Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon. It was made by a genius and I'm not that smart, though I might wish otherwise.
Author's Note: I had to make up titles for the girls and all the other Terrans, so I drew upon books, friends, famous people, movies, and my own twisted imagination. Also, in the manga, Rei is the heartthrob of the group, always chased by guys even though she doesn't reciprocate so I decided to add that here, how Rei and Minako are always chased by guys with Rei discouraging her suitors while Minako encourages them. And don't bother to keep track of other locations in Manetheron, Earth because they're just random make-believe places I made up so that the Terrans will have locations for their balls. The only important places on Earth (that were mentioned so far) are Hikawa Shrine and Gaia Palace Compound.
Chapter Nine: The Ball
August 19, 9:50 pm
Ballroom, St. James' Mansion, Manetheron, Earth
The scowl never left the prince's face the entire night.
He stood near the columns of the ballroom inside the mansion where the party was being held that night, at the home of some lord or other and had a clear view of Usagi dancing with one of the many gentlemen littering the place.
She was wearing a simple halter-top flowing ecru gown with dainty floral designs embroidered in gold at the hem and neckline. Her hair was piled high on her head with curls and tendrils trailing delicately down her half-bare back. She was decidedly feminine and most men, if not all, were casting admiring glances at her. And if her flushed cheeks were anything to go by, she was thoroughly enjoying herself and that attracted more appreciative looks from the males.
Meanwhile, Endymion had grown tired of mouthing "I don't want to tire myself out since I just came from the flu" that he had been forced to utter to avoid dancing with the many women present. And since news traveled fast, especially news concerning him, the ballroom that evening was filled with more women than men. His mood didn't improve in finding out that, once again, the female population somehow knew he'd be there that night. To think he and his generals only decided which ball to attend a few hours ago. Of course, there seemed to be more late arrivals than usual.
"She's quite popular, don't you think?" Kunzite commented in his quiet voice from the side. The generals had quietly joined their prince.
"I know." He glared at the offending pup currently bowing to Usagi as the next dance began. "Zoi, why aren't you with her? You're her escort, dammit, why are you letting other men dance with her?"
Zoisite stared at his 'date' and dryly countered, "Should I chain her to my side? Forbid her to talk to others? I mean, what exactly do you want me to do?"
Jadeite glanced around the ballroom and noted the interested male glances thrown Usagi's way and casually commented to Endymion, "It's kind of interesting, actually. All the males of our land tend to fade into the background whenever you're around. They all know that but they respect and like you enough so they don't complain when the women flock to your side and ignore them. Now, though, there's a new female on the scene and she, for all appearances, doesn't seem to care about you, not the way the other girls do. She's going to attract their interest because she's new blood but she's going to hold it because she's the only member of the opposite gender not drooling after you."
"Jade, you talk too much," Endymion said acidly.
"Yes," Jadeite agreed blandly, taking a sip of his champagne. "I've been told that before."
"Why don't you ask her to dance, your Highness?" Zoisite slyly suggested. "I haven't seen you dance with anybody tonight. It's all nice to pretend that you're still recovering from your non-existent sickness but it still wouldn't do for the crown Prince to go to a ball and not dance with anyone, would it? You have my permission to dance with her."
"If you insist."
"Actually, I suggested, not insisted."
But Endymion was already too far away to hear him.
----------
"I believe the next dance is mine," Endymion peremptorily announced when he reached Usagi's side. It was fortunate that the dance had just ended and the musicians were starting the second waltz of the evening, else it would have been rude for him to cut in like he did.
The man Usagi had been dancing looked up in surprise for the Prince never willingly offered himself as a dance partner. He usually gave the required first waltz to his hostess and danced occasionally with visiting dignitaries' wives or daughters; usually giving dances out of propriety, politeness, or politics, but never voluntarily going to the dance floor to claim a dance.
"As you wish, your Highness." The man bowed and left.
Endymion turned to Usagi. "Many men are looking at you. They wouldn't if you had picked another dress. That dress is too nice."
Usagi's pleased smile at seeing him froze at his words. She frowned. "Only you, baka, can turn what is supposed to be a compliment into an insult." She turned to leave.
He caught her arm. "Forgive me. I seem to have forgotten my manners. It was a very churlish and ungentlemanly thing to say. I truly do like your dress."
"Really?" She searched his face before finally believing him then girlishly turned around to show her dress off. "You said so earlier this afternoon when you agreed with my choice but it was difficult to find out if you liked it or not now that I'm wearing it since you were scowling throughout the ride here."
"Oh, that, well, um." Endymion fought the blush spreading but knew he was losing. He cleared his throat and pulled at his collar before absently running his fingers through his hair. "I was thinking of… something else."
"You know, I had worried that the color or the style didn't suit me and that's why you looked the way you did, but Zoi said not to worry and that I looked great and that your bad mood had nothing to do with me." Usagi studied him.
"Zoi was right. It had nothing to do with you."
Usagi hesitated for the barest of seconds, then… "Do you want to talk about it?"
As the orchestra struck the opening chord, Usagi curtsied and Endymion bowed. Nervously, Endymion held out his arms and Usagi walked into them. Unlike the other dances, the waltz actually allowed a dancing couple to talk and spend time with each other.
"No, I'm all right now." He smiled down at her, amused to see that she barely reached his shoulder, heels and all, and yet she somehow felt right in his arms. "Are you enjoying yourself so far?"
"Yes. Thank you very much for allowing me to go the ball."
"You're not mad that I've been so bossy with you?"
She shook her head. "I know you were just concerned. I just hate being trapped indoors for so long."
They danced for a few beats in silence.
"By the way… is there something you want to tell me?" Usagi stared at the folds of Endymion's jacket.
"What? Like… what? What are you talking about?"
Usagi's laugh was like the tinkling of a waterfall. "That's a defensive answer if I ever heard one."
Endymion smiled sheepishly.
"I'm talking about… people… well… they call you 'your Highness'…" she said as if that would explain everything.
Endymion tensed slightly yet answered in a light tone, "Yeah, I think they've call me that once or twice. Is there a problem with that?"
"They only call… well… princes and princesses are the only ones called that… right?" She looked unsure of herself.
"Yes."
"So… you're a prince…?"
"Well I don't think I'm a princess."
Usagi let out a startled laugh.
Although he was smiling down at her, Endymion was guarded when he answered her, "Yes, I'm a prince."
"Are there many of you or are you the only one?"
"There's only one of me, Usagi, unless you've seen other Endymions walking around this ballroom?" Endymion joked before he thought, making her laugh.
It was funny, he would later think when he'd look back on this conversation, that Usagi could make him laugh and joke about topics that normally made him uncomfortable. He enjoyed making her laugh so he usually ended up turning defensive statements into jokes. He smiled as he came to that realization.
There was a beat of silence after her laughter died down, then, tentatively, "I mean, are there other princes, but based on your reaction, I'm guessing you know what I meant. And from your reaction, also, I'm also assuming that you're the only one. So… why didn't you tell me?"
