Mare Serenitatis

[Sailor Venus]

As Serenity had predicted, Asami was silently fuming. To the average passer by in the courtyard, she just looked like a normal girl (well as normal as she could look in her customary fancy dress) waiting for someone. Some people would have even gone as far as to say that she looked rather patient or perhaps a little bored. It was a reasonable assumption. After all, the expression on her face was flat—not irritated or exciting, or anything very interesting. She wasn’t doing any nervous habits that a person would usually attribute with impatience or fury either. She wasn’t tapping her foot or checking the time and she definitely wasn’t scowling

But anyone who described Asami as just a patient person waiting in the courtyard obviously didn’t know her very well. Anyone who knew Asami well would have noted smaller things in her demeanor that would have warned them to tread carefully. For one, she had her arms crossed and her hands were tightly gripping her forearms. Her eyes were also slowly scanning the crowd, looking everywhere for someone or something. She spotted Chara coming towards her. The younger girl stopped a few yards away, recognizing her sister’s bad mood and turned around, deciding to go somewhere else.

Asami smiled coolly. Not that she was one for bragging, but she had always been awfully proud of Chara. The girl was smart and knew when to go bother someone else who was in a better mood. Not everyone could say that about their younger sibling.

But Chara wasn’t who Asami was looking for. Oh no. She was looking for Princess Serenity. She had gone to get one thing in the next room and when she had returned, the princess’s tutor had been cleaning up for the day, Serenity had disappeared, and Asami had once again found herself cursing how big the castle was. In one minute Serenity could have gone anywhere! Asami would never be able to find her by herself!

So, she had found Mercury and Mars (Jupiter was off visiting and wasn’t in the castle), they had mercifully been sitting in the next room, and the three of them went off in different directions to find the princess.

Oh, that girl was in trouble when Asami got her hands on her. She knew better than to wander off by herself! Even in her own palace, who knew who could be lurking around?! And it didn’t help that the girl had such a passive nature that she had refused every sort of fighting lesson except a few short self-defense classes from Jupiter a few years back. Basically, Asami was almost positive that if Serenity ran into some sort of crazy person that wanted to kill her, she would cheerfully introduce herself and ask him to join her for tea. Well maybe the guy would be so taken aback by the invitation that it would confuse him until help came…

Asami gave a near undetectable sigh of relief when she saw Serenity walk into the courtyard from one of the side doors that led into the never ending gardens surrounding the palace. She also raised an eyebrow. Serenity had Acacia with her. Where in the Solar System had the Jupiter Senshi come from? Or rather, when had she gotten to the palace? It didn’t matter that much, however. Asami felt a little better about Serenity’s adventure now that she knew Acacia had been with her.

She casually walked up to the pair and gave them another one of her usual cool, calm smiles. “Enjoy your free time, princess?” she asked Serenity as if she was beginning a conversation fit for the ball that was coming up.

“As a matter of fact, I did.” Serenity replied with a cheerful smile. “See? I can disappear and come back unharmed. All that danger I’m supposedly in all the time is just in your head, Asami.”

“Maybe it is,” Asami replied. “But either way, you still shouldn’t be running around by yourself. You never know when that danger will come out of my head and become real.” She turned her attention to the Jupiter Senshi. “Hello Acacia. Welcome back.”

((ooc: I'll just combine my Serenity and Asami posts into one. It's easier that way. I'll switch accounts every other time or so.))

[Sailor Jupiter]

Acacia snorted. Yeah right, if it was all in Asami's head, than she and Asami must have the same wacked out wavelength of thought. "Princess Serenity, we do realize that you are not in total danger twenty-four/seven, but we, unlike you, realize that it is not possible to anticipate when danger is coming. Therefore, we want you safe at all times on the off-chance."

Acacia looked sternly at Princess Serenity as she said this, as if she was a parent scolding her teenager. Sometimes she felt she needed to spell things out for Princess Serenity, not because Princess Serenity was dumb. Princess Serenity could out score Acacia on any academic test with flying colors, but Princess Serenity had been brought up in a life that did not present too many constant dangers, so Acacia believed that this had made Princess Serenity more trusting, beliving in the goodness of people. Ignorance and stupidity were two very different things.

