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                “Your name?”

                Rousing from a sound sleep and the first restful slumber he’d had in a week, Nappa could only stare dumbly at the stunningly beautiful woman standing in the doorway of his cell and grunted in reply. The hell did she care? They were all slaves here, so who cared about names? If she was there to bring him food or something, she needed only to call him ‘big guy’ like every other slave he’d met or ‘hey you’ or something similar.

                “I really don’t like repeating myself, but I’ll give you a pass since you were nearly dead from exhaustion when they brought you in to clean you up for me. Your name?” The petite, gorgeous woman asked once more, her rosy lips turning down in a frown.

                Nappa nearly gave her another grunt in reply, but his brain thankfully caught up with him and he suddenly noticed that her long robe and blue slippers were made of the finest silk. The sapphires in her ears looked real, too, as did the jeweled silver combs that were keeping her medium-length blue hair from falling in her face.

                This woman wasn’t a slave. This woman was likely the queen that had bought him. Which made her his mistress. “Nappa,” he rumbled, tipping his head respectfully once he’d pulled himself up into a sitting position. “I’d bow, but…” He rattled the chains that had him fastened to the wall behind him and were keeping him from so much as standing up. Hell, he could barely even move his arms. “…can’t exactly get on my feet. I’m sure you understand, my lady.”

                “Oh, I do,” she replied simply as she stepped into the cell and shut the door behind her, unafraid thanks to how well he was restrained. Sure, she was the most powerful being in the galaxy, but a man his size could have easily snapped her in half if she lowered her guard, and she wasn’t taking any chances. “You have nothing to worry about from me, Nappa, if you’re concerned about being punished for things that aren’t your fault. I am not cruel or unjust with my subjects, and even less so with my slaves, believe it or not. I came down here for several reasons,” she added as she sat her drink on the table in the large, closed-in private cell and then crossed the room to perch on the edge of the bed, showing a modicum of trust by sitting within touching distance. If he behaved, he would be rewarded well beyond his wildest dreams, and if he misbehaved… well, let it be said that she had ways of breaking in disobedient slaves. She didn’t like to do it, to be honest, but sometimes a new slave required a firm hand before they realized that she could be just as kind as she could be cruel.

                “The biggest reason I actually came down into the holding cells was to meet you in person before you began your duties in my service. Your reputation precedes you, Nappa. They didn’t have your name listed on the bill of sale, but I’ve heard and read about how skilled you are in many fields, including your decades as a bodyguard. I’ve been told that you’re loyal if you’re treated fairly. Is this true? If it isn’t, then tell me now. I won’t fault you for telling me the truth, but if you lie to me, I’ll kill you. I won’t abide liars,” she said as she regarded him with those beautiful, serious blue eyes. When he hesitated to answer, she sighed and rolled her eyes impatiently. “Speak freely. I don’t have all day, you know. I’m a very busy woman with three galaxies to run.”

                “Define ‘fair,’ Your Majesty,” Nappa finally stated, “because I’ve been told many times that my punishment was fair when I’d done exactly as I was ordered by my master.”

                “For starters, you may call me ‘Ami’ in private, especially if you’re going to be my bodyguard. Secondly, I don’t punish my slaves for doing as they’re told,” she elaborated with a tiny smile as she slid closer and examined the scars littering his bare chest. “In fact, I reward them if they do as they’re told. You’ll only be punished for disobeying orders or breaking the house rules. We’ll go over the rules later on, though, they’re neither important right now, nor do all of them apply to you since you’ll be filling a privileged position. Hm… are all of those from punishments?” She asked curiously, daring to reach out and trace a particularly nasty furrow across his lower stomach, just above the loincloth that barely covered his assets.

                “No, Majes—er… Ami. That’s gonna take some getting used to,” he added with a mutter. “Not used to calling the master by an actual name. Those scars are from battles, mostly,” he responded as part of his brain acknowledged that her hand was warm and soft and that her touch was more than just pleasant. It was going to be nice serving her if she continued to be as fair and straightforward as she had been so far, and Nappa hoped that that was the case. Masters like her were few and far between, and most slaves would be content to serve them, especially after serving some of the cruel assholes that he had been owned by since he’d been captured in battle. “The whip marks are all on my back and on the back of my legs.”

                “Hm… do they affect your movement at all? You can still perform all the duties I’ll require of you, correct?” Ami asked as she slid her hand over the leather strap on his hip that was holding his loincloth in place and trailed her fingers to his massive thigh, her lips twitching up knowingly and her cheeks flushing  with a mixture of nerves and excitement when she caught a hint of movement beneath his covering. Oh, good, someone was finally waking up! Sure, it had been awhile since she’d last been with a man, but surely a year wasn’t long enough for her to lose her touch!

                Gods damn it, why couldn’t his cock just stay down!? Screwing up his face in concentration, Nappa focused on keeping it flaccid, intent on not offending this woman if he could possibly help it. So far she’d been courteous and straight with him, and the last thing he wanted to do was to piss her off and ruin his chances of sleeping in a clean, warm bed every night and eating some good, hot food. Getting a boner within five minutes of meeting her was sure to put her off, and she’d go on her merry way and find another meatshield to stand guard at her door. One that could control his stupid, single-minded cock. “It um… depends on the duties,” he managed, his voice strangled as she trailed her fingertips lightly over his inner thigh, examining yet another scar. Her scent was starting to get to him, too—the only thing that was better than a beautiful woman was a beautiful woman that smelled good, and this queen smelled nothing short of amazing. “I can fight like a demon and I’ll protect you with my life, but standing at attention for hours hurts my back. I won’t complain, though, if that’s what you need. Just being honest, like you wanted.”

                “And I appreciate your honesty,” Ami said with a slow, genuine smile. He was stirring beneath the cloth again as he spoke because his attention was divided between concentrating on keeping it down and talking to her, and the little queen had to admit that she was impressed by his self-control. She’d played this game with a few other slaves in the past just to see how they’d handle the pressure, and he was definitely handling it far better than any of them had.

Some of them panicked, some of them told her to stop—and she always did if they asked her to, since she had no interest in an unwilling partner—and one of them had even broken down in tears. A few of them had made lewd remarks. Nappa, however, was merely ignoring her touch as best as he could and was doing a good job of keeping his cock from responding. Out of fear, though? Or out of respect?

That was easy enough to find out, thankfully. “Your duties won’t require standing at my door, actually. A bodyguard’s job isn’t easy, especially when the person you’re guarding is someone like me,” Ami informed him. “I have a tendency to put myself in the line of fire pretty often, and I’ve had several attempts on my life while sleeping. So you’ll actually be sharing my bed. Don’t worry,” she added with a chuckle, “it’s more than big enough for the both of us. You’ll be glued to my side twenty-four-seven,” she continued pleasantly. “Unless one of us is in the bathroom, of course. You’re more than welcome to share my shower, however.” That last sentence was spoken as she dragged her fingers up his other thigh, dipping them briefly beneath the loincloth to stroke the crease of his hip. “As for your other duties…”

Wait, was she actually implying what he thought she was!? Fully awake now, Nappa just stared at her incredulously, looking her up and down, noting the size difference, unable to contain a scoff of disbelief. “Lady, I’d break you in half,” he huffed in amusement.

Oh, he was sassy, too, this was just perfect! The room filled with her laughter at that, and Ami flashed him a slightly shy smile that no one ever saw outside of her private quarters, her hand sliding beneath the covering to finally grasp him, her smile fading quickly and her eyes widening in shock.

Holy shit.

“I stand by my words,” Nappa chuckled, unable to stop himself from laughing at her stunned silence. “I might not look it when I’m sitting down, but I’m eight feet tall… and proportional.”

“I… wow. Um… I can definitely feel that,” Ami murmured, still surprised by her gargantuan discovery, her cheeks burning brightly with a mixture of embarrassment and intense arousal. Dear gods, he was massive, but just because she didn’t think she could take him didn’t mean she didn’t want to try. Call it scientific curiosity. Oh yes, she’d be willing to risk a little pain in the name of Mother Science. “Wonder how much of you would even fit,” she mumbled to herself, licking her lips as she felt him swelling in her hand, her blue eyes watching his face intently when she dared to give him a single, experimental stroke.

She wasn’t disappointed when he gasped with pleasure and gave an instinctive thrust into her palm, but when his black eyes narrowed and she felt him soften slightly, Ami frowned and couldn’t help feeling some disappointment and rejection. Was she not beautiful enough for him? Maybe it was a trust issue… after her ordeal with her last bodyguard, Ami could hardly fault him for that. After all, he was chained and being forced to submit. Or maybe he was afraid of being used and left to suffer without relief? “You don’t want me, Nappa? I won’t leave you unsatisfied if that’s what you’re worried about. Even if I can’t take you, I was serious about rewarding my slaves for good behavior. And so far, you’ve been very good.”

That was exactly what he’d worried about, actually. Several mistresses had done exactly what she was doing now, only to stop the moment they realized they couldn’t handle his size, leaving him rock hard and unsatisfied. He hated that shit; sure, he was a mere slave, but leaving someone hanging like that was just… well… rude! But she’d said she wouldn’t do that to him and Nappa had sensed the truth in her voice, so he stopped trying to fight his arousal and let his cock grow in her small, soft hand. “I have to say, Ami… I’m very happy that I wound up with you,” he purred as he moved his hips again and wished she would grip him harder and move a little faster. “If you want to unchain me, I can show you quite a few things I’m skilled in besides fighting and safeguarding royalty.”

“Maybe next time,” she answered with a smile. “No offense, but… I just met you, Nappa. Forgive me if I have some trust issues the first few times. I’ll be on top. You’re allowed to move, but you’ll remain chained until I feel like I can fully trust you not to hurt me when my guard is down. My last bodyguard… he wasn’t quite as loyal as I thought and… well, let’s just say I learned a very painful lesson a year ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Funny, he actually meant it. He’d gotten good at reading people over his last century as a slave, and if he was reading her right, Ami was a very direct woman and so far she appeared to be just as fair as she claimed. But if she was, then why would any slave in their right mind betray her? “Did he say why before you killed him?”

“It turned out that he worked for one of my sisters a few hundred years ago, and he thought to plant himself in my household, earn my trust, and then assassinate me as revenge for Rei. It nearly worked, too. I have to give him credit—his plan was well thought out and well-executed.” Ami frowned then, rubbing at the scar he’d left on her chest with her free hand. “Too bad his aim wasn’t as good as his planning.”

The dangerous glitter in her eyes told Nappa a lot more about her, and he couldn’t help it when his lips twitched up in a tiny smile of appreciation for that hard streak he’d caught a glimpse of. This queen was tiny and unimposing at first glance, but now he was pretty damned sure that she was one of those rare, self-made queens that didn’t mind working her ass off and sweating with the masses to get what she wanted. And she definitely had a survival streak a mile wide. He admired the hell out of that.

Ami read him like a book and smiled as she withdrew her hand and stood to cross the room and retrieve her drink, returning with it, this time straddling his legs instead of settling in beside him. “You won’t go and try anything like that, though, will you, Nappa?”

“No ma’am,” he answered gravely, catching a flicker of some undefinable emotion in her eyes. Fear, maybe. Perhaps heartache… and one emotion he could definitely place—Nappa knew it all too well. Loneliness.

“I’ve found throughout the years that I enjoy breathing. In fact… if you’ll forgive the impertinence, I’ll tell you right now that if you treat me well, I’ll give even better than I get.” Licking his lips, he couldn’t help but eye the cup in her hands and realized he hadn’t had anything to drink since he’d passed out in the cell after a very thorough scrubbing. Would she get pissed at him for asking? Fuck it, if she did, then she wasn’t as fair as she claimed to be. “May I?”

“Oh, of course. My apologies, Nappa, I should have offered you a drink to begin with. How very rude of me,” Ami said quickly, her cheeks heating up in mortification at her forgetfulness as she opened her subspace and retrieved a clean cup and the bottle of wine. “Oh… would you prefer water instead?”

