Disclaimer: I still don't own Sailormoon, not rich enough. But I DO own the characters and plotlines for this fic so any sort of plagiarism is OFF limits. XD I ran across that with my CCS fic.

A/N: This is the most shoujo-ai-y chapter so far. If you're offended by female/female relationships, turn back now. Chapter rated PG13.

"Go Hiroko-kun!" Neptune yelled from the sidelines. It had been three weeks since Haruka had started her training and her best friend had showed up at every match since the first one. Unfortunately, Neptune wasn't as adept at disguising herself as she was others so she showed up at every single training session in her full princess garb, everything sans the crown. It was quite an uncomfortable situation considering many of the knights in training fancied her and very, very uncomfortable questions arose but Haruka didn't have the heart to tell her the truth about what was going on so there she was at every match cheering her on totally oblivious as to the fact that men were drooling over her as she spoke, oblivious to the fact that Haruka was fighting off questions such as 'Have you gotten to second base yet?' with a smirk and wave of her hand, she came totally oblivious as to the uproar she was causing.

"It's really odd for a princess to come and support a knight like that, especially someone with as little talent as you who probably has never even seen the entrance of the Neptunian castle much less met the princess herself. What is your relationship with her?" Ryouchi asked leaping to the left and attacking towards Haruka's midsection. In the three weeks Haruka had known Ryouchi she had learned three things, one, he was extremely arrogant. Two, he fancied Neptune-chan just as much as the other knights, actually a little more to the fact that it was sort of creepy. And three, for some reason he had also made Haruka a little uncomfortable, almost like he was coming onto her sometimes. I guess you could say she discovered four things, even if the fourth was basically an opinion – He was a real jerk.

"I know her better than anyone else. We've been friends for a very long time and that's why she comes to cheer me on. Not that it's any of your business what our relationship is; it's not like you're ever going to get with her anyway." Haruka countered both verbally and physically dodging his blow and turning her sword to block his. In the three weeks she had also grown considerably in her swordsmanship, not very far from matching Ryouchi's skill level.

Ryouchi face turned red and he grimaced in something akin to fury, he twisted his sword to the right and pushed Haruka to the ground, Haruka blinked – this had to be an illegal attack – but she reached out and grabbed Ryouchi by the collar bringing her down with her. He landed on top of her and both of them were crammed up next to a fence.

"Just watch, Hiroko," He said the name with a sneer, "I'm seeing Madame Neptune tonight. And I'm going to get farther with her than you ever have."

Haruka felt something at the back of her throat, a burning sensation. It traveled down her arms and her back towards her fist. "We'll see about that." She said as she slammed her fist into Ryouchi's face with such fervor that it sent him flying.

"Hiroko! Ryouchi! What the hell do you think you're doing?" The man that was conducting the training came over and yanked Haruka to her feet, she shook him off disdainfully. "This is knight training, not common street fighting. Both of you, leave, and this session is dismissed." Ryouchi got up and gave Haruka a really rude gesture, which she countered with a gesture of her own and she bent down to pick up her sword walking towards Neptune in the balconies.

"What happened?" Neptune asked but Haruka shrugged off the question, putting her sword in the hilt of her belt. "Nothing," she answered, "Let's go somewhere, I don't even want to think about this right now."

"What do you mean you have dinner with him tonight?!" Haruka bellowed slamming her fist into the table shaking the crystalline glasses of ice water.

"Lower your voice," Neptune whispered, "People are staring."

Haruka blushed and sat back down, "Why are you going to dinner with him? Can't you tell he's a jerk?"

"I can tell alright, but I didn't get much of a choice in the situation. He went through my father, not me, to ask and you know how my father is about getting me a suitor."

"I don't trust Ryouchi, I don't trust him at all." Haruka grumbled picking at her fettuccine, the conversation had caused her to lose her appetite.

"Neither do I but I really don't have much of a choice, Uranus, look at you you're hair's getting in your food." Neptune leaned over the table and brushed Haruka's hair back behind her ears, "I think you look better with short hair." Haruka nodded, she had to change back into her princess form to avoid even more unsettling questions about their relationship, she really did miss her short cut and trousers though.

"Just be careful Neptune-chan, be careful for me okay?"

Michiru smiled as she settled back into her chair and picked up her fork, "Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself, really I can. Now let's go before we give the owner a coronary with all the commotion we were making."