Acacia relieved Princess Serenity of any possible pressure and tension (coming from Acacia's direction) by turning her stern glare into a softer smile settled on Asami. She gave Asami a gentle hug. "Hello, Asami." There were things higher on Acacia's importance ladder than friendly reunions. Reunions could wait until everyone was back together or until later that night when they could all talk in peace, without any possible eaves-dropping Palace staff. Than the real interrogation and fun could start.

"Speaking of danger. I hope you have kept up with your training. I hate going over old lessons because somebody has been slacking off." Yes, Acacia was ignoring her own slacking on her Senshi training, as opposed to her martial arts training, but she was not about to tell Asami that. Training in her Senshi powers just was never as exciting as practicing her martial arts. It was hard to improve on Senshi attacks. The attacks were so straight forward and instinctual that it took forever for an improvement to take hold.

[Princess Serenity]

Serenity sighed and nodded reluctantly to appease her Senshi. She still didn’t agree with them, but if a nod could stop her talking to for the moment. She knew that at least Asami, maybe Acacia as well, knew better than to believe her meek submission to their argument, but she doubted that they would continue with the subject now that she had agreed. More or less… Someone would probably bring the subject up later and with Serenity’s luck it would be someone she couldn’t argue with. Like an elder. Then her meek submission would have to be sincere. She couldn’t wait until she was queen and wasn’t treated like a child anymore.

“I hope you apologize to Mars and Mercury when you see them next,” Asami continued in the same calm, conversational voice as before. “I sent them off to look around the palace for you. It’ll probably be hours before they come back thoroughly empty handed and probably a bit irritated.”

“I’ll apologize.” Serenity promised, already feeling guilty. The Moon Palace was huge! Asami was right when she said it would be hours before Mercury and Mars returned. Especially since they both were so thorough. They were probably checking every room they came across looking for her. Of course they had no notion that she was down in the courtyard already found.

Serenity watched, amused as Acacia hugged Asami. Asami wasn’t one for hugs, Serenity had learned that over the years. But Asami was also willing to go along with whatever was thrown her way, so she loosely embraced Acacia back and chuckled at her comment about practicing. “You know me too well to think I would ever slack off with my practice.” Asami replied. A slow, mischievous smile played over her face. “Especially since there are all those cute boys also interested in getting their own training in at the same time.”

[Sailor Jupiter]

Acacia's face fell exasperatedly as her fingers rubbed her closed eyes. Great, womanpower wasted needlessly to go search for an already found Princess. She wish the Moon Palace had some sort of speaker system so that Acacia would have known about the search earlier. "Did we have any of the palace servants and guards looking for her? If so, we should try to spread the word that Princess Serenity has been found." She sighed. "Maybe word will reach Mars and Mercury faster that way."

Cute boys and training? Ew. Those cute boys were not interested in training, they were only interested in one thing from beautiful girls such as the Senshi. Acacia liked to flaunt her assets in front of the boys from time to time, but she certainly was not advertising them for sale! More like showing them what they couldn't have.

"There are certainly more important reasons to keep up on your training besides cute hormonal horndogs," Acacia scolded Asami with her hands on her hips. She then stuck her tongue out of her mouth and laughed. "Of course, it is funny to see the looks on their faces!" Some of the boys could become so animated when you played with them just right or they realized that you were out of their league. Of course, Acacia did not play with them too often, for she did not want to encourage any unwanted attention. It was just a fun little treat if her ego had been bashed about recently.

"Speaking of which, if it is alright with Princess Serenity and the regents, I was hoping to hold a little martial arts competition among the Palace guards. You know, to keep them on their toes." Acacia looked at Asami with a knowing grin and a wink. "Who knows, it might make them a little more eager to run to Teacher Asami for some extra help."

[Princess Serenity]

"Did we have any of the palace servants and guards looking for her? If so, we should try to spread the word that Princess Serenity has been found." She sighed. "Maybe word will reach Mars and Mercury faster that way."

“I asked the guards outside of the royal apartments to let Serenity know that we were looking for her if she came that way, but besides that, no,” Asami admitted. “But we should have some of the other guards go seek out Mars and Mercury. That’s a good idea. Or Chara was around here a minute ago. I could send her.” She began to look around the courtyard, searching for either a guard or her sister. Serenity couldn’t tell which.

