen said.
"We're expecting many more suitors coming in to see her from all over the universe, but with so many more people coming here we're concerned about Minako's safety." The king said.
"We'd like to have at least one of you accompany Minako when she meets each suitor." The queen said. "She has three scheduled meetings for later today."
As the king and queen continued speaking, Rei became distracted by another person entering the room. Rei turned her head and noticed a young, beautiful blonde woman walking toward her, who looked much like a younger version of the queen. Rei assumed that this woman must be the princess. The princess' eyes scanned the room, looking at each guardian, but her gaze was drawn to and lingered on Rei in particular for a few long moments. Minako's deep blue eyes slowly met Rei's dark amethyst ones.
"This is our beloved only daughter, Minako." The king placed his arm around his daughter's shoulder. "These are the guardians that Serenity sent. They'll be looking after you. You're not to go outside the palace or meet any suitors without at least one of them with you."
"I already told you, I really don't need a babysitter." Minako rolled her eyes. "I'm fine on my own."
"It's precautionary, sweetie." The queen said. "We just want to keep you safe."
"Fine. How many people am I supposed to meet today?"
"Three." The king said. "The first is from the Andromeda Galaxy and scheduled to arrive later this afternoon."
"Great. I can't wait." Minako said sarcastically. "I'll be outside in the courtyard."
Minako then trudged off toward the door.
"Minako." The queen called out to her daughter.
"I'll take the first shift, Your Highness." Rei said to the queen before taking off after the blonde.
Rei jogged down the hallway and quickly caught up with Minako.
"When I said I didn't need a babysitter, I meant it." Minako called out, not even bothering to turn around. "I'm not trying to be rude, but I can take care of myself."
"In all honesty, Princess, I'm not thrilled to be a babysitter." Rei said, stepping in front of Minako and stopping her from walking any further. "With all due respect, I'm a soldier. There are a lot of other things I could be doing, but Queen Serenity sent me here specifically to look after you and that's exactly what I intend to do. Whether you like it or not is totally irrelevant."
"Well, I see someone's pretty hot headed." Minako locked eyes with Rei for a few long moments before allowing her gaze to wander, carefully eyeing the Martian up and down. "At least I can appreciate you being up front and honest with me." Minako shrugged. "I've met so many fake, pretentious people lately. It's nice to meet someone real for a change."
"As a Martian, it's my nature to be brutally honest. To the point where some might even consider it a flaw. I don't, but others might."
"So you're a Martian? I can't say I'm surprised. Makes perfect sense. So, what's your deal anyway?" Minako asked as she began walking toward the door.
"I'm not sure what you mean?"
"You're not wearing the same uniform as the other guardians. "Are you special or something?"
"I wouldn't say I'm special." Rei pushed the door open and motioned for Minako to walk outside. "But, Serenity did put me in charge. I'm a lieutenant for the Martian Army and I train a lot of soldiers on combat skills and weapon tactics, particularly archery. I have much more military experience than the other guardians. I've been in the Army since I was fifteen years old."
"I thought you had to be eighteen to join the Army?"
"You do. I lied about my age to get in."
"Didn't they ever find out?" Minako asked, looking over at Rei.
"Eventually, but not until I was seventeen, luckily they were so impressed with my skills that they didn't kick me out."
"So you do know how to fight?" Minako said, her sentence coming out as more of a question rather than a statement. "I guess that sword on your hip and bow on your back aren't just for show then?"
"Not at all."
"You're a little bit smaller than most of the other guardians though-"
Rei silently gritted her teeth. She didn't get the impression that Minako was necessarily intending to insult her, but she had always been slightly insecure about her stature. She was a little taller than Minako and much more muscled, but she was still smaller than the average Martian. Rei had always had to work twice as hard to prove herself, but anyone who doubted her always lived to regret it.
"It's not always about size. Skill level is incredibly more valuable. I can go up against the best of the best. And I'm much stronger than any man I've ever fought against."
"There's that Martian arrogance." Minako chuckled. "I was waiting for it to come out. I knew it wouldn't take long."
"That's a stereotype." Rei said, flatly.
"It's not a stereotype when it's true, Lieutenant." Minako smiled.
"Confidence and arrogance aren't the same thing and there's nothing wrong with being confident and proud. We're all good at something, we shouldn't be afraid to embrace it." Rei said, matter-of-factly.
As they slowly walked through the courtyard, Minako noticed that Rei now looked extremely uncomfortable and had begun sweating rather heavily. Rei could feel several beads of perspiration dripping down her forehead and neck as her excess body heat caused her shirt to become soaked with sweat beneath her jacket.
"Are you all right?" Minako asked. "You're sweating a lot."
"I'm fine." Rei said. "It's just taking me some time to adjust to the climate. My last mission required me to spend a lot of time in the outer solar system. It was much colder than it is here."
Rei reached into the inside pocket of her jacket and pulled out a black handkerchief with her initials stitched in red, which she used to wipe the sweat from her face.