Endymion shrugged; himself unsure of what to tell her.
"Didn't you want me to know?"
Another shrug.
"Don't you trust me?"
"I don't really know you."
Usagi bit her lip and looked down, but not fast enough for Endymion to have missed her hurt eyes. Inwardly, Endymion winced and would have kicked himself if he could. After spending practically every minute of two weeks in close quarters with her, Usagi was one of the few girls (not to mention probably the only girl near his age) he was comfortable with and could honestly consider a friend.
"I'm sorry." He used the tip of his finger to raise her chin so he could look into her eyes. Gently, he said, "I'm acting like a bear tonight and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I was a prince – and, yes, the only prince in the kingdom which, as I'm sure you've figured out, means I'm the heir – because I was hoping it wouldn't matter."
"It only matters because you didn't tell me, so now I'm thinking that it matters a lot to you."
"If you had found out before, would it have changed how you saw me? How you treated me?"
"Is that what you were afraid of? That just because you're a prince, I'd act differently around you?" Usagi frowned, trying to understand him.
Endymion tried to hide his surprise. "Most girls do."
"Well, they're not me."
"Obviously."
Usagi smiled at him. "It really doesn't matter, does it? Whether you're Prince Endymion or Endymion the rich merchant, you're still a baka."
Endymion let out a surprised chuckle. "Thanks. I think."
"No problem." She grinned then leaned closer, whispering in conspiracy, "A baka with a 'hip shakin' Tuxedo Mask' beside his bed."
Endymion looked around. "Not so loud, my reputation is at stake here," he half-joked. "Can't let them hear that their prince has a hip-shakin' Tuxedo Mask figurine, least of all, one that's situated right beside where I sleep."
Usagi smiled and asked him, curious, "Is being a prince all that hateful? Underneath your jokes, I somehow get the feeling that you don't like being one. I would've thought it would be fun, except maybe when someone curtails your freedom." A fleeting look of sadness suddenly crossed her face, but it was so fast that Endymion wasn't sure if he did see it and Usagi wasn't certain that she did feel it.
Endymion shrugged and, for once in his life, answered the often-asked question honestly, "Being a prince and having duties as the heir is something that I don't mind. In fact, I like it. I like knowing that I can make a difference, that I can improve things and serve my people and give back to them. However, it's what goes along with being a prince that bothers me. Sometimes it's bearable and maybe if I were married, it'd be okay. But I'm single and available and the entire female population thinks that's a disease they've got to treat. You're the only one who doesn't run after me."
"Proof positive that I'm the only female here born with some sense," she dead-panned.
"I'll second that." Endymion laughed.
----------
"He does know that if he keeps acting like that, people are going to talk, right?" Nephrite commented to the other generals. They were all watching from the sidelines and saw everyone else – men, but mostly women – unobtrusively watching the couple on the dance floor. Women who were not dancing were busy whispering with each other, forming speculations, while women on the dance floor were trying to position themselves so they could eavesdrop. It was the weirdest sight – women trying to maneuver themselves near the prince while their partners tried to pull them away. Only Endymion and Usagi seemed oblivious to the chaos their innocent dance was causing. It was the first time the entire kingdom saw their prince acting this way and to say they were curious was a vast understatement.
Endymion laughed again.
"That's the third time he's laughed and he's never laughed when with any other female, not in any of these balls. At least, not since he outgrew his wild days," Nephrite added, noting the dark glares being sent Usagi's way by the female population of the ballroom. "Not to mention, he's not exactly being proper in the way he dances with her, is he?" They all noted that Endymion looked more relaxed than he had ever looked while dancing and that he held Usagi slightly closer than was normal. Not to mention that he has touched Usagi's chin, stared deeply into her eyes, and lightly stroked her cheek, all within the first two minutes of the dance.
"Do we do anything about this?" Kunzite wondered aloud.
"Sure, oh glorious leader, just tell us and we'll be happy to do it," Jadeite replied.
The four generals exchanged looks.
"First things first, Zoi, I think you'd better dance with her and explain everything – how the females react to Endymion and all that," Nephrite suggested.
"I don't think it'll be of any help," Jadeite interjected. "I tried telling her about it when we were out but all I managed to do was exercise her abdominal muscles."
They looked at him blankly.
"Laugh. I made her laugh," Jadeite translated. "She just laughed as I told her about how women see our prince. She thought I was pulling her leg."
"Weird," Zoisite remarked. "I wonder why she sees him differently."
Kunzite stared thoughtfully at the dancing couple, seeing Usagi laugh as Endymion teased her. "Maybe because she's also beautiful?"
"In my experience, beautiful women are vain about themselves and their partners. The more beautiful the woman is, the more they like men who equal them in looks," Nephrite disdainfully remarked.
Zoisite stared at her. "She's different. I know I haven't spent as much time with her as Jade did, but she strikes me as someone who's truly nice."
"You'd be right about that. I've never met a nicer person and she's really fun to be with too, always game for anything. I dared her to play tag in one of the parks and we did; most girls would be too dainty or pretending to be too mature or afraid of getting dirty but she just laughed, delighted," Jadeite shared.
Kunzite turned to his generals. "Okay, men, the moment of truth: do we all like her?"
"Sure."
Kunzite hesitated, then, "Do we like her enough to accept her as a possible future queen?"
"Whoa, wait a minute. Hold on for a bit. Is it that serious already? I mean, Endymion has yet to figure out how he feels about her," Zoisite objected, paling at the thought of marriage – even if it wasn't his.
"Have you seen him act this way, feel this way, about anyone else before?" Nephrite demanded.
"Well, no, but…" Zoisite looked at each of his friends and noted their expressions. "Er… do you guys really think she could be the one?" he finally asked.
They all glanced again at the couple in question.
"All I know is I've never seen him like this with any woman before. Not even when he beat a path of broken hearts back in his wild days," Kunzite observed.
Nephrite nodded. "I, for one, wouldn't mind it if Endymion finally settled down. He's a prince and though he might run at the sight of women throwing themselves at him, he's never been as averse as us to settling down and marrying. Besides, he has to marry before he can be crowned king." Although they kept their feelings carefully hidden, the generals were as irritated as Endymion with the council's ridiculous stipulation.
"True." They glanced back at their prince, who, even from a distance, was obviously enjoying himself.
Usagi threw back her head and laughed, which caused the men milling around the ballroom to turn to look at her and study her admiringly. This attention did not escape the women's notice and neither did it improve the ladies' disposition.
"Then again, I don't think it matters if we like her or not, its moot point that he likes her. I doubt it matters, really, what we do and what we feel," Nephrite voiced out. "Although it would be better all around if we did accept her, willingly."
Zoisite and Jadeite shared a look then both shrugged. "I like her," Jadeite volunteered and Zoisite nodded his agreement.
"Yeah, me too, I guess," Nephrite added.
"But you guys see it too, don't you?" Kunzite studied the dancing couple. "Our prince cares for her. A lot, it seems. In all honesty, I wouldn't mind having her as a queen. She's very nice and such a down-to-earth person. She's good for our prince, for she'll never flatter his vanity like the others."