But Serenity still felt bad for making her friends worry about her unnecessarily and she wanted to make it up to them. No, she needed to make it up to them. “I’ll go find some guards,” she volunteered and began to walk away from Asami and Acacia. There were always a few hanging around the gates to the castle and right now was no exception. There were two. Wonderful. She could send one out for Mars and one out for Mercury.

“I don’t think so, Princess.” Serenity found herself being pulled back by a hand on her shoulder. Asami was frowning ever so lightly. She looked as if someone had just told her that they had just changed the entrée for dinner or something just as inconsequential as that. “I just found you. Don’t think I’m letting you sneak off again.”

“I’m just going to get the guards over there,” Serenity said, frowning slightly as well. “I promise I won’t disappear. I’ll be in plain sight the whole time.”

“No,” Asami’s voice was firmer now. “I’ll get them. You stay here with Acacia.” Asami turned to Acacia. “And please make sure she doesn’t disappear again. The last thing we need is a search party searching for another search party whom are looking for Mars and Mercury. They would waste the whole day.”

"There are certainly more important reasons to keep up on your training besides cute hormonal horndogs, Of course, it is funny to see the looks on their faces!"

Asami’s frown transformed into a sly smile. “But the hormonal horndogs are cute,” she pointed out calmly. “Especially with those looks that you so wisely mentioned on their faces. I can’t get enough of it. Especially when they get hot and have to take off their shirts.” Serenity couldn’t help it. She laughed. “You’re such a Venusian.” She said.

“No,” Asami corrected sounding proud, but still managing to sound calm like she always was. “I am the Venesian. I am next in line to be the Goddess of Love, thank you very much. It is necessary for me to notice handsome men.” For a moment she lost her regular composure and sighed dreamily. Then she coughed and her usual look was back.

"Speaking of which, if it is alright with Princess Serenity and the regents, I was hoping to hold a little martial arts competition among the Palace guards… it might make them a little more eager to run to Teacher Asami for some extra help."

The sly smile returned and Asami said, “A martial arts competition,” as if she was testing the sounds of the words. “Yes, that sounds great. Wonderful in fact. Be sure to count me in. And I assure you, you will get a very good turn out for such an event. Especially if I’m there. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go get those guards.”

Serenity sighed as she watched Asami walk off towards the guards. “You’d think she was my nanny and I was five again,” she said to Acacia with a good natured eye roll. Why did it have to be this difficult to be royal? Wait, it wasn’t being royal that was a problem. Asami was just as royal as she was and she got to go wherever she wanted whenever she wanted. She supposed it was just who she was that was the pain. Oh well, that obviously wasn’t going to change any time soon.

“And you know the competition’s fine with me,” Serenity added, as an after thought. “I don’t see any reason the regents would say no too.” She was pretty sure that the regents would be interested in the idea as well. They had always been into competition.

((ooc: Soooooo sorry for the delay!))

[Sailor Jupiter]

"Yes, I'll watch Princess Serenity." Acacia followed her orders with a respectful face and tone of voice. She looked at Princess Serenity with a hint of amusement as Asami left to inform the guards of Princess Serenity's location. She knew exactly why Princess Serenity was not allowed as much freedom as she would wish.

"Maybe we would not treat you like a child if we thought you were capable of defending yourself as an adult. You behave as an adult and even think like an adult on certain occasions."

Acacia continued with a stern and knowing look. A look that was somewhat aloof for Acacia was about to touch on a subject that she excelled in (and a subject that Princess Serenity really has little control over.) One day she hoped that Princess Serenity would understood why her Senshi took such great lengths to protect her. She was not only their Princess, but their best friend. One did not simply allow her friends to wander about ill-prepared like a fool, especially a friend such as the upcoming Queen of a gigantic kingdom.

"You are not a Senshi and you have not been trained to be one. Asami and I have, therefore we can be depended on to defend ourselves, no matter our position among the royal ranks. You, however, have the defense training of a five-year old," Acacia quipped.

Well, now there was an idea, training Princess Serenity as a Senshi... Nah.

While Princess Serenity did have a better grasp of training than a five-year old, Acacia was not certain, but she doubted that Princess Serenity spent her time practicing what skills in defense she knew day in and day out.

Acacia's own composure was a little shaken at the sound of an upcoming tournament. She clasped her hands together in a frenzy of excitement. She had been looking forward to a challenge since forever! "We could even have a special exhibition of the Senshi, like a no-holds sparring match." Her mind was awhirl with possibilities now. "Or we could even open it up to the public as a way to recruit new members for the guard and defense military!"

