This side story takes place around the same time as the Sailor Mars 
scene in Chapter Eight. 

~Dejana


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    Aphrodite's Dilemma

      a side story for
      Against All Odds

   A Sailormoon Fanfiction
   by dejanatalis@aol.com

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

      for Kihin Ranno

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


	Evening on the Moon.
	In the city on the shore of the Sea of Serenity the buildings 
seemed to huddle together beneath the dim starlight, braving the long 
dark hours before the distant dawn. Lights shone in the windows of 
taverns and game-houses, promising refuge from the void. Tiny flames 
were bobbing along the roads as the lamplighters made their rounds 
through the city, replacing dead crystals on the tall poles that lined 
the main streets and setting up more primitive torches of fire in the 
shadowy avenues. This would be a darker night than most; it was a Day 
of Shadow, when the entire Moon was buried in the shade of the Earth. 
	The pure darkness had been in full swing for over an hour, the 
empty hole in the sky where no stars shone rising higher in the heavens 
as the Moon continued its steady course toward the far end of the 
Earth's shadow. The eerie night seemed to make everyone uneasy, and 
there were few people on the streets as the citizens of the Moon 
Kingdom sought the comfort of hearth and company. There was scarcely 
anyone around to notice the blonde girl running full-bore through the 
city.
	She had never much liked running. It was required for her 
training, of course, and she always performed admirably, but she never 
understood those who chose to exercise for fun. It had always seemed to 
her more pleasureable to dedicate her energy to a goal, a score, a 
record to be defeated, rather than to simply run endlessly for no 
purpose at all. Still, on this night, she had to admit she found some 
merit in it. The rhythmic exercise relieved the tension of both body 
and mind, which was just what she needed.
	On a night like this there were fewer people around to wonder at 
the streak of long blonde hair tearing up the cobblestones, but even 
without that the girl would have had no reason to worry that she might 
be identified. She hardly ever left the Moon Castle, let alone in a 
form other than that of a Sailor Soldier. An occasional face turned in 
her direction as she passed someone capable of sensing the supernatural 
energy that surrounded her, but to the casual eye she was just another 
citizen of the Moon. With the blonde hair and fair skin that were 
natural to her people, the warrior of Venus could even pass for 
Lunarian.
	That, of course, was part of the reason she had been chosen for 
her role as a soldier. It didn't take much magic to make her the 
perfect image of the Princess, the ideal security double. That same 
magic served to make her anonymous tonight.
	She breathed in shallow, tight breaths as her feet pounded the 
stones of street after street, limbs pumping in an endless rhythm, the 
skirts of her pale yellow dress snapping from side to side in her wake. 
Exerting herself like this, she could almost forget the cause of the 
unease that had prevented her from sleeping and driven her to physical 
exercise. 
	Almost. 
	It could not be ignored forever. Even as she turned a corner onto 
a darker side street to distract herself with thoughts of what might be 
in the shadows, it pressed on her mind, the weight of the knowledge she 
had stumbled onto and the burden of her duty. 
	Princess Serenity was in love with a forbidden man. 
	Venus could not say she had not been slightly relieved when she 
was told the affair was over; it saved her from the unpleasant duty of 
informing the Queen. A pang of guilt constantly reminded her that it 
was still her responsibility to confess what she knew, whether the 
relationship was ended or not, but every time her thoughts came to this 
conclusion she cringed outwardly and inwardly with the horror of it. If 
Serenity's secret became known there was no predicting the 
consequences. At the very least, the Princess' relationship with her 
mother would never be the same.
	It was this that had muted Venus' voice whenever she tried to 
speak the words, this that held her limbs frozen whenever she 
considered seeking an audience with the Queen. It was this that had 
held her firmly in denial through an entire night and day after she 
witnessed the lovers' secret meeting. Princess Serenity was her friend; 
how could she bear to cause her harm? She trusted Venus, and trust was 
not a thing to be easily restored once broken.
	Still, if the forbidden romance had not ended on its own, Venus 
would have been forced to act. There was far more at stake here than 
two amorous hearts. No matter how much Serenity wished it, she was not 
a normal girl. She was a Princess, and that came with even more duty 
and responsibility than being a Sailor Soldier. Venus was not privy to 
all the workings of the Moon Kingdom, but she did understand the 
importance of Serenity's betrothal to Earth's Prince. As a soldier she 
was bound to fight any threat to that plan, no matter the consequences.
	It was for the best, really, that the romance was over.
	Every time Venus came to that conclusion her heart skipped a 
beat. Sailor Mercury would have been proud of her practical logic, but 
her fellow Venusians would have been ashamed. The values of her world, 
more natural than breathing, had been ingrained within her heart and 
mind long before she was discovered to be the soldier of her planet.
	"Love, child. Love is what is most precious in existence."
	The words of her childhood tutor echoed endlessly in her mind.
	"Love is not to be resisted, but gripped tightly with both hands."
	Her mother's mantra. Tears stung the blonde runner's eyes at this 
memory. What her mother had loved most was her daughter, and fate and 
the Moon Kingdom had taken that away. 
	Could she do the same to the very person she had sacrificed so 
much to serve? She was a Venusian, representative of the famous 
champions of love!
	She was also a Sailor Soldier. She had taken a vow.
	Princess Serenity was her friend. She deserved better.
