Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, nor do I claim to. Naoko Takeuchi does.

I'll Be Here

Chapter Three: Awareness

The Venusian Princess and the Moon Princess were walking aimlessly on the vast grounds of the Lunar Palace. They had passed numerous guards who surrounded the Palace, ensuring safety of the Moon family, and of the royal princesses residing in the Lunar Palace. Their white leather uniforms remained untainted from moon dust, with their capes swaying gently in the slight breeze.

Strangely, the two blonde-haired princesses were calm and quiet. Minako's constant teasing often caused Serenity to shout in reply, mostly from irritation, and sometimes embarrassment. Now, they were just merely speaking with each other about simple things as they wandered the Palace grounds.

In their peaceful silence, Minako's thoughts from the previous evening to resurface, causing her to once again ponder over them. Facing forward, she said, softly, "Hey, Serenity?"

"Hmm?"

"Am I…" Minako began slowly. "Am I…"

Minako struggled to voice her concerns. Changing her question, she asked, "Do I…have a bad personality?"

Serenity quickly turned to look at her friend's expression. She could tell that something was troubling Minako with her voice alone. Her strange question only served to gain Serenity's concern even more. "Of course not! Why?"

Minako remained silent for a few seconds, before facing Serenity and answering her. Forcing a smile, she said, "It's nothing."

After studying Minako's face, Serenity frowned concernedly. "It's not 'nothing.' There's something wrong."

Minako's smile disappeared as she turned away from Serenity, looking forward. As she remained silent, clearly not wanting to reply, Serenity said, "Please tell me, Minako."

With a small sigh, Minako let her eyes droop. They were not wide and bright as they normally were, revealing instead a hint of melancholy. "I've just realized that…I have some bad qualities. I can say rude things, without even realizing it. I tend to force things on other people; I'm really pushy and inconsiderate of other people's personal space. And…I'm really stubborn. I also enjoy teasing people a lot…I even-"

"Where's this all coming from, Minako?" Serenity asked. Because Minako had paused so many times, Serenity could have said something earlier. But she had let Minako continue, wanting to hear what she had to say until listening to Minako list all of her "bad qualities" became upsetting. With utmost sincerity, the Moon Princess said, "Nobody can be perfect, and even if you were, it wouldn't change the way I feel about you. I love all of you."

After having let the words sink in, Minako, extremely touched, genuinely smiled to Serenity in gratitude. Serenity smiled back, happy to see that Minako was all right now, before hugging her.

Grinning, Minako said, "Even when I tease you?"

Serenity was surprised that Minako was already able to use her own words against her and tease her. Sighing as she released her hold on Minako, she answered, "It gets really annoying, and embarrassing, sometimes, but-"

"Would you like me to stop?"

Serenity stared at Minako, unbelieving. "Like you'd just stop if I asked you to."

Ignoring Minako's giggles, Serenity continued, "But anyway, that's our thing. You tease me, I complain, and then get you back-"

"Try to," Minako corrected.

"Yeah, whatever," Serenity replied, facing forward.

Minako smiled sincerely. "Thank you."

Noticing the sincerity in Minako's voice, Serenity looked back at her and saw the same sincerity on her face. "It's fine! I don't like you being upset, it's kinda scary since you're always teasing me."

Minako laughed as Serenity continued, "Like I said, nobody's perfect. I'm sure that even I have imperfections."

Minako laughed even harder at Serenity's sarcasm, saying, "So you finally admit that you're a glutton, huh? Took you long enough…"

Seeing Serenity's expression, Minako quickly added, "I'm joking."

Serenity decided to slide and not retort back. Continuing their walk around the Palace grounds, they passed by the large gardens, filled with numerous species of flowers native only to the Moon. They saw the Jovian Princess, faced away from them, who was currently occupied with a yellow-colored flower. As they approached her, Serenity said, "Hi, Mako!"

Makoto turned around, a bit startled but she smiled when she realized whom it was. "Hello, Serenity, Minako. What were you doing?"

"Nothing much. Just out for a walk," Serenity answered.

Minako bent over, examining the yellow flower Makoto was earlier, touching its bunched, yellow petals with her fingers. "Do you like flowers, Mako?"

Minako looked up at Makoto, who nodded her head. Minako asked, "Are flowers common on Jupiter?"

