Title: Not so formal
Author: Ree
Theme: Haruka/Uranus (two: day 16)
Genre: General
Version: Anime/Manga/PGSM
Rating: G

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

Not so formal

A/N: Miysis and Ken are from Raya's "Koi no Senshi ja Irarenai " storyline. Souichi is from Raya's PGSM S universe. All are used with her knowledge. The rest of the unknowns are mine.

Haruka sorted through the pictures that were scattered across the banquet table. She picked up the nearest one, and felt a smile being pulled out of her. Queen Serenity and King Endymion were standing in their "regal" pose. Shaking her head, Haruka remembered how Serenity looked when she asked for this favor.

She had come all the way out to Uranus to ask her. Haruka could still see her standing in the front hall, a large envelope in hand. She sounded and looked like the old Usagi as she handed Haruka the envelope.

"Please, Haruka. Please do this for me." Usagi's blue eyes pleaded.

"Why me?" Haruka took the envelope with trepidation.

"You are the only one. No one comes to bother you. They won't think you are playing favorites, and you have a good eye for balance. You know what goes with what." Usagi smiled, glad that Haruka took the envelope.

Haruka set down the picture. 'How did I let her talk me into this? Michiru would have been better at it.' She pushed the pictures to one side of the table and sat down at the other end. Getting some paper and a pen, she started to organize her thoughts. Numbering the paper one through twelve, she listed the twelve months of the year. 'There aren't twelve couples, are there?' Getting up she went back to the pictures and arranged them into twelve stacks. 'Okay there are eleven couples and then Setsuna. So how am I going to do this?.. Usagi!!!' She looked back down at the list of months. 'I'm supposed to pick the pictures to be used for a calender that shows the "Couples of Power" according to Usagi.' Biting back her frustration, Haruka sighed. 'I might as well get started. Okay, who for what month?'

Looking over the stacks, her eyes were drawn to Kunzite and Chieko. 'They make a stunning couple.' Though they were almost opposite in coloration, their personalities were very similar. Haruka still wasn't sure if she believed Kunzite when he said that he had accidentally left his cloak at the Shinto Earth shrine at the foot of Mount Fuji. But everyone was surprised when the shrine's priestess came all the way to Crystal Tokyo to return it. Rei had described her as a walking pool of calm. 'I guess as a Earth priestess, Chieko should be well grounded.' From that moment on, both of them fell into being a couple, but Haruka was pretty sure it was completely planned.

Before Haruka realized it, she had picked up the stack of pictures and started flipping through them. As she flipped, she set aside the ones that she liked. Towards the bottom of the stack she stopped. 'Someone was taking candid shots.' The picture was of Kunzite and Chieko, but they were not in front of the official background. 'I wonder how I missed noticing this one earlier? I guess because I was sorting so quickly.' They were looking into each other's eyes, warm silver melting into rich ebony. Kunzite's head was bent slightly towards hers, and his fingers were resting on the far side of her face. There was a light wind blowing, and white hair was mixing with black. With Chieko in a formal kimono, Kunzite in his uniform, and a cherry tree in bloom in the background, Haruka knew she had found her picture. 'Ying and yang. They are in perfect balance, and that is how we should start the year.'

Setting the picture aside, she stacked the rest and put them back into the envelope. 'Onto February... and Usagi requested that it be Minako and Ken. Picking up Minako's stack of pictures, Haruka remembered the shock when they had found out that an American police officer was the reincarnation of Adonis. 'That should have been our first clue that things would work out this time... Such an unromantic job.' Minako almost ran when they found out, but between Usagi and Setsuna, and a lot of talking, she had stayed. 'Usagi used the silver crystal to help Ken break the old curse, but only after a lot of talking convinced them that this time could be different. Setsuna almost broke her taboo about telling the future. Luckily Rei had some really positive visions.' With Usagi and Mamoru as an example, they gave it a try, and it was working.

Haruka quickly went through their pictures, hoping the candid photographer had snapped one of them. Sure enough, she found one. They were over near the ornate fence that surrounded the large flower garden. Ken was casually leaning against it, the sun warming his light brown hair, and his green eyes were trained entirely on Minako. Minako was a little off to the side, smelling one of the roses that was peeking out between the fence's bars.

Haruka set it under Kunzite and Chieko's picture.'I wonder if there are candid shots for everyone?' Quickly sorting, she removed all the pictures that had the formal background. She still ended up with ten stacks. 'Good, some of everyone.' Without a second thought she put up all the formal pictures. 'Okay, I have January and February. I think Rei and Miysis should be for July.'

Haruka spread out their remaining pictures, and studied them for a moment. Finally she settles on one of Rei and Miysis standing near the bonfire. They were obviously having a spirited conversation. 'They can look happy and still talk like that. Those two...Rei was lucky to have found someone who can handle fire so well. I guess most firefighters can.' Neither of them ever talked about how they met. If anyone asked, Rei's eyes would darken, and she would become very quiet.

