"Whaaaat?" Minako laughed as she entered dinner, looking around with wide eyes at the people assembled there.

"Surprise!" Serenity cheered, glad to see Minako's pleasure. Half of the town was there: but Minako's eyes moved immediately to Maria and Jezibiah. "I invited them to spend a few days with us, since you wouldn't see them again!"
"Serenity . . . Princess . . ." Minako put a hand to her cheek, taking it all in. "I – are you sure about this? It's okay with Endymion?"
"When my bride wants her way," a voice from behind Minako began, low and amused, "she gets it." Minako turned to see the Prince, hands clasped behind him and armor discarded in favor of dark, formal dinner clothes. "If it makes her happy," he inclined his dark head gracefully.
"Oh, you sweetheart – you absolute doll," Serenity cried, slipping into his arms. They stood together for a moment, just gazing at each other, happily, as the whole room watched. Serenity sighed, expression soft and glowing. "Everyone should be so fortunate," she murmured, and stood on tiptoe to let Endymion kiss her.
The kiss reminded Minako of something else and she turned to survey the room. There, in the corner, was Kunzite. He was holding a glass and looking absently at a candelabra, deep in thought. After only a few moments, though, he turned as if sensing her, and met Minako's gaze.
His eyes were shielded and cool, but Minako could sense the boiling emotion just beneath the surface.
He was still angry with her.
It wouldn't have been so bad if she didn't know how hurt he was – how betrayed.
But her thoughts were interrupted as he tore his gaze from hers and turned, striding curtly from the dining hall. Minako couldn't help but notice Nephrite's hurried whisper to Makoto before he went after his friend, or the discerning gaze that Makoto sent toward her blonde friend. The brunette blushed a little when she saw Minako looking at her, but would not lower her gaze. Instead, they openly and impartially assessed one another for a long, measured moment. It wasn't until after dinner, though, where Minako had sat with Maria and Jezibiah and Serenity, talking and laughing and ignoring the slight strain at the other end of the table where the Senshi were talking in low tones to the Generals and the town-girls kept casting long looks down the table at the handsome men, that Jupiter approached her.
"Minako."
Someone touched the woman's shoulder and she jumped a little, turning in surprise. Jezibiah and Maria had just left her with the other townspeople to be shown their rooms. The entire town was not there, since most of the older men and women had to go back and get ready for the harvest season, but the younger crowd, with a scant few adults, had gotten permission to stay.
"I'd appreciate it if you would help me bake some cookies tonight. It's been a while since I've cooked and we should catch up." Makoto smiled and Minako, though sensing that the amiability was a little strained, agreed.
"I'll be in the kitchens after I change into something more comfortable," Minako said, gesturing to her filmy golden, waistless gown.
"Yes," Makoto chuckled, looking down at her hunter-green satin skirts, "I think so too." She smiled up at Minako and the two women laughed together, a nostalgic familiarity springing up between them.
"I'll see you in a bit," Minako turned, still smiling, and they parted.

"Why are you so rough with her, Kunzite?" Nephrite settled onto the edge of his friend's desk, watching the tall, pale man tense where he stood at the window.

There was silence, and then Kunzite's cold voice cut through the air like a shard of glass. "Why is that any of your business?"
"Because I'm your friend," Nephrite replied, his gaze not wavering.
Kunzite turned and gave him a look that would have withered any soldier, but only made Nephrite frown.
"Do I have to beat the crap out of you again, or are you going to talk to me?"
"Nephrite," Kunzite warned edgily.
The brown-haired man shook his head and pressed his lips together, looking at Kunzite in expectation.
"Fine," Kunzite barked, yanking a chair around to straddle it and glare at his friend. "I'm furious with her. I'd strangle her if she wasn't carrying my child – my child, Nephrite, which she never even bothered to tell me about!" He stood, knocking his chair over, and there was a wild light in his eyes. "Running away, I can sympathize with. Leaving me after I found her again, I can forgive. But. . . ." he looked about, as if trying to find the right words waiting for him on the walls, and finished with a savage grunt.
There was silence and Kunzite would not look at his friend.
"The baby is yours," Nephrite stated. He had suspected, but hadn't thought that Kunzite would tell him. In a dark corner of his mind, he had been wondering if Kunzite's anger was over Minako carrying another man's child.
Kunzite was silent.