	Selene was her Queen. She deserved loyalty.
	Where did Venus' loyalty lie? From birth she had been a subject 
of Queen Lakshmi; it was only when her powers as a soldier emerged that 
she became a servant of the Moon Queen. Was her responsibility first to 
this alien world, or to her native people?
	She was avoiding the subject at hand again. Venus' legs and lungs 
were beginning to burn as she wound through the streets of the middle 
class and plunged into the dimmer avenues of the Lower Quarter. Still 
she pressed on, forcing her knees to keep bending, her feet to keep 
thrusting her forward. The last thing she wanted to do in her agitated 
state was sit still.
	What sort of man was this lover of Serenity's, anyway? The 
Princess was well-educated, but naive of social matters outside the 
political arena; could she be trusted to know well whether a man's 
heart was genuine or concerned only with her power and wealth? From the 
look of him he was a common Earth-child, without a drop of noble blood. 
Wouldn't anyone of his class seize an opportunity to advance himself 
given the chance?
	Venus distracted herself briefly by dodging gaps in the road 
where paving stones were missing. Out here there was only the 
occasional flickering glow of a torch; in the Lower Quarter light 
crystals were reserved for the busiest streets. Here and there a cafe 
or performance house that was open late cast dim light across the 
soldier's path, but for the most part it was dark and quiet, the Moon's 
poorest citizens sleeping away the shadowed hours. 
	As she turned a corner into a small courtyard Venus nearly 
stopped short, remembering at the last second that he had never before 
seen her and could not have recognized her now even if he had. A bitter 
curse flew through her mind at the thought that no matter how large the 
city was, fate would draw her into the presence of the very man who 
troubled her mind.
	There he stood across the courtyard, avoiding the gaze of the 
blond man talking to him. The warm light shining through the windows of 
the building at their backs cast shadows over the faces of the two men, 
but the dark-haired one was instantly recognizable as Princess 
Serenity's Earth-born lover. Venus nearly groaned aloud. Not only was 
he of common blood, but lower-class besides. The worst possible match 
for the Moon Princess.
	Venus raised her eyes to the structure behind them as she jogged 
into the open space. Of course it was a tavern; the "Full Earth," 
according to the placard of wood hanging above the door. Earth men were 
reputably fickle; most likely he was already out looking for a 
replacement for Serenity. A sharp bitter pang twinged in Venus' 
stomach. Her Princess was shut up in her room in misery, and the man 
was already behaving as a free spirit! Slowing, she stopped beside the 
well that stood in the center of the courtyard, half to rest and half 
to eavesdrop as she sent furious thoughts in the unnamed Earth man's 
direction.
	"Look, I know how you feel, but it's just not right to spend a 
Day of Shadow alone in the darkness," the blond man was saying as Venus 
hauled on the rope to draw a bucket of water. Wise words. At times like 
this, most residents of the Moon felt compelled to gather together in 
brightly-lit places. Shooting a sideways glance toward the pair, Venus 
confirmed the Earth man's companion was indeed Lunarian.
	"Prien, I really don't feel up to this," Serenity's lover murmured.
	"You know I'm not the type to recommend drowning one's sorrows in 
drink, Endou," replied the one called Prien, "but I don't want a repeat 
of this morning."
	Venus took her time drinking from the well and washing her face, 
trying her best to appear casual. So, the young man who'd so captivated 
the attention of the Princess was named Endou. She wondered vaguely 
what his blond friend was referring to. She remembered well Serenity's 
misery; was it possible this man did feel similar agony over their parting?
	"Please, just come in with me for... a... few..." 
	The Lunarian trailed off. Venus smiled slightly; she did not have 
to look to know she now had the blond man's full attention. Even the 
power of her disguise could not mask the ever-present allure that was 
natural to her people. Beyond that, she knew she must be quite a sight 
for a lonely servant boy, her toned body glistening with sweat from her 
run and her face and hair shining with stray drops of well water.
	With the finesse of years of experience she allowed the young man 
a fleeting glance from the corner of her eye and the flash of a half-
smile, conveying at once the sense that it was nothing against him, but 
she was simply not interested. With this, Prien was released from the 
spell of Venusian glamour and free to return his attention to his friend.
	A friend who, Venus realized with a jolt, had taken no notice of 
her whatsoever. Returning the bucket to the depths of the well, Venus 
opened all her receptive senses to absorb every ounce of signal the 
Earth-child was giving off. There was nothing. Not the slightest interest.
	Now this was something completely alien to her. As the soldier of 
Venus, a world whose people were rarely to be found on the Moon, she 
was well accustomed to getting attention from anyone and everyone in 
her vicinity at all times. Here was a man whose heart was so completely 
focused elsewhere that there was not even a trace left for anything else.
	Or was there?
	With the fire of an avenging angel, Venus suddenly found she had 
to know if this Endou was as devoted to the Princess as Serenity was to 
him. When she thought of the Princess' tear-stained face, the soldier 
knew she would be unable to restrain herself if it were otherwise. When 
the man and his friend disappeared into the Full Earth, she hesitated 
only a moment before following them.