“Wine is perfect, thank you,” Nappa assured her with a smile, noting that her use of a subspace pocket meant that she was Solarian. Which meant that this was the little queen he’d heard so much about over the last few decades. The one that had betrayed her sisters and had conquered all of their kingdoms, then had done the same to her cousins in the neighboring galaxies. This was the queen that had ended the fabled Silver Millennium with nothing more that sheer intelligence, a canny knack for military tactics, and an army at her back. Her reputation definitely preceded her, and Nappa found himself relaxing completely as she poured him a cup of wine and held it to his lips for him.

He drank deeply, sighing in contentment once the cup was empty, cracking his eyes open to find her studying him again with a mixture of shyness and desire, the former of the two a pleasant surprise. Nappa always preferred his women a little shy in bed; it was cute, and he’d bet ten credits that once his chains were off she’d want him on top as often as possible and would be more likely to wait for him to initiate sex. “You know, admiring a warrior’s scars is a major turn-on in my culture,” he rumbled as her fingertips began to smooth over his skin once again, making him shiver with pleasure. It was then that he noticed how she was hesitating; she had only been stroking his cock moments before, but now she was back to tracing his scars, her cheeks flushing prettily.

She wasn’t just shy… she was nervous. Heh, that was really cute, considering that he was the one chained and she was in total control. Then again, her last lover had betrayed her, so she probably had every right to be nervous about taking a new one, even if he was only a slave. “When was the last time you were with someone, Ami?” Nappa asked softly when she refilled her own cup and took a sip, his trained eyes catching the barely imperceptible tremor in her hand.

“Over a year,” she admitted with increasing shyness, wishing she could trust him enough to let him loose. Then he could just take over and she wouldn’t feel so damned awkward about having him in chains. “I didn’t go to the auction with the intention of buying a new bodyguard, just so you know. But then I saw you, and… well, you’re, um… you’re very handsome, Nappa. So I took a chance. In fact… if… if you don’t want me, if you don’t want to do this, I would very much appreciate it if you told me now,” Ami continued softly. “I won’t be angry with you. I promise I won’t be, but please don’t pretend to want me just to earn my favor. I won’t treat you unkindly for telling me you aren’t attracted to me.”

Her vulnerability was refreshing, and Nappa found himself smiling as he used his tail to tip her chin up when she looked down and away from him. She was a powerful queen, and from what he could tell so far, she was a good queen by Saiyan standards and ruthless when it came to getting what she wanted. But right then, he only saw her as a woman—a beautiful woman that had had her heart stomped on and had finally summoned the courage to risk getting hurt yet again. Sure, her last lover had been a slave, just like him, but he’d been around long enough to know that when a woman took a lover, she usually gave more than just her body. Even if she wasn’t in love. “I’d be insane not to want you, Ami,” he answered honestly. “I want you and I swear to you on my tail right now that I won’t hurt you, so long as you don’t hurt me. You probably don’t know about my people, but an oath made on my tail is not one that I’ll break.”

“No, I didn’t know that. I don’t know much about the Saiyans, to be honest,” she admitted as she blushed brighter and pulled the tie of his loincloth loose, pushing it out of the way to expose him. “Maybe you can give me a history and cultural lesson later on?”

“That would be my pleasure.” Wow, she was actually interested in his story? That was a first for him when it came to someone that owned him. “For now, though… let’s focus on your pleasure, shall we?” If he wasn’t bound in chains, Nappa would have taken charge right then and kissed her, would have stroked and petted and aroused her to the point where she was begging him to take her, but the fact remained that he couldn’t move.

He could only use his tail, and while he tugged at the silk tie around her waist with it, it was a far cry from everything he wanted to do to please her. “Come here,” he encouraged her when she only turned even redder and licked her lips in anticipation. “Come ride me, Ami.”

Ami hesitated because she wasn’t a hundred percent sure how to proceed. He couldn’t possibly know for obvious reasons—and she didn’t know that he’d guessed just that—but she was inexperienced with initiating sex. Sure, she would gladly mention that she wanted it or drop hints that she was aroused, but when it came to actually making a move, she’d relied on her bodyguards in the past to initiate contact. To her, it always seemed like the right thing to do since she was the one in power. If they initiated, then they felt in control, confident, and in her experience, a confident man made a much more ardent lover. She’d never done it like this before, with her lover chained down, and while she ached between her thighs and sorely wanted him, she felt awkward about the whole situation. “Nappa… are you sure you’re alright with this?” She asked softly.

“Forgive my bluntness, Majesty, but you’re a beautiful woman that wants to fuck me. I’m more than alright with it. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be hard,” Nappa chuckled, tipping his head downwards to his pulsing cock. “The real question is, are you sure about this? Because if you’re not careful about your balance you’ll wind up killing yourself on me… and I’m pretty sure that won’t go over too well with the captain of the guard.”

“No, it wouldn’t, but aaah, but what a way to go,” she giggled, some of her anxiety melting away when he joined in her laughter, giving her enough confidence to proceed and raise up, her breath momentarily leaving her when the ridiculously wide head stretched her in a glorious mixture of pain and pleasure. “Oh,” she gasped, sucking in a deep breath when her arousal coated him enough for him to ease into her. Ami had never been stretched quite so much before, and as she worked herself down onto him a little more, she let out a strangled, soft moan of pleasure as the head hit her g-spot. “Oh… that’s so nice…”

“My thoughts exactly,” Nappa purred, his eyes hazy as they slipped half-shut and he savored how gratifyingly tight she was, her walls gripping and squeezing him as she took more of him. She was close, he could feel it, and the former Saiyan general couldn’t help a swell of pride at the knowledge that she was already so close to coming, even though he knew she probably hadn’t gotten off in a long, long time. “Let go,” he encouraged her when she whimpered and rocked over him, taking nearly his entire rigid shaft, the wide head massaging her deeply as she slowly moved up and down. “Come for me, Ami. Gods be good… you’re so fucking tight…”

It wasn’t for a lack of trying, but Ami hovered on the edge of oblivion for what seemed forever to her, and after many minutes of riding him slowly and shivering at the sound of his hoarsely whispered encouragements, she let out a whimper of desperate frustration. “Please,” she choked out to no one in particular, “please, I just want to come. It’s been so long.”

The queen and ruler of several galaxies was gone in that moment, and Nappa felt a pang of sympathy for the fiercely aroused woman sheathing his cock, especially when her sapphire eyes brimmed with tears. “Ami… stop, it’s ok, baby… just stop for a minute,” Nappa rumbled, briefly surprised when he noticed that he was purring comfortingly for her, nuzzling her throat when she slumped against him and let go of a quiet sob. “Shh… it’s alright,” he soothed gently, feeling awkward when he tried to wrap his arms around her to hug her, forgetting that they were still chained tightly. “I know what’s wrong, but it’ll be ok. I can make it better.”

“Please, Nappa… please tell me what to do,” the dark queen whispered, completely forgetting in that moment who was the slave and who was the mistress. It didn’t matter right then anyway, she just wanted to come, damn it. She’d worry about reestablishing who was in charge later on if he was foolish enough to forget his place, but she was fairly sure that Nappa wasn’t the type to fight her on who was dominant in their working relationship. He wasn’t the only one that had gotten good at reading people over the centuries, and it was that skill that had kept her alive for so long. “Tell me what I’m doing wrong.”

“You’re not doing anything wrong, Majesty,” he murmured as he drug his nose up her throat and nibbled at her ear, pleased when she moved against him once in response and her walls tightened briefly. Gods, she was close! It must have been torture to ride the edge of orgasm for so long after going without for a year! “You’re just a submissive in bed, that’s all. Being on top is nice for you every now and then, but you really love it when you’re pinned down and taken… don’t you?” Nappa felt her stiffen against him for a moment in reaction and steeled himself for punishment, but something told him she wouldn’t get too angry. After all, she’d told him to speak the truth, and he knew without a doubt that he was speaking it now.

He’d been around the block a few times and he knew her type—she was a woman in power, with control over everything in her universe. She could command armies and fleets and took pleasure in reducing her enemies to begging at her tiny, perfectly pedicured feet. But she needed to just let go sometimes, too, needed to forget it all for just an hour, to let someone else be in charge for a change. Sometimes she just needed to be Ami. Not Darkury—as he’d heard her called in hushed tones—not Your Majesty, not my lady. Just Ami.

In his understanding it was the same for most male rulers, too. He’d seen kings happily lie back in bed while an experienced woman used them and rode them for their own pleasure. That type of monarch wasn’t always the rule, but it was definitely more common than most people realized. “Ami… am I right? Do you prefer to be dominated?”

The timid, surprised little nod that he felt against his shoulder made him smile; he knew she was blushing even without looking her in the face, and he knew that that’s exactly why she wasn’t looking at him. “No need to be embarrassed, beautiful. Just unchain me,” he breathed seductively in her ear, his voice taking on the same husky quality as his purr. “Unchain me and let me help you. Let me make you come, baby. Let me give you what you need.”

The rough, eager to please tone of his voice was setting her off, and the idea of feeling his massive frame bearing down on her as he used her for his own pleasure shoved Ami right back to the brink of orgasm. Dear gods, he was right, wasn’t he? Mina had always said that everyone had a kink, and apparently her long-deceased and conquered sister had been right about something all along. Everyone, Mina had stressed with a wink, even when Rei and Ami had both denied it. Sometimes you just don’t know about it until it slaps you in the face.

Ami couldn’t blame herself for her own disbelief, though; all things considered, Mina was the exact same person that had once told them that anything could serve as a dildo if you were brave enough.

“Majesty?” Nappa pressed respectfully when she remained silent. “Look, I know you’ve got that whole trust problem. Is that it?”

“Yes,” she whispered as she finally dared to draw back enough to look into his eyes, revealing that her face was just as red as he thought it was. “I just… how do I know you won’t try to hurt me?”

Her answer came in the form of his tail, and he nodded towards it as he wrapped it around her wrist. “That right there is the most sensitive part of my body, Ami,” he informed her quietly. “Even more sensitive than my balls. If I hurt you, you can squeeze it or rip it off. Believe me, I definitely don’t want to feel that kind of pain, so—OW!” He yelped when she wrapped her hand around it and squeezed. “Gods damn it, don’t do that so hard, woman!”

Nappa’s genuine reaction convinced her that he wasn’t bullshitting her, and Ami chuckled as she bent her head to kiss him where she’d squeezed too hard, running her fingers through the fur to soothe the ache as she felt him softening inside of her. Wow, it really must have hurt! “Sorry,” she finally whispered, “I just wanted to be sure.”

“If you were any other woman, in any other situation than right now, I’d get even with you for that,” Nappa grunted.

“Sorry,” she repeated, genuinely contrite, blushing hotly in embarrassment. “I’ll make it up to you, Nappa. Promise.”

“You can make it up to me by unchaining me,” the former general replied gruffly, his temper abating when he caught the slightest flicker of fear in her eyes. “I won’t hurt you,” he reiterated as he bent his mouth to her ear to suck on the lobe, purring once more when she moaned and moved against him, spurring him on to kiss and suck at her neck for several moments just to make her crazy.

“Unchain me, Ami,” he demanded softly, once he could smell how intense her arousal was getting yet again. “I’ll fuck you just how you want to be fucked… you like it hard and deep, don’t you? Yeah… that’s what I thought,” he breathed when he felt her fumbling with the lock on the manacle chaining his right wrist and she slid up and down his throbbing shaft in a quest for some kind of relief. “I’ll give it to you hard and deep, just how you like it,” he continued as she tried to free him with trembling hands, distracted by his voice and the way his warm breath was ghosting over her ear. “I’ll fuck you until you beg me to stop, until it’s too much for you to handle. And then I’m going to come inside you… make you mine… let you feel it filling you up until it’s dripping out of you… hurry up, baby… the quicker you turn me loose, the quicker I can give you everything you need.”

“Gods damn it,” she cursed when she fumbled the key for the fourth time, tears of frustration welling up in her eyes once again.

“Shh, calm down,” Nappa soothed, fighting the urge to chuckle at how worked up he’d gotten her. Something told him that she wouldn’t find it funny in the least, even though it was pretty amusing. “It’s alright, Blue… come here,” he coaxed as he ran his lips over her soft cheek, loosing a groan of approval when her lips crashed into his and she kissed him heatedly, her desperation bleeding through into the way she was moving her tongue against his.