"You can take off your jacket, you know." Minako said. "That'll help."
"I'd rather leave it on. It's part of my uniform. I'll get used to it."
"What difference does a uniform make if you drop dead of heat stroke? Come here." Minako took Rei by the hand and led her over toward the gigantic fountain in the middle of the court yard.
"Sit down." Minako said, motioning for Rei to sit on the ledge of the fountain.
"But-"
"I said sit down." Minako's tone was ridged and firm.
Not wanting to deny an order from the princess, Rei did as she was told. Minako then carefully unbuckled the straps tethering Rei's bow and arrow quiver to her body. Minako gently set the bow and quiver on the ground and unzipped the Martian's jacket before sliding it off of her shoulders and removing the jacket from Rei's body. Although Rei was still wearing a long sleeve shirt, she felt an instant wave of relief at the removal of her heavy, leather military jacket.
Minako took the handkerchief from Rei's hand and dipped it into the pool of water flowing through the fountain. She then gently dabbed the wet handkerchief over Rei's forehead and temples.
"You have to be feeling so much better already." Minako smiled softly. "Our atmosphere can be extremely harsh when you're not used to it."
"No kidding." Rei exhaled heavily and ran her fingers through her long, thick, raven hair. "I can't even remember the last time I visited Venus. Mercury isn't even quite this hot."
"It's not this bad all of the time." Minako said as she continued to dab the handkerchief over Rei's face. "You came in the middle of the summer, but it still cools off a lot at night. You should really get this shirt off too." Minako reached to undo the first button on Rei's shirt, which was now soaked with sweat and plastered to her body. "It's soaked all the way through."
"No, no, no." Rei shook her head. "I'm fine. Thank you, though."
"You nearly passed out not more than a few minutes ago." Minako rolled her eyes.
"Really. I'm okay. Please don't worry about me." Rei insisted as she rebuttoned the top button on her shirt.
"Is every Martian as horribly stubborn as you are?" Minako asked as she dipped the handkerchief back into the fountain.
"Are all Venusians as persistent and pushy as you are?" Rei countered.
Minako laughed as she gently pushed Rei's hair away from her forehead and placed the damp handkerchief just below her hairline.
"So...you know, you never did tell me your name, Lieutenant." Minako said, catching a glimpse of the letters stitched into the corner of the handkerchief, which she assumed were probably the Martian's initials.
"It's Rei. Rei Hino."
"Lieutenant Rei Hino." Minako said. "It has a nice ring to it, I think."
"I've always thought so." Rei said, a small smile inadvertently creeping across her lips.
"Oh? So you can smile after all." Minako teased. "I was starting to get worried."
A few hours later, the first of Minako's scheduled suitors for the day arrived. Rei promptly escorted Minako back to the palace to meet the prince. When they arrived back near the front entrance of the castle, Rei noticed a tall young man with tan skin and dark wavy hair exit an air craft and begin to approach the palace.
"Wait here, Princess." Rei placed her forearm in front of Minako, causing her to stop walking.
Rei quickly approached the man with her hand on her sword, poised and prepared to withdraw it from its sheath at a moment's notice, should the need arise.
Rei stepped in front of the man to stop him from advancing any further.
"State your business." Rei said firmly.
"I'm The Prince of the Andromeda Galaxy. I'm here to see The Princess of Venus."
"Are you carrying any weapons or objects that could pose a threat to the princess or myself?"
"No." The prince sighed loudly, not even trying to hide his annoyance. "Do you think we could hurry this along?"
"This will take as long as it takes." Rei said, sharply. "Turn around and place your hands against the wall."
"I don't think so." The prince said snidely as he began to walk toward the west side of the castle, where Minako was standing. "I'll go speak to the princess-"
"Hold it." Rei grabbed the man by the back of the shirt. "You won't so much as look at her until you prove your identity to me."
Although the prince was significantly larger than Rei, she was undisputedly much stronger.
"Place your hands against the wall. I won't ask you again. Failure to comply with any more of my commands will result in your immediate removal from this kingdom, by direct order of the king and queen of Venus."
Though he was now extremely annoyed, the prince did as asked and placed his hands flat on the wall in front of him. Rei then proceeded to give him a quick, yet still thorough frisk. When she was satisfied that the man did not pose a threat, she stepped back and allowed him to turn around.
"Do you have identification?"
The man rolled his eyes and pulled his identification card from his shirt pocket. Rei took the card and looked it over, she pulled a small handheld computer device from her pocket and searched in his information in the galactic database that had been created and maintained by a team of Mercurian computer engineers. The database contained extensive personal data on every person royal or otherwise, from every known star system in the universe.
"Place your right thumb on the scanner, please." Rei held the device out to the man.
"You're wasting my time. I am who I claim to be. And I really don't appreciate being treated like a common criminal." The prince said as he reached out and placed his thumb on the scanner.
"I don't care who you are and I don't know how you govern your own kingdom, but here royalty or not, no one gets in without having their identity verified first."
