| Usagi: Sailor Neomoon Writer's Note: The Sailormoon universe belongs to and is copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi and all the different distributers with rights. Sailor Neomoon and the NeoSenshi, the Dragon Senshi, Eternal Night and those from it, Selene, Toshiharu, and Eien no Queen Serenity belong to me. If you want to use them in another fic, you may ONLY if you have permission from me first. That's not so hard to deal with, is it? I must thank my favourite fan artist Melida for being such a good friend. Muchas gracias! And now, without further adieu, I present......
 by Eternal SailorSaturn
Kurai focused his hollow eyes on Usagi as he encircled her with his strong arms. She continued to stare at him, sensing something was wrong, but she could not put her finger exactly on what it was. "Usagi," he whispered, sending a chill through her. He held her close for a long moment and gazed at her face then shoved her away, sending her down onto his bed. Quickly, he was on top of her, using his weight to pin her.
Shocked, Usagi cried, "What are you doing? Let me go! Kurai, this is not like you!" She struggled, sending herself deeper into the gold pillows amongst a sea of white satin, but he was too strong for her to squirm away from. His eyes... what has happened? she wondered.
"You are mistaken," he replied softly. "I cannot let another moment go by without worshipping your perfection, without showing you the fullest extent of my desire." He leaned in close to her face and exhaled warm breath on her cheek. Usagi caught a glimpse of his fangs protruding, and her pulse started racing.
"Kurai, please! Do not do this to me!" He nuzzled her throat briefly then she felt the sharp pain of his fangs biting into her tender flesh. Why? He said he only drank blood when he was injured. Is that what has happened? The confusion left the young princess' mind, replaced by a vaguely more pleasurable feeling. Usagi was almost ready to forgive him, thinking that he was out of sorts because of some kind of injury he might have had, and her arms loosely curled around the prince's lean form. But she shrieked and released him as she felt his hand on her blouse before he started tugging. "No!"
Responding to Usagi's emotions, the Ginsuishô appeared from her brooch under Kurai's hand, blinding the prince of Eternal Night momentarily. He hissed and released his hold on her blouse, but remained hovering over her with a deadly gleam in his eyes. He breathed heavily over his captive, and some of her blood dripped out of his mouth and onto her cheek, which she tried to unsuccessfully squirm away from.
Usagi watched her beloved with morbid curiosity and fear. The longer the Ginsuishô's light shone on him, the more Kurai began to quiver and twitch. Something is happening. But what? she silently questioned. Scarlet liquid filled the prince's eyes and a drop fell on Usagi, landing on her forehead. He is crying blood? Her red eyes widened at the sight. A second teardrop fell, but it was crystal clear, as were the consecutive teardrops.
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In King Akuma's throne room...
From his throne atop the dais, King Akuma watched the shards of the Kuraisuishô come together again. A look of displeasure appeared on the demon's face, and he stood quickly. He cursed to himself as the crystal hovered up from the ground, becoming whole. He is my son, but he is a traitor to his mother's memory and to me. Kyûketsuki, why did you have to die?! With a roar, he unleashed one of his negative energy boomerangs towards the crystal, but just before impact, the crystal disappeared. The king's teeth gritted. It is whole again. That means he is alive somewhere. Damn the White Moon girl!
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Light began to return to Kurai's otherwise lifeless, red eyes. He jumped off the bed, glaring at Usagi with her blood running down his chin. The redness in his eyes faded slowly, and he shook his head. With a snarl, he expelled the intruder in his body. A transparent, androgynous form stepped out of Kurai and stood in the room briefly before fading away. "Yûrei," he whispered angrily. The Ginsuishô's light caught his attention, and he turned to Usagi. Seeing the tears in the corners of her eyes and the blood on her throat, his expression horrified. That is her blood I taste in my mouth, he thought, disgusted.
"Kurai," Usagi murmured. "Are you okay?" She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and willed the Ginsuishô to return to her brooch after she felt the punctures in her throat close.
He turned away from her, unable to look at her. "I should be the one asking if you are all right," he answered quietly. Burning with shame, he hung his head. "Usagi, my love, I would never hurt you purposely. Yûrei is one of my father's minions. It is a ghost who can possess even the most strong-willed of individuals. It forced me to attack you, but you helped me with your Ginsuishô." He spat out some of the blood he still tasted in his mouth, feeling ill.
The princess slowly sat up on the bed and removed herself from white satin sheets. She stood and tentatively took a few steps towards her love. "A ghost?" she asked. I cannot stand things like that, she thought, feeling her stomach turn a little queasy.
