Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Decided Bride ❯ Midnight Eyes ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

If this was the woman his master was coming to claim, God help him. The newcomer stared at the blonde as she stormed out the door, without a single glance for anyone within the hall. The man she had been fighting only moments before directed a sharp look at those gathered to watch the battle between the Master of the blade and the high-spirited princess. Things soon returned to normal and practice resumed.
He looked at the petite woman beside him, who looked slightly paler than when they had entered the building, "Your daughter is quite talented with the sword," he remarked.
The Queen looked up and gave him an uncertain smile, "Yes, she is. I'm sorry about that, but she isn't usually so….violent in her practice. You must forgive her, but she has not been herself today."
He observed that the Queen kept a calm exterior, although he knew full-well that she was bubbling inside. Not from anger necessarily, but bubbling nonetheless. He shook his head, "It looked like normal practice to me," he said with a smile and the Queen smiled warmly in return. He looked back towards the man the princess had fought with earlier leave the chamber through the same exit the princess had gone earlier, carrying a flask of some sort. He then turned his attention back to the Queen, "I am quite fascinated by your people. Shall we continue?" The Queen nodded and accepted the proffered arm, and the two walked towards the practicing Senshi.
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Serenity paced the courtyard before walking over to the stables. There, she finally started to calm down. She approached one of the horses, his head emerging from his stall and she stroked his velvety nose. She leaned her forehead against his and released a deep sigh.
She then heard the sound of footsteps entering the stable and her head shot up in surprise, for Sword Master who was approaching her, carrying a water flask. He stopped in front of her and handed her the flask. She accepted it and drank. His eyes were no longer blazing as they had during their battle, but they weren't exactly soft either. When she had drunk her fill, he began to speak, "What is going on with you today, Serenity?"
His voice was gentle enough, but it still cut and Serenity sighed, "I don't know. I just snapped. I'm sorry." She looked up, a little relieved to see the soft expression returning to his eyes, "I know I shouldn't have attacked Shingo like that. He deserved it!" she snapped, then quickly assumed an apologetic expression, "No… no… I guess he didn't…not like that," she amended, noticing the softness leaving his eyes once again. She bowed and continued, "It won't happen again," she murmured.
She felt his hand on her shoulder and looked up. His lips were curving ever so slightly, "He must have said something that really got you angry. I had a hard time keeping up with you. You're right, he probably did deserve it. You have to learn though, how to deal with your anger, Serenity. It could end up killing you if you are not too careful," he chided gently.
She nodded slowly, "I'll try to remember that," she replied.
She looked up at his face and realized he was beaming. He then clapped her on the shoulder, "Good. No more practice today, you've had enough." She felt relief begin to flow through her, "But I want you back here tomorrow at sunrise for some complimentary push-ups and sit-ups." he added with a wink. Any sense of Relief quickly disappeared and Serenity gulped. Oh, she would be sore tomorrow. She gave him a sad smile as they walked out of the stables. He returned to the training hall, and she returned to the palace.
It would be another two hours before the girls were free, and another two hours after that before they had their meeting with Artemis. Somehow she got to her room without anyone seeing her. She quickly changed into her boy's garb; put a battered shapeless hat over her pinned-up hair, threw on her cloak and slipped out of the palace.
Soon, she was once again standing in front of Motoki's tavern. She entered the humble establishment and headed strait for the bar. Motoki was talking to one of the serving girls, giving her instructions. She reached him as the girl was leaving to go on her rounds -- her platter loaded with mugs of ale.
Motoki looked up to see who it was approaching, and a grin spread quickly across his handsome face, "Tye! How are you? I thought you wouldn't be here until much later," he said with a grin.
She smiled as she pulled back the hood, "Well, I'm here now," she said cheerfully, deepening her voice as she always did in her male guise.
He looked up and waved at someone on the other side of the room to come over, then turned his attention back to her, "Well, we can get started then," he said enthusiastically, grinning evilly, "By the way, you look like you just got out of practice. You have sweat all over your face," He commented quietly.
She giggled softly, "Motoki…you're right. I did. I didn't have time to take a bath," she replied. He scrunched up his nose, but didn't say anything.
"Motoki, you called?" said a somewhat husky voice from behind Serenity. She turned to see who the speaker was, not realizing how close he was standing behind her. She bumped into his chest, and would have fallen had he not placed his hands on her arms to steady her, "Whoa, look out there, fellow." She mumbled an apology, but froze as she looked up at him. He was tall, over six feet, with black hair. His nose wasn't large, and his finely chiselled features were enhanced by his heart-melting grin. What really got her were his eyes, and these were the deepest midnight-blue she had ever seen. They seemed to shine as he gazed at her, almost dancing with an inward light. She held her breath as if it were frozen in place.