"Of course, our prince is very vain, yes?"
"Stow it, Jade, you know what I mean. All right, moment of truth…" He turned back to his generals. "Are we all agreed that we like her? That, if the situation arises, we will do what we can, what we should, in easing her acceptance into our world?"
"Of course." They all nodded.
"Do we also agree that we believe that Endymion likes her, possibly more than likes?"
Three heads nodded.
"Then… are we going to help them get together or stay out of it and let them work it out?"
They all avoided looking at each other until Zoisite, unable to help himself, burst out, "Endymion? Woo a girl? You've got to be joking, right? I mean, seriously. We've got to help him out; he'll probably ruin the entire thing. He's never had to court a woman in his entire life; I don't think he'd even know where to begin! He's had it too easy for years. I don't think he even knows what it's like to chase after a girl."
"He's not stupid." Kunzite frowned.
"I'm not saying he is." Zoisite waved a hand dismissively. "He's just never had to experience chasing after a woman. Women go to him; always did, always will. Usagi's a refreshing change from that. Personally, I'm not entirely sure he knows what to do."
Kunzite stared at the younger general. "Zoi, pretend for one minute that you're the one who's out to woo a girl, would you not know how to do it? Surely you can somehow devise a means of courtship using that intellect of yours that I know is in your head somewhere."
Zoisite frowned. "All right, point taken, I suppose we all know how to woo a girl, if needed. But we're the generals, we're not the prince! Compared to him, we have to work slightly to get our women. 'Zite, you've known him longest, tell me, in your recollection, did Endymion ever have to seduce a woman in his entire life?"
Jadeite interrupted, "Look, guys, why are we even obsessing about all this? Knowing Endymion, he'd probably take a while to start his courtship or whatever." He jerked his head to Kunzite. "The two of you are alike, always planning things in advance and making sure every detail is accounted for. Can you imagine Endymion just going full-steam at this courtship of his? Of course not. He'll make like Kunzite and plod along until we're all screaming with impatience. He'd probably court Usagi like he'd plan a battle – study her defenses, find a way to break through them, lay siege, and storm the keep. So how about we just play it by ear?"
"I am not that bad!" Kunzite defended. "And neither is Endmion. Geez, Jade, you make us sound so boring. We do not treat women like that. Besides, say we do woo a woman like you say we do, what is so wrong with it? What's wrong with planning your line of attack before courting a woman? It ensures success."
"A woman is not a battle to be planned and fought," Jadeite reminded him.
Kunzite tried to explain, "It is when your heart is on the line. You've just never been there, Jade. To you, women are all fun; I doubt you've ever cared enough about one of them to make them stand out in your head. If you cared, really and truly cared, about a woman, you wouldn't be so cavalier about the outcome of your courtship."
"Oh, right, as if you've ever been in love before," Jadeite said sarcastically. Kunzite shot him a look of warning that they all knew and Jadeite immediately backed down. "All right, all right, my bad. So you've cared about women, or a woman, and I haven't. Big deal. I'd like to think that when I finally found the girl I liked, I wouldn't have to 'beat down her defenses and lay siege to her heart' or anything like that."
Zoisite studied Jadeite. "Because, of course, you'll be sure to pick someone who'd chase you and not the other way around?"
"Hell, yeah. Courting hard-to-get women are so passé."
Nephrite snorted. "Lazy, aren't we?"
Jadeite sighed. "Guys, stop giving me grief. Why are you all ganging up on me? Is it something I did? And we've totally gone off the topic and into one that isn't even going to be applicable until, hopefully, years and years from now when I'm old and gray and my eyesight is going. I have no intention of settling down until I'm as boring and predictable as Kunzite and Endymion."
"You? Never!" Kunzite grinned.
Nephrite interjected, "But he does have point. We were talking about Endymion and Usagi."
"So we'll all for them, right?" Kunzite asked.
They all nodded.
"We'll play it by ear." Kunzite shot Jadeite a meaningful look. "But if he needs help, we'll give it. Are we all agreed?"
"Obviously."
Kunzite nodded. "All right, then. Let the courtship of Prince Enydmion commence."
They all looked at him weirdly.
"Or something," Kunzite hurriedly added.
"Of course," Jadeite remarked as he glanced at Endymion and Usagi who were bowing to each other at the end of the dance. "It'd be nice if we knew just who Usagi is and what her real name was. Can you imagine bowing to 'Queen Bunny'?"
----------
August 19, 9:55 pm
Ballroom, St. James' Mansion, Manetheron, Earth
"This really isn't fair," Ami muttered angrily, following her three friends inside the ballroom.
"Mercury, hush," Minako scolded.
"Well, it really isn't!" she insisted. "You girls get to be debutantes and I'm still going to be a tutor!"
Rei tried to cheer her up. "But you got promoted, Ami. You're not only girls' tutor, you're now our companion, and, er, our governess, somehow." Rei passed a disdainful glance around the ballroom as they stood at the entrance.
"Rei, could you be a little less snobbish?" Minako said sarcastically. "We're supposed to be debutantes who are excited to attend this stupid ball."
They were late, but they only changed their disguises that afternoon and it took a while for those sorts of things. They had discussed whether or not they were going to attend a ball that night or the next night when they decided they may as well get it over with. They had secretly used some, a teeny tiny bit, of Rei's premonition power to figure out which ball would have the most chances of having some results. Anything to get them off the planet ASAP.
"Oh, that's a comfort," Ami replied sarcastically. "Now, I'm not just a tutor of a gaggle of inane girls but rather, I'm your companion. I'm now a freaking spinster in addition to all my other duties!"
"I'm sorry," Rei apologized to her. "But unlike the others who can pretty much disappear from the scene, you can't. Those 'inane girls' of yours will certainly question your sudden disappearance so you'll have to slowly let them go or something, if you really want to get rid of them. Besides, you're not the only one. I still have to be a Shrine Maiden, too, and, unlike you, I can't just let that go."
"Oh, a lot of work that is." Ami was still riding her sarcasm horse. "You, what, stand around and look pretty and listen to prayers and use your powers? How hard can that be?"
Makoto stared at their normally very easy-going friend and bluntly asked, "What's up? Why are you so cranky?"
"I'm an old maid, Jupiter!" Ami was answered by sharp hushing noises from her three friends. She obligingly lowered her voice to hiss at Jupiter, "Makoto! You turned me into an old maid! I wouldn't have minded being older than the usual debs in my disguise as a tutor, but now, as a companion, I'm an old maid! You just had to go and make me older! In our old disguises you and Minako were at least around my age, but now, I'm the only old one! And to think, I'm not that old! I'm one of the youngest of the four of us!"
"You don't look that old, Ami," Makoto assured her.
"You're right, I'm not. I'm just, what, ten, fifteen years older than you guys are?"
"And you're not the youngest among us," Rei calmly clarified, having rearranged her facial expression into something more acceptable. "You're the second oldest, next to me."
