That Special Magic
-by: the Yarnspinner-
the_yarnspinner@yahoo.com
http://strands-of-moonlight.my3gb.com
-or-  http://strands-of-moonlight.6te.net

A Sekkushiaru Roman
featuring characters from the anime "Sailor Moon"

> Chapter 35 - Dreams <

        Shinozaki dreamt. As had happened with increasing regularity, his dreams seemed to carry him back into that forgotten past where the girl who was his best friend had been a royal princess.
        In the grand ballroom, the clock had just chimed midnight, and the queen of the Moon gave her permission for everyone to unmask. Before him stood a tall, statuesque young woman with brown hair attired in flowing green. Even with her mask, he had known at once who she was, just as he could say with absolute certainty that his mask, more fully concealing than her own, had not deceived her in the slightest. They had known each other for too long to be fooled by such outward trappings.
        She smiled at him happily and he felt a powerful warmth swelling in his heart. He returned the smile and bowed, deeply and formally. "My lady," he said softly.
        She giggled, her eyes sparkling brightly as she did so, and she motioned for him to rise. "Please, my lord. That is quite unnecessary," she said. As he rose, she took his hand and drew him closer. "You know you don't have to bother with that nonsense with me," she whispered.
        He grinned, leaning close as if to kiss her cheek, but instead seizing her earlobe in his lips. She giggled again, sliding her arms around him. "I'm just trying to show the proper respect, my darling," he said. "After all, a Jovian noble has to show the proper respect to the daughter of his king and queen."
        "Since when?" she asked, playfully slapping him. "We've known each other almost since we were born. We've been friends for as long as we can remember and have never stood on ceremony."
        He nodded, then lightly brushed her lips. "The young girl I used to go on grand quests and adventures with has grown up into a very beautiful... and incredibly sexy, young woman... and I love her more than anything."
        She smiled and kissed him softly in return. "And you've become a very handsome and sexy young man, my love." The music had resumed, and they gently moved together.
        He held her close, feeling a tremendous happiness within himself, and sensing an equal happiness within her. She looked into his eyes and smiled, then kissed him again. As they moved, she pressed herself against him and rubbed her hips over his manhood. He stifled a groan, feeling his penis swelling with arousal.
        "I think someone has a bit of a problem," she whispered with a grin. "And it seems to be growing larger, my love."
        "I can't imagine why," he said softly.
        Just then the music stopped, and many of the party guests began to move off the dance floor.
        "Perhaps we should... retire early," she suggested, her grin growing larger.
        He felt his manhood swelling still larger at the thought, and nodded. She softly kissed his lips, then led him off the floor.
        They quietly and unobtrusively made their way out of the ballroom and then through the halls of the enormous palace. A pair of doormen drew open heavy, ornate doors for them which opened into a residential wing. At the end of that hall, they turned, soon reaching a door with the crest of Jupiter carved on it. She opened the door and they stepped into the foyer of her grandly appointed chambers.
        As soon as the door closed, she threw her arms around him, kissing him deeply and passionately. With hardly a thought, his hands unfastened her gown and began sliding it down. She stepped out of the gown, then slid his jacket back off his shoulders. In just moments, they were both naked and moving toward her bedroom, continuing to kiss each other deeply.
        As they reached the bed, she swept her hand over his swollen shaft.
        "Oh, my love," she sighed, hunger plain in her voice.
        He kissed her again, making a soft, low growl in the back of his throat.
        "Oh, really?" she asked, giggling.
        He just nodded, cupping one her breasts in his hand and moving her back toward the bed. She lay down and he moved over her.
        "I love you, darling," he whispered.
        "I love you," she sighed, as he lowered himself over her.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