There would be even more challenges for her if she opened the competition up to the public! Heck, if the other girls were like Asami than maybe all the Senshi could be in the competition. That'd be a great way to encourage them to practice with her more. Maybe she would even have enough time to develop her pet project a bit more for the competition. It'd be great if she could control some of her Jupiter Briar Surround attack attack to the point she could use it while untransformed during the competition.

((OOC: Not a problem! Glad to have you back!))

[Princess Serenity]

Serenity sighed and nodded in agreement with what Acacia had just said, even though she didn’t really agree. She didn’t want to learn how to fight. Somehow the idea just seemed… vulgar. No. That wasn’t the right word at all. Fighting wasn’t vulgar. Serenity actually found some of the moves her Senshi did quite beautiful. But the idea of why people fought was vulgar. She knew that she was thinking with childlike innocence when she thought this, but she wished everyone could just get along. Why were wars and fights so important? Couldn’t people just work it out by talking? A small part of Serenity pointed out that it was possible. The Silver Millennium was at peace, wasn’t it? So the only real ‘danger’ was from Earth. Now if only Earth could learn the power of talk.

"You are not a Senshi and you have not been trained to be one. Asami and I have, therefore we can be depended on to defend ourselves, no matter our position among the royal ranks. You, however, have the defense training of a five-year old,"

“But who says I’m going to be attacked?” Serenity asked. “I’ve never been attacked in my life! And I’m not as bad as a five year old. I’m stronger than one and I can run faster.” She smiled mischievously. “If hitting the intruder over the head with something doesn’t work, I can run into the castle and get him lost.” It was actually a good plan. As the people currently searching for her in the palace knew, the palace was very large, and not particularly straight forward to newcomers.

She giggled slightly at the idea of being a Senshi. She would be Sailor Moon. How funny. It sounded so odd. The rest of the Senshi had planet names and the Moon, well, obviously it wasn’t a planet. If she really was a Senshi, she would stick out in the Senshi list like a sore thumb. It would actually be rather funny.

Serenity looked over her shoulder to where Asami was with the guards. “Ha!” she said, “Look at Asami flirt!” Serenity had always wondered how a girl with such an outwardly cool and distant personality could be such an exceptional flirt. Asami always insisted that she was not a people person, and in some ways this was very true, but in some ways, especially in ways that had to do with boys, it was anything but the truth. Boys seemed to be attracted to her like cats were to catnip. They couldn’t get enough of, Serenity guessed, her intelligent wit, and probably her appealing looks. And it was always a plus for the boys that Asami was most definitely interested in them as well.

"We could even have a special exhibition of the Senshi, like a no-holds sparring match. Or we could even open it up to the public as a way to recruit new members for the guard and defense military!"

“That’s a great idea!” Serenity said enthusiastically. “I’m always hearing that we need more guards and a public event would be much more popular with the people than say, a draft. We could use it for entertainment for the Earth Ambassador too if he’s still here when we do it. It would show him what sort of forces we have as well. Perhaps that would serve as an ample warning for the Earth if they decided to try and attack us again.”

[Sailor Jupiter]

Acacia threw up her hands in frustration and her voice took on a heavy tone of sarcasim. She put her hands on her hips, turning around in a huff to look out the window. She needed a small, calming distraction and nature was the closet that one could get to such effects.

"You have it so right Princess Serenity. We should all allow you to roam free due to the fact that the future is always the same as the present. Of course a future Queen of one of the most powerful and influential systems in the galaxies is never going to get attacked if she has not been attacked so far by the age of sixteen, seventeen, whatever!"

Her hands clenched into a fist as she rested her elbows on the windowsill. Acacia's head smacked into the window with a resounding thud and a groan of frustration. "Idiot Princess," she muttered under her breath.

She knew better than to become so mad at Princess Serenity's own wishes, but it was so difficult to restrain herself! Differences in beliefs and wishes and values were almost always chalked up to ignorance or stupidity. Situations were never what you wanted and Acacia liked to be prepared for any situation. What if there was an army larger than the Moon's own? It could be possible, if the army was large enough, for an army to overtake a lot of the castle, leaving escape difficult, not impossible. There were enough hidden passages and hidden escape routes and the like, but still!