While he waited for the computer to scan his fingerprint, the prince looked down at the scabbard that housed Rei's sword. The scabbard was made up of intricately carved metal patterns colored black and red. The prince noticed in the middle of the scabbard was a symbol carved into the metal and colored a deep blood red shade. He instantly recognized the symbol as being the planetary insignia of Mars.
"A Martian. I should have known." The prince said, condescendingly. "Nothing but a bunch of uncivilized, moronic barbarians. All of you."
Rei narrowed her eyes, a fiery rage now burned deep within her, she took in a sharp breath and gritted her teeth, doing her best to quell her temper as she decided not to indulge the prince with so much as any response at all. As soon as the scanner came back with a positive match, Rei gave the identification card back to the prince.
"You're cleared. You may meet with the princess now."
"Don't bother, Lieutenant, I'm not even the slightest bit interested." Minako said as she walked toward Rei and the prince.
"Princess of Venus, please allow me to-" the prince began to speak.
"Stop. Don't waste your breath. I said I'm not interested." Minako said firmly, without giving the prince so much as a second glance.
"Send him away." Minako said, turning toward Rei.
"Are you sure, Princess?" Rei looked over at Minako.
"Positive." She nodded, placing her hand on Rei's shoulder. "Get rid of him."
"You heard her." Rei shrugged.
"This isn't fair." The prince said, taking a step toward Minako. "I didn't even get a chance to-"
"She said no." Rei quickly stepped in between the prince and princess. "So, you can either leave peacefully or I can throw you out. Whichever option you'd prefer is just fine with me."
The prince watched as Rei placed her hand on her sword, preparing to draw it from its scabbard. Deciding not to challenge Rei's obviously volatile temper, since he was unarmed and without any body guards, the prince clenched his teeth and stomped off back toward his pod.
"Asshole." Rei muttered under her breath.
"You know it's not true." Minako looked over at Rei, placing her hand on the lieutenant's arm.
"What's not true, Princess?" Rei asked.
"What he said about Martians. You guys are skilled, brilliant fighters. Your people have always done a great job of protecting us. Venus would be in serious trouble without Martians."
"Thank you. But, I'm really not concerned with one pompous, entitled little jackass' opinion of me or my race. I'm surprised you didn't even give him a chance though. He was an ass, but at least he was handsome." Rei shrugged. "You didn't think so?"
"He was a complete jerk to you." Minako said. "I'm not going to tolerate that. It doesn't matter what he looks like."
"Wait. You sent him away just because he was rude to me?" Rei sighed. "Princess. This isn't about me or any of the other guardians either. You need to choose a suitor to please yourself, not us. We're not important."
"Contrary to what most people may think about Venusians, I actually care about a lot more than looks. I'm not that shallow." Minako said, running off toward the entrance of the palace.
"Damn it. Would you stop running away?" Rei groaned as she began jogging to catch up to the princess.
"I didn't mean to upset you." Rei said. "I apologize."
"I just hate how everyone always assumes that the only things Venusians care about are sex and physical beauty. Some of us are a lot more than that. Isn't there more to you than just a warrior?"
"Honestly. Not really." Rei said.
Minako laughed. "I was trying to make a point. Thanks for ruining it." Minako playfully elbowed Rei.
"I'm sorry, Princess."
"It's okay. Thanks for at least making me laugh." Minako smiled.
Rei walked with Minako back to the throne room of the palace.
"Hi honey." The queen said. "Did you meet the prince of Andromeda already?"
"Yes. I met him."
"And?" The king said anxiously.
"And I told him to get lost. He was a total jerk and I wouldn't marry him even if my life depended on it." Minako crossed her arms over her chest.
"You still have two more meetings today. Maybe they'll be better." The queen said, sympathetically.
"I'm not meeting anyone else. I'm done. I'm tired of this. I can't keep doing it."
"Minako, you're going to meet with the other suitors." The king said. "You'll meet as many as it takes until you choose a respectable husband or wife for yourself."
"I'm not getting married." Minako scoffed. "These people don't care about me or our kingdom at all. They care about themselves and nothing more."
"You will be married on the day of your twenty second birthday whether you like it or not." The king said, sharply. "Either you choose someone or your mother and I will. It's as simple as that. Do I make myself clear?"
Minako could feel an arsenal of tears pricking behind her eyes. She tried desperately to fight them back, but she couldn't. The tears almost immediately began spilling down her cheeks as she turned and left the room with Rei again following closely behind.
"I really thought The Prince of Andromeda was going to be the one." The king sighed, looking over at his wife. "He's going to inherit the entire Andromeda Galaxy one day and it'll eventually collide and merge together with our own Milky Way. Do you know what Minako marrying him could have meant for not only our kingdom, but for the entire Moon Kingdom as well?"
"That our only daughter would be trapped in a loveless marriage for the rest of her life?" The queen said sarcastically. "She didn't like him. What are we supposed to do? She wants to marry for love, like any other Venusian woman would. I just hope she finds someone. The last thing I want to do is have to choose a suitor for her."