	Once inside, Venus had to pause a moment to accustom herself to 
her strange surroundings. This was not her first night out in disguise, 
but she had never before ventured into any establishment within the 
Lower Quarter. It was dim and as crowded with shadows as it was with 
patrons, and loud, filled with the rowdy voices of laborers enjoying 
their hours of freedom. Distracted as they were by drink and company, 
few of the tavern's occupants noticed Venus despite her natural 
charisma. Before that could change, she plunged into the crowded room, 
weaving between the noisy citizens until she reached the bar and found 
herself a seat on the end.
	The bartender was a thin, grizzled old man with a ragged graying 
beard. He slid fresh drinks to the other patrons leaning against the 
bar with the practiced hand of a man who had been doing this since far 
younger days. Venus could not help but stare briefly; with the long 
lifespan Lunarians were granted by the power of Queen Serenity, this 
man must have been very old indeed. Even then, healers could have 
easily taken decades off the bartender's face if he so desired. An 
elderly person who actually looked so was quite a rarity.
	The bartender returned the favor with a long stare of his own, 
looking Venus up and down with blue eyes that twinkled in appreciation 
of her beauty.
	"What'll it be, honey?" he asked in a voice that was graveled 
with age yet not unkind.
	"Moon Nectar, please," Venus replied, erring on the side of 
certainty. She had no idea if Neptunian ambrosia was available to the 
lower classes, but Moon Nectar was a draught enjoyed throughout Queen 
Serenity's domain. As the bartender turned away to prepare the drink, 
Venus twisted in her seat and scanned the crowded tavern.
	She was in luck; Prien and Endou were at a table only a few steps 
to her right among a handful of other people who seemed to be their 
friends. To her disappointment and disgust, one of them was a Lunarian 
woman who was seated right beside Serenity's lover. With the way she 
smiled and laughed, and played with her pale green hair as she leaned 
toward him, Venus did not need the sensitivity of her race to know the 
girl was attracted to Endou. Although irritated, she sighed mournfully. 
It would have been so much simpler if the man had chosen this girl to 
court instead of the Moon Princess.
	"All right, which one is he?" a rough voice said close to Venus' 
ear. Startled, she whipped her head around to discover the bartender 
grinning at her with a mouthful of erratic chipped teeth.
	"Pardon me?"
	"Miss, I'm a bartender," the old man chuckled. "I've seen it all, 
and I've never seen a lovely thing like you come into a place like this 
alone unless she's tailing a man she's sweet on. That one, there?" he 
asked, nodding toward the Earth-born man Venus had been focused on. He 
sized up the Lunarian girl flirting with him in one glance, then gave a 
grunt. "Honey, he's a unworthy fool if he won't choose a goddess like 
you over that."
	Although she had been complimented many times before, Venus was 
still touched to hear such flattering words from the old bartender. She 
treated him to a dazzling smile and a peal of laughter. 
	"No, they're just friends." As she heard the words pass her own 
lips she realized she knew them to be true. The girl was attracted to 
Endou, yes, but the emotions passing between them were nothing more 
than friendship. Although the Lunarian would've welcomed a deeper 
relationship, she had accepted that there was none. Venus narrowed her 
eyes. She wasn't willing to believe in Serenity's lover just yet. 
Forcing a pleasant smile to her face, she turned back to the bartender 
as she considered her next move.
	"All right, ask," the graying old man said over the noise of the 
tavern as he slid two fresh tankards of Moon Nectar down the bar to 
customers. 
	Venus looked blank, still distracted by her mission.
	"I asked you a personal question, I'll allow you one," the 
bartender explained. "Ask; I know you want to, everyone does."
	The blonde smiled. 
	"Why do you choose to look your age?"
	"Well, I get a lot of young folks in here," he said. "Real young 
folks, not just those that look it. I've been running this place longer 
than they've been alive, and I want the respect that comes with that." 
The old bartender gathered up some empty glasses and stowed them away 
under the bar. "There comes a time when all you have is the respect 
earned by memories." He shot her a sideways grin. "I know I can't 
expect a pretty young thing like you to understand."
	Venus forced a broken grin. Something about the old man's 
simplistic values was making her uncomfortable. Sliding some coins 
across the bar, she smiled indulgingly and slid off her stool, tankard 
of Moon Nectar in hand. It was time to swing into action. 
	Turning to face the table nearby, she adjusted the red bow in her 
hair and closed her eyes momentarily. It was such a simple thing to 
draw the pheromones to the surface, to bring forth the powerful 
aphrodisiacs her body naturally produced and raise her glamour from a 
faint draw to an irresistible allure. As she approached the table, the 
grin on her face developed a more natural pleasure as every male face 
in the group turned in her direction.
	"Mind if I join you?" she purred in a practiced voice as smooth 
as silk. Her tone spoke of wispy rosy clouds rolling through a brisk 
free wind and powerful wings spread wide for a flight into adventurous 
dreams. She got a brief annoyed glance from the woman, but the others 
were more than happy to offer Venus a seat. She found herself seated 
directly across from Endou. Perfect.
	"I hate these shadow nights," she sighed, sliding her chair in 
closer to the round table. "I'd much rather be outside, but there's 
something about all that darkness that makes me feel more comfortable 
with a roof over my head."
	"I know exactly what you mean," drawled a dreamy-eyed young man 
with pale blue hair. He leaned across the table toward Venus, but his 
expression was a hundred worlds away. "It's as if there were no dome 
above you, as if the void itself were a black hole ready to draw you 
into its depths, as if, if you stay outside, you'll break free of the 
Moon itself and tumble away into the darkness..."
