GASSY2!!!! My dear editor, I'm so sorry I couldn't send this to you! I
tried to, but my computer is doing weird things, screwing up all the
attachments I send. I'll try to fix the problem a.s.a.p.!
Infinite thanks to...
wingnut and mckttn! I think I've thanked one of you already (didn't there used to be a raegurly?) for putting me on your favorite authors list, but I'd rather thank you again than not thank you at all.
Thank you, Leifang Fan! I did not know you put me on your list until I read that you did in the reviews section. I only know who puts me on their favorite authors list....sorry if I didn't thank you earlier. So thanks a bunch right now!
Dear K. Wyse: Am I being repetitious in my words? Oh goodness, that's not good. Not good, not good, not good. Goodness gracious, I'm doing it again. I'm so sorry. I'll try to stop for good. Ah hell, I give up. Maybe you can give me some more pointers? Please?
I'm sorry if you find my use of sentence structure and flow of words odd. All of my English teachers love my writing, so it would be hard to change my style after so many years. Sorry!!!
Et merci beaucoup Gangsta Vidal! Vous etes si sympa et drole! Vous parlez francais aussi? Super! Mais ce n'est pas un livre...dommage. Il est magnifique? Je pense il est assez bete, non? (and I thought that "avoir faim" meant to be hungry.)
Disclaimer: I feel a headache coming on. Oi, if you don't know that none of us fanfic authors own Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, then you must have been living under a rock. A very big rock. Get with the program! I have not, do not, and will not own Sailor Moon.
WARNING! = This is going to be the longest chapter yet. You guys keep asking for a longer chapter, so I did it this time. Now I'll make you regret it. It covers the holes of the last chapter, but it also includes the first part of the Rei/Jed encounter. Because this one is so long, you might not see another one for a while. Bear with me, people.
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The Winning Losers
Chapter 8: Killing Four Birds with One Stone
**Past continued**
"Oh. My. GOD!"
Kunzite's little friends could think of nothing to say for once in their lives.
Jadeite just stood there and bit his lip, knowing that anything coming out of his wise-cracking mouth in the next five minutes would have made him as good as dead. Knowing Kunzite's temperament, it was wiser to make no comment and live than to make a comment and never see the light of day again.
Young Endymion, always aiming to make everyone around him happy, tried to offer his friend some words of consolation. "It doesn't look that bad, Kunz. Your hair color now looks...unique. Yes, definitely a fashion statement. You were never a conformist anyways. I guess you could say it's fitting to your personality."
But nothing would reach Kunzite's ears. A 4'11" starry-eyed blonde girl had succeeded in humiliating him in front of his friends and future combatants. Instead of being the smart leader he claimed to be, he only led himself into another one of their traps. For the first time in a long time, Kunzite felt that he had failed his comrades. He had failed himself.
Then the self-pity dissipated and the tide of anger rose again. Seeing nothing but red, Kunzite slammed the door open and charged down the hall. He was so blinded by rage that he nearly crashed into Luna LaMerciere, Queen Serenity's regal advisor and the royal and beloved governess/trainer/teacher of the princess and the Senshi-in-training.
Kunzite was tempted to slam his head against the hard marble floor for being so inconsiderate and careless of his actions. 'Pull yourself together, boy! Don't let that little wretch get to you.'
"I'm terribly sorry Lady LaMerciere. I should be more careful."
Luna was more than perplexed. "Excuse me, young man, do I know you?"
"I almost forgot about this," he said, pointing agitatedly to his white mop of hair. "It is I, Prince Kunzite, my lady."
"Oh dear! I did not recognize you without-" and then she too pointed up and down at his hair. "What happened, your Highness?"
An uncomfortable silence saturated the air, for Kunzite could not think of a polite way to express the situation and to expose the scoundrel who violated him. Fortunately for him, Luna was not naive. She knew perfectly well what was going on between the girls and the young princes.
People were always conscious of themselves when Luna was in the same room. Nothing, not even a speck of dust, escaped her critical eye. She could effortlessly piece together an accurate chain of events with the scarce links of information given to her.
With Luna's solemn nod of understanding, Kunzite released a long sigh of relief. Luna could feel another white hair sprouting through her scalp. "I assume Princess Minako is the main source of your misfortune, and though it can not help you, I apologize on behalf of our people. We are disgraced for allowing this madness to negatively affect our honored guests."
'Finally,' thought Kunzite, 'a civil person among the savages!' "I do not blame anyone but the offender, and I do not wish to ruin the holiday of His and Her Royal Highnesses by making this incident public."
"You are a wise young man," complimented Luna, eliciting a pleased smile from Kunzite. "Now let us see if we can do anything about your hair."
"That's alright, Lady LaMerciere. I do not want to waste your valuable time any longer. I'll just have Zoisite take care of this for me." He truly did not want to occupy Her Ladyship's time, but what Kunzite really feared was going to the laboratory of Princess Mercury, who was one of *them*. He bet that the wicked Venusian princess even persuaded the quiet, timid, blue-haired genius princess to offer a big hand in his predicament.
**Flashback**
Makoto, Rei, and young Serenity were visiting Ami in her mini laboratory where she ran all sorts of funny tests. Ami was working diligently, mumbling to herself and taking the pencil behind her ear to jot down notes, while the other three girls watched with interest. They didn't understand a thing that their intelligent friend did or said during the critical moments of an experiment, nor were they as passionate about science as Ami was.
If they were lucky, Ami made a mistake in her calculations, and they got to see mixed chemicals in the test tube blow up in little Ami's face in a spectacular mushroom of colorful smoke, making Ami look something akin to a clown struck by lightning. It was great entertainment for a lazy afternoon.
Just when Ami was adding a last drop of a red liquid into her solution, Minako burst into the room, startling all of them and provoking Ami to add one too many drops into the vial. The event that Serenity and the other Senshi anticipated finally occured when the violent chemical reaction exploded in Ami's clean and small face. The final result was turning Ami's skin a deep blush from the collar up, dying her hair pink and purple polkadots, and making it stand on end.
As far as Rei, Makoto, and Serenity were concerned, the experiment was a success, but the fun was cut short when they saw their best friend in stress. "Goodness, Mina-chan!" exclaimed Ami. "Whatever is the matter?"
Following the unpleasant encounter with Prince Kunzite, Minako stalked through the palace in search for the comfort only her friends could provide her. Only they understood what the life of a Silver Millennium princess and a Senshi was like. They understood the trials of growing up. They understood what girls understood most: each other.
She had tried not to shed any tears of anger or mortification, but at the sight of her friends, Minako couldn't hold back. She ran into the comforting arms of her soul sisters, and she cried.
"Shhh, it's okay, Mina-chan. We're here," consoled Makoto. Serenity searched Makoto's gaze for an answer, but Makoto looked towards pink and purple polkadotted Ami, who exchanged glances with Rei. They seemed to read the entire situation, but they just bowed their heads low and continued to rub Minako consolingly on the back.
A couple tears and five minutes later, Ami said, "Do you want to talk about it now, Mina-chan?" For the first time, Minako took her face from Makoto's shoulder and really observed her surroundings. She took in Ami's ridiculous red skin color and the pink and purple polkadotted hair standing on end, and she laughed out loud so hard that the former tears returned as tears of laughter.
"I'm so glad I can make you laugh so easily," mumbled little Ami, eyeing her chemical set dubiously. Minako laughed even more and gave all her friends a big hug.
"Sorry Ami-chan, but you look redder than the time Prince Frederic 'frog lips' of Io kissed your forehead in kindergarten!"
"Thanks for the memories I've tried so hard to forget."
"You're more than welcome," said Minako. She was feeling much better already. "I'm sorry if I worried you guys earlier, but I was just so angry and frustrated at myself...and..."
"And at someone else in particular," finished Rei.
Minako nodded. "How did ya guess, Rei-chan?"
Rei was offended. "I never 'guess'."
Ami spoke up as she washed her face and hair to their normal colors. "If you don't feel up to telling us what happened, I think I can give everyone a rough sketch of things." Minako nodded mutely, so Ami continued:
"You ran into the room, pretty unhappy. You, the happy-joy-joy Mina- chan, are only unhappy when one of these three things happen: a) something bad has happened to a loved one, b) your "Romantics Anonymous" book club is not on time, or c) someone insults your capability as a soldier.
"Your expression and outburst told me that you weren't really sad, but angry. That leaves b) and c). I see you have one of those romance books in your hand, so that rules out b), which only leaves c) someone must have insulted your capability as a soldier.
"You usually don't care about what other people say about you personally, Mina-chan, so the offender must have said something really mean. Probably about your leadership skills and about us, then. I also see the book has been roughly handled, but you take really good care of your romance books, so that must mean that someone else did the damage. The only people I can think of that would have the nerve to disrespect a princess and her belongings are....[dramatic pause]...the four princes of Earth!
"Now which one did it?" Ami asked herself. "All of them are pretty bold and rude, but none of them would dare disrespect the appointed Senshi leader. All except the high-and-mighty commander himself, Prince Kunzite!"
Minako nodded her head vigorously. "Exactly!" Serenity and Makoto applauded Ami's reasoning, and Rei gave a thumbs up. Minako felt the fury rise up in her again, and she spent the next half an hour complaining, cursing Kunzite, and giving them the rest of the details of the incident.
Makoto jumped to her feet. "It's bad enough those idiots have offended Ami and me, but they're going too far now. They're going after our future commander! They have no respect for anyone, do they? They're trying to prove that they're not afraid of the powerful Silver Millennium, but boy will they regret ever hearing of our names!"
Serenity bit her lip. The last thing she wanted was troubling her Endy's friends. All she wanted was for everyone to get along or to at least act amicable with each other. It hurt her to know that Endymion was probably stuck in the same stupid dilemma as she was, but her friends needed her, and they were top priority.
