Title: A cure for Homesickness
Author: Ree
Theme: Haruka/Uranus (distant : day 2)
Genre: General
Version: Anime/Manga silver mellinium (Fates story line)
Rating: G

This complex lady and her friends belong to Takeuchi Naoko. I just asked if they could play for a while.

A cure for Homesickness

A/N: Silver Millennium names
Saturn - Nix Venus - Harmonia
Mars - Aneris Mercury - Tyche
Neptune - Rhode Jupiter - Ersa
Uranus- Phoebe

Lady Hemera closed the small nondescript book when she felt the shuttle land in the Luna spaceport. She let her finger trace the symbol of Saturn while she awaited clearance to disembark.'I won't be home when she gets back this time. I wish I could be there. Officially she was here as Saturn's new ambassador, unofficially she was here to find out if there were other books that went with the one she held. 'Not that Thantos has any clue.' Her brother had chosen her becasue of her rank and the fact that the ruler of the Moon Kingdom was a queen. His words still echoed in her head. You're both women, she'll be more comfortable with you, and maybe confide some useful information to you. Her brother, for all he was king, was hopeless sometimes. He should realize that one doesn't become and stay Queen by giving away important pieces of information. 'No... you sell it, or trade it.'

The signal cut through the air, and Hemera collected her belongings and stepped out of the shuttle. Glancing around, she was struck by her first impression of the Moon Kingdom. 'It is so... calm. All the aesthetics are in place. The elegantly placed plants, the symmetrical buildings.. all calm the nerves.' A fleeting grin swept over her face. 'And I'm still in the spaceport. I wonder what the palace will be like.'

Her eyes swept across the wide expanses around her as she was escorted into one of the buildings. She paused on two young ladies also crossing the landing field. 'We have all traveled a great distance, but I think the Princess of Neptune wins for the greatest. But the Princess of Uranus is a very close second.' Somehow, watching them reminded her of her own princess, Nix. 'I guess that will be my cure for homesickness. Watching over two other princesses.'

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Phoebe kept her smile firmly affixed to her face as she was finally permitted to leave her shuttle. 'It wouldn't do for the people of the Moon to think that the Princess of Uranus would rather not be here." Her formal gown clung to her legs and tried to trip her up as she was ushered towards the customs building. She looked over the two other ladies arriving. The lady with honeyed brown hair was closer to the door, and was looking at her with a faint smile as well. 'She looks as thrilled as I am to be here. I wonder who she is?'

All thoughts of finding out disappeared when she realized who the other lady was. 'Rhode was summoned, too? That means all the princesses are here except Saturn's and Pluto's. Well at least there will be someone here to have fun with. ' Her smile became real as she considered all the fun she and the princess of Neptune could have together.

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"She is watching us again." Phoebe leaned closer to Rhode as she whispered and cast her gaze over at the honeyed brown haired woman from the spaceport.

Rhode shook her head. "So? She is probably princess watching. And since we are the new ones, she watches us the most."

Phoebe raised on pale blonde eyebrow. "Princess watching?"

"Yes. I've observed many of the Moon people watching the different princesses here. They seem fascinated by them."

"Even Ersa, Harmonia, Tyche, and Aneris?" Phoebe heard the disbelief in her own voice. She glanced over at the princesses of Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, and Mars as she said their names.

Rhode nodded her head in agreement, disbelief written on her face as well. "I don't understand their fascination, but it is there. Don't tell me you hadn't noticed?"

"I haven't been out in public that much."

"You're going to have to start making appearances soon, or they will start creating stories of why you are not." Rhode let her sympathy flow in to her voice. "I know you don't like being on display. But it is what is best for your planet. We have to make a good impression here, especially since our homes are so far away. "

The princess of Uranus looked down at her plate as she pushed her food around. 'That is not the only reason I'm here. Ever since I awoke as Sailor Uranus they have been pushing me to come here.' She had been presented with many arguments as to why she needed to travel to the Moon Kingdom. The most compelling one was that she needed to train with the other senshi, and that hadn't happened yet.

As she looked up, she noticed that the strange, unknown princess watcher was looking elsewhere.

