Artemis Returns 12/29 (Artemis/ Luna) Afternoon

[Artemis]

After sneaking out of the guards vehicle, Artemis approaches carefully. From the outside of the palace it looks the same but the inside has changed completely. There were men walking around carrying heavy equipment and arguments about what goes where. One of the workers steps on his tail and he lets out an ear piercing squall and runs. Workers starts to chase him and he narrowly escape their wrath. he looks around and wonder where he is. "This is just great my first day back and I am already lost. If Minako were here she would tease me."
He paused after that statement and lets out a sad sigh. He walks down the hall and ends up near a room.
"I hope someone can help me." He hopes that someone nice will come and help him find his way.

[Luna]

Tail almost dragging the ground and her ears drooping just a little, Luna had been wandering the palace on silent paws. She often wandered through the halls, listening and seeing everything that went on around her. This allowed her to stay well informed about the goings on around her.

She had long since learned the art of traveling the halls and keeping out from under other people’s feet even when they weren’t aware of her presence. This was why she didn’t have to pay particular attention to who was in the halls with her, she could just concentrate on her own thoughts. Luna barely paid attention to anything going on around her today, so deep into her worries over Usagi, Mamoru, the Senshi, and the Shitennou. However, as she wandered one voice managed to catch her attention. A voice she hadn’t heard in quite a while, but would still remember a thousand years from now. Artemis ...


Luna glanced up in surprise, blue eyes darting around the hall searching until she spotted the owner of the voice. The moment she saw Artemis she darted down the hall and skidded to a halt beside him. She brushed against him in greeting and purred, “Artemis it is you, you’re back ...”

The moment she said those words she was reminded of how long he had been missing. How long she had been worrying over him and she pulled back to glare at him, blue eyes hard with disapproval as she spat, “Just where have you been all this time?”

[Artemis]

He could swear, if he was a cat of superstition, he would say angels were singing as Luna was speaking. His heart jumps for joy at the sight of his favored companion and the one he loves. However the sudden change in her eyes remind him of how Minako looked at him as he was scolding her. The brief moment of hope and joy flew right into Luna's annoyed look. Artemis lets out a sigh.
"Oh Luna I have been a bit of a fool. Although I am a bit more connected to my past self it would seem that my understanding of females is still sorely lacking. I am glad to see you Luna." For once he does not complain at Luna's obvious questions but he really didn't want to answer them right away. His heart is heavy as the memory of Minako's tear filled eyes brings tears in his own. He can see that Luna has a lot on her mind too.
"Lets just walk together for a little bit before we get into what is on each others mind. Is there anywhere that is safe for that?" He tries to put on his devil-may care smile.

[Luna]

Luna continued to glare in annoyance at her companion as she watched him. She hadn’t seen him since he had left with Minako on her tour, hadn’t heard a word from him and then when she had come back Artemis was still missing. Luna had been both worried and annoyed at his disappearance for so long now that she wasn’t ready to just forgive him. However, even as she thought that, her annoyance lessened a little at his sigh. It was obvious to her that he was upset over something, though she wasn’t certain what. He couldn’t possibly have heard about the problems that were plaguing the rest of them currently.

She relaxed a little at his words and muttered irritably, “You haven’t changed much since I last saw you, but I’m glad to see you too.”

Luna blinked in surprise as she saw the tears in his eyes and wondered what was bothering him so much. Perhaps he had changed, she couldn’t remember a time that he hadn’t been either serious or carefree ... this sadness disturbed her somewhat. She nodded once in reply to his request before turning and leading the way to a less traveled hall. Although she could travel the halls easily, she knew that a small cat not use to the hustle and bustle of palace life would have difficulty at first.

She twined her way past a cluster of people heading to do whatever their current jobs were, before glancing back at Artemis once more. “Technically speaking Artemis, anywhere within the palace is safe to walk and talk. You just have to be careful and of course know your way around.”

Luna didn’t care if the people around them heard either of them talking. The palace staff was of course becoming use to her and she figured that they would have no problem with the fact that Artemis could speak as well. Besides, if he was going to be here then eventually the world would have to recognize him as well.

[Artemis]

Artemis actually shows a genuine smile at Luna’s no nonsense personality. He is glad to see his meeting with Luna isn’t as bad as he imagined it would be. It did not bother him that people around him did not recognize him; it was only to be expected after his lengthy disappearance. In spite of Luna’s annoyed glares, he is glad that she is not scolding him as much but that is probably due to the fact she has a lot on her mind too. Then a naughty idea crosses his mind but he decides to save it for later when he isn’t feeling so bad. As they walk along he finds himself gaining the courage to talk to Luna about his argument. He also knew something heavy is on her mind too. So he takes a breath as he prepares to make his admission.

“I know you have been worried about me Luna and have been annoyed with me. If I had a way to contact you I would have but there was no way to get in touch with you. I had a major argument with Minako and left to wonder by myself. I stayed at some political men’s place and was treated like a pet would. I enjoyed observing them delegate information. Everything has changed so fast and I don’t think I mean the same to her as I once did. Then I hear that Minako could be expecting. Talk about every father’s fear there it is. I just don’t know what to do Luna. I am sorry to put this all on your shoulders. What is on your mind Luna?”

