Mare Serenitatis

[Princess Serenity]

It was a nice day, but then again it was almost always a nice day on the Moon. But whether or not pleasant days were common, Princess Serenity intended on enjoying it. For one thing, she had a free moment. She was finished with lessons for the day (now that she was getting closer to her twentieth birthday, her classes were getting fewer and shorter), her very few royal duties were finished, and her regents didn’t feel like pretending to include her in whatever political thing they were doing at the moment.

So, what was Serenity doing with her free time? She was going for a walk. She wasn’t quite sure where her Senshi were. Ninety-nine percent of the time there was at least one of them with her. But she was all alone at the moment. Had something important just happened and they had been called to help in response? Serenity supposed it was possible, but she doubted it. One of them would have come to find her if it was so important. If it had to do with the Moon, it had to do with her after all.

The most believable reason for why Serenity was currently alone was that she had somehow managed to lose her Senshi. It happened often enough. Except that was only because she was trying to lose them. She liked her private time and as much as she loved her Senshi, she needed a little time to think by herself. But she had definitely not lost her friends on purpose today.

Serenity giggled and continued to wander down one of the many paths of the Moon Palace. The flowers were so beautiful. She stopped for a moment to gaze out over a field of pastel colored flowers that the path ran through before continuing her little walk. She didn’t know where she was going, but after spending most of the day sitting around in the Palace a little fresh air felt good.

Serenity began to think about the things that were going on in her life currently. Her regents were acting somewhat suspicious—she didn’t like the side-glances they were giving her or how they pleased they looked each time they sat down on their thrones—but that was nothing new. Serenity moved on to lighter subjects. There was a ball in two days to entertain the newly arrived ambassador from earth. That would be fun. The Outer Senshi were coming too and she hadn’t seen them in ages, so she was looking forward to that night. Then there was that book that she was reading… She had picked it up out of the library the night before and she had found that she couldn’t put it down! It was just so good. Serenity grinned. As soon as she finished her walk she was definitely going back to her room so that she could continue to read it.

[Sailor Jupiter]

A loud thump echoed throughout one of the older paths that circled and weaved around the Moon Palace. Another less pleasant sound of a crack followed barely a few seconds later. Acacia had dropped to the ground and in doing so had thrown her head back against the oak tree she had intended to use as a plesant resting spot. She cursed loudly in response and immediately drew her legs up into her chest and placed her head between them.

She had just finished an exhausting work-out session by herself trying to perfect a complicated move involving backflips and spinning kicks. This now throbbing headache had not done wonders for her already tired body. Too tired to deal with a headache, Acacia unfolded her body and lay under the tree with her mouth open and slightly dazed, unblinking eyes.

She cursed again and put a hand to her head. "Glad no one's here to see that. Ouch."

Acacia tried to ignore her pain by looking up into the leaves of the oak tree to count each and every leaf. The trees had always been a good friend to her, so she couldn't hold her headache against the trees. When she had been little, Acacia did not have many friends. She found her friends in the nature around her, and the trees had been a big part of nature in her childhood forest.

A tree never battled with her, threw large stones at her, ordered her to climb up a cliff to steal an eagle egg for dinner, and trees definately did not have big egos or try to woo her when she was obviously busy talking with the Princess! Yes, Acacia did not like noble men, or men in general for that matter. Old men were fine, little boys were fine, young men were out of the question and should just go back to where ever they came from.

Acacia silently wished for a pain killer. She was at the Moon Palace because of an upcoming ball celebrating what's-his-name. She didn't care about the occassion, she was just happy to see Princess Serenity. Of course right now the Princess was taking lessons or some nonsense like that. Acacia did not know what Princess Serenity learned during her lessons, but Acacia did not see it as more important than being outside with her friends, the Sailor Scouts.

Acacia relaxed, sighed, and closed her eyes hoping that sleep would come quick and painlessly. Sleep worked better than any pain killer when she was concerned.

