Chapter 16: Mercury Aqua Rhapsody

February 13, 8983 – February 14, 8983

Haruka pushed Michiru toward their room, blindly guiding the aquanette around the couches and table, never losing contact with the smaller woman. Entering the room, she kicked the door closed with one foot, her hands busy removing the pins from Michiru's hair, allowing it to flow like a waterfall over her shoulders once more. Not to be outdone, Michiru grabbed Haruka's jacket and pushed it back, forcing the blonde to slip her arms free and let it drop to the floor. Michiru's dress followed moments later, the Neptunian taking a moment to consider the mess Haruka was making of the room before the blonde captured her attention once more by pushing her onto the bed.

Michiru giggled as Haruka's weight settled on top of her, reaching up to brush away the blonde hair covering her wife's emerald eyes. She let her hands wander lower to the buttons of Haruka's shirt, removing the garment and letting it join the jacket on the floor. "You're beautiful, Haruka," she whispered, eyes sapphire in the dim light. "I'm glad you're mine."

"My, how possessive, my lovely siren." Haruka grinned as she kissed Michiru just above her collarbone, one hand wandering to the smaller woman's breasts. "As a Uranian woman and a queen, I never thought I would say this, but I'm glad I'm yours, too."

Michiru arched into Haruka's touch, the taller woman quickly removing the last of her garments with her free hand. It wasn't the first time they had seen each other naked or even the first time they had touched, but their bodies knew that this time was different. She felt Haruka pull back for a moment, and she opened her eyes, a little surprised to find that they were closed. The blonde was watching her, emerald eyes sparkling gold with lust and something else, something stronger than Michiru had ever sensed from her before. "Like what you see?" The gold in Haruka's eyes darkened again, and Michiru giggled. "I'll take that as a yes."

Haruka growled and leaned down again, catching one of Michiru's nipples in her teeth and pulling gently. She instinctively arched her back to relieve the pain, eyes widening as Haruka's hand ghosted across her belly and came to rest on her thigh. Michiru caught her breath, every muscle in her body tense as she silently begged Haruka to touch her where she needed. Emerald eyes rose from their examination of Michiru's breasts and the blonde grinned, her fingers ghosting across her lover's inner thigh. "Do you want something?"

"Don't tease me," Michiru breathed. "I've waited fourteen years for this and you cannot deny me now."

"Fourteen years?" Her voice was husky and teasing, her fingers still dancing around Michiru's core, refusing to touch the smaller woman where she needed it most.

Teal eyes narrowed in annoyance, Michiru reached down and grabbed Haruka's hands, cocking one leg and rolling over on top of the blonde, pinning her to the bed. She wrapped Haruka's fingers around the bedposts, running her fingers down the smooth skin of her wife's muscled arms. "Don't let go or you'll spend the rest of the night in the other bedroom. Do I make myself clear?" Haruka nodded meekly, a blush slowly spreading down her chest, watching silently as Michiru playfully cupped her breasts. "Someone likes to be dominated," Michiru murmured, leaning down to bite Haruka's nipple. She pulled away, running her fingers over the uneven red circle painting her lover's tanned skin, giggling when the blonde purred. Pushing herself to her knees, she scooted forward until Haruka's head was trapped between her thighs, the blonde's breath teasing her as she hovered there. "You've spent weeks teasing me and flirting with every princess you meet. Let's see if we can find a better use for your mouth," Michiru whispered, blushing at her own words.

Haruka did not need to be told twice. Leaning up slightly for a better angle, she ran her tongue across her lover's womanhood, tasting her essence and smiling at the flavor. She felt Michiru tremble above her as she dove in again, burying her tongue inside her lover, her nose just barely touching her clit.

Michiru could barely think, unable to concentrate on anything other than the tongue dancing inside her. Waves of heat filled her frame every time Haruka moved, followed by shocks of cold when her nose bumped Michiru's clit. Her senshi strength flaring as the first tremors of approaching orgasm filled her, Michiru clenched the headboard of the bed hard enough to leave marks, past being able to care. Haruka could sense she was close, knew what the tense muscles and ragged breaths meant, so she slipped her tongue free and wrapped her lips around Michiru's clit, offering the lightest of bites. The senshi of the seas didn't scream when she came, or even offer an involuntary cry; she managed only a breathy whimper that vaguely resembled the whisper of a wave across the sand as she collapsed.

Haruka caught her wife as she crumpled, strong arms holding the trembling woman as the evidence of her orgasm coated the blonde's stomach. "Did that please you?"