	Venus blinked, caught off-guard. It sounded as if this man had 
already broken free of the Moon. Could Moon Nectar really be that strong?
	"Oh, give it up, Seraph," the blond man Venus now knew as Prien 
groaned. "Don't worry, he's always like that," he informed the soldier 
in disguise. "Miss Amaris told him a few too many poetic stories when 
he was a child, I think."
	"Miss Amaris?" Venus asked, seizing the opportunity to keep the 
conversation going. In situations like this men fell all too easily to 
silence, content to stare admiringly at their blonde companion, and 
that would not help her cause in the slightest.
	"Head of the stables up at the castle," Prien explained. "The 
bunch of us are all stable hands. Her Majesty's finest," he added with 
a proud smile. As he said this, Seraph and the as yet unnamed redheaded 
man at the end of the table drew themselves up and casually angled 
their heads to display the silver tattoos on their necks. Clearly they 
were used to the women of the Lower Quarter being drawn to men in the 
employ of the Queen, even in such a lowly position. With the finesse of 
years of training, Venus succeeded in stifling the urge to giggle and 
pretended to be impressed.
	The green-haired woman rolled her eyes, disgusted by her 
companions' eagerness to please a pretty face. Venus could tell she was 
feeling ignored, and almost felt sorry for her.
	Almost.
	It certainly was an easy thing to get information from an 
interested man. Venus could hardly be blamed for using her natural 
talents to the fullest, could she?
	Throughout all of this Endou remained silent, and even now he did 
not look up at the blonde goddess who had joined his table. He barely 
seemed to have noticed her. Was it possible for any man to be that lost 
in his own thoughts?
	"What about you?" the soldier purred, bending down to peer up at 
the glum-looking man through her long eyelashes. "What do you do, shy one?"
	"Same," the Earth-child muttered. 
	His eyes flickered up to Sailor Venus' face for a brief moment as 
he spoke the word and then returned to the tankard in his hand, which 
he raised to take a deep swig of Moon Nectar. Venus was momentarily 
taken aback. He had looked at her, and then looked away so easily. 
Perhaps Earth-born men were more resilient to Venusian magnetism. With 
a brief scowl of effort, she mustered up a fresh burst of glamour, and 
sensed rather than heard the other men at the table catch their breath 
as the added power came over them. Clearly her glamour was working, but 
there was still no apparent effect on Endou.
	"You're beautiful," sighed the redhead, leaning forward on his 
elbow. Venus blushed delicately to disguise her amused smirk as a 
flattered smile. There was always one whose self-control was the 
weakest, and obviously this was the one.
	"Really, Trell! I never guessed you were the pathetically 
desperate type!" The Lunarian woman had finally had enough. Slamming 
her palms angrily against the table, she got to her feet and wove her 
way around the other chairs, their occupants' lack of attempts to stop 
her adding to her disgust. "I'll be in Delphi's Haven if any of you 
come to your senses," she growled before stalking away into the crowd.
	Now Endou raised his head, anxiously looking after her, but when 
he started to rise from his chair Prien grabbed him by the arm and 
pulled him back down. The Earth-born man was still maddeningly free of 
the Venusian's spell, but she had all three of the others completely 
entranced; none of them had looked away from the blonde woman even for 
an instant. There would be some hurt feelings to be mended among the 
stable hands in the morning, but at the moment Venus could not bring 
herself to mind much. She had an important mission to complete, and it 
could be accomplished much easier without the distraction of another 
woman.
	"She's right, Trell," Prien said in a faintly dreamy voice, his 
eyes locked on the blonde soldier. "Can't you tell this is a woman of 
higher standards than stale empty flattery?"
	"Indeed," mused the one called Seraph, now slurring his words as 
the Venusian's enchantment pushed his naturally otherworldly manner to 
new heights. "This is a lady deserving of the best efforts any man can 
muster. Your eyes," he sighed, ignoring the lock of hair that had 
fallen over his own, "are mirrors to the endless mystery of the abyss, 
and pools of cool water from which no mortal may drink."
	"I don't see how that's any better than mine," Trell grumbled. 
"It's just more words to say the same thing."
	"Your lips are a portal to the music of the spheres..."
	"Oh, give it *up,* Seraph!" Prien slid his chair closer to Sailor 
Venus with an annoyed glare in the blue-haired man's direction. "Does 
that nonsense *ever* work?"
	Venus recognized the warning signs. She was pushing her natural 
magnetism to a dangerous level, and was reaching the point her mentor 
had warned her about when she came of age. Men in love could be 
volatile creatures, and to tempt them too much could only lead to 
disaster. Already, the rivalry was there between the three friends, and 
it could soon lead to a willingness to do anything to remove the 
competition. Under the full force of Venusian glamour, no friendship or 
reason could calm a man's boiling blood. Wars had been started by a 
number of her ancestors in that manner.
	She knew she should fall back; cease her assault and let the 
pheromones she was exerting disappate before it was too late. However, 
Endou had still shown no sign of being interested in her in the 
slightest. It was unthinkable, and an irritation Venus could not bear. 
There had never been a man who could resist her once she had her eye on 
him. Her mission was rapidly becoming less and less about judging 
Endou's fitness for the Princess and more and more about defending her 
honor as a Venusian.
	She raised her power to the fullest strength she could muster.