Nappa continued to kiss her like that until she was trembling against him and whimpering once more, rolling her hips languidly in a quest for completion, and it was only when he thought she’d relaxed enough that he finally released her lips, his eyes dark with lust. “Untie me,” he reminded her when she tried to kiss him again. “Untie me… let me make you feel good, baby. Let me make you mine.”

Ami had dropped the key at some point as they’d devoured each other and she looked around, bewildered, shivering with need until his tail slipped from her hand and scooped up the missing item. “Thank you,” she whispered shakily as she took it from him gratefully and put it in the lock. “Gods… as dexterous as that thing is, it makes me wonder about your hands.”

“Untie me and you’ll find out,” he promised softly. “If my hands weren’t bound, I wouldn’t have been able to keep them off of you.”

The very thought of feeling those giant, calloused hands on her skin practically set her on fire, and the queen of the galaxy hurried to free him, emitting an audible gasp when she felt and heard a click in the lock and the manacle fell away from his wrist, her heart hammering away in anticipation.

He didn’t go for a breast as she thought he would; instead she felt his hand on her face, cupping her cheek and drawing her lips to his for a long, slow kiss that held a hint of tenderness that neither of them expected but both of them secretly relished. Oh yes, this was what she’d been hoping for when and if she finally dared to take a new lover, and Ami sighed into the kiss, her nimble fingers seeking out and locating the other manacle and going to work.

Nappa surprised her when a second click was heard; instead of immediately pinning her down and slaking both their lusts, he only continued to kiss her, using one hand to still her hips when she tried to move, the other sliding back to the nape of her neck to hold her in place. She wanted him now and was frustrated by the waiting, but at the same time she appreciated the way he’d slowed down to savor the moment, demonstrating that he was enjoying her just as much as she was enjoying him… and also demonstrating his ability to be a gentle lover even if he’d promised her a fuck. That in itself was enough to fully convince her that he wasn’t going to hurt her—no, he was just too much into it for him to have an ulterior motive—and Ami moaned softly as she finally let go of the rest of her paranoia and melted into him. “Please,” she breathed between kisses. “Please, Nappa… I’m burning up…”

“Damn… and I was enjoying myself,” he murmured, breaking the kiss with a nip to her lower lip. “I want more of this later, if that’s alright with you, Mistress? It might seem stupid and sappy to you that I enjoy foreplay, but I always liked just holding a woman and taking my time. It doesn’t have to just be a job or a duty to me, you know.”

“Ami,” she corrected him as she rose up and ran her mouth over his jawline, pleased to know that he really did like her and he didn’t think of intimacy as a duty. “Don’t call me that, especially in bed, Nappa. I don’t like it. In fact…” That gave her an idea, and Ami turned every color of the sunset as she realized just how turned on she was by the thought of… “Nappa…?”

“Hm?” He was eyeing the table behind her, a wicked glint to his eyes as he shifted his attention back to her… as well his weight, climbing to his feet with an arm under her bottom to hold her against him, his lips turning up in a grin when he plopped her ass down on the edge of the wood and she squeaked in reaction. “You have a request or something? Or do you want to just let me fuck you on the table?”

“Both, actually… um… before I tell you, I want to make it clear that afterwards, I still own you. Understand?” Ami asked carefully, without any malice or anger in her voice. Just the facts, and she hoped he understood that.

“Yes, ma’am, I do. Anything that happens while I’m inside of you doesn’t apply to outside of the bedroom.”

Dear gods, it was wonderful to have a lover and a bodyguard that actually got it for once, that knew right away that there was a time and a place for certain things, and that most of those things couldn’t be talked about or acknowledged outside of her private chambers. To be frank, it was just as wonderful to know that she wouldn’t have to punish him in the future just to make a point. No, something told her that Nappa wouldn’t overstep his bounds, and that made it that much easier to suggest the idea that had suddenly popped into her head, even though her voice still trembled as she expressed it. “Nappa… you’re the master,” she whispered.

“Wow… you really want to be dominated, don’t you?” He rumbled in abject surprise as he felt his previously softening cock suddenly stiffen in reaction to the idea of fucking her senseless.

“Yes, I do,” she confessed shyly. “I mean… if you’re ok with that. I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do, Nappa. If you’re not comfortable with it, then—“

“I won’t hurt you,” he said, cutting her off with a frown. “I want to make that clear. I don’t mind some kinky shit, but I’m not into hurting a woman while I’m fucking her. Other than that, it’s pretty much fair game… though I’ll admit I don’t much like the idea of fucking you in the ass, either. You’re just too damned tiny for that to work with a man my size.”

“We are definitely in agreement on that subject,” Ami replied, unable to keep herself from laughing even when he gave her a tiny thrust and sent a huge bolt of pleasure coursing through her. “Shit… so close to coming,” she breathed when he gave her another, her eyes fluttering shut. “Nappa—“

“Master,” he purred seductively. “You want me to do this? You have to call me Master, baby.”

The transformation he witnessed right there astounded him. She’d been a tad shy before, yeah, but now as she lay back on the table and looked up at him through her lashes, Ami seemed like a timid little mouse, even with the heavy desire in her eyes. “Please… please, Master, please let me come?” She begged softly. “You… you promised you would if I was good… and I’ve been good, haven’t I?”

Nappa didn’t miss a beat and stayed in character, his lips twitching up in an expression of pure male triumph. “Yeah, baby… you’ve definitely been good. Very, very good. Such a good little slave to beg for your master’s cock,” he purred in approval, immediately beginning to move, rewarding her for her subservience by fully withdrawing and then rocking deep, gripping her hips to keep her from sliding back on the table from the force of his thrust. “is that what you wanted, Blue?”

“Yes!” She squeaked, unable to stop her own hips from rocking into his when he moved again, whining softly when he instantly stopped in reaction to that desperate physical demand for more.

“Don’t move, baby. A good slave submits to her master… and you do want to be good, don’t you?” He asked, waiting for her to yell at him any moment and tell him he was overstepping his bounds. She was into it, though, her blue eyes wide and seemingly innocent as she whimpered and nodded. “Good,” he breathed, bending down to capture her lips with his. “You can kiss me back,” he added when she fully submitted and didn’t even move her tongue in response, merely parting her lips to let him take what he wanted, her core spasming around him as she moaned and clutched at the table edge.

Ami was happy to oblige and returned his kiss passionately, panting for air in between, her hands leaving the table to wrap around his shoulders and draw him closer when he began to move again. “Please don’t stop,” she pleaded when he paused at the feeling of her hands on him. “Pl—please, Master… please, I need you!”

The pressure in her lower belly was nearly unbearable; her clit was throbbing, her sex was a constant ache of oversensitive flesh, and all she needed was just a little more friction to send her tumbling over the edge.

After regarding her for a long moment just to make her squirm, Nappa chuckled and nodded. “I love how eager you are for me to fuck you, slave. Yes,” he growled softly as he started moving again and she instantly moaned his name, “that’s right…” She was supposed to call him ‘Master,’ but hearing his name uttered with such desperate need was beyond arousing, so he chose not to correct her and moved harder and deeper, savoring the way she wrapped her legs around him to pull him closer.

Ami huffed and panted with every slow, hard thrust inside of her, and after only thirty seconds she cried out, her nails digging bloody furrows down his back, her toes curling against the backs of his thighs. “I’m coming!”

“That’s right… that’s it,” Nappa hissed out, fighting the pulsing in his cock and the urge to come when she clamped down around him and bucked in his arms. “Feels so good, doesn’t it, baby? That’s it… come for your master… come for me…”

He stopped to give her a breather once her rigid body had gone limp beneath him, his lips gently melding with hers, his hands gliding softly and soothingly over her sensitive post-orgasmic flesh. “How was that?” Nappa asked softly when she sighed in contentment and returned his tender caresses. “Are you satisfied, my queen?”

“I won’t be satisfied until you’ve come for me, Nappa,” Ami answered with a happy little gurgle of pleasure when she felt him twitch inside of her, the head of his cock rubbing her sweet spot. “But if you’re asking if I enjoyed that… oh, yes. I did, very, very much. Please… please tell me that you won’t mind taking on the position of being my bodyguard?”

“If it means getting to fuck you like this every night, I think I’ll even beg for the honor if you want me to,” Nappa replied earnestly as he started rolling his hips into hers leisurely, taking his time and savoring his first woman in several years. “Now come for me again, little slave,” he ordered with a smirk.

Wait a damned minute, he was treating her to a second helping? This was unheard of for Ami, and she sagged even as she giggled at the absurdity of the line that popped into her head. A nice, intense orgasm always put her in the best of moods, and this time was no exception. “Yes, Master… heh… heheheh… fuck me with your huge, hot cock!”

Try as he might to keep his composure, Nappa let loose a series of barking laughs and buried his face in her throat to muffle it as he continued to thrust, picking up the pace to erase her giggles and replace them with soft, desperate whimpers for more. “Don’t make me laugh like that, baby,” he chuckled, “I can’t keep it up if you make me laugh too much.”

“Heh… yes, Master,” Ami whispered, her voice husky with pleasure, the feeling of another orgasm building in her belly driving the thought of teasing him some more right out of her head. “Oh… oh yes… just like that!” She encouraged when he moved harder, now genuinely fucking into her, his rhythm quick and rough, hard and deep, just as he’d promised. “Please! Yes, Master, fuck me! It feels so good!”

She was coming again before she could even warn him with more than another raking of her nails down his back and a sweet, soft cry of his false title. “Master! Yes! Wait—no!” Ami protested when he withdrew from her the moment he’d ridden her through the strongest portion of her climax. Damn it, she’d been about to have a third right behind the second, why did he have to stop!?

“Don’t tell me no, Blue,” Nappa warned her with a convincing growl, glaring down at her as he gripped her hips. He flipped her, making her yelp in surprise, then she choked out a cross between a moan and another protest as he pinned her face-down on the table and thrust into her forcefully from behind. “The only thing I wanna hear out of you is yes. Understand me, slave?”

Oh dear gods, he’s good, Ami thought to herself as she trembled in renewed arousal and fought the urge to rock back into him demandingly. “Y—yes, Master.” The tremor in her voice wasn’t even faked. “Please… please don’t stop,” she requested bashfully. “I need you, Master… I want to come again.” Looking back over her shoulder at him, Ami affected the most innocent, wide-eyed look she was capable of and knew it was working when she watched him lick his lips and his purr kicked up a notch. “Please?” She repeated breathlessly. “It… it’s been so long…”

“So long since what, baby?” Nappa asked curiously as he bent over her to worship the back of her neck with his lips and teeth.

“Since… since I’ve come with a man,” Ami whispered.

“I think you can do better than that, baby,” he teased, giving her a single, deep thrust to show her just how good he could feel in this new position.

Oh, he wanted her to talk dirty? Ami considered this, and while it embarrassed her to do it seriously and not in jest, she realized that she didn’t care, especially when he slid completely out of her and pushed back inside, hitting every good spot along the way, making her stretched sex sing with pleasure. “Since… since I’ve been fucked right, Master. Please… you’re the only one that’s ever fucked me like this. No one’s ever made me come more than once.” That part was true, and Ami briefly wondered if he’d heard the honesty in her voice. “Please, Master… you’ve got me so wet for you,” she continued, her cheeks reddening. “Please don’t leave me unsatisfied… I’ll be good, I swear it.”

“Hm… maybe. I don’t know. You did tell me no, after all. And I really, really hate hearing that word, especially when I’m fucking.”

“I won’t say no again, I promise!” Ami said quickly. “Please, Master, you’ll only hear yes from me from now on!”

“Oh… fine. I suppose,” Nappa drawled out as if it was a major inconvenience. “I’ll keep fucking you… but you have to tell me how you want it, slave.”

He gave her another maddeningly slow thrust at that, and Ami was at her wit’s end, burning up and dying to come again, so close to another orgasm that she simply didn’t care about sounding like an idiot anymore. He wanted her to tell him how she wanted it? Fine, she’d tell him! “I want you to fuck me so hard that I forget my own name,” she told him earnestly, moaning loudly and sagging into the table when he complied right away and began to pound into her, hard and steady. “Gods, yes! Yes, Master! The only thing I want to remember is your hard cock between my legs!”