They got up and left, Haruka dropping a couple coins down to pay.

"Neptune-hime! You look even better in person." Ryouchi said at the door taking her hand and leading her towards his carriage, Michiru smiled and took her hand back stepping into the compartment behind the driver and his horses.

"You're quite a charmer, Ryouchi."

"I can't help it." He said stepping in behind her and closing the door, "Where would you like to eat?"

"Somewhere close. I need to be back home in an hour." Michiru had exaggerated her curfew a bit, the shorter the dinner the better.

"Alright, no problem. There's a café down the street we can eat at, I know the owner so we can get a private room." Plus, a lot of my friends go there and what will they think when they see me with this Neptunian Goddess?! He added in his mind, but that would be nothing compared to what he was going to be able to tell them tomorrow. Tonight will be amazing – For both him and Neptune.

The carriage set off, Michiru pushed herself into the corner trying to get as far away from Ryouchi as possible. The bright aqua blue suit made her kind of dizzy, sure it was her planet's color but he could've toned it own a bit.

"We're here." The driver said and Ryouchi got out of his seat walking around to open the door for her, she got out carefully and landed with an almost inaudible click of her heels. He took her hand and led her to the entryway smiling slyly at the host. "A table, in the back if you will." He nodded and began leading the way.

"So, Neptune-sama, how do you like it so far?"

"I'm having fun, you make for interesting company."

Ryouchi grinned and nodded, "I know. And you're pretty amazing yourself." He scooted closer to Michiru putting his hand over hers, she closed her eyes forcing herself not to move away and thinking repetitively Thirty more minutes... Thirty more minutes...

She's closing her eyes! He thought, ya! This must be a signal to move in. Ryouchi smiled and leaned in closer to Michiru putting his lips closer to hers, Michiru's eyes snapped open to see him in her face and she freaked out pushing him away into the back of the booth.

"What was that for?!" He bellowed.

"I... uh... I'm not feeling well, let's go home." Why was he that close to me? That jerk!

"Alright, fine." He said getting to his feet like a little baby. He stalked out and Michiru followed, laughing to herself. Definitely a little baby.

"We're here." He said getting out and opening the door for her standing in front of the Neptunian castle. He had to make up for his actions somehow so he started walking her to the door, "I'm sorry about earlier. I just couldn't help myself, you looked like an angel with your eyes closed."

Michiru smiled uneasily, "Thank you." She said as she put in the password to open the door, Ryouchi followed her in. "Goodnight, beautiful Neptune-hime. I have to go speak to the king." He said and walked off. Michiru looked after him for a second then bolted to her room, Ryouchi grinned.

Alright, Neptune-hime... Even if you don't think so, tonight you're mine.

He turned on his heel and followed Michiru stealthily up the stairs, using all his training as a night not to make a sound. Not that it mattered much; the walls in here were soundproof anyway.

Michiru dashed into her room and lay down on her bed, That was completely miserable. Never, never will I go out with someone just to humor my dad again. She closed her eyes and spread her arms out taking in the silence, she was about to fall asleep when all of a sudden she felt a heavy weight on top of her. Holding her down. She looked up to see Ryouchi and opened her mouth to scream but his hand was over her lips muffling any sound.

"Tonight, tonight your mine." He said as he ripped the fabric of her dress efficiently from top to bottom, completely exposing her. He held her by the wrists and started moving down her body, Michiru fought back but to no avail. He was a knight after all.

Help me... Someone.

Haruka frowned, throwing her novel across the room, yet another ploy to get her mind off Neptune that didn't work. She got up and looked out her window at the other planet in the distance. I really can't do this, she thought, I need to go see if the dinner went okay. He's too skeevy. She looked down at the ground to see if the coast was clear and slowly began scaling the wall to the floor, using footholds and grips she knew so well to get to the bottom. How many times had she done this to go see Neptune-chan? But tonight, tonight it was different. And then she ran, faster than she's ever run before, faster than the wind. Because she knew, beneath her consciousness she knew that her best friend was in trouble.