Little Minako continued her rant. "He says he's more mature than I'll ever be! I'm sure he is. He's got his head so far up his butt that all he sees is himself! He says I'm not a fit leader. Who is he to talk?! How dare he, the little pus bag! He's totally got it backwards. Backwards, backwards, backwards! I'll show Mr. Maturity what this 'little girl' can do. But how to go about it?" She looked at Rei questioningly.
"I'm flattered that you come to me for evil schemes," said Rei sarcastically, "but if you guys keep taking my ideas, what will I do if I need an idea for myself?"
"You're right. I'm supposed to be a leader, so I should be able to come up with my own plans and execute it myself."
"No!" cried Makoto. "You think of the plan, but don't leave us out of the action! Remember what we promised each other: we're in this war together."
Minako smiled thankfully at her partners in crime. "Yeah. Hey, I got it! Ami, is there a way to make a permanent hair dye?"
"Of course, but it would be easier to just buy it."
"No, no, I mean, change a person's hair color forever?"
That gave Ami pause. "Forever?"
"Forever," affirmed Minako.
"In that case....no, I've never heard of such a thing. But I think I could give it a shot in the lab."
"Great! To the drawing board!"
A while later, Minako and Rei were outside Kunzite's and Jadeite's door. Ami discovered a formula that met Minako's standards, and in a matter of minutes, she had whipped up a bottle of shampoo that was definitely not an everyday bottle of shampoo. The secret formula was like an intense bleach that soaked deep into the scalp and worked from the roots down with immediate and permanent results.
Unfortunately for Ami, the process of developing the shampoo created a huge mess in her lab station, so she and Makoto stayed behind to clean up and destroy any traces of evidence. Serenity went outside to play with Endymion and his friend Jadeite.
"Alright, Rei-chan," whispered Minako to Rei in the empty hallway, "you stay in front of this door and keep watch. If anyone happens to come by, speak loudly enough so I can hear, and if you must, create a good diversion."
"Okay. Careful, Mina-chan."
With the stealth of a cat, Minako tip-toed into the room. She heard running water within the bathroom. 'Perfect timing. But how do I get in without being noticed? Hmm...he's probably taking a hot shower, so there should be enough heat to steam up the glass.' She tied her hair back into a messy bun so she wouldn't look too obvious through the foggy glass.
"Jadeite! You in the room? Jadeite! JADEITE!! Somebody please just hand me some shampoo!" she heard him holler. Taking a deep breath, Minako opened the door and slowly walked in, hoping that her assumption was correct.
"Hey Zoisite! Thank God you heard me because I didn't feel like running through the halls in a towel and having the young servant girls ogle me. For a rich place, they should really stock up the bathrooms more." Minako wanted to pat herself on the back. 'Good. He doesn't see me through this steam. And what a dork. There's shampoo in the extras drawer, but he's too stupid to look. This will teach him not to be lazy.'
She threw the bottle of shampoo over to him and wordlessly exited the bathroom. 'Success!' She hurried out of his room, but she was surprised to find that Rei was not guarding the door.
Then, a strong hand clutched her shoulder. 'Oh God. I'm in trouble now!' Minako could feel her pulse racing wildly a thousand times per minute, the rhythmic beat deafening her ears. Beads of cold sweat trickled down her burdened brow, and she had forgotten how to breathe. The unavoidable chill ran a cold finger up her little spine, but she managed to turn around and face her captor.
"Rei-chan! Girl, don't scare me like that!"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to. I used an invisibilty spell to hide myself, and for a second I forgot I was still under the charm when you came out."
"Invisibility spell? Why didn't I think of that?"
"It doesn't matter now. Is the deed done?"
"Yup. If he thinks he's so grown up, I might as well help him in adding a couple of decades to his appearance. Remind me to take Ami's camera later."
**End of flashback**
Nephrite, who had emerged from his recent black mood to offer moral support, sat quietly next to Kunzite, who was bent over the seat with his chin sitting grimly on his palms. Lady Luna LaMerciere left a while ago, saying she had some business to straighten out. Young Zoisite was hunched over a high-powered microscope with one of Kunzite's newly white hairs between the glass slides. Zoisite fingered his chin and mumbled strange things to himself, both actions being signs of great interest and critical thinking.
Finally, he pushed his rolling chair away from the microscope, stretched his stiff limbs, and walked towards his anxious albino-haired friend with his hands clasped behind his back.
"Would you like to hear the good news or the bad new first?"
"I don't care!" snapped Kunzite, a little more harshly than he meant.
"You're not making this any easier on yourself. Anyways, the good news is that there are no further reactions or any harmful side effects in connection with the color change."
"That's good," commented Nephrite, trying to raise Kunzite's spirit.
"The bad news is...umm...Well you see..."
"Come on Zoi, just tell us," Nephrite prodded.
Squinting one of his eyes in trepidation, Zoisite revealed, "It'll stay that color for a very, very long time."
Kunzite leaned closer to him. His voice was low and almost choked when he asked, "How long?"
"[Gulp] It's an everlasting dye. It's...permanent...for the rest of your life."
Zoisite was saved an earful of pained profanity when Jadeite rushed into the room immediately.
"Ha ha!" laughed Jadeite, still puffing hard after his hurried run but grinning from ear to ear. "Guess what, Kunz! Hmm...not in the mood for guessing, I see. No matter, because I'm gonna tell you anyways! I just heard that the wonderful Lady LaMerciere has seen that justice was done, my friend."
"What do you mean?" asked Nephrite. "I don't see how justice can be done when the damage on Kunzite is permanent."
"Wow, that serious? You mean *permanent* permanent?"
Zoisite spoke through clenched teeth. "You don't need to remind him, Jadeite."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. But as I was saying, Lady LaMerciere marched over to Princess Venus's room and gave her the lecture of the century! And I thought Kunzite was tough on us. I heard her voice penetrate through these thick palace walls from the royal gardens! Lady LaMerciere threatened that if she did anything like this to you or anyone else ever again, she would be stripped of her commander's title and be suspended from the Moon. The good lady also cut off the princess's membership to her favorite book club and sentenced her to a year's worth of morning and night servant duties! 'I know you were not the only one involved,' said she, 'but as the chosen leader of the esteemed Sailor Senshi, you are supposed to set a good example for your team, and thus you will be punished!' A princess doing the servants' work....priceless!"
The light returned to Kunzite's gray eyes as he listened to Jadeite's revitalizing report. Unexpectedly, he sprang from his seat and laughed along with Jadeite. "I knew it!" he sang as he playfully punched his friends in the arm. "What goes around comes around. I almost believe that this whole hair disaster was totally worth it! Boys, this calls for a celebration!"
Every inch of surface in the South Wing of the Moon palace gleamed so brightly that it would be sacrilegous to desecrate the cleanliness with a profane footprint. In one of the spotless corners of the hallway kneeled Minako, who had scrubbed the floor with her hot sweat and bitter tears.
Why was fate so cruel to her? Not only did Luna cut off her membership to her favorite book club, but she had to accept this unjust punishment for giving Prince Kunzite exactly what he deserved. She, a crown princess of a powerful planet, was doing the servants' chores while the nasty Earth prince was mocking her from his comfortable luxury suite. 'Life is so not fair!' her mind screamed.
Light snoring beside her interrupted her indignant thoughts. Little Ami and Makoto had already fallen into an exhausted alseep. Ami rested her head on Makoto's lap as they both slept against the cold stone wall. 'Poor girls,' thought Minako. The Chibi (AN: small) Senshi had insisted that they went through the punishment together.
"We can't just sit around and watch you suffer by yourself, Mina- chan!" protested Rei. "What kind of friends would we be then?"
"She's right," said Ami. "An individual is strong, but a team is stronger."
"It sounds cliche, but real friends stick together. Plus, I like house cleaning," added Makoto.
So Ami, Makoto, and Rei picked up a bucket and sponge and helped Minako wipe down the entire wing. 'I'm so lucky to have found friends like them.' But Minako drew the line when Princess Serenity wanted to get on hands and knees and help them too. "Absolutely not, Princess!"
"Why not?" whined Serenity. "You're my friend too! How come you let Ami and Rei and Makoto help you but not let me share the punishment?"
"I know you care about me and want to volunteer like the other girls, but you are the princess of the Silver Millennium! I can't let you lower yourself to these menial chores. That's scandalous!"
"We would just get in more trouble if we let you," said Makoto. "It's okay, Usa-chan. We'll take care of Mina-chan, and we'll all be fine. Just go upstairs and continue your school lessons with Luna and Artemis."
Baby Serenity was hurt, but Minako wouldn't let her try to change their minds. She and Rei literally picked her up and dragged her up the stairs while she kicked, screamed, and protested all the while. 'She meant well, but that hurt like hell!'
*Ding* chimed the old grandfather clock. 'Oh gosh, it's one o'clock in the morning. We cleaned the entire night, and we'll be doing this for a whole year! By the time I'm thirteen, I'll look like I'm thirty! Kill me, kill me now.' Minako ran an arm across her forehead in defeat. She had never felt so tired in her life.
After putting away all the cleaning products in the storage room, Rei returned to the corner where the three girls rested. She stood her aching back against the wall and slid down to sit next to Minako, creasing her already frumpled skirt even more. Minako let her head fall on Rei's petite shoulder, and the two wakeful girls sat like that in silence for a long moment.
"Rei-chan," said Minako as dawn slowly approached, "I'm so sorry for getting you guys into this. You guys didn't have to, and you shouldn't have either. Thank you..."
"Don't thank us, Mina-chan. We're just doing what friends are supposed to do. It's late...er...it's early. Let's wake Ami-chan and Mako- chan and get them into their beds."
"But they're so tired...I don't wanna wake them up. How about you carry Mako-chan up to her room and I take Ami-chan?"
"Why do you get to carry the lighter load?"
"Because you're so strong, Rei-chan!"
"Hey, you got us into this remember?"
"But Mako-chan's too heavy for me to haul upstairs!"
"I heard that...." mumbled Makoto, cracking open one sleepy eye. She lightly nudged Ami until she too came out of her dreamless sleep.
"Hmm...what time is it?" yawned Ami.