“Good,” he purred in her ear as he pressed close to her from behind, savoring her soft skin and how delicious it felt against his, his rough hands sliding along it and finally cupping her breasts to enjoy his favorite part of a woman. “Fuck, baby… you feel so fucking good,” Nappa sighed, worshipping her neck with slow, lazy kisses, only realizing when she begged for him to move harder that the motions of his hips had matched those of his mouth.

Well, he had warned her that he liked to take his time, hadn’t he? And since he was supposed to be the Master, wasn’t it well within his rights to do whatever he pleased? “Heh… you want to come again, Blue? Is that it?”

“Yes,” she whined, “please fuck me, Master, it felt so good like that!”

“I changed my mind, though… and I think you might like this even better, baby,” he whispered with promise as he withdrew from her.

Ami only just barely kept from saying ‘no’ in protest as her tight channel was suddenly deprived of the thick, pulsing flesh that had been giving her such raw, undiluted pleasure, and when he flipped her onto her back once more she gazed up at him owlishly. “Please… why… why did you stop?”

Nappa just smiled and dropped to his knees, looping her legs over his shoulders, his mouth pressing to her soaked lips in the only reply necessary, his tongue parting them to stroke her swollen clit when she gasped, moaned, and then bucked against him in reaction. “Mmm… been awhile since you’ve had this kind of attention, too, hasn’t it?” He rumbled when she shook and her thighs gripped his head.

Ami replied with what sounded like a strangled ‘yes,’ she was a little too far gone to think coherently when his teeth grazed over the neglected flesh and he sucked down on it once just as she felt what could only be his tail filling her up and thrusting deep.

One more slow, gentle suckle later and she was done, choking out what sounded to Nappa’s ears like a sob, her hands surprisingly soft and tender as Ami stroked his bald head and the rest of her body went rigid in his arms, her channel flexing and squeezing as she panted for air through the overwhelmingly strong orgasm.

The pleased smile on his lips died when he looked up to find tears glistening on her cheeks, and forgetting the Master and Slave Game, he wiped his mouth on his arm and slid up to kiss her forehead and the odd symbol now blazing upon it. “You alright, sweetheart? He asked sympathetically when she swallowed hard and more tears tumbled from her eyes. “Did I do something wrong?”

“N—No, I just… I haven’t… haven’t had that in… in a long time,” she whispered tearfully. “Sweet,” she explained when he lifted an eyebrow and began to wipe at her tears. “Gentle. Gentle but… but not fake.”

Ah. That was it right there, and Nappa kissed her with as much tenderness as he was capable of, lifting her from the table to take her back to the bed. She just wanted someone to care. She was ridiculously turned on by the sex games and the rough, kinky stuff, but this… this was what she wanted above all.

Someone to make her feel something other than the typical things that came from the day-to-day running of three galaxies. Someone that knew of her ruthless reputation but wasn’t afraid of her… yes, he sensed that as well in her eyes as he broke the kiss for a moment to smile down at her before dipping back in to resume his gentle ministrations.

Someone to erase the sting of loneliness that she hid from everyone in her court. Someone that she could regard as an equal, if only in the bedroom. Someone she trusted enough to be her true self with as they indulged in the beautiful give and take that came with not just fucking… but with making love as well.

Gods… if I’m reading her right, she’ll be saying the “L” word before long when I keep giving her this kind of sex, Nappa thought happily as he slid the length of his cock against her drenched sex, moving slowly as he gripped her hair to turn her face to his, claiming her lips again with a new level of tenderness that he hadn’t known he was capable of, tasting fresh tears when she let loose a cross between a moan and a sob when he entered her slowly. “That’s it, atti,” he breathed between kisses as his purr shifted to something comforting and soothing, a pattern he’d never heard from his own chest before. “I like this… and it’s what… you need most…”

He was exactly right and Ami knew it in her heart, especially when he began to move inside of her lazily, taking his time with her, savoring not only her body but her response to him, breaking the kiss and smiling down at her when she cracked open her eyes, his full of understanding before he kissed her once more. “Nappa,” she sighed in surrender, her hands roaming him gently, tracing his scars as she rode the waves of pleasure coursing through her and he broke that brief kiss to take a nipple in his mouth. “Oh… oh, yes… Nappa… Nappa…”

His eyes were glittering with raw pleasure as she came for him beautifully, and he relished the way his name had become a chant and how she sang it as she climaxed, looking up at him with nothing but sweet desire and satisfaction before her lids slipped shut and she breathed his name in prayer for more. “Tell me you’re mine, Ami,” he whispered in her ear, never ceasing his gentle thrusting or the way his hands were roaming her and adding more fire to the flames that were already burning hot between them. “Tell me and I’ll come with you… I’ll make it true… I’ll fill you up until I’m dripping out of you, baby…”

“Oh,” she gasped when he sucked at her neck, fastening his lips to a spot that made her toes curl, sucking carefully at it before moving on to her collarbone and then her shoulder, raking his teeth over it and biting down hard enough to leave a bruise. The sudden harshness of his mouth surprised her, but that bite had felt good and she moaned when a fresh orgasm began to build the moment he did it a second time. “Oh gods… Nappa… Nappa…”

“Say it, baby… say you’re mine,” he pressed as her chant began anew even as he reminded his beast not to break the skin. The last thing Nappa needed was a pissed off queen slitting his throat because he’d accidentally mated her… and the last thing he wanted was to break the trust that had started out fragile and had quickly grown thanks to his epic self-control. “Mine and only mine, Ami… please… please say it, baby…”

“I’m yours,” Ami sighed, her voice laced with submissive contentment as she clung to him and basked in the glorious pleasure that was blooming once more. “Please,” she breathed as she kissed him gently, letting her lips linger for only a moment, “please make me come like that again… it was so lovely, Nappa…” It was like nothing she’d ever had before. There had been an emotional connection made during that wonderful, gentle lovemaking, a connection she’d never felt before, something that had brought tears to her eyes… something she hadn’t known was possible during sex.

And she wanted more of it. Gods yes, she could glut herself on that feeling for months and still want more of it. “Come with me,” she added, her hand finding his tail and stroking it, her lips turning up in a sweet, pleased smile when he shivered and his eyes rolled back as he groaned her name. Wow, his tail really was sensitive, wasn’t it? “Make me yours… just like you promised, my lover,” she breathed as she tried to give him a taste of what she was giving her by fluffing her fingers through the base of the furry appendage, smiling into another slow, leisurely mating of mouths when he groaned and rolled his hips fractionally harder.

She’d chipped away at his self-control just a little and Ami knew that meant he was close, so she continued to stroke and pet the fur as she moved with him, their kiss morphing into something raw and passionate even as it retained that emotional connection they were sharing along with their bodies.

Quickly spiraling up once more, Ami moaned into that kiss when she felt him quicken inside of her, and she wasn’t disappointed when he managed to hold out just long enough for her to come, her climax intensifying at the hot, wet sensation of him spilling himself inside of her and his loud groan echoing against her lips.

“Oooh,” she sighed long and happily when he slumped on top of her and lazily peppered her collarbone and shoulder with open-mouthed kisses. “Mmm… Nappa… I think I want to keep you for quite some time…”

“I sure hope so,” he murmured as he rolled them onto her sides without leaving her body and he drew the rumpled covers up around them and snuggled her tightly. “Because that was something else. Something special,” he confessed with only a hint of hesitation and embarrassment. Fuck it, she’d felt that connection too, so why bullshit around the facts when voicing them would help him earn a permanent place in her bed?

“Yes… yes, it was,” she agreed. The dark queen of Mercury was blushing as she hid her face in his chest, taking in and enjoying the scent of sex as well as his own masculine, earthy aroma and savoring how delicious he felt completely surrounding her in his arms, caging her in with his massive frame. “Tell me, Nappa… could we possibly, um… do it again? Soon?”

The shyness in her eyes was touching when she looked up at him through her lashes, and Nappa chuckled as he nodded. “As soon as I eat something, if you don’t mind feeding me? I haven’t eaten since yesterday, and even then—“

“Dear gods, how rude of me!” Ami whispered in chastisement at herself. “Nappa, I might be your mistress, but please don’t even hesitate to inform me if you require something like food or drink. Or clothes. Necessities, things like that. Wants as well… within reason, of course,” she added with another shy smile when he bent his head to nibble her lips.

“Well, after my meal I’ll be awfully thirsty, my queen. I don’t suppose you’ll let me drink from between your thighs again?” Nappa teased as he eased out of her slowly, feeling a pang of loss as his flaccid cock thumped onto the sheets, noting her tiny frown as she missed the way he’d filled her up. “Don’t worry, I’ll bury it deep inside of you for over an hour after I’ve eaten, baby,” he promised softly.

Recalling that he hadn’t been with a woman in a long time, Ami blushed hotly as she thought of how long he’d lasted. A normal man would have blown his load in a handful of minutes, but Nappa… Nappa had lasted quite a bit and had actually gotten her off numerous times. She was suddenly very, very eager to find out if he could keep that promise and slipped out of bed, donning her robe before handing him his loincloth. “Well, Nappa? Shall I escort you to our shared chambers and a welcome feast? It’s a bit early for breakfast, but I’m sure I can find a cook that would appreciate a generous bonus in exchange for getting up right now.”

“Mmhmm,” Nappa hummed in appreciation just as his stomach growled in agreement, his hands quickly and easily tying the cloth into place once he was standing.

“Holy…” Ami’s eyes were wide as she took in his size—she’d known intellectually how very large he was, but seeing him standing up straight was certainly quite the sight. “Well, I’m going to have to call in a tailor, won’t I? Something tells me I won’t be able to just order clothes or armor for you from the quartermaster.”

“If everyone here’s as tiny as you, my queen, then yes,” Nappa chuckled as he boldly offered his arm instead of waiting for her to lead him from the room.

The balls he showed in doing so only solidified her growing affection for him, and Ami smiled as she allowed him to escort her out the door and subtlety guided him to the left and towards their quarters… and what would hopefully turn out to be quite a pleasant future for the both of them. “I think this is the start of a lovely friendship, Nappa.”

“Quite lovely, my queen.” Quite lovely, indeed, he thought as he looked down at her and was struck by her beauty, taking in her flushed, sated look, her tousled blue hair, and the genuinely happy sparkle in her eyes. Oh yes… it’s definitely going to be a lovely friendship.

And who knew? Maybe with time, it would become a little more.

Chapter Text

                “Hey, baby.”

                The sight of Nappa laid out naked on the bed and waggling his eyebrows at her suggestively would have normally brought a smile to her face, but even when Ami read the “WELCOME HOME!” drawn on his chest in whipped cream, she barely managed a ghost of a smile in response. “Hi, Nappa,” she whispered as she sat her bags on the floor and sighed, running her fingers through her hair as her watery smile turned into a frown. “I… I’m sorry, but… I’m just not in the mood. Please don’t be mad at me.”

                Mad wasn’t even close to what Nappa was at the sight of the exhaustion in her eyes and the tears welling up in them. No, Nappa was worried, more worried for her than he’d ever been as he grabbed a towel to quickly remove the whipped cream from his chest and rolled out of the bed to go to her, tipping her chin up with a gentle hand to look her in the eye. “Blue, what happened?”

                “I’m not ready to talk about it. Not yet,” Ami replied, her voice cracking on the last word. “I… I just…”

                In the year that he’d been with her, Nappa had seen her vulnerable on many occasions, but this took the cake. Something had happened on her trip to Kinmoku. Something beyond horrible, especially if Ami was in tears over it. “Come on, atti,” he murmured as he scooped her up, noting the way she immediately curled into his arms and sobbed quietly. Yeah, whatever had happened… it was bad. Really, really fucking bad. Especially if she wouldn’t talk to him about it. Especially if she didn’t insist she’d be fine.

                Not a word was spoken by either of them as Nappa took her to the bed they’d shared since he’d become her bodyguard, and once he’d gotten her boots and socks off, the only sound heard for the next hour was his comforting purr rolling through the room and her quiet sobbing as she clung to him tightly.

