Title: Sailor Diamonds: Tricky Situation
Author: Raya
Theme: Minor Characters / Politics
Genre: General / Drama
Version: PGSM (Moon Kingdom)
Rating: PG

Disclaimer: The royal family and the senshi were created by Takeuchi Naoko. I have merely created a few hasty fanart paperdolls to play with for a while.

Canon, spelling, grammar, and punctuation corrections are appreciated. So is constructive criticism and general comments. Please let me know if you see something that you like or that should be corrected. Thanks! - Raya

Sailor Diamonds: Tricky Situation

Watashi ni nare... Kirare to... Sailor Diamonds... [Turn into me... With a flash... Sailor Diamonds...] - From Kirari*Sailor Dream!, the opening theme for Pretty Guardian SailorMoon (Live Action).

Queen Serenity sighed deeply as she leaned her head back against a tree and closed her eyes. 'How am I going to do this?' she wondered for the hundredth time. She gently rolled two Sailor Diamonds around in her right hand, their pale blue and flaming red beauty hidden by her loosely closed fist.

'Aphrodite was easy. All I had to do was tell Viren that I was sending her off to a special finishing school so that she could be groomed for a position as Serenity's chief lady-in-waiting and she was happy. Neither Count Scylla nor Lord Apol will be so easy to fool.'

For a moment, she wished angrily that Serenity could control her emotions better. After all, if she did there would not be any reason for the additional deceitful games that her mother now had to play. That emotion was fleeting, however, and quickly replaced by guilt. The princess had been trying, truly trying, to control herself ever since she had finally accepted that the monsters which Sailor Venus fought were coming from her. Despite Sailor Venus' best attempts to distance herself, the crown princess still loved her cousin deeply and wanted nothing to harm her.

Things had been fairly quiet for the past six years. So quiet, in fact, that many people seemed to have forgotten what Princess Serenity was and what she could do. The crown princess had managed to reign in her volatile emotions, and when she could not she now had several sheltered rooms scattered around the palace that she could run to.

As the years had passed and none of the other Sailor Diamonds had changed color, Queen Serenity had dared to hope that perhaps Sailor Venus would be enough to protect her daughter. And there was still the mysterious Sailor Moon who had not yet appeared. Perhaps she was protecting the innocent people that Sailor Venus could not reach. Maybe, just maybe, the two senshi would be enough.

And then, three months ago, Princess Serenity apparently began to lose control once more. Queen Serenity knew that she should have expected it. After all, her heir was now thirteen. That was a difficult age for most girls as their bodies began to change and mature. Swinging hormones and confusing emotions were a natural part of that change.

Queen Serenity sighed again. Yes, she should have expected this. She was, in fact, lucky that it had not happened sooner. But, that did not make her task any easier.

Two days before, Serenity had passed her in the hall. Her lower lip had been clenched tightly between her teeth and tears had been shimmering in her daughter's chocolate brown eyes, but the girl had still had enough presence of mind to hold them back. Sailor Venus had been beside her looking confused, but not worried. Queen Serenity had assumed that meant that her daughter was still in control, and that there was nothing to worry about. She had been wrong.

A few minutes later, a fearful scream had drawn the Queen's attention to a nearby courtyard. She had blanched when she had seen the strange, misshapen monster attacking several young adults. They were all children of courtiers who had been enjoying an afternoon tea party from the decorations on the table.

Many of the teenagers fled, running as fast as they could into the palace corridors. Two brave young men had gone forward to fight the creature. Both had been seized, drained, and discarded. Several of the young women had fainted, and two other young women had tried to drag them to safety.

The monster had attacked the smaller of these two ladies, and she had screamed in fear and pain. Before it could do more than lift her off of the ground, a bolt of fire had caught it in the back. It had roared, dropped the young woman, and turned to see who had attacked it.

Both the queen and the released girl had stared in horrified amazement as the second young lady threw another fireball at the creature. Queen Serenity had been close enough to see that her wide, unseeing eyes were a beautiful shade of violet.

Just as the creature reached its new opponent, the first girl had stood up and held out her hands. A stream of boiling, frothing water had hit the creature in the back. It had screamed in pain and anger, but the two young women had ignored it. Giving each other a long, solemn look, they had nodded and attacked once more. As the creature vanished in burst of steam, the two girls had collapsed, unconscious and spent, to the ground. The whole fight had lasted only a few moments.

Queen Serenity had found herself wandering dazedly to the secret chamber far below the Moon Palace. As she had both expected and feared, two more of the Sailor Diamonds had changed color.

And now, she sat in her garden trying to think of some way to explain the coming disappearance of Lady Aeri and Lady Herme and the appearance of Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury. The Sailor Diamonds in her hand were as silent as the two Guardians who protected the underground chamber.

'Count Scylla just lost his wife. He will not let his only daughter go to some mysterious, undefined school without checking it out first, even if I am the one speaking for it. And Lord Apol and Lady Maye are so protective of Lady Herme I'm surprised they let her wander out of their chambers. But there has to be some way...'

It took almost an hour of thinking before the obvious solution came to her: make the school real. Not just real, but close by. That way, if the parents wanted to check on their children, the senshi would have the time to race over.

'I could put Lady Luna and Sir Artemis in charge,' she thought as she straightened up. 'They can be trusted to keep a secret and to work with the girls. They also have enough of a reputation to satisfy Count Scylla and enough rank to satisfy Lord Apol. Now, how to make it appear to not be a subtle political favor. Lord Apol won't mind, but Count Scylla would be looking for a hook. Perhaps if I make it seem like he is doing me a favor? Which he would be, but not one that I want to have great weight.' Still musing, the Queen rose and walked into the palace to find the headmasters of her new school.