"Past one already," answered Minako as she stood up. "Come on, let's get you guys off the hard floor and into a nice, warm bed."
Putting out both of her hands, she pulled up Ami and Makoto. They started to walk towards their bedrooms but stopped midway up the staircase. Rei had not moved from her spot.
"You guys go ahead and get some sleep," she ordered softly. "I forgot to do something."
"Can't it wait until morning?"
"This is something that can't wait." Rei's voice was eerily steady and quiet. Though she stood with fortitude straightening her spine, her head was bent down, hiding her unreadable face in shadow. She then calmly folded her arms in front of her chest and began to walk away.
"Rei-chan! Where are you going?" Makoto interrogated.
"Come back, Rei-chan!" pleaded Ami.
Rei walked on, ignoring them.
"Sailor Mars, halt!" commanded Minako, assuming her role as Senshi leader. The dark-haired girl finally froze at the order of her commander. "I demand that you tell me what you're planning to do."
"I don't want anyone to get involved. You were already penalized, Mina-chan, and I don't want you, Ami-chan, or Mako-chan to get punished any further. If someone finds out, I'll take full responsiblity, and that means I do this alone. You guys can help me by not getting in the way."
Rei's meaning was made clear; she was going to avenge her friends. She put her hand up to silence their objections. "Ami's priceless family heirloom, Makoto's one-of-a-kind rose bush, and Minako's revoked privileges. All of your noble names and gentle souls dragged in the dirt. Enough is enough. Don't worry...I'm not going to do anything too drastic...it'll be harmless...But please, don't stop me."
Minako bit her lip. It was all up to her, the final say among the Senshi team. 'Duty or friend...common sense or instinct.. responsibilty or trust?' After weighing everything in her head, she realized that there was no contest.
"Be careful, Rei-chan."
The morning after the boys' joyous victory party greeted them with renewed ambition. Prince Kunzite had let go of his previous digust over his colorless hair. His self-control reasserted itself, reminding him that appearance did not affect his abilities or his influence on people. 'How could I have let such a petty thing get to me?' he asked himself over and over again.
The four lesser Earth princes were gathered in one of the rooms, the topic of discussion ranging from fighting techniques to the newest technology in warfare. It was typical "male" conversation.
"Come in!" said Nephrite when someone knocked on the door. "Morning, Endy!" he exclaimed.
"Good morning, guys," Endymion responded.
"Where were you last night?" asked Jadeite. "You missed a really great little party here."
"Oh...I was just spending some time with my parents."
"That's too bad because you missed all the fun!"
"Fun?"
"Yeah, celebrating the loss of the Sailor Senshi!"
"So you guys actually threw a party for the occasion?"
"Of course! You okay, Endy?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing, I'm fine. I just came over to tell you guys to spend some time outside of the palace. You guys look like you need something interesting to do, and I hear that the marketplace is a really fun area. You guys seem trapped in this formal atmosphere and don't look as energetic as you usually are. It'll be healthy for you."
The young bodyguards didn't like the idea at first because they didn't want to leave their prince unprotected. "I'll be fine," he assured them. "It's perfectly safe here. For me, at least."
Zoisite still had other doubts. "But we're pretty high profile people. We can't just go prancing around in the marketplace without someone coming up to us and talking their head off."
"I thought you'd say that," said Endymion, "so I gathered up some peasants' clothes so you can go in disguise."
"Smart thinking, Endy. Wow, you must have given this some thought. Are you coming with us, Endy?"
"Naw, I promised to take Princess Serenity to the royal park."
So in just an hour, the four princes of Earth were in the guises of country peasants walking through the lively streets of the Lunarian marketplace. All sorts of people were going in and out of neat little shops. Many people were of Lunar origin, but others were obviously tourists from other planets and galaxies. The marketplace lived with dancing colors, breathed the aroma of the vendors' tasty treats, and sang the infectious song of the salesmen.
"Roses for sale! Buy a rose for your sweetheart!"
"Gold and silver and gemstones galore! Rare pieces at great prices!"
"Pastries, two for the price of one!"
Kunzite, Nephrite, Jadeite, and Zoisite were enjoying themselves very much. The marketplaces on Earth weren't even half as diverse or animated as this one on the Moon. They had a renewed sense of adventure in their costumes, and they loved the newfound freedom of anonymity. People talked and joked with them, things that they wouldn't have done if they were dressed up like foreign royalty.
One hour into their trip, they came across a pawnshop. The dealer was a hunched but kindly old man with a long white beared that swept the ground. "What can I do for ye lads?"
"We're just browsing," replied Nephrite, admiring the strange collections of stuffed tropical birds and the antique telescopes. His gaze fell upon a shiny new microscope, which looked vaguely familiar. "Hey Zoi, doesn't that look like your microscope?"
Zoisite came over and studied it. "That does look like mine. Who'd be dumb enough to sell a good....HEY! THAT _IS_ MY MICROSCOPE!"
"Excuse me, laddie, but I don't remember you selling it to me," said the pawnbroker.
"That's because I never sold it to you! Where did you get it?!"
"Well, really early this morning, in the wee hours before sunrise, someone came and sold it to me for a really cheap price. Nice person, that."
"WHO?!"
"Don't know. Person was in a cloak and spoke really low. Couldn't tell if t'was a lassie or laddie."
Jadeite then ran over to the others with a jeweled dagger in his hands. "You guys! This is _my_ dagger that my uncle gave to me!"
"My favorite astronomy books are in this store, too!" exclaimed Nephrite. "And there's the chain my father gave me!"
"That's the gold compass I brought with me!" yelled Kunzite, pointing to the glossy compass on one of the high shelves. "Zoisite, look! That's your mini computer! And there's Jadeite's radio! My swords are here, too!!!"
"I don't know what's goin' on here," said the old man, "but I'm afraid I can't return these things to ye. I paid good money for these items, so if you want them back, you'll have to pay."
"This is OUTRAGEOUS! We have to pay for our own possessions?!"
The boys discovered that more than half of the things that they had brought with them from Earth ended up in that small pawnshop, and they had spent over 1,000 gold coins and 60 silver pieces to get all their things back. The old man was so happy that he made so much profit that he didn't even think about why four teenage peasant boys were paying him with bags of gold.
By the time they left the pawnshop, they were back in their foul moods. Their bad luck from the Moon palace was ubiquitous, following them outside as well.
"Could this day get any worse?" groaned Kunzite.
Nephrite dropped his bag of items on the ground. "It just did."
"Oh God, now what?"
"Look to your left."
To their left was a dirty looking young man in clothes fit for a prince. His hair was long and disheveled, and his skin was both swarthy and sunburnt. Grime completely coated his hands and had gotten under his fingernails, and he slouched on the bench with his legs spread wide open. He certainly did not act or look like a true gentlemen, but his clothes were clearly those of a nobleman. The conundrum suddenly made sense when the insignia of earth on the breast of the shirt glimmered in the sunlight.
In a flash, the four boys surrounded the mismatched man in the Terran clothing.
"Excuse me, Sir," said Nephrite, "but where did you get your attire?"
The young man looked up at the boys in peasant clothing, spit on the ground, and pointed to a long line of ragged men ahead of them. "Over there," he said lazily. "The donations office recently got a nice load of clothes from a generous anonymous person, and they're distributing the clothes to us poor folks. You boys look little better than me, so I'm sure you can get a set of nice clothes like mine. Better hurry though 'cause there's a long line o' men waiting for a snappy makeover. I look good enough to marry the Moon princess herself!"
The four boys left the the poor peasant cackling to himself. "Great, just great!" exclaimed Jadeite in exasperation. "Not only were most of our worldly possessions sold in a pawn shop, all our clothes have been stolen and donated to the peasants of the Moon, too! In a matter of minutes, people will be parading around the marketplace in ill-fitting noble's clothes! People will see the Earth symbol on the clothes and think that we Terran people are all a bunch of filthy bums! And since we're costumed in peasants' clothing, we don't even have one outfit for ourselves!"
"Someone really wants to make us look bad. Why did this happen? Who'd do such a thing?" questioned Nephrite.
Jadeite laughed cynically. "Who do you think, genius?"
"Let's get back to the Moon palace and get to the bottom of this," directed Kunzite.
But Jadeite already had one person in mind who he suspected was underhanded enough to publicly embarrass them. 'I'd expect nothing less from the a descendant of Ares.'
The boys made it safely into the palace without anyone recognizing four Terran royals dressed down in tweed and rags. As they filed into their shared living room, they saw Endymion lounging on the crimson velvet sofa reading a historical novel. The crown prince looked up at the four boys and said, "This is a private guest room. No servants aloud in here without permission or specific instruction."
"Endy, stop joking around," said Kunzite. "I'm not in the mood right now."
Hearing the familiar voice of his friend, Endymion's head shot up violently from the pages of his engrossing book. "Kunzite? Guys? Is that...oh gosh, it *is* you guys! What are you doing costumed as peasants?"
"Are you feeling okay, Endy? Don't you remember anything from this morning?" Zoi queried. "And didn't you say you were spending the day with Princess Serenity?"
This did not make things any clearer to Endymion. "What are you guys talking about? I haven't seen the princess today, I never talked to you guys this morning. I was downstairs eating breakfast with my parents, and when I came up here, you all were already gone."
Now they knew something was definitely off, and Nephrite was more than a little impatient. "But this morning, you came into our room, said hi, chatted a bit with us, and suggested that we take a day off in the marketplace disguised as peasants so we wouldn't be bothered."
Endymion laughed. "That has to be the dumbest thing I have ever heard."
"So you really never came over this morning?"
"I told you already, this is the first time I've seen you today. Now tell me what the hell is going on." They told Endymion about the conversation they held with the "fake" Endymion and informed him about the pawn shop disaster and the unknown donation of all of their clothes.
"So let me get this straight," Endymion thought aloud. "There was someone who 'impersonated' me this morning who told you guys to go to the Lunar marketplace as peasants. Then you guys discover that all the things you brought with you from home somehow ended up in a pawnshop. And now all the poor men in the capital of the Moon are wearing your clothes?"