"It looks like we're heading in that direction. She won't give any of these men or women a chance." The king said. "If we have to choose, I'm sure she'll grow to love whomever we pick. I seem to remember you weren't exactly thrilled when your parents choose me for you. But, it didn't take long for you to change your mind."
"That's true." The queen nodded.
"Minako is lucky that the laws have been amended since you were her age. At least she has the opportunity to choose someone for herself first." The king looked over at his wife. "Not everyone ends up as fortunate as you and I did when it comes to having a partner chosen for them."
"I know you're right. But, Minako just seems so unhappy right now. It's been such a long time since she's been her usual bubbly self."
Rei followed Minako up the castle's huge main staircase, taking the stairs two at a time to catch up with the blonde.
"I don't need an escort inside the castle." Minako called out as she began walking more quickly, not wanting to let Rei see her cry.
"I know. I just-"
"I don't want to talk to anyone right now." Minako sobbed. "Please just leave me alone."
Minako moved quickly down the hallway and ducked into the castle's library. Rei continued to follow Minako, dodging in and out between several shelves of books. Eventually Minako stopped moving, giving up trying to escape from Rei.
"Princess."
When Minako turned around, Rei could see that the blonde's bright blue eyes were filled with tears. Rei then found herself extremely surprised when Minako lunged forward and tightly wrapped her arms around her, sobbing softly into the Martian's shoulder.
"Oh...uh..." not knowing exactly how to react, Rei wrapped one of her arms around the blonde, gently returning the embrace.
As a Martian, Rei was typically very stoic and rarely ever showed much emotion at all so she always found herself feeling slightly awkward and unsure of what to do when someone cried in front of her.
"Are you all right?" Rei asked, slowly and gently running her hand up and down Minako's back, attempting to comfort her as best as she could.
Although Minako felt annoyed for allowing herself to break down and cry in front of a stranger, something about being in the Martian's arms brought about an aura of calm and comfort to the princess.
"I don't want to be forced to get married. All of these suitors have just been power-hungry tyrants looking to marry to expand their family's ruling power to another kingdom." Minako mumbled into Rei's shoulder. "I'm not interested in that at all. I'm looking for someone who's kind and sweet. I want to be able to really connect with someone. All I want is to marry for true love. Is that so unreasonable?"
"Of course not. But, you still have time. There are plenty of people out there. I'm sure you'll meet your true love very soon."
"You really think so?"
"Sure. Things like that tend to happen the moment we least expect them."
"Thanks." Minako sniffed as she slowly let go of Rei. "I'm really sorry. We just met and here I'm a wreck crying all over you. You must think I'm crazy."
"I don't." Rei shook her head. "It's okay."
"Here." Rei reached into the inside pocket of her jacket and handed Minako her handkerchief. "Tears don't suit you, Princess."
"Thank you." Minako smiled softly and took the handkerchief to wipe her eyes.
"Why don't I walk you to your room?" Rei said. "You can rest for a while until your next suitor arrives."
"I think I'd rather stay here..."
"I'll leave you alone then." Rei turned to leave. "I just wanted to make sure you were all right."
"Actually, would you mind staying with me?" Minako asked, grabbing Rei's arm to stop her. "I wouldn't mind the company."
"If that's what you want." Rei nodded.
"Tell me about your missions." Minako said. "The military must have taken you to so many different places."
"Absolutely. I've been all over the Milky Way, but there are still tons of places I haven't been. Our galaxy is big, but the universe is huge."
"You said earlier your last mission before you came here you were doing something in the outer solar system?"
"Yes. I was fighting along side the Saturnian Army. They called for reinforcements after alien forces invaded Titan and Iapetus before moving closer to the planet and also invading Enceladus. Luckily they never had the chance to infiltrate Saturn itself."
"I remember our news services reporting that. They said those forces came from some unknown star system something like thirty billion light years away from here."
"Yes. Scientists and military personnel are still trying to figure out exactly who they were and where they came from. The aliens were extremely evasive. They got into Saturn's airspace completely undetected. The Saturnians did a great job staving them off until my unit arrived to help. Once we got there, it didn't take too long to get things under our control and defeat them. Rebuilding efforts are already well underway."
"That's what I heard. My parents said we're sending supplies to help them. It's too bad that you had to go there under such terrible circumstances. Enceladus and Titan are both really beautiful and interesting places."
"They are." Rei agreed. "But, tourists of the Milky Way seem to be most interested in visiting Saturn itself. It is kind of the darling of our solar system, everyone's enamored with the rings."
"Well, they are pretty beautiful too." Minako said.
"Have you visited before?" Rei asked.
"No." Minako shook her head. "I'd love to though. I like to go out to the observatory and look through the telescope when the skies are clear enough. But, it's not the same as actually being there, you know? I don't get to leave our kingdom very often. I love Venus, but it'd be nice to be able to see some other places too. Could I show you one of my favorite things in our solar system?"
"Of course." Rei nodded.