	It was tangible on her skin now, a tingling heat that covered her 
from fingertips to toes. Sailor Venus ignored the three men now staring 
at her speechless and openmouthed, ignored the people at nearby tables 
who were turning to gaze at her in wonder, and focused all her thoughts 
on Endou, who still sat hunched over his drink, oblivious to the world. 
The tavern was growing silent except for the scraping of chairs and 
rustling of cloth as one patron after another turned in his seat, and 
the confused questions of the other women present. There was a feeling 
of mutually held breath, of a brief pause before an explosion.
	Prien's cup slipped from his fingers and hit the table with a 
loud thud. It tipped sideways. Amber Moon Nectar spilled out and gushed 
over the tabletop. The three mesmerized stable hands ignored the thick 
liquid as it pooled around their elbows. Endou, however, looked up with 
a jolt, startled by the sound, and hurriedly slid his chair backward 
before the spilled drink could drip into his lap.
	"What..." He blinked, then frowned as the blond man at his side 
failed to glance in his direction or even notice the mess he had made. 
"Prien, what is the matter with you?"
	Sailor Venus stared at the Earth-born man, wide-eyed. He was not 
in the slightest affected by her glamour, even with all the power of a 
Sailor Soldier behind it. This sort of event was not completely unheard 
of, but it was a far rarer thing than Venus had ever expected to 
experience, even as one of the guardians of the Moon Princess.
	In one long glance Endou took in the sight of his friend's 
awestruck expression and the desperate hunger that had sprung up in his 
green eyes, and it became instantly clear to him that something was 
seriously wrong. As he noticed the same manner mirrored on every man 
surrounding them and felt the tension that was growing thicker in the 
air by the second, Endou leapt to his feet and glared down at the focus 
of the attention.
	"Who are you?" he demanded. "What have you done to them?"
	The disguised soldier shook herself. It was clear now that she 
could not possess Endou's heart, no matter what she did, and the 
atmosphere of the tavern was swiftly going from bad to worse. Once she 
let go of her fixation on the Earth-born stable hand, the raging 
emotions of the tavern's other occupants flooded in. Many of the men 
surrounding Venus were a hair's breath from literally pouncing upon 
her. She had crossed a line beyond which there was no calming the 
situation from within; her only option now was to remove herself before 
it was too late.
	Jumping out of her chair, Sailor Venus turned away from Endou and 
fled the Full Earth at a run. Several hands grabbed at her as she 
passed, but she paid them no mind, using all the strength at her 
disposal to tear free and escape the tavern without being caught. She 
burst through the door and into the street, the cool night air like a 
refreshing splash of water after the suffocating heat of desire that 
had surrounded her a moment ago, and crossed the courtyard in a few 
leaping strides before slowing down. Several dazed men stumbled out 
after her.
	That had been a closer call than she had anticipated. The blonde 
Venusian headed into a shadowy street and kept moving, but at a more 
relaxed pace, drawing deep breaths to calm herself and clear the 
tension from her body. Clearly the thresholds of safety were in place 
for a reason.
	It was all that Endou's fault, anyway. If he had simply fallen 
for her allure like everyone else, she would not have ended up in such 
a situation. What kind of man could stand against the full force of 
Venusian glamour?
	Venus found herself staring down at her feet as she slowly walked 
back toward the Upper Quarter. She knew the answer to her own question. 
There were only two sorts of men against whom no glamour would work 
properly; a man whom the Venusian herself was genuinely attracted to, 
and one whose heart was completely committed to another. Sailor Venus 
could not have Endou's heart because it was no longer his to give, not 
even in casual lust. All the signs pointed to the stable hand being in 
love with Princess Serenity, a deep true love that no other could put 
asunder.
	Could Venus really believe that? Even as she imagined it, it 
sounded ludicrous. Endou and Princess Serenity were from completely 
different worlds, in more than one sense. What common ground could they 
possibly have found upon which to build a relationship so strong that 
no power could shake it? It was unthinkable. Was it not more likely 
that Endou was some kind of emotionless rock, a cold man so removed 
from love that he had built up an immunity to seduction? It seemed a 
more plausible explanation than such a strong bond between such vastly 
different people. How could Venus be certain that Endou's behavior was 
out of faithfulness to Serenity and not simple cold indifference?
	Her steps grew slower and slower as she wound through dark side 
streets and alleys, delaying her return to the Moon Castle while she 
pondered the situation. It couldn't be love. The people of Earth were 
rumored to be cold and greedy, caring only for themselves. Endou had 
been raised on the Moon, but his Earth-born heritage was bound to 
emerge sometime. He was a stone, a living statue so cold not even a 
Venusian could reach him. That had to be it.
	"Hey, sweet thing!"
	Venus stopped short and grinned to herself, shaking her head 
slightly. Even just walking innocently down the road, she attracted 
admirers. Still, she'd had quite enough flirting for one night. Turning 
around, the blonde soldier prepared to give her special dismissive smile.
	She was completely unprepared for the rough hands that seized her 
by the shoulders.
	Before she knew what was happening, Sailor Venus was forced 
against a nearby wall by a shove so hard that she barely kept her head 
from striking the stone. She looked up at a muscular, hardened worker, 
his grizzled face filled with a desperate ravenous hunger. He wasn't 
alone. Over his shoulders the soldier could make out four other men in 
the darkness of the alley, some of whom she recognized from the tavern. 
