Day 4
Malachite woke first. The sun's rays lit up the tent through the thin fabric and placed circles of light over the four sleeping bags. A smile formed on Malachite's lips as he recalled last night. He could faintly remember Zoisite whispering, "I love you." He shifted his position slightly and gazed at Zoisite's beautiful face.
"I love you too, Sakura, and I always have." He suddenly heard an eruption of snickering from the neighbouring tent.
"Do you think he's talking in his sleep?" Mina giggled.
"Zoisite will be angry once she finds out!" Lita laughed.
"Who do you think 'Sakura' is?" Amy asked.
"It could be a codename or nickname for one of us!" Serena cried happily.
"I hope it's me!" Mina had pink hearts popping out of her eyes.
"You guys are so weird. Why don't you go for the cute, single ones like me?" Raye pointed out.
"Who do we know whose single?" Amy said.
"What about Jadeite and Nephlite?" Lita questioned.
"My point exactly."
"Let's do 'ip-dip-doo' to see who gets who then." Serena announced. "Ip-dip-doo, doggy done a poo. Who stepped in it? It was you! Not because you're dirty, not because you're clean. My mum said you're a fairy queen!" she sang, pointing at each of the inner Scouts in turn.
"Oh, Amy! You're out!" Raye squealed. Serena sang again and it ended up on Mina.
"What?" she screeched, completely outraged. Yet again, Serena sung the rhyme.
"Ah, sorry Lita." Serena said sarcastically.
"Well, technically you shouldn't be included because you already have a boyfriend/future husband/princey friend." Lita grumbled.
"So what? I still wanna join in and fight 'til the end." Serena said courageously before singing the rhyme terribly out of tune.
"Raye! You won! You now get to pick who you're gunna try for."
"I pick..." she thought carefully. "Jadeite."
"But I like Jadeite!" Serena moaned.
"Well, I liked Darien before you but you stole him!" Raye argued.
"You were clearly just some annoying tag-a-long girl to him!" Serena protested.
"That's enough!" Lita shouted fiercely.
"Guys, keep it down. Zoisite, Jadeite and Nephlite are still asleep." Malachite said quietly.
"So...you weren't talking in your sleep then?" Serena asked.
"When?" Malachite seemed confused.
"You were saying something about sakuras." Amy giggled.
"No, I was awake then." He grumbled, seeing where this conversation was going.
"Is that a code name for one of us?" Serena questioned hopefully.
"Not for one of you." He replied, causing Mina and Serena to burst instantly into tears.
"Well, goodbye then!" and Serena turned her back to the tent wall with a huff. Malachite rolled his silvery eyes and focused on the beautiful girl lying next to him rather than the whispering girls next door. Zoisite's eyelids seemed to shift slightly and she started to tremble and whimper in her sleep. Malachite, being as observant as he is, noticed immediately almost silently reassured her.
"Shhh, it's ok. I'm here." He debated waking her up, but decided against that when she started to lean into him.
"N...no...don't do it..." she cried. Zoisite's small hands clenched the ends of Malachite's hair but didn't pull at it. Her legs thrashed about in her sleeping bag as if kicking an imaginary murderer.
"Keep it down, you two. I know you're probably busy but..." Nephlite fell back asleep, losing his absent minded thoughts.
"Zoisite? Wake up." Malachite shook her firmly to rock her out of the bad dream she was having. Zoisite woke up screaming:
"No! No!" She flung her arms round the nearest thing she could find, which happened to be Malachite's left thigh. He shivered, unsure of what to think or do in this situation.
"Did you have a bad dream?" he asked, gathering her up in his strong arms and rocking her side to side.
"Yes." Zoisite sniffed.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Malachite rubbed her back supportively.
"Ok." She leaned further into his chest and took a deep breath.
"We were in the Negaverse, us four, um, five, when Queen Beryl came in. She said three of us deserved to die. I was so sure that it'd be me, Nephlite and Jadeite because we are the lowest ranked. Suddenly, she sent a blast of magic our way..." she wiped her eyes before continuing.
"It hit...hit m-me in the st-stomach." Zoisite started full-on crying. The salty tears ran down her cheeks, reddening her sensitive skin.