Seeing the expression on Usagi's face, Kurai reached out to comfort her and felt a wave of devastation pass through him when she shrank away from his hand. She is frightened of me, he thought miserably. This is the worst possible scenario I could imagine. He turned his head in the opposite direction from her and stared hard at the floor. The one person I have never wanted to alienate is further from me than when I had to disguise my identity from her. He slowly looked out the corners of his eyes at her, staring at her long, silken pink locks flowing from the pointed odangos on top of her head. He drank in the rest of her form, admiring how the clothing of his planet looked on her. She is just as beautiful as when I first saw her so long ago. Was it really that long? How could I possibly love this girl when I do not know anything about her? How can I? he silently questioned himself.
Usagi heard footsteps behind her and was about to turn to face them when two strong arms circled around her. Kurai's chest pressed into her back, and she gasped. In her left ear, he spoke quietly. "I love you, beautiful princess of Crystal Tokyo. You and you alone. When I saw you fighting Akui's kaibutsu on the first day of my father's invasion, something in my heart clicked. It said 'She is the one, and if you pass up this opportunity, you will regret it forever.' I may not know anything about who you are, your likes or dislikes, but I know that I love you." His voice began to waver while her own was stuck in her throat. She wanted to reply, but that tiny lingering fear was silencing her. What if he is possessed again?
Why does she not answer? Kurai bit his lip as he turned his head to rest his cheek behind Usagi's odangos. "I love you," he whispered one final time. "Protecting you is my highest priority. One day, I would be the happiest man in the galaxy to have you as my bride, and to keep that hope alive, I will sacrifice everything for you. I may be disowned, I may no longer be a prince, I may not have any money or gifts to give you, but you will always have my love and support." He paused, hoping she would interject something but was met again with silence. He felt like his heart was being constricted within his chest. "Am I not good enough for you?" he whispered.
Usagi finally pulled free of her love's grasp and turned to face him. Her eyes widened when she saw the look of utter despair in his facial features. "Kurai, of course you are good enough for me," she replied once she found her voice again. "You are right; we do not know anything about each other. But I know I felt the tug in my heart when you saved me. When I revealed my identity as Sailor Neomoon to you, I realize now that the reason I appeared in my royal gown is because that was my subconscious letting me know that you were the right person." She smiled warmly and wrapped her arms around him, overflowing with joy when she felt his arms around her again. "We have all the time in the world to know each other," she murmured. "For now, let us just love one another."
The duo stayed in each other's arms long enough to make certain that any fears they had of rejection were permanently destroyed. They finally parted, and Kurai went to his closet. "What are you doing?" Usagi inquired as she watched him pull out the bag he had packed earlier.
The prince smiled. "We are leaving. First, we are going to go back to the NeoSenshi and the Dragon Senshi, and we are going to find a way home." He saw her open her mouth to question him again, and he quickly spoke. "Yes, to your home. Eternal Night is no longer my home. At least not until my father is not in power and has given up his insane quest to destroy your people." He moved up beside her and rested his left arm around her shoulder. He leaned in and kissed her waiting lips as they phased out of the room.
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Back at Shihaisha's house...
After Miya's observation of Kurai, the NeoSenshi and Dragon Senshi immediately began to question her. Her arms stretched up into the air as she called for silence. "Hey, I can only answer one question at a time. And before any of you ask, I do not think he was Kurai simply because of the look in his eyes. When he looks at Usagi, there is a gentle lovingness... and it just was not there."
Hakai found herself grinding her teeth while listening to Miya. Usagi is in trouble! she thought as an anxious knot formed in her stomach. Her eyes squeezed shut. Why? Why do you care? You have no ties to these people! This feeling is troublesome! Her black eyes reopened, and she was the first to utter her transformation phrase. "SATURN STAR POWER, MAKE-UP!!" She was followed quickly by nine more senshi.
Super Sailor Neovenus noticed Hakai's quick transformation into Super Sailor Neosaturn. I hope this means her sense of duty and friendship is blossoming, she mused. "All right," she turned and addressed the gathered Senshi. A serious expression appeared on her face as she continued, "Usagi and Kurai's safety are our top priorities. If indeed Miya is correct, we are going to have to figure out where Kurai took Usagi and try to heal him before anyone gets hurt." She received an affirmative nod before going on, "We also must worry that Usagi herself has been possessed."
"Not them both," Sailorryû Kuro murmured, wearing a grimace. She shook her head, trying to make the idea disappear. "If Usagi is indeed possessed, we will have a problem. She was the one who healed Aisha with her Ginsuishô. Who will cure her?"
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