[Princess Serenity]

The path was so peaceful. Serenity was far enough from the palace by now that the only noise she could hear were her soft footsteps on the beaten dirt path. Before long Serenity had stopped thinking completely and was just walking where ever the path took her. It was nice to be able to spend her time so mindlessly.

Unfortunately for Serenity, a loud thump followed by an equally loud and sickening crack pulled her out of her empty thoughts. She flinched slightly at hearing the noise. What had made it? Serenity had been positive that she was all alone out on the paths! Perhaps a tree limb had just fallen. That was always possible. Some of the trees in this part of the castle grounds were so old that Serenity had always been amazed that they were still standing.

But then a bit of dark green caught her eye. This wasn’t the right color green to be a natural part of the surroundings. It was much too dark to be flower stems and too smooth to be tree leaves. That was when Serenity noticed that the green was actually part of someone's clothing. She squinted a bit so that she could see who it was better and then gasped in surprise. It was Acacia! Sailor Jupiter!

Serenity grinned. She hadn’t seen Acacia in a while, seeing as the older girl had left the Moon Court to visit her predecessor. Serenity hadn’t even known she was back. Picking up her skirts, she ran into the field, towards the tree that Jupiter was leaning against.

“Acacia!” Serenity shouted happily, as she neared. “Acacia! Hi! I didn’t know you were back!” She knelt next to her friend, still smiling happily. “How was your visit to Jupiter? How’s the queen?” Before Serenity had received the first of her own guard, she had been briefly watched by her mother’s old Senshi. Serenity was close to these women for that reason, but just in a removed sort of way. She had been four when her first guard had come and then the older Senshi had left for their respective planets. Their queen was dead and their princess had her own Senshi to look after her. Their jobs were finished.

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re back!” Serenity repeated, adding a hug to her exclamation this time. It was a bit awkward and her arm got scratched a bit seeing as Acacia was resting against a tree, but there was no cloth to rip as her dress was sleeveless and she didn’t mind a few scratches. They were light and had only broken the top most layers of the skin. She could hardly feel it.

[Sailor Jupiter]

Sleep kissed Acacia briefly on the nose and stayed around just long enough to give her a taste. She was awakened by a familiar sweet voice that sort of reminded her of honey or flowers or sleep, she was totally not awake and the world was sort of out of focus.

Acacia jerked up into a sitting position straight as a rod. Her eyes were alert but still a little foggy from her very brief nap. She sat up so fast she almost clonked heads with Princess Serenity. The world came into focus, too bad her mind did not follow so quickly.

"What'sa! .... Princess Serenity? Queen's fine, something or other."

Acacia blinked her eyes repeatedly, than a small smile formed on her face. She thought that her Princess Serenity would never get out of those boring lessons. A smirk soon followed and Acacia lightly pushed Princess Serenity on the arm. "Skipping lessons again, aren't we Princess Albino?" Acacia laughed and pushed Princess Serenity to the side so that she could stand and give her Princess a proper greeting and a hug. "I told you that you can learn more out here in nature with a few martial arts lesson than from some old foggy."

Acacia leaned down a bit with an outstretched hand, offering Princess Serenity a hand up. Head much clearer and the headache not as bothersome as before, Acacia took in the full scope of Princess Serenity. She had grown ever so slightly and Acacia could have sworn her hair was longer, but Princess Serenity's silver tresses were already much too long for a difference to be seen. Princess Serenity still had that friendly and welcoming glow about her. Oh it was good to see her friend again. Perhaps Acacia took in too much for she saw the small scratches on her Princess's arm.

"What did you do? I swear if it was someone I'll kick them so hard that they won't even slow down once they past Neptune. You stay right there and I'll go get some water to clean that with and that gooey plant as a salve. Fix you right up."

Acacia lightly brushed her fingertips over the small cuts on Princess Serenity's arm before she turned in the direction of the nearest stream. How dare anything harm the Princess. Princess Serenity was a kind-hearted soul that did not deserve any scratch or bruise, no matter how small said harm could be. Even when they were younger, a few years ago in fact, and the two of them had barely known the other's favorite color, Acacia had always lept to defend her Princess from even a paper cut from a favorite book. She had even accidentally ripped the cover of one such book in a haste to get the offending object out of Princess Serenity's fingers, lest it harm her again.

