Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon, nor do I claim to. Naoko Takeuchi does.

Seated at the long dining table, Minako tried to concentrate to Serenity's surprisingly intelligible ranting, despite the amount of food in her mouth, rather than the intense stares the Martian Princess would send her way frequently. She smiled at Serenity, pointing out her terrible table manners. She turned to her plate, picking up her last strawberry and was about to pop it into her mouth before she had let her eyes wander about, catching Rei's eyes once again. Even after realizing that Minako was looking her way, Rei continued her glaring. Minako looked back, frustration evident on her face.

'What is her problem?' Minako thought, after Rei had placed her attention back onto her meal, which had hardly been touched. 'She's been giving me death stares all morning!'

The night before, Minako had brought the others to the dormitories, which was indeed the rooms where they would staying. After confirming with a guard that they would be staying in the dormitories, Minako began walking before the guard stopped her, telling her that it was on the other side of the Palace. Minako apologized profusely as they followed a called upon servant to the dormitories. Ami and Makoto assured her that it was all right, but Rei remained silent, walking past the stairways leading down to the ballroom. As Minako entered her bedroom, she saw Rei glaring intensely at her before entering her own bedroom. At that moment, Minako thanked Aphrodite that Rei was only in the room across from her, and not in Makoto's room, which shared a bathroom with hers.

She sighed, strawberry still in hand. 'It was one mistake, my bad.'

"You okay, Minako? You're not listening to me," Serenity said.

Minako quickly turned to Serenity, saying, "I'm fine. Sorry."

"What happened?" Serenity asked.

Minako retracted her hand holding her strawberry from Serenity's wandering one. "Nothing. Why?"

"That girl's been giving you death stares all throughout breakfast."

"'That girl?'" Minako repeated. "She has a name, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. Why has Rei been looking at you like that?" Serenity asked, emphasizing the Martian Princess' name. "It's kinda scary."

"Isn't it?" answered Minako, eating her strawberry.

"What did you do?" Serenity asked.

Minako frowned slightly at the accusation. "Nothing, I just sorta got us lost last night. That's all."

Serenity made an interested sound, and was about to speak before Minako changed the topic. "She hasn't eaten much, has she?"

Serenity looked two seats further down the table where the Martian Princess sat besides Makoto. She frowned in disgust, saying, "I wouldn't eat that stuff either. What is it? It looks like a big blob of-"

Minako slapped her hand slightly. "Manners at the dining table, please."

The Moon Princess looked at Minako, clearly annoyed for being hit. "But seriously, look at it! It looks revolting!"

"Shh, not so loud," Minako warned. She rolled her eyes, thinking, 'Not my fault if she heard that.' Minako continued, "Well, it might taste good. Just because it doesn't look good doesn't mean-"

"Then why hasn't she finished it?" Serenity interrupted.

Minako sighed. "I don't know! It's not like you have to eat it. If it worries you that much, then just go and ask her."

Serenity faced Minako, saying, "And get glared at like you? I'm fine, thanks."

Minako did not like being presumptuous like that. She liked to think that Rei was actually a nice person. Maybe she was just in bad mood after her long journey. Anseris did say that Rei did not like traveling in transport shuttles.

After breakfast, Minako was lead to the training arena, along with Serenity and the others, where Luna and Artemis (both in their human forms) waited for them. The five girls stood before the advisors. Minako smiled at Artemis for the first time upon arrival on the Moon, who in return, smiled back.

"Good morning. We are the Queen's advisors, Luna and Artemis" Luna greeted.

Artemis bowed his head in acknowledgment, before removing a cloth, which was covering a golden tray, to reveal four almost-identical necklaces. As Minako looked more closely, she saw that each necklace was engraved with different symbols. All four symbols were representation of the Inner Planets.

"Wow, they're pretty!" Serenity exclaimed.

"These necklaces will allow you to transform," Luna said as Artemis walked past the Princesses, stopping briefly for each of the guardian protectors to receive their necklaces. "When transformed, you will become much stronger than that of any other person, and your capabilities surpass the average person's by far."

