Well, this chapter has certainly taken me some time to upload. My apologies, I blame the holidays. This chapter is quite longer than the previous, only because what I felt needed to be included made for greater length. Enjoy.

Chapter 4

"Ami, open up!"

The air was cool, the moon was high and the palace was silent. Not too long after five men toasted each other and called it a night, five women woke from their plush beds and rose to gather together as they did every so often. The first to arrive at the doors of the blue-headed woman's chambers was the tallest, and sometimes loudest of the bunch.

"You didn't fall asleep, did you? Don't worry, once everyone gets here it'll be the same as always – little sleep, and far too much to eat and gossip about."

Makoto shrugged as she closed the door behind her leaving it unlocked. Turning into the room, she passed by the large desk which was entirely too organized, a single book lying shut in the middle. Leaning over to read the title, Makoto's eyebrows rose in slight interest. Ami never went more than a day or two at most without a book to read, no matter the subject. There were times when the material came in handy, but overall it was for her own pleasure.

"Of course I wasn't asleep. I wouldn't want to chance you kicking the door down. That would be the last thing we need, especially with them sleeping in the same area."

Remembering the dramatic fashion in which Makoto had allowed herself entrance into Rei's bedroom the one time she happened to be away gathering a few snacks for everyone, Ami chuckled to herself and shook her head. It had been years since they were young girls, but periodically their girl-like tendencies got the better of them and came pouring out; of course only during their private and personal hours. The late "meetings" they took were actually just the five of them being able to act and speak however they pleased without worrying about the staff or members of Crystal Tokyo overhearing them. Of course, sometimes they were a little too loud, or took their adventures into the gardens where they had been witnessed a few times horsing around and acting rather unlady-like. Naturally this spawned gentle rumors, but the image portrayed upon them only seemed to help as to the regular members of Crystal Tokyo portrayed them as being normal as they were themselves.

There was a knock at the door followed by a gentle turn of the knob. Minako poked her head in and upon seeing the two women already present opened the door for the remainder of the three to enter.

"Hey Ami, Mako-chan. I see you two are already getting started. I caught these two in the hallway and pulled them along before anything started up like last time…"

Minako gestured over her shoulder to both women behind her and shrugged before walking into the room and tossing herself onto the bed. No matter how many battles and enemies they came upon Minako would always have a playful spirit.

"It wouldn't have been my fault…this time. I was waiting for Usagi to finish her moment with Mamoru, but we've all been privileged to know how long that can take."

Rolling her eyes, Rei closed the door behind her and made her way toward the area where Ami had set up a few snacks and tea to pour herself a cup.

"When you find the love of your life, you'll understand what being apart is, even if for only a day. They don't call it a soul mate for nothing."

Usagi defended herself enough to quiet any other "love isn't always the way" speeches from Rei. Truly the scouts had their moments with partners from the opposite sex, yet they never bonded enough to further those relationships. They weren't doomed to the big crystal castle, destined to be only guardians for eternity. All four women had lives of their own and led them as they saw fit. It just so happened that none of them had found a person they considered a pure equal, and vice versa. There were still some occasions where men were still threatened by powerful women. It may have been a time of peace and prosperity, but not every issue had been resolved.

The night went on for hours until the sun began to peak above the horizon. The chit-chat, giggles, teases, and serious discussions outlasted the tea and snacks. It was time for everyone to head back to their own chambers and begin their days. Staying behind to help clean up, Rei hugged her friend before she left, thanking her for the hospitality.

Walking down the hallways with sunlight beginning to fill them was something Rei always enjoyed. It was a reminder of the past life where she would wake at dawn to tend to her temple chores. This time of day was the most pleasing and relaxing for the fire woman; it brought her spirit to be level with her body and mind, preparing for the day ahead whatever the events it held. Taking the final turn to the hallway which would lead to her private chambers, she noticed a man kneeling at the ground attempting to slide something either beneath her door, or in-between them. Speeding her pace, yet keeping quiet Rei approached the man from behind, crossing her arms as she finally came upon him.

"What are you doing?"