Ironically, Acacia had just a moment ago offered, jokingly as it may, to give Princess Serenity a few things to know in martial arts. Yet here she was flipping out over a few tiny, not even bleeding, scratches.

[Princess Serenity]

"What'sa! .... Princess Serenity? Queen's fine, something or other."

“That’s good.” Serenity said with a smile. “Did she come with you for the ball or decide to stay home?” She knew for a fact that every royal and Senshi in the Solar System had gotten an invitation to the ball because she herself had sent them out. Her regents had only wanted to invite the current Senshi, insisting that the older ones were ‘retired’ and therefore of no importance at court anymore. Serenity had strongly disagreed. They were just as important as her own Senshi, more so even because they had more experience and her Senshi could learn from them. And just as importantly, Serenity herself could learn from them. They had been around her parents after all and knew a thing or two about ruling the Silver Millennium because of it.

"Skipping lessons again, aren't we Princess Albino? I told you that you can learn more out here in nature with a few martial arts lesson than from some old foggy."

Serenity laughed. “Don’t call me albino,” she whined jokingly, still smiling. “I swear I’m not one! I just have very pale blonde hair! And albinos don’t have blue eyes, they have red ones.” She wasn’t sure if this was quite true, but she had seen albino rabbits that had red eyes… Perhaps it applied to human albinos as well. Serenity had always put off seeing if this was really true or not because if it turned out that it wasn’t true then she’d have no way to prove she wasn’t albino. Well, it wasn’t that it would be terrible if she found out she really was one, it was just that she would feel somewhat stupid if she had spent years insisting that she wasn’t albino and then she found out she was.

“Thanks,” Serenity said as she accepted Acacia’s hand and let her pull her up. As much as she loved her outfit, the tight fit sometimes made moving around somewhat problematic. “And I’m not skipping classes. They’re over for the day. My tutors think I’ll learn more if I watch the regents rule the Moon, but they’re not interested in letting me watch today. So I thought I’d take a walk and here I am. And I never said that I didn’t agree with you on the nature thing. Oh, it’s so good to see you!” She gave her friend another hug, this time getting a scratch free, much less awkward result.

"What did you do? I swear if it was someone I'll kick them so hard that they won't even slow down once they past Neptune. You stay right there and I'll go get some water to clean that with and that gooey plant as a salve. Fix you right up."

Serenity sighed and rolled her eyes good naturedly. “Acacia,” she said with a slight laugh. “I swear no one hurt me. It’s from when I hugged you the first time. You were up against the tree and I brushed it with my arm. I can’t even feel it and it's not bleeding. There’s no need to clean it or put gooey plant salve on it.” This was the sort of thing that made Serenity so attached to her Senshi of Jupiter. Acacia was just so protective, Serenity couldn’t help but feel grateful towards her all the time. In fact, she viewed Acacia as an older sister. But then again, she viewed all her sisters as siblings. Heck, even Venus's little sister was like a sister to her. Really, they were all just one big happy family. It totally made up for having no parents.

[Sailor Jupiter]

Acacia had barely walked a few steps towards the nearest stream when Princess Serenity tried to pause Acacia in her new focus. The tree was at fault? Sure, Princess Serenity might not have the same relationship with trees that Acacia and the trees shared, but Acacia knew the tree never meant Princess Serenity any real harm. Her mouth twitched back and forth as she debated with herself. She finally relented and agreed with Princess Serenity.

"If you say that you are alright, I'll talk your word on it." Acacia gave her friend a good squeeze before backing away, one hand behind her head. She rocked back and forth on her heels in a posture that was as relaxed as she could manage. She could never completely relax, not even at the Moon Palace. A scowl crossed her face. Especially at the Moon Palace, not with the regents around. They had always seemed a little sketchy, but then again Acacia thought that way about almost everyone.