Bah, at least Princess Serenity was a fast runner and a good talker. She could proobably talk herself out of the lesser forms of trouble. At least Princess Serenity's focus on talking as opposed to action was good for something.

"What?" One last thud from head meeting window was heard before Acacia turned around. She put a hand to her now throbbing head and cursed as she tried to focus on Asami. "No wonder Venusians have such a booming population, they are all flirts! It's no wonder that the boys from Venus have such huge egos."
If Asami and the Venusian boys that she had met already were any indication, beauty must be in their genes. Thank the Moon that Asami did not have an ego to match her looks.

Acacia turned her head from the flirtfest. "Any idea when the Ambassador is leaving? If I get Asami and some of the other Senshi to help, we could have this competition organized in no time flat." She thought for a moment, one finger bouncing against her lip. "Of course, we should give the competitiors anywhere from two to three weeks to tighten up or just drag out the competition to last a week or so."

"Heck, we could announce the competition at the ball if we can get enough of this under our belts. That might convince the Earth Ambassador to stay awhile."

[Princess Serenity]

"You have it so right Princess Serenity... a future Queen of one of the most powerful and influential systems in the galaxies is never going to get attacked if she has not been attacked so far by the age of sixteen, seventeen, whatever!"

Serenity sighed and looked down at her hands which she had clasp together. "I'm sorry," she said guiltily. "You know I didn't mean it like that. I appreciate what you guys do for me. Really. A lot." Why did she have to be so stupid? She had known she would get that sort of response from Acacia sooner or later if she kept on pushing the subject. It was just in the Jupiter Senshi's personality to act like that. And to top it off, Serenity knew that she had no right to sound so ungrateful. She was lucky to have friends who cared for her so much.

It hurt her slightly when she heard Acacia mutter "Idiot Princess," but she did not reply to it. She just swallowed and kept her head down. You deserved this reaction, she told herself firmly. You were practically asking it with all those comments you were just mindlessly shouting out. And you know Acacia didn't mean what she said anymore than you did. This realization made Serenity feel a little better, but she still felt guilty about making her friend angry. Friends actually. Asami had been angry, although the flirting she was currently doing was most likely putting her in good spirits. Mars and Mercury wouldn't be too happy when they found that they were searching for nothing however. She sighed again. Well, she'd deal with those two when the time came. And with apologees.

"What? No wonder Venusians have such a booming population, they are all flirts! It's no wonder that the boys from Venus have such huge egos."

She couldn't help it. Serenity laughed out loud at Acacia's comment. "What do you expect from the planet that the Goddess of Love calls home?" she asked, grinning. She had to agree with what Acacia had said. Serenity had flirted with many a Venusian before and they had all been amazingly sweet and romantic, but they had all been so sure of themselves. Overly sure of themselves in her opinion. They were probably just too used to girls throwing themselves at them. Most of the girls from Venus that Serenity had met had been like that too around the boys. The only acceptions to this were Asami and Chara... Did Chara even count? She was still so young.

"Any idea when the Ambassador is leaving? If I get Asami and some of the other Senshi to help, we could have this competition organized in no time flat.... That might convince the Earth Ambassador to stay awhile."

"The ambassador'll be here until we get things settled with the Earth," Serenity answered. "Who knows how long that'll take. I doubt it'll be anytime soon. You will definitely be able to get it going before the ambassador leaves, especially if you get the others to help. And I can't think of a reason they'd say no." Of course Serenity wished that the ambassador would be going soon. That would mean that the Moon and the Earth would finally be at peace. But that happening anytime soon was only wishful thinking. She doubted that he would be leaving any earlier than a year.

[Sailor Jupiter]

Acacia took in a deep breath and rubbed her temples and closed eyes with her thumbs. She had not wanted to make Princess Serenity upset with her statements. She hated to see her Princess upset for any reason, especially if Acacia was that particular reason. It was just so hard not to get mad at the Princess for something so easily corrected. She did have a fear, a reasonable enough fear, that quite possibly one day the Princess's Senshi would not be enough to protect her. She had no control over Princess Serenity besides advice given as a friend and Acacia needed to respect that, as difficult as it might be.

