Chicken sizzled in the pan while a pot of rice simmered. Lena pushed the chicken around the pan with a wooden spoon, shaking seasonings onto the meat to the tempo of music that blared from her speaker. Setting the spoon down, she danced across the kitchen, stopping to pat the head of Elliott, who was watching her with an uninterested stare.

"Don't give me that face," Lena said, nuzzling her nose to Elliott's. She spun and twirled to the refrigerator, pulling out the remaining ingredients for her dinner. Tonight, like most nights lately, had called for jazz music and dancing, comfort food and wine.

Elliott jumped down from the kitchen table and left the room. With a shrug in her direction, Lena resumed dancing, reaching over to turn the volume up a notch. When the chicken was finished, she covered it and pulled it off the eye, waiting for the rice to finish. Elliott's loud meows startled her in the middle of her dance.

"What is it?" she asked, turning the volume down. She could hear a sharp knock on her door. "Who in the world could that be?" she asked Elliott, who gave her an impatient meow in response.

Crossing the apartment to her front door, she stood on tiptoes, barely able to see through the peephole. She could see a man standing there, his profile blurry through the tiny glass. He turned towards her when she opened the door, giving her a wide smile.

"Hello," he said, his voice warm and friendly. "Thought I'd stop by compliment your taste in music."

Lena's brows drew together in confusion. The man laughed and shook his head.

"Sorry, stupid opening line," he said sheepishly. He stuck out his hand towards her. "I'm Hale Davis. Just moved in next door."

"Oh my gosh!" Lena said, realization dawning on her. "I'm sorry about the loud music! No one's lived in that apartment for over a year, so I've never had to worry about the noise." She shook his offered hand. "Lena Colman," she added, feeling her cheeks warm.

"Nice to meet you," Hale replied. "Student?" He gestured past her into the apartment, where stacks of books sat on every piece of furniture. Lena laughed awkwardly.

"What gave it away? Grad school. Finishing up this year. What about you? New student?"

Hale shook his head. "Starting residency at the hospital."

"Oh wow! That's great," Lena said. An awkward silence passed between them.

"Would you-" Hale started.

"I'm about-" Lena said at the same time, causing both of them to laugh. "You first."

"I was going to ask if you would like to grab a coffee sometime. I don't know anyone yet, so it would be nice to get to know my neighbors," Hale said. Lena smiled and nodded.

"That would be nice," she replied. In the background she heard her phone ring. At the same time she felt her watch vibrate, her eyes widening as she saw the caller's name scroll across the face.

"Do you need to get that?" Hale asked. She nodded.

"I'm sorry. But let's definitely get coffee sometime," she said.

"Sure thing," Hale replied, giving her a small wave. "See you! Keep playing that good music!"

With a giggle she closed the door and sprinted across the room to grab her phone.

"Hello?" she asked, collapsing onto the couch.

"Hello Leenie," said a soft melodic voice on the other end of the phone.

"Michiru, hi," Lena replied. "How are you?"

"I'm doing wonderful! Just wanted to see what my favorite cousin was doing these days. Where are you now?"

"America," Lena responded. "Connecticut to be exact."

"Oh how lovely," Michiru said. Lena could hear murmuring in the background and assumed her cousin was talking to Haruka, her long term girlfriend. "School again? Which one this time?"

"Yale."

"That's a good one, right? What are you majoring in now? Hopefully not another art degree. Don't you have six already?"

Lena sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She had this conversation at least once a year with her cousin, her parents, her doctor, the mailman "No, not art. Political Science."

She heard more murmuring followed by a giggle. "How convenient!" Michiru said happily.

"Convenient?" Lena asked, confused.

"Never mind, never mind. Listen," Michiru said, her voice turning serious. "I'm coming to visit you in a few days. I have something very important to discuss with you. Our flight arrives Thursday afternoon, so I thought we could do a late dinner. You can pick the restaurant."

Typical, Lena thought. What if I already had plans?

"What do you need to discuss?" Lena asked. There was a long pause as Michiru stayed silent.

"It's better I tell you in person," she finally said, her voice slightly sad.

"Do you have a hotel?" Lena asked, changing the subject. While her apartment was bigger than most of the students she knew from classes, it definitely was not big enough for her and Michiru. She wasn't sure if there even was a place big enough for the two of them together.

"Oh, Haruka booked something. No idea. She's handled all the travel plans for me," Michiru said. Lena heard a thunk on the other end of the phone, followed by Michiru laughing.

"Is she coming with you?"

"She is. We're both looking forward to seeing you, hey stop-" Michiru was cut off, replaced by the deeper voice of Haruka.