        Shinozaki sat up in bed with a groan. His manhood bulged painfully with the after-effects of the dream. He shook his head and took a breath, trying to clear away the lingering images.
        He'd been staying with Makoto for several days now, and his dreams had only grown more intense, and more frustrating. Despite his efforts to hide it, he suspected she was noticing the changes in him, even as he had observed changes in her behavior.
        It now seemed obvious to him that they had been lovers in a past life, but he was still hesitant to try to push things in this life. Makoto was the best friend he had ever had. In many ways, she knew him better than he knew himself. He couldn't bear the thought of losing that, and he wasn't prepared to risk jeopardizing their friendship by trying to follow dreams of a past life too far. At the same time, he had to admit, in that past life they seemed to have been friends just as he and Makoto were now, having grown up together, and then become lovers. He wondered, was that meant to happen again? And would she even want that to happen? Perhaps these dreams only reflected feelings in himself that he had been unwilling to admit to. Perhaps the stories she had told him of her past life had merely given his subconscious a means to express those feelings and make him confront them. What if she didn't feel the same way? He couldn't bear to lose her as a friend. Yet, if his feelings really were changing, how long could he go before she caught on? She knew him too well not to notice.
        He lay back with a sigh. They both had classes in the morning and he needed to get back to sleep, but just at the moment he felt a distinct need for a cold shower.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

        Makoto, too, was experiencing dreams. Her previous efforts to bring back memories of her past life had met with only minimal success. But suddenly, like the bursting of a dam, a flood of dreams had washed over her, all focusing on her relationship in the past with Shinozaki, a relationship that was proving to have been surprisingly intense and passionate.
        She walked along the bank of a river, carefully looking around her as she moved. She'd been along this path many times before and knew every conceivable hiding place, but then so did he. There was no unusual sound or movement. As she came around a bend, she saw a large rock. She smiled and moved forward very quietly. Reaching the rock, she jumped around it to find... nothing. She looked around, sure he would have been there. Moving a little farther along the bank, she continued to look around her. She leaned against a tree and listened carefully. Suddenly, a bird cried out and flew into the air. She spun toward the sound, only hearing footsteps at the last moment.
        "Got you!" he cried, tickling her.
        She spun around, grabbing him in return, and they fell to the ground. As they rolled together, her heart began to pound with more than just their exertion. She looked up at him as he rolled on top of her. He stopped, looking at her uncertainly, before finally moving off of her.
        "Uhm, maybe we should go for a swim," he suggested.
        She hesitated for a moment. "Alright," she agreed.
        He rose to his feet, then paused, seeming a bit uncertain. After a moment, he kicked off his shoes, then pulled off his shirt.
        She stood up and removed her own shoes. Looking at him, she saw him hesitate a bit as he started to pull down his pants. They had been best friends for years and had always gone swimming together naked. Increasingly, however, things had been feeling different between them. Now, he hurriedly peeled off his shorts and jumped into the water.
        "Come on in," he called, waving to her.
        "Just a minute," she replied.
        She found herself turning away from him as she pulled her shirt off, then removed her pants. Lastly, she stripped off her underpants, standing there naked. She hesitated again, then turned and rushed into the water.
        "Can't catch me!" he cried, already swimming away from her.
        "You know better than that!" she called, swimming after him with powerful strokes, quickly closing the distance between them.
        She soon overtook him and grabbed him.
        "Caught you!" she declared triumphantly.
        He relaxed as they both floated there.
        "You've never been able to outrace me swimming," she said.
        He nodded. "But then, I'm not a fighter," he said, grinning. "Maybe that makes me a lover..."
        She stared at him, again finding herself acutely aware of the fact that she was holding his naked body against her own. His grin had faded somewhat as he looked at her. Just then, they rubbed together and she could feel his penis against her abdomen, swelling rapidly. A sudden warmth swept through her, seeming to take her breath away. New feelings for him were growing within her, surprising her with their power. Before she knew what was happening, she felt his lips brush her cheek. She looked at him in surprise.
        "Uhm, I'm sorry... I... I'm not sure, ah, why I did that," he stammered.
        She nodded, experiencing conflicting feelings herself. "It's... it's OK," she said softly. "But... uhm, maybe we should... head back."
        "Yes... Ah, I'm sure you're right," he said, slipping gently out of her embrace.
        They swam back to the shore and climbed out of the water. As he retrieved a towel from his pack, she noticed his penis remained partially swollen. Turning to hand her the towel, he realized his predicament, and a blush spread across his face.
        "Oh, gods!" he exclaimed. "I... I'm really sorry."
        She shook her head. "It's OK... I'm not offended," she said. "In fact... I'm having a... a very similar problem just now..." He looked at her questioningly, and she nodded. "Girls just have the advantage of it not being so obvious."
        "Oh... ah, yeah... right."
        She took the towel and hurriedly wiped herself down, then handed it back to him. As he began drying himself, she pulled her clothes back on. In spite of her efforts not to, she found herself glancing over at him as he dried himself, then reached for his shorts. The warmth inside her remained.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

