blueeyeddevil06 thank you for being my beta and fixing my grammar.

Chapter 31 – A Time to Prepare

The next morning, Jadeite met Molly in the woods by the park at their agreed upon time. And, damn if the years hadn't matured her body and her curves.

"Shit." He rubbed his hands over his face. "That isn't fair." His eyes then raked over every inch of Molly's body. "How am I supposed to concentrate with you dressed like that?" His gaze had grown hungry.

Molly smirked and said, "We have to train you too. You can't be distracted in battle with my short skirt and tight-fitting top."

"This will be a new experience for me for sure. Now, I have to fight while I'm turned on." He gestured towards his pants.

Molly gave a coy smile and said, "Impressive."

Jadeite took determined strides towards her and wrapped his arms around her. He then groaned when she came in contact with his body, and he pressed a deep kiss to her lips. She parted her lips, and he pillaged her mouth, tasting and exploring her. His hands dug into her perfect ass.

He pulled back from their kiss just long enough to say, "You like that?" And he rocked forward so she could feel him.

She only managed a breathy yes before he was kissing her again.

OooooooO

Luna was laying on a pillow on the couch in the living room when she heard movement in the kitchen. Her tail flicked, and her ears perked up immediately. She then jumped up and quietly walked into the kitchen.

"Shucks, Uncle. I was hoping someone was getting into Zoisite's ice cream. I want a treat." She looked dejected.

He chuckled and pulled out a can of tuna from Nephrite's stockpile. "This will be our secret." He then opened it, put it in a bowl, and then placed it on the table.

"I'm really curious as to what he did to you. Care to share?" Luna asked as she leapt up onto the kitchen table and stalked over to the tuna.

"He keeps leaving his dirty socks laying around. I'm tired of asking him to pick them up." He then went back to making himself some coffee.

Luna made a mental note to drag out some more of Nephrite's socks tomorrow.

OooooooO

Serena sat cuddled in Darien's arms on his couch as she read her manga, and he studied his biology textbook. She had a pile of manga next to her on the floor, and periodically for the last hour, she would lean over, get the next book, and settle back into his arms.

She couldn't remember a time when she felt more content.

OooooooO

Emerald surveyed the group of people working to restore the current cultural project she was viewing. The paintings were being professionally cleaned and restored, and everything was carefully being returned to its rightful place. A couple of rooms away, the floor was being cleaned after the walls had been painted. She knew she had four other locations she needed to view that day too.

"The work you're doing here is incredible. Your team is right on schedule. I can't wait until we can move this group onto the next project and open this one to the public." She wanted everyone to know that their work was impressive and reassure them that they will all still have work once this project is completed.

She recognized the dignity shining in their eyes once they were given meaningful work, were able to support themselves, and in many cases, a family. She saw it and recognized it in her own eyes.

Yes, she started out wanting to stop Diamond and keep Serena away from him, but now what she wanted was her brother's approval. That was her goal. She did recognize that she needed to learn to find worth in herself without the support of a man, but she was confident that was coming. Baby steps. She had been torn down her whole life. It would just take time.

Her success handling this project was helping. She chuckled. She bet that was part of why Sapphire asked her to do this.

OooooooO

Darien had been studying for an hour and a half, and he noticed Serena had a pile of read manga sitting next to her on the couch with a dwindling pile sitting on the floor.

He arched his neck to stretch it and was about to close his book when he had an idea. He left it open sitting on his lap, and he quietly moved his left arm from around Serena's waist to pinch her nipple through her shirt. He smirked, he got it first try. He then grabbed her breast and heard her let out a low moan. Fuck that turned him on.

He leaned over to whisper into her ear, "Time for a study break. Don't you agree?"

She arched her back, leaned into him, pressed her breast up into his hand, and dropped her book. "Do that again."

He closed his book, set it on the floor, and grabbed her breasts with both hands. "As you wish, my princess." He then pinched both her nipples and kissed down along her neck.

The noises she made drove his fantasies for a long time after that.

OooooooO

Jadeite arrived thirty minutes early to Darien's apartment. Serena was surprised when she answered the door. "Come on in. Darien is just finishing up some studying."

Jadeite looked incredulous, "He has a pretty girl in his apartment, and he's studying?"

Serena laughed at him as they walked into the living room, and Darien looked up at them.

He had heard them and replied, "That's the benefit of study breaks." He winked at Serena and turned back to Jadeite, "I was about to take one. This better be good."

Jadeite laughed at Darien and said, "You should try training with her then. I discovered the benefits of that this morning." He turned to look at Serena, "Oh, and thank you for the advice you gave her on her outfit." He pointed at himself, "Big fan."