Minako took Rei by the hand and drug her through the library to a huge wall of books extending from the floor to the ceiling near the back of the room. Minako let go of Rei and grabbed the exact book she wanted without even having to search at all for it. Rei wasn't able to see the cover of the book, but she could tell that it was well-worn. Minako sat down on the floor, she stretched her legs out in front of her and opened the book in her lap. Rei shifted her weapons to allow herself to sit down next to the blonde.
"You might actually be familiar with this already." Minako said as she flipped though the pages. "Maybe you've seen it..."
When she found the page she was looking for, Minako handed the book to Rei. Rei looked down at the book and the image she was met with was a large two-page spread of the Olympus Mons volcano on Mars, which she was indeed familiar with.
"Olympus Mons?" Rei said, skeptically. "On Mars. That's one of your favorite things in the whole solar system?"
"Yeah." Minako said excitedly. "I like volcanos."
"Even though right here on your own planet, you guys have the most volcanoes of all, Olympus Mons is still your favorite?"
"Definitely. It's the largest known volcano in our whole solar system. It's incredible. Don't you think so?"
"I do. But, most people would say I'm just biased because I'm a Martian. A lot of people aren't crazy about my home planet. It's small, cold and dusty-"
"And red and gorgeous." Minako said. "Have you ever seen it in person? Olympus Mons, I mean."
"Sure. I've seen it up close several times." Rei said.
"Is it as huge and majestic as it seems?" Minako asked.
"Absolutely. It's gigantic. It's very overwhelming when you're standing in front of it. It looks like it extends forever. And I've flown over it too. Would you like to see some pictures I've taken of it?"
"I'd love that." Minako smiled brightly.
Rei reached into her back pocket and pulled out her communicator. She scrolled past dozens of photos until she found what she was looking for. Minako moved closer to Rei until they were sitting shoulder to shoulder. Rei turned the screen of her communicator toward Minako and showed her a photo of herself standing in front of Olympus Mons.
"Here's a picture of the caldera I got when I was flying over." Rei said when she swiped to the next photo.
"And here's another one, you can see it off in the distance."
"Wow. These are some amazing photos. I really hope I'll get to see it for myself someday."
"It's definitely worth the trip to see it if you ever get the chance. No matter how many times I've seen Olympus Mons, still I always try to get some new photos when I'm back on Mars."
"Being in the military must keep you away from home an awful lot..."
"It does, but it's not like I really have much of a home to go back to. Just a small apartment where I live for a few months at a time until I find out where my next mission will take me."
"You must miss your family at least."
"I don't have any family..."
"None at all? You don't have any siblings or parents?"
"I'm an only child. My mother passed away when I was thirteen. It wasn't long after my mother's death that my father abandoned me. I haven't seen him since."
"What? How could he possibly do that?"
"His job was always more important to him than my mother and I were. After my mother died, he dumped me off with my grandfather and that was that. My grandfather passed away a few years ago and far as I'm concerned, I don't have a father. So, I don't have any family."
"I'm really sorry." Minako frowned, she reached over and placed her hand on Rei's thigh.
"Don't be sorry. I'd much rather consider myself an orphan than have anything to do with that bastard ever again. I've always done just fine on my own."
For the next hour, Rei and Minako sat on the floor of the library together looking through books, talking and genuinely just enjoying each other's company. Eventually, Rei caught a glimpse of the hands on her watch.
"You should really be getting ready to meet your next suitor. They'll be here shortly." Rei said.
"Do you happen to have any idea who it is this time?"
"I think they're from somewhere in The Whirlpool Galaxy. I can't remember which planet, but I believe this suitor is a woman, if I remember correctly."
Minako let out a heavy sigh.
"You're not interested in meeting a woman?" Rei asked.
"Oh, no. It's not that at all. Venusians don't pay attention to gender when looking for romantic partners, we only see individual people. I've met as many women as I have men. It's just that, sitting here, talking with you has been nice. You've been so far and seen so much. I'd like to hear more. I actually almost forgot about all the suitors I have to meet."
"I know you're not thrilled about this whole situation, but maybe you'll like this one. You won't know unless you give her a chance, right?"
"I guess...so since you said you don't have any family, I'm assuming you're not married or have any children then?"
"No." Rei shook her head. "I'm not married. No children."
"Did you leave a girl back on Mars? I'm sure you at least have a girlfriend, don't you?"
"Nope. No girlfriend either." Rei shook her head. "But, what would make you assume that if I was in a relationship it would be with a woman instead of a man?"
"It would be, wouldn't it, Lieutenant?" Minako smiled.
"Well, yes-"
"We might be blind to gender when it comes to relationships, but Venusians are extremely intuitive about other people's sexuality." Minako interjected. "We can usually just tell."
"That makes sense, I suppose." Rei said as she stood up. "Can I help you up?" Rei extended her hand down to Minako.
"Thank you." Minako said as she took Rei's hand and stood up.
On their way out of the library, Rei noticed one of the castle's female servants approaching them along with Makoto.