        The warmth was still there as Makoto awoke. This dream was not as blatantly sexual as some of the others had been, but seemed to reflect some of the conflicting emotions she was now experiencing. As she became more awake, she began to wonder. Was this a memory from her past life of how she had come to discover her changing feelings for him? If it was, then her past self had gone through much of the same uncertainty she was going through now. She could not yet remember how their relationship had successfully evolved from friends to lovers, but knew from her other dreams that it had.
        She had noticed changes in Shinozaki's behavior in just the few days he had been staying with her, suspecting he might be experiencing similar dreams. A part of her questioned if it was really appropriate for them to be together like this if their relationship might be changing, but she also recalled that Ami and Ryo were all but living together, and that it was only a matter of time before Usagi had to move in with Mamoru. Shinozaki remained the best friend she had ever had, and she was not going to turn him out just because their relationship seemed to be evolving as they grew older.
        Laying there quietly, she tried to clear her mind to return to sleep, but Shinozaki's face continued to linger in her imagination.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

        Atana stood in the center of a ring of fire, holding his infant daughter. The air was filled with menace, strange cries, and the whistling of the wind, seeming to carry with it a dark, powerful magic. The fire flared around him, climbing higher. Above, the full moon suddenly went into eclipse and the darkness around them became almost overpowering. He clutched the crying baby to him even as an unbearable pain swelled within him as though a part of himself had been torn away. The wind roared around him and the fire burst up over them, blocking out the sky. The fire surged closer to them and he pulled the blanket up to shield his daughter's face. Just then, a powerful wind swept over them. The ground seemed to disappear, and they were swept away, buffeted uncontrollably by the intense wind. The baby cried with fright, and tendrils of fire seemed to sweep after them, trying vainly to catch them, but fading as they were carried farther away.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

        His eyes burst open and his heart was pounding in his chest. Atana gripped his bed tightly, struggling against the lingering disorientation and dizziness that always seemed to come with the dream. Finally, the spinning sensation seemed to pass and he could relax his grip.
        Without thinking, he reached over to the other side of his bed, but he was alone. He paused, still struggling to slow his breathing. He was alone in his bed, just as he was supposed to be. Why, he wondered, had he seemed to expect to find someone there? Rei had spent only one night at his apartment; hardly enough for him to grow to expect her to be there.
        As his breathing finally slowed, he heard a noise, realizing Kara was crying. He slipped out of bed and pulled on a robe, then hurried to her room.
        "Kara?" he called softly.
        "Daddy," she cried.
        He knelt beside her bed and embraced her. "Did you have a bad dream, honey?"
        She nodded, pressing her face into his chest. "There was fire all around... and scary noises..."
        He held her close and gently stroked his hand over the back of her head, realizing she was experiencing a dream very similar to his own. "It's OK, honey," he said softly and comfortingly. "You're safe now. I'm here."
        She nodded, her sobs growing softer. "Can we see Rei?" she asked.
        "Right now? It's very late. I'm sure she's asleep now," he said.
        She looked up at him, tears still in her eyes. "Please, Daddy?"
        "Not right now, honey," he said. "Maybe we'll see her after you get out of school." He felt a concern at how attached she had become to Rei, knowing this was setting her up for more disappointment when they eventually returned to Hawaii. He wasn't sure just how yet, but soon he would have to deal with this.
        She sighed with disappointment and leaned her head against him again.
        He hugged her and gave her a soft kiss, then lay her back down in her bed and pulled the blanket up. "Think you can go back to sleep now?"
        She wiped her eyes, then nodded.
        "That's a good girl," he said, kissing her again. "You're perfectly safe now."
        "I love you, Daddy," she said.
        "I love you, honey."
        He kissed her once more, then sat back, watching her eyes drift closed. As she settled back to sleep, he remained still, just watching her, enjoying the peaceful expression on her face and feeling her peacefulness spreading to him as well. Finally, he very quietly rose to his feet and slipped out of her room.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