They all had the same crazed look in their eyes.
	A sickening block of ice dropped into Venus' stomach. She had 
been so preoccupied with her own thoughts that she had completely 
forgotten to drop her glamour. Some of the Full Earth's mesmerized 
patrons had followed her, drawn by her power. Sailor Venus immediately 
released the magnetic cloud that surrounded her, and the tingle 
vanished from her skin, but it would take some time for the glamour's 
effects to wear off. In the meantime, she had five men who were 
uncontrollably wild with lust on her hands.
	The first man still had the blonde soldier by the shoulders and 
was leering at her, breathing hard with his mouth hanging open. He was 
unkempt and unshaven, which was typical for Lower Quarter laborers on 
an evening off, but far below Sailor Venus' usual standards. His grip 
on her shoulders tightened as he leaned toward her unsteadily. Venus 
jerked her head to the side and his intended kiss missed her, but the 
strength in his arms was no small matter.
	"Let me go," she demanded, trying to keep her voice steady. No 
resident of the Moon would dream of assaulting anyone under ordinary 
circumstances, but this man was clearly not in his right mind.
	"Come on, honey, loosen up," he slurred, leaning his face toward 
hers again. Twisting in his grip Venus managed to get her arms up and 
hold the man at bay by his ears, but he pressed closer, ignoring her 
pleas for him to stop.
	"Who says she's yours, Tyren?" A man with shoulder-length blond 
hair pushed Venus' attacker hard from the side, and he lost his grip on 
the young woman. It was clear, however, that her fate would be no 
better with this new man than with Tyren. As she tried to twist away, 
the blond man caught her by the wrist and pulled her back, wrapping his 
free arm securely around her waist. Tyren turned around and shoved his 
usurper, but the blond man did not let her go.
	Sailor Venus' heart was pounding in her chest, but she stayed 
focused, not permitting herself to be overtaken by fear. She had no 
real reason to be afraid of these men. Although they were far stronger 
than her while she was in disguise, not even the five of them together 
were a match for a Sailor Soldier. Still, she did not exactly want to 
set off a rumor that the Sailor Soldiers were spies among Selene's own 
people. If at all possible, she wanted to escape without having to 
resort to transforming into Sailor Venus.
	As the seconds passed, however, escape as a normal woman became 
less and less likely. The five men jostled and struggled with one 
another for possession of her, and she was passed from one hand to the 
next, but every time she thought she had an opportunity to break free 
someone got a strong grip on her from one angle or another. Venus bore 
the unwelcome advances as bravely as she could, all the time pleading 
with the men to release her, hoping beyond hope that the glamour would 
wear off before she found herself in serious trouble. Her mind was 
racing. What would she do if she found herself overpowered? If she 
shouted for help, there would be questions asked that she could not 
answer without revealing she was Venusian. If she transformed, her 
secret would be out.
	A moment later she had run out of time. A green-haired man had 
her flat against a wall, his competitors pushed aside for the moment, 
and his rough hands were pawing at her dress. The panic was rising 
within the disguised soldier, and nothing she could say was making any 
difference. The man's lips and tongue were on her neck, and his hands 
had her skirts up past her knees. There were no options left. Sailor 
Venus stretched out her hand and extended her fingers, preparing to 
summon the power needed to transform back into a soldier.
	"What in the name of Selene... HEY!"
	New hands pulled the green-haired man off Venus, and she slumped 
against the wall for a moment to catch her breath, letting the budding 
energy fade away from her open palm. A man with short dark hair was 
yanking her attacker away, fury in his face.
	It was Endou.
	When the crazed assailant tried to fight his way back to the 
blonde soldier, Endou drew his arm back and punched him solidly across 
the face. Behind him, Prien had already laid out one of the other 
attackers and was wrestling a second, the glamour on him having 
gradually worn off after its source left the tavern. Sailor Venus 
stared at them, openmouthed, frozen by relief and disbelief.
	The green-haired laborer fell to the ground and sat there for a 
moment, groaning and holding his head in his hands.
	"What..." He blinked and shook his head, then stared around at 
the alleyway as if he had no idea how he got there. "What's happening? 
Tyren! What are you doing?"
	Leaping to his feet, the former assailant grabbed Tyren around 
the waist and pulled him back just as he was about to lay hands on 
Sailor Venus again. With the green-haired man's help, it wasn't long 
before all the attackers had been subdued. It seemed a good solid blow 
was enough to dispell the glamour and knock some sense into them. Venus 
shrank back against the wall, dreading the inevitable questions as the 
five recently enchanted men checked themselves in confusion. The first 
question, to her surprise, was asked by Endou.
	"Are you all right?"
	The blonde soldier looked up into a tanned face that showed 
nothing but honest concern. Far from the cold, removed statue of the 
Full Earth, this man practically shone with compassion and tenderness. 
Endou didn't even know her, and yet he had saved her from more than he 
would ever realize. It was clear from the narrow-eyed, puzzled faces 
behind him that the other questions would not be so easy to answer. 
Venus had to get out of there before their minds fully cleared.
