Disclaimer: It's unfortunate, but I don't own Sailor Moon.

Trials

"She's not ready," Venus sighed, running a hand over her face.

Jupiter frowned. "You don't think so?"

"She doesn't even have her pen yet," Venus said. "She needs more practice."

"I'd say she's performing much better than Jupiter or I did at this stage," Mercury said, removing her glasses and rubbing her eyes. They were all gathered in the Control Room, analyzing Lafayette's last transmission, trying in vain to work out the garbled words and sounds.

"Yeah," Jupiter agreed, leaning back in her chair. "Hell, she had better control when she got here than I did after the first month."

"Electricity's a much more difficult element to control than fire," Venus said, waving her hand flippantly, "lightning is by its very nature irregular, whereas fire's nature is much more straightforward."

"Regardless, I'd say her control over her element is almost as focused as mine," Mercury said as she replaced her glasses along the bridge of her nose.

Venus raised an eyebrow. "You think she handles her element more delicately than I handle mine?"

"I'm not sure," Mercury admitted, "but she certainly handles it with finesse. I didn't gain that dexterity with water and ice until I'd received my pen."

"Yeah, after you iced the courtyard. We coulda used Mars' help back then to help defrost the place," Jupiter laughed.

"She may have a natural talent for it, but that doesn't matter. She's still not ready," Venus said.

"Once she has her pen, she'd be a good candidate for second-in-command," Mercury said quietly, and her comrades turned to her. She blinked, then continued. "Her aim is already better than ours, her powers are inherently of both an offensive and defensive nature, her theoretical skills and practical skills are very good, she understands strategy… I've seen her work with the troops—they hang on her every word. And she has a sixth sense, with visions that allow her an advantage over any enemy. I think she's well suited to be second-in-command."

Jupiter made a small sound of agreement. "I hadn't thought about it till now. I always figured you'd be second-in-command, Mercury. But she does have better practical skills than you, no offense."

"None taken. And that's one reason she's better suited to it than me; if it came down to a fight, she'd fare better protecting the Princess than I would."

"You could outsmart anyone, though" Venus pointed out.

"She can outsmart most opponents, too," Mercury said. "Her mind is sharp, and she's quite capable of thinking fast on her feet."

Venus sighed. "You think she's ready? Ready for the Trials?"

Jupiter snorted. "No one is ever ready for the Trials."

Mercury offered a small smile of agreement. "I agree. But she's as prepared as she can be; she only needs to learn a few more things. Her bond with Serenity is strong. Perhaps stronger than even our bond with the Princess."

Jupiter nodded in assent. "They're close." She laughed. "Serenity won't stop nagging me to be more frank with her, 'like Mars is!' Her tact's lacking, but Serenity doesn't mind."

"She finds it endearing, I know," Venus said, biting her thumb. She frowned as she noticed and moved her hand away. "But her bond could be stronger."

Jupiter shrugged. "It's strong enough. It'll take her a month to master the pen, and by that time, she'll be more than ready."

"I agree," Mercury said.

Venus opened her mouth, then closed it. "So… you really think she's ready?"

"Yes," Mercury said, and Jupiter nodded.

"She could die. She could lose her powers."

"The same went for us. You weren't this scared for us," Jupiter pointed out, sharing a knowing glace with Mercury that Venus chose to ignore.

"It's no different for Mars than it was for us. She's better prepared than we were, thanks to your training, and she'll be ready."

But it is different, she thought. Venus sighed. "I'll give her the pen next week, then."

Venus couldn't lie to herself anymore. Mars was ready. Mars was more than ready. But with the loss of Lafayette fresh in her mind, the wound deeper than a cut, and painful to the touch, Venus was scared. She couldn't lose Mars. The thought of losing her sent a wave of nausea through her, and she sure as hell didn't want to be responsible if Mars tried to take the Trials and ended up losing all her magical powers. She just wanted Mars to be happy—she didn't want her to end up powerless or…or dead.

So she'd give Mars the damned pen. But she'd stall for as much time as possible.

A/N: Well, sorry about the delay. I had some choir concerts and rehearsals that interrupted my first week of classes, so I ended up falling behind in schoolwork as a result (so did everyone else in the choir lol). But I'm almost caught up, so things should fall back into place soon, hopefully. I guess I'll upload a second chapter to make up for missing last week.