"You make it sound soooo simple," groaned Jadeite. Suddenly, a lightbulb went off above his blonde head. 'The insidious style of the crime and the sheer cruelty of the public humiliation could only be the work of one person,' reasoned Jadeite. "Oh God. This whole thing was a dirty trick. The elaborate mimic of Endy, the pawnshop, the stolen clothes. Damn it, we were set up!"
"You're right!" exclaimed Zoisite. "This evil person wanted to lure us into the marketplace to see for ourselves what havoc he or she wreaked!"
Dangerously close to his boiling point, Jadeite tried to mitigate his infamous temper as he said: "I'm sorry, Endymion, but I cannot be held responsible for my future actions against your crazy cousin!"
"What?!" gasped Endymion. "Impossible! Cousin Rei can be one to fear, I'll admit that, but you can't go blaming her without any proof! And even if she did do this, as you're so certain that she did, then she probably had a good reason!"
Jadeite was already opening the door. "I understand your concerns, Endy, but that doesn't justify what she did to all of us. Excuse me now, because she's not getting away with anything." He said nothing more as he hastily closed the door behind him.
"Jed, wait!"
"Let him go," advised Kunzite as he pulled Endymion's arm to keep him from running after their departed friend. "In other cases, I would have tackled him down to keep him from disrespecting another member of royalty, but this is something that has been inflicted upon all of us. Jadeite is just going to set things straight with Princess Rei, and he knows better than to touch a hair on your cousin's head. I'll personally kill him if he crosses that line."
'Where is she?' Jadeite questioned himself. 'She doesn't seem like the type to run and hide.' The most logical place to look for the Martian princess was her own room, he reasoned. As he bolted down the Hall of Mars, he felt the dour stares of the men and women of the portraits penetrating his back. When he finally reached the end of the hall, sweaty and out of breath, a beautiful young lady materialized out of thin air in front of the entrance of the Martian princess's door. Her smooth alabaster skin glowed brilliantly against the black cedar of the door, and her lustrous ebony hair snaked down her graceful figure. She looked heavenly, but barely past her adolescence, yet her eyes were those of a matured woman, beholding many years of attained wisdom.
Young Jadeite was so awed that he almost did not hear her soft voice. "You must be Prince Jadeite Amerveille."
Such words were the last things he expected to come out of her mouth. "How do you know me? Who are you?"
"I am Phobos Olivus, Princess Rei's personal guardian and attendant. My small lady asked me hand this to you." In the same manner she appeared, a red envelope fell into her hands. She then handed it to the stunned prince.
"She was expecting me?" Jadeite was aware that his opponent was cunning, but he didn't quite know how cunning she was. 'I really have to be careful, now.'
Jadeite turned the envelope around in his hands. It was a deep rose color with elegant gold floral trim around the corners and sealed with a black wax imprint of the symbol of Mars. Carefully, he opened it and took out the matching piece of stationary. Written in shining gold ink was a single sentence of smart and flowing cursive:
"Go to the Great Willow Tree of the Lunar Gardens."
Also enclosed in the red envelope was a miniature map of the royal Moon gardens.
"You must hurry, prince. She is waiting," reminded Phobos.
"Yes, thank you, Lady Olivus." His previous run slowed down to a mild jog, not because of exhaustion, but because he wasn't as confident as he was before. Still, he made his way through the mazes of the gardens, crossed a bridge over a small stream, and walked up a verdant, steep hill. The panoramic view from the summit of the hill allowed him to see the Great Willow Tree that Lady Phobos had mentioned, but he did not see anyone there. Cautiously, he walked down the hill towards the enormous willow tree.
As he got closer, Jadeite realized why they called it the Great Willow Tree with a capital g, w, and t. It had to be more than seventy- five feet in height, and the melancholy willows that hung from the very top to only three yards above the ground swayed in the moaning breeze. Its looming presence seemed to give one the impression that it guarded the imperial Lunar Gardens. Jadeite felt oddly at peace in his gloomy surroundings.
The peace was brusquely shattered when the willows of the magnificent tree wrapped themselves tightly around his ankles, wrists, neck, and waist. With a sharp yank, he was thrown against the gnarled tree trunk and pulled even tighter against it as more willows constricted his body to the point where breathing started to hurt.
"Tree! That's enough! For goodness sakes, don't strangle the boy!" shouted a voice from above.
'Wha--who saved me?' thought Jadeite. Luckily for him, the willow branches loosened their throttling constraints, but they still held him down firm. He was about to thank his savior until the words were choked in his throat when he looked upwards. Sitting on one of the strong branches was the wielder of fire herself, Princess Rei of Mars, the planet of the dimension's strongest offensive military and the ruling family with the most potent sorcery, second only in wizardry to the imperial Moon family.
Rei rested with her back against the trunk and her legs outstretched on the branch, crossing her legs at her ankles. It appeared as if she were sleeping because her arms were raised behind her head in a comfortable position and her eyes were closed. What was most striking about her at the moment was her over-casual dress. A loose-fitting white cotton blouse clothed the top half of her body, and she wore a pair of boy's beige tweed trousers that were folded up because they were too long for her. Her usual mass of long midnight hair was tied up in a tight bun and hidden under an old, beaten newspaper boy's cap.
"Why did you call me here?" demanded Jadeite. "And if this was your trap, why did you tell the tree to stop? Answer me, Martian!"
Rei then slowly opened her eyes for the first time. Swiftly, she swung her legs over the branch, flipped in the air, and landed about four feet in front of him soundly on her toes. She wasn't a very tall girl for her young age, but Jadeite felt conciously small. Her unfathomable violet eyes were cold and piercing, but her lips were pulled up on one side in a grim smirk.
"I didn't want to call you, but I knew you were looking for me. I just didn't want to make a scene in Queen Serenity's palace. Plus, I didn't want you barging into my room. As for this 'trap', I just wanted to keep you in check so you couldn't do anything funny and so I could make you listen to what I have to say. I didn't want to physically harm you....too much."
"You're sick in the head!" shouted Jadeite. "You're the devil's daughter!"
"No, I'm perfectly healthy in the head, and I'm the daughter of Pyronious XII and Azalynn the Great, not the devil."
"You went through all the trouble just to make fools of us!"
"Don't worry, it was no trouble at all."
"Stupid girls like you have too much time on your hands!"
"Actually, training and school takes up a lot of time. You should be honored that I made enough time to concentrate on all of you."
"You were the one who came as the Endymion imposter and told us to 'have fun' in the marketplace just to get us out!"
"Hmm. You're not as dumb as you look."
"It was you who stole all of Kunzite's, Zoisite's, Nephrite's, and my valuables and sold them to the local pawnshop. But you didn't stop there! You also gave away all of our clothes away to the homeless boys in town!"
"Hey! I was doing it for a charitable cause. Helping the needy. You're a prince, darn it! You can afford hundreds of trunks full of clothing."
"That's not an excuse to go taking things that don't belong to you!"
"My, aren't you greedy?"
"Well your a bitch!"
"Watch it, blondie. There's no need for such harsh words, especially to a sweet, innocent little girl like me." She batted her long lashes, clasped her hands behind her back, and dug her toe in the dirt. Jadeite was utterly disgusted.
"You're right. There's no word in any language to describe how evil, hateful, and ugly you are!!"
"I don't care what you say to me, Earthling," retorted Rei, "'cause I'm not the one stuck to a tree."
"Tell me how you did all of this!" he demanded.
"Where do you want me to start? I don't mind telling you everything since it's all been done. It was all well worth any punishment I may get. Let's see...I got the idea very early this morning. You and your friends don't mind taking other people's things, so I decided that it was only fair to take what belongs to you without asking. While you all were still asleep, I used a special sleeping gas so you wouldn't wake up while I looted most of your smaller valuables and raided your suitcases and closets. I made sure to see you guys as Cousin Endy right when you woke up so you wouldn't look through your things and notice items missing."
"But how did you make yourself look like Endymion?"
"You forget who you're talking to. Transformation spells are a cinch. And I went to the market looking like a short, rich old lady from Earth getting rid of old junk."
"And I'm guessing this tree is also being controlled by your magic."
"You're on a roll today! Pretty impressive for a twelve-year-old, right?"
"Pretty despicable, too. But tell me, why did you do this? We did nothing to you."
The mocking smirk on Rei's face was wiped away and replaced with a heavy frown. "Nothing? You did the worst thing you could possibly do to me. You hurt my friends, and you got away with it! Sure, my friends got their share of revenge, but justice has still turned her back on us and let you get the upper hand! I almost blew my cover when you told me that you even threw a party because Luna penalized us. How impertinent. I'm only defending my friends! Is that so bad?"
"It's bad because you're butting into other people's business! And I didn't do a thing to you or anyone!"
"You're one of them. That's more than enough," said she. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a fire reading practice to do."
"Stop! You can't leave me tied here!" cried Jadeite.
Rei was already halfway up the hill. "Just watch me!"
"I'll get you for this, Martian!"
"I'd like to see you try, Earthling!" By this time, she was already at the top of the hill. Over her shoulder she shouted, "Tell your other three comrades that today was merely a warning!"
Jadeite could only watch the top of her cap disappear over the hill.
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IMPORTANT STUFF:
Interesting note: You know that famous Sailor Moon fanfic archive, A Sailor Moon Romance? I finally had the guts to submit this story to their site last week (it's known as "the" site, and it's one of my absolute favorites), and they rejected me.
Ouch...quite a blow to my ego. I still love the website, though.
"Potential, but it still has things to work out" I think they said. I think you guys are being too nice to me here.
This is my very first fanfic ever, and I know I need to revise it in the future, but is this story _that_ bad? Bad enough to be completely rejected? Come on, TELL ME!
PLEASE, if you review, be specific. If you like the story, tell me what you liked about it so I know to keep it up. If you think this is the dumbest piece of trash you've ever read in your life, tell me what is wrong so I can fix it.
NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS! The next chapter is the *very* last chapter in the past! Aren't you happy? But you might not see it for a while. Sorry for all the delays!
Infinite thanks to...
wingnut and mckttn! I think I've thanked one of you already (didn't there used to be a raegurly?) for putting me on your favorite authors list, but I'd rather thank you again than not thank you at all.
Thank you, Leifang Fan! I did not know you put me on your list until I read that you did in the reviews section. I only know who puts me on their favorite authors list....sorry if I didn't thank you earlier. So thanks a bunch right now!
Dear K. Wyse: Am I being repetitious in my words? Oh goodness, that's not good. Not good, not good, not good. Goodness gracious, I'm doing it again. I'm so sorry. I'll try to stop for good. Ah hell, I give up. Maybe you can give me some more pointers? Please?
I'm sorry if you find my use of sentence structure and flow of words odd. All of my English teachers love my writing, so it would be hard to change my style after so many years. Sorry!!!
Et merci beaucoup Gangsta Vidal! Vous etes si sympa et drole! Vous parlez francais aussi? Super! Mais ce n'est pas un livre...dommage. Il est magnifique? Je pense il est assez bete, non? (and I thought that "avoir faim" meant to be hungry.)
Disclaimer: I feel a headache coming on. Oi, if you don't know that none of us fanfic authors own Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, then you must have been living under a rock. A very big rock. Get with the program! I have not, do not, and will not own Sailor Moon.
WARNING! = This is going to be the longest chapter yet. You guys keep asking for a longer chapter, so I did it this time. Now I'll make you regret it. It covers the holes of the last chapter, but it also includes the first part of the Rei/Jed encounter. Because this one is so long, you might not see another one for a while. Bear with me, people.
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The Winning Losers
Chapter 8: Killing Four Birds with One Stone
**Past continued**
"Oh. My. GOD!"
Kunzite's little friends could think of nothing to say for once in their lives.
Jadeite just stood there and bit his lip, knowing that anything coming out of his wise-cracking mouth in the next five minutes would have made him as good as dead. Knowing Kunzite's temperament, it was wiser to make no comment and live than to make a comment and never see the light of day again.
Young Endymion, always aiming to make everyone around him happy, tried to offer his friend some words of consolation. "It doesn't look that bad, Kunz. Your hair color now looks...unique. Yes, definitely a fashion statement. You were never a conformist anyways. I guess you could say it's fitting to your personality."
But nothing would reach Kunzite's ears. A 4'11" starry-eyed blonde girl had succeeded in humiliating him in front of his friends and future combatants. Instead of being the smart leader he claimed to be, he only led himself into another one of their traps. For the first time in a long time, Kunzite felt that he had failed his comrades. He had failed himself.
Then the self-pity dissipated and the tide of anger rose again. Seeing nothing but red, Kunzite slammed the door open and charged down the hall. He was so blinded by rage that he nearly crashed into Luna LaMerciere, Queen Serenity's regal advisor and the royal and beloved governess/trainer/teacher of the princess and the Senshi-in-training.
Kunzite was tempted to slam his head against the hard marble floor for being so inconsiderate and careless of his actions. 'Pull yourself together, boy! Don't let that little wretch get to you.'
"I'm terribly sorry Lady LaMerciere. I should be more careful."
Luna was more than perplexed. "Excuse me, young man, do I know you?"
"I almost forgot about this," he said, pointing agitatedly to his white mop of hair. "It is I, Prince Kunzite, my lady."
"Oh dear! I did not recognize you without-" and then she too pointed up and down at his hair. "What happened, your Highness?"
An uncomfortable silence saturated the air, for Kunzite could not think of a polite way to express the situation and to expose the scoundrel who violated him. Fortunately for him, Luna was not naive. She knew perfectly well what was going on between the girls and the young princes.
People were always conscious of themselves when Luna was in the same room. Nothing, not even a speck of dust, escaped her critical eye. She could effortlessly piece together an accurate chain of events with the scarce links of information given to her.
With Luna's solemn nod of understanding, Kunzite released a long sigh of relief. Luna could feel another white hair sprouting through her scalp. "I assume Princess Minako is the main source of your misfortune, and though it can not help you, I apologize on behalf of our people. We are disgraced for allowing this madness to negatively affect our honored guests."
'Finally,' thought Kunzite, 'a civil person among the savages!' "I do not blame anyone but the offender, and I do not wish to ruin the holiday of His and Her Royal Highnesses by making this incident public."
"You are a wise young man," complimented Luna, eliciting a pleased smile from Kunzite. "Now let us see if we can do anything about your hair."
"That's alright, Lady LaMerciere. I do not want to waste your valuable time any longer. I'll just have Zoisite take care of this for me." He truly did not want to occupy Her Ladyship's time, but what Kunzite really feared was going to the laboratory of Princess Mercury, who was one of *them*. He bet that the wicked Venusian princess even persuaded the quiet, timid, blue-haired genius princess to offer a big hand in his predicament.
**Flashback**
Makoto, Rei, and young Serenity were visiting Ami in her mini laboratory where she ran all sorts of funny tests. Ami was working diligently, mumbling to herself and taking the pencil behind her ear to jot down notes, while the other three girls watched with interest. They didn't understand a thing that their intelligent friend did or said during the critical moments of an experiment, nor were they as passionate about science as Ami was.
If they were lucky, Ami made a mistake in her calculations, and they got to see mixed chemicals in the test tube blow up in little Ami's face in a spectacular mushroom of colorful smoke, making Ami look something akin to a clown struck by lightning. It was great entertainment for a lazy afternoon.
Just when Ami was adding a last drop of a red liquid into her solution, Minako burst into the room, startling all of them and provoking Ami to add one too many drops into the vial. The event that Serenity and the other Senshi anticipated finally occured when the violent chemical reaction exploded in Ami's clean and small face. The final result was turning Ami's skin a deep blush from the collar up, dying her hair pink and purple polkadots, and making it stand on end.
As far as Rei, Makoto, and Serenity were concerned, the experiment was a success, but the fun was cut short when they saw their best friend in stress. "Goodness, Mina-chan!" exclaimed Ami. "Whatever is the matter?"
Following the unpleasant encounter with Prince Kunzite, Minako stalked through the palace in search for the comfort only her friends could provide her. Only they understood what the life of a Silver Millennium princess and a Senshi was like. They understood the trials of growing up. They understood what girls understood most: each other.
She had tried not to shed any tears of anger or mortification, but at the sight of her friends, Minako couldn't hold back. She ran into the comforting arms of her soul sisters, and she cried.
"Shhh, it's okay, Mina-chan. We're here," consoled Makoto. Serenity searched Makoto's gaze for an answer, but Makoto looked towards pink and purple polkadotted Ami, who exchanged glances with Rei. They seemed to read the entire situation, but they just bowed their heads low and continued to rub Minako consolingly on the back.
A couple tears and five minutes later, Ami said, "Do you want to talk about it now, Mina-chan?" For the first time, Minako took her face from Makoto's shoulder and really observed her surroundings. She took in Ami's ridiculous red skin color and the pink and purple polkadotted hair standing on end, and she laughed out loud so hard that the former tears returned as tears of laughter.
"I'm so glad I can make you laugh so easily," mumbled little Ami, eyeing her chemical set dubiously. Minako laughed even more and gave all her friends a big hug.
"Sorry Ami-chan, but you look redder than the time Prince Frederic 'frog lips' of Io kissed your forehead in kindergarten!"
"Thanks for the memories I've tried so hard to forget."
"You're more than welcome," said Minako. She was feeling much better already. "I'm sorry if I worried you guys earlier, but I was just so angry and frustrated at myself...and..."
"And at someone else in particular," finished Rei.
Minako nodded. "How did ya guess, Rei-chan?"
Rei was offended. "I never 'guess'."
Ami spoke up as she washed her face and hair to their normal colors. "If you don't feel up to telling us what happened, I think I can give everyone a rough sketch of things." Minako nodded mutely, so Ami continued:
"You ran into the room, pretty unhappy. You, the happy-joy-joy Mina- chan, are only unhappy when one of these three things happen: a) something bad has happened to a loved one, b) your "Romantics Anonymous" book club is not on time, or c) someone insults your capability as a soldier.
"Your expression and outburst told me that you weren't really sad, but angry. That leaves b) and c). I see you have one of those romance books in your hand, so that rules out b), which only leaves c) someone must have insulted your capability as a soldier.
"You usually don't care about what other people say about you personally, Mina-chan, so the offender must have said something really mean. Probably about your leadership skills and about us, then. I also see the book has been roughly handled, but you take really good care of your romance books, so that must mean that someone else did the damage. The only people I can think of that would have the nerve to disrespect a princess and her belongings are....[dramatic pause]...the four princes of Earth!
"Now which one did it?" Ami asked herself. "All of them are pretty bold and rude, but none of them would dare disrespect the appointed Senshi leader. All except the high-and-mighty commander himself, Prince Kunzite!"
Minako nodded her head vigorously. "Exactly!" Serenity and Makoto applauded Ami's reasoning, and Rei gave a thumbs up. Minako felt the fury rise up in her again, and she spent the next half an hour complaining, cursing Kunzite, and giving them the rest of the details of the incident.
Makoto jumped to her feet. "It's bad enough those idiots have offended Ami and me, but they're going too far now. They're going after our future commander! They have no respect for anyone, do they? They're trying to prove that they're not afraid of the powerful Silver Millennium, but boy will they regret ever hearing of our names!"
Serenity bit her lip. The last thing she wanted was troubling her Endy's friends. All she wanted was for everyone to get along or to at least act amicable with each other. It hurt her to know that Endymion was probably stuck in the same stupid dilemma as she was, but her friends needed her, and they were top priority.
Little Minako continued her rant. "He says he's more mature than I'll ever be! I'm sure he is. He's got his head so far up his butt that all he sees is himself! He says I'm not a fit leader. Who is he to talk?! How dare he, the little pus bag! He's totally got it backwards. Backwards, backwards, backwards! I'll show Mr. Maturity what this 'little girl' can do. But how to go about it?" She looked at Rei questioningly.