	"Thank you," she said quietly, giving her rescuers a respectful 
nod. Without another word, Sailor Venus turned and dashed off down the 
street. She heard footsteps behind her as someone briefly gave chase, 
but she was running now with all the strength she could muster, and 
none but the other Sailor Soldiers could match that. Before long she 
was alone again, tearing up avenue after avenue on her way back to the 
Moon Castle. After what she had just experienced, she wanted nothing 
more than to be safe in the familiar world within the castle walls.
	By the time Venus reached the Upper Quarter, there were tears 
rolling down her cheeks.
	She kept running despite her near-blindness, desperate to get 
back on familiar territory, her cheeks burning with the shame. Imagine, 
a Sailor Soldier, frightened and crying in her own city! If anyone she 
knew saw her at that moment she'd be absolutely mortified. Still, she 
could not stop the tears.
	How could she have been so foolish? Venus now understood the 
importance of her tutor's warnings.  Passion was not a force to be 
taken lightly. It was shameful that a Venusian in such an elevated 
position as hers would have to make such a dreadful mistake to learn 
that lesson. She cursed herself under her breath as she ran. What kind 
of a soldier would let pride put her into such a dangerous position? It 
was pathetic, stupid. The Queen expected better of her. Never again 
would she exceed that threshold instilled inside her by the training of 
her homeworld.
	She was still berating herself as she crossed the High Quarter 
and reached the boundaries of the castle grounds. With all the emotion 
running through her mind, she almost forgot to wipe her tears and 
transform back into Sailor Venus. The guards at the castle gate stood 
aside for the orange-suited blonde, pulling themselves to attention out 
of respect for the head of the Sailor Soldiers, but Venus' hands 
trembled at her sides and she had to struggle to hold her head properly 
aloft. Despite all her power and strength, she had been through a 
harrowing experience.
	It took all Venus' self-control to keep her pace steady as she 
strolled through the corridors of the Moon Castle, keeping up a firm 
illusion of being cool and collected. It would not do for anyone to see 
her in the state she had been in during her run a few minutes ago. 
Still, when she reached her quarters, she was nowhere near ready to 
retire for the night. The soldier's hands were still shaking when she 
entered the office that was the outer room of her apartments. She was 
still trembling when she sat down at the marble desk that faced the 
balcony doors.
	The office of the head of the Sailor Soldiers was smaller and 
simpler than that of Queen Serenity, but it was still impressive, with 
hangings in shades of yellow and floor-to-ceiling windows facing the 
balcony outside. Bookcases and cabinets of documents lined the walls, 
and four chairs decorated in the signature colors of the nearby worlds 
were set in a circle at the center of the room. It was here that the 
planetary soldiers held their regular meetings. 
	Sailor Venus ran her hands over the four symbols carved into the 
surface of her desk. Leader of the soldiers, indeed. Anyone who had any 
prolonged close contact with the sailor-suited warriors could tell 
Sailor Venus was little more than a figurehead, an excuse to label the 
young women "soldiers of love and justice." By placing the 
representative of the planet Venus in a prestigious role, it could be 
said that love and emotion were important to the Moon Kingdom, but that 
was a farce, and nobody knew that better than the Venusian soldier. If 
she was supposed to be the leader, how could Mercury refuse to tell her 
the subject of her meeting with the Queen earlier that day? The 
soldiers were headstrong, independent women, held together solely by 
their shared responsibility of protecting Princess Serenity.
	Serenity.
	If love was such an important value to the Moon Kingdom, how 
could the Queen force her daughter into an unwanted marriage?
	Sailor Venus leaned back in her chair, her thoughts returning to 
the crystal-haired heartsick princess. It had been painfully clear that 
morning that Princess Serenity was far from over the loss of her Earth-
born lover. Venus shuddered as she remembered the events of the 
evening. After what she had now seen of Endou, she could not bring 
herself to condemn the Moon Princess for not wanting to let him go. 
Venus sighed, hanging her head as all the lies she had told herself 
finally crumbled away from her heart.
	Endou was a good man. He was an honest, just, faithful person 
willing to jump to the aid of a stranger without duty or reward, and he 
was truly and deeply in love with the Moon Princess. He was, in short, 
the perfect match for Serenity. Sailor Venus had been deluding herself, 
clinging to excuses to help herself stay on what her duty told her was 
the correct path. She could no longer deny what her Venusian senses had 
been telling her the entire time. Except for the fact that Serenity had 
been born a Princess, there was no reason she and Endou should not be 
together.
	But their love affair was over. 
	Wasn't it?
	The blonde soldier's memory flew back to the Full Earth and a 
dark-haired man who stared gloomily into his drink while his friends 
chatted and laughed. That was not the face of a man who had put his 
broken relationship behind him. Princess Serenity had said that their 
tryst was over, but one only had to glance at the distraught young 
woman to know she didn't want it to be. No matter what had occurred to 
separate them, they were both utterly miserable without each other, and 
therefore could be reconciled.
	Now Sailor Venus was back to her original problem. Did she choose 
love, or duty? Which were more important - the values of the kingdom of 
her birth, or the values of the kingdom she had sworn to defend?
	Since arriving on the Moon, the blonde soldier had set the 
lessons of her childhood aside in favor of Queen Serenity's guidance. 
Perhaps it was time to return to the principles of the planet of her 
birth. She had certainly been reminded of Venusian ideology by recent 
events, not all of them involving the Princess and her Earth-born lover. 