"And Beryl said, 'One of you is dead now.' But I wasn't dead. I've had dreams where Beryl's killed me before and I just ignored them. The thing that scares me most is that...I was pr-preg-pregnant."
"Oh, it's ok Zoisite." He whispered comfortingly.
"What if that really happens?" she sobbed.
"Zoisite. You will not get pregnant. Not of me and not of anyone else." Malachite said.
"Do you promise?" the quiet voice asked.
"Yes, Zoisite. I wouldn't permit it. You are too young, too delicate. You're clearly not ready." He swept her up and gave her a huge, reassuring hug. She threw her arms round his neck, as if she was afraid he would run away if she didn't. Malachite started to rub and massage her back, causing her to close her eyes and hum peacefully.
"Can we have breakfast yet? I'm starving!" Serena whined. Malachite groaned and sighed.
"Sure, but you can explain to Jadeite and Nephlite why they had to wake up early." He argued.
"Ok!" she danced happily around her tent with Mina in tow. "We're having breakfast! Yummy, yummy breakfast!" they chorused loudly. "And we're eating with three cute guys!" Mina added excitedly.
"Three?" Zoisite asked.
"Yes!" Mina replied.
"Who's the third one?" Zoisite was stuck. She couldn't figure it out. 'Jadeite and Nephlite. Well, I guess they're kind of cute. There's no way that they can call Malachite cute though. He's just...hmmm.' Zoisite closed her eyes dreamily, thinking about all the words she could use to describe Malachite.
"Well, there's Jadeite, Nephlite and Malachite."
"Malachite is not cute." Zoisite said to-the-point. "He's the most handsome person in the world. He's just...aahhh..." she stroked Malachite's shoulders and ran her feminine fingers down his chest. He captured her hands in his own and gave her a short, sweet kiss on her tender lips.
"Jadeite! Wakey, wakey, rise and shine!" Raye burst in enthusiastically, startling everyone in the tent.
"It's a monster!" Nephlite screamed dramatically and hid inside his sleeping bag. Raye huffed, clearly annoyed, and went back to her tent to sulk (like Worzel Gummidge XD).
"We're making breakfast for you all!" Serena said, popping her head inside the tent to get a good look at Jadeite.
"And you'll love it." Mina added. Her and Serena skipped off together, arms linked, singing their little breakfast song again.
"Don't worry. Lita's cooking pancakes so it won't be bad at all." Amy laughed lightly. "You might wanna get dressed before you get drooled over though, especially you Malachite." And with that she walked off to help Lita.
"You heard her, come on guys." Malachite yawned and started getting dressed, completely unaware of the dark, green eyes watching him intently.
"Zoisite?" Jadeite questioned upon where her gaze fell. She seemed to be in a deep trance, completely immersed by the sight of Malachite.
"I think it's time to do some writing." Nephlite thought aloud before rolling over and reaching for his diary and pen.
"Can I see?" Jadeite pleaded desperately.
"Eh, no." Nephlite replied with a small chuckle.
"What?" Jadeite said a little too loudly.
"What are you guys talking about?" Malachite asked, turning around to see someone with dark hair writing, someone with light hair leaning over his shoulder, and someone with hair in a lovely shade between those two staring up at him. Zoisite's brilliant, green eyes had glazed over, looking as sweet and innocent as a sugary cherry placed on a cupcake.
"Zoisite?" Malachite knelt down before her and waved his hand in front of her fair face.
"Try putting your hand down her back. That's what I had to do when she was daydreaming about you before." Jadeite suggested.
"I am not going to touch her like that!" Malachite objected loudly.
"T-touch?" Zoisite shivered.
"Nothing Zoisite. Were you watching me change?" he asked, watching Zoisite's eyes widen in shock.
"Oh, well...I um...maybe." she said meekly.
"Ooohhh! Naughty Zoisite!" Jadeite mocked.
"Hey! It's my job to say that." Zoisite told him.
"Breakfast is ready!" Amy called from outside. Joyful cheers were heard from around the still-burning campfire and Malachite exited the tent saying:
"You better hurry up or there'll be none left." Zoisite leapt up and grabbed her uniform out of her bag.
"Girls, I'm borrowing your tent!" she shrieked and ran to the next tent to get changed.