"I'm flattered that you come to me for evil schemes," said Rei sarcastically, "but if you guys keep taking my ideas, what will I do if I need an idea for myself?"
"You're right. I'm supposed to be a leader, so I should be able to come up with my own plans and execute it myself."
"No!" cried Makoto. "You think of the plan, but don't leave us out of the action! Remember what we promised each other: we're in this war together."
Minako smiled thankfully at her partners in crime. "Yeah. Hey, I got it! Ami, is there a way to make a permanent hair dye?"
"Of course, but it would be easier to just buy it."
"No, no, I mean, change a person's hair color forever?"
That gave Ami pause. "Forever?"
"Forever," affirmed Minako.
"In that case....no, I've never heard of such a thing. But I think I could give it a shot in the lab."
"Great! To the drawing board!"
A while later, Minako and Rei were outside Kunzite's and Jadeite's door. Ami discovered a formula that met Minako's standards, and in a matter of minutes, she had whipped up a bottle of shampoo that was definitely not an everyday bottle of shampoo. The secret formula was like an intense bleach that soaked deep into the scalp and worked from the roots down with immediate and permanent results.
Unfortunately for Ami, the process of developing the shampoo created a huge mess in her lab station, so she and Makoto stayed behind to clean up and destroy any traces of evidence. Serenity went outside to play with Endymion and his friend Jadeite.
"Alright, Rei-chan," whispered Minako to Rei in the empty hallway, "you stay in front of this door and keep watch. If anyone happens to come by, speak loudly enough so I can hear, and if you must, create a good diversion."
"Okay. Careful, Mina-chan."
With the stealth of a cat, Minako tip-toed into the room. She heard running water within the bathroom. 'Perfect timing. But how do I get in without being noticed? Hmm...he's probably taking a hot shower, so there should be enough heat to steam up the glass.' She tied her hair back into a messy bun so she wouldn't look too obvious through the foggy glass.
"Jadeite! You in the room? Jadeite! JADEITE!! Somebody please just hand me some shampoo!" she heard him holler. Taking a deep breath, Minako opened the door and slowly walked in, hoping that her assumption was correct.
"Hey Zoisite! Thank God you heard me because I didn't feel like running through the halls in a towel and having the young servant girls ogle me. For a rich place, they should really stock up the bathrooms more." Minako wanted to pat herself on the back. 'Good. He doesn't see me through this steam. And what a dork. There's shampoo in the extras drawer, but he's too stupid to look. This will teach him not to be lazy.'
She threw the bottle of shampoo over to him and wordlessly exited the bathroom. 'Success!' She hurried out of his room, but she was surprised to find that Rei was not guarding the door.
Then, a strong hand clutched her shoulder. 'Oh God. I'm in trouble now!' Minako could feel her pulse racing wildly a thousand times per minute, the rhythmic beat deafening her ears. Beads of cold sweat trickled down her burdened brow, and she had forgotten how to breathe. The unavoidable chill ran a cold finger up her little spine, but she managed to turn around and face her captor.
"Rei-chan! Girl, don't scare me like that!"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to. I used an invisibilty spell to hide myself, and for a second I forgot I was still under the charm when you came out."
"Invisibility spell? Why didn't I think of that?"
"It doesn't matter now. Is the deed done?"
"Yup. If he thinks he's so grown up, I might as well help him in adding a couple of decades to his appearance. Remind me to take Ami's camera later."
**End of flashback**
Nephrite, who had emerged from his recent black mood to offer moral support, sat quietly next to Kunzite, who was bent over the seat with his chin sitting grimly on his palms. Lady Luna LaMerciere left a while ago, saying she had some business to straighten out. Young Zoisite was hunched over a high-powered microscope with one of Kunzite's newly white hairs between the glass slides. Zoisite fingered his chin and mumbled strange things to himself, both actions being signs of great interest and critical thinking.
Finally, he pushed his rolling chair away from the microscope, stretched his stiff limbs, and walked towards his anxious albino-haired friend with his hands clasped behind his back.
"Would you like to hear the good news or the bad new first?"
"I don't care!" snapped Kunzite, a little more harshly than he meant.
"You're not making this any easier on yourself. Anyways, the good news is that there are no further reactions or any harmful side effects in connection with the color change."
"That's good," commented Nephrite, trying to raise Kunzite's spirit.
"The bad news is...umm...Well you see..."
"Come on Zoi, just tell us," Nephrite prodded.
Squinting one of his eyes in trepidation, Zoisite revealed, "It'll stay that color for a very, very long time."
Kunzite leaned closer to him. His voice was low and almost choked when he asked, "How long?"
"[Gulp] It's an everlasting dye. It's...permanent...for the rest of your life."
Zoisite was saved an earful of pained profanity when Jadeite rushed into the room immediately.
"Ha ha!" laughed Jadeite, still puffing hard after his hurried run but grinning from ear to ear. "Guess what, Kunz! Hmm...not in the mood for guessing, I see. No matter, because I'm gonna tell you anyways! I just heard that the wonderful Lady LaMerciere has seen that justice was done, my friend."
"What do you mean?" asked Nephrite. "I don't see how justice can be done when the damage on Kunzite is permanent."
"Wow, that serious? You mean *permanent* permanent?"
Zoisite spoke through clenched teeth. "You don't need to remind him, Jadeite."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. But as I was saying, Lady LaMerciere marched over to Princess Venus's room and gave her the lecture of the century! And I thought Kunzite was tough on us. I heard her voice penetrate through these thick palace walls from the royal gardens! Lady LaMerciere threatened that if she did anything like this to you or anyone else ever again, she would be stripped of her commander's title and be suspended from the Moon. The good lady also cut off the princess's membership to her favorite book club and sentenced her to a year's worth of morning and night servant duties! 'I know you were not the only one involved,' said she, 'but as the chosen leader of the esteemed Sailor Senshi, you are supposed to set a good example for your team, and thus you will be punished!' A princess doing the servants' work....priceless!"
The light returned to Kunzite's gray eyes as he listened to Jadeite's revitalizing report. Unexpectedly, he sprang from his seat and laughed along with Jadeite. "I knew it!" he sang as he playfully punched his friends in the arm. "What goes around comes around. I almost believe that this whole hair disaster was totally worth it! Boys, this calls for a celebration!"
Every inch of surface in the South Wing of the Moon palace gleamed so brightly that it would be sacrilegous to desecrate the cleanliness with a profane footprint. In one of the spotless corners of the hallway kneeled Minako, who had scrubbed the floor with her hot sweat and bitter tears.
Why was fate so cruel to her? Not only did Luna cut off her membership to her favorite book club, but she had to accept this unjust punishment for giving Prince Kunzite exactly what he deserved. She, a crown princess of a powerful planet, was doing the servants' chores while the nasty Earth prince was mocking her from his comfortable luxury suite. 'Life is so not fair!' her mind screamed.
Light snoring beside her interrupted her indignant thoughts. Little Ami and Makoto had already fallen into an exhausted alseep. Ami rested her head on Makoto's lap as they both slept against the cold stone wall. 'Poor girls,' thought Minako. The Chibi (AN: small) Senshi had insisted that they went through the punishment together.
"We can't just sit around and watch you suffer by yourself, Mina- chan!" protested Rei. "What kind of friends would we be then?"
"She's right," said Ami. "An individual is strong, but a team is stronger."
"It sounds cliche, but real friends stick together. Plus, I like house cleaning," added Makoto.
So Ami, Makoto, and Rei picked up a bucket and sponge and helped Minako wipe down the entire wing. 'I'm so lucky to have found friends like them.' But Minako drew the line when Princess Serenity wanted to get on hands and knees and help them too. "Absolutely not, Princess!"
"Why not?" whined Serenity. "You're my friend too! How come you let Ami and Rei and Makoto help you but not let me share the punishment?"
"I know you care about me and want to volunteer like the other girls, but you are the princess of the Silver Millennium! I can't let you lower yourself to these menial chores. That's scandalous!"
"We would just get in more trouble if we let you," said Makoto. "It's okay, Usa-chan. We'll take care of Mina-chan, and we'll all be fine. Just go upstairs and continue your school lessons with Luna and Artemis."
Baby Serenity was hurt, but Minako wouldn't let her try to change their minds. She and Rei literally picked her up and dragged her up the stairs while she kicked, screamed, and protested all the while. 'She meant well, but that hurt like hell!'
*Ding* chimed the old grandfather clock. 'Oh gosh, it's one o'clock in the morning. We cleaned the entire night, and we'll be doing this for a whole year! By the time I'm thirteen, I'll look like I'm thirty! Kill me, kill me now.' Minako ran an arm across her forehead in defeat. She had never felt so tired in her life.
After putting away all the cleaning products in the storage room, Rei returned to the corner where the three girls rested. She stood her aching back against the wall and slid down to sit next to Minako, creasing her already frumpled skirt even more. Minako let her head fall on Rei's petite shoulder, and the two wakeful girls sat like that in silence for a long moment.
"Rei-chan," said Minako as dawn slowly approached, "I'm so sorry for getting you guys into this. You guys didn't have to, and you shouldn't have either. Thank you..."
"Don't thank us, Mina-chan. We're just doing what friends are supposed to do. It's late...er...it's early. Let's wake Ami-chan and Mako- chan and get them into their beds."
"But they're so tired...I don't wanna wake them up. How about you carry Mako-chan up to her room and I take Ami-chan?"
"Why do you get to carry the lighter load?"
"Because you're so strong, Rei-chan!"
"Hey, you got us into this remember?"
"But Mako-chan's too heavy for me to haul upstairs!"
"I heard that...." mumbled Makoto, cracking open one sleepy eye. She lightly nudged Ami until she too came out of her dreamless sleep.
"Hmm...what time is it?" yawned Ami.
"Past one already," answered Minako as she stood up. "Come on, let's get you guys off the hard floor and into a nice, warm bed."