With a sigh, Acacia threw up her hands. "Oh, come here!" She opened up her arms for a hug and stepped forward with a look of sincere apology in her eyes. "I'm sorry for blowing up at you. I just worry about your safety." She felt guilty for continuing to push and push the subject that Acacia knew Princess Serentiy felt strongly about and had little control over herself. Whoever heard of a Senshi of the moon or a Princess that was trained in the same skills and defenses as a Senshi? It wasn't ... proper or dignified or whaetever they called it. Propriety? Whatever.

Quickly wanting to side-step the upsetting subject and fearing that she would soon rant again on the precautions a princess should take, Acacia furthered questioned Princess Serenity about the ambassador from Earth. She backed away from Princess Serenity a bit and crossed her arms uncomfortably over her chest. "Sooo... Do you know what the regents are trying to negotiate with Earth? I bet Earth wants some concessions in return for attempting peace with us."

She really wanted the Earth ambassador to just leave and go back to his own planet, but she sort of hoped that he would stay so she could show off her skills in her own competition. Princess Serenity was right. Hopefully the competition would show Earth that while the Moon Kingdom was a peaceful society, they could pack as much muster, if not more, as any war-like kingdom. The Moon Kingdom was not to be taken lightly!

[Sailor Venus]

Asami turned from the guards that she had charmed into finding Mars and Mercury to see Acacia and Serenity hugging. She blinked in surprise. That was a bit odd. And unexpected. They had been on the verge of an argument when she had left… right? Well, if they had been, it was over now. That was good for her. She didn’t feel like dealing with any arguments today.

“They’re going to find Mars and Mercury,” Asami said, walking over to her friends. “Did you two get into a fight or something when I was gone?” Her eyes went from Acacia to Serenity, trying to get an answer out of them before they actually told her anything. Asami, after all, liked to be well informed as soon as she possibly could. Serenity looked relieved. That probably meant that they had gotten into some little spat, but by the looks of things, it had been quickly resolved.

Serenity stepped out of Acacia’s hold, smiling. “We were just talking about how important it is for me to be with someone at all times,” she explained sounding and looking as if she agreed with the idea one hundred percent. Asami knew better than to believe that though and the mini spat made a little more sense to her. It would be the sort of thing that would make an argument flair up in a second and then disappear just as quickly. Both parties in the perennial disagreement felt very strongly about their views.

"Sooo... Do you know what the regents are trying to negotiate with Earth? I bet Earth wants some concessions in return for attempting peace with us."

“The main thing they’re trying for is obviously peace,” Serenity replied, “But at the moment the regents are just trying to negotiate an end to the random attacks,” She made a face. “The Earth people want co rulership with the Moon over the Silver Millennium in return for the end of the fighting, but of course that’s not going to happen. I think right the regents are just offering Earth the chance to get a Senshi in return for peace.”

“An Earth Senshi.” Asami snorted. “You think we could trust whoever they chose to take that position?” Personally, Asami thought it was a terrible idea to give the Earth a Senshi, even if it did put an end to the fighting.

“The regents would pick.” Serenity explained quickly.

“Still.” Asami retorted. “Do you think we could actually trust anyone named Sailor Earth?”

“Don’t judge someone you don’t know.” Serenity said, frowning. Asami sighed and looked away to where the guards had just been and said nothing.

[Sailor Jupiter]

Acacia looked away from Princess Serenity as Asami approached their small group. She was glad that Asami had told the guards about the situation. It would take no time at all to find Mars and Mercury if the guards knew to keep an eye out for the two Senshi. Well, it might take like an hour less. Ugh, the Moon Palace was too big!

Acacia, looking a little sheepish, laughed lightly. "Well, yeah, but you know us." She winced at her lame excuse. Sure, personalities do clash, but that was just stupid! She and Princess Serenity did not get in that many fights, okay, well a few. She brushed it off and tried to focus on more important things. Like the ridiculous idea of a Sailor Earth and the even more laughable idea of a co-ruling of the Silver Millennium.

"The heck? They must be joking with us. No way would an Earth Senshi listen to us. We'd never get along; not with our history." Acacia shook her head. It was hard enough to get along with the Outers, due to the fact there was not a lot of communication between the Inner Senshi and the Outer Senshi. The distance was too great. The Earthians were ignorant and foolish, that's all there was to it. She doubted that Earth held a female worthy of the Senshi title. Under her breath, Acacia muttered a few things about the Earthians that would make anyone blush.