"Errr...ok." Raye replied uncertainly as Zoisite rushed passed her. In less than five minutes, she was back outside and putting her hair up in its usual loose ponytail.
"Do you think Nephlite and Jadeite will still want their pancakes?" Serena asked, drooling as she eyed up four large pancakes sprinkled with sugar and finished off with a squeeze of lemon juice.
"I'll ask them." Raye 'sacrificed' herself to take a peek inside the other tent. She peered inside and her eyes turned big and loving.
"Awwww!" Raye squeaked, placing her hands over her heart. "That's so sweet!"
"What is it?" Malachite asked, coming over to see what it was. He saw Nephlite sleeping in a semi-circle shape, hugging Jadeite's head close to himself. Jadeite had his arms round Nephlite's middle, breathing quietly. One pair of blue eyes opened and looked around the tent sleepily, causing everyone to hold their breath. Jadeite laid his head back down in Nephlite's lap and went back to sleep.
"Do you think they like each other?" Zoisite giggled, trying to get more than a glimpse by crawling through Malachite's legs.
"Perhaps." This one word from Malachite made Mina, Raye, Lita and Serena all cry in despair.
"My life is over!" Raye did a faceplant on the dusty ground and mumbled some hard-to-understand words that sounded much like, 'he ever knew how much I loved him' and 'it's not fair'.
"Don't worry Raye, I loved him too." Serena cried, harshly patting Raye's black-haired head.
"Owww! Serena, get off!" she screamed, whacking her friend in the stomach.
"Waaaaaaa!" Serena wailed hysterically, tears shooting out of her eyes.
"Wha...?" Jadeite sat up with his hair in a mess and his eyes half opened.
"Come back to...mmm...bed Jeddy." Nephlite murmured, tugging on Jadeite's pyjama top sleeve.
"Mmm...ok." he agreed and happily started to snore. Serena continued to cry noisily, though this time not loud enough to wake anyone.
"Serena, why don't you go and eat the pancakes, ok?" Amy offered, leading the tearful girl away from the tents.
"Let's leave them for a bit." Malachite laughed nervously and shut the tent door, making sure it was zipped up fully so that none of the probable Sailor Scouts could take a sneaky glance at Jadeite and Nephlite. Zoisite and Malachite wondered of together to the stream with the plates to wash up whilst the girls sat around and chatted.
"Even I liked Jadeite." Mina moped around the campfire, moaning to anyone who would listen.
"I'm the only one, except Jadeite, who likes Nephlite." Lita said, only half concentrating.
Meanwhile, by the stream, Zoisite and Malachite were already in each other's affectionate embraces. The plates were sitting on a rock, left to air dry whilst the lovers caressed each other gently.
"Do you really think that Jadeite and Nephlite like each other?" Malachite asked after running the back of his hand against Zoisite's blushing cheek for the umpteenth time (not like that bothered him or anything).
"Maybe. They did seem rather into each other." She smiled.
"I've got a feeling it won't last very long – especially with those girls bothering them."
"That's true." Zoisite reasoned.
"They'll start bothering us if we don't hurry up and get back." Malachite sighed and unwound his arms from around Zoisite's fragile frame.
"One more kiss first?" Zoisite batted her eyelashes and looked up at her superior with big, adoring, green eyes.
"I couldn't say 'no' to you, even if I wanted to." He grinned and leant down to softly touch Zoisite's lips with his own. It surprised him that she responded so boldly, clutching the front of his jacket, pulling him closer. Malachite relaxed slightly and pulled Zoisite up onto his lap. A pigeon flew over head, leaving a small trail of feathers back to the other campers.
"It's a bird!" Amy breathed in awe.
"Or is it a plane?" Lita added with a smirk.
"No, it's Batman!" Nephlite whispered darkly. All of a sudden, let out a high-pitched scream.
"Ow! Don't kick my head." Jadeite whined like a little boy who had just woken up from a nap.
"Ewww! I have Jeddy-germs." Nephlite backed out of the tent and crashed into Mina.
"Did you say germs? Never fear, Nurse Venus is here!" she cried her mighty battle cry, holding an imaginary syringe and laughing like a maniac.