Luna paused as Serenity began whispering to Minako about her necklace. After silencing the girl with a stern look, she continued, "However, that does not mean you are all powerful. You must learn how to wield your mystical powers, and hone them through regular training."

"Please place your necklaces on, if you have not already done so," Artemis said, mainly to Minako, who had let Serenity examine it. After all necklaces rest upon each guardian's chests, he said, "Now, transform."

The training arena became engulfed in several colored lights, and the sounds of splashing water, crackling fire and deafening thunder echoed across the room as they transformed.

Brightness faded away, four transformed guardians, dressed in completely different attire than before, stood in the training arena.

Minako looked down to examine herself, before looking at the others. They all wore the same uniform as her, though in different colors.

"Wow, you guys look so cool!" Serenity said. "But, don't you think your skirt is a bit short, Minako?"

"Wh-Why only me?"

Serenity merely grinned, turning to Luna and Artemis. "So, what mystical powers do they have?" She looked back to her guardians. "Makes me kinda jealous."

Artemis answered, "Their powers are correspondent to their home planets' aspects."

"Ohh, so, Mako is lightning, Rei is fire," Serenity said, as Luna nodded her head, glad that she had been paying attention to her lessons. "Ami is water, and Minako is…love? Wait, what?"

She turned to Minako, and asked, sarcastically, "Exactly how will 'the power of love' save me, Minako?"

Embarrassed, Minako answered, "I won't save y-"

Artemis cleared his throat, knowing that what Minako was about to say was only a joke, but it was still wrong to say such things. Minako gave Serenity a quick glare. Serenity stuck out her tongue in return.

Minako folded her arms and pouted. It was not often that Serenity was able to tease her and win. Minako was much more swifter in comebacks, and Serenity was just so easy to tease.

Artemis and Luna sighed in unison at Minako's childish pride. Luna began speaking. "As you all know, there will be a time in which you will encounter enemies and must go in battle in order to protect Princess Serenity. As such, there should be a Leader amongst you. Today, we will select that person through combat."

She had finished her sentence, though Serenity had spoken atop her last few words, saying, "I pick Minako!"

Minako coughed as she choked on nothingness. She turned to Serenity and looked at her incredulously, just as the others were. "Wh-what!"

"This is not a game, Serenity," Luna said.

Minako faced Luna and Artemis. "Isn't it a bit early to be doing this? We hardly know each other, and we already have to fight against each other?"

"Yes," Artemis answered. Seeing that Minako was about to protest, he continued, "That way, it will verify who is the strongest among you."

Minako wanted to object, but she could not think of anything substantial to insist with. The Mercurial Princess could.

"Pure strength does not always qualify a good leader. One must be able to remain calm and think logically under immense pressure, " Ami said. "One must also be able to recognize one's own strengths and weaknesses, and utilize them to their advantage. The same goes for recognizing and exploiting an enemy's strengths and weaknesses."

"Exactly!" Minako said.

Ami continued. "If we engage in battle after knowing and understanding each other, the person with those qualities will emerge victorious."

Minako was amazed by how intelligent Ami was. Clearly, so were the others. Luna and Artemis turned at each other, searching for an answer to Ami's.

"Well, we understand what you are saying," Luna said, unsure. "We shall postpone selecting the Leader."

Minako softly nudged Ami in the side and mouthed, 'Good one.'

Ami smiled shyly as Artemis spoke. "Then, we shall have you attend language classes for this morning."

Minako saw Makoto's shoulders droop slightly, and smiled sympathetically. Luna said, "But, if I recall correctly, the language instructor is not arriving until this evening."

Minako grinned as she saw Makoto become evidently relieved. Artemis said, "Ah, I did not realize."

He looked over the girls, pausing slightly on Makoto, before looking at Ami. "But you are knowledgeable in all languages, am I correct?"

Ami nodded her head in response. Artemis continued, saying, "Would you mind being the language instructor for the time being?"

Ami nodded her head once again, making Makoto cringe. Minako suppressed her giggles, something in which she was extremely talented at, seeing as how she had played numerous pranks on various people with Serenity. And sometimes (which was quite often) Minako would play tricks on Serenity, much to her own amusement and Serenity's displeasure.

