Investigation

While Minako dreamed of the senshi's private hot tub, a man with long brown hair was pacing nervously through the halls of the palace, completely lost.

"Damn map, damn bribe, damn employer," he muttered under his breath. If he didn't find either the senshi or the way out soon, he was going to march straight to the Queen and ask her where the hell it was.

He only hoped to God she would know.

He entered a hallway that had no windows and only a few doors running straight along it. It was dimly lit, and looked almost identical to all the other hallways in the castle. He held back a frustrated sigh and picked up on voices echoing down and around a corner. They weren't very close, and Nephrite had quite enough time to pick a door and slip inside.

He pressed his back against the door and looked around him. While the hallway was fairly dim, this place was like a cave. The air against him was damp, and there was an echo of water from somewhere ahead of him. He couldn't see inside the whole room because tall columns and pockets of dark were on either side of him with just enough room between them for his shoulders to fit comfortably through. Glancing up past the towering columns, he saw that there was no roof – or, rather, there was a glass roof, because otherwise it wouldn't be quite so warm in the room – and the light he saw was from the moon above.

At least he knew which floor he was on now.

The steady lap of water made him curious, so he dared a peek around the columns, not sure if the people in the hall were gone yet.

It was huge. The height barely made up for the breadth and the moon shimmered off of the damp stone and glittering water. Steam rose up from the baths in curls – they were maybe ten meters long and just as wide, and he could make out an artificial waterfall from an elevated bath into the larger, main one. Nephrite drew in his breath in awe and wished wryly that his apartment complex had something like this.

Considering his large, hairy neighbor, though, he nixed that fantasy.

Watching the ripples for a few moments, he glanced to the side and slid more into the shadows, alarmed.

There was someone in the water.

The smooth, sleek head of a woman reclined on the edge of the stone and toes occasionally peaked out in front of her to make long, luxurious ripples.

He wondered who she was for a few serious moments before noticing that she was stirring and standing up.

And then he forgot completely about his mission, who she might be, and the fact that he was supposed to be hiding as much from her as anybody – because she was nude.

It was too dark to make out details, but the impressions he got through the moonlight of long hair and shapely limbs were distinct enough to do powerful things to his body. She was, however, quickly out of his sight and he stumbled quietly back to brace himself against the door he had come in, letting the moonlit woman play rampant on his imagination. He had noted that her hair had been long and dark, but other than the outline of a fabulously naked body, he couldn't tell how tall she was or what her face looked like.

Which was probably best, he decided, forcing himself to calm down and take deep breaths.

The great, echoing room was silent and Nephrite turned his rebelling thoughts to the most important matter of the moment. He needed to get out of the castle.

So it was as he pressed his ear to the door to listen carefully for voices or footsteps that hands grabbed him roughly from behind and he found himself on the hard floor. When his vision cleared of black lights, he noted two things: one, that there was a tall, wet, beautiful woman kneeling on his chest in nothing but a towel, and two, that her eyes held a murderously cold look.

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded. The moonlight lit them both from the side, falling haphazardly across delicate features twisted in anger. Nephrite realized that the present would be a very bad time to gawk at her barely-covered breasts, and so he kept his gaze carefully on her face. She was probably lucky that her towel was a big one, because if it had slipped just a little, Nephrite was sure he wouldn't be able to hold his eyes at an appropriate level, especially since her hands were held firmly at his throat.

"I got lost," he offered honestly enough. She only glared harder.

"No one's allowed in here. You should know that." Her grip loosened slightly and she sat up straighter. "Now who are you?"

"I'm new," he thought quickly. "I work in the kitchens."

She got off of him and snorted not mirthlessly, adjusting her towel carefully and letting him stand up. "No you're not." At his surprised look, she added, "I run the kitchens. If you had lied about any other part of the castle staff, I would have believed you."

Nephrite silently cursed himself, but looked at this woman with a new sort of interest. She knew he was lying, but she was letting him up? Wasn't she afraid that he would attack her or something? He certainly was bigger than her, and she wasn't wearing quite enough to keep the average disreputable male from considering something like rape.