"Ugh! Enough with the Nurse Venus already." Raye moaned, holding the bridge of her nose and began going through her 'steps on how to become less of a stress head'.
"Yeah, she's right Mina. Nurse Venus is so last episode." Serena settled.
"Wait, what?" Amy asked.
"Heh heh...never mind."
"Where's Zoisite and Malachite?" Jadeite questioned, rubbing his eyes.
"They went off a while ago to wash up but they've been gone a while." Raye trailed off.
"Oh...ah...aha...oh...ah...OOOOHHHHH!" Jadeite had an epiphany as he realised what could be happening at the stream.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Nephlite said to Jadeite with a smile.
"Only if you're thinking what I'm thinking you're thinking." Jadeite replied, tripping over his own words.
"I'll take that as a yes then." Nephlite led the way, with Jadeite following close behind, to the stream. He clutched Zoisite's diaries in his left hand and stumbled through the trees until he reached the edge of where they shaded the grass. All of a sudden he came to an abrupt halt and held his and up, signalling Jadeite to stop. Both pairs of blue eyes excitedly watched the lover's every move as they kissed and caressed each other.
"Diary time." Nephlite whispered, opening the diary. "Don't ask to look, ok? I'll let you read it later."
"Sure." Jadeite didn't sound convinced but agreed none the less. Nephlite scribbled down many words as fast as his hand would allow him to. Jadeite suppressed his desire to peer over his shoulder and focused completely on Zoisite and Malachite.
"Can we interrupt them yet?" he asked quietly.
"Mmm..." Nephlite thought for a moment. "Yeah, might as well." They crept around the rim of the group of trees, only just hidden from sight by the over-hanging branches and unruly bushes. With steps as light and small as fairies, Jadeite and Nephlite tip-toed up behind the rock that Malachite was sat on. Zoisite was still perched daintily on his knees.
"BOO!" in unison, Jadeite and Nephlite both leaped forwards with their arms outstretched menacingly, shouting and screaming at the top of their voices. Zoisite let out a squeak tightened her grip on Malachite's jacket. He jolted at the sudden startling noises and movement, causing Zoisite to fall back and yelp in surprise.
"Nephlite! Jadeite!" she said disgracefully. Carefully, she eased herself back onto Malachite's lap and huffed dramatically.
"What's wrong with you?" Nephlite asked Zoisite with an attitude.
"You shouldn't have interrupted us." Malachite told him, as Zoisite was refusing to even look at Nephlite or Jadeite.
"Maybe we should go back. The girls are waiting for us." Jadeite finally suggested.
"Fine." Zoisite grumbled and set of through the trees at a brisk walk.
"Zoisite, wait." Malachite caught up with her and grabbed her wrist, forcing her to stop. "What's wrong?"
"They always mess everything up for us and I hate it." Zoisite cried.
"Oh, Zoisite, don't let them bother you. Once we go back, we'll have our whole castle all to ourselves, won't we?" Malachite reassured her and they continued to walk, hand in hand, until they reached the small camping area where five girls and two men sat.
"I guess." She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "What are we doing today?"
"Not sure." Malachite replied.
"...someone should pick..."
"...yeah..."
"What are you guys talking about?" Zoisite asked, sitting down in the circle of people.
"Trying to think about what to do." Mina uttered.
"How about we put a bunch of ideas in a hat and then pick one?" Jadeite prompted his idea with jazz hands!
"Jadeite, that is probably the smartest thing you've ever came up with." Malachite was genuinely shocked.
"What should we write on?" Lita wondered.
"I know!" Zoisite dove forwards and snatched her diary from Nephlite's hands.
"Hey!" he shouted as she ripped a few blank pages out. "I need them!"
"Not anymore you don't." Zoisite replied smugly. She began to tear the pages up into smaller pieces and handed everyone a strip of paper.
"Where's the pen, Nephlite?" Raye asked.
"Here." He grumbled, reluctantly handing her his (Zoisite's) pen.
"Don't tell anyone what you're writing. It'll be more fun that way." Jadeite piped up.
"Ok...um..." Raye thought carefully before writing down her idea. The pen was passed round everyone until there were nine pieces of paper with a different style of handwriting on each.