                It was before she dozed off that Nappa noticed the scent of her fear hanging in the air and the way she clutched at him as if she was terrified he’d leave her, but it wasn’t until after she’d fallen asleep that he could do anything about it. So until then he only held her, running his fingers through her hair, rubbing her back soothingly as he surrounded her in his bulk and tried to make her feel as safe as possible, purring for her and giving her the occasional, gentle kiss as he always did when she had a bad day. “Whatever it is, I’ll make it better,” he whispered once he was positive that she was sound asleep. “I promise.”

                Careful not to wake her, Nappa slipped out of the bed then, tucking her in and kissing her lips tenderly, hesitating only a moment before dressing and leaving the room. He didn’t want to leave and risk her waking before he’d returned, but the only way he was going to find out what was wrong with his queen was by speaking with the palace guard that had travelled with her to Kinmoku, and he mentally ranted at himself for not insisting on going along on the trip as he donned his armor and the cape that marked him as Ami’s second in command.

                No, he hadn’t gone along, but it hadn’t been for a lack of desire to remain at her side. Ami had insisted that she would be fine despite the fact that she was venturing into enemy territory, assuring him that Queen Kakyuu and the Starlights would never, ever renege on a peace agreement. Nappa had remained on Mercury at her insistence for the week, running the day-to-day operations and relaying the more pressing issues to her when it was necessary… except for the last two days of the peace negotiations.

                At first, Nappa had assumed she was unreachable because she was too busy to talk—a call to the captain of her guard had assured him that she was alive and well when he’d worried about her—but after seeing her so vulnerable and terrified, Nappa could only wonder what the real reason was for the lack of communication during those last two days.

                “General Nappa.”

                His trip down the hallway towards the guards’ quarters was interrupted by those words, and he turned to find the very man he was looking for, standing in the adjacent corridor, the bags of exhaustion under his eyes just as dark as their queen’s. “Captain Elys, I was actually coming to find you. Why aren’t you in bed? You look like you’ve had the life sucked out of you.”

                “More or less,” he replied with an utterly humorless smile. “I’m not in bed because I needed to speak with you first.” Elys paused then, frowning deeply, his eyes troubled as he studied Nappa’s grave expression. “It’s as I guessed, then. Something’s wrong with her.”

                “What happened?” Nappa rumbled as he approached the shorter, older man, a wave of sympathy running through him as he drew closer for a better look at him and noticed the stubbly, unkempt beard growing on his face. Yeah, whatever had happened, Elys looked like he’d been put through the wringer, especially if he hadn’t shaved in a couple days. This was a man whose uniform was always neatly pressed, his boots always shined to a mirror finish, and was also one of the few soldiers that Nappa hadn’t taken to task for breaking the uniform code. The captain of Ami’s guard was beyond meticulous when it came to his appearance, so if he hadn’t shaved in a couple days, something monumental must have happened. “Come on, I’ll buy you a drink,” Nappa offered.

                “While I’m afraid that a single beer will put me on my ass… I very gladly accept the offer,” Elys sighed, turning and nodding for Nappa to lead the way to the nearest pub.

                There was a bar just outside of the palace grounds, only a couple blocks from the main gates, and they settled into a corner booth when one look at both of them cleared out half of the enlisted men that were not only in uniform… but on duty, as well. “I catch you runts drinking on the job again, I’ll personally drag you all in front of the queen,” Nappa growled at them before they scattered. “And boy, if you don’t iron those fucking pants I’ll see you in the ring tomorrow morning,” he added at a younger cadet that had clearly only just joined the Mercurian army.

                “Surprised you didn’t have anything to add to that,” Nappa remarked to Elys once he’d called for a couple pitchers of beer and they’d found their seats.

                “Too fucking tired to care, honestly,” the captain sighed. “I noticed three from my squad, though. I’ll handle their scrawny asses in the morning.” The drinks came then, and Elys drank deeply from the pint that Nappa poured him, rubbing at his forehead in frustration once he’d drained half the glass. “I wasn’t in the room,” he stated softly, “but rumor has it that the queen’s being forced to marry as part of the negotiations.”

                Neither the crash of breaking glass nor the horrified expression on Nappa’s face was a surprise, and Elys signaled to a barmaid when she hesitated to come over to clean up the pint of beer that the general had dropped on the floor out of pure shock. “General?” He murmured in genuine concern when Nappa’s lower lip trembled briefly and he stared at the table with an absolutely shell-shocked expression. “Nappa, talk to me.”

                “I… she… oh gods,” the Saiyan whispered, his voice tight and stricken as his hands began to tremble.

                “Bring whiskey, please,” Elys instructed the barmaid as he scootched around the wrap-around booth in order to sit next to the general, who was clearly trying not to cry, blinking rapidly in an effort to fight back the tears welling up in his eyes. “A lot of whiskey.”

                “The bottle?” The waitress asked with wide eyes, taking in the sight of General Nappa breaking down right in front of her, having a very hard time believing what she was seeing.

                “The bar.”

                She’d scurried off by the time Nappa spoke, and the Saiyan general leaned into the comforting arm slung around his shoulders once he’d recalled the way Ami had wept on him for over an hour and the hopeless, heartbroken look in her eyes when she’d entered the room. “It all makes sense, now.”

                “You can’t tell her that you know, Nappa. One of my boys was listening at the door despite her orders to stand clear of it,” Elys admitted softly.

                “Who?” Nappa whispered. “Who does she have to marry?”

                “Either Sapphire from the remnants of the Dark Moon clan, or Yaten, Sailor Star Healer. Those were the only two choices she’d even consider,” Elys replied just as the waitress returned with several bottles of whiskey and poured Nappa a full glass. “Drink.”

                The glass was empty in less than thirty seconds, but when the captain refilled it and repeated the same word, Nappa shook his head. “No. No, I’m not getting drunk tonight,” he grunted. “I need to be sober in case she wakes up and needs me.”

                “Nappa… under normal circumstances I’d never ask you such a personal question, but—“

                “Yes,” the general whispered, cutting him off. “The answer is yes. With all of my heart. Whether or not she knows it… I don’t know. I’ve never told her.”

                It was common knowledge that the general and the queen were intimate, but whether they actually loved each other was something that everyone could only speculate about. They were both immaculately professional in public, and only on very rare occasions had anyone even seen Nappa so much as touch Ami in front of other people, royal parties included. In fact, the two royal balls during the last year accounted for 95% of the times that anyone had seen the two of them engage in any kind of physical contact, and pictures of them sharing a dance at the first ball had been on the covers of all of the newspapers and tabloids for weeks, with many articles wondering whether or not the two were in love.

                “Has she ever said it?” Elys wondered aloud.

                “No, but…” Nappa paused then and shook his head as he recalled how often he’d made love to her over the last six months, something that had occurred more and more as time wore on. At first, that gentle, emotional sex had only happened a few times a month, but by the night of the second royal ball they’d attended together five months ago, the amount of times his queen had requested a genuine fucking had dropped to only once a week. Every other night that he initiated sex—Ami very rarely did that, he’d noticed—he’d followed her cues, making love to her instead of fucking her whenever her kisses and hands never took on that raw, demanding note that he associated with her desire for a hard, rough fuck.

                It was then that he realized that she hadn’t once kissed him like that in nearly a month—no, for the last three or four weeks, he’d made love to her almost every single night, not counting the week she’d been on Kinmoku. Four or five weeks, then. Damn.

                “…I think she does,” Nappa finally finished, recalling the emotional, tender look in her eyes whenever he’d taken her to bed during the last half year. Especially during the last month or so. He looked down at the full glass of whiskey then and drank it all, holding his hand over the top after he sat it down in a reminder for Elys not to refill it. “I want the frequency for Kakyuu’s communicator.”

                “But—“

                “Either I get it from you, or I wake the queen to get it,” Nappa stated flatly.

                Since that would reveal that Nappa knew about what had happened on Kinmoku, Elys relented and nodded, grabbing a bar napkin and handing it over once he’d written down the requested information. “The number beneath it is Star Fighter’s, just in case you can’t get ahold of Kakyuu. Don’t be surprised if he hangs up on you, though.”

                “No, I won’t be. He was in love with Usagi, from what I’ve heard,” Nappa murmured as he fished out more than enough to cover their bill, plus the glass, plus a hundred credit tip for the barmaid that had had to clean up his mess. He set it down on the table before sliding out of the booth, nodding towards the door when Elys finished his beer and followed. “Come on, you need some sleep, and I need to make a call. Miss, I’m sorry about the glass,” Nappa added towards the waitress. “I’d also appreciate it if you kept your mouth shut about anything you overheard.”

                “Of course, General,” she stated calmly, well aware that he rewarded loyalty just as generously as he punished disobedience.

                They left then, and Nappa walked Elys to his room in brooding silence, pulling out his communicator and eyeing it for five minutes after he’d bid the captain goodnight. “I shouldn’t. It’s a bad idea, Nappa,” he mumbled angrily to himself as he thought more and more about how wrong it was to force anyone into a marriage they didn’t want. Even the Saiyans didn’t do that—they were brutal warriors and the scourge of the universe before Vegeta-sei’s destruction, but even they drew the line somewhere. That line was drawn at rape and forced mating. Sure, they’d cook and eat their enemies after a good purge, but at least they wouldn’t subject them to a life of misery by bearing their enemy’s children… and that was exactly what they were forcing Ami to do.

                “Fuck it,” he ground out. “I’m sure Kakyuu will listen to reason if I’m respectful and I word everything right. Even the nastiest bitch in the galaxy is capable of some compassion.” Nappa dialed her then, nervously waiting for her to pick up, but when he only got her voicemail he double-checked the time in Kinmoku’s capitol and huffed in annoyance. “Pick up, damn it,” he growled as he dialed her again… and again… and again.

                After eleven tries, Nappa nearly smashed his communicator against the wall in frustration, but he managed to get himself under control when he looked up and realized he was standing right outside of Ami’s quarters, having walked there blindly as he’d been trying to call Kakyuu. No, it wouldn’t do well to make noise and wake his queen, not after the stress she’d been under the last couple of days. In fact, he should probably crawl into bed with her—she’d need him in the morning.

                When she woke, she would definitely need him… and if what Elys had told him was true, they would need to sort everything out, as well. They would need to say goodbye.

Chapter Text

When Ami woke and found Nappa awake and gently petting her, her eyes welled up with fresh tears and she curled into him tightly, trembling when he tipped her chin up and kissed her, his arms and tail wrapping around her as she returned it desperately.

                She still wasn’t in the mood but Ami acknowledged silently that a good, hard fuck would be a welcome distraction, and as he unbuttoned her blouse with one hand she clutched at him and ground her hips against his, her nails digging into his bare back. “Yes,” she sobbed between kisses, “please, Nappa.”

                He rolled on top of her then, parting the fabric of her top and unclasping the front of her bra to bare her before shoving her skirt up to her hips and drawing down her panties, but when she moved against him a second time to silently demand that he take her right away, Nappa didn’t comply. Instead, he only continued to kiss her, his hands gentle as he explored her, his arousing, entrancing purr filling the room when Ami choked out a quiet plea to take her.

                “Shh,” he breathed as he broke the kiss to worship her throat, sitting her up momentarily and drawing off her blouse and bra before tossing them to the side, laying her down once more to kiss the tears on her cheeks. “It’s going to be alright, atti.”

                “No,” she whispered brokenly, “no, it won’t be. Please, Nappa… please just fuck me. I… I need to forget. Help me forget.”

                The hopelessness in her voice nearly did him in, but the general regarded her silently for a long moment before capturing her lips with his once more, his kisses remaining slow and sweet as he smoothed his calloused hands over every bared inch of her possible and he swished his tail around in the air to saturate the room in his pheromones.

                It was only when he’d taken a nipple in his mouth that Ami managed another plea, but he ignored it, trailing his lips down her flat stomach instead, drawing off her skirt to fully bare her as he nuzzled her inner thighs before parting her shaved lips with his warm tongue. Yet another request for him to just fuck her finally got a response from him, and Nappa ceased the lazy, gentle strokes of his tongue over her clit to look up at her with his heart in his eyes. “If this is going to be the last time we’re together, Ami… let me love you,” he whispered up at her in the dim light, praying that she’d give him that much, that she’d allow him this one last liberty.