"What's the big deal, anyway, Ami? We'll just be here long enough to find our princess. Once we do, we're out of here. You don't have to care too much about the impression you make among these people." Minako smiled at a young lady who glanced their way. The young lady returned the smile with a hesitant one of her own. "Looks like our disguises are working," she told Rei in an effort to change the subject.
"Of course, did you have any doubt?"
"Not really, but it's nice to get confirmation. They don't know who we are but we look familiar, right?"
"Yes. Do you all remember your new names?"
"Yeah, Rei, don't worry. It's still what was given to us, only with titles, right? Piece of cake. They're just titles, anyway, I don't think it'll matter if we forget or anything."
"I don't think so," Ami disagreed, trying to throw off her bad mood to return to the business at hand. It did not help that she was irritated that she was in a bad mood since she was the most even-tempered of all the girls and she rarely, if ever, had a temper. She took a deep breath and tried to push away all emotions and concentrate on the business at hand. "I read up on Earth's customs and they care more about titles than they do about their right arms."
"That bad, eh?" Makoto wondered.
Just then a few gentlemen neared them. One of them approached Minako with a confident smile. Ami, used to this and, in fact, expecting this, deliberately placed herself in his path so that he'd bump into her and, in the midst of the commotion, Makoto, who was also expecting this, dragged Minako away.
"Why'd you do that?" Minako hissed at Makoto, who had an iron grip on her arm and was dragging her away.
"Because we have to concentrate on finding Serenity and we don't need you practicing your flirting."
"I don't need to practice flirting! I'm a Venusian, I was born knowing how!" Minako said in the tone of voice of the severely affronted. "And why don't you do the same with Rei? Some of those guys were for her too."
Makoto snorted. "Oh, please, like she needs our help and intervention. She can make guys crash and burn all by her lovely self. You, on the other hand, are a completely different story."
Minako was about to protest but, thinking about it somewhat, decided that Makoto may be a tad right.
Speaking of Rei…
She kept her eye on Makoto and Minako as they left, following a few feet behind them at the same time ignoring the men who were nearing her, trying to use her speed to throw them off.
One of them, unfortunately, made it to her side.
"Good evening," he said confidently; some young pup believing himself to be the leader of the pack.
"Good evening," Rei said back, not warmly and not coldly either, eyes still tracking Makoto's brown head that was slightly heads above the rest. Not again, she thought with a mental sigh, here we go…
He began, "Would you - ?"
"No."
"How about – ?"
"No."
"But - "
"No."
Without a backward glance, she plunged into the crowd after her two friends, making sure her expression didn't betray her irritation. Did she have to wear a sign on her face that said 'so not interested'?
----------
The girls reconvened on one side of the ballroom, away and slightly hidden from the others. There were a few groups of people milling around but, as a whole, the girls were inconspicuous. They all breathe sighs of relief.
"I guess some things never change," Rei said irritably, making sure to position herself in such a way that Ami blocked her view of the ballroom. Or, to be more precise, blocked the ballroom's view of her.
"It's sort of comforting to know that, no matter the race, men all over the galaxy are more or less the same," Makoto remarked dryly.
Ami, however, was frowning.
"What is it?" Minako asked her, hiding slightly behind Makoto – not that she had any choice since Makoto had placed herself firmly between Minako and the ballroom.
"I don't understand," Ami said. "Rei and I both toned down your auras and changed the way you both looked, so why did this happen?"
"We still kind of look like we really do, right? Can we help it if we're really gorgeous?" Minako tossed her hair back, leaning slightly to the side in the hopes that she'll be seen from the ballroom. Without missing a beat, Makoto also shifted, successfully hiding Minako. Rei gave Minako a disproving look since a Venusian tossing her hair back tended to attract men like iron fillings to a magnet.
It wasn't that Venus was so boy-crazy that she would allow herself to be distracted from her mission or that she thought flirting and catching the attention of men was more important than finding Serenity. It was simply because she was Venusian. And the existence of males is pretty much the only reason any Venusian need to explain any of their actions. The other girls knew it would be useless to try and talk her out of it since Venus did it all unconsciously. The girls had once hypothesized that it was drilled into the very genes, the very aura, the very minute cells of every single Venusian to try and attract males (not that they had to try very hard) whether they wanted to or not. It was just their in nature.
"What? Oh, heavens, don't give me that look, Rei. I'm not doing this to attract guys. It's a habit and it's not like I can change it overnight. And you also do it! Besides, I'm not a Venusian right now. I'm a Terran for all looks and purposes. And, lastly, they can't see me anyway," Minako said defensively to Rei.
Ami frowned. "I think this complicates things slightly."
"What do you mean?"
"How can we go through the population unobtrusively when the both of you are attracting attention like you usually do?"
"Hey, it's not my fault. I was actually looking forward to being in a ball without guys trying to hit on me and then they do," Rei complained.
"Maybe we can turn this to our advantage?" Minako suggested.
Rei gave her a dirty look.
"Don't give me that look, Rei. Do you want to get off this planet or not? If we can't stop them from approaching us, then we should use it to our advantage. Maybe we can sort of entertain some of the men who'll ask us to dance and we can then ask them about strange women. We can use them as a source of information."
Rei rolled her eyes. "Are you a Venusian or what? Have you forgotten all those Venusian things you knew when you were made to resemble a Terran? Minako, whenever have you seen a guy talk about another girl to a girl he's interested in?"
Minako frowned. "Well… it's a challenge to be sure, but I think we're up to it, don't you think?"
"I don't care if I'm up to it or not, Minako." Rei crossed her arms. "I don't want to talk to guys, especially not Terran guys. That's your kind of thing. Venusians would probably to talk to any male, regardless of race."
"Okay, first of all, hey, don't take your temper out on me and my people, all right? And second, can we just forget for one second that I'm Venusian and the reputation of my people as man-baiters? I'm speaking as your leader here, okay? All I'm saying is that we have to use this to our advantage since we have no choice." She continued before Rei could interrupt, "Rei, think about it. We can't stop the guys from asking us to dance. We have no control over that. We have to say yes."
"We can say no," Rei said sullenly.
Minako sighed. "Mercury – sorry, Ami, if you please, explain."
"She's right, Rei, you can't say no." She looked thoughtful. "I think I see where Minako's going with this. Rei, debutantes in this planet attend balls and such to try and snag husbands. Balls are for dancing and mingling. It's expected and assumed that girls come to balls to dance with guys, looking for potential husbands and vice versa. If guys ask you to dance and you keep turning them down, it would look weird and we'd draw unwanted attention to ourselves."
"You mean we can't say no at all?" Rei demanded.
Ami frowned, thinking of all she'd learned about Terran customs. "I guess you can say no to some, if you really want to. Since dancing with one guy for a long amount of time, that is to say, more than one or two dances, is considered unseemly, you don't have to spend more than one dance with one guy. Since there's no way we can stop or prevent guys asking you to dance, we might as well use the opportunity to try and gather what information we can."
