Royal Colors
"This is a waste of time."
"Be patient. I have almost got it in place."
"No, you haven't!" Haruka insisted, exasperated.
"This is not helping one wit, Michiru!"
"Of course it is!" Michiru retorted stubbornly,
combing Haruka's wheat-colored bangs over her forehead. "Now keep still
so that I can work!" Knowing that her protests would get her nowhere, Haruka
resigned herself to the unwanted grooming, but not before directing a heavy
sigh at the strands in her eyes, lifting them off her forehead for a moment.
Michiru refused to be irked by her friend's childish behavior. Pursing
her lips, she combed the silky blonde tresses again with a tenacious hand.
Standing before the full-length mirror, pinning
her own hair into place, Setsuna tried unsuccessfully to hide the smile
playing around her lips. Michiru had taken it upon herself to try and tame
Haruka's close-cropped blonde hair. It was obvious to Setsuna that she
had underestimated the amount of trouble their friend's head could cause.
Cupping Haruka's chin in her hand, Michiru turned her victim's face up
towards her, studying her handiwork. In the mirror, glaring midnight blue
eyes locked with Setsuna's garnet ones.
"Look there, Michiru!" Haruka remarked, aiming
a finger at Setsuna. "Even Setsuna believes you are wasting your time!"
Sighing, Michiru placed her hands on her hips, and frowned at Setsuna.
"Should you not be getting into your uniform,
Setsuna?" she asked pointedly, and went back to her combing. Setsuna laughed
as she plucked her Sailor Soldier's uniform off her bed and ducked behind
the changing screen.
"To be certain, Michiru," she called, peeling
her dark red gown off over her head, "I agree with Haruka. I cannot begin
to fathom your reasons for attempting such an impossible task."
"This is a special occasion! It is not every
day that one becomes a true Sailor Soldier, is it now? Besides," she added,
and Setsuna detected a teasing note in her friend's voice, "when one does
become a Sailor Soldier, it is her duty to fight all battles, even those
she knows she cannot win." Setsuna, stepping into her one-piece Sailor's
suit, burst into startled laughter. Haruka groaned dramatically.
"What unkind comrades I am troubled with!"
she lamented as Setsuna emerged from behind the screen, pulling on her
long white gloves. "Am I the only one of us who has not had her mind poisoned
by the frills and comfort of her noble birth?" Setsuna wadded up the glove
she had not yet donned, and threw it at Haruka.
"I quite resent that remark!" she said with
feigned sharpness as her glove brushed the side of Haruka's head.
"Setsuna!" Michiru cried in agitation. "I
just got that patch to lie flat! Now I must start again!" Haruka threw
her friend an irritated look.
"Thank you so much, Setsuna," she grumbled
as Michiru's comb raked furiously at the stubborn patch. Chortling, Setsuna
retrieved her glove and pulled it on.
"Haruka, it never hurts to look neat when
one can." Michiru said firmly. "Sweet Lady Neptune! I cannot understand
why you keep your hair so dratted short!"
"The battlefield is no place to fret over
one's appearance, Michiru." Haruka replied. "I simply like my hair short,
that is all." Michiru just rolled her eyes, and used her comb to neatly
part her friend's hair over her forehead. Then, removing her gloves and
laying them neatly on the bed, she smoothed her hands over the part. Haruka
eyed her bared hands with some suspicion.
"Why did you take off your gloves?" she asked.
"They will make your hair stand on end if
I touch it while wearing them." Michiru explained absently, combing over
the part she had just made.
"What?" Haruka exclaimed, standing up quickly.
"Michiru, could it be that you are not only wasting your time, but are
in fact making it worse?" An amused smile on her lips, Michiru gripped
the taller girl's shoulders, and pushed her back onto the bed, where she
had been seated.
"Sit!" she ordered. "I am not making anything
worse. Quite honestly, I do not see how it can get much worse, but I do
believe there is a way to make it better, and I intend to find it."
"You really must admit, Haruka," Setsuna remarked,
adorning her ears with delicate garnet prisms, "Michiru is very good at
dressing hair."
"That does not mean I wish her to dress mine!"
the blonde griped. A knock at the door cut off whatever heated retort had
been on the tip of Michiru's tongue.
"Who is there?" she called instead.
"It is I," Princess Serenity's voice answered,
"and the other girls. May we come in?"
"Enter, Your Highness!" The reigning princess,
with the four princesses of the inner planets following behind, stepped
into their chambers. The three girls bowed politely to the High Queen's
daughter, and exchanged friendly smiles with the future Sailor Guardians.
Silent formalities over with, the gathered relaxed. Michiru and Haruka
resumed their respective combing and brooding.
"Oh, this is just so exciting!" Rei gushed.
"I simply cannot believe the three of you are truly going to be Sailor
Soldiers!"