"Rei, I'll go ahead and escort the princess to her next meeting so you can go get some rest." Makoto said. "I know you travelled most of last night and this morning. You've gotta be exhausted."
"Thanks, Mako. I appreciate it."
"I'll be happy to show you to your room, Lieutenant." The servant said. "Follow me."
Rei walked with the servant toward the west wing of the castle while Minako and Makoto walked off in the opposite direction.
"While you were chaperoning the princess, the other guardians paired up-" The servant said as she open the door to a room with one large, pristinely made up bed in the center of the room. "I'm sorry, but there's an odd number of you-"
"It's all right." Rei said, sincerely. "I don't mind being alone. Besides, I always wake up very early in the morning, it's better for everyone this way."
"I'll let you settle in. Please don't hesitate to let us know if you or the other guardians need anything at all while you're here."
"Thank you very much."
Later that evening, Minako had been alone in her bedroom, sitting in the middle of her bed. Earlier that afternoon, both of Minako's meetings with the latter two suitors had proven to be just as unsuccessful as every other meeting she had had over the past two years. Minako looked over to the night table next to her bed and noticed Rei's handkerchief lying next to the lamp. When they left the library earlier that afternoon, at first Minako didn't even realize that she had still been holding on to it, but when she did, she tucked it safely away into her bra, making a mental note to herself to return it. Minako picked up the handkerchief and gently ran her fingertips over Rei's initials. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about the beautiful, raven-haired Martian warrior since she met her earlier that morning. Minako couldn't quite place what she was feeling, but one thing she knew for certain was that the short time she had spent with Rei that morning was the first time in a very long time that she hadn't felt quite so lonely. Most people would think it unfathomable to be almost constantly surrounded by people and still always feel alone, yet this was something Minako found very possible and it pained her deeply. She had friends, family, many servants and a wide variety of suitors from all over the cosmos and somehow she still always felt some part of her remained empty and unfulfilled. Minako was so lost in her thoughts that she never even noticed her nursemaid enter the room.
"Princess? Is everything all right?" The woman asked, noticing that Minako had an empty expression on her face as she stared straight ahead at the wall.
Minako shook herself from her thoughts and looked over at the woman.
"I'm fine." Minako nodded.
"Dinner will be served shortly. Your parents are waiting for you in the main dining room. They'd like for you to join them now."
"I'm not really very hungry."
"Are you sure? That's not like you. Are you feeling all right?" The woman placed the back of her hand on Minako's forehead, checking for any sign of a fever.
"Yes. I'm fine. Honest."
"Would you like me to bring you something to eat up here?"
"No. Thank you." Minako shook her head. "What about the guardians? Have they eaten?"
"They'll be eating in the upstairs dining room very soon. Why do you ask?"
"I know they've had a long day of traveling. I just wanted to make sure they're being well-taken care of."
"Of course, Princess. They'll be treated just as well as any other guest to our kingdom would be."
Minako's stomach then growled audibly.
"I'll bring you something to eat." The woman smiled.
Minako didn't speak, but forced herself to acknowledge her nursemaid with a small, half smile.
"Cheer up, sweetheart. Everyone hates seeing you so sad." The woman reached out and gently tucked a lock of Minako's hair behind her ear. "We love you."
"Do you believe in love at first sight?" Minako asked, looking up at her nursemaid.
"Absolutely. Once you've finally met that one special person that you're supposed to be with, you'll know it. It's Venusian nature."
Minako nodded.
"I'll be back in a few minutes with your dinner." The woman said as she turned to leave.
"Oh, wait a minute. Before I forget-"
"Yes, Princess?"
"Could you please see that this gets laundered?" Minako handed Rei's handkerchief to her nursemaid. "It belongs to Lieutenant Hino. I'd like to see that she gets it back."
"Of course. I'll take it to the laundry room right away."
Late that evening, Rei was in her room, getting ready for bed. Rei unbuttoned the shirt that she was wearing and tossed it onto the bed. In only a pair of pants, boots and her bra, Rei walked over to the full length mirror hanging on the wall on the other side of the room. She stared at her completely tattooed right arm. The tattoo was one comprehensive piece of artwork that extended from her wrist all the way up her arm and around her shoulder. The tattoo was made up of a black background of outer space, filled with stars and vibrant, colorful nebulae set amongst brightly colored red, orange and yellow flames encasing various important elements of her life. On her bicep there was a detailed, almost photo realistic rendering of the planet Mars and its two small satellites, Phobos and Deimos. On her wrist was Mars' planetary symbol. On her inner forearm was a Casablanca Lily, the bright white flower stood out strikingly against the deep black background of the tattoo. On the back of her arm, above her elbow was a bow and arrow. And on the outside of her forearm was a highly elaborate and stylized rendition of the symbol corresponding to her astrological sign, Aries, the ram.