Luna called upon a guard to escort them to the education room. Minako walked faster, leaving Serenity's side, to walk beside Makoto. She grinned at her. "Language isn't your thing, is it?"

Makoto sighed. "No, I'm very bad."

Minako patted her on the shoulder, saying, "It's fine! You've got Ami here to help you!"

Ami turned around, confused at the mention of her name. Minako said, "Make sure you teach Mako well, huh?"

Ami nodded her head, smiling shyly, as Serenity caught up after having realized that Minako had walked ahead of her. Annoyed, she asked, "'Mako,' huh? Since when have you been so close?"

Minako grinned slyly, finding an opportunity to pay Serenity back. "Well, when one shares a bathroom together, there is much that can be close."

Minako wrapped her arm around Makoto's neck, leaning on the taller girl's form, making Serenity and Ami blush. "Jealous?"

"N-No! You know I'm not like that," Serenity said, turning away from Minako.

"That's right," Minako said, removing her arm from Makoto's neck. Smirking, she decided to taunt Serenity a little longer. "You're completely oblivious to this sort of thing, remaining all pure and innocent-"

Serenity gasped, and looked at Minako in shock. "You didn't!"

Minako said nothing in response, letting her smile deceive Serenity.

"But you only just met!"

"It's not true. We haven't done anything," Makoto said, not having enough Lunarian knowledge to explain it in terms that were more sophisticated.

Minako pouted at Makoto. "Don't ruin all the fun, Mako."

After noticing Makoto's expression, Minako stopped pouting and apologized. "Sorry, for using you to tease Serenity."

She realized then at how incredibly rude she was to Makoto, a girl she had just met the previous night. Her Venusian etiquette, pounded into her by her grandmother, took over. With great sincerity, she said, "I had no right in giving you such a name, and using you for my personal entertainment…You certainly don't look the type. I am truly sorry."

Makoto became a bit surprised at Minako's sudden seriousness. She had not taken offense to Minako's words, but she was just uncomfortable being in that situation. Reassuring her, she said, "Its fine. You can call me Mako."

Makoto smiled as Minako sighed in relief. Frustrated at being misled, Serenity pushed Minako slightly, saying, "I almost believed you!"

"Relieved?" Minako asked, grinning.

"I keep telling you, I'm not-"

"Relax, Serenity. You are so not my type anyway," Minako said. Serenity opened her mouth, most likely about to yell at her, but Minako continued, "I promise I'll tell you when I find someone I'm willing to giv-"

"Argh, no!" Serenity cried out. "I don't want to know! Just keep your inclinations to yourself!"

Minako was about to point out to Makoto and Ami that she was not concerned either way, but Rei interrupted, indicating that they had reached the education room. She noticed Rei's scowl.

'Don't tell me she's against that too!' Minako thought, as they entered the room, walking past the guard. She watched Rei as they all sat down. 'Don't worry; I won't fall for you.'

She examined the Martian Princess more closely, taking in all the girl's features. Minako unconsciously began staring at Rei, looking at her seemingly soft, white skin. She had just realized how beautiful the Martian Princess was. Her dark hair, bounded by a red ribbon at her nape, was smooth and lustrous. Minako decided that she looked far better with her hair unrestricted, flowing freely.

'She's got a nice figure, I suppose,' Minako thought. But it was not Rei's figure that Minako found most beautiful. It was her dark, violet eyes. The eyes that had only given her disapproving glares, and yet, Minako found herself drawn to them the most.

And those eyes had just caught her staring. 'Whoops.'

Rei frowned, but turned away to ignore her. Ignoring Rei too, Minako looked to the seat beside her where Serenity had fallen asleep. Rolling her eyes, she glanced two seats down from her left where Ami and Makoto were seated, speaking in both Lunarian and Jovian. She did not want to intrude on Makoto's lesson, knowing that she would most likely be a distraction. Minako faced forward, and sighed. She was bored. Minako looked at Serenity again, but decided not to irritate her.

Minako stood up, and began walking to where Rei sat, not wanting to spend two hours in boredom. She leaned against the table, asking, "Need any help with Lunarian?"

"No, I'm fine," Rei answered.