                She didn’t even question how he knew; Ami could only swallow a sob as she nodded and relaxed, and when he returned to licking and sucking at her clit she wrapped her legs around his shoulders, cradling his head to her with her hands and holding him tightly. Even with the scent of his tail in the air, it was a long while before she came for him, and when she finally climaxed, her heart broke at the sound of his purr shifting to a tone she’d only heard during the last couple of months, a sound she associated with love.

                “I love you,” she breathed once he was on top of her once more and pressing into her. “I… I always will, Nappa. I… I wanted to tell you for a few months. I… I’m so sorry. I should have told you,” Ami choked out as she openly wept at how wrong it all was. “I should have told you… I should have asked you to marry me and then… and then…”

                “R’sha,” he whispered as he cupped her face in his hand and wiped at her tears, pushing forward and filling her until he was buried to the root. “Even when I watch you marry another… you’ll always have my heart.”

                “N—Nappa?” She choked out heartbrokenly.

                “Yeah, atti.”

                “I… I don’t want this.” Her voice had become a helpless whimper, and Nappa knew she didn’t mean the fact that he was inside of her. No, she meant that she didn’t want to lose him. She didn’t want to go through with the treaty… even if that meant going to war over something as simple as a marital alliance. “Tell me what to do. Tell me and I’ll do it.”

                This was his moment to tell her to mate with him, to be his and only his forever, heart, body and soul… but as much as he ached to say them, he couldn’t do it. She would regret it. Not only would she regret it, mating with him now would tarnish her honor. If they’d forged a mating bond before she’d left for Kinmoku it would have solved everything, but that wasn’t the case. She’d accepted the peace treaty, she’d given her word, and Nappa would be damned if he’d mate her only for her to regret it later. “Ami… I can’t.”

“Nappa, please!” She begged quietly. “Tell me what to do and I’ll do it!”

                As he swallowed his own tears, Nappa kissed her chastely, purring comfort for her as he held her tightly to his chest and buried his face in her hair, simply resting inside of her and reflecting that this would likely be the last time they’d ever be this close. It was the last time he’d make love to her, the last time he’d kiss her. The last time he’d even get to hold her. And what he wanted… “Tell me you’re mine,” he choked out. “One last time, baby. Tell me you’re mine… mine and no one else’s.”

                “No matter what happens, Nappa, I’ll never belong to anyone but you,” she breathed in his ear. “I’ll always be yours. Only yours, I swear it.”

                He nodded into her hair then, trembling at the words on the tip of his tongue, nearly speaking them when he felt her tears on his shoulder. “Ami…” Gods damn it, no, he wouldn’t have her regret it! “Tell me again,” he whispered hoarsely. “Tell me you love me.”

                “I love you, Nappa.”

                Even with her lips right against his ear, Nappa barely heard her breathing the words, but he savored them like a fine wine, still resting within her, his tail still waving above them. “Ami… my Ami.”

                “Nappa?” She asked between quiet sobs, “you… do… do you…”

                “Yes, r’sha.” Rising up onto his elbows, Nappa looked her in the eye, running his fingers through her hair as he reflected that she was beautiful even when her eyes were red and puffy from crying. “I love you. I’ve loved you for quite a while, and… I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop. Always, like you said,” he murmured. “Always.”

                Fighting the urge to break down sobbing like she had last night, Ami pulled him down to her and kissed him. She needed to be strong. She needed to be strong for him, if not for herself. He loved her, and with what she knew about Saiyans, she knew that seeing her with another man would either destroy him or bring out his beast in the most violent manner possible. He would never hurt her, no—but if she didn’t stay strong, if he saw how miserable she was in her new marriage, he’d flatten her new husband. He would bring about a war that Ami just didn’t have the heart or the will to fight anymore, not since she’d killed Usagi and had taken her starseed into herself. “Make love to me, Nappa,” she pleaded when he only rested inside of her and held her, his tail waving lazily above them as he continued to purr for her and ran his lips gently over her throat. “I love you… just… just for one more day, let me be yours. One more day, before we have to be ‘Your Majesty’ and ‘General.’”

                “Alright, but… you’ll never be ‘Your Majesty’ to me, Ami. Even if I have to say it, I’ll never, ever think of you as anything but mine. I love you,” he sighed in her ear. “Always.”

##########################################

                Nappa was pulled from his dark brooding by a beep on his communicator, signaling he had a call, and because it wasn’t Ami’s tone sounding, he nearly ignored it. “It’d better be important,” he muttered as he cut it on, blinking at the sight of a woman with strangely styled red hair and even stranger clothing. “Who are you?” He grunted.

                “So you’re the general I’ve heard so much about,” she murmured as she studied him with curious eyes. “And don’t look at me like that, either. You’re the one that called me eleven times, after all. You didn’t even bother to leave me a message.”

                Eyes widening in surprise, Nappa quickly wiped the pissy look from his face. “My apologies, Your Majesty, I’d assumed you weren’t going to call me back.”          

                “I would have if you’d left me a message stating who you were,” Kakyuu replied with a shrug. “Instead, I was forced to wait until Yaten traced your frequency and figured out just who you were.”

                “Again, my apologies, but… what I need to say isn’t something I wanted to say over voicemail, Majesty.” He paused at that, trying to figure out how to word his plea without making his queen look weak, but apparently his intentions were written all over his face, judging by the way her eyes softened and she sighed in sympathy.

                “You love her,” Kakyuu stated, sighing once more when his eyes closed and he nodded slightly. “Look, Nappa… while I feel bad for you, you weren’t in Ami’s service until a year ago. You don’t know what she’s done.”

                “You assume a lot, lady,” Nappa replied tersely. “I do know what she’s done, but none of that matters a damned bit to me. What matters to me is her happiness… it matters even more than my own. If she wanted to marry whatever prick you chose for her, I’d stand aside and keep my fucking mouth shut. But she doesn’t want to!”

                “Watch it,” Kakyuu warned him softly. “You weren’t here when she killed Usagi. You weren’t here before that, when she slaughtered her sister Senshi in order to get to Neo-Queen Serenity. You want her to be happy? Good for you, but that ship sailed a long time ago, General Nappa. What matters now is peace throughout the universe and the only way we’ll get that is with an alliance. And the only way that’ll happen is by having Ami marry a Lunarian or a Senshi and producing heirs from the union. I’d offer her Taiki, but Taiki’s asexual. Seiya hates her for obvious reasons. And the rest of the Black Moon clan was wiped out during the war. It’s the only way,” she repeated firmly.

                “No, it’s not the only way and you know it!” Nappa snapped hotly. “It’s just the easiest way. I bet a lot of the people still loyal to the old regime would just love to watch Ami wallow in misery for the rest of her life, and guess what!? This is quite possibly the most effective punishment you could find to do just that! You people preach all day long about love and happiness and being good and all that bullshit,” he continued furiously, “but when you boil it all down, you don’t give a flying fuck about anyone’s happiness but your own. Hn. A real fitting fucking tribute to Queen Serenity, wouldn’t you say? She was all about that feel-good shit, but in order to forge an alliance to rebuild her old kingdom, you’re going to do it on the ashes of everything she stood for. So you know what? You can go fuck yourself, Majesty. When Ami goes through with this sham of a marriage, I hope to Dra that she has a lapse in judgment and gives me the order to kill him, because I’ll happily slaughter whatever hollow figurehead you make her marry if she gives me the ok, and I’ll lay the body at her feet as a courting gift.”

                “When that happens, General, there will only be more war,” Kakyuu responded calmly. “You weren’t here when this system was ravaged by war. You don’t know what it’s like.”

                At that, Nappa could only grin savagely, shivering with pleasure when her eyes widened momentarily in fear. It’d been a long time since he’d genuinely scared someone just for the simple joy of it, and Nappa found himself in slightly lighter spirits as he thought of multiple ways he could really terrify the bitch that would take his Ami away from him. “Lady, I’d advise you to do some research on my people, the Saiyans.” It was easy to see that she’d heard a few things about Vegeta-sei when he watched her swallow hard and she looked off to the side at someone he couldn’t see. Oh yeah, there was that terrified look again, and he smiled at the sight of it, hoping that Ami would finally give him the order to wipe out her enemies for her. If she did, he’d take a full day on Kinmoku in order to make this queen pay dearly for hurting his. She’d pay in flesh and blood one pound at a time, and when it was all finished, she’d beg him on her hands and knees to end her misery.

“Heh, it seems that maybe you don’t have to look them up, after all,” he purred malevolently as she exchanged a couple words with someone off-screen and he watched the fear in her eyes grow into pure horror. “Just in case, though, let me tell you something. You think you’ve seen war? Your Majesty, I participated in more wholesale slaughter before my first burning than both yours and Ami’s soldiers combined throughout your entire little war. I haven’t killed millions,” he added softly, pausing just long enough for her to relax slightly. “I’ve killed billions single-handedly, lady. Billions. With a B. Quite possibly a couple hundred billion if I bothered to sit down and recall every planet I’ve helped purge. We’d drop down onto a planet during a full moon—Kinmoku’s got three moons, doesn’t it?—and wait until dark. Then we’d look at the moon and transform into moonbeasts and we’d purge the planet of all life. There were stragglers, of course, but we could pick those off in the daylight,” he continued with a nonchalant wave of his hand. “We were usually pretty hungry by then anyway, so we’d welcome a straggler or two, get a good fire going, then cook ‘em for an early lunch.

“So… getting to my point, Your Majesty; I didn’t become a general by sitting on my ass and watching others do the dirty work, so I’d advise you to stop assuming that you know so much about me. You don’t know shit. The only reason your planet’s still in existence is because Ami told me not to blow you away when I offered to. If not for her reining me in over the last year, I would have gleefully gone on a killing spree all through your system just to seek her approval… and with that, I bid you a good night and sweet dreams,” he chuckled darkly, hanging up on her.

##########################

                “To be fair, you kind of brought that on yourself,” Yaten deadpanned from his seat at the computer. “You assumed that you knew him,” he elaborated, “when you clearly don’t. And a point in Ami’s favor, too… because I honestly don’t think he was joking about her ordering him not to blow us away.”

                “Oh, like he could even do that on his own,” Kakyuu huffed. “The Saiyans were fierce warriors, yes, but without a purge squad—“

                “Their Elite were more than capable of wiping out entire planets with a single blast,” Yaten interjected with a roll of his eyes. “Kakyuu, I love you, but hush. Nappa was a general before he was defeated by Hera-jin pirates and sold into slavery, according to my intel. If he was a general, I guarantee you that he was Elite, quite possibly their strongest warrior if you don’t include the king.”

                “Wait… Hera-jin pirates?” Kakyuu questioned softly as she fiddled with her communicator and pulled up a frequency she hadn’t dialed in a very long time.

                “Yes. And no, I don’t know if those pirates were affiliated with Galaxia’s husband,” Yaten answered before she could even ask the question. “You could call and ask, but I’ll remind you that she’s been pretty clear about staying out of our affairs.”

                “I don’t want her help, I just want to ask her husband a few questions,” the queen sputtered as she dialed the number and prayed that Galaxia would pick up, smiling when her call was answered and she was greeted by the woman in question. “Hey! Galaxia, I’m sorry to bother you and this is going to sound like a strange request, but could I possibly speak with your husband?”

                “Hi,” the queen of Galactica replied flatly. “Why in the hell would you want to talk to Bojack?”

                “Because he’s Hera-jin and he might know something about Ami’s general-slash-lover. He’s Saiyan,” Kakyuu explained.

                “Ooooh, heh… oh shit, yall are in a world of kaka now, aren’t you?” Galaxia chuckled as she looked off-screen and grinned at someone. “Bo, you’ve got a call,” she sang out happily. “Please, enlighten our dearest Kakyuu on just why forcing Ami to marry someone besides her general is a very, very suicidal plan.”

                “Wait wha?” Even as he took the communicator, the giant blue-skinned warrior kept his eyes on his wife and queen, his face the very definition of confusion. “Baby, I’m lost. What about Ami and a general?”

                “Ami bought a slave about a year ago. A Saiyan named Nappa,” Galaxia giggled. “Oh gods, this is going to be fun,” she continued to laugh when Bojack snorted, then laughed as well.

                “So… she bought Nappa?” Bo asked once he could get himself under control, grinning at Kakyuu’s troubled expression. “Lemme guess… she treated him well and he’s in love with her.”