Putting out both of her hands, she pulled up Ami and Makoto. They started to walk towards their bedrooms but stopped midway up the staircase. Rei had not moved from her spot.
"You guys go ahead and get some sleep," she ordered softly. "I forgot to do something."
"Can't it wait until morning?"
"This is something that can't wait." Rei's voice was eerily steady and quiet. Though she stood with fortitude straightening her spine, her head was bent down, hiding her unreadable face in shadow. She then calmly folded her arms in front of her chest and began to walk away.
"Rei-chan! Where are you going?" Makoto interrogated.
"Come back, Rei-chan!" pleaded Ami.
Rei walked on, ignoring them.
"Sailor Mars, halt!" commanded Minako, assuming her role as Senshi leader. The dark-haired girl finally froze at the order of her commander. "I demand that you tell me what you're planning to do."
"I don't want anyone to get involved. You were already penalized, Mina-chan, and I don't want you, Ami-chan, or Mako-chan to get punished any further. If someone finds out, I'll take full responsiblity, and that means I do this alone. You guys can help me by not getting in the way."
Rei's meaning was made clear; she was going to avenge her friends. She put her hand up to silence their objections. "Ami's priceless family heirloom, Makoto's one-of-a-kind rose bush, and Minako's revoked privileges. All of your noble names and gentle souls dragged in the dirt. Enough is enough. Don't worry...I'm not going to do anything too drastic...it'll be harmless...But please, don't stop me."
Minako bit her lip. It was all up to her, the final say among the Senshi team. 'Duty or friend...common sense or instinct.. responsibilty or trust?' After weighing everything in her head, she realized that there was no contest.
"Be careful, Rei-chan."
The morning after the boys' joyous victory party greeted them with renewed ambition. Prince Kunzite had let go of his previous digust over his colorless hair. His self-control reasserted itself, reminding him that appearance did not affect his abilities or his influence on people. 'How could I have let such a petty thing get to me?' he asked himself over and over again.
The four lesser Earth princes were gathered in one of the rooms, the topic of discussion ranging from fighting techniques to the newest technology in warfare. It was typical "male" conversation.
"Come in!" said Nephrite when someone knocked on the door. "Morning, Endy!" he exclaimed.
"Good morning, guys," Endymion responded.
"Where were you last night?" asked Jadeite. "You missed a really great little party here."
"Oh...I was just spending some time with my parents."
"That's too bad because you missed all the fun!"
"Fun?"
"Yeah, celebrating the loss of the Sailor Senshi!"
"So you guys actually threw a party for the occasion?"
"Of course! You okay, Endy?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing, I'm fine. I just came over to tell you guys to spend some time outside of the palace. You guys look like you need something interesting to do, and I hear that the marketplace is a really fun area. You guys seem trapped in this formal atmosphere and don't look as energetic as you usually are. It'll be healthy for you."
The young bodyguards didn't like the idea at first because they didn't want to leave their prince unprotected. "I'll be fine," he assured them. "It's perfectly safe here. For me, at least."
Zoisite still had other doubts. "But we're pretty high profile people. We can't just go prancing around in the marketplace without someone coming up to us and talking their head off."
"I thought you'd say that," said Endymion, "so I gathered up some peasants' clothes so you can go in disguise."
"Smart thinking, Endy. Wow, you must have given this some thought. Are you coming with us, Endy?"
"Naw, I promised to take Princess Serenity to the royal park."
So in just an hour, the four princes of Earth were in the guises of country peasants walking through the lively streets of the Lunarian marketplace. All sorts of people were going in and out of neat little shops. Many people were of Lunar origin, but others were obviously tourists from other planets and galaxies. The marketplace lived with dancing colors, breathed the aroma of the vendors' tasty treats, and sang the infectious song of the salesmen.
"Roses for sale! Buy a rose for your sweetheart!"
"Gold and silver and gemstones galore! Rare pieces at great prices!"
"Pastries, two for the price of one!"
Kunzite, Nephrite, Jadeite, and Zoisite were enjoying themselves very much. The marketplaces on Earth weren't even half as diverse or animated as this one on the Moon. They had a renewed sense of adventure in their costumes, and they loved the newfound freedom of anonymity. People talked and joked with them, things that they wouldn't have done if they were dressed up like foreign royalty.
One hour into their trip, they came across a pawnshop. The dealer was a hunched but kindly old man with a long white beared that swept the ground. "What can I do for ye lads?"
"We're just browsing," replied Nephrite, admiring the strange collections of stuffed tropical birds and the antique telescopes. His gaze fell upon a shiny new microscope, which looked vaguely familiar. "Hey Zoi, doesn't that look like your microscope?"
Zoisite came over and studied it. "That does look like mine. Who'd be dumb enough to sell a good....HEY! THAT _IS_ MY MICROSCOPE!"
"Excuse me, laddie, but I don't remember you selling it to me," said the pawnbroker.
"That's because I never sold it to you! Where did you get it?!"
"Well, really early this morning, in the wee hours before sunrise, someone came and sold it to me for a really cheap price. Nice person, that."
"WHO?!"
"Don't know. Person was in a cloak and spoke really low. Couldn't tell if t'was a lassie or laddie."
Jadeite then ran over to the others with a jeweled dagger in his hands. "You guys! This is _my_ dagger that my uncle gave to me!"
"My favorite astronomy books are in this store, too!" exclaimed Nephrite. "And there's the chain my father gave me!"
"That's the gold compass I brought with me!" yelled Kunzite, pointing to the glossy compass on one of the high shelves. "Zoisite, look! That's your mini computer! And there's Jadeite's radio! My swords are here, too!!!"
"I don't know what's goin' on here," said the old man, "but I'm afraid I can't return these things to ye. I paid good money for these items, so if you want them back, you'll have to pay."
"This is OUTRAGEOUS! We have to pay for our own possessions?!"
The boys discovered that more than half of the things that they had brought with them from Earth ended up in that small pawnshop, and they had spent over 1,000 gold coins and 60 silver pieces to get all their things back. The old man was so happy that he made so much profit that he didn't even think about why four teenage peasant boys were paying him with bags of gold.
By the time they left the pawnshop, they were back in their foul moods. Their bad luck from the Moon palace was ubiquitous, following them outside as well.
"Could this day get any worse?" groaned Kunzite.
Nephrite dropped his bag of items on the ground. "It just did."
"Oh God, now what?"
"Look to your left."
To their left was a dirty looking young man in clothes fit for a prince. His hair was long and disheveled, and his skin was both swarthy and sunburnt. Grime completely coated his hands and had gotten under his fingernails, and he slouched on the bench with his legs spread wide open. He certainly did not act or look like a true gentlemen, but his clothes were clearly those of a nobleman. The conundrum suddenly made sense when the insignia of earth on the breast of the shirt glimmered in the sunlight.
In a flash, the four boys surrounded the mismatched man in the Terran clothing.
"Excuse me, Sir," said Nephrite, "but where did you get your attire?"
The young man looked up at the boys in peasant clothing, spit on the ground, and pointed to a long line of ragged men ahead of them. "Over there," he said lazily. "The donations office recently got a nice load of clothes from a generous anonymous person, and they're distributing the clothes to us poor folks. You boys look little better than me, so I'm sure you can get a set of nice clothes like mine. Better hurry though 'cause there's a long line o' men waiting for a snappy makeover. I look good enough to marry the Moon princess herself!"
The four boys left the the poor peasant cackling to himself. "Great, just great!" exclaimed Jadeite in exasperation. "Not only were most of our worldly possessions sold in a pawn shop, all our clothes have been stolen and donated to the peasants of the Moon, too! In a matter of minutes, people will be parading around the marketplace in ill-fitting noble's clothes! People will see the Earth symbol on the clothes and think that we Terran people are all a bunch of filthy bums! And since we're costumed in peasants' clothing, we don't even have one outfit for ourselves!"
"Someone really wants to make us look bad. Why did this happen? Who'd do such a thing?" questioned Nephrite.
Jadeite laughed cynically. "Who do you think, genius?"
"Let's get back to the Moon palace and get to the bottom of this," directed Kunzite.
But Jadeite already had one person in mind who he suspected was underhanded enough to publicly embarrass them. 'I'd expect nothing less from the a descendant of Ares.'
The boys made it safely into the palace without anyone recognizing four Terran royals dressed down in tweed and rags. As they filed into their shared living room, they saw Endymion lounging on the crimson velvet sofa reading a historical novel. The crown prince looked up at the four boys and said, "This is a private guest room. No servants aloud in here without permission or specific instruction."
"Endy, stop joking around," said Kunzite. "I'm not in the mood right now."
Hearing the familiar voice of his friend, Endymion's head shot up violently from the pages of his engrossing book. "Kunzite? Guys? Is that...oh gosh, it *is* you guys! What are you doing costumed as peasants?"
"Are you feeling okay, Endy? Don't you remember anything from this morning?" Zoi queried. "And didn't you say you were spending the day with Princess Serenity?"
This did not make things any clearer to Endymion. "What are you guys talking about? I haven't seen the princess today, I never talked to you guys this morning. I was downstairs eating breakfast with my parents, and when I came up here, you all were already gone."
Now they knew something was definitely off, and Nephrite was more than a little impatient. "But this morning, you came into our room, said hi, chatted a bit with us, and suggested that we take a day off in the marketplace disguised as peasants so we wouldn't be bothered."
Endymion laughed. "That has to be the dumbest thing I have ever heard."
"So you really never came over this morning?"
"I told you already, this is the first time I've seen you today. Now tell me what the hell is going on." They told Endymion about the conversation they held with the "fake" Endymion and informed him about the pawn shop disaster and the unknown donation of all of their clothes.
"So let me get this straight," Endymion thought aloud. "There was someone who 'impersonated' me this morning who told you guys to go to the Lunar marketplace as peasants. Then you guys discover that all the things you brought with you from home somehow ended up in a pawnshop. And now all the poor men in the capital of the Moon are wearing your clothes?"