Rei stared hard at her reflection in the mirror, her eyes shifting from her tattoo to the dozens of obvious, raised, disfiguring scars that marked much of her chest and abdomen. Every time she saw her own naked skin, Rei always hoped that the scars would somehow look softer and less obvious, but unfortunately they never did. Standing in front of the mirror, being faced with her scars, Rei couldn't help but be reminded of the horrible incident that caused them.
A few years prior, she had been on a mission to the Jovian satellite, Io, with her unit of Martian soldiers, given the task of training some brand new young Jovian Army recruits. Rei rather liked training Jovians, overall they were typically strong, brave and very quick, eager learners. Rei had expected the mission to be enjoyable, although it proved to be anything but when she found herself and fellow soldiers caught in the middle of a violent, catastrophic volcanic eruption. The eruption came without warning, molten lava, rock and debris spewed upward into the air as thick, black smoke billowed out of the caldera, engulfing the sky as far as the eye could see and leaving only minutes for the soldiers to evacuate the area. Rei would have escaped completely unscathed, but she noticed one of her fellow Martian soldiers was pinned to the ground by a large boulder that had come careening down the mountain at the start of the eruption. Rei had never turned her back on a soldier before and wasn't about to this time either, despite his protests to leave him and save herself. Rei focused every ounce of her energy to tap into her pyrokinetic abilities to divert the lava and molten material away from the trapped soldier. As the man worked to free his leg from underneath the boulder, Rei was finding herself struggling to control the fires of the eruption. Rei had only been a young child when she first discovered her extraordinary ability to create and manipulate fire. Over the years, she had practiced relentlessly and tapped into the deepest reaches of her mind in order to understand and perfect her skill. Rei's pyrokinetic ability was strong, but still no match for the volcano, as she quickly found herself fighting a losing battle. Just as her fellow soldier managed to free his leg and get up off of the grind, Rei lost what little control she had left. Before she could even react, a pile of falling rocks swiftly knocked her off of her feet. Rei winced in pain as she struggled to stand up, molten material rained down around her, burning straight through her clothing and coming into contact with the skin on most of her upper body. Rei and the other soldiers ran as fast as they could to take cover from the eruption. Rei avoided looking down at her body, she knew she was badly burned as even the slightest movement of her upper body was excruciatingly painful. Rei couldn't even remember getting to the hospital at all, as the severe pain had at some point caused her to lose consciousness and the next memory she had of the incident was waking up in a bed of a Jovian medical center. She was still in severe pain, her torso and entire right arm were bandaged. The doctors had told her that luckily they had been able to save her arm although it was badly damaged and she would require more surgeries as well as months of rehabilitation in order to regain full use of her limb again.
Rei turned away from the mirror in utter disgust, Martians were not typically vain creatures and Rei was indeed grateful to be alive and to have survived her extensive injuries with no lasting effects beyond cosmetic damage, but the scars still always bothered her and made her feel abnormally self-conscious. They were a constant reminder of her own weakness and failure. She had been betrayed by her own element, fire. Maybe if she had only been just a little bit stronger or trained harder to better develop her pyrokinetic abilities, maybe she would have been able to protect herself.
Even after her injuries were fully healed, her body was still badly scarred and Rei always preferred to keep the blemishes hidden as much as possible. She found hiding the extensive scarring on her arm increasingly difficult being that it was on such a highly visible area of her body. For that reason, she eventually sought other, permanent concealing methods. She looked to the expertise of a talented Neptunian tattoo artist who assured her that he could help. The artist happily designed an elaborate sleeve tattoo for her, paying special attention to the placement of each component of the tattoo, using darker colors where the scars were the most severe. The tattoo required several sessions to complete and it was agonizingly painful, Rei felt intense, deep pain each time the needles penetrated the sensitive scarred skin, but she knew the end result would be worth it. Once the tattoo was finally finished, Rei was more than satisfied. She could barely tell there were even scars underneath at all. Rei had considered covering the scars on her chest and abdomen with tattoos as well, but there were so many. She knew it would be difficult and extremely painful to cover them all. There were countless marks, some even worse than the scars that had covered her arm, but being that the location of these defects were much easier to hide, Rei decided to just leave them alone.
Minako had been sitting in front of her large vanity mirror brushing out her long, golden blonde hair when her nursemaid entered the room.
"I brought some of your laundry. Is it all right if I put it away?"
"Sure." Minako nodded. "Thank you."
Minako stood up and noticed that Rei's handkerchief was on top of the pile of laundry. She took the neatly folded handkerchief and placed it on top of her dresser.
"Could you also please send Lieutenant Hino in here when you're finished?" Minako asked. "I'd like to talk to her."
"She's one of the guardians?"
"Yes. The raven-haired one." Minako nodded.
"The tiny Saturnian who carries the death scythe?" The nursemaid asked.
"No, no." Minako shook her head. "The other dark-haired one. The Martian. The leader. The one with the bow and arrow."
"Oh. Yes, of course, Princess. I'll send her right in."
It was a few minutes later when Rei heard a knock on her bedroom door.
"One moment." Rei called out, she grabbed her shirt from the bed and quickly buttoned it up before answering the door.