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Hemera watched unseen as Princess Phoebe strode out into a grassy section of the palace gardens. She considered remaining hidden since the princess was obviously not wanting to be seen. 'She picked a secluded, and unpopular, section of the garden. And she is wearing trousers. I doubt she really wants the gossipers to spot her. And if she does, then we need to have a talk.'

Hemera accepted that somehow she had become attached to this tall, pale blonde princess. She leaned further out of the library window, trying to see what Princess Phoebe was carrying. 'A sword?' A smile grew on her face as she slipped out the window. As she came closer to her destination, she picked up two decent sized sticks that were relatively straight. Stopping just out of sight, she twisted up her hair into a haphazard knot, and secured it with some twigs off a nearby bush. Then, making a lot of noise, she walked into the clearing where Princess Phoebe swung her blade.

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Phoebe jerked her head around towards the loud noise that was coming from the nearby shrubs. She tried to keep the look of surprise off her face as the strange lady came walking into her private space, and wondered why she was carrying sticks.

"Here. Take one." The lady held one of the sticks out to her. Phoebe was surprised at the rich tones of her voice. 'I always imagined her with a small high voice.' Before she realized it, she found herself holding one of the sticks in one hand, and her sword in the other.

The lady smiled. "Put the sword away. I think we should just practice with the sticks today." She looked at the stick in her hand. "I don't think this one will stand up to being bashed with a tempered blade."

Phoebe found herself smiling back, and started to question the lady as she put up her sword. "You are going to spar with me wearing that?" Her eyes raked over the lady's attire. She was wearing a green ankle length dress with her hair pinned up with what Phoebe thought were branches.

The lady's pale blue-green eyes twinkled as she raise her stick into position. "I'm going to try. Shall we?"

Phoebe decided to go easy on the crazy lady. Starting off easy, she soon realized that she might have jumped to the wrong conclusion. Even in the long skirts, she was moving easily out of Phoebe's path, and had obviously swung at least a practice blade before.

The lady shook her head in disapproval. "Don't make it so easy on me. You should never underestimate your opponents, and you should always do you best. No matter who your against."

Setting aside her reservations, Phoebe started sparring in earnest. The lady still avoided her, but not quite as easily. She eventually disarmed the older women.

Looking up from the stick now lying on the ground, the lady started chuckling. Phoebe felt a frown starting to crease her forehead. Finally containing her mirth, though it still shone in her eyes, the lady started to speak. "They really need to give you sometime with the real practice blade. But I'm sure they are afraid of you getting hurt. That would cause some sticky politics."

Phoebe felt her frown deepen. "You have me at a disadvantage. You obviously know who I am, but I have no idea who you are." Her frown faded as she attempted not to laugh as the lady tried to smooth her skirts and then dusted off her hand. She totally forgot to check on the state of her hair.

Standing up straight, the lady introduced herself. "Princess Phoebe of the planet Uranus, I am Lady Hemera, younger sister of King Thantos, ambassador of the planet Saturn to the Moon Kingdom."

Phoebe felt herself blink in surprise. This was not some idle princess watcher. "It is a pleasure to meet you finally. I have noticed you watching me and the princess of Neptune often, and I have been wondering...why?" Phoebe hoped she didn't sound rude, but almost didn't care.

Lady Hemera felt her smile fade as she answered the question. "You remind me of my niece, Princess Nix. Watching the two of you helps me not feel quite so homesick." She looked down at the stick resting at her feet. "And sparring with you helped, too."

Phoebe looked at the stick in her grasp and had to agree. She didn't feel so out of place standing here. "We are both a long way from home." She twisted the stick in her hand before continuing. "You're right, I don't feel quite as homesick when I'm sparring. Shall we try to get real practice swords for tomorrow?"

Hemera cocked her head to one side. "I think I can arrange for us to get one of the practice fields."

"Really?"

Hemera nodded. "It's good being a popular ambassador. Tomorrow morning same time? I'll meet you here?" Phoebe nodded in agreement. "Of course if I meet you to practice swords, you need to meet me at the court appearances so you can practice your social skills."

Phoebe contemplated this for a moment."Deal." She needed to get out there more anyway.