"I cannot imagine what such an accomplishment
must feel like, myself," Serenity commented truthfully, for she was the
future Queen, and would never be a warrior, "but I extend my congratulations
all the same." The older girls thanked their princess graciously, and said
they were certain she would feel the same when she was crowned High Queen
of the White Moon Kingdom.
"Do the three of you really have to leave,
though?" Mako asked Haruka, looking most unhappy. Both of them being somewhat
boyish by nature, Haruka and Mako had developed a sisterly kind of affection
for one another. Haruka smiled a little sadly.
"You know our duty will keep us on the outer
planets most of the time." Mako sighed and nodded. She knew that as well
as anyone.
"But you can still visit, can you not?" Mina
asked. "After all, my mother always says that the gods plant seeds with
their friends." The other girls exchanged bewildered glances. Although
by now they were quite used to it, Mina's tendency to misquote the most
well known of proverbs perplexed them still.
"Did you mean to say, 'Trees of friendship
grow from divine seeds'?" Michiru guessed at last.
"Yes," Mina replied, confused. "What did I
say?" Her question resulted in a scatter of good-natured laughter from
her friends.
"Well, whatever the case may be, I believe
Princess Mina is correct." Setsuna remarked. "We could always return when
our duty to the kingdom does not hold us, could we not."
"Certainly!" Michiru agreed. "I plan to attend
as many of the full moon festivals as I possibly can, myself."
"And of course, we hope to be at each of Princess
Serenity's birthday celebrations." Haruka added, and playfully flipped
Mako's chestnut pony's tail, which made Michiru scold because she had moved.
"We shall see you all again. Do not worry." After
a moment or so of comfortable silence, Michiru finally made a frustrated
noise, and laid down her comb in defeat.
"I surrender!" she declared, wiping her brow
dramatically. "I simply cannot tame your hair, Haruka!"
"I told you that you would not be able to."
Haruka said triumphantly, sliding her glittering gold tiara into place
on her forehead. Michiru made a bit of a show out of ignoring her friend
as she smoothed the long white gloves over her silky arms. Seeing the older
girls in full uniform, Ami sighed enviously.
"Gods, you all look so beautiful!" she exclaimed,
and of course, she was correct. Sailor Soldiers were known as much for
their beauty as for their fierce battle skills.
Setsuna studied her reflection in the mirror.
She, like her two friends, wore a uniform of royal colors. Dark green and
garnet marked her as the heir to the Plutonian throne. The soft, one-piece
suit hugging her body and her long, silky gloves were pure white, the royal
color of the moon. Wearing white among the royal colors of her home planet
showed that she was loyal to Queen Serenity and her line.
Coming off the one-piece suit was a dark green pleated skirt. The modesty
of royals had at first prompted the girls to protest the skirts, for they
were barely long enough to cover their thighs, but as their mothers pointed
out, they would allow for full mobility on the battlefield. A longer skirt
would be dangerously hindering. In any case, these skirts were no less
revealing than those they had worn without shame during combat drills while
they were in training. Even Haruka had squirmed a bit at the thought of
wearing such an outfit outside the privacy of their training, but they
had accepted the uniforms without further argument. Setsuna, at least,
could be grateful for the knee-high boots that hid a good bit more of her
leg. Haruka's boots came up only to her ankles, and Michiru's were not
really boots at all.
Setsuna's uniform was trimmed by large garnet bows,
one of which rested at the small of her back. The other was placed at her
bosom, centered on the peak of her dark green collar. A glittering gold
tiara adorned her forehead, an oval jewel gleaming cranberry in its center.
The tiara was the most important part of her uniform. Without it, none
would acknowledge her as a Sailor Soldier, no matter what skills she possessed.
Before their daughters had been born, the planetary goddesses had worn
the tiaras to show that they were worldly Queens. The same tiaras had graced
the brows of the first generation of Sailor Soldiers. A Sailor Soldier's
tiara was almost as sacred as the divine token left to her by the celestial
mother of her line, and finally, Setsuna had been deemed ready to wear
the tiara of Sailor Pluto. Granted, she was not Sailor Pluto yet, but—
"Highnesses?" Luna's voice, accompanied by the sound
of her pawing at the door broke into Setsuna's thoughts. Mina opened the
door for the royal advisor, and knelt to pet Artemis, who also happened
to be at the Outer Princesses' door. Artemis purred contentedly until Luna
pointedly cleared her throat, wordlessly requesting the attention of all
those present.
"Come, Highnesses," she said to Setsuna, Haruka,
and Michiru. "Her Majesty is waiting for you." Setsuna's pulse fluttered
with anticipation. She was not Sailor Pluto yet, but the Soldier of the
Afterlife was not far off. Setsuna and her two friends followed the two
cats out of their chambers and into the hallway, each step bringing them
closer to their destiny.