Darien looked at Serena and looked thoughtful, "Hmm. Why don't we train tomorrow morning? I don't have class until the afternoon."

"Well then, I will dress appropriately."

Darien shook his head, "You better not."

Serena laughed and said, "Deal." She then turned to Jadeite, "You came early for a reason. Did you want to talk about something?"

"Molly is Sailor Mars." Was all he got out first. "I mean, what's Raye's reaction going to be? She was already cruel to her, and now, well...now she'll be even worse!"

"And, you're worried for Molly." Serena stated. She sat on the couch and indicated that he should sit too. "Don't be."

"What?!"

"Molly was already handling her. Raye will call her your "Sailor Mars Stand-in" and Molly will laugh in her face. What can Raye actually do to Molly? Bully her? It has already become apparent that anything she says doesn't get to Molly. She definitely isn't stronger than Molly anymore. So, she can't hurt her physically. She could try to spread rumors, but we aren't in high school anymore. Who would she tell them to? Don't worry."

"What if she convinces Molly I don't really love her?" He sighed and sank down low in the armchair.

Serena cocked her head and said, "Do you love her?"

"Dang. I should've said that to her first. Yes, I'm in love with her," he admitted.

Darien said, "Then from experience, let me tell you that you just need to leave her assured of your feelings and not able to doubt you. Kunzite would be good for a talk on that one. He's the one who helped me explain my feelings to Serena."

"Thank you both for that, and I'll ask him. As much as we all give each other a hard time, he really is there for us when we need him." Jadeite sighed and wished he could talk to Molly in private soon. He decided he would walk her home after the meeting.

OooooooO

Sapphire arrived at Darien's apartment building at the same time as Nephrite and Lita, and he joined them in the elevator.

"It's nice to finally be able to introduce myself. Lita, Nephrite, I'm Sapphire."

He was shocked that they seemed genuinely glad to speak with him on the elevator ride up to Darien's apartment. Apparently, Serena and Darien's trust was all he needed to gain to fit in among them.

He wondered if he would ever get to the point where kindness and trust wasn't a shock to him.

OooooooO

Darien smiled from the couch as Serena welcomed each person into his apartment. He thought of the ring box he had locked in a box in his nightstand.

He desperately wanted to put a wedding band on her finger.

OooooooO

Wiseman stalked the halls of his spaceship, and he was pissed. Diamond had failed to update him on schedule, and he hoped that meant he was dead. A disobedient Diamond was not something he was willing to tolerate.

Death meant that the Silver Crystal hadn't been retrieved from Serenity. That meant he needed to go in person and get it himself and that the power that he craved was still out of his grasp at the moment.

He paused his steps and thought about how he would just have to snatch it himself. He then smiled. There was satisfaction to be gained by getting your own hands dirty.

He changed directions and checked his progress. If he pushed the ship to its limits, he could be there in six weeks. He didn't care what condition the ship arrived in. He would have the power to control Earth, and he wouldn't need to hide out on his ship anymore.

He chuckled, got to work, and adjusted the thrusters.

OooooooO

Sapphire wasn't the only one who enjoyed being involved in the current meeting. Molly was sitting wide eyed and amazed at the whole thing. They were all talking to someone from Nemesis about an alien who called himself Wiseman and about a threat to the planet Earth. Wild! How was this her life? Then it slowly trickled in that also meant she was a Martian princess dating a general of Earth. She had to admit, she thought it all was awesome.

Sapphire had outlined how things were going with his people and moved onto Wiseman. He had just stated that it would take the new enemy two months to arrive in his ship with that model's structural limitations on speed.

Molly looked around and grew nervous. Should she speak up at the first meeting she attended? Maybe what she was seeing was obvious to everyone else and there were protocols or meeting guidelines she didn't know about. She sighed and raised her hand.

Darien chuckled when he saw her, and Serena spoke up, "This isn't like school, thank goodness. We all know how much I hated it. You don't have to raise your hand. What is it that you want to say?"

"I'm not speaking out of turn?" She asked, unsure of herself still.

"No, please just let us know anytime you want to say something." Serena replied.

Darien looked at Molly and said, "It will be a nice change to hear something helpful from Sailor Mars instead of the cutting remarks we used to get." He still resented Raye.

Molly smiled then took a deep breath and asked, "How long would it take Wiseman to get here if he only cared enough about the structural integrity of his ship to have it get him here safely?" She paused and decided to continue. Everyone looked interested. "If I were planning a battle strategy, I would plan on winning. Sapphire, you believe his plan is to take over Earth. If that is the case, he wouldn't need his ship once he gets ahold of the Silver Crystal."

