Chapter Two: A Private Musing; Settling in
Author: StarlightMichi
After the meeting, Neptune wandered through the halls of the Palace. She massaged her forehead with her fingertips, desperately trying to sooth a way a growing headache. She had been on the Moon for less than an hour and had already had more than enough conflict. The meeting hadn't gone at all like she'd expected.
From the beginning, Neptune had known it was serious: There was no other reason for Serenity to summon her, Uranus, and Pluto to the Moon if it hadn't been serious. What she hadn't expected was Uranus to be so stubborn.
Uranus was having similar thoughts, although opposite views. She knew the seriousness of the situation, but stuck by her initial reaction: Serenity's guardians weren't ready. They were too silly to be useful. "And if Neptune can't see it, then I pity her," she muttered darkly.
Uranus wasn't used to 'living with' decisions made by other people. She was used to being the boss. It was her way, or no way, and it had been for a long time. Playing nice with two new senshi didn't seem like much fun anymore; Especially with giddy-girly-girls around to get in the way.
"And I thought she was nice," she muttered again, remembering her first impression of the sea-senshi. A flush rose to her cheeks and she quickly banished the thought of Neptune in the ocean. This was no time to get distracted, she told herself sternly. There was serious business to attend to! But first, her stomach.
Looking around eagerly, Uranus asked for directions to the dining hall, and set of briskly.
"Well, that was a fine mess, wasn't it?" Jupiter stated as the four soldiers entered the dining hall. Venus still wore a flushed look, and Mars' jaw was set against embarrassment.
"I told you…"Mercury started, but she quickly stopped at the death-glare that Mars sent her. Venus sighed as she slumped into their favorite table. "Well, we did learn something," she stated. At the puzzled look on the other girls faces, she continued.
"We learned that there's something so important happening, Serenity-sama has summoned three other senshi to the palace. What?!" Mercury, Jupiter and Mars all stared at her incredulously.
"Venus… I think you just said something…smart!" Jupiter hastily ducked a chunk of cheese tossed towards her, laughing happily.
"Pluto, you'll be rooming down the main corridor, just left of Venus and Mars. It's a small room, but it'll do for you, I'm sure." Queen Serenity and Pluto stood outside of the garden, talking in soft voices after their lunch. It was Pluto that had politely reminded the queen that the three new senshi needed places to sleep.
"As for Uranus and Neptune…" Serenity looked puzzled. "Unfortunately, with the Earth's council meeting here for a few days, and Endymion's guardians needing rooms, we're a bit short on acceptable placements for Princesses." Pluto raised an eyebrow as she noticed a glitter in Serenity's eye.
"Here's what we'll do…"
Stretching, Neptune looked around the room assigned to her. It was about half the size of her suite on Kaiohsei, but comfortable. It was by no means small. A vanity table sat on the far right wall with a small mirror, and two beds placed near each other offered amble seating and resting places. Neptune's favorite part was the balcony overlooking the gardens.
With a small, content sigh, Neptune began to look through the drawers of a small wardrobe. It was fully stocked, she had noticed, and among her own dress, contained a small assortment of nightgowns, comfortable day-dresses, and slippers.
She could use a shower, she thought, reaching up to touch her hair. She hadn't had the chance to rinse before Pluto took them to the Moon, and her hair was a bit stiff from the salt dried upon it. Leafing through the clothes, Neptune selected a small, casual cream dress and laid it on the bed. She stepped into the side room that contained a small tub for washing, and turned the glass knobs which made a small waterfall cascade from the side of the marble. Her tub filled fast, and she happily slipped in to soak.
Her stomach full, Uranus set off to find her room for the duration of her stay on the Moon. She would have been happy with a bed in a closet, both Queen Serenity and Pluto both seemed to demand that she stay in one of the royal suites. No matter, she'd thought. A bed in a closet, or a bed in a room of marble it was the same. A bed was a bed, and right now, Uranus felt like she needed a nap.
She found the room with little trouble and after fumbling with the funny door handles for a moment, made her way inside. The sun was in the right position to cast light through the tall glass windows, and the room was aglow with a soft radiance. "Maybe this is nicer than a closet…" Uranus said to herself, smiling a bit. There was plenty of room, and Uranus was debating whether she should undress, or just sleep in her clothes, when there was a small clicking noise from the other end of the room.
Neptune stood with her towel around her, just staring at Uranus. Her hair hung over her shoulders, the ends still dripping lightly on the tiled floor. Water still clung in beads along her shoulders, cheeks and eyelashes, catching the light and glittering like hundreds of tiny diamonds.
Uranus just stood, her eyes wide and her mouth falling open in to a small 'o'.
"Can I help you?" Neptune asked, her cold voice breaking Uranus out of her haze. Clearing her throat, the wind-senshi straightened her shoulders. "Yea. You can tell me what you're doing in my room."
Neptune blinked. "Excuse me? Your room?" She asked, lifting a slender eyebrow to give a piercing look towards the blonde. "I believe this is my room. You must be lost. Leave. Now."
Well, that was rude! Thought Uranus, frowning. "Obviously this is my room or I wouldn't be here!" she remarked tartly.
Before Neptune could open her mouth to reply, there was a small knock on the door. Both heads turned towards it and shouted "What!" glaring at each other afterwards. Pluto's voice met their ears, a bit of humor in her normal calm.
"I just wanted to make sure you both found the room alright." Uranus stiffened, not liking the sound of that.
"Pluto," Neptune asked, her voice back to it's calm, soothing tone. "Whose room is this, anyways?"
There was definite amusement in her voice now. "Both of yours. You're sharing it." Uranus' mouth dropped and she glared at the closed door.
"What do you mean, 'both of yours'!! There's no way I'm sharing a room with her!" Neptune frowned and walked to the bed, leaving a small trail of droplets in her wake. Pluto didn't answer, and both senshi took that as a sign that she'd left. Uranus stomped over to the second bed and flopped on it, curling onto her side and staring at the wall. Neptune sighed softly and picked up her dress, retreating to the side room to finish drying and dressing.
Uranus lay pretending to be asleep, as she pretended to ignore Neptune. Hard as she tried, the image of the dripping aqua-haired woman wouldn't leave her mind. Ever little noise that came from the other side of the room made Uranus jump slightly, wide-awake. If this was how it was going to be living with the sea-senshi, Uranus was going to be a very tired woman.
A.N. So, chapter Two is done. What do you guys think so far? Please leave reviews!