"No. There's huge forests, but there's nothing but trees and green plants," Makoto replied. "My mother loves flowers so she imported some, and made her own garden."

"Would you help her?" Serenity asked.

Makoto answered, a bit sadly, "Yeah, that's all we'd ever do. It was fun."

Noticing Makoto's sadness, Minako and Serenity decided to pull away from the family topic. Minako said, "I actually don't know much about flowers, and Serenity probably doesn't either-"

"I do!" Serenity interrupted. She mumbled, "A little…"

"Then, what's that flower?" Minako asked, pointing to a random flower. Its petals, each flower varying in color, did not spread out, but formed a bulb shape.

Serenity stared at the flower, struggling to think of its name, causing Minako to roll her eyes. Serenity gave up, and looked at Makoto. "What kind of flower is it?"

Exiting the training arena from their first training session, the guardians were greeted by Serenity who was waiting for them. They began their walk back to their dormitories, wanting to bathe themselves from their sweat, as Serenity asked how their training session went.

All four were skilled in some form of combat, but they all had little experience with the elemental powers that only they as guardians had. Ami and Rei were the only ones able to have slight control over their powers. For Ami, it was due to the fact that water was much more stable and less spontaneous than the other elements, but more importantly her intelligence. Fire was a large component of Martian religion, so as the Flamen Martialis, Rei had had a familiarity with the Holy Flame of Ares. Makoto's element, lightning, was powerful, but erratic, making it difficult to manipulate. But it was even more complicated for Minako to wield her elemental power, as it had no physical form.

"And what about you, Minako?" Serenity asked, grinning. "How's your 'power of love' coming along, hmm?"

Minako tightened her lips, not having anything to reply with, beginning to get embarrassed. Serenity took great delight in having finally found something she could tease Minako with. She continued, "Tell me again how love will save me."

Minako's cheeks became pink as she blushed. She quickly searched through her brain, trying to think of a comeback. Finding one, she grinned, even though it would be at her own expense. "Well, Serenity, I'm just going to have to seduce all those enemies with my-"

Minako stopped upon seeing Serenity's embarrassed complexion, and began laughing.

"Minako! Why are you so-"

"I'm going to wash up first," Minako said, walking ahead. Noticing Rei's glare, she rolled her eyes, and continued walking.

The five young Princesses were seated at the dining room, eating their dinners. Serenity had chosen to speak mainly with Makoto for that meal. Serenity's ranting was hard enough for Minako to keep up with, let alone Makoto, who was not as familiar with Lunarian. Minako, who was currently talking with Ami, noticed Rei stand up, heading towards the exit. Minako called her name, gaining the Martian Princess' attention. "Are you ready?"

Rei looked at her, puzzled, before asking, "For what?"

"Dancing, of course!" Minako said, standing up. "Come on, let's get dressed!"

She looked down at Ami and Makoto, saying, "Is it okay if we go ahead?"

They both nodded their heads. Ami said, "We will come as soon as we have finished eating."

Minako walked to Rei's side, smiling, and said, "Make sure you get dressed too!"

As they walked out of the dining room, Minako asked Rei, "You have dresses, right?"

Rei remained silent for a moment, before answering, "No."

Minako sighed. "I'll lend you one of mine then."

"Is it really necessary?"

"Of course! Dressing up is a whole part of the fun!" Minako exclaimed. She continued, unlocking the door to her dormitory, "And besides, you can't dance with so many layers of clothes and those kind of boots."

Pushing the door forward, she entered her bedroom. She held the door open, waiting for Rei to follow. Rei stayed outside in the hallway, unsure. Minako laughed, and said, "If you think I'm going to jump you or something, you can relax."

Minako turned around, walking to the other side of her bedroom to her wardrobe. Rei stepped inside, closing the door behind her. Minako continued, "Or maybe you're disappointed…"

She looked at Rei, and seeing the glare on her face, she said, "I'm joking! Anyway, come here and pick a dress."

"It's fine. Just give me whatever," Rei replied.

"Okay," Minako said, disappearing into the wardrobe. Raising her voice slightly, she said, "Hmm…I think this one is good."

She reemerged from the wardrobe, with a cheeky smile on her face, holding an extremely frilly, bright pink dress. "How's this?"

Minako giggled as she watched Rei's face become dismayed by the brightness and style of the dress. "I won't make you wear that; don't worry."

