The General Nephrite lazily stretched out on the wooden garden bench as he breathed in the fresh air of the Palace gardens. It was about midmorning, and the sun was high in the sky, warming his face with a soft, delicious heat. He smiled and closed his eyes.

Thank you, Cupid. He wistfully declared in silent triumph as he smiled at the sun. Thank you for making everything so perfect. He sat there, his eyes still shut as his thoughts danced in his head. Everything was perfect. He was finally united with his soul mate, the woman he would spend eternity with. His life was paradise. In his wakeful dreaming, he smiled even wider.

Not far from the thinking general, the Princess Jupiter sat beside the flowerbeds. On her face was a smile of contentment and happiness. Thoughtfully, she looked up and studied the reclining general sitting on the bench. Her happy mien turned quickly into one of desolation.

What have you done to me? she whispered to him, her rich green eyes welling up with tears of confusion. Her gaze drifted over his tall stature, to the handsome face with the long, wavy auburn hair. This is all too fast, all too sudden. All too perfect.

I think I'm in love with him. I think I'm in love with the general. His power, his courage, his strength. His compassion, his sincerity, his warmth-who would have thought? She tore her gaze away from him as she bowed her head to pick up the majestic bloom of the biggest rose in the flowerbed. As she placed the long stemmed blossom among the others in her basket she turned her back to both the flowerbed and the direction of General Nephrite.

In that instant, she was enveloped by strong, muscular arms of none other than the subject of her thoughts. General Nephrite masterfully pulled the Princess Jupiter to his body until her back was comfortably against his broad chest. As he held her in his tight embrace, his right hand raised her face to meet his and their lips met each other in a slow, delicious kiss.

A moment after, Jupiter drew back and ended the kiss. As she opened her eyes slightly, she found Nephrite planting soft kisses on her forehead to her cheek. When he drew back, he smiled at her with a look of tender happiness, and whispered into her ear, "I love you, Makoto."

She felt tremendously ecstatic for a single moment, then she stopped herself short and pulled herself abruptly away from his embrace. I cannot let myself be caught up so fast. The tears that had been welling in her eyes made their way down her cheeks in sad, wet lines. With her back to the general, she pretended to smell a rose in her hand as she told him jokingly, without a trace of tears in her voice, "Really? I think you love me only for that kiss on the balcony that night." She hugged herself tightly to keep Nephrite from seeing the trembling of her body, letting the rose drop to the floor as she did.

Nephrite was surprised and taken aback when she pulled away, but he took it as a playful response to his confession. He bent down to pull a stray daisy from the otherwise perfectly manicured flowerbed, a slight smile on his bright face. "I have loved you the first time I saw you."

Princess Jupiter stiffened. "And that was only on the night of the ball, ne?" Then he loves me for nothing more than lust… Tears freely streamed down her face as she bit her lip in heartbreak.

Nephrite casually walked over to the tall, slender maiden, putting his hand on her shoulder. As he twirled her around to face him, his grin turned into an expression of shock and concern at the sight of tears on her beautiful face. "Why? What's wrong?" he asked gently of her as she hastily wiped her eyes and face. She remained silent, biting her lip in a mixture hopelessness and indignation as she looked away from his doting gaze.

Morosely, he fished around in his pockets, seemingly looking for something. He felt terrible that the Princess should doubt his intentions, yet he was determined to show her that he was sincere. When he drew his hand out, a hair elastic appeared on his palm. It was made of a rich viridian material, with two shiny spheres on either side. Hesitantly, he handed it to Jupiter. "Here."

Princess Jupiter looked to his hand for a mere second, but as she turned away again, she immediately returned her gaze to the elastic in his palm. Her sad eyes suddenly lit with recognition and amazement. "I had this when I was thirteen!" she exclaimed, quickly taking the elastic into her own hands and fingering the tiny green spheres attached to it. "I used this to tie my hair back!"

"You lost it in the Royal Visit of the Moon Kingdom to Earth, for the inauguration of the new Palace of the Prince Endymion," he told her, his warm brown eyes hopeful that she would see what he wanted to show her. "That's when I first saw you. That was also when I first told myself that you were the most beautiful and graceful girl I had ever seen." He smiled wistfully as he looked away into the sky. "That was when I got obsessed with finding out more about you. I convinced myself that you were my soul mate years before that ball, Mako, years before that… kiss. It was then that I had resolved I would tell you I loved you," he declared softly, his gaze still on the heavens above them. "even if you would push me away afterward. You have no idea of how long I waited for this moment, Makoto."