	The soldier's eyes strayed to a stack of papers at the corner of 
her desk. She stretched out a gloved hand toward them. Only the 
slightest nudge was needed to slide the top few sheets off the image 
they had been set there to conceal. Her fingers hovered over a picture 
of a man in a gray uniform with long snowy hair. Sailor Venus knew how 
it felt to long for a love that could never be. Could she condemn 
Princess Serenity to a lifetime of that misery?
	No. Love was most important, over all else. With love, there was 
nothing that could go wrong forever; even the most serious hardships 
would eventually be overcome. Sailor Venus could not in good conscience 
leave things as they were. What, though, could she do to help the 
situation? Even had it not been for the confrontation in the Lower 
Quarter, she could hardly go to Endou personally and bring him back to 
the Princess' side.
	In fact, at this point, Serenity herself could not go to Endou if 
she wanted to. A sick shudder of guilt rolled through Sailor Venus as 
she remembered the rough brown cloak and length of rope that were now 
hidden in her own chambers. She'd taken them from the Moon Princess' 
room that afternoon, on impulse, under the delusion that the separation 
of the lovers was really what was best for all involved. Now Sailor 
Venus found it hard to comprehend why she had once felt that way. Never 
again would she stand in the way of true love. She would return the 
rope and cloak that were Serenity's ticket to her beloved's side. 
First, however, there was something else she could do, something that 
would bind her to the path any other Venusian would choose. 
	The soldier turned in her chair, stealing a quick glance around 
her office to make sure she had no audience. When she was certain she 
was quite alone, Sailor Venus let a hand drop from the surface of her 
desk. Her questing touch met a smooth silver handle. She slid the 
drawer open. Her hand reached inside, and her fingers closed around a 
small glass vial.
	Could she really do this? Most would consider what Venus was 
about to do akin to treason. Her hand trembled in the drawer. If she 
went through with this, there could be no turning back.
	But if she didn't go through with it, she'd never be able to 
forgive herself.
	Before she could change her mind, the blonde soldier lifted the 
vial in her hand and pulled out the stopper. With a flick of her wrist, 
soft pink sand scattered over the top of her desk. It was a finely-
grained substance, more like a light powder than ground-up rocks; sand 
from the beach where her parents had fallen in love, and very likely 
the place where Sailor Venus herself had been conceived.
	The ritual itself was simple once one had the right materials. 
With a shaking hand she sketched out two symbols in the fine sand. 
First, a round circle with a straight line extending downward.
	"Endou," the soldier whispered, closing her eyes briefly to 
picture the young man in her mind, fixing every detail of dark hair and 
tanned skin and charcoal eyes firmly to the mental image. Next, her 
gloved finger traced a circle with a triangle at its base.
	"Serenity." With this word, Venus imagined a young woman with 
long pale hair and bright blue eyes, a golden crescent on her forehead. 
The figures stood side by side in the center of the sand, awaiting only 
a link between them.
	Reaching down, the blonde Venusian unclasped the chain that 
always hung around her waist. The links seemed delicate at a glance, 
but any enemy would soon find them harder to break than the marble 
walls of the Moon Castle itself. She hesitated only a moment, sliding 
the string of metallic orange charms through her hands as she took a 
deep breath to steady herself. Somehow, handling the Love Chain that 
was both a decorative accessory and a secret weapon reassured her 
somewhat, reminding her of home and the traditions she was upholding.
	Venus imagined her mother beside her, guiding her motions as she 
carefully laid the chain in a circle around the pair of symbols in the 
sand. Her hands no longer trembled as they hovered over the design she 
had made. Her voice was steady as she spoke the words.
	"As this chain sets them a world apart, may none come between them."
	With her right hand she drew a line from the male figure to the 
female, and with her left connected female to male.
	"As these ties bind them, may their hearts sing forever in tune."
	She laid her hands on either side of the design, the solid 
surface of her desk acting as a stable foundation for the ancient ritual.
	"As these words bless them, may I act always as supporter and 
defender of their fated union."
	Rising from her chair, Sailor Venus walked around her desk and 
headed for the tall glass doors that divided her office from the 
balcony. Her heart fluttered in her chest as she thrust the curtains 
aside and threw the doors open. A fresh breeze, unusually strong for 
the Moon, rushed past the soldier and flowed into the room, rustling 
papers and chiffon hangings and the pages of books. The swirling breath 
of the wind caught up the fine sand scattered across the desk, 
momentarily spinning up a tiny maelstrom in midair. No sooner had 
Venus' eyes focused on it than it was gone, tumbling out through the 
doors again into the inky night. The breeze tugged at her long blonde 
hair as it left her, almost as if it would draw her into the power she 
had invoked and carry her away along with her wishes.
	As the soldier closed her eyes and reveled in the freshness of 
the night air, she almost wished it would.
	A mere moment after it was born, the wind died. The cloud of rosy 
sand was lost to the darkness. When Sailor Venus reentered her office 
she found her desk swept clean, with only the Love Chain remaining 
where she had placed it.
	It was done. Her decision was made.
	Now all that was left was to make sure she didn't come to regret it.


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      End of Side Story

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"Against All Odds" fanfiction copyright 2006 by dejanatalis@aol.com
Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon and its associated characters and canon
belong to Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha. The text of this creative work
was created by dejanatalis@aol.com and is her exclusive property. Not
to be used without permission.  Sailor Moon Says: Don't steal! ^.^