In fact, this woman embodied a kind of sensuality that inspired men to rape.

This strange phenomenon made him particularly careful to keep his hands in sight and away from her at all times. She did just take him down without even a warning, and just because she was a cook didn't mean she didn't know how to fight.

She sighed and glanced at him. "Follow me."

He did, maintaining a decent distance. She walked along past the water and over to a bench where some clothes lay, and immediately began putting them on.

He tried not to peek. He really did. But out of the many things he had ever failed at, he'd never had such a tempting offer to peek at a naked woman before. And easy! She wasn't even looking at him as she slipped on her skirt and t-shirt, dropping the towel from under her clothes once they were on.

She said nothing as she jerked her head toward another door he hadn't seen and they went out into a hallway identical to the one he'd been in. The hall was cooler than the room they'd just been in, and Nephrite suddenly felt damp. In the low lights of the hallway, he could see that the woman's hair was dark brown when wet, and he felt like a kid caught with his hands in the cookie jar. Where was she taking him? To the queen?

Nephrite had a sudden vision of himself standing before her very solemn Imperial Highness, accused of being a Peeping Tom on a bathing servant. The picture was so ludicrous that it almost made him laugh, but he caught himself in time and only smiled.

She took him to the kitchen. The staff there nodded to her and Nephrite was uncomfortable, feeling guilt sweeping over him under all those friendly and curious glances.

The woman had him wash his hands and sit down on a stool next to an empty counter. She got out several containers from a pantry, washed her own hands, and began putting things in a bowl.

Nephrite couldn't stand it anymore as she put the eggs in. "What are you doing? Are you going to kill me with your cooking?"

"I've never killed anyone with my cooking," she smiled at the egg shells she was throwing away. After washing her hands again, she handed him the bowl and a wooden spoon. "Stir."

He did as commanded, but still looked at her strangely as she poured chocolate chips into the concoction. "Aren't I going to get in trouble?"

"Do you want to?" she countered calmly.

"Not really."

She nodded sagely. "Then you're going to help me make these cookies and tell me why you're here, and then you can go."

"Is this some kind of punishment?" he asked sullenly as she fell silent again, not trusting that she would be so lenient.

She blinked, smiled, then shrugged. "I had a craving for cookies."

He stared at her. Her hair framed her face in drying curls and her eyes glittered when she laughed. Green eyes, like summer. "Who are you?" he asked.

Her laughter stopped and she only smiled gently at him. "A woman who cooks well enough to please the queen."

"And you aren't offended that I . . . ?" He couldn't say it.

"You said you were just lost," she reminded him. "And I have no reason to be angry." She chuckled. "Do you have any idea the last time a man saw me naked? It's almost a compliment that you didn't run away screaming. I was beginning to think that I'd gotten ugly or something." She gave a charming smile and he couldn't help but smile back, laughing a little.

He glanced up at her from over the cookie batter. "You're anything but ugly."

She glowed, and Nephrite caught his breath.

"Look," she said as she let him out of the castle's kitchen entrance. "You see that building over there?" She pointed to a tall business building that didn't begin to reach halfway up the castle's height. "Sony" was printed on its side in softly lit letters. "Just remember this door is opposite it. If you ever want to stop by again," she smiled winsomely and Nephrite knew that he would come back – and not just because it was part of his investigation, "just use this door, and if I'm not here someone will come and get me." She looked him up and down warmly and added, "Maybe I'll even give you a tour – away from the hot tubs."

He was smiling as he slipped into the darkness and she closed him away from the bright, crystalline palace.

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Rei's car smelled like cookies and brownies and warm, melting, sugary goodness.

Minako bubbled with excitement as they slid sleekly down the streets of Tokyo. Rei wondered what had inspired this mood in her friend -- she hadn't seemed all that fond of Kevin a few weeks ago. But as the blonde sneaked a cookie and savored it slowly, her eyes closing, Rei grinned. It was probably just the sugar fumes making her hyper.

"Cookies!" Minako called loudly, bursting through the police department's doors with arms full of baskets. Rei followed behind her, more sedate as she pushed gently through the doors, and smiled softly at Minako's loud enthusiasm in passing out the treats.

Jadeite saw her and hurried over to relieve her of some of the baskets. She smiled at him, appreciating the help, and his eyes were warm and affectionate as he smiled back. The looks he tossed her over passing out the cookies were sweet and . . . so normal. Rei allowed herself to wonder if this was what most couples did, and she blushed lightly.

"Congratulations, baby!" Minako cried, hugging Kevin. It was his first day back on the job and they had brought mountains of sweets to the station to celebrate.

Minako's gaze met Kunzite's over Kevin's shoulder and she lost a bit of her smile. He looked so unhappy -- even his body was slumping in on itself with some unwanted pain.

She knew no one else saw it, and gave Kevin one last little squeeze before letting him go. "You get all the cookies you want," she told him, her smile bright and cheery and hopelessly fake again. Her attention turned to the captain, who was peeking out of his office, and her smile turned up ten notches. "Captain! Come on, join us! We're celebrating Kevin's recovery!" She ran over and pulled him out, closing his office door and leading him to the largest pile of cookies as people swarmed around, laughing and smiling at the unexpected break.

"They even brought drinks," Jadeite smiled at his captain as Rei set the sodas down on the desk that had been nominated for the food.

"Rei will pour you something -- what would you like?" Minako bubbled and flirted with her lashes. She ignored the brief glare Rei sent her before the dark-haired woman bent to fill up plastic cups.

"And what, nothing for me?" Kevin pouted as he came up and wrapped his arms around Minako from behind.

She twisted in his arms and hugged him, reassuring. "It's just sucking up to your boss, baby," she whispered, laughing, and kissed his cheek.

"I'll eat this in my office," the captain was saying. "Thank you."

Rei's eyes flew to Minako, but the blonde was already moving, her own drink in hand. "Oh, don't go, sir! It's not a party without yo—" she stumbled a little and spilled her drink on his shirt.

He cursed, face darkening, and she set her cup down, mortified.

"I know how to get it out," she said desperately, taking his things and setting them down before leading him toward the bathroom in the back. "Just a little cold water before it sets and it'll be good as new!" She grimaced at Kevin as she passed him, then caught Kunzite's eye. She was surprised -- while Kevin seemed to be distressed at this development, Kunzite looked like he was holding back a smile. She simply shrugged at him and led the captain into the little room.

The captain never saw the blue-haired woman going through his files.

After the party, Kunzite found Minako in the back bathroom, rinsing out her cups so she could take them home. Jadeite was keeping Rei busy and Kate and Momoko were talking to Kevin.

"Interesting party," he told her, and she just smiled at him over her shoulder.

"I thought he deserved it," she lied. "And Rei really wanted to see Jadeite again. She isn't very good at showing her emotions, but I could tell."

He wore a thoughtful smile. "Tell me, Minako," he said finally, and she glanced at him. There was all friendly charm in her and her eyes were open and honest. Kunzite had a hard time reconciling this gentle, appropriate little woman with the skimpy tramp that had waltzed into the station the first time he saw her. "Was it just me, or did your 'accident' with the captain look a little staged?"

She blinked at him, then gave a forced laugh. "Well . . ." she wracked her brain, "I thought it wouldn't hurt if I flirted with the boss a bit. Might get Kevin a raise, ne? And what better way to flirt properly than getting the man to take his shirt off!"

He nodded, not believing her, and changed the topic to other things.

They spent half an hour in there after she'd finished the cups, just talking and laughing, and no one really missed them.

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Tokyo's retired community was the most lavish section of the city, with sprawling parks to their individual enjoyment and a serene view of the crystal palace. The queen's family was known to live there, as were many others from that long-ago era of disunity and monster invasions. Of the people of Tokyo, these were the ones who woke up screaming in the night after the new monster threat was found, sweat covering their bodies and tears in their eyes. These were the ones that had found their homes and stores and lives destroyed by creatures worse than imagination, and were the ones who told the stories and published the books on the Sailor Senshi and their incalcuable goodness and strength.

Unfortunately, Ami thought as she put a gentle hand to her hat, most of the new, hotshot civilians didn't have any softening memory of the senshi.

She sighed and pushed the buzzer for the mansion. The gates opened immediately, and she walked in without surprise. Her pretty blue eyes were far too old, far too wise, and far too tired for any woman.

"Urawa," she greeted as he opened the door to her and gave a faint smile.

He turned and motioned for her to come inside. She narrowed her eyes at the large, dark suitcases by the door as he picked two up.

"Get those, will you?" he said of the smaller bags, and she complied.

"You're leaving," she commented, vaguely surprised. Urawa was a psychic and a man she had loved once, very long ago.

"Yes," he replied softly. "Yes, I am. I had decided to wait until you came by, but I am leaving." He flipped the garage light on and she followed him to a shiny red Porshe.

"So tell me, Urawa, what happened to your building?" She was calm, but a slip of concern entered her eyes.

He sighed and put his suitcases in the trunk. "It was human, Ami," he said, shutting the trunk and staring at it for a moment, then turning to her. When she met his eyes, she saw tears and more fear than she had ever seen in this bright, beautiful man. "It was human, and a lot of people are going to die." The tears fell. "I'm sorry, Ami. A lot of people are going to die."

She reached for him and he melted into her arms, letting her hold him like a frightened child. When he was himself again, he stood and sniffled, then glanced back down at her. A light smile crossed his pained face and he touched her cheek. His voice was low and soft. "You're still beautiful, Ami. You've always been so beautiful. . . ." He stepped forward and left a chaste, lingering kiss on her cheek. "Something wonderful will happen to you before the end of this, darling. I wish I could stay to rejoice with you, but . . ." His face changed and he opened the door of his car, getting in and starting the engine. Before he closed it, he looked at her very seriously. "Tell the queen to get her family somewhere safe. I'll see you again, princess."

Her eyes were filled with tears as the garage door opened and he left. The housekeeper showed her out the gate a few minutes later.

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"If Urawa is worried . . ." the queen fiddled with her staff, her eyes unsettled.

"Then we should take some serious precautions," the king finished for her.

The Sailor Senshi were in a closed meeting with the king and queen and their advisors, filling them in on everything they'd learned the past few days.

"If it is a human, we should find him and lock him away," Luna, the chief advisor put in. "The girls need to be on this around the clock."

"They're on it as much as they can be," the queen mused, her beautiful eyes unfocusing for a moment. "I'm much more concerned about our enemy being human. What do you do with a human? I can't use my powers against him . . ."

"No one said it was our enemy, majesty," Venus broached sensibly. "Whoever it was probably just had a grudge against that company. Maybe they didn't hire him."

"But someone with that kind of temper -- and that kind of power – would be dangerous to everyone in Tokyo," Artemis pointed out.

"And if that were all, Urawa wouldn't be so scared," Mercury added softly. She still felt his sad kiss on her cheek.

The queen sighed and the king squeezed her hand. She gave him an appreciative look before addressing her warriors. "Okay, then. Mercury, I want you to make sure our dear detective really is just an ordinary fan of Venus, then check out who Makoto's new friend is. I want everything you have on them. Mars and Venus, I know you've scanned the police captain's files, but now you need to get samples of whatever strange materials they found in the wreckage and bring them to Mercury for analysis."

"Done," Mars said.

"So fast?" the queen's eyebrows shot up and she smiled warmly. "Good job, Mars. How did you do it?" Even Minako was curious. She hadn't set Mars on the task.

Mars' face closed off.

"She wouldn't even tell me, your majesty," Mercury put in, fighting back a smile at the queen's curiosity. When her eyes lit like that, she looked so much like the sweet Usagi they had all known so many years ago. The kind, loyal traces of that girl were so strong in this woman . . .

The lovely psychic's lips were tight. "The security there is lax. I just had to coax my way in."

Venus grinned and said she knew exactly what "coaxing" meant, and Jupiter, who had been silent and uncomfortable in all the talk of strategy, burst into laughter as Mars flushed. The rest of the meeting dissolved as the beautiful dark-haired woman fought off the ideas of her two very hentai colleagues.