"Anyone got a hat?" Mina questioned, looking around to see who had one.
"I do! I'll go and get it." Amy quickly jogged into her tent and retrieved a blue baseball cap.
"Let's fold up the ideas and put them in." Everyone folded their paper and placed it in Amy's hat. Then, Lita mixed them up.
"Who's gunna pick?" Mina said, shrugging her shoulders.
"I will." Malachite placed his hand into the aqua blue hat and sifted through the bits of paper. He finally plucked one out, and opened it. "It is..." he pretended to pause to cause suspension, however he couldn't actually read the messy handwriting, "Um...c...o...a...l...i...n...g c...o...n...d...e...i...t...g...m. I don't think that's it."
"Oh goodie! That's mine! It's cooking competition though, not whatever you said." Serena celebrated by terribly singing and dancing a section of Let It Go.
"You can't cook Serena!" Raye scoffed.
"Darien and Rini liked my curry that I made for him all by myself, and he ate all the biscuits I made him all by myself, and he liked his birthday cake that I made for him all by myself last year, AND he still loves me after eating all those so therefore I'm a good cook." Serena argued.
"I kind of helped you with the cake and biscuits." Lita quietly pointed out.
"Well, what shall we cook?" Malachite thought aloud.
"Pastries?"
"Biscuits?"
"Pie?"
"That comes under pastries, Jadeite." Ami corrected.
"Oh."
"Jam tarts?"
"Jam tarts." Malachite decided. "Good idea, Nephlite."
"Wait, can you even cook, Nephlite?" Zoisite queried.
"Of course I can!" he replied, obviously hurt by Zoisite's doubt. "Right everyone! Um, did we bring any ready-made short crust pastry?"
"I'll go check." Jadeite got up and started to pull stuff out the food bag.
"Can you get jam, and butter too, please?" Nephlite shouted.
"Sure!" came the mumbled yell. Jadeite returned carrying a Clingfilm-covered wad of pastry, a jar of mixed berry jam, and a wrapped up oblong of butter.
"Ok kids. Today I'm gunna teach you how to make jam tarts."
"Um...Nephlite? We're not kids." Serena mumbled.
"You are, Serena!" Raye hooted with laughter.
"Anyways, as I was saying, we'll be making jam tarts. Who knows the first thing to do before you cook?" Nephlite spoke to all eight of them, treating the campers like five year olds.
"Play Sailor V?" Mina suggested, with Serena nodded eagerly.
"Nope."
"Wear bandanas?" Lita asked, tying one decorated with Poké Balls around her forehead.
"Nope, though it does look cute on you. Malachite, Zoisite, aren't you going to say anything?" Nephlite's bottom lip jutted out as Malachite and Zoisite shook their heads together.
"Oh, fine!" Zoisite shouted as Nephlite began to wail. "Do we wash our hands?"
"Yes! Well done, Zoisite. Now, TO THE STREAM!" and with that, the nine - well, more like seven – charged towards the stream, with Zoisite and Malachite reluctantly tagging along behind.
"I don't think this is gunna end well." Malachite murmured softly to Zoisite as Serena pushed Mina into the stream.
"Mmm..." she nodded absent-mindedly, too engrossed in her daydreams to concentrate properly.
"Come on Zoisite," Jadeite grabbed her arm and tried to pull her up. "You need to wash your hands!"
"...Don't...use the baby voice on me." Zoisite pointed at him with an accusing finger and went to a quiet part of the stream.
"Are we nearly done?" Everyone had washed their hands now and Malachite was getting impatient.
"BACK TO CAMP!" Nephlite shouted and led the way once more. Soon, everyone was sitting around Nephlite in a circle, starting to roll out the pastry and using Amy's maths books as chopping boards.
"Right. When it looks like this," Nephlite held up his to show a perfect example of perfect pastry. "Stop rolling or you'll break it."
"I didn't even know he could cook!" Zoisite whispered to Jadeite who snorted in agreement. Everyone neatly laid out their pastry for Nephlite to view.
"Good. Step two: Grease the cake tin hole things. Wait, do we even have any cake tins?" Nephlite asked.
"Nope." Jadeite replied.
"We don't have any either." Mina admitted.