Minako sat down on the table. "So, what're you going to do for the next couple hours?"

Rei shrugged her shoulders. Minako said, "I see…Sounds interesting. Maybe I'll join y-"

Minako stopped herself as Rei glared at her once again. 'Okay, no sarcastic comments.'

"So, uhh, is Mars a lot different than here?" Minako asked. In truth, she had already heard about what Mars was like from various Martians and Mercurial travelers at the Lunar balls.

"There are very strong winds on Mars and dust storms happen frequently," Rei answered. "But it is much cooler than here."

Minako nodded her head, unable to think of a response to carry on the topic any further.

They remained silent for a while, hearing parts of Ami and Makoto's discussion. Minako tried thinking of something to say that would make for a decent conversation. She had decided against asking about family the night before, but she found herself contemplating whether she should ask about Rei's father. Was not family the most general topic when talking with a person for the first time?

Minako sighed deeply, giving up. It was unlikely that any of them would ever return to their home planets and speak with their families again anyway. She doubted that any of the others' parents would attend the Lunar balls, so the others would most likely never see their family again. She was glad that her parents attended almost every month, unless there was something else scheduled.

"Oh, yeah, the next ball is on at the end of next week!" Minako said, remembering. "Do you dance?"

"Not really," Rei answered. "Dancing isn't very common on Mars."

"Dancing is the best, I love it!" Minako exclaimed. She smiled to Rei, "I could teach you if you want."

Rei smiled a bit, shaking her head. Minako insisted, "Come on, it's really fun!"

Still Rei declined. Minako said, "That way you won't embarrass yourself when you have to dance."

"I'm not dancing," Rei declared.

"So, what, you're just going to reject every person who asks to dance with you?" Minako asked. "You can't say no to everybody."

Rei scoffed, still refusing. "And why would anyone want to dance with me?"

Minako smirked at the opening. "You're a very pretty girl."

Rei's eyes widened, dropping her mouth slightly. Highly amused, Minako continued. "A pretty girl like yourself won't remain unasked at a ball, I can assure you."

Minako could not suppress her mirth any longer as the slightest shade of pink tinged Rei's cheeks. Rei glared at Minako, though it was not as effective as earlier occasions. Unfazed, Minako thought, 'She's fun to tease as well.'

After her laughter had settled down, she said, "We'll have to attend these balls anyway. Just let me teach you."

Not letting Rei answer, which Minako presumed would still be a rejection, she turned to her left where Ami and Makoto were sitting. After calling out their names to get their attention, she asked, "Do you know how to dance?"

Ami and Makoto looked at each other, confused at the seemingly random question, before answering. Minako grinned, focusing on Ami. "Looks like you'll have to teach Mako how to dance as well!"

Ami nodded her head slowly, still not following Minako. "But, what is it for?"

"The Lunar ball next week!" Minako exclaimed. "It's going to be so much fun now that you girls are here! Aren't you all excite-"

"You're too loud!" groaned Serenity, raising her head from the table.

"Oh, sorry, Serenity," Minako replied. "I forget about you sometimes."

"What?" Serenity shouted. "You're supposed to be my guardi-"

"I'm joking! You know I'd never forget about you," Minako said. "You need to relax. You're going to become uptight like Luna one of these days."

Serenity sighed, not having the energy to retort back. "What were you yelling about before?"

"Just about the next ball," Minako answered. "Me and Ami are going to teach Rei and Mako how to dance."

"I said I wasn't dancing!"

"Good luck to you, Rei," Serenity said, resting her head upon her arms. "Minako's a perfectionist, it's going to be torture."

"Hey, Ami," Minako said, turning to her right where the Mercurial Princess sat. "Let's teach them after."

"Um, okay," Ami answered. "But Rei has already finished her dinner and left."

"What?" Minako looked to her left, past Serenity and Makoto, to see Rei's empty seat. "Where'd she go? She's running away, isn't she?"

Serenity said, "Good girl, she listened to my advice."

Minako ignored Serenity, looking back to Ami. "Well, I'll find her somewhere. Meet us in the ballroom in half an hour. Ah, I need to change my clothes…You too."