"You make it sound soooo simple," groaned Jadeite. Suddenly, a lightbulb went off above his blonde head. 'The insidious style of the crime and the sheer cruelty of the public humiliation could only be the work of one person,' reasoned Jadeite. "Oh God. This whole thing was a dirty trick. The elaborate mimic of Endy, the pawnshop, the stolen clothes. Damn it, we were set up!"
"You're right!" exclaimed Zoisite. "This evil person wanted to lure us into the marketplace to see for ourselves what havoc he or she wreaked!"
Dangerously close to his boiling point, Jadeite tried to mitigate his infamous temper as he said: "I'm sorry, Endymion, but I cannot be held responsible for my future actions against your crazy cousin!"
"What?!" gasped Endymion. "Impossible! Cousin Rei can be one to fear, I'll admit that, but you can't go blaming her without any proof! And even if she did do this, as you're so certain that she did, then she probably had a good reason!"
Jadeite was already opening the door. "I understand your concerns, Endy, but that doesn't justify what she did to all of us. Excuse me now, because she's not getting away with anything." He said nothing more as he hastily closed the door behind him.
"Jed, wait!"
"Let him go," advised Kunzite as he pulled Endymion's arm to keep him from running after their departed friend. "In other cases, I would have tackled him down to keep him from disrespecting another member of royalty, but this is something that has been inflicted upon all of us. Jadeite is just going to set things straight with Princess Rei, and he knows better than to touch a hair on your cousin's head. I'll personally kill him if he crosses that line."
'Where is she?' Jadeite questioned himself. 'She doesn't seem like the type to run and hide.' The most logical place to look for the Martian princess was her own room, he reasoned. As he bolted down the Hall of Mars, he felt the dour stares of the men and women of the portraits penetrating his back. When he finally reached the end of the hall, sweaty and out of breath, a beautiful young lady materialized out of thin air in front of the entrance of the Martian princess's door. Her smooth alabaster skin glowed brilliantly against the black cedar of the door, and her lustrous ebony hair snaked down her graceful figure. She looked heavenly, but barely past her adolescence, yet her eyes were those of a matured woman, beholding many years of attained wisdom.
Young Jadeite was so awed that he almost did not hear her soft voice. "You must be Prince Jadeite Amerveille."
Such words were the last things he expected to come out of her mouth. "How do you know me? Who are you?"
"I am Phobos Olivus, Princess Rei's personal guardian and attendant. My small lady asked me hand this to you." In the same manner she appeared, a red envelope fell into her hands. She then handed it to the stunned prince.
"She was expecting me?" Jadeite was aware that his opponent was cunning, but he didn't quite know how cunning she was. 'I really have to be careful, now.'
Jadeite turned the envelope around in his hands. It was a deep rose color with elegant gold floral trim around the corners and sealed with a black wax imprint of the symbol of Mars. Carefully, he opened it and took out the matching piece of stationary. Written in shining gold ink was a single sentence of smart and flowing cursive:
"Go to the Great Willow Tree of the Lunar Gardens."
Also enclosed in the red envelope was a miniature map of the royal Moon gardens.
"You must hurry, prince. She is waiting," reminded Phobos.
"Yes, thank you, Lady Olivus." His previous run slowed down to a mild jog, not because of exhaustion, but because he wasn't as confident as he was before. Still, he made his way through the mazes of the gardens, crossed a bridge over a small stream, and walked up a verdant, steep hill. The panoramic view from the summit of the hill allowed him to see the Great Willow Tree that Lady Phobos had mentioned, but he did not see anyone there. Cautiously, he walked down the hill towards the enormous willow tree.
As he got closer, Jadeite realized why they called it the Great Willow Tree with a capital g, w, and t. It had to be more than seventy- five feet in height, and the melancholy willows that hung from the very top to only three yards above the ground swayed in the moaning breeze. Its looming presence seemed to give one the impression that it guarded the imperial Lunar Gardens. Jadeite felt oddly at peace in his gloomy surroundings.
The peace was brusquely shattered when the willows of the magnificent tree wrapped themselves tightly around his ankles, wrists, neck, and waist. With a sharp yank, he was thrown against the gnarled tree trunk and pulled even tighter against it as more willows constricted his body to the point where breathing started to hurt.
"Tree! That's enough! For goodness sakes, don't strangle the boy!" shouted a voice from above.
'Wha--who saved me?' thought Jadeite. Luckily for him, the willow branches loosened their throttling constraints, but they still held him down firm. He was about to thank his savior until the words were choked in his throat when he looked upwards. Sitting on one of the strong branches was the wielder of fire herself, Princess Rei of Mars, the planet of the dimension's strongest offensive military and the ruling family with the most potent sorcery, second only in wizardry to the imperial Moon family.
Rei rested with her back against the trunk and her legs outstretched on the branch, crossing her legs at her ankles. It appeared as if she were sleeping because her arms were raised behind her head in a comfortable position and her eyes were closed. What was most striking about her at the moment was her over-casual dress. A loose-fitting white cotton blouse clothed the top half of her body, and she wore a pair of boy's beige tweed trousers that were folded up because they were too long for her. Her usual mass of long midnight hair was tied up in a tight bun and hidden under an old, beaten newspaper boy's cap.
"Why did you call me here?" demanded Jadeite. "And if this was your trap, why did you tell the tree to stop? Answer me, Martian!"
Rei then slowly opened her eyes for the first time. Swiftly, she swung her legs over the branch, flipped in the air, and landed about four feet in front of him soundly on her toes. She wasn't a very tall girl for her young age, but Jadeite felt conciously small. Her unfathomable violet eyes were cold and piercing, but her lips were pulled up on one side in a grim smirk.
"I didn't want to call you, but I knew you were looking for me. I just didn't want to make a scene in Queen Serenity's palace. Plus, I didn't want you barging into my room. As for this 'trap', I just wanted to keep you in check so you couldn't do anything funny and so I could make you listen to what I have to say. I didn't want to physically harm you....too much."
"You're sick in the head!" shouted Jadeite. "You're the devil's daughter!"
"No, I'm perfectly healthy in the head, and I'm the daughter of Pyronious XII and Azalynn the Great, not the devil."
"You went through all the trouble just to make fools of us!"
"Don't worry, it was no trouble at all."
"Stupid girls like you have too much time on your hands!"
"Actually, training and school takes up a lot of time. You should be honored that I made enough time to concentrate on all of you."
"You were the one who came as the Endymion imposter and told us to 'have fun' in the marketplace just to get us out!"
"Hmm. You're not as dumb as you look."
"It was you who stole all of Kunzite's, Zoisite's, Nephrite's, and my valuables and sold them to the local pawnshop. But you didn't stop there! You also gave away all of our clothes away to the homeless boys in town!"
"Hey! I was doing it for a charitable cause. Helping the needy. You're a prince, darn it! You can afford hundreds of trunks full of clothing."
"That's not an excuse to go taking things that don't belong to you!"
"My, aren't you greedy?"
"Well your a bitch!"
"Watch it, blondie. There's no need for such harsh words, especially to a sweet, innocent little girl like me." She batted her long lashes, clasped her hands behind her back, and dug her toe in the dirt. Jadeite was utterly disgusted.
"You're right. There's no word in any language to describe how evil, hateful, and ugly you are!!"
"I don't care what you say to me, Earthling," retorted Rei, "'cause I'm not the one stuck to a tree."
"Tell me how you did all of this!" he demanded.
"Where do you want me to start? I don't mind telling you everything since it's all been done. It was all well worth any punishment I may get. Let's see...I got the idea very early this morning. You and your friends don't mind taking other people's things, so I decided that it was only fair to take what belongs to you without asking. While you all were still asleep, I used a special sleeping gas so you wouldn't wake up while I looted most of your smaller valuables and raided your suitcases and closets. I made sure to see you guys as Cousin Endy right when you woke up so you wouldn't look through your things and notice items missing."
"But how did you make yourself look like Endymion?"
"You forget who you're talking to. Transformation spells are a cinch. And I went to the market looking like a short, rich old lady from Earth getting rid of old junk."
"And I'm guessing this tree is also being controlled by your magic."
"You're on a roll today! Pretty impressive for a twelve-year-old, right?"
"Pretty despicable, too. But tell me, why did you do this? We did nothing to you."
The mocking smirk on Rei's face was wiped away and replaced with a heavy frown. "Nothing? You did the worst thing you could possibly do to me. You hurt my friends, and you got away with it! Sure, my friends got their share of revenge, but justice has still turned her back on us and let you get the upper hand! I almost blew my cover when you told me that you even threw a party because Luna penalized us. How impertinent. I'm only defending my friends! Is that so bad?"
"It's bad because you're butting into other people's business! And I didn't do a thing to you or anyone!"
"You're one of them. That's more than enough," said she. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a fire reading practice to do."
"Stop! You can't leave me tied here!" cried Jadeite.
Rei was already halfway up the hill. "Just watch me!"
"I'll get you for this, Martian!"
"I'd like to see you try, Earthling!" By this time, she was already at the top of the hill. Over her shoulder she shouted, "Tell your other three comrades that today was merely a warning!"
Jadeite could only watch the top of her cap disappear over the hill.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
IMPORTANT STUFF:
Interesting note: You know that famous Sailor Moon fanfic archive, A Sailor Moon Romance? I finally had the guts to submit this story to their site last week (it's known as "the" site, and it's one of my absolute favorites), and they rejected me.
Ouch...quite a blow to my ego. I still love the website, though.
"Potential, but it still has things to work out" I think they said. I think you guys are being too nice to me here.
This is my very first fanfic ever, and I know I need to revise it in the future, but is this story _that_ bad? Bad enough to be completely rejected? Come on, TELL ME!
PLEASE, if you review, be specific. If you like the story, tell me what you liked about it so I know to keep it up. If you think this is the dumbest piece of trash you've ever read in your life, tell me what is wrong so I can fix it.
NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS! The next chapter is the *very* last chapter in the past! Aren't you happy? But you might not see it for a while. Sorry for all the delays!