Minako shot Rei an I-told-you-so look.
"Fine." Rei tossed back her hair irritably. Although she was also a bit on the boy-crazy side, she was really picky with her guys and never enjoyed the way guys would just randomly come up to her and ask her to dance and all that.
"Great." Minako also tossed back her head.
Mars' philosophy about men was pretty much: nice to look at and nothing else. Venus' philosophy, on the other hand, was: the more, the merrier; as well as, collect and collect then select and select. Mercury was a bit apathetic about men while Jupiter was a hopeless romantic who, unfortunately, intimidated most men, as was characteristic of her race.
"You know, maybe we should've made ourselves butt-ugly."
"No way! Bite your tongue!" Minako immediately snapped at Rei's sullen suggestion.
Makoto shook her head. "And we can't do that, Rei. Don't you remember? We have to look somewhat familiar so that if Serenity sees us, she can come to us. I mean, what if she's trapped here?"
"All right, all right." Rei knew when she had to give in, but that didn't always mean she gave in gracefully.
----------
After their little talk, they decided to make the rounds and see who was present in the ball, making sure to avoid eye contact with the men present. Just because they all agreed to accept some invitations to dance didn't mean they had to start now. It helped, of course, that Makoto and Ami made sure to keep Minako and Rei between them.
"Oh, wow, those guys are cute!"
"Can we focus on the job here?" Ami stared hard at Minako, but it was wasted for she was too busy staring.
"Where?" Rei and Makoto asked, craning their necks to see. Ami sighed in defeat. Looks like Rei and Minako got over their bickering.
"Those men standing there near the balcony exit right across ours, the only ones not wearing tuxedos. They look like military men." Minako nodded in their direction.
"How can you tell if they're cute or not?" Makoto wondered. "I can barely see them and I'm taller than you guys." She was still feeling a bit down about that. Jovian people were the tallest in the galaxy and she had hoped to go down to the other girls' heights when they went in disguise on Earth but, as the Queen told them, they had to retain most of their looks in order to be recognizable to Serenity, so there she was, a few inches shorter than her original height but still the tallest. And, from the looks of things, she was also taller than majority of Terran women. Makoto inwardly sighed.
"I'm Venusian, of course I can tell."
"You're not supposed to use your powers," Rei admonished.
"I'm not, don't worry. I can't help it if some things are inherent with me."
"Like, say, tossing your hair?"
"Oh, hush, Rei. Even if I didn't toss my hair, you know as well as I do that guys would still be attracted to me."
"You're so very modest, aren't you?" Rei commented in a voice so bland as to be sarcastic.
Minako snorted. "Oh, please, get over it. We both know guys go after the both of us. You turn them down and I don't. It's as simple as that. I'm not saying I'm pretty just to brag, I'm saying it because others believe it. And puh-lease! Don't accuse me of being vain since you spend the same amount of time in front of mirrors as I do! And you sometimes toss your hair more often than I do!"
"You do, you know," Makoto interrupted when Rei was about to defend herself.
"At least I do it in irritation and she does it for attention," Rei snapped defensively.
"The fact of the matter is that you do it at all," Minako snapped back. "Regardless of reason, the results are the same."
Rei scowled.
Makoto gave Rei a half-exasperated look. The friends knew each other too well. "Is this how it's going to be the entire time we're on Earth, Mars? Just because Serenity's not around to fight with, are you going to unleash your temper on the rest of us?"
Rei sulked. "Not really. Well, maybe some of the time. I do enjoy a good fight."
Minako rolled her eyes. "But fighting with us is not as enjoyable or as satisfying as fighting with Serenity, right? We don't rise up to your bait unlike she does."
"Well, your voices don't get as high or as loud or as shrill as hers does, that's for sure. And you guys never stick your tongue out and blow raspberries. And you're far more mature than she can ever be, so, yeah, it's not as fun. But I miss arguing with someone." Rei sighed.
Makoto turned to Minako and reprimanded her, "And you! You know very well what she's doing, Venus, so why rise up to her baits? You're making it worse!"
Ignoring her friends' bickering, which she was used to, Ami pushed her glasses up her nose and held them there.
Viewing Glasses, one of the two things of Mercurian technology the queen had allowed her to bring/wear looked like ordinary Terran bifocals, sometimes called eyeglasses, which she wore all the time while on Earth. They could magnify images, see through objects, and had enough power for basic analysis of whatever she was looking at. She missed her handy computer very much but hadn't been allowed to bring it for no one in Earth had anything like it nor could it pass for anything Terran-made.
Bracing herself slightly, for sudden changes in the images caused dizziness and Mercury wasn't used to them yet, she fingered the minute controls. She actually owned the latest model – an eye visor that appeared at the touch of an earring that was linked to her mini super computer – and this particular one was about five models older. She waited for the images to magnify and clear, hating the slowness of her contraption. Then again, perhaps she should be grateful that she was allowed to bring this, at least.
"Venus, they're the Terran generals," Ami whispered to them, glad to note that the bickering had stopped. And from the expressions on her friends' faces, all was forgotten and forgiven.
She lightly touched another part of her Glasses so the image she saw returned to normal.
"You don't say? I kind of imagined them to be old and ugly." Minako, her curiosity piqued, tried to get a closer look.
"Didn't Ami say they were playboys? That they took the prince's rejects? Wouldn't that sort of mean that they'd at least be marginally good looking?" Rei wondered.
"Yes, but they're so much better looking than I thought."
"Ami, can you find the prince anywhere?" Makoto looked around as they slowly drifted to a more visible area.
"I thought he was sick and wasn't attending parties?"
"Oh, right. I forgot about that."
"Hello." Minako smiled at the group of three girls nearest them, attempting to make conversation. If they were in disguise, they might as well use it to the fullest. Besides, it was another way to avoid the men who looked like they were just gathering their courage to ask them to dance.
"Hi." One of them, a girl about a year or two younger than they were and with her black hair up in an elegant coiffure, studied them curiously. She was with a pair of girls her own age who were obviously identical twins, both blond with blue-green eyes, one wearing a dark blue gown and the other dark green.
The girls, outwardly calm, were quite nervous for this was the test of their disguises. This was not like their original disguises, wherein they just had brief, meaningless contacts with the Terrans and weren't even important in the grand scheme of social lives. This time they had to interact with the locals. Mars' powers gave them an aura that exuded familiarity but since, in reality, no one knew them and vice versa, it was still questionable how they were to be received by the locals.
Dressed in the latest fashion, the girls retained most of their original looks. Per their agreement with the Queen, their original striking looks had to be toned down, made Terran-ized, if you will, so that they would be recognizable to Serenity if she saw them or if someone described them to her.
Venus, still at 5'6", retained her thick blond hair but had to shorten her originally hip-long hair into a more normal shoulder-length style; her sparkling cornflower blue eyes were darkened to a more ordinary Terran blue.