"I'm not quite sure when Queen Jupiter is getting here. She had a few things to attend to back on Jupiter, which is why we did not come up together. Some alliance between two small dukedoms or something that she was supposed to be the mediator for. Might be a skirmish or something. The dukes can't even take care of themselves."

She stood up straight once more, no longer rocking back and forth on her heels. Still unsatisfied with staying still, Acacia grabbed a broken branch from the ground and began to twirl it like a bo in her hands. She backed up, lest she hit her princess. The broken branch flashed in and out of her hands, Acacia did not pay too much attention to the broken branch. Enough to not let it go out of control and not enough concentration to make it go very fast.

"Who is coming to this ball of yours anyway? It's like what, two or three days away? I haven't seen Venus or Mercury since the last time I was here. I went to Venus not all that long ago, but it's still been too long for comfort."

[Princess Serenity]

"If you say that you are alright, I'll talk your word on it."

“Thanks,” Serenity said with a small smile. She decided to change the subject. “So did you just get here or did you get here a few hours ago, or what? No one even told me you’d be coming back today.” Usually she liked to greet her friends right as they arrived at the castle, not in the middle of a field of flowers a couple hours later. Not that there was anything wrong with flowers. Serenity did like them. But it seemed a little rude to her to let one of her guests—even one who was more of a permanent addition to the castle than a real guest—hang around the castle ungreeted.

"I'm not quite sure when Queen Jupiter is getting here. She had a few things to attend to back on Jupiter, which is why we did not come up together… I went to Venus not all that long ago, but it's still been too long for comfort."

“Awww,” Serenity said, disappointed. “But she is coming, right? Haruka—she got here yesterday—mentioned she had something to talk about with her.” Ever curious, Serenity had tried to find out what that something was, but she hadn’t gotten anything out of the Senshi of Uranus. She hoped that whatever the news was, it wasn’t anything bad. She doubted it was though. The Outer Senshi were so good at their job that nothing ever got past them. The worst it could be was they had just stopped something from almost getting to Jupiter or something like that.

“All the Senshi are coming,” Serenity said, answering her friend’s question. “They’re all here except for Hotaru and Setsuna. They’ll be coming on the day of the ball. And the queens from Venus, and Mars are already here. Mercury’s queen will be here tomorrow. There’s a bunch of nobles from all over the Solar System too. It’s a good turn out. Everyone wants to show Earth that we want peace. Not more war.”

Maybe it was the knowledge that she’d be the queen of the Moon in a few years, but Serenity fealt so proud of all the people of the planets. They all knew that complete cooperation with each other was the key to getting peace for their planets. Even the most stubborn royals and nobles were ready to sheath their claws while they were around the Earth ambassador and give him the true image of how welcoming the Silver Millennium really was. It was so great.

[Sailor Jupiter]

The branch continued to twirl in and out of Acacia's fingers in quite the dizzying manner if one chose to stare for a few minutes. Fortunately, Acacia is not one such type, she was not quite sure, but she thought that Princess Serenity was not quite the type either. Now if Acacia had been holding a bo in her hand with more the intention of practicing a kata, a martial arts excerise that works on perfecting certain forms and moves, or maybe a sparring match, the effect would have been quite different.

"It hasn't been that long since I arrived here. I had enough time to wander around a bit to see if you were in a lesson and get a practice outfit on. Maybe an hour. Heck, I haven't even unpacked yet."

Acacia was almost ready to tell Princess Serenity that she had forgotten to bring a good dress for the ball. While packing Acacia had been in a rush, because Queen Jupiter was going to go to a meeting an hour or so before Acacia left. Queen Jupiter had to see Acacia before the meeting so she could say goodbye, ignoring the fact that they would both see each other in a few days. Acacia had grabbed a plain brown dress that she would love to wear to the ball, but one of the Sailors would probably get a little miffed that she was not more fashion conscious.