She examined it, saying, "Just how did grandmother get this in my luggage?"

She placed the horrid dress back into the wardrobe, and took out another dress. She walked towards Rei, holding out the thin-strapped dress, made out of black satin. "What about this?"

Rei examined it, before giving her approval. "It's nice."

Minako smiled, holding the dress against Rei's body to see if it would fit. "And I'm sure that it will look even nicer on you."

Satisfied with Rei's flustered reaction, Minako handed the dress to Rei. "Come back when you've changed so you can try on some of my shoes."

Rei exited the room, rather hastily, Minako noted. Grinning, she walked back into her wardrobe, searching for a dress for herself. She selected a strapless, pastel orange dress that reached her mid-calves when she held it against herself. It had been one of her birthday gifts from her mother earlier in the year. Minako undressed, leaving only her underwear on, and slipped into the orange dress. After zipping the back up, she walked out of the wardrobe and stood in front of the mirror outside, examining herself. She turned away as she heard somebody, most likely Rei knock on her door. She answered, "Come in."

Minako waited as her door slowly opened, before finally revealing a clearly uncomfortable Rei, barefooted and wearing Minako's black dress. Minako's eyes scanned over Rei's body, taking in her attractive figure. Minako had matured early, and most impressively, so despite their one-year age difference, Rei could fit into Minako's dress without it being tight in particular areas. Compared to other Martians, who had a stocky build, Rei was actually rather petite.

"You look really good," Minako complimented as Rei closed the door.

"Th-Thanks…" Rei murmured.

"Okay, come here," Minako said, entering her wardrobe once again. "Hopefully you can fit into my shoes as well."

Minako crouched over, looking at her numerous shoes. Feeling Rei's presence behind her, she handed her a pair of shoes. Minako chose another pair for herself, and put them on, asking, "Do they fit?"

Rei stood up, putting pressure on her feet. She winced, and lifted up her right leg behind, taking the shoe off. "No, it's too tight."

Rei took off the other shoe, and placed them back on the floor where Minako had taken them. Minako scanned over her shoes, and picked a pair of black high heels. She handed it to Rei. "What about them?"

After putting on the shoes, Rei said, "Yeah, they fit…"

Minako waited, expecting Rei to say something else. Not receiving anything more, she said, "Let's go then!"

Rei followed Minako out of the bedroom, putting in effort with every step. Minako noticed that Rei was lagging behind, so she stopped and turned around. Watching Rei as she caught up with her, she realized what it was, and began giggling. "Not used to high heels?"

Rei frowned, slightly embarrassed. "I told you before that dancing wasn't common on Mars."

"Hey, don't you wear high heels when you're transformed as well?" Minako asked.

Rei grumbled in reply as they walked down the stairs. Minako said, "Don't worry about it; you'll get used to them!"

As they entered the ballroom, Minako asked, "So, do you have any idea of how this works?"

Rei shook her head. Minako said, "Well, basically you just have to follow my lead."

Minako walked onto the middle of the dance floor, waiting for Rei to join her. Smiling, she said, "Come on, Rei! It's really not that hard. I can even do it by myself!"

Rei watched Minako as she held her right hand up to the side, and had her left arm positioned as if there were somebody standing with her. With that invisible person, Minako began moving gracefully to the imaginary traditional music. She looked completely different compared to her usual irresponsible self. Rei found herself engrossed with Minako's elegant movements. For the first time, Rei acknowledged the Venusian Princess.

"See?" Minako said as she moved closer to Rei. "It's easy."

Minako stopped in front of Rei, and held out her hand. She smiled as Rei took her hand in hers. The Venusian Princess wrapped her arm around the Martian Princess' slender waist possessively.

And they danced.

A/N: No (mythology/Latin) ramblings for this chapter, yaay! The first flower (yellow) was a carnation. They can vary in color too, but I just chose yellow. And the bulb-shaped flowers were tulips. I'm actually not that happy with this chapter, so I must apologize. I have no knowledge on flowers so it was hard for me to write about them. And also fancy dresses/shoes and ballroom dancing; I'm not old enough to be into that sort of thing (though I'll probably end up taking dancing classes since my mother's been saying it for aaages). I'm sorry for this chapter's shortness, and boringness; It wasn't as much fun to write as the first two. But I'll try even harder on the next chapter. Thank you for reading!