"Yes we do!" Lita contradicted.
"Do we?" Raye sounded shocked.
"Uh huh. You never know when you might need one." Lita smiled.
"Is it ok if I use it?" Nephlite said politely.
"Of course! Let me go and get it." She quickly ducked inside the tent and retrieved a cake tin.
"Everyone know how to grease?"
"Yes!" almost everyone chorused enthusiastically.
"Do you have brushes for it?" Amy wondered.
"No, just use your fingers." Nephlite swiped the butter (well, margarine) with his finger and started spreading it around the holes. Serena, Lita, Mina and Jadeite instantly got their hands dirty whilst the others found more fun in reading some of Amy's maths books.
"Step three: put the pastry in the cake tin." Nephlite spoke.
"Ok!" Serena happily dumped her pastry right in the middle.
"No! Not like that!" Amy, the perfectionist, screamed. Everyone stared at her; Jadeite and Nephlite shrunk back in fear.
"Are you ok?" Zoisite asked carefully and slowly.
"Um, yes. Sorry."
"Serena, do it like this." Nephlite gave an example of gently placing his pastry into one of the holes and blocking any gaps. "Go on then, guys."
"Oh, ok." She blushed in embarrassment and did as she was told. The others followed Nephlite's actions and nine cake tin holes were quickly filled.
"Right. Step four: Place a spoonful of-"
"-sugar helps the medicine go down!" Raye butted in.
"The medicine go down, the medicine go down!" Amy continued.
"Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down," Lita managed to sing before bursting onto a fit of fizzling giggles.
"In a most delightful way!" Zoisite finished.
"That was weird." Nephlite concluded.
"No, that was pretty good actually." Malachite grinned.
"Hey look! Pigeons!" Jadeite cried happily and tried to chase them, but was stopped by Zoisite.
"No! Feed the birds, don't chase them." Zoisite objected, grabbing his arm in the process.
"Is this turning into a Mary Poppins play or something?" Amy asked with a light laugh.
"Sounds like it." Malachite agreed.
"As I was saying, you need to fill each...err thing...with a dollop of jam." Nephlite finally managed to give his instruction. The task was quickly and quietly completed, with only a few squeaks from Serena as jam stained her white t-shirt.
"How should we cook them? I wouldn't suggest the pizza cooking method, by the way." Malachite reminded everyone of the previous night.
"Don't worry. I know where you went wrong." Nephlite smiled slyly.
"And you didn't bother to tell me?"
"Well...no." he laughed nervously and tried to focus on creating a small oven over the fire with pebbles and stones.
"What are you doing?" Amy interrogated, gesturing to the miniature stone archway.
"Making an oven. That'll make sure the tarts get cooked all over and not just burnt on the top." Nephlite sounded proud of himself, not unlike any other time. He placed the tray in the oven and covered the entrance with more stones, careful not to burn himself.
"Oh." Malachite sighed. 'Why...how did I not think of that?'
"In the meantime, corn beef sandwiches anyone?" Lita proposed a late lunch. Or linner...or luner...
"Sure, and then we can have jam tarts before we go to bed." Mina added.
"I've still got some sarnies from yesterday, and most of them are corn beef. I've got a few Marmite ones though."
"Ewww." To put it bluntly, Zoisite did not approve of Marmite.
"I'll have a Marmite one." Lita handed one to Raye.
"Anyone else?" she asked.
"I will." Nephlite said when no one else spoke.
"I'll take the last one then. The rest of you, help yourself to corn beef." Everyone tucked in; all you could hear was loud munching (Serena), exclamation that food had never tasted so good (also Serena), and someone begging for more (yet again Serena).
"Can I have yours please Amy?" Serena pleaded. Amy shook her head, which caused Serena's sky blue eyes to fill with salty tears.
"Fine." She grumbled, and handed her blonde-haired friend the last of her sandwich.
"Are you sure Amy?" Mina asked. Again, she nodded mutely before reading the next few pages of her maths book. Meanwhile, Nephlite rescued the perfect jam tarts from his homemade oven.
"Let's do something else." Jadeite groaned.
"Like what?" Nephlite pondered anything and everything in his mind.
"We could pick from the hat again." Zoisite suggested.