Maybe Princess Serenity had a dress she could borrow. Acacia looked Princess Serenity up and down and thought, maybe not. Any dress on Princess Serenity would look like an overgrown nightgown on her. Than again, that wouldn't be a total tradegy. The lack of legs being shown would keep any men away from her.

"I can't imagine what Haruka would have to talk about with Queen Jupiter. I haven't heard her mention anything, but than again I'm not to interested in her political side of the job."

Acacia put the branch firmly oin the ground in front of her. It was in place to be leaned upon as a crutch or serve as a momentary resting spot, but Acacia stood straight as her posture could allow. The branch was only there for show.

"I guess I'm not interested in any part of her job!" Acacia laughed. "The other queens are already here? Did they bring the senshi with them? I can't wait to see them again."

At the mention of the Earth Acacia's lips turned into a frown. Oh sure, she loved the Earth and all, but they were so annoying! What did the Moon Kingdom have to do in order to prove that peace was wanted mutually? Bow down and beg submissively? Needless to say, Acacia's short temper was fed up with the Earth and their overly unnecessary cautious nature. Sure, skirmishes were here and there, but somebody had to show Earth they were not going to roll over and die in order for peace to be achieved.

"I wonder what more we have to do to show Earth that we want mutual peace. Whatever it takes, I'm sure not going to be their lap dog." Acacia muttered and crossed her arms over her chest, a slight glare gracing her eyes and lips.

[Princess Serenity]

"It hasn't been that long since I arrived here. I had enough time to wander around a bit to see if you were in a lesson and get a practice outfit on. Maybe an hour. Heck, I haven't even unpacked yet."

Well that made Serenity feel a little better. “Oh.” She said. “Well, they should have told me you were here or something. Anything to get out of lessons, right?” She smiled. Serenity had been half dreading that perhaps Acacia had been here since early that morning and she had just been waiting around for someone to greet her. If that had been the case, she would have felt terrible about leaving her friend all alone. A thought crossed her mind. Did her other Senshi know Acacia was here?

"I can't imagine what Haruka would have to talk about with Queen Jupiter. I haven't heard her mention anything, but than again I'm not to interested in her political side of the job."

“I don’t know what Haruka has to say to the queen either.” Serenity admitted. “She wouldn’t tell me. I asked her and she said, ‘That’s for her to know and you to not worry about.’ ” She pouted. Wasn’t she going to be the queen someday? And for that reason shouldn’t she know exactly what was going on in the Solar System all the time? Serenity hated when people kept secrets from her, especially when they were so blatantly obvious about it.

Ah, politics. Serenity didn’t like it much either. It was all so tedious. But with eight out of nine of the planets at peace, politics wasn’t quite as important as just plain old being nice and looking out for other people’s welfare. She liked to think she was good at that and that was what would make her worthy of ruling in three years. But then there was that ever present problem with Earth. Politics were still definitely needed for relations with them. But Serenity could deal with a little politics from time to time. Just as long as she didn’t have to do it every day.

“Lucky for you, you won’t have to worry about politics until someone else takes over your role as Sailor Jupiter.” She pointed out. Grinning, she continued. “Until then you just have to make sure no one kills me. There’s no politics attached to that. And as a plus, I highly doubt that anyone will ever try to take my life. So that must mean you have the one of the cushiest jobs in the Solar System.” Serenity laughed playfully.

"The other queens are already here? Did they bring the Senshi with them? I can't wait to see them again."

“Yeah, everyone’s here.” Serenity replied cheerfully. “Chara, Venus’s little sister, came too. She insisted that at the age of thirteen, she’s old enough to go to balls now.” She had always felt a little bad for Chara, Her sister Asami was always attending functions with Serenity at the Moon palace while she was left home with her parents. Asami had never had to worry about an age limit for balls. She had been going to them nearly as long as Serenity had in other words, nearly her whole life.

"I wonder what more we have to do to show Earth that we want mutual peace. Whatever it takes, I'm sure not going to be their lap dog."