Jupiter was still the tallest of the four at 5'8" but was shorter than her original height of 6' ½ because no Terran woman was as tall as she was. Her long thick brown hair was already waist-length so it didn't have to be cut but her bright emerald green eyes was, like Venus, toned down to an acceptable dark blue-green Terran color.
Retaining her natural height, which was the same as Venus', Mars' hip-long black hair had to be cut the same length as Venus' and her natural fiery crimson eyes had to be changed to a more acceptable dark brown.
Mercury had to change her midnight blue hair to an acceptable dark brown and though she still had her deep, dark blue eyes, which could somehow pass for Terran black, one rarely noticed it behind the glasses she wore. She also retained her original height of 5'6" ½.
It didn't really bother them to make the alterations since they used magic to don their disguises so the minute they shed their disguises, everything will return to how it was. Also, the girls, originally the Terran equivalent of about eighteen to nineteen, were made to look slightly younger, at the Terran age bracket of fifteen to sixteen while Mercury, in her guise as tutor and companion, was made to look like an early to mid thirty-year-old. She had flatly refused to look any older. Compared to the others, she was not at all vain, but she did have her limits.
"I'm sorry, I can't seem to recall your names even though you all look familiar and I'm sure we've met before," the black-haired girl apologized to them. "Would you mind terribly introducing yourselves?"
Breathing easier, they all smiled at the girl.
"That's all right," Minako assured her. "We're all pretty bad at names and faces ourselves. I'm Minako Aino, Countess Havenhurst. These are my cousins, Baroness Makoto Kino of Claymore and Lady Rei Hino of Claremont. This is our aunt – youngest sister of our parents – Ami Mizuno, Marchioness of Langston. And, I'm sorry, you are…?"
The searching of titles took a little work. They had to be of places that were so provincial as to be unheard of while at the same time, of enough worth that they could pretty much be welcome anywhere they desired in Society but not too high as to draw attention.
The black-haired girl curtsied and introduced herself (Lady Guinevere) and her friends (Lady Amelia in blue and Lady Amanda in green). Unobtrusively, the three friends joined the group, with Ami standing a little apart as a good companion would.
"Forgive us," Makoto smiled shyly. "But we have been long away from the city, what's the latest news?"
And, like a dam breaking, the three girls quickly filled the others on the latest happenings – for most debs enjoyed being the first to share gossip.
"The prince is here, really? Where?" Rei asked intently.
"He's over there." Amanda gestured vaguely to the dance floor.
"He's dancing with some mysterious blond woman," Amelia jealously informed the Senshi.
"Mysterious?" The Senshi's ears pricked up. "Why so mysterious?"
Guinevere shrugged. "None of us have seen her before but she's caught the eye of practically every man in here. And the prince – in a very rare move so unlike him – actually sought a dance with her!"
"And he laughed while dancing with her! It's, like, so obvious that whoever she is, they're probably close."
"My gosh… do you think he likes her? Do you think he'll marry her? Oh, I hope not!"
"Are you sure no one has seen her before?" Makoto inquired, struggling to keep her voice only mildly curious.
The three girls looked at each other.
"I know I haven't," Guinevere replied. "And nobody I've talked with knows or recognizes her either."
The Senshi glanced at each other as Ami casually asked, "Would you mind terribly pointing her out to us? Perhaps we might know her." For to ask about the prince would've been too obvious that they were not of the Earth since every female knew the prince by sight.
"There." Amanda pointed discreetly. "She's the blond dancing with General Kunzite."
The four girls tiptoed to get a better look but couldn't get a clear view of the woman or the general. When they still couldn't see clearly, Minako pretended to see some other friends from across the ballroom so the Senshi could excuse themselves from the company of the three girls.
"There." Ami pointed at a relatively less-crowded area on one side of the ballroom that would give them space to stand while looking at the dance floor. They made their way as casually as they could
"Can you see her yet?" Rei asked, craning her neck every now and then at the dance floor while at the same time trying to maneuver her way across the crowded ballroom.
"No," Makoto replied. "I get glimpses of a silver head, which I think is General Kunzite, but I can't clearly see who he's dancing with."
Rei, who was in front of Makoto and a few feet behind Ami, abruptly stopped and when they all stepped back, they realized that it was because she had bumped into another guest.
Rei's temper, which wasn't really sedate to begin with, simmered. "Watch where you're going!" she snapped. "Idiot."
"Excuse me, but I believe my friend stopped and it was you who plowed right into him," a male voice mildly said.
"Just apologize and get this over with, Rei!" Minako hissed from behind.
Rei glowered at the men but did as her leader instructed. Grudgingly, she apologized, "I'm sorry."
"Rei!" Minako hissed.
"I wasn't looking where I was going," Rei gritted out.
"No problem," another easy-going male voice replied.
With that, the four girls hastily excused themselves and headed quickly to their destination.
----------
"Do you know her?" Nephrite asked Jadeite as the four girls left.
Jadeite shrugged. "Nope, don't remember seeing her, or them, before."
"Weird, though, I thought we knew everyone?" Zoisite remarked as the three generals walked.
"Not everyone, surely."
"But the female half, yes," Zoisite told Nephrite.
On account of being close friends of the heartthrob prince, the generals were quite familiar with most, if not all, the women in the land, regardless of age since women of all ages believed themselves to be an acceptable age for the prince. The generals usually knew females by name or face or both, either because one of them had offered the rebuffed women comfort or vice versa, or because they were asked by the Prince to keep the said woman away from him. It was also part of their job to keep track of all eligible (and non-eligible) women in the kingdom for Endymion's sake.
"So who were those girls?" Jadeite asked, glancing behind him for a glimpse of the black-haired woman who bumped into him. "Any ideas?"
"None. They look familiar though," Nephrite mused. "Why so curious?"
"She's really cute. Didn't you see her, Neph?"
"Who? The brown-haired one?"
"No, the black-haired one who bumped into me. She's cute."
Zoisite moved slightly aside to allow another guest to pass, then fell into step next to Jadeite. "She called you an idiot, Jade, how can you like her?"
"So fiery, so passionate; how can you not like her?"
Zoisite shrugged. "I like my women calm and serene, brains over heart and all that. Nothing's sexier than a woman with brains. That way, I'm the only one who sees all her passion in the privacy of my bedchamber."
Nephrite made a disgusted face. "Did anyone just go to a scary visual place?"
"Hell yeah." Jadeite turned to Zoisite. "If that's what you want then explain to me, Zoi, why do you bed women who are stupid? About half the women you bed probably couldn't even tell you… well, couldn't carry a decent conversation."
Dryly, Zoisite told his friend, "Because I'm not after intellectual conversations with them, Jade. If I wanted a long-term girl and a woman who'll catch and maintain my interest for a long period of time, she'd have to be smart."
"I suppose that makes sense," Nephrite observed. "You're kind of smart-sy yourself, so I guess it's only logical you'd want someone who's at least your intellectual equal."
"How about you, Neph? What was it about the brown-haired girl you liked? I assume you meant the younger one."
Nephrite shrugged. "I'm not sure. She just drew me."