"Don't even get me started on co-rulership. The Moon Kingdom would be doomed within the week if that happened." Acacia started to pace a little as she threw her hands in the air. "If we gave them a Senshi position, the next thing they would want is to marry Princess Serenity to their prince! It'd be one thing after another with them until they had planted an Earth flag up our butts."

No, Acacia was not too thrilled with the idea.

[Princess Serenity]

"Well, yeah, but you know us."

“Indeed,” Asami agreed, smiling slightly. Serenity smiled as well. It looked like Asami wasn’t mad with her anymore. Thank Goodness. A thought passed through her mind. Perhaps whenever Asami was scolding her she should just direct her towards the nearest cute boy and let her flirt. It obviously did a miracle for bringing Asami’s mood up and forgetting that a certain princess was in trouble.

As soon as Serenity finished explaining what was going on in the delegation rooms, she wondered if it had been a good idea. Both Acacia and Asami were very protective of the circle they and the other Senshi and they probably wouldn’t take kindly to the possibility of a newcomer, especially one from Earth which Serenity was pretty sure they considered to be their sworn enemy. And really, she didn’t blame them for having that opinion. She would have it too if she wasn’t so dead set on making peace with the Earth people. They had killed her parents after all.

And if they didn’t like the idea of Sailor Earth even if it meant peace, she would bet her life on the fact that Acacia and Asami were seething over the idea of the Earth being co rulers of the Silver Millennium with the Moon. It just wasn’t right. Even Serenity shuddered a little when she thought about the possibility. Who knew what would happen to the Silver Millennium if they agreed to that? Even the regents knew better than to give into those demands. Not that they’d give up their positions as two of the most influential people in the galaxy any sooner than they had to.

"The heck? They must be joking with us. No way would an Earth Senshi listen to us. We'd never get along; not with our history."

Serenity sighed, knowing that she would get some sort of response from this. And Asami seemed to be in agreement with Acacia too. “But you wouldn’t know that until you give her a chance!” she pointed out calmly. “For all we know the regents could find a perfectly lovely girl who’s lived in the mountains her whole life and has never been touched by the Earth Royal’s influences. You could get along with someone like that, right?” She looked at her two friends hopefully.

“Yeah, I guess,” Asami grumbled grudgingly after a moment.

“Besides,” Serenity continued, pleased that she had gotten at least some sort of weak agreement, “Earth is a planet in the solar system and therefore they really do have a right to a Senshi.” She wasn’t completely sure if they had actually ever had a Senshi, but what she had said was still true. She had read it in one of the many Solar System law books. Every planet in the Solar System had the right to a Senshi although this could be suspended if they went rogue. Earth was rogue, the reason they didn’t have a Senshi, but she was sure that with a little gentle convincing over a few years, she could change that.

"Don't even get me started on co-rulership. The Moon Kingdom would be doomed within the week if that happened. If we gave them a Senshi position, the next thing they would want is to marry Princess Serenity to their prince! It'd be one thing after another with them until they had planted an Earth flag up our butts."

Serenity shuddered at the idea of an arranged marriage, especially to the Earth prince. The few times she had met him, he had been nothing but arrogant and rude to her. “Please don’t even suggest that,” she begged, bringing a hand up to massage her temples. Serenity supposed that she was lucky that the ambassador hadn’t brought that idea up in the many meetings he had had with her and the regents. Perhaps the Earth prince had made it quite clear to him that he was not interested in an arranged marriage either.

“I might have to kill a few Earthians then,” Asami commented in response to Acacia.

“Asami!” Serenity exclaimed, shocked that Asami would ever suggest such a fowl thing. “You’ll start a war at worst! That’s what we’re trying to avoid”

“Maybe that’s what they need to realize we mean business,” Asami retorted, “They’re obviously not responding to your peace efforts.”

[Sailor Jupiter]

Acacia loved Asami's idea for the planet Earth. How else would you get somebody to listen? Earth would totally listen if a few of them died first, because they would not want anymore Earthians to die. If the Earthians were not scared of the Moon Kingdom then the Earth would always challenge them and Acacia felt that this would lead them right back to the beginning.