                “Not only that!” Laxi howled off-screen, “sh—she’s demanding th—that Ami marry Yaten or S—Sapphire against her will! Oh gods! Bo, I’m going to go find my opera glasses! I wanna watch the explosion from the back porch!”

                “Hey, wait! Why didn’t you tell me that Ami bought the Saiyan general that me and Bido captured!?” Bojack snorted.

                “I didn’t think it was important,” his wife replied with a shrug. “Mimi and I’ve been running a betting pool almost the entire time. At first we wanted to see how long it’d be before Ami trusted him enough to remove the ki-suppressing chip in his back, then we bet on how long it’d be before Nappa killed her. The current bet is the third one we’ve made in regards to how long it’ll be before Ami gives him the ok to destroy Kinmoku and the Senshi Quartet.”

                Horrified by the conversation, Kakyuu’s voice was slightly shrill as she spoke up. “You’ve been taking bets on my planet’s demise!? What the hell, Laxi!? Why!?”

                Another shrug, but only Bo saw it and he laughed at her non-expression. “Entertainment. Why else?”

                “Well, I’m just fucking thrilled that you’re so entertained by the thought of the destruction of my people, Galaxia!” Kakyuu snapped.

                “I’m entertained by the destruction of anything,” Laxi deadpanned as she came onto the screen.

                “It’s why we’re such a good match, baby,” Bo chuckled before turning her face to his and kissing her tenderly. “I blow stuff up, you get to watch the show.”

                “Damn it, just thinking about it’s getting me hot,” his queen sighed happily. “Hurry up and tell old balls-on-fire what she needs to know… and then I think it’s bedtime.”

                “Mmm… sounds good. Go get naked for me, sexy, I’ll be in shortly,” Bo promised with a waggle of his eyebrows. Once she’d run off to the bedroom, he let out a contented sigh as he turned back to the visibly disturbed queen on the communicator, giving her a sappy smile and a shrug. “What can I say? She’s easily amused. Anyways, if you were calling me for a solution to Nappa, that’s simple enough. Either kill him or take out the marriage clause in the treaty. Surely it’s not that big of a deal, right? If Ami gives her word, she’ll keep it. Being hellbent on conquest doesn’t mean she’s without honor. Shit, she must be sincere if she’s even offering peace, right? Doesn’t she run like, three galaxies? You run one system. She could crush you like a bug, Kakyuu.”

                “I… I just want her to pay in some way for killing Usagi,” the red-headed queen whispered dejectedly, admitting it aloud for the first time ever. “She killed the Light of Hope. You wouldn’t understand.”

                “That Light of Hope was my wife’s cousin,” Bojack replied dryly. “I do understand. I also understand that she can be brought back from the Cauldron if Ami frees her starseed. What I don’t understand is why she’d go on a spree like she did… and then just suddenly stop. Not only stop… but she’s willing to make concessions to a pissant little system like yours when she’s got the power in her pinky toe to wipe you from the history books.”

                Hearing all of this from a neutral third party perspective, Kakyuu couldn’t help but wonder the same thing herself, and she waved off Yaten when he tried to speak up, her eyes narrowed in deep thought. “Thank you, Bojack,” she finally murmured, “you’ve posed more questions than answers, but… I think you might have just helped me more than I expected.”

                “You’re very welcome, Your Majesty. Now… if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a very horny queen awaiting me.”

                “By all means,” Kakyuu snorted before he hung up on her. “Yaten… could you pull up any and all information you have on exactly when Ami betrayed her Senshi?”

                “I already have,” he drawled out, “and I think I’m about ten steps ahead of you on this one. Come see what I’ve found and I’ll give you my thoughts on it.”

###############################

                “Your Majesty, I need to speak with you.”

                Hearing Nappa being so formal with her broke her heart afresh, but Ami managed to swallow her tears as she turned her face away from the treaty on her desk and rubbed at her strained eyes, setting her glasses to the side. “Yes, General,” she whispered sadly, “what seems to be the problem?”

                It wasn’t just the formalities that made him wince, it was the naked look of heartbreak in her eyes, and Nappa sighed and looked at the wall as he spoke. “I wanted to apologize in advance. I… I called Queen Kakyuu two nights ago. She didn’t pick up but… she called me back last night and… well…”

                Ami didn’t even guess. She knew. “You lost your temper.”

                “She pissed me off,” he countered blandly. “I’m sorry if it comes back on you, but… I’m not sorry I did it. Every bit of fear she felt was well-deserved. Something tells me she’s never been scared in her entire life,” he added with a snort of derision.

                “No, Kakyuu’s lived a pretty charmed life,” Ami replied as she sighed and shook her head. “Fuck it… they can’t punish me any worse than they already have,” she added with a miserable whisper. “Don’t worry about it, General Nappa. I’ll handle her… and thanks… for the heads-up. And for putting the fear of Dra in her. I hope you did.” Any other man would have been punished for disobeying her orders, but she honestly couldn’t blame Nappa one bit for doing what he’d done; after all, this was his life being ripped apart as well, wasn’t it? Wasn’t he allowed to feel just as betrayed and furious as she was? The fact that he’d lashed out at someone wasn’t a surprise at all, and Ami couldn’t help but feel a little envious of him for it, wishing that she could somehow do whatever it was he’d done. Maybe it would make her feel a little better.

                Probably not, though, in all fairness. Nothing would make her feel better about this. Nothing at all, unless she suddenly found herself free of the terms of the peace treaty in front of her. And if she did, Ami swore she’d drop to one knee and ask Nappa to marry her. If they had been wed before this whole thing with Kakyuu, her hand in marriage would have never even been brought up as part of the negotiations.

                “Majesty.”

                Ami looked up to find his hand extended towards her, but her vision was blurry without her glasses and she put them on to find that she still couldn’t see very well due to the tears in her eyes. The handkerchief in his hand was easy enough to see though, and she nodded a silent thank you as she took it and wiped at the tears that were dripping from her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Nap—I mean… my apologies… General,” she whispered, her voice cracking on his title as she ached to call him by his name and hear him reply in kind, the pain she felt visible in every motion of her body, every tear she dried, and the miserable heartache in her eyes.

                “It’s alright, att—Majesty,” he answered, correcting himself with a soft growl. “I… Ami, I… this is wrong, damn it! So wrong!” He exclaimed softly, though with every ounce of conviction he felt… only to swallow his next protest when her silently falling tears were suddenly punctuated with a helpless, hopeless sob. “Ami… please… don’t cry.”

                “Nappa…” That was all Ami could get out before the sound of her own voice sobbing his name broke the floodgates and she cried helplessly into the handkerchief he’d given her. I love you, she thought as pain lanced through her chest and she clutched at the fabric resting over her heart as she continued to weep. I love you… I love you so much that it’s killing me to let you go. And she would let it kill her, since she’d come to the conclusion days ago that she’d rather die than continue as they were.

                She would let the darkness swallow her whole… and then she’d be free of the heartbreak that came with letting him go.

I love you and I can’t even say it. If I do, I know I’ll break my promise. I’ll break the treaty. I’ll say I love you… then I’ll kiss you… then I’ll beg you to make love to me… and because you love me—because you need me just as much as I need you—you’ll do it without question, without hesitation.

 I love you, Nappa thought as they looked at each other longingly for what amounted to only two seconds. He didn’t say it aloud—he wanted to, but he knew it would only make her cry harder, make things impossibly worse for her. I love you and this is wrong. I love you… and if you’d just let me, I’d… “Please,” he whispered. “I just… I want… Ami, I...” He sighed, unable to continue without saying something that would only make things worse, his heart catching in his throat as he spoke her name again… a rule he’d broken only because the love and longing in her voice and eyes matched his own.

 He turned from her then and left the room, unable to watch her cry for another moment without breaking the other rules she’d laid out. Another moment in her presence and he’d wrap her in his arms. Nappa knew himself well enough to know that he’d kiss her then. He wouldn’t mean to, of course, he’d fight the urge before surrendering to it. Then the kiss would turn desperate. He’d find her arms around him, too. She’d say his name. She’d whisper between kisses that she needed him. He would tremble against her and fight to keep his head for all of five seconds… and then she would say ‘please.’ She’d say it like her heart would break if he denied her… and then he’d give in to her without another thought. He’d take her to bed and he’d make love to her with every last ounce of emotion he felt. The only thing he’d fight would be the urge to sink his teeth into her, just like he’d fought it the last time.

                Then, in the morning, they’d be forced to say goodbye for a second time, and it’d be even more painful than before. “I’m sorry, Ami,” he breathed in the corridor. She couldn’t hear it, but Nappa needed to say it. “I’m sorry… please… forgive me for not even being able to comfort you.” Forgive me for being unable to watch you cry, he added, wiping at the sting of tears in his eyes when he heard her sobbing uncontrollably on the other side of the door and he had to fight his beast’s demands to go to her, the treaty be damned, Kakyuu be damned… and all of them could burn in Hell as far as his beast was concerned right then. Nappa’s joints hurt as he fought to move himself away from the door and the sound and scent of her agony, down the hallway and towards the quarters that he’d never used until he’d been forced to sleep in a different bed other than his queen’s.

                Once the door was shut he let it out, and his breaking heart erupted from him in a fit of tears he hadn’t experienced since he’d been a baby. “Gods… help me. Please… I would rather die than watch her go through this. I’m so sorry, Ami,” he whimpered as he curled up on the oversized bed, still fully dressed in his armor, wiping at his face with his cloak as he sank deeper and deeper into misery…

                …only to find himself jerked out of it by a hand on his shoulder. A hand that its owner near lost due to decades of finely-honed survival skills. A hand that its owner only kept because of the defensive barrier he’d erected before Nappa tried to incinerate it with a ball of his ki.

                “I’m sorry!” The intruder exclaimed as he wisely raised his empty hands in front of him and cringed at the fury in the general’s eyes. Fury not only over having his quarters so rudely invaded, but fury over being seen in such a vulnerable state. “I come in peace?” The man tried to joke—lamely, yes, but he tried, at any rate—as he cringed at the sight of another ki ball as Nappa wiped at his face once more with his cloak, growling as he stood and towered over him.

                The blue hair and the inverted crescent told Nappa just who had joined his pity party uninvited, but he saw red when he realized that this was likely the man that Ami was going to marry. The only thing that saved him for the moment was the fact that Nappa knew that Diamond’s younger brother wasn’t stupid. And if he wasn’t stupid… then he had a really, really good reason for coming to visit Nappa personally. And it’d better be really fucking good, Nappa thought murderously. “Before I redecorate my room with your insides, you’d better tell me why the fuck you’re here, Sapphire.”

                Well, that, at least, was something good he could tell him. “I’m here to try like hell to get Ami out of the deal with Kakyuu… and to hope to any god that’ll listen that you’ll decide that my blood is a really bad choice of paint,” he added as he reinforced his shields and hoped like hell that they would hold. That first blast had been weak and easily absorbed—a simple, instinctive reaction. The one that Nappa currently held in his hand would not only kill Sapphire, but it’d likely incinerate everything in its path for half a mile.

                “Get Ami out of the deal, huh?” Nappa murmured as he weighed the likelihood that Sapphire was telling the truth. All things considered, he probably was, so the general absorbed the ki back into himself and nodded at a chair nearby. “In that case, red isn’t my color.”

                “You have my most heartfelt agreement on that matter,” the last remaining Lunarian sighed as he gladly took the offered seat, gracelessly fell into it, and wiped away the sweat of fear that had beaded on his brow. “I opened my mouth to announce my presence when you entered, General,” he began with a shaky laugh, “but then you… well… never mind. Let’s just say I was really surprised and wasn’t sure what to do. I really am sorry, for what it’s worth, General Nappa. No disrespect or harm was intended.”

                Satisfied by his explanation and his apology, Nappa nodded and grunted as he sat down on his bed once more, gesturing for him to state his business and grateful that Sapphire hadn’t gone into detail in regards to the state he’d found Nappa in. “Well?” He asked after ten seconds of silence.

                “I’m trying to figure out how to word it without seeming crass,” Sapphire admitted.

                “Don’t bother,” Nappa replied evenly, “just get to the point. I hate beating around the bush.”