"Lieutenant Hino?" Minako's nursemaid asked.
"Yes." Rei nodded.
"It's nice to meet you, officially. I'm Princess Minako's nursemaid."
"It's nice to meet you as well. What can I do for you?"
"The Princess has requested to see you."
"Me? What for?" Rei asked, confused.
"I'm not sure, exactly. She didn't say, but I'll show you to her quarters."
Rei walked with the woman to the opposite wing of the castle. Rei gently knocked on the door and waited for Minako to give her verbal consent, before opening the door.
"Come in." Minako called out.
Rei slowly opened the door and stepped into the room where Minako was sitting on her bed with a small, white cat in her lap.
"I was told you wanted to see me, Princess?"
"I'm sorry it's so late. I hope you weren't asleep." Minako gently moved the cat from her lap and stood up.
"I wasn't." Rei shook her head. "Is everything all right?" There was obvious concern in Rei's tone of voice.
"Everything's fine." Minako said, reassuringly. "I just wanted to give you this back." She walked over to her dresser and picked up the handkerchief.
"My handkerchief?" Rei said.
"Thank you for letting me borrow it this afternoon. I had it laundered for you." Minako lifted Rei's hand and placed the folded piece of cloth into her palm.
"That definitely wasn't necessary. But, thank you." Rei smiled as her eyes met Minako's. "It really wasn't a big deal."
"You may not think so, but it meant a lot to me. You made me feel so much better this afternoon."
"Well, it was the least I could do. You did keep me from almost dropping dead in the court yard."
Minako laughed. "How are you feeling now? Are you adjusting all right to the climate?"
"Yes. I'm fine now." Rei said. "Much better."
Rei watched the cat jump off of Minako's bed and walk toward her. Rei looked down at her boots as the cat began affectionately rubbing its head on her pant leg.
"Cute cat." Rei crouched down and gently stroked the cat's head.
"That's Artemis. He likes you." Minako smiled upon hearing Artemis meow happily. "I think he wants you to hold him."
"Um, is it okay?" Rei looked up at the blonde.
"Of course." Minako nodded.
Rei gently picked up the cat and stood up.
"I'm surprised. He doesn't usually like new people at first." Minako listened to Artemis purr contently in Rei's arms.
"So...how did your other meetings go over today? If you don't mind me asking." Rei looked over at Minako as she stroked Artemis' fur.
"Just about as well as the first one." Minako said.
"That good, huh?" Rei said, sarcastically. "Sorry."
"It's all right." Minako shrugged. "These ones were at least nice and cooperative. I just didn't feel any spark, you know?"
"They didn't give you or any of the guardians a hard time when you weren't interested?"
"Not at all, thankfully. I'm sorry that you had to deal with a total jerk."
"It's all right. I'm pretty tough, I can handle it."
"I have to admit though, I kind of wanted to see you throw the Prince of Andromeda out on his self-righteous ass."
Rei snickered. "Oh, I would have loved to. Believe me."
"Being a little egotistical is one thing, but he was completely disrespectful. I don't know how you managed to keep your cool."
"Part of being a good soldier is learning to exercise control over your emotions and resorting to physical force only when necessary. As a Martian, I might come off as being a little more aggressive than most people but, I'm not a total brute."
"I never thought you were." Minako said, placing her hand on Rei's shoulder.
"Well, uh...I should let you get some sleep. You have another long day ahead of you."
Minako nodded.
"I hope tomorrow will be better for you." Rei said.
"Thank you. My father's pretty disappointed. He really hoped I'd choose to marry the Prince of Andromeda."
"I'm sure you must be under incredible pressure from your parents, but you can't help who you fall for. The most important thing is for you to choose someone that you can be happy with. Follow your heart, it'll always guide you in the right direction. Serenity told me you were a free spirit. Don't make a liar out of her."
"Thanks." Minako nodded and smiled. "Listen...I was wondering...have you ever been to the weapons facility we have here?"
"No." Rei shook her head. "Never."
"Would you like see it?"
"Oh. Definitely. Your metal workers are amazing. They've supplied the Martian Army with some of the best weapons available. I really don't know how they do some of the carving work. It's so detailed."
"I'd be happy to take you on a tour. Maybe tomorrow afternoon?"
"Really? That would be great. Thank you very much."
"I'm happy to do it. I think you'll find it interesting. Will you be escorting me to any of my meetings tomorrow?"
"I'm not sure. We haven't really come up with any kind of official schedule, but I certainly can, if that's what you want. That's what I'm here for. In the meantime, of course, if you need anything, don't hesitate to call."
"I'll see you later, buddy." Rei gave Artemis one last pat on the head before handing him over to Minako.
Minako and Rei held each other's gaze for a few long moments, neither of them physically able to look away, until Rei eventually forced herself to speak.
"So...um...goodnight, Princess. Sleep well."
"You too. Goodnight, Lieutenant."
Minako stepped toward the door and watched as Rei walked down the hallway until she turned out of sight.