Serenity sighed. “I don’t know how much more we’ll have to do,” She admitted her tone somewhat sad. “You’d think that they would have figured it out by now. But their monarchs are so stubborn! Remember when we visited them last year and they wouldn’t even look at us because we were ‘under age’ and therefore not worth their time?” She rolled her eyes. That trip had been terrible. Even the servants had treated her rudely although she had been as nice as possible to them. Apparently all Earth people thought they were better than Moon people. Who knew why.

[Sailor Jupiter]

"If that is what I have to look forward to once I retire as Sailor Jupiter, than you won't ever get rid of me!" Acacia laughed at her own joke. Although her laugh was loud enough, her eyes betrayed her. She hated the idea of once giving up her mantle as Sailor Jupiter. Who ever heard of a queen who kicked butt physically? She hated the idea of not being able to fight, of living in a castle, being forced to have kids some day in order to carry on the line of Jupiter, and sleeping in a fluffy bed. Those beds may have been more relaxing than a floor, but no way was she going to admit that fact and use the bed.

She liked fighting, she never wanted her freedom to be taken away and most certinaly not because of politics! "I can't believe little Chara is already wanting to waste her time at balls. She's growing up too fast. I bet she is going to be taller than me any day now. ... That's a sad thought."

Acacia looked up at the tree that was a towering and imposing reminder of her height. Maybe that's why she thought a tree climb was always the best idea in the world. Up in a tree everyone was so far away that you didn't have to worry about anything. No one could bother you because they were too short to matter. Up in a tree she could be as big as she felt.

Acacia growled softly at the reminder of the planet Earth. "Ignorant Earthians! Of course they can't bear to share mutual peace with the Moon Kingdom. I mean look at them! They can't even control their own people, civil wars all over the place. They are a fighting society, as far back as I have read, civil wars everywhere, and are too ... too ... stupid to ... I just want to give them a peace of my mind and a spanking. Those--"

She continued to mutter under her breath. Thankfully she was not too loud or a few more obscene curses would have made their presence among the paths of the Moon Kingdom.

She really had not been that young a year ago, about nineteen or so and Princess Serenity had only been sixteen. Sure, they were both pretty inexperienced when it came to certain things, and most Earthians were even more inexperienced, but they did deserve some respect. She had almost decked one of the Earthians for his disrespecting of the Princess, but something had held her back. She didn't know who, for she had been too angry that day.

[Princess Serenity]

"If that is what I have to look forward to once I retire as Sailor Jupiter, than you won't ever get rid of me!"

“You make it sound as if I want to get rid of you!” Serenity countered, laughing as well. “And besides, even when you’re queen of Jupiter—assuming you will be. Who knows? Maybe the queen’ll fall in love and have a child of her own and you won’t have to worry about politics ever.—But if or when you’re queen of Jupiter, it’s not like you’ll ever stop being a Senshi. Once a Senshi, always a Senshi.” She nodded at her own wisdom however silly it sounded. It was true after all. Any of the queens could turn into their Senshi form if they wanted. Most of them just chose not to. Or if they did, Serenity just hadn’t heard about it.

"I can't believe little Chara is already wanting to waste her time at balls. She's growing up too fast. I bet she is going to be taller than me any day now... That's a sad thought."

Serenity shrugged. “She’s from the royal Venus family, so it’s not that surprising. It’s in that family’s blood to enjoy social events, especially ones that require you to get dressed up and dance with people.” She laughed. “I’ve spent enough time with them over the years to know it’s true. You should have seen Asami when we were younger. She’d introduce herself to every man at the balls, even if they were five times her age! She just wanted to dance.” Serenity shook her head, smiling. It was amazing how her uptight friend could loosen up when they went to balls. Heck, she loosened up when she was around men in general.

“Well, I think Chara’s around five foot now—I saw her last night at dinner—so you’ve still go a few inches over her.” Serenity said, trying to make her friend feel a little better. And taller. It had always amused her slightly that her Senshi who was the most fiercest fighter out of the whole bunch was also probably the shortest. She wondered if it ever bothered Acacia. If it did, she never let it show. “Unless Chara has some sort of growth spurt soon it’ll take her a year or so to catch up at least.”