Kunzite smiled, "Nice job, Molly! You're right, and we all missed that."

Molly just beamed under all of their approval.

Sapphire then went back to Nemesis to retrieve the information Diamond had been given by Wiseman. It included what ship to look for once Serena had been captured. He then searched the database for the information it had on that type of ship, and then he then returned.

For Jadeite, the next hour included him smiling at his brilliant Molly, him trying to understand the technical mumbo jumbo that Amy, Zoisite and Sapphire were speaking, and him trying not to laugh at Zoisite's reactions every time Sapphire was dazzled by Amy's intelligence.

Seriously, it was worth all of the boring techno-speak just to observe Zoisite. Jadeite would have paid money for this show. And right now, he decided he would give his right arm to know what Zoisite was thinking.

Zoisite was really annoyed. He hated watching Sapphire admire Amy's intelligence. He knew she was beautiful, but when she was working, she was downright sexy. He didn't like King Sapphire admiring her. It made him feel inferior, and he hated it.

"Brilliant." Sapphire stated.

Zoisite, by now, had lost the thread of the conversation. He was just seeing red. He wanted to punch him and drag Amy from the room. He knew that would be a bad idea, so he stopped himself, barely.

Sapphire beamed, "You're just amazing. I can't believe you were able to calculate that. Remind me to buy you something nice to say thank you. A necklace perhaps?"

That was it for Zoisite. "Just fucking stop, or get out! If you don't stop flirting with the woman I love, I will kick your ass."

The whole room quieted and stared at Zoisite. Zoisite turned and looked only at Amy. He couldn't figure out why she was starting to cry. "What?" He asked her lamely.

And then, he saw her features harden. She slapped him, and then she whirled around and ran out of the room, slamming what he assumed to be Darien's bedroom door.

Sapphire whispered loudly to Darien, "Please, tell me that wasn't the first time he said he loved her."

Darien shook his head, "Sorry to disappoint you. Apparently, he is that much of a moron."

Serena paled and went running after Amy. They heard the door open and then shut after her.

"Dammit." Zoisite announced raking his fingers through his hair. "I screwed that up, didn't I?" Without waiting for an answer, he marched down the hall and knocked on Darien's bedroom door. Serena opened it up, looked at him, and then closed the door in his face.

He heard her say, "Zoisite is the one at the door. Should I let him in?" He couldn't hear the response and then he heard, "Let me know if you need me." He then jumped as the door opened, and Serena stepped out and shut the door behind her.

She looked him in the eyes and said, "Fix this." She then whispered, "She thinks you just said that to get Sapphire to stop flirting with her. If you meant it, and you better have, you need to let her know it's true." She then shook her head at him and walked away.

Zoisite opened the door once Serena was back in the living room and stepped into the bedroom. The first thing he noticed was Amy sitting on the bed with tears in her eyes. He walked over, sat next to her, placed his hand under her chin, and lifted her face to look at him.

He looked her in the eyes and said, "I shouldn't have told you like that dear, sweet Amy. I fell for you so fast and so hard that I didn't tell you out of fear that you would think it was too soon. He is a king, and he can offer you so much more than I can. I'm terrified of losing you, but I didn't lie about my feelings. I'm only sorry that I told you by yelling the words in anger at him."

She swiped the drying tears from her eyes and said, "You love me?" She searched his eyes for the truth.

"Amy, I'm completely head over heels in love with you." He stared at her, hoping she would find that he was telling the absolute truth.

"You know he was just flirting to make Darien feel better, right? Sapphire admitted to being in love with Serena." She chuckled and shook her head. She didn't understand how Zoisite could be so worried about Sapphire.

"That's the dumbest thing I've heard of lately. Wait, there was what Darien did. Nevermind. That's the second dumbest thing I've heard of." That got her to smile." My point is, how does moving on to having feelings for you make things better and less awkward?"

"He doesn't have feelings for me." She shook her head.

"Amy, one day you'll see how amazing you are. He wasn't flirting to make Darien worry less. He was flirting because you're amazing." He paused and shook his head, looking disgusted with himself. "I don't know why I am trying to convince you another guy has feelings for you. I'm shutting up about that now. Point is, I love you, and I shouldn't have told you like that."

Amy smiled at him and kissed his cheek, "I love you too."

He leaned in and pressed a deep kiss to her lips. He groaned when she parted her lips to him so he could deepen it.

He leaned back and sighed, "As amazing as kissing you is, I would rather not continue this on Darien's bed."

She nodded in agreement and asked, "Want to come by my place after this meeting?"

"Hell YES!" He said, and then gave her a sensual growl.