The words were spoken loud enough to cause a gentle echo, yet only be heard by the two of them. A shaken man who was caught off guard, yet again, panicked for a second, lost all train of thought and jerked suddenly. The rash movement of being caught off guard sent his head right into the door, causing a "thud".

A moan, a groan, then from kneeling on one knee facing the door, Jadeite turned and leaned his back against that same door, holding his head.

"What the hell! What are you trying to do to me!?"

"I think the better question is what are YOU doing?"

"Nothing. I just thought…I just wanted to try and say-…"

"Say what? Please don't kick me in the ass if I'm bent over by your door!"

"No. Why can't you be like the others and just ignore me until you absolutely have to speak to or see me?"

"You're the one coming to my door, remember?"

"Are you trying to kill me?"

"Like you did me?"

"…that was a long time ago, Rei."

An eyebrow rose, arms remaining crossed. Jadeite could feel the heat radiating off of the woman as it was apparent she wasn't getting any calmer with his presence.

"What you did, no matter how long ago, Jadeite…", the way she said his name caused worse pain than the bruising, headaches and newly-formed bump on his head had all combined, "…is something you have yet to apologize for. It is something you have yet to redeem yourself from. And it is absolutely something in which I cannot see now, nor in the future forgiving you of."

She didn't need to say anything else. The pent-up frustration since the revival was finally unleashed. Rei had said her peace and had every intention of carrying out her orders to train, teach and observe the generals on a one-on-one basis, as well as group activities no matter how painful the process was. Jadeite didn't speak, but simply stepped out of the way and turned on his heel to make his way back to his room. Rei watched him, boring holes into the back of his skull. Stepping into her chambers, she bent down and took the blank envelope between her fingers and promptly stepped toward her desk to toss the sealed letter onto it for a later time.

Post-Breakfast

Venus stood in the training area across a small table from Kunzite who stood in full uniform. Diagrams laid out across the table, the two were discussing strategy for possible attacks against both Serenity and Endymion at the funeral services which were being held two days from that point. Periodically Venus would catch Kunzite staring at her. Ignoring the man, she went back to work and educated him on procedures which were a need-to-know basis. Sailor Venus was under orders to brief the Generals, however she wasn't about to give them every piece of information which were most important. Should the Generals choose to betray the Sailors for whatever reason this time, the Scouts would still hold a vast amount of information the four men simply weren't privy to which would undoubtedly alter the outcome from how it came to be the first time.

"…and should there be an attack en route, we will direct Serenity and Endymion to the southern edge of the palace along these routes."

Venus pointed a gloved hand along a few back streets along a map she pulled put from the bottom of the growing pile. Kunzite took the opportunity to question the route and extended his own gloves hand toward the area Venus showed him. As if she were expecting him to stop and wait for her hand to move, his own finger came into contact with hers, causing a slight jolt of energy to arise within the both of them.

"Wouldn't this route be more direct? It would also allow for more alternatives should we need to deviate due to circumstances."

Kunzite could always keep a cool face, especially when it was work-related. He not only felt the jolt from his accidental touch, his body released quite a bit of adrenaline into his system, causing his heart beat to skyrocket. He hadn't planned on the small action, but if they were going to work around each other it was inevitable at some point physical interactions would have to be made under circumstances. Kunzite was simply worried about how Venus would react even though his intentions were purely professional. Regardless of the fact, he was still working and couldn't allow anything insignificant to sway his view.

"No, that area is currently under construction and wouldn't be too favorable due to the high-rise buildings. We will continue along the pre-planned routes unless the need to alter the route should arise."

Venus countered, giving off the idea she either hadn't noticed, or simply didn't care about the accidental touch. In truth, her body followed the same actions as Kunzite's. She only trusted him to the point she absolutely had to considering she was under orders. That didn't stop her from keeping that much more of an eye and ear on the Generals.

Across the palace, Sailor Mercury stood in a medical laboratory with a quiet Zoicite standing beside her as she lectured about biological weapons and their defenses against them. Before them stood a touch screen table completely filled with several digital folders of research and microscopic images Mercury was handling with ease.

"Luckily scientists have kept their experiments and other workings at such at a top-notch rate, we have been able to stay ahead of the threats which periodically arise."

"I would also assume the technology is on your side."