Setting Rei's and Miysis' picture aside, Haruka moved to the next stack. 'Hum-m-m Zosite and Alice should be for May. They meet in a May rainstorm.' Zoisite had found himself stranded in a small port town, and to pass the time he had gone wondering the docks. When the sky opened up, Alice had invited him onto her family's boat for shelter, and that was that. Glancing through the pictures she found a good one of them playing with remote controlled boat on the pond in the flower garden.

'This candid photographer is good. I wonder what picture they caught of me and Michiru?' Giving in to temptation, she started shuffling through their stack. There was one of them leaning up against the car, another one with them near the fire, but the one she chose was one where they were standing near the pond that Zoisite and Alice were boating on. The boats weren't in the picture, but their wakes were washing up onto the shore where she and Michiru were standing. The wind was tugging at their hair also. 'It was a nice breezy day.'

Sliding that one into the space for March, Haruka decided that it might be quicker just to find the pictures and then organize them. Quickly sorting through the stacks, she placed her picks in a row. With them all chosen, she looked down at the collection, and prepared to organize.

'Okay.. the one of Ami and Ryou sitting and talking in front of the fountain should be April. She moved it to the right place in the line up. Scanning the pictures left, Haruka tried to find a good one for June. Finally her eyes settled on the one of Makoto and Motoki. A smile sprang to her face as she studied it again. Makoto and Motoki were holding a traveling aquarium between them, both of their hands were on the center handle. The two turtles inside were looking at the camera, while the humans were looking at each other. The oak trees were swaying a little in the background. 'June.. Makoto will like that.. the month of weddings. I wonder if she'll bake some brownies for me when she see it?'

Still looking at Makoto's picture, Haruka picked up another one. Glancing up at it she immediately knew where to put it. 'Nephrite and Emiko are going to be for August.' Setting it next to Rei and Miysis' picture, she noticed that they must have been taken one right after the other. The bonfire was in the far corner behind Nephrite, and the firewood stack was behind Emiko. Nephrite was holding both of Emiko's hands, and Haruka was sure they were about to kiss. 'I wonder if I should pick a different picture? That one might be a little too... nah. It stays. It's no worse than Kunzite's.'

Looking over the four left, she contemplated her next choice. Jadeite's caught her eye. 'They're not looking at each other,' Jadeite was slightly leaning over Kameko with his hands resting on her shoulders, looking at the laptop she was working on. 'Jadeite and Kameko. They shall be for September.'

'Okay only three left... Mamoru and Usagi, Hotaru and Souichi, and then Setsuna... What am I going to do with Setsuna? She is not part of a couple. At least not anymore..' Haruka smiled at the memory of Setsuna's husband before the destruction. He had yet to come back, and Setsuna had not found anybody to replace him. 'It's like she bidding her time. Like she knows he is coming, and she just has to wait. Well maybe she does. But that still doesn't solve my dilemma...' Looking closely at the picture she had selected, she tried to see how it would work. Giving up, she went back to the stack of candid shots, and started sorting through them again. Eventually, she found one she could use. Setsuna was smelling the pink roses covering a gazebo in the flower garden. Near her was a shadow, probably cast by the branches of the roses and the wood, but it looked very close to a man's shadow. 'Setsuna and Naoki's shadow shall be for October. Hotaru and Souichi shall be for November. That leaves Mamoru and Usagi for December.'

In the spot for November she placed the picture of Hotaru and Souichi sitting on a garden bench. They were right next to a wisteria that had wound its way around a dead tree stump, and looked like a wisteria tree with its bloom laden vines waving over the couples heads. Souichi had his arm behind Hotaru as she leaned against his shoulder, and both of them were looking off to the side. 'That's when they were waiting to get their picture taken, and Kathrine was playing in the flower bed.' Haruka remembered that pose hadn't lasted long, Hotaru had to stop her daughter from digging up the flowers.

Picking up the last picture, Haruka shook her head. 'How typical...' Usagi was smiling up at Mamoru as he handed her a red rose. Although they were standing on the main path to the palace, the flowers obsured the view of palace itself. Haruka placed it at the end of the row.

'All done..At least with the hard part. Now what shall I do for the cover?' Haruka stared at the collection of pictures sitting in front of her, hoping inspiration would strike. She noticed was that everyone was broken into groups of two, except Setsuna who was by herself. 'Normally everyone, except us outers, are together in one big group. Group?..Is there a group shot of everyone?'

Scattering the rest pictures out, she started looking. Eventually she found three. 'All of them are formal shots...Would it look okay?' Staring at the choices, she selected one that was well balanced, and everyone's eyes were open. She moved it to the beginning of the row. 'Well.. the cover won't quite match the inside. I guess it's like the rest of us. Our outward appearance doesn't quite describe what we are inside either.'