        Geoff walked along a mountain path, approaching a cave. Overhead, two dragons circled lazily. From time to time, one would reach over and playfully nip at the other. As he reached the cave entrance, a low growl emanated from within. He stopped, holding still. A second growl came from the cave and a large dragon edged out toward him. He pursed his lips and whistled softly, then made a soft growl from the back of the throat. The dragon whistled in reply, looking at him uncertainly. He whistled again and took a tentative step forward. One of the dragons circling above flew closer and whistled to the one in the cave, giving assurances that Geoff was a friend. The dragon in the cave purred softly and drew back. Geoff stepped closer, still whistling softly to reassure the dragon.
        This dragon was new to the area, which was why she did not know him. He quickly spotted the wound along her side, and behind saw four very young dragons, explaining why this one was being so defensive. He pulled several crystalline cylinders from his bag, and resumed his whistling and purring noises, explaining to the dragon that he meant to help her wound heal. The dragon growled, still reluctant to trust him. He continued to patiently explain his intentions and how the crystals would work. Clearly this dragon's only experience with humans had been those who had caused this injury. As she grew a bit more accepting of him, he asked how she had been wounded. She told him several knights had tried to attack her and her children. Both she and her mate had been injured, but had killed the knights. Her mate, however, had died of his injuries after they had taken their offspring away in search of safety. Geoff shook his head, feeling a surge of anger that any of his fellow humans could be so cruel as to attack such beautiful and highly intelligent creatures with no more reason than blind fear and an idiotic desire for personal glory. Eventually, the dragon allowed him to approach. He positioned his crystals over her wound, feeling energy beginning to flow through them. Slowly, the wound began to close. With the wound fully closed, he removed the crystals and assured the dragon that she would be fully recovered within a day or two.
        As he turned to leave, one of the little dragons flew toward him, whistling playfully. He whistled in reply. The little dragon rolled in midair, spun around to chase his tail, then darted toward the opening of the cave. Immediately, his mother gave a warning growl. The little one stopped and looked back. His mother growled again, and he turned back. Geoff whistled once more, then left the cave and headed back down the mountain path.
        As he came down off the mountain, he saw the small cabin where he was staying. He noticed a wisp of smoke rising from the chimney. Reaching the house, he saw a beautiful young woman sitting in front of the fire, waiting for him. He recognized her immediately, his heart warming with love and passion. She rose from her chair as he entered the cabin. Her long blond hair flowed down behind her, and he could see she was wearing only a thin, filmy nightgown which did little to conceal her exquisite young body. His body immediately responded.
        "Hello, my darling," she said with a smile.
        "Oh, honey," he sighed. "You are truly a goddess."
        She grinned as a soft flush colored her cheeks. "Flatterer."
        He quickly discarded his cloak and his bag, then took her in his arms. "What brings you here?"
        "I have some free time, so of course I wanted to be with the man I love," she said.
        He kissed her deeply and passionately. "I do like that idea," he said. "And I just can't bear sleeping alone anymore. I've become spoiled being able to share a bed with the goddess of love."
        She giggled, then kissed him in return. "I'm not a goddess, darling... just a woman who loves you more than anything."
        He smiled. "Well, your beauty is definitely goddess-like from where I stand... And you are the most wonderful young woman."
        Their lips came together again, while her hands reached down to unfasten his pants. "We've been apart too long," she sighed. "Much too long."
        "I quite agree," he whispered.
        They pulled away their clothes, then pressed their now naked bodies together, kissing deeply and passionately. He suddenly scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom.
        "It's not as plush as your suite back at the palace..." he started to say.
        "I don't care about that," she said. "I just want to be with you."
        He set her down on the bed and moved over her. Her arms enfolded him and they kissed, tongues dancing together passionately. She sighed happily as he lowered himself over her and their bodies prepared to meld together as one.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