Zoisite remarked, "Not to be picky about my title or anything since I never really cared much about it, but did anybody notice that none of them called us by our titles?"
"Perhaps they don't know us?" Nephrite suggested. Jadeite and Zoisite shot him disbelieving looks. "Er… right."
Like the prince, every single Terran knew the generals or, at least, knew of them. Even if someone came from the farthest reaches of the planet, they would have heard of the High Command and even if they were not familiar with general's identities, they would be sure to recognize the military uniforms.
"Well maybe they barely noticed it. I mean, it's not like we all stood together and talked for a long amount of time, you know. I mean, do you remember what they were wearing?" Zoisite suggested.
Nephrite shrugged. "I'm a guy. I'm not supposed to pay attention to stuff like that. I just remember if a dress looks good on a woman and that's pretty much it."
Jadeite, however, was thoughtfully tapping his chin with his index finger.
"What is it, Jade? I know that look."
"I don't know, Zoi. Now that you've mentioned it, there's something's odd with them, I've just got this weird feeling about those girls… are you sure we don't know them?"
"I assume we know them but I can't quite remember their names. Like I said, they looked familiar." But Zoisite's doubtful face showed that his thoughts were following the same path as Jadeite's.
"I know what you mean," Nephrite agreed. "But with so many girls in the kingdom, are we really expected to remember each and every single one at a single glance?"
----------
"Can you see them?" Minako asked Ami, still craning her neck to peek above the heads of everyone in the ballroom. The girls were in position and Ami was using her Glasses to scan the area.
"Rei, anything?" Makoto asked. Although she was still the tallest of the four girls, her new height couldn't see past heads of most of the men present, who were about the same height as she was.
"No." Rei shook her head. "There are too many people. I can't get a clear Reading of any auras."
"And there are too many people blocking the way," Ami murmured, her fingers never leaving the rim of her Glasses.
"Can't you see through them?" Minako asked impatiently. "We have to see if this mysterious unknown woman is Princess Serenity or not. Goddess, I can't wait to get off this dump of a planet."
"This isn't exactly the latest technology, Minako. It takes a while for it to do anything and I am trying…" Ami concentrated, her fingers nimbly touching on the minute controls found along the rim. "Ah… there…"
"Well?"
"I can see General Kunzite… but not who he's dancing with, his back is facing me… wait a minute… I just have to… wait, they're turning… wait… there… almost… ah, there…" from behind her lens, Ami's eyes widened.
"Well? Is it the princess?"
"I thought Kunzite was dancing with a blond woman?" Ami asked Minako.
"Yes. Why?"
Disappointed, Ami ran a finger around the rim of her glasses one last time before turning to Minako and saying, "He's dancing with a black-haired woman now, Lady Guinevere, the one we just met." She hesitated. "Not that it matters or anything, but from the looks of things, he's not happy about dancing with her. He's hiding it well but, I dunno, I can tell. Guys, I think we missed the 'mysterious blond woman'."
"Oh Goddess." Makoto looking at the crush inside the ballroom with a horrified expression on her face, knowing that they had to try and catch a glimpse of the mysterious woman.
Rei groaned. "Do you know how many people are in here? We've got to find her, somehow. I don't want to have to go back tomorrow night for another round with all these Terrans!"
Minako and Ami were busily scanning the ballroom and its surroundings.
Minako pointed. "There, up on the balcony, we'll have an unobtrusive view of the entire ballroom. We can look for her there."
"When I get my hands on Serenity, she is so getting it! I cannot believe she's putting us through this torture! No reason is good enough that I've had to give up my powers and mingle with these peasants," Rei fumed as she followed the girls to the said balcony.
"If we're lucky, we'll find her tonight and be out by tomorrow. For all her flightiness, she knows her responsibilities. She has to go back. She knows that," Makoto said.
"Maybe she just wanted a few hours of freedom," Ami suggested to the others. "After all, she is the princess and she's treated as such on the Moon. Perhaps she ran off because here, no one knows her."
"Whatever the reason, once we find her, I'll definitely bring her back, whether willingly or kicking and screaming as she goes, I don't care," Rei vowed darkly. "I dislike Terrans, we all do, and she knows that! She also knows that we'll follow her wherever she goes."
"Rei, control your temper," Minako warned.
"She may be the princess but she's still our friend," Rei insisted. The candle lights near the girls began flickering, even though there was no discernible wind. The girls turned to Rei in alarm, who continued, oblivious. "As the princess' personal guards, I agree that we should treat her as such, but as her friend… I want to give her a piece of my mind! It was very irresponsible of her to pull a stunt like this! Not only that, but she's worrying everyone! Us, her parents, everyone! And I'm really worried. It's not like Serenity to just run off without a word to anyone. She has a Communicator, doesn't she (although she always misplaces it, her being so careless about her things and all)? Why doesn't she contact us if only to tell us she's fine? If she doesn't want to go back, then fine, but the least she could do is tell us where she is and if she's doing fine. We're her best friends!"
Ami cleared her throat. "Rei, please control your emotions. The candles are reflecting your agitation."
Rei glanced around in surprise, noting the candles that were flickering and some which had grown slightly brighter than normal, then obligingly reined in her emotions. The girls all breathe sighs of relief when the candles returned to normal.
It was Mars' one weakness. Although she usually had a very good control of her emotions and was not as passionate as, say, Serenity, there were times when her passions got the best of her. Unfortunately, when it did, her emotions were usually reflected in whatever existing fire was nearest her.
Makoto frowned as they went back to their original topic. "I agree. It's not like Serenity to completely forget. She's normally very considerate of others." She hesitated before voicing out what was in everyone's thoughts, "You don't think… something's happened to her, do you?"
"No," Minako said shortly, in a voice designed to assure them all, including herself. "The Transformation Pen would disguise and protect her. Nobody knows she's the Lunarian Princess, especially not here on Earth, so she'll be safe. And if someone tried to harm her, she knows the basics of self-defense, you made sure of that."
"But what if –"
"Enough, Makoto," Ami gently said. "We're all worried enough as it is. Let's stop worrying about 'what ifs' and just concentrate on our task at hand and what we do know. We have to find the Princess; once we have her, then we can shout at her all we want and demand all the answers that she can give."
"I get to her first," Rei insisted.
----------
The girls sneaked up the balcony (for none of the other guests were there) and hid behind one of the voluminous curtains and leafy plants set beside the huge floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
"At least there are only a few blondes around," Makoto commented from their hidden post. "And we can discount the two blonds we met earlier."
"That's assuming she retained her blond hair when she Transformed," Ami reminded her. "And hopefully, for her protection, she also toned down her original looks like we had to with ours."
"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. If she's blond, at least it'll narrow down our search somewhat. And I'm kind of two minds about her toning down her original looks. I mean, if she retained it, then we'll have an easier time of finding her – after all, just look after the most sought after and eye-catching woman you can find and we've got her. But if she did tone down her looks… she'll look like a normal Terran… how will we start finding her?"