"Who wants to pick from the hat this time?" Malachite said aloud as Nephlite grabbed the hat.
"I will!" Mina bumbled over and plunged her hand into the eight pieces of paper. Five seconds later she pulled it out again, clutching a crumpled up piece of folded paper. She opened it slowly.
"Card games."
"That was mine." Malachite smiled with his little 'victory'. "What games do we all know?"
"Snap!" Serena shouted. "Everyone knows that!"
"True." Raye agreed.
"Shall I get the cards Malachite?" Zoisite said sweetly.
"Yes please." Zoisite hurriedly ran inside the Negaverse tent and returned with a pack of cards, which she handed to the superior of the two lovers.
"Is everyone playing?" he asked as he shuffled the cards and prepared to dish them out.
"Yar." Nephlite replied. Malachite almost threw the cards with the speed he used to serve the cards into nine piles.
"Can I start?" Amy eventually put down her book and looked up.
"Sure." Malachite nodded. The game started, and took a while due to a fluke of no one getting a snap in the first round. As soon as Jadeite, the fortunate and very surprised winner, won, a new game was chosen. This happened to be Beat Your Neighbour.
"Nephlite, I want to sit next to you, not Malachite." Zoisite said and moved herself as Nephlite regarded her with an odd expression.
"Why?" he managed to say.
"Well, the game's called 'Beat Your Neighbour', and I don't really want to beat Malachite." Malachite chuckled at the kindness of Zoisite.
"So it definitely has nothing to do with the hatred and rivalry between us then?" Nephlite asked.
"Nope...much." the second game commenced, Jadeite and Mina now giving a VERY annoying running commentary.
"And here we see lovely Raye taking the lead, with Mina coming up close behind."
"No, no, no! I'm winning!" Mina whined. "I've got four more cards than her! See?!" she screeched, pointing at her pile of cards.
"How about we stop the running commentary now?" Malachite's icy tone shut them both up. A few hours had passed, and Amy and Jadeite, who were used to having early nights, were growing weary. Amy yawned sleepily and her eyelids dropped shut for a moment before rising again.
"Can we have the jam tarts and go to bed please? I'm really tired." She yawned again and leaned her head on Lita's shoulder.
"Ok. Nephlite, why don't you get the tarts whilst I pack away the cards?" Malachite said, already neatening his pile.
"Sure." He replied, and reached inside his tent to get them. "Here we go everyone. Enjoy!" Serena, Mina, Jadeite and Raye all dashed forwards and collided, resulting from pain-tinged moans and grumbles. Malachite took his chance and grabbed two jam tarts, one for him and one for Zoisite, leaving the others to get one themselves. Serena was finally triumphant and stiffed her jam tart in her mouth whole, whereas Amy ate hers with tiny, dainty bites.
"I'm going to bed. Goodnight everyone." She said wearily and wondered inside her tent.
"Goodnight Amy!" everyone else chorused.
"I think everyone should go to bed." Lita thought aloud.
"Yeah, ok. Come on guys." Malachite beckoned for Zoisite, Nephlite and Jadeite to follow him whilst the remaining girls fled back to their tent.
"Today was interesting. I didn't even know you could cook, Nephlite!" Zoisite giggled.
"What? It's not that funny." He retorted.
"Sorry, but I could just imagine you making fairy cakes and cookies and wearing an apron." This comment started everyone laughing in an uncontrollable way.
"Shut it! I'm trying to get my beauty sleep!" Raye shouted ferociously. All mouths were sealed tightly shut after that, apart from when Jadeite sneezed.
"Goodnight, Malachite." Zoisite whispered ever so quietly.
"Sleep well, Sakura." Zoisite blushed at the nickname and buried her face in Malachite's pale mint green hair. She inhaled its sweet scent and looked up at her teacher. He was still looking at her and his expression was unreadable. This was enough to make Zoisite bashfully hide her eyes. All of a sudden, two fingers were felt, lifting her face up to meet Malachite's. Zoisite smiled shyly against his lips and leaned into the kiss a little bit more every time Malachite's hand drifted down her back. Their lips finally parted and there was a moment of silence...
...until their ears pricked up as the faint scribbling of pencil on paper was heard. Malachite groaned.