Artemis finally manages to dodge people without getting stepped on. He waits patiently on Luna’s reply. He feels like he has found some comfort no matter what will happen now.

[Luna]

Luna listened quietly as Artemis talked, refusing to interrupt him until he had finished. She pulled to a stop and turned to look at him when he suddenly attempted to change the subject. She shook her head slightly in a refusal to enlighten him as to what was worrying her and instead snapped, “Artemis you really can be a big idiot. Just because someone disagrees with you does not mean that you should run off by yourself. Things change, we knew they were going to ... you can’t expect things to stay exactly as they were when you found Minako. That wouldn’t be fair. You’ve got to let her grow up and see the world as she wants it. Even if you don’t agree with her, you just need to be there for her.”

She paused a moment before adding a touch more gently, “I’m certain that Minako still cares about you. You were her friend and guardian long before she even met the rest of us. I can’t believe that she would suddenly stop caring about you.”

Luna didn’t really know what to say about him thinking Minako could be expecting. As far as she knew that wasn’t true, and she suspected it was just the tabloids again. Shaking her head once more she finished dryly, “and you really shouldn’t listen to the tabloids Artemis, but you should talk to Minako.”

She turned and started off down a different hall, a new destination in mind this time as she added, “Don’t worry about what was bothering me right now. The important thing is for you to talk to Minako and fix whatever problems the two of you have. There are far too many serious things going on right now to allow any of us to break apart simply because of an argument.”

Luna glanced back at her companion before saying, “I’ll take you to where Minako is so that you can talk to her. You have to work at this Artemis. The girls do need us, even if its only as a friend. Don’t let your friendship fall apart just because you think things are changing.”

[Artemis]

Artemis winces a bit during her sermon but knew she was right. So he does not show any kind of hurt emotion. He agrees with Luna on everything but he didn't know how to go about the making up process. Artemis knows something really heavy is on Luna's mind now. It isn't like Luna to be evasive to a question. Luna as far as Artemis knew would always talk about things on her mind unless...it involves Usagi.

"Luna it isn't like you to be evasive but you are right I need to talk to Minako. You always seem to know how to handle situations like these. I don't know what I would do without you."

He just walks on beside Luna and searches her face trying to get some kind of clue. He has his suspicions but he will wait until they are able to talk again.

[Luna]

Luna glanced over at Artemis as he spoke again, but she refused to tell him everything that had been going on lately. She didn’t want him to be worried over the Shitennou and everything else while he was suppose to be fixing things with Minako. If Minako herself didn’t bring him up to date, then she would tell him everything later. For now though she would hold her information.

She grinned at him half heartedly when he mentioned that she always knew just what to do. “Matters of the heart are one thing Artemis, but I could have used your help in a good many things lately. I’m not much of a diplomat and all the policies Usagi has to work with confuse me at times.”

Luna paused a moment before adding, “I really could have used you during all of those interviews that Usagi made me give after that dinner of hers. Let me tell you Artemis, reporters are a pain to have to deal with. You are lucky the world doesn’t know you are a talking cat at the moment, still it is amusing at times to watch people jump in surprise when I do talk to them.”

She continued on her way until she arrived in the area of the palace that the senshi called home. Luna gestured at one of the doors and murmured, “That there is Minako’s quarters Artemis. Just go scratch on the door ... she should be there. You need to do this yourself though. I can’t help you through this. I don’t even know what happened between the two of you, just don’t get discouraged and stop trying. That’s the important thing, keep trying and try to be patient. Things are stressful for the senshi right now ...”

[Artemis]

Artemis imagines himself hugging Luna but he restrains himself. So he offers his rare real smiles. Her words although are tough, they are always truthful. He lets out a soft chuckle at Luna's describing the surprise of humans when they find out she can talk. She is always teaching him something new. This all was like the past has connected to the present. Her compliments helps him feel a little more confident but he is not sure how Minako will deal with him. He turns to Luna while taking a breath.

"Thank you for helping me. You always help put things in perspective and keep me informed on females. It would seem you have managed good by yourself but fear not I will help you with the diplomatic end from now on. I didn't read the tabloid but one of her fans did. You will never know how important your advice is to me." He licks her face and scratches the door.

[Luna]

If cats could blush, Luna would have .... as it was she simply watched Artemis head over to the door. She shook her head before turning and bounding off in the opposite direction.

Luna was glad that Artemis was back, but she was also still annoyed at his disappearance. Things had been tough for the last while and it would have been nice to have her partner like she was suppose to. Creating Crystal Tokyo wasn’t a walk in the park, and while she herself wasn’t actually doing it ... she still had to be here watching the difficulties that Usagi and the senshi were going through. It was tough, but she supposed she understood his absence. At any rate, she had far more important things to do then just thinking about a certain white cat.