It had been a week since the Master's coronation, and already he was working hard at getting the towns nearest to the palace back on their feet. The closest town was Kurokawa, and that was where Jadeite, along with Nephrite, the Master and a few other hands that could be spared, were heading.
They had left just before sunrise, planning to arrive just before noon if they rode at a leisurely pace. The town's head official was expecting some help from the palace, but he did not know that the King himself would be arriving and planned to help as well.
"They're probably not going to let you help, Master," Jadeite said as the town came into sight.
"I can order them to let me help," was his reply.
Nephrite chuckled. "I'm looking forward to seeing Okano-san's face when he sees you, Master."
Okano Hiroshi was a good friend of the royal family, and the Master had been very relieved to hear that the man was well after the attack. Jadeite had been relieved himself, of course, and he knew that Nephrite was looking forward to seeing the man again, as they had some unfinished business.
The attendants at the town gates were quiet surprised to see who had arrive and one ran off quickly while the others offered to take the horses. Jadeite dismounted and handed the reins off, before taking a look around. His face fell at what he saw.
Not one building was without at least some damage, and at least half were completely destroyed. Temporary shelters had been set up using some of the debris, but they lacked all four walls, and had a barely passable roof.
Jadeite looked over at the Master and saw that he too was dismayed at the sight. He knew that the Master was already blaming himself, he had made a habit of it lately.
"King Endymion-sama!"
Jadeite looked over and saw a shocked Okano-san running over. He was a middle-aged man, in his late thirties. A little shorter than most, and a bit rounder as well. His black hair was now sprinkled with gray.
"Endymion-sama, I didn't know that you were coming," Okano said, a little out of breath.
"That's because I didn't tell you, Okano-san. You would have tried to talk me out of it." The Master paused for a moment and surveyed the damage once again. "I can't believe this happened..."
"I understand the palace is in rough shape as well."
"Most of it is still standing though. Okano-san, please accept my apologies."
The older man shook his head. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Your Majesty. As I recall, it was a red-haired woman who did most of the damage."
The Master smiled, "Thank you."
"Come," Okano said, gesturing towards the main street, "I'll show you what's happened. And please, call me Hiroshi, Your Majesty. Your father did."
Jadeite followed behind the two men and looked around as their were given the tour. He took note of the number of people he saw, and Nephrite it seemed noticed the same thing.
"This town used to be a lot busier," he whispered.
It was true. This town, at one point, had been home to several hundred citizens, many of them family of those who worked in the palace. Jadeite guessed that there could be no more than a hundred now. It gave him a chill.
They were approaching Okano's own home, and Jadeite noted that there were three woman gathered outside. One he knew to be the old man's wife, but the other two were younger. He didn't recognize them. They came forward when asked and were introduced.
"This is Shimada Kichi, the daughter of the farmers. She was the only surviver of the family. We took her in," Okano said. The girl couldn't have been more than twelve. She bowed, but was too shy to say anything. Still she was showing a lot of bravery for one so young.
"And this is Kurokawa Amaya, or at least, that's the name we gave her," he explained. "She's not from this town, and we found her on the night that the battle ended. She has no memory of how she got here or where she's from."
"It's nice to meet you," she said, smiling. Once Jadeite's eyes landed on the girl, he couldn't tear them away. She seemed to be about the same age as he, with long, dark brown hair. If Jadeite had to guess, he would have said that one of her parents was probably from the cities much further west. She was quite beautiful.
Amaya herself was staring back at him, and gave him a smile. A little embarrassed to have been looking at her for so long, he smiled and nodded in return. Looking up, he saw that Nephrite was smirking at him.
For most people, a walk through the gardens of the Earth Palace with a man like Kunzite would have been romantic, but this was purely business for the Senshi of Thunder.
"I still can't believe you know the first thing about flowers," she said.
"And why not?" he asked.
"Because it's generally something women are interested in."
Kunzite raised an eyebrow at this. "You don't strike me as particularly feminine yourself, Jupiter."
"I'm not," she stated matter-of-factly. A collection of tulips caught her eye then and she crouched down to get a better look. "The Princess would love these."
Jupiter heard Kunzite make a sound of disgust and looked up to see what the problem was. "Pink?" he asked.
"It is her favourite colour."
"I hate pink," he said under his breath, just loud enough for Jupiter to catch it.
"It's not your wedding," she said with a smile and stood upright again. "What is King Endymion's favourite colour?"
"And why would I know that?"
"You grew up together, didn't you?"
Kunzite rolled his eyes before answering. "Yes, but our discussions were mostly about weaponry. We didn't have tea parties or play with dolls."
Jupiter was starting to wonder if he was trying to make her angry, or if it was pure talent. She turned back to the flowers. "So when do you start being useful?" If he was only going to stand around and complain about each flower choice she made, what good was he?
She continued walking through the garden, amazed at the variety. It was as if there were too many types and colours to choose from. Jupiter was afraid that she would take too much time in deciding, considering that the wedding was actually quite close.
"White and pale yellow."
Confused, Jupiter looked back at the black haired man. "What?"
"The Master's favourite colours. The colours of the Moon when viewed from Earth."
Jupiter smiled and crossed her arms. "There, was that so painful?"
Kunzite appeared to ignore her comment, and instead walked past Jupiter and into another section of garden. Curious, she followed and soon found herself surrounded by roses. "He's always had a particular fondness for the rose," Kunzite explained as he knelt down to inspect some of the white blossoms.
"They're beautiful."