"All we have to do is scare them a little." Acacia said, trying to sound as sweet and innocent as possible. "Just enough to get rid of hiccups or something." She knew that her persuasion was not exactly good enough to sway Princess Serenity, especially when her persuasion sounded more like a joke than a serious plan. "I mean come on, a violent society like Earth is not going to respond to peace. They have hardly ever settled any of their own civil wars through peace; we can't expect them to do something like that for us." Acacia continued. "How long until somebody admits that maybe peace can't be our only method? Do you want there to be a resolution or do you want to follow your beliefs?"

Acacia metally kicked herself over the wording of her question to Princess Serenity. She already knew which that Princess Serenity was going to pick and most likely was always going to pick. Sometimes she admitted to herself that Princess Serenity had some good ideas when it came to this peace thing, but some ideas she thought were not practical. For example, if Earth even did accept peace, it was unrealistic that peace would be kept between the Moon Kingdom and Earth for very long.

"I admit, the Earth does have the right to have a Senshi. But should we really give them one at the cost of the Moon Kingdom?" She placed her hands on her hips, drumming her fingers along the side of her arm. She did not really want to admit what she was about to say in front of Princess Serenity, but whatever. "Besides, I've always thought your regents were a little sketchy. I don't really want them to choose an Earth senshi for us." She looked at Asami and hoped that Asami would agree with her on her next point. "I'd rather that the Senshi as a team pick who would be the Earth senshi."

If the Senshi got to pick the Earth Senshi, that would make it less likely for arguments to occur. The Senshi would have to work with the supposed Earth Senshi more than the regents would have to work with her anyway. Also, she and Asami could make the qualifications a living hell so that no one would want to be the Earth Senshi or even make it to the final cut! A small smile full of revenge oozed across her face.

[Princess Serenity]

"All we have to do is scare them a little. Just enough to get rid of hiccups or something. I mean come on, a violent society like Earth is not going to respond to peace. They have hardly ever settled any of their own civil wars through peace; we can't expect them to do something like that for us. How long until somebody admits that maybe peace can't be our only method? Do you want there to be a resolution or do you want to follow your beliefs?"

Serenity sighed and looked at Acacia and Asami. Asami was nodding silently in agreement with Acacia. Of course she would agree. It wasn’t that Asami was violent (Acacia wasn’t particularly violent either, but she was definitely one of the Senshi who were most fond of fighting), but she liked getting things over with quickly. To her, the peace method wasn’t working, so that meant it was time to bring out the big stuff… aka the war.

“We just need to give the Earth time,” she said, trying to sound and look patient and laid back. In reality she felt a little nervous, but her Senshi didn’t need to know about her doubts about peace. It had been years since peace talks had begun. They had begun before her birth! And they had barely gone anywhere. But Serenity was trying to promote peace, so she wasn’t going to mention that. She continued. “They finally agreed to an ambassador, right? That’s something. And we’ve got an ambassador there too. Things are going fine.”

“Sure,” Asami agreed flatly. “Between attacks.” Serenity glared at her. “Well, it’s true. Can you explain the attack last week?”

“It was smaller than they usually are.” Serenity pointed out, “There was only forty or so people. It was shut down within an hour and they didn’t even make it through the gates. That’s a lot better than it used to be. Remember the ones when we were little?”

“Yeah,” she replied, “But there was one of that magnitude four months ago.”

“But that was four months ago!” Serenity insisted. “That’s a long time!”

“Not really.”

Serenity rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest. “Work with me here, okay?”

"I admit, the Earth does have the right to have a Senshi. But should we really give them one at the cost of the Moon Kingdom?"

“Why would it be at the cost of the Moon Kingdom?” Serenity asked curiously. “Even if she did end up turning against us, which I highly doubt would ever happen, that’s just one Senshi. Against eight. And she would be new to her powers. You guys obviously aren’t and the Outers are even more experienced.”

“Sketchy?” she repeated, smiling slightly. “Yeah, that’s the right word for them lately. They’re up to something. God knows what though. But it’s got to be harmless.” Yes, her regents were acting strangely, but they had been so nice to her growing up. They were like extended family to her practically and throughout the years that they had been in charge they hadn’t made one decision that was bad for the Moon or the Silver Millennium. They couldn’t do much wrong… right?

“That’s a good idea!” Serenity said to Acacia enthusiastically. “I’ll definitely suggest that to the regents when I see them tomorrow. And I could help choose too, right?” She hoped she could. Interviewing perspective girls for the position of Sailor Earth sounded quite exciting.