                “Well, you asked for it,” the Lunarian muttered, hoping that the subject wouldn’t earn him another ki blast. “Simply put, you weren’t with Ami when she killed Usagi and absorbed the ginzuishou and her starseed, so Yaten wanted to know if you’ve noticed any change in her energy signature at all during your time together. Particularly when the two of you are… uh…” Blushing hotly, Sapphire shrugged. “Making love,” he finished weakly. “Or… whenever she gets emotional, perhaps?”

                “Oh.” Heh, no wonder the little man had gotten all flustered. Shrugging lightly, Nappa shook his head a bit before pausing, his brow furrowing as a handful of incidents came to mind… all of them occurring over the last two months. “Wait. Now that you mention it… yeah. But… I honestly can’t even begin to describe it. She seemed…”

                I love you. I love you, Nappa. I love you.

                She hadn’t said it aloud, but in all of those moments, Nappa would’ve sworn that he’d felt it. That he felt her love for him, loud and clear, and it was only during the last week or so that he’d begun to realize that she’d been trying to tell him all that time… but she’d been too afraid to say it aloud. “Scared,” he whispered worriedly. “Ami was scared… but at the same time, she… it seemed like she… I dunno,” the general breathed as his worry only deepened. “I didn’t really think about it at the time because I was balls deep in her, sorry,” he added with a shrug, “but it was like she was fighting something… and not just her love for me.”

                “She was fighting Chaos,” Sapphire whispered in terrified awe. “Yaten was right…”

                “Chaos!?” Nappa said in alarm, his head snapping up and his eyes widening as he stared at Sapphire. “But that bastard was defeated… Ami… Ami said that—“

                “He was,” the smaller man confirmed, “but so long as Usagi’s starseed and the ginzuishou exist, so does Chaos. He can never be truly killed… only weakened, and he’s taken many, many forms over the years. Metalia. Wiseman. Galaxia. And those are just three examples,” Sapphire sighed. “After the battle with Galaxia, Chaos must have hitched a ride inside of Ami, feeding on and encouraging her negative emotions until they overwhelmed her and little else existed. She betrayed her sisters three years after Galaxia’s defeat, by killing Sailor Venus while her back was turned. With the added power of Venus’s starseed, she defeated Jupiter. Then Saturn… and then after that, it was just a waiting game to get to the rest. Mars fell second to last, in defense of Usagi… who had refused to fight Ami up until then. And then when Mars died in her arms, she transformed into Neo Queen Serenity in her anger.”

                “Ami tricked Usagi into believing that she was cleansed,” Nappa finished for him, well acquainted with the story, “and when Serenity’s defenses were down, Ami stabbed her through the heart with her icicle sword, ending the war.”

                “So that’s how the other side tells the story,” Sapphire mused dryly.

                “Everyone’s right in a war, boy,” Nappa reminded him patiently, scrubbing his hand over his weary, haggard face. “Back to the point. You’re telling me that Chaos is responsible for all of this… and that ever since she took the ginzuishou, Ami’s been fighting against it?”

                “More or less. What’s left of Ami—what hasn’t been eclipsed by Chaos—has been growing in strength all these years, and has been waging an internal war against the darkness within her soul.”

                Nappa’s face fell as a very stark reality hit him full force, and despite Sapphire’s presence in his room, tears filled his eyes again. “You… you mean that… that Ami… isn’t my Ami?” He choked out in disbelief. “That the woman I fell in…” He swallowed hard at that and wiped at his eyes before the tears could fall. “The woman I fell in love with isn’t the Ami that she’ll be when… when…”

                “No!” Sapphire exclaimed quickly, rising to his feet to go to Nappa’s side and offer a friendly hand on his shoulder. “Look, General, I know this is probably one hell of a shock , and I know it’s a lot to absorb, but Yaten and I hashed this out, and…” His voice quieted at that, and he smiled gently. “…and we think that you’re the real catalyst that’s brought Ami back to the surface. You’re the one that’s given her the extra boost she needs to fight Chaos… and maybe even win.”

                In any other situation, Nappa would have put Sapphire through a wall for touching him, but the reassuring tone and the friendly smile was what he needed right then. It gave him hope. Hope that the woman he’d fallen in love with wasn’t just some dark entity that was about to be defeated… and even more, hope that the woman that was in love with him was the real woman. The idea that the real Ami didn’t love him terrified him more than anything else, even more than the idea of her waging an internal war for so long without any help. Without his help. “How am I the catalyst?” He finally managed, his voice strangled by tears.

                “Love, Nappa,” Sapphire explained gently. “Ami is in love with you. The real Ami. We think that when you first met, you made her feel something that she hadn’t felt since before Chaos staged his hostile takeover.”

                Recalling the tears in her eyes and the emotion in her voice after he’d pinned her down and loved her with his mouth during their very first encounter, Nappa nodded solemnly. “That… I do remember.”

“You alright, sweetheart? He asked sympathetically when she swallowed hard and more tears tumbled from her eyes. “Did I do something wrong?”

“N—No, I just… I haven’t… haven’t had that in… in a long time,” she whispered tearfully. “Sweet,” she explained when he lifted an eyebrow and began to wipe at her tears. “Gentle. Gentle but… but not fake.”

Ah. That was it right there, and Nappa kissed her with as much tenderness as he was capable of, lifting her from the table to take her back to the bed. She just wanted someone to care.

“Remember what, Nappa?” Sapphire asked after watching Nappa’s eyes glaze over as he took a trip down memory lane. “What happened the first time you met?”

Not one to kiss and tell, Nappa just nodded again. “What you said. I made her feel something that she hadn’t felt in a long time.” Judging from Sapphire’s blush a moment later, the Lunarian had understood Nappa’s meaning by his tone. “So… tell me what I need to do. I’m assuming that you didn’t travel all this way just to tell me that my queen’s been infested by Chaos and may or may not have been fighting against him for decades.”

“Yaten and I told Kakyuu that we both respectfully refuse to marry Ami,” Sapphire explained with a tiny smile, “and in exchange for your help in expelling Chaos, no one will stand in your way where she’s concerned.”

“That’s it? No conditions that I need to be aware of other than that?” Nappa rumbled thoughtfully. Shit, he’d walk through Hell itself for the chance to remain at Ami’s side for the rest of his life… he didn’t even want to think about what he’d be willing to do in exchange for the chance to stay by her side as her husband… as her mate.

I’d kill everyone. Not just Kakyuu and Ami’s enemies… but everyone. Everyone Ami told me to kill, I’d kill. And then some, Nappa acknowledged. “It’s a wonder that Chaos didn’t try like hell to use me to break all of the neighboring galaxies,” he muttered. “If Ami had asked it of me… I would’ve done it without question.”

“We think he did try,” Sapphire stated, “and that Ami stopped him. Remember the revolt on Jupiter? Where Ami nearly ordered you to destroy it and Mars?” When Nappa nodded with wide eyes, Sapphire mirrored the gesture. “But she didn’t… because you pointed out all of the helpless women and children on the surface. That they were pretty much all that remained after you’d decimated Jupiter’s remaining warriors.”

“Well, after the incident on Europa, I didn’t want to watch Ami beat herself up for weeks over the deaths of innocents,” Nappa explained with a shrug. “She cried her eyes out after giving me the order to fry half the moon and discovering that it was full of little more than helpless refugees from Mars and Venus.”

 “A lot of men would have turned away from her after being used to kill so many innocents, Nappa, but you… you never did. You loved her anyway,” Sapphire said gently. “Not only did you love her anyway, you loved her despite the order she’d given, and you comforted her through her guilt. Guilt that she felt because she was winning the war against Chaos. Guilt that she didn’t want to feel again… so she avoided going to war at all costs from that day forward. Even when she was told that she had to marry Yaten or me as part of the treaty, she resisted the desire to kill everyone in order to have what she wanted. You see, Nappa… Yaten and I theorize that you were a catalyst in more ways than one. That you’ve been influencing the battle with Chaos since the moment you met her. That you alone have inadvertently saved the entire universe just by loving her unconditionally.”

“Maybe,” he allowed, “but what in the fuck do you want me to do now?”

“That, thank the gods, is the easy part,” Sapphire chuckled, smiling broadly.

##############################################

He would want it this way. You know that. He would rather be dead than be forced to live… watching you… married to another… married and miserable. Pining for him, Chaos crooned, his voice gently, coaxing, compassionate and soothing as it continued. As it grew in strength with every word uttered. Pining for him from afar. Mourning the life you could have had with him. Nappa… he would rather die than watch you go through that, Ami.

No! No he wouldn’t! NO HE WOULDN’T!

Yes, Chaos sighed sadly. Deny it all you want, Ami, but he would. Didn’t you see it in his eyes an hour ago? Didn’t you hear him weeping in his room when you followed him? Didn’t you hear the words from his own mouth?

He didn’t mean them, she protested weakly, her voice shrinking with every word as she wept for Nappa’s pain. He… he didn’t mean them.

Ami… it’s alright, Chaos sighed sympathetically, stroking her, petting her comfortingly and holding her lovingly with every syllable. Giving her the comfort she needed. The comfort she craved. The comfort that Nappa couldn’t give her because he was so grief-stricken that he wanted to die. I’m sorry. I never meant for things to turn out like this. Nappa was good for you. Nappa was good to you… and I’m so sorry that both your happiness has to end. But… if you do this… if you teleport now to Kinmoku and unleash what little power I have left to aid you… you’ll die. I’m just not what I once was. I was content to fade since you were happy, Chaos lied. If I’d only known that this would happen, that you would need me… I wouldn’t have let my power fade over the last year. I’m so sorry, Ami. I failed you.

It’s not your fault, Ami whispered sorrowfully as she embraced Chaos, embraced him tightly for the first time in a little over a year. Embraced him as a friend and ally. You tried. You tried in your own way to help me, and… and I… I ignored you for so long after… After she’d met Nappa. After she’d started to fall in love with him.

It’s alright, Ami. You were in love. You still are, Chaos purred. My only concern is your happiness. Your well-being. And if the destruction of your enemies will make you happy, then I’m at your service. It’s only…

Fully enthralled and drawn in by the sympathy and comfort that she needed, Ami only held him tighter and nodded. What? What’s wrong?

Nappa. Do you really think he’ll be able to live without you? Neither of you can live without the other, Ami, Chaos whispered with false sadness. If you do this, you’ll be swallowed up in the blast. You’ll be consumed along with Kakyuu and the Starlights. I just don’t have enough power left to shield you from the amount of energy it’ll take to break through their barriers and destroy them. Wouldn’t it be better for you both to be together… even if it’s only in death…? Or would you rather leave him to suffer an existence without you?

I don’t want Nappa to suffer, Ami confessed brokenly. After all, she was doing this because she knew she couldn’t live without him. It would be so selfish of her to expect him to do so when she couldn’t handle the thought of never holding him again.

Unless he comes with us to Kinmoku, Ami… he will suffer, Chaos sighed as he stroked his smoke-wrought fingers through her hair. If you bring him with us, he won’t. I don’t have much left to offer you, my dearest, but I think I have enough for this. Their shields will consume much of our combined power, but there should be enough left to destroy everything afterwards. The planet alone will require a substantial amount of power to destroy… but I have faith in you, Ami. You’ve always been an overachiever. I know you’ll give them Hell. There was a long pause between them, but after awhile, Chaos felt her nod timidly into the translucent smoke of his form… felt the essence of Ami shrinking further into him in surrender. Ami… I’m sorry. I just can’t help but worry for Nappa after you and I are gone. I care for him, too, you know. I’m a part of you… I love what you love… and I don’t want what we love to suffer. And he will suffer without us; he said it himself. I’m sorry, Chaos sighed. Forgive me for being forced to tell you the truth.

No… you… you’ve always told me the truth, Ami sobbed. Thank you for that. Thank you for never lying to me, even when lying would have been easier.

You’re welcome, Ami. It pains me to see you suffer so, but for what it’s worth… you’re welcome. Now… come. If this is what you want, then we must prepare.

Yes, Ami breathed, growing smaller and smaller as she allowed the darkness to enfold her like a warm, comforting blanket against the pain of living without the only man she’d ever loved. Prepare. We need to prepare. And then…

And then… nothing, Chaos assured her tenderly. Only sweet oblivion. I promise.