Zoicite marveled at the piece of technology before him as he moved a few folders around, pinch-cropping documents and tossing them to the other side of the table. Sailor Mercury stood watching the man play with her own personal favorite piece of the surrounding techno-gadgets, studying him before she chose to speak.

"We've avoided virtually every threat to come at us. However, perfection is something we cannot always achieve even though we strive for it."

Zoicite kept his words calm while forcing his eyes to stay on the documents before him.

"Should this union work between us all, it would seem the statistics of probable failure would decrease substantially."

"Indeed…yet we must still account for anomalies."

To someone passing by, or any other not quite as versed as the two, it would seem they were having a simple conversation. However, inside that room by Mercury's favorite toy stood a fourth of the anomaly she spoke of, and Zoicite knew it.

"This is the armory, as you can see. We rarely need to use any such weapons since we can defend ourselves and others easily enough, but nonetheless its still a good idea to keep up with it all. You never know when you're going to meet someone skilled with the sword."

As she finished speaking, Sailor Jupiter held out a sheathed sword toward Nephlite, holding one similar in her own hand.

"I believe this is adequate."

Nephlite looked from the weapon back toward the woman before him. His left eyebrow lifted as he continued to stand as he was, arms at his sides.

"What is this?"

"This is something I like to call a rematch. I don't intend on walking around the palace brooding over your presence. I would prefer to get this over with now."

Jupiter threw the sword to the ground as she turned her back toward Nephlite and took a few steps away from him.

"Once you attempted to kill me, and you succeeded. This time, I will attempt to kill you. Should I succeed, you're obviously not fit to protect Endymion. Pick up the sword, Nephlite. I'm at least giving you the courtesy of pre-determined thoughts unlike you did for me."

With that, Jupiter quickly turned and swung her right arm outward as the sheath she had unlocked while she was speaking flew out toward Nephlite who was already bent down. The sheath managed to catch him in the shoulder of his left arm, which thankfully for him was not the dominant. Sailor Jupiter came for a fight and had every intention of pinning her target to the ground, blade at his throat. Nephlite knew Jupiter was serious, although what he didn't know was the method behind the madness was a test of competence.

Previously that morning when the women were gathered together, they decided to push the Generals to their limits one way or another. Having discussed it, this was the only way to discovered if they were genuine about their places in Crystal Tokyo. The tests were invasive and could be considered as mind games, although with the time constraints in place, there was no other way to determine what they all needed to know.

Post-Dinner

Four men sat in the large dining hall, long after it had been cleaned of food and cleared of people. All silent, each one of them contemplated the day they had. It was a chance for the Scouts to have one-on-one time with each General as they rotated their time as the day progressed until a late dinner was to be had, then preparation for the following day.

"This isn't how I imagined it. If you asked me when this all began how the days would play out, it wouldn't be spending the majority of my time in the infirmary for being knocked out, almost putting my head through a very thick wooden door and then almost being killed on top of it all."

"Calm yourself, Jadeite. She tried to kill all of us. Stop whining and focus on the task at hand. Did you honestly expect them to simply open their arms and accept us back? They're testing us because they don't have a single shred of trust in us."

Nephlite lifted a leg to cross it over the other. Halfway through his battle of revenge with Sailor Jupiter, he finally realized what she was doing. If she had cared to gut him as she pleased, he would have been dead long ago.

"I agree. Between the four of them, there wouldn't be a way to hide our intentions, if any at all were malicious. We just need to continue on as we have been and show our nature is indeed as we said it was. They will come to the middle in time; we just have to keep pushing ourselves until they do."

"Kunzite is right. Now, I would suggest we get some rest for tomorrow. This is the final day before the Scouts give their evaluations to Endymion and we need nothing less than perfection. If anyone should need me, I will be in my chambers."

Zoicite was the first to leave the group, likely off to his stated destination to prepare for the following day. After that, each man left the dining hall and proceeded to do what they thought necessary to accomplish what they had set out to do. Their dedication and strength would see them through the next day and finally to the time when Endymion would make his final decision.

. . .

I will begin the next chapter very soon and hopefully have it up in no more than a week. Let me know what you think! I appreciate all feedback I can get, which helps me write a better story for you, the readers. =)