The Princess Jupiter looked up at him open-mouthed, overwhelmed at what she had heard. Then she turned away. So it wasn't just that night. It wasn't just the ball. But does it make any difference? But should she believe him? She heard everything she wanted to hear, was that a reason to be alarmed still? Questions and fears hammered into her mind frantically as she decided for or against pushing him away, being afraid, or believing in him.

She turned around suddenly, pulled Nephrite violently to her and kissed him passionately. Nephrite, overwhelmed but quick to recover, kissed her back with the same intensity, taking her face into his hands. I don't want to worry anymore. I can't pass up a chance for love, she thought recklessly. I don't care if he throws me away afterward.

* * *

The Princess Venus sat comfortably on the lowest step of the Moon Palace's main staircase, carefully flipping through the delicate yellowed pages of her book. Her eyes scanned the pages anxiously, her blond brows curling in curiosity. She was totally engrossed in the story of the lake nymph and the rainbow spirit that she didn't look up when the heavy Palace doors were flung open with a loud bang that echoed through the halls of the Palace.

"Princess Venus…" A deep voice broke her preoccupied state of mind. The tone was impatient and demanding. And positively rude, the Princess irately decided as she put up her hand and made a shooing gesture. The wistful, mildly tearful mood she was nursing as she pored over the novel was impolitely interrupted by this harsh stranger.

"Go away. Not now. I'm busy," she hastily muttered beneath her breath as she shifted to a sideways seating position, to show the newcomer that he was obviously not welcome. As an afterthought, she added, "Whatever it is, ask me later… okay?"

"Princess, I would just like to know where the Princess Mercury is." She reluctantly looked up and, to her wide-eyed surprise, saw a very handsome General Kunzite bowing low in respect for her. After sitting for a while with her mouth agape, she checked herself, then smiled a faint, rueful smile, laughing nervously. "Oh, I'm sorry, General. I didn't know it was you." She closed the book, putting a finger in the middle of the pages to mark her progress. "What was it you wanted to ask me?"

The General cracked a smile through the serious expression and cleared his throat. The smile immediately disappeared and left a serious expression in its place. "Where is the Princess Mercury?" At the sound of her friend's name from the lips of a man, her blue eyes widened instantly. "And why should my good general want to know?" she inquired slyly, a knowing smile on her red lips as she treated the General Kunzite to the full effect of lipstick. Her heart fell at the prospect of Kunzite seeking Ami, but nonetheless, she smiled purposefully at the tall General.

Kunzite raised an eyebrow questioningly. "If you would answer me without follow-up questions, Princess, I would be much obliged," he proceeded to tell the teasing Princess Venus, watching in mild amusement as her playful mien turned into one of childish disappointment. "If not the Princess Mercury, how about Zoicite then? Where is he?" Dejectedly, she turned back to her reading, replying softly, "Ami-chan's in the library. Zoicite's probably with her, too."

Kunzite muttered a gruff "Thank you" to the Princess and was on his way climbing the stairway as fast as he could so as to reach the library in time. When she heard Kunzite tramping up the stairs, she looked up immediately and called out to him, a slight laugh betraying her, "General Kunzite-sama! The library's downstairs!"

In an instant, the Princess found the General indignantly running down the stairs. Her efforts to mask her amusement were in vain as giggles escaped her even from behind the book her face was buried in. Kunzite glowered at her. "What direction?"

"To the right. The room with the big double doors." She was red with muffled laughter, but she hid behind the book for General Kunzite's sake. Kunzite scowled at her for a few more minutes, then arrogantly strode off in the path she had directed him to. Behind him he could still hear her muffled giggles, each one becoming more irritatingly audible by the moment. Before finally disappearing from her sight, he stopped.

"Princess, a suggestion? I think a little less lipstick would do you good," he commented casually.

With that he walked on, an impish grin on his usually stoic face as he heard a startled gasp echo in the halls in place of the Princess Venus' triumphant snickers.