Michiru smiled, her eyes sapphire in the dim light. "How can you even ask that?" Michiru slipped out of Haruka's arms and scooted down the blonde's body, pointing at the bed posts again. Obediently, Haruka returned her hands to their former position, gold-emerald eyes watching as Michiru kissed a trail from her navel to her hip, skirting her core and turning her attention to the blonde's inner thigh. "I distinctly remember telling you not to let go," she whispered, her lips moving against the soft skin just beside Haruka's knee. "Someone needs to be punished." Haruka trembled in anticipation, throwing her head back with a groan as Michiru sunk her teeth into her inner thigh. Kissing the angry red mark she had made, Michiru moved higher and bit again, using one arm to prevent the blonde from bucking her hips. She continued her steady path across Haruka's inner thigh, leaving a trail of violent red marks behind. She reached Haruka's womanhood, the heady scent of the blonde's arousal almost driving her crazy, and she paused for a moment.

Haruka let out a needy growl, bucking her hips despite the arm holding her down, desperate for her lover to continue. The pain from the bites only served to turn her on more, and desperation had turned her emerald eyes almost completely gold. Michiru's sapphire-teal eyes met Haruka's emerald-gold and she relented, burying her fingers inside her lover. Haruka arched her back and cried out, her body shaking from the force of her unexpected orgasm. Surprised, Michiru nevertheless continued to pump her fingers, sucking on her lover's clit to send her into a second and third repeat of ecstasy.

Michiru slowly pulled her fingers free, crawling across the bed until she could stretch out beside the trembling blonde, wrapping her arms around her lover's waist. Haruka opened her eyes, seeing the question in Michiru's eyes and answering before the smaller woman could even ask. "Fourteen years," she whispered, "and two very long weeks."

"When you said that we couldn't because of the mission . . . you wanted to, didn't you? As much as I did."

"Of course. Just the thought of having you inside me . . . well you can see what just the thought did to me." She tilted her head and glanced at where her fingers wrapped around the bed posts, the wood warped from the pressure she had exerted on it in the throes of passion. "I don't think the bed frame will survive another round. We should probably leave it out of this from now on." She released the tortured wood, wrapping her arms around Michiru's slender form and pulling her closer, running her finger across her back. Michiru moaned into Haruka's ear, leaning down to nibble on the blonde's neck, slowly shifting her weight to put herself on top once more.

Haruka had other plans. Moving faster than Michiru could counteract, the blonde flipped her over on her back, knees on either side of her legs, one hand tangled in her aqua locks and the other resting on her breast. "Change of plans," she purred. "It's my turn to make you scream." Michiru arched her back as the fingers that had been toying with her hair danced down her body and entered her, long fingers searching for every pleasure point she had. With another needy whimper, she surrendered to her lover's demanding pace.

Hours later, minutes before the artificial sun rose in the sky, Michiru curled against Haruka's side, fingers tracing the bruises she had left on Haruka's breast, her eyes almost closed. The blonde was closer to sleep than she was, the warrior completely drained of energy, but she managed to open one eye when Michiru pinched her nipple. Go to sleep, she mouthed, not sure if she had any voice left after the last few hours. No matter how much she had tried, the Neptunian had never been loud at all, and Haruka found herself hoarse from the vocalizations that Michiru had expertly drawn from her again and again.

"Hey, Haruka." The blonde raised one eyebrow, and Michiru smiled, closing her eyes and cuddling closer to her wife. "I like your hands."

Rei wasn't used to being the first senshi awake. As she sat in the suite, her crimson hair already dry from her bath, she browsed the recent news streams from her planet. Kazan had started courting some famous dancer from Venus, and Momoiro was entertaining suitors from Pluto. Rei shook her head as she read about her sister, knowing that the people of the ninth planet were far too calm and silent for a passionate Martian's partner. Still, Setsuna seemed to have a hidden side so perhaps her people were not as dark as the rest of the system believed. Sipping her tea, she switched to the current feed from Venus, glancing through a few holograms of Minako's younger twin sisters at an outing in Sunrise Bay, skimming through a speech by Queen Asakaze before switching planets again. She knew that her lover's mother was doing her best to downplay Minako's inability to bring home a suitable soul mate, but the gossip columns on her planet—and Venus had more gossip than actual news—had already begun to speculate that their princess had taken a female lover. Rei hoped that it would just stay gossip, but it would be hard to travel to all of the planets looking for the crystals and sleep alone every night to keep up appearances.

Mercury only had one news source, the official one published by the palace. The people of Ami's world had no use for gossip or sensational news, so everything was reported with a very dry, clinical style that succeeded in transmitting the information but bored the Martian to tears. Still, she forced herself to read through the main articles, noting that one of Ami's duchess cousins had become romantically involved with a Uranian actress in the closest thing to a scandal the planet could produce, while her twin siblings had begun to attend public functions with their parents. Kaichou, as the High Prince, stood very tall and solemn next to his mother, his blue and green hair perfectly combed and his silver eyes focusing on the crowd while Amami made a speech about unity among the planets. His unruly purple-eyed sister, Hakuchou, shared Ami's dark blue hair, though strands of white highlighted the dark mass, and she was clearly not interested in her mother's speech at all.

She skipped to Jupiter's news while she refilled her cup, reading about the upcoming Ganymede Invitational Tournament and the entrants from across the system, Makoto's youngest brