I don't own Sailor Moon. Sad, but true...

"Damn!" Nephrite swore as he found out that the compounds he had used for the cake had been the wrong ones… again! He put, this time, too many eggs in the dough. The last it had been too much flour… and the time before that too many eggs… and the time before that he had dropped an almost entire bag of sugar in the bowl. The kitchen looked like a true scene from a horror movie and the auburn-haired shitennou thanked the gods for being all alone inside the hall. If anyone else would see him right now, they'd understand immediately that he wasn't who he claimed to be. And then they'd get to his friends… and then their whole mission would have been for nothing.

Nephrite sighed loudly and stood on a chair, pretty much exhausted… God, who would have ever guessed that cooking could be so darn hard? Now, that he had a better idea of it, he wished he would have never accepted the tall girl's challenge. He was sure that she would definitely manage to bake that bloody cake blindfolded and with only one arm. Damn him and his big mouth. Damn this mission. Damn Zoi and Jade for getting all drunk that night. Damn Kunz for taking the best job he could find. Damn it, damn it all… And then it hit him.

"Of course!" he shouted to the empty kitchen and got up from his chair with a big grin on his face. He now knew where the library was and he was pretty sure that no one else could be there at that time. It was anyway empty when he had visited Zoi earlier and found him only with the water nymph… so, why would wouldn't it be pretty much deserted now?

He walked determined through the many hallways, with a rather proud look on his face and ignoring the puzzled looks he received and the fact that people started laughing after he passed them. Few moments too late, he suddenly understood their reactions: he was entirely covered in either weath, dough or other cooking ingredients. His tall, muscular silhouette must look incredibly weird dressed in the typical white clothes with the ackward little hat on his head and looking as if he had just escaped a fridge.

Not giving them a second thought, Nephrite sped up his steps, managed to reach the library and get in before one of his friends, the Artemis dude who was giving him the creeps or any other royalperson would manage to see him in that compromising position. God, if Jed would see him, he's never hear the end of it.

Inside the large hall, he turned on some lights, although it wasn't absolutely necessary… not yet at least. He threw the hat on one of the tables and proceeded with his task: finding spell books. Of course, those were very rare, but every kingdom had at least two or three… and, well, the Moon Kingdom was known for its magic… so the library should contain more of those papers.

"Hmm, let's see: fairy tales, prophecies, "100 ways to turn your enemies into dragons, phoenix birds and other fantastic creatures"? Hmm… no! Not yet!" he knocked his head lightly, looking away from the last title. "Aha, cooking spells!" he cried in victory as he pulled out a pretty thick book with hard leather covers and golden writings. His eyes held a strange and evil sparkle, perfectly matching the previous maniac look. "Oh well, this may prove itself helpful too…" he mumbled, suddenly very satisfied with his life and pulling the "100 ways" book too, hiding them both in his large coat, set on the what used to be a very white and clean apron.

He exited the library, carefully looking around, making sure that no one had followed or seen him. Next stop was the kitchen.

'Finally, the last freackin' prayer for the day!' Jade's thoughts wondered around as he tried and managed to pose a perfect position for the last ceremony for that day. His legs had gone numb for some time, but he didn't mind it at all, considering that he was going to escape the crazy, yet unfairly beautiful priestess and jump directly into one long and hot bath. Just the image of that bath made him pray faster in his mind and turn even more serious on the outside. Then, in the middle of that mental bath, appeared the black-haired girl, absolutely naked. That made Jadeite's eyes to freeze and his heart to stop beating for a moment. He opened his eyes widely, as if they were two plates and not two orbs anymore and his mouth dropped.

"Is there anything wrong?" the girl turned to him, one eyebrow rose up, and eyed him strangely… almost as if she had read his mind and seen that dirty… dirty thought. That possibility made him shiver in fear. He might have been one of the strongest men in his kingdom… but he was sure that no man could match that firebird… and her temper.

"N-no… absolutely nothing… just a very deep and… revealing… revelation!" he mumbled dumbly, realising what he had said only after actually speaking it out loud. Therefor, his only option was to smile as stupid as he could and appear either to be drugged or retarded. In the end, he managed to appear probably both, because she turned away from him almost scared. Behind her, he lowered his head and sighed silently, making sure not to draw more attention to him. From next to him, the guy called Yuuichiro patted his shoulder and smiled widely… and equally annoying. His long hair fell into his face, making it impossible for others to see his eyes. Also, his beard was never freshly cut and he always, but always had grown hairs on his face, which didn't inspire too much security to the blonde man. Still he had to admit that he had been angry with Yuuchiro at first, right before meeting him and understanding that he was nothing like the fiery dark-haired beauty. He apologized later and even gave him some sort of "blessing", which had sounded more than fake. His luck was that Yuuchiro was still new at the whole religion thing.

Jadeite had to admit that the guy was a good man… way too good for his own health and, that's why, he always ended up helping everyone who asked him to and usually got into the most impossible situations ever. Truly, Jadeite had to admit that he had never seen a person with a bigger heart… or smaller brain. Still, he thanked his gesture with a warm smile, considering that the man needed it and, after all, he was imposing a priest. Damn Kunzite and his plans!

"What's up with you?" Kunzite settled down on the small table two cups, each holding some kind of lunarian alcohol, which was absolutely nothing like the drinks back home. It was pretty faint and didn't have any sudden reactions over ones' body, but it was the only drinkable alcohol from the entire planet.

"Nothing…" Zoicite mumbled, clearly upset by something and took one of the drinks.

"Come on! Don't make me beat it out of you. Enjoy the calm and peace until Neph and Jade return." He spoke and received one unbelievable look from his friend. Kunzite had just made a joke. Indeed, not a very good one, but a joke nonetheless.

"Are you ok?" the younger shitennou gave him the weirdest look he was able to perform.

"What do you mean?" the stared down at him curiously.

"Well, let's just say that I can't help but notice a pretty sudden change in your attitude and character. Something's going on with you… Something that you don't want us to find out… Something about your trainee!" Zoicite suddenly shouted and jumped from his sitting spot, staring with wide eyes at his older friend. In response, Kunzite sweatdropped at his first reaction and then coughed, bothered by his words.

"Whatever makes you say that?"

"You made a joke earlier and Kunz, you, you hate jokes!" Zoicite pointed out, watching the silvery-haired man leaning his head from one side to the other, as if taking notice of his words.

"Hm… you might be right… But I wouldn't be so sure that it's about the princess of Venus. I mean, she is beautiful, but I've seen others at home that match her beauty and that have had absolutely no effect on me." He explained calmly, staring into the void, not really focused on something. "However, I wouldn't tell the others about these… changes…" The leader said softly, his words clearly with a hidden meaning. He narrowed his eyes and glared up at the blonde, with an obvious wicked sparkle in his lavender eyes. In response, Zoi nodded his head and smiled dumbly, rubbing his head.

"That pathetic…"

"Idiotic…"

"Ditzi…"

"Klutzi…"

"Annoying creature!" the two dark-haired girls ended their round of swearing in the same time. Of course, the "blessings" were sent to the two men who had apparently made their day worse than the Armageddon. Both Rei and Makoto had their faces red from the effort and their breaths were hard and deep from the exercise they pulled earlier. It was the end of a terrible day and they both agreed that men were as shallow and dumb as ever. That moment, Makoto had solemnly promised that she wouldn't fall for any guy anymore and Rei had vowed again that she will never get married. Of course, none of the other girls had believed them, but the rest of the senshi now stared pretty scared at the jovian and martian, watching them calm down their bodies.

Serenity ended up in Ami's arms, shivering and almost sobbing, while the mercurian tried to comfort her and give her as much protection as possible. From the other side of the room, Mina simply watched the spectacle in complete silence, not minding the show they pulled out. It was rather strange that Mina was all of a sudden quiet, but the girls gave her the space she needed, knowing what kind of war too much interfering might cause.

"Hey guys!" Darien greeted them with his normal gorgeous smile when entering the jovian's room.

"You!" the dark-haired girls turned around suddenly and pointed two fingers at him, greeting their teeth and growling. That view made the man's smile disappeare completely and even brought fear to his bones. Although he found absolutely each and every one of the girls stunningly beautiful in her own way, he did not like it when they got mad… especially the deadly martian and jovian… In such moments, they were really scarry.

"What did I do?" he rose his hands in defeat.

"You are a man! Nothing more but another pathetic and disgusting human being that think the whole world belongs to him just because you…"

"Rei stop!" Serenity jumped in front of the man and ordered the martian to end her speech before she said something she might regret later. The miko stared at her, both surprised by the lunarian's power and impressed too. Finding herself cut off, she opened her mouth to say something really nasty, but the princess stopped her again. "Why don't you go and shout at Yuuichiro? I mean, at least he likes your shouts, growls andhe enjoys being held in a tight leash by you… I mean, the guy is a drooling just at your sight and here you are, jumping at other people's throats. If you don't like the new priest why don't you just tell him that?"

"I did!" Rei burst.

"And?"

"And he practically told me to bite him!"

"He what!" Ami and Makoto made themselves known, also waking Mina up from her meditation and making her pay attention to the argument.

"Yeah… now you see what I mean?"

"Maybe… but that still doesn't justify you to shout and Darien like that." Serenity kept protecting him and gained a somewhat strange look from the other blonde, across the room. Mina looked up at the princess and saw the aura surrounding her. As expected, she was either starting to fall for the terran or already in love with him. Looking beyond Serenity, she focused on the stranger and saw a similar aura surrounding him. With the two in that specific position, the venusian could tell that the two were really a match. In response, she smiled warmly, happy that her princess had found her soulmate.

While the fight went on, Mina got up from her place and passed Rei, going straight at Serenity. Placing herself right in front of the smaller blonde, she smiled warmly, touched her shoulder in comfort and said.

"I'm glad for you Sere… Now that you have found happiness, always remember how to keep it alive, along with you love…" She then let go of her and passed Darien, exiting the room, which was now left in complete silence. They all stared at her trail, some not understanding one word and some comprehending everything beyond those words.

"How was your day?" Kunzite asked when Nephrite entered his room, the place where they decided to meet every evening after ending their tasks. Before the auburn-haired man could say anything, Zoicite cut in, with a deadly glare in his eyes.

"Incredibly good, I suppose!"

"Unlike others'!" the taller shitennou stuck his tongue out in the most childish act he could pull.

"Well, if you hand't shown up at that horrid time…"

"Let me guess: you would have had your way with that pretty China doll of yours, right?" he smirked evily.

"Ah, could you be more shallow!" Zoicite burst in disgust.

"At least I'm not lying to my heart… nor my body…" he leaned to the blonde's face and made him blow up with steam.

"Look who's talking! The only reason for which you asked me for those books was to annoy that poor girl from the kitchens. Poot thing, she must have absolutely no idea what's waiting for her!" the younger one was absolutely determined to have his way. One second later, hell broke loose, once with Nephrite's temper.

"Oh my…" Kunzite whispered and started rubbing his temples while the other two were nearly killing each other. They were so loud that none of them had even noticed Jadeite entering and standing next to their leader.

"Well, at least someone's having fun…" the short-haired man spoke and received a puzzled look. He rose his shoulders and then let them down in defeat.

"I can truly say that I hate martians… and that I've learnt that in the worst way possible." He mumbled and joined his older friend at watching the loud show performed only few meters away.

"Hey Mina." A soft voice made her turn around, away from the beautiful sunset she was admiring up from the highest balcony. Her eyes soon met the warm blue gaze of Ami and she calmed down, glad that it wasn't another one of her crazy friends, having come up to apologize.

"Hey Ami." She greeted her in a similar way and silently invited the mercurian to join her side. The blue-haired girl smiled and walked next to her, enjoying the view as well.

"Crazy day, huh?"

"Crazy week."

"Couldn't agree more." The blonde giggled.

"So, what was that about earlier?" Ami asked after a long moment of silence.

"Haven't you noticed the love-birds? Sere and Darien have fallen for each other."

"Are you sure?" the mercurian asked, a bit frightened, not expecting that kind of news.

"Yup… It might take them a while to understand their feelings, especially Sere… but I believe it will end up ok."

"You seem to be having a lot of faith in love… And after all that's happened to you…"

"Ami! Let's not go there anymore! Ace was a mistake and we all know it. Wether I was hurt or not is of no importance!" the venusian stated determined.

"How can it not? Mina you are a direct descendant of the Goddess of Love herself. You are supposed to greet and bless those who share this feeling! How will you be able to perform such minor tasks if you have felt yourself the pain that love can bring?"

"It's not about me! I still believe in love… just not for me anymore…"

"It shouldn't be like that!" Ami mumbled sadly.

"But it is! I learnt to get over it and forget… and you should definitely not be worried for me! I mean, your aura has changed as well… and I have met the new librarian!" the blonde smirked wickedly, enjoying the mercurian's sudden and furious blush.

"What are you talking about?" she looked away, almost childishly.

"Oh, my Ami is growing up. It appears that these strangers have unusual effects on us… all of us! I mean, I haven't seen Makoto so worked up about her cooking skills since ever… and Rei reacts worse than she does when the monthly event is approaching. And I see that even you are turning red at the sight and words of a man." She smiled sweetly.

"And you? What about you?"

"I… will end up killing that trainer who is supposingly a venusian if he keeps making me fall on my ass. You have no idea how much it hurts… even me!" Mina whined painfully.

"You want some medicine?"

"I'll be ok… But don't be surprised if one of us will die sometimes during the next days." She warned playfully and made her friend giggle a bit. However, her features turned as serious as possible when her friend placed her hands on hers.

"Do me a favour Minako, eh? Don't consider him to be like Ace. I have also caught a glimpse of him and, in spite of the strangely similar features, he doesn't seem to be anything like him. I'm sure that he pushes you up to the limit during training hours because he cares… and I'm sure that he won't hurt you… if you give him the chance."

"But, Ami, who said that I might even be interested in my trainor?" Mina seemed to be serious, but she knew that she only played a part, trying her best to hide what was inside of her. In response, the blue-haired girl smiled.

"Your eyes did."

"Um, so what do you think that she meant by those words?" Darien asked while she was holding the blonde's arms and leading her through the beautiful gardens.

"I don't know… As far as Mina is concerned, she sometimes can be as tricky and mysterious as the Protector of Time herself." Serenity seemed to be deep in thought, searching for an explanation herself.

"I see… So, have you found your happiness?" he wondered, sending her a curious look below his dark lashes.

"I don't know… Lately so many have happened… and so fast… I guess I'm just confused…" she conffessed, not wanting to reveal anything just yet.

"I see…" he repeated and, this time, remained silent. They walked further into the gardens, until Serenity suddenly stopped him and pulled away from his arm, standing right in front of the terran.

"How about you? Have you found your happiness?"

"As sincere as I can be… yes…" he mumbled, his eyes never leaving hers. "As you said, many thing have happened and very fast… much faster than I would have wished them to be… but I can truly say that I cannot be happier anythwere else… but here…" his voice drifted off as he leaned down to her, letting her understand his silent question. In response, she nodded her head slightly and parted her lips a bit, waiting for the warmth of his mouth to follow. And when it did, she felt up on clud number nine. He tasted her deeply, not sure that he wanted to let go anytimes soon, and sneaked his arms around her small body, pulling her closer… much closer. And the fairy tale moment lasted until…

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" a voice burst out in the complete silence and the two broke off the kiss instantly, but remained embraced. Looking over to their side, they saw a fuming Haruka blowing steam through her ears and staring at Darien with red eyes.

"O-ho… Haruka, look I can explain…" Serenity started, still in his arms.

"What can you explain me? You're too young, you have no idea what's going on here! But he, oh, he is going to pay for this." She cut her off and warned, pointing a finger at the terran, who now didn't know what to do: let go of Sere and run off, or keep her there and end up fighting the woman of Uranus in a direct combat… which, by the look on her face, he would most definitely lose. Still, he went with the second option.

"I am not ashamed of what I have done and neither should be Serenity! We both agreed to this and she knows very well that I would never take advantage of her… ever!" he spoke on a pretty dangerous tone himself and finally let go of her, only to push her behind him, in a protective gesture.

"You bastard! If you touched her I will make sure that you will spend the rest of your living days in hell!" the blonde greeted her teeth and Serenity thought that she was going to explode.

"Now, what kind of man do you take me for?"

"The worst kind! Only that kind could actually dare to approach the princess, charm her and force her into something like this!" she shouted and Darien suddenly broke away from the glaring contest. He looked behind him and, staring into Serenity's blue eyes he asked curiously, also rising an eyebrow.

"Princess?"

Hey guys. I know, I haven't update in a veeeeeeery long time. Sorry, had a lot of things going on. I truly hope that you'll forgive me and let me know what you think of this chappie right here. So, I hope you liked it and sorry, but I don't know when I'll be able to write some more. Still, I promise that as soon as I'll get more written down, I'll post it. See'ya'll next time!