        Geoff awoke, his body still reacting to his dream. He shook his head and took a breath.
        The dream concerned him. He'd had dreams about dragons for many years, but only quite recently had he experienced any that seemed to involve Minako. He couldn't deny that he found her incredibly attractive, but still had reservations about her age. This dream also confused him, since it seemed to feature them together in some sort of fantasy setting. He didn't understand any of this.
        He lay there quietly, waiting for sleep to reclaim him, unable to get her face out of his mind.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

        Atana and Rei sat together in a large, ornate bath tub, washing each other with soft, gentle, loving motions. His hands softly caressed her breasts and she sighed with pleasure. He leaned closed and kissed her.
        "I love you," she sighed.
        "I love you," he whispered, kissing her again.
        He continued to caress one of her breasts, while sliding the other hand down over her abdomen and between her legs. His finger slid gently over the soft folds of her nether lips. She leaned back against him and groaned.
        "Oh, gods," she whispered.
        He kissed the base of her neck, bringing another soft groan from her, while his finger slid just inside her nether lips. She trembled with delight, then gasped as he stroked her there.
        She turned, reaching down to grasp his erect manhood, caressing his full length firmly in her hand.
        "Oh, Rei," he groaned.
        "I love you so much," she sighed.
        "I love you... more than anything," he said.
        She released his member and moved around still more. He withdrew his hand from between her legs. With a look of pure, unbridled passion she pressed herself against him. Her mouth seized his, her tongue probing deep into him. She rubbed her body against him.
        "Oh, my love," she gasped. "I need you!"
        She slid herself down over him, taking his penis into her. He groaned as her warmth enveloped him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

        Atana's groan continued as he awoke. Opening his eyes, he looked around frantically, trying to reassure himself it had only been a dream, even as a part of him longed plainly and unmistakably for it to be real.
        He sat up, gasping for breath. He couldn't believe what he had just experienced. Rising to his feet, he walked into the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face.
        The memory of the dream still lingered as he stood there, badly shaken. Rei was an amazing, beautiful young woman, but she was only fourteen. As much as she seemed to so incredibly fill an emptiness that had long been in his life, she was still too young, he was convinced, for any sort of serious relationship.
        He returned to his bedroom and lay down, still considering. The more he thought about it, the more certain he was that the dream had to have been inspired by a repressed memory of his wife, with his subconscious substituting Rei. He shook his head and groaned, rubbing his eyes, and cursing himself for such weakness. This dream convinced him that he had no choice but to keep his distance from her until he was sure he could properly control himself. A voice deep inside seemed to protest this conclusion, and a part of him knew he would hate to cut himself and Kara off from her, but he could see no choice. Rei was still too young, and he just couldn't take the chance.

< To be continued >

* * * * * * * * * * * *
NOTE: Thanks for your patience. Real life has been intruding on my writing time, and I've also been struggling with a bit of a dry spell. More to come.

Hopeless Romantic and I now have a message group to notify our readers when we post new stories/chapters. Those who are interested can sign up at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/strands_of_moonlight/ .

Always remember, good gentles, that a yarnspinner works from and within existing legends and stories. The characters of "Sailor Moon" belong to others. In spinning my yarns, I do not seek to infringe on their rights of ownership, but merely to join with other fans to spread the legend still further. "The moonlight carries a message of love." Enjoy.

-03.16.2002
 

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