The girls were not really bragging about their original looks, more like stating facts, for while their races had its own specific striking looks, the girls had their races' most beautiful character traits in abundance – a sort of bonus since they were the crown princesses of their land, but mostly because they were the Senshi. Their finely honed and well-used powers tended to augment their auras. And even if it were dimmed, as it was now, it still made them strike out in a crowd no matter what.
"Let's just start with the blondes," Minako suggested. "It's easier that way. Then, if we can't find her, we'll look at the others. Besides, didn't what's-her-name say that the mysterious new girl was a blond?"
"Amelia," Ami reminded Minako.
"Right, her," Minako said without much interest.
Ami patiently reminded their leader, "Minako, we've got to make the effort to remember those we meet. If we can't find the princess tonight, we'll have to try on other nights and it won't do to never remember the people we're introduced to."
"I guess I didn't think of that. I just can't wait to get off this planet."
"There… I'm getting a familiar aura." Rei was staring intently at the crowded ballroom. "Or, at least, it's not your usual Terran aura."
"Where?" The girls looked around.
"I'm trying to pinpoint the location," Rei murmured, concentrating.
-----------
The generals had all accompanied their prince out on the balcony. He was, as usual, hiding from the wily females of the ball so they helped him sneak out and find a deserted area… which just happened to be the terrace right outside the balcony where our four Senshi were hiding in.
Suddenly, the five men stopped and looked around with their eyebrows furrowed.
"I'm getting a very weird feeling." Jadeite looked at his friends. "Or is it just me?"
"No." Zoisite was busy looking around. "It's not just you. It's also me… there's something… odd."
Kunzite frowned. "Like… I… hear something."
"But it's not quite noise, is it?" Nephrite agreed. "It's at the edge of my awareness and yet… not."
----------
"Rei! Not too much! Your powers might draw the Attention of the High Command," Ami warned as they watched their friend use her psychic powers to scan the crowd.
"Sorry, I got all excited," Rei said sheepishly and they Felt her retract her powers and then let it out in a controlled dribble that was barely perceptible. "How's this?"
"Better," Makoto said. "I can't Hear a thing."
Although Rei was the most powerful and most developed of the four, the others also had psychic powers to a certain extent and could definitely Sense it if someone were using it.
-----------
"Weird. It's gone," Nephrite commented. He looked at the others questioningly.
"Maybe it was just our imagination?" Endymion suggested uncertainly.
"All five of us?" Zoisite asked skeptically. "I didn't know we all thought in practically the same way."
Jadeite groaned. "I knew it! We've been spending way too much time with each other."
"Must be the night air," Zoisite remarked, brushing the experience aside with a toss of his long blond hair. "Anyway, with your permission, your Highness, we'll return to the ball and tell everyone that you've gone back wherever to rest. Rigors of the ball and all."
"All right, thanks, Zoi. Don't forget to tell my coachman to bring the carriage 'round. Tell him to bring it to the corner of the street outside. I don't want anyone to see me get into my carriage and possibly follow me back home."
"Yes, of course," Jadeite said. "Is there anything else you'd like to tell us that we already knew?"
"It's not like we haven't done this an umpteenth million times," Zoisite added dryly.
Endymion smiled at them. "Sorry. By the way, if Usagi wants to leave, tell her to come up here in the next ten to fifteen minutes and we'll leave. I'll wait for her."
"Ah," Kunzite began delicately. "Your Highness, I think it would be best if she rode home with us. After all, she's supposedly staying in the garrison."
Endymion frowned, wanting somehow to spend more time with Usagi and yet knowing no other way of denying his general's request. He had gotten used to his outspoken bedroom guest and he kind of… missed her. Not that he would ever admit it.
"All right. But you guys are leaving later in the evening, aren't you? She might want to leave early, so tell her about my offer nonetheless."
"Yes, your Highness." The generals hid their smiles.
"Same way we went in?" Jadeite asked them, his hand on one of the glass doors that led back.
"Yes, we can hide behind the curtains like we did," Kunzite agreed.
----------
"There she is!" Rei's ecstatic whisper caught them by surprise.
"Where?"
"The blond standing to one side, the one who's talking to those two older gentlemen, she still looks like she always has, minus her golden crescent moon, and her looks are toned down slightly, like ours, although she still kind of stands out and her hair looks like its shorter than before but still kind of long. Er… basically, she just looks like she always did, except, uh, more Terran-ish and less Lunarian-ish."
"You know, weirdly enough, that actually made sense," Ami muttered.
The Senshi searched her out and found her.
"To think, all this time, we were worried we wouldn't be able to recognized and find her." Makoto was mystified that their princess ran away yet retained every aspect of how she originally looked like, except, as Rei pointed out, her Lunarian aura and golden crescent moon – which marked her as a member of the Lunarian royal family. It was almost too easy. Surely, their princess wasn't that stupid. She was far too easy to spot, especially with her trademark hair – the ridiculously long blond hair that was usually fixed up in pigtails. At present, her hair wasn't in the pigtail version, but, based on what they saw, was still ridiculously long and only slightly unchanged.
"That is a really nice dress," Minako admired. "And she's so popular with the guys! Wow! I mean, look at that! Look at all the admiring looks the guys are sending her way!"
"Don't you think your opinion's a bit out of place right now?" Ami shot her a sharp look.
"Not really, after all – " but Minako never finished what she was about to say for what they thought was the floor-to-ceiling glass window behind them was apparently a floor-to-ceiling glass door.
It was pulled outward, causing the curtains to billow out and envelope them, which caused them to lose their balance and sight, which resulted in an instinctive desperate scramble to free themselves from the curtains. They floundered and waved their hands uselessly until Rei tripped, which caused the curtains to pull on the other girls, which caused all the girls to fall ungracefully on the terrace floor just outside the balcony doors.
"Get your butt off my face!"
"And whose butt is that? I can't tell. Is it mine?" Makoto wondered.
"Someone's foot is poking my back!"
"Is this it?" Ami gingerly tapped her foot on whatever soft surface it had landed on.
"Ow! That's my stomach!"
They were a bundle of sprawled limbs and feet and heads and lots of hair and yards of fabric as they scrambled to figure out which limb belonged to whom and where parts of their anatomy were, as well as trying to disentangle themselves from their voluminous gowns and curtains.
"Well, well, well," a familiar voice spoke up. Trembling, the four girls slowly looked up to see who the voice belonged to.
It was the blond man whom Rei had bumped a few minutes ago inside the ballroom. With him where his two male companions, whom the girls also saw a while ago, and a few feet back, a silver-haired man was standing beside a black-haired man. They were all looking at the girls in surprise.
Rei smiled weakly at them.
Jadeite bent down so he was eye-level with Rei. The girls' hearts sank as they noted that he obviously recognized them. And, from the look on his face, was not about to let them off lightly.
Amused, he carefully pulled a piece of lint off Rei's messed-up hair. "Well, this should prove interesting." He was referring to fact that they were in a place where none of the other guests were allowed.