"Ignorant Earthians!... I just want to give them a peace of my mind and a spanking. Those--"

Serenity nodded in agreement. Acacia was right. Earth spent so much time fighting that they didn’t seem to notice that the other planets around them were at peace and were more than willing to help them achieve the same thing. She couldn’t imagine that they actually liked the fighting. More likely, they were just too stubborn to accept help from anyone and wanted to achieve peace on their own. Serenity supposed that was a noble enough idea, but they had been trying for so long now! Wasn’t it time that they gave up and accepted help?

“Well, don’t hurt anyone of them during the ball,” Serenity told Acacia a slight smirk appearing on her face. “They’re so touchy that if you do, they’ll probably use it as an excuse to launch a full out war.” Her statement was ridiculous, but unfortunately true. If someone hurt someone else from the Silver Millennium, the event probably would have been laughed off after a day or so. But the people of Earth weren’t like the people of the Silver Millennium. That was the problem.

[Sailor Jupiter]

Acacia was still fuming from her recent thoughts of the Earthians. Arms crossed over her chest, eyes darkly glaring at the ground, she was too focused on her own thoughts and missed a bit of what Serenity had said. Serenity's voice did induce a sort of calm and relaxation in Acacia, but Serenity was not as close to Acacia as needed to bring about immediate results.

"War? Hmph, I could use a little skirmish or two. I know you want peace and aren't a fighter and all, but I miss having something to do, something to fight, and something or someone to believe in fighting for." What was the point in all her training if she couldn't use her improving skills in battle? A good skill is useless if you don't have real experience under pressure in using it.

Acacia looked at Princess Serenity briefly before sighing. "That last part wasn't true. I sure as heck having someone to fight for, even if they aren't in danger. I have you and all the other Senshi to fight for. I just train so much and I never know if I'm improving enough to keep you safe."

Acacia looked down and began to tap her foot impatiently, then she lifted her head up with a ego-charged gleam. "I don't need martial arts to stay in shape. I already have a killer body that everyone wants." She rolled her hips back and forth a bit and placed a hand on her hips in a small pose. You could almost always rely on her ego to keep her from feeling down.

Becoming Sailor Jupiter had not made her more aware of fashion, but it had made her more aware that she was female. When she was younger and living with her dad, she knew she was a different gender, but she did not know that being a different gender meant she was supposed to act and be treated different from males. By coming to the Moon Kingdom and the Jupiter castle, she became aware of how she was in fact different from males.

Puberty had certainly reinforced this difference. While she didn't like to behave as society sometimes expected for a girl, especially one of higher status, to act, she did use her female body as a weapon or to get what she wanted. Really, by noticing the difference she just had another excuse for her ego to be the size that it was.

"So hey, you have anything planned for the rest of the day? I'm finished with practicing, so we could go try and find some of the other Senshi." Knowing the rest of the Senshi, their search would probably turn into that game Princess Serenity liked. Hide and go search or something like that.

[Princess Serenity]

"War? Hmph, I could use a little skirmish or two. I know you want peace and aren't a fighter and all, but I miss having something to do, something to fight, and something or someone to believe in fighting for."

Serenity raised an eyebrow at Acacia. “War isn’t good,” She said as if reciting from a book. “War takes lives and it doesn’t matter which side those lives were on, people will still grieve for them.” She couldn’t even imagine starting a war. The idea was just too horrible. People dying because of a command she had made? She wouldn’t be able to forgive herself, even if the war itself was completely justified.

And what if someone she knew died during that war she began? It would just be like her parent’s death. No! It would be worse. When her parents had died, Serenity had had to live with the knowledge that someone had killed them. If she was the one to begin a war she would have to live with the knowledge that she had been the one to kill her friends. What if it was one of her Senshi who died? Her mother’s Senshi? It had taken her months to fully recover from her parents’ deaths. There was no way in the entire Silver Millennium that she would be able to forgive herself if it was her own fault one of her friends died.