The room had been unusually silent for several minutes. Venus had asked that Zoisite not play while she hurried to write the lyrics she had thought up, as she didn't want to forget them before she got them on paper.
The Tennou watched her as she wrote. She had a wonderful singing voice, he had to admit. This unexpected team up hadn't turned out as poorly as he had been expecting. She could sing, she had a talent for lyrics, if only she would learn too...
"OK, now play that passage again."
...stop being so assertive. Zoisite raised an eyebrow at the demand, but did as requested. Unlike some of the other residents of the Earth Palace, Zoisite felt no need to pick fights with the Senshi. He had a job to do, and it involved working with Venus. The faster they worked, the sooner they would be done. The wedding was approaching fast, and Zoisite was sure the Master could use their help in other areas as well.
"Wait, stop," Zoisite said, halting his fingers on the keys. "Raise your voice here by a semitone," he instructed, gesturing to the music in front of him.
"That's going to clash with everything else."
"Trust me."
He heard her sigh, but agreed non-the-less. Beginning the passage again, Venus did as requested, and Zoisite altered his playing to work with the new key. He continued playing until Venus reached the end of what she had written, then let the open chord hang in the air.
"Oh wow," Venus began. "That sounded... really good."
Zoisite couldn't help but feel a little satisfied by Venus' surprised reaction, and he had to agree, the song was coming along nicely. "Yes, you do."
"What?"
"The song, it sounds good so far."
"That's not what you said the first time. You said that I sounded good."
Zoisite paused, considering his slip in speech. "I suppose you do as well," he replied, looking over at her with a slight smile on his face. "You do have a wonderful singing voice."
This compliment had apparently caught the Senshi Leader off guard as she verbally stumbled to find a "thank you".
"It's was nothing," the Tennou replied, returning his attention to the unfinished sheets of music in front of him. Grabbing his quill pen, he began to make the necessary key changes. He noted Venus' silence while he did this, normally she would be leaning over his shoulder if he decided to change anything.
He replaced the pen and began to move his fingers over the keys, though he did not play them. He could hear the music in his head just as well as he could when he played the notes.
"You play very well as well," Venus said after a lengthy pause.
"Thank you." Zoisite could help but wonder why things had to be so awkward between them.
Mars had spent most of the time in preparation for the wedding on the Moon. She was handling the invitations for the Princess' half of the guest list, and so that gave her the perfect excuse to spend more time away from Earth. She was fairly certain that the excess time spent there by her three comrades had caused them to go insane.
She wasn't particularly surprised that Mercury had warmed up to the planet, she always had been soft. The fact that not one, but two men were interested in her, and the fact that she wasn't exactly doing anything to turn them away worried Mars.
Jupiter didn't shock the Senshi of Fire, either. True, she was tough physically, but she had always been easy to sway in an argument, and the people of earth would see that and use it to their advantage. While Jupiter claimed that there was nothing going on between them, and Mars did trust her on that, she was aware that Jupiter had been spending a fair amount of time with Kunzite. The Tennou was well known for his persuasive abilities.
It was Venus that had Mars truly worried. The one other Senshi that had been in agreement with Mars that there was nothing good about the planet or it's inhabitants, especially the men. And who had Venus been spending more time than necessary with? An Earth man. And now she was even hesitant to voice any disapproval over those... creatures.
The fact that the Senshi leader could be corrupted was the main reason that Mars kept herself on the Moon unless absolutely necessary. She would not fall victim to the Earth's spell as the other Senshi had.
Mars was on her way to report to Queen Serenity on the guest list. Things had been going as smoothly as expected. Most of the guests able to hide their disappointment in such a union and agreed that they would attend. Others, when told that this wedding had the Queen's blessing, resigned that they too would attend, for a short while. While the pleasantries may be a bit forced by some, everything looked like it would run smoothly.
"Is something troubling you?"
The familiar voice of the Queen caused Mars to stop in her tracks. She was surprised to see the queen away from her business at this hour. "It's nothing serious, my Queen," Mars replied with a short bow.
"Why don't you tell me about it?"
The Queen had a gentle voice and a calming presence. Even though she was the Queen of the Silver Millennium, she had always allowed the Senshi to be less formal in certain situations. This was one of those times. Mars and the other Senshi often looked to the queen as a sort of mother figure. "I'm worried about the other Senshi, my Queen."
"Oh? And why is that?"
They walked down the hall together. The tall windows showed the gardens as well as Earth on the horizon. Mars stopped then and looked at the blue planet. "They're becoming... I don't know. It's like Earth has put some kind of curse on them."
The queen was silent for a moment, and Mars continued to look at the planet with a skeptical eye. What was so wonderful about it anyway?
"It can have that effect on some," Queen Serenity finally replied, a hint of sadness in her voice. "But if that is what makes them happy, then I am glad that they can enjoy it."
"My Queen?"
The queen turned then and faced Mars, looking at the Senshi with a most serious face. "Both the Earth Kingdom and this one were almost destroyed recently. We are all very fortunate to be in the situation we are now. These are peaceful times again, and I want everyone, in both kingdoms, to share in that peace. The fact of the matter is, these kingdoms will soon be linked and will one day be one. Perhaps it is time to stop looking at the people of Earth as outsiders."
Mars was quiet then. So even the Queen was beginning to show weakness. Perhaps that was bound to happen as her only daughter had also been caught in the Earth's grasp.
"However," Queen Serenity added, "I will admit that I am glad to see that you are spending your time here. It had been rather quiet lately."
Mars smiled, "thank you my Queen. If it isn't too much trouble, would I be able to discuss the guest list with you?"
"Of course, Mars."