Haruka reached the portal and typed in the password to Neptune at warp speed, in less than seconds she was outside the palace gates. Time was off the essence here. She looked in the window and saw not the outline of one body, but two. She was already late, she dashed up to the door of the castle but thought best of it. She didn't have time for the questions or chit chat that she knew was going to arise. Instead she decided to take a risk and scale Neptune's wall as well. She had no clue where this urgency came from, where this adrenaline came from but when you knew someone as well as she knew Neptune then you could feel when they were happy, when they were sad, and most of all when they felt fear. She slipped on one of the stones but quickly found another foothold, her safety didn't seem to matter anymore. She got up to Neptune's window and looked inside; she saw a big aqua blue blob because she couldn't really tell much because Neptune's window was designed not to show detail. But she sure as heck knew that blob anywhere, Ryouchi. She looked down at herself, she was wearing a dress, no sword, no weapons, nothing. I can't face Ryouchi like this, he'll surely defeat me. Then she had an idea, she'd probably get in more trouble for this than ever before but she had no other choice. She reached into her bosom and seized her golden rose, twirling it this way and that and becoming Hiroko. Sword and all. Here goes nothing. She thought as she jammed her shoulder into the window, with all the adrenaline going through her it gave way easily and she climbed in. But nothing, nothing on Earth could have prepared her for what she saw.

Ryouchi was lying on a bed with Neptune, and Neptune was completely naked. What the?! I thought she didn't like him? She stared at them and they stared back and Haruka was in complete disbelief, then she noticed Ryouchi's hand covering Neptune's mouth and the tears streaming down her face. It took a lot, a lot to make Neptune cry and a rage unlike any Haruka had ever felt before traveled down her spine.

"I'm going to kill you." She said grabbing her sword and Ryouchi got up.

"Hiroko?! What do you think you're doing here?! Do you know the price you'll have to pay for breaking in to a princess's chambers?"

Haruka nearly blew up at the hypocrisy in that statement. "Do you?!" She bellowed and charged at him her sword aimed at his stomach, Ryouchi was taking a back and wasn't even on his guard. Haruka was about to completely spear him when she saw Neptune's eyes wide open and knew, she knew Neptune-chan couldn't take seeing someone die at her best friend's hands. So at the last second she turned her sword and slammed it in the back of Ryouchi's head knocking him unconscious. She then hoisted him up and threw him out the open window to a patch of bushes she knew would hurt him considerably but would provide enough cushion not to kill him. She could feel her heart start to calm and resheathed her sword, then she looked up. And with all the anger gone she saw Princess Neptune. Standing there, scared, vulnerable, weak. Haruka got up and walked over to her, without words she opened her arms and her best friend fell into them, and for awhile all they did was hold each other. Haruka providing the strong arms Michiru had always been looking for, Michiru providing the love and compassion that only a woman could give that motherless Haruka had been searching for all her life.

And in that moment, everything seemed complete. They parted and Haruka looked in Michiru's eyes, and all the rules slipped away. The rules of a man and a woman, of princesses and princes, they fell away and Haruka leaned down and kissed her best friend. Passionately. They fell onto the bed and that was when Haruka finally decided that this was what she wanted. They lay there for what seemed like hours then Haruka started to get up realizing this looked bad, REALLY bad. "Uh... Eh... Neptune... I gotta go, I mean, uh..." She blushed and fumbled with her sword but then Neptune sat up,

"You're not going to leave me alone are you?! He's still out there?! And... And... I feel more protected when I'm around you."

"But... Neptune-chan, do you KNOW how bad this looks?"
"I don't care. I don't care at all."

Haruka sighed and took off her jacket, what's the difference anyway? It's just another slumber party, but this time it felt like they were on different terms.

"Alright. Alright. But I'm leaving before anyone finds out."

She crawled into Neptune's bed and wrapped her arms around her best friend, sleeping for the first time with the warmth of someone else next to her.

"Get him Hiroko! Get him!" Haruka looked up and laughed, some things never changed. She was sparring Xioxing and winning by quite a few blows. She ended the fight with a quick 'Touché' to Xioxing's stomach and they parted with a bow, ending training. Rei, the blonde boy from before, Touji, and a couple others came over. "Hey, Hiroko, Princess Neptune seems happy today. Did you guys get together finally or something?" Haruka was about to do her usual reply, rolling her eyes and telling them to get their heads out of the gutter, that there was nothing between them, but she thought better of it. This time she just smiled and said:

"Maybe, Touji, maybe."

A/N: XD That was my first time writing romance in two years. I'm a little rusty; I think more practice is needed. Meaning, time to start working on my novel some more!