She examined Makoto's clothing. "Mako, we're going to dance after dinner, so put on a dress later."

Makoto asked, "Do I really have to learn how to dance?"

"Yes!" Minako said. "But it's fun. You'll love it!"

"You think everyone loves dancing," Serenity said.

Minako stood up, and began walking to the door. "Just eat your dinner, Princess."

"I hope that Rei is terrible at dancing!" Serenity called after her.

Minako left the dining room, walking to the dormitories. She guessed that Rei was probably in her bedroom. Upon reaching her destination, she knocked on Rei's door. After no response, she knocked again, more repeatedly this time. "Rei, it's time to go danc-"

The door opened, and Rei stood before Minako, wearing a strange-looking, leather hat and a heavy, woolen coat. "Why are you so persistent?"

"You can't dance in that," Minako said, ignoring the question. "Ami and Mako are waiting for us."

"I am busy."

Minako looked past Rei, examining her bedroom. It was very much like hers, before she had decorated with her own colors and things. It seemed that Rei either did not care about decorating her bedroom, or that she was too busy to decorate it. "Busy doing what?"

Minako looked back at Rei, and could see that the Martian Princess was growing impatient.

"You are very nosy, you know that?" Rei said. Not letting Minako retort back, she continued, "And if you must know, today is the Suovctaurilia-"

She paused at Minako's confused expression. "A festival on Mars, so I'm praying to my God."

"Ohh," Minako said. "Is that why you're wearing that?"

Rei nodded her head. Minako asked, "Aren't you hot?"

"It is the appropriate clothing for prayer," Rei replied.

Minako made an interested sound. Recalling that Mars was a very religious planet, she asked, "So, were you a priestess back on Mars?"

Rei answered, "I was the Flamen Martialis."

"I see," Minako said, trying to remember if she had heard of that before. "Wait, isn't 'Flamen" the Head Priest or something?"

"Yes."

"I didn't think that a girl could become a Flamen," Minako said. "And so young. Wow! You must be really good at…praying."

Minako was not very educated with religion, especially of other planets. On Venus, the festivals held for Aphrodite were more for entertainment. Aphrodite was a very laidback and free-spirited Goddess. Priestesses would have intercourse with men in Her temples and shrines in worship to Aphrodite. Eventually, it became normal for any woman who wanted to give thanks or pray to Aphrodite to have intercourse with a man.

"Well, I'll leave you to it then," Minako said. "But you're going to dance with me tomorrow."

Rei sighed as Minako waited for an answer. "Fine."

"Good," Minako said, smiling. "Bye."

"Bye," Rei said, before closing her bedroom door.

Minako began walking down the hallway, about to go to the ballroom, before she met Ami and Mako as she turned a corner. "Oh, hey. Rei's busy so can we do it tomorrow? Well, you two can still do it if you want."

Makoto answered, rather hastily, "It's okay. We'll wait."

"You really don't want to do it, do you?" Minako asked. "You don't want to embarrass yourself, right? Who knows, there might be somebody interesting at the balls."

"You're really persistent, you know that?" Makoto laughed. "I'll learn, okay?"

Makoto waited for a response. "Minako?"

"Oh! Okay, good," Minako said suddenly, as if she was just thinking over something. "Well, I'm going to go to sleep now. I'll see you girls in the morning."

Minako bid Ami and Makoto goodnight and walked back to her bedroom. She took off her clothes, dressing into her white nightgown. She turned off the light, walking to the oversized bed.

Lying in her bed, Minako thought over the things that happened that day. She had just realized many bad qualities in her, pointed out by Serenity and Rei, with Makoto repeating what Rei had said.

A/N: I actually do have some more rambling for this chapter, but if you're not interested you don't have to read any further. Thank you for reading!

The Suovctaurilia is an actual festival for the Roman God, Mars. It was celebrated every five years. The Flamen were the Head Priests of a Roman God or Goddess. So, in this case, Martialis is for Mars. The hat Rei was wearing is called an apex, and the woolen coat is called a laena…I summed up the basics of what they look like in the chapter. And priestesses of Aphrodite (or maybe Venus, I'm not sure) really did have intercourse with men in worship to Aphrodite (or Venus).