"That last part wasn't true. I sure as heck having someone to fight for, even if they aren't in danger. I have you and all the other Senshi to fight for. I just train so much and I never know if I'm improving enough to keep you safe."

“I’m sure you’re improving more than enough to keep me safe.” Serenity assured Acacia. “If you don’t believe me, go and find some of the castle guards and spar a bit. When you find one you can’t beat, use that person as a kind of measure. Keep on practicing and then sparring with that person. You’ll know for sure that you’ve improved when you can beat him or her.” She smiled cheerfully. “I did the same thing, except for my lessons. I now know that I can do calculus better than my old math tutor.”

"I don't need martial arts to stay in shape. I already have a killer body that everyone wants."

Serenity laughed and nodded. “You do indeed,” she agreed. “Now all you have to do is grow a few inches and you’ll be perfect.” She added teasingly. Of course she really didn’t mean it. To her, all of her Senshi were perfect. After all, they were great friends and great fighters.

"So hey, you have anything planned for the rest of the day? I'm finished with practicing, so we could go try and find some of the other Senshi."

“I’m free until dinner,” she replied. “So yeah, let’s find the other Senshi.” Serenity laughed lightly. “Somehow I managed to lose Asami without trying. She’s probably having a hemorrhage right now wondering where I am. Either that or she’s got half the palace guard plus the rest of the Senshi out looking for me. I’m surprised no one’s found us by now actually.” Serenity sighed dramatically, “That’s the problem with being princess. You don’t get any time to yourself. People are always trying to make sure you’re not being murdered wherever you go.”

((ooc: This seems like a good place to stop. You want to end it here or do you want to put one more post in? Or keep on going?))

[Sailor Jupiter]

As soon as the words came out of Princess Serenity's mouth, Acacia began to feel a little guilty. Of course Princess Serenity would not feel the same way! Princess Serenity was not a fighter; Acacia had a hard enough time trying to convince her to take a few lessons from her just for basic self defense. Princess Serenity was stupid to not want to learn a few basic moves. Realistically, the Senshi could not always be there for her in times of need. All it took was one screw up, one time that they were not there, but maybe if she knew something! ...

Death was a touchy subject for reasons Acacia hated to remind Princess Serenity about, even if it was death that could happen in the future, or that had already happened in the past. Princess Serenity had cared deeply for her parents. Acacia's relationship with her father had been completely different, that of student and teacher. It had been a different feeling. Acacia knew a little of what Princess Serenity must have felt for her parents, for Queen Jupiter had always felt like a mother to her. Or, at least what she figured what it felt like to have a mother.

Acacia did not want people to die, she just wanted to fight them. Sure, she understood that a war would have killing, but... She just needed that thrill going through her veins that she just couldn't get from a spar. She wanted to feel what it was like to have real pressure on her, because she had never quite felt it before. Of course, Acacia was choosing not to think of what would happen if she failed under pressure.

"I suppose that there has to be some guards left that have potential. Besides, if I defeat enough of them it might, just maybe, cause them to actually practice once in a while." Due to Princess Serenity's suggestion, Acacia began to wonder if she should organize a competition after the ball or perhaps pick them off one by one. A competition would definatly have a certain thrill to it and fuel the guards to prepare ahead of time, ensuring a greater challenge. Now she needed to think of an appropriate motivational prize.

Her ego was brought down a notch by Princess Serenity's statement of height, but Acacia did not notice that too much. She sent a playful glare in Princess Serenity's direction and rose up on her heels a little and puffed up her chest. "Just give me a few more years and everyone will be asking if you are my little sister."

"Princess, I could always show you a place or two that the guard would not think of looking for you in for at least a few hours. They don't know the environment here as well as I do." Acacia was feeling a little impatient. She wanted to find the rest of the Senshi and start training. It had been a while since their last training session together and she didn't want anyone to be slacking. She wouldn't tell anyone she had not practiced using her Senshi (magic?) attacks as often as she should have.

"Where would Asami be? Let's go find her!"