Even though it no doubt seemed pretty quick to a lotta folks–especially for folks Destined to live roughly a Millennium–by the Time the festivities reached their final End, quite a bit of progress'd been made. All of the Inner Guardians were now paired up with their corresponding Heavenly King, each of them having gotten to various states in their relationships. In fact, other than technically being spoken for now, another thing they all had in common was that they were spending less and less Time alone in their own suites.
While the Guardian of Flame and Passion was the only one who'd gone for a home run, so to speak, all the others were at least getting a lil more intimate with their partners. It seemed like the Guardian of Love and Beauty was gonna be the next to take that step, but one could always be surprised. She might very well be beaten to taking that step by the Guardian of Thunder and Courage, after all.
As they gathered in the library to brush up on their research for a few things, Amy couldn't help that her concentration was slipping for once. She'd always been the most studious, and therefore the one whose focus almost couldn't be broken by anything once she'd her sights and attention set on something. But in spending more and more Time with Zoisite–particularly by usually spending the Night in his suite now–she found her mind wandering.
"Earth to Amy!"
Startled outta her most recent Daydream, the Guardian of Water and Wisdom gasped sharply as she jumped, scattering the papers she'd been reading over.
"Jeez, you were out as far as Pluto, weren't you?" This question'd been asked by Lita, who couldn't help laughing at her reaction as she helped her gather those papers again.
"Maybe further than that," she answered, feeling her face flushing.
"Thinking about Zoisite again?" Rei chuckled, a knowing grin on her face.
"As if you're not thinking about Jadeite all the Time!" Amy retorted, her good-Natured grin belying any malice.
"Not like I'd try to deny it," she told her. "I never thought a man'd be as good in bed as he is, but jeez..."
"Yeah, jeez is right!" the Guardian of Thunder and Courage laughed. "We don't wanna or need to know that kinda stuff about you!"
"I meant, considering his title, you'd think he'd be more like a shy virgin," she said. "No pun toward Amy Intended, of course."
"I know what you mean, Rei," the Guardian of Water and Wisdom sighed. "I can't help being so painfully shy, although it's starting to be more and more of a nuisance–and not just to Zoisite, patient as he's always been with me."
The rest of the Inner Guardians–including Mina, the Guardian of Love and Beauty–settled around her when she let out a frustrated sigh. Outta all the Time they'd known each other, the only Time they hadn't really banded together was before they were reawakened after the defeat of the Dark Kingdom. Knowing that something was bothering her, they weren't gonna let her suffer alone, although they weren't Intent on pushing her before she was ready to talk.
Amy surprised herself, though, by almost immediately opening up to her friends about some of her deepest Thoughts. She was adamant about wanting to take the next step with the Knight she'd been paired with since Antiquity, aside from one particular drawback. Course, one couldn't blame her for having that drawback, but part of her thought it humiliating and silly.
While it mighta been a lil fast for some people, she was almost desperately wanting to take that next step with Zoisite. Her only problem there was that she'd never been with a man in any way, shape, form, or fashion till they'd started courting a couple weeks ago. She'd absolutely no experience with a man, and therefore didn't know how to handle any situations that could possibly crop up. If she were to kiss him, was she supposed to let it go further than that, even if she didn't wanna go quite that far just yet? Or should she just hold fast to not letting him go further than holding her hand, maybe kissing her cheek from Time to Time?
Rei couldn't help a soft snort as she rolled her eyes, but she was quick to make it clear that she wasn't making fun of her. Looking her dead in the eye, she said that–based on her own experience–the Knight of Purity and Healing wasn't gonna do anything she didn't want. But chickening out by scaring herself into thinking he was gonna rip her to shreds, if they went for a home run, wasn't gonna do anything but make matters worse before it was all said and done. The only way to get past that part wasta just go ahead and get it over with, and things'd get better from there.
"I mean, I'm not gonna lie by sitting here and saying my first Time with Jadeite didn't hurt," she told her. "It hurt, but not nearly as much as I was expecting."
"Really?" Amy queried, her eyes widening in surprise.
"It was like getting my ears pierced, in a way," the Guardian of Flame and Passion answered, the other Inner Guardians' attention riveted on her, too. "He was so gentle, even though he was obviously desperate, that the pain wasn't anything I couldn't handle."
"Sounds like a man that really cares, for sure," Lita mused.
"'Cuz he does," she agreed. "But that's not the point I'm trying to make."
"You're trying to say that there's no way around the pain, so there's no point in being scared of it, right?" the Guardian of Thunder and Courage queried.
"Exactly. If Zoisite's as gentle as Jadeite was, it's gonna hurt, but not nearly as much as if he wasn't gentle about it," Rei said, nodding.
"If you're talking of one's first intimate Time with a man, then she's right."
Glancing over at the library door, they saw that Serenity'd joined them, her own husband at her side.
"Serenity!" Amy gasped, unable to help her face flushing at the Thought of Darien overhearing any of their conversation.
"Relax, Amy–it's not like Darien wouldn't have found out eventually," the Queen chuckled.
"I know, but–" she started, only to be gently cut off.
"But, nothing," Serenity told her, settling on the sofa next to her. "He's far more observant than he lets on most Times, so even if I didn't tell him, he'd figure it out sooner or later."
"She's a point, Amy," the King chuckled as he stood behind his wife. "Now, why're we having such a discussion, whether it's in the library, the Garden, or your personal suite?"
The Guardian of Flame and Passion was the one to take the reins, so to speak, when she clammed up and found herself physically unable to speak. Bringing the other couple up to speed was relatively quick, and she wasn't surprised by the knowing looks that soon crossed their faces. In the Century they'd been together, no doubt they'd gathered all sortsa experience, and likely in a few ways they weren't ever gonna discuss with anyone but each other.
Even Darien agreed with Rei when he said that she was right about there being no sense in worrying about even the possibility of any pain. In this case, there was only one way to get past it–and that was by diving in head-first and just going for it, as it were. The good thing was that she wouldn't have to worry about experiencing such pain again in the Future, so there was a bright side to it.
Amy was even more enthralled as the Queen took over at that point, despite the slight flush her words brought to her husband's cheeks. Her smile was fond as she recalled her first Time with him, when he'd been so gentle on her that one woulda thought she was a china doll. But his care and consideration of her–to the point that she'd been forced to smack his ass in order to get him moving–was part of what'd made her first Time one of her best memories. He'd done everything he possibly could to make the experience enjoyable for her, and one could safely say she was addicted to the pleasure she found in their bed with him.
Serenity looked her dead in the eye as she said that the only thing to really Fear with Zoisite was that he found his pleasure just a bit too soon. He clearly wasn't the type to do anything she didn't want, and even if she did wanna take that next step with him, he'd use the utmost care with her. But like any other guy unused to such sensations, he might not last as long as they'd both no doubt Wish he would. Even still, if he'd even half the good sense that the Goddess gave his genitalia, he'd do pretty much anything to ensure that she still found her own pleasure, too.
Giving everything her friends'd told her a few moments' Thought, the Guardian of Water and Wisdom finally nodded. She said that she may or may not let him so much as kiss her just yet–it might be a while longer yet before that happened–but she wasn't Fearing what'd come after that anymore. If there wasn't anything she could do to prevent the pain besides simply not being with him, it wasn't worth Fearing after some of the things they'd been through together as a group. She couldn't bear the Thought of not giving him all of herself, which was exactly what she'd be doing by agreeing to courtship, betrothal, or marriage, but never taking that next step. All of her friends were proud of her for saying that, each of them taking her turn to hug her as they gently encouraged her to follow her heart.