"Hey, little dove," Haruka said cheerfully. "Political science, huh? You know the queen studied that in school too, so that will be perfect now - Ow!"

"Honestly," Lena could hear Michiru say before her voice returned to the phone. "Sorry, Leenie. Sometimes I don't know why I bother. Listen, we need to go. Meetings before we fly out. See you on Thursday!"

The click of the receiver told Lena that her cousin had hung up. She hit the "end" button her phone, sinking lower onto the sofa and raising a hand to her forehead. The smell of burning rice reached her nose, which crinkled in distaste.

"Oh shoot!" she exclaimed, scrambling into the kitchen to scrape the little bit of unburnt rice from the pot.


"Did you really have to do that?" Michiru scowled slightly as she hung up the phone. Haruka gave her an innocent look, which caused her to roll her eyes.

"I was only keeping you on your toes!" Haruka teased, dropping a kiss onto Michiru's forehead.

"Hmph," Michiru huffed, fighting a smile. "I'll keep you on your toes."

"When have you not?"

"Am I making the right decision?" Michiru asked. She pushed off the sofa, going to a tea cart that set next to the window. She poured a cup, the fragrant tea calming her as she sipped it. Turning back to Haruka, she gave a small shrug. "I feel like I am, but then I keep coming back to the question of whether Lena can take my place."

"She isn't you," Haruka started, laughing at Michiru's snort. "But we both know she's smart. Lena may have some stumbles along the way, but which of us didn't?"

Michiru took a sip of tea, considering Haruka's words. "True. I still worry. We both know how long it took for us Guardians to accept each other; what if the others don't accept Lena? And am I even being fair to her by asking this of her?"

She let out a small sigh and took another sip of tea, turning towards the window that overlooked the ocean. The sea was calm today, the sunlight glimmering like diamonds on the water. It wasn't often that her soul contrasted the sea. Usually when it was calm, she was calm. Lately, however, she had felt like the churning waters of an angry ocean. Strong hands ran up her arms and she leaned against Haruka, closing her eyes as her girlfriend rested her chin on her head and wrapped her arms around her shoulders.

"You've had these thoughts before, Michiru," Haruka started softly. "You go over them over and over again, and every time you come to the same conclusion: your cousin can do this and so can you. Just let it go."

Several silent moments passed as both girls stared out the window. "You're right, Lena can do this and so can I. And besides, we'll both be here to guide her once she takes the crown."

"Exactly. Let's just hope she catches on quickly. I'm already feeling impatient," Haruka said, pressing a kiss to Michiru's head.

"Oh? Impatient for what?" Michiru asked lightly.

"Impatient for the wedding. You took too long to say yes."

Michiru turned around and took a sip of tea, her eyes shining with mischief over the rim of the cup. "Well you took too long to ask."


And then I asked exactly what we're supposed to do with one less princess on the Council and Neptune said that her cousin was next in line. Her cousin doesn't even have Guardian powers. I have no idea what she's thinking.

Makoto grumbled to herself as she typed her message to her cousin, annoyed from the earlier Council meeting's heated conversation.

It sounds like she's put a lot of thought into it, Makoto. We both know Crystal Tokyo's courts can be draining. I think it's commendable that she's wanting to follow her heart. There's been peace for so long now, maybe you all should think about doing something more with your lives.

Her cousin's rational response irritated her.

Don't you start too.

Her patience level was nil.

Sorry, sorry. So is she cute?

Is who cute?

The new girl. The one taking Neptune's place.

Makoto laughed and shook her head as she began typing her response.

I don't know, I've never seen her. But if she's related to Michiru, she's bound to be beautiful.

Oh yeah, that's true.

Makoto paused briefly, grinning slightly as she began typing again.

Her coronation ball will be soon. You should come home for it. Maybe you could meet her and fall in love and make cute little babies.

There was no response from her cousin. After a few minutes Makoto shrugged and set her phone down, wandering into her kitchen to begin dinner. When her phone beeped, she practically dove for it.

Mom would be ecstatic.

A picture of her cousin followed, his face contorted into a gagging expression. Makoto laughed loudly and shook her head, her fingers flying over the phone's keypad.

We've only been saying this for the past hundred years: The Duke of Callisto is certainly in need of a wife.


Short(ish) AN: Hello! If you've read any of my other stories, you (hopefully) know that I try to stay as close to the source material as possible. I'm going to try to with this one, but... there may be some times when I need to add stuff that may not be 100% true to the source material. But I PROMISE I'll do all my research before I get too far into this!

I'm so excited to be starting a new story! I've toyed with this one for a little while, and finally thought "what the heck?!" Let me know your thoughts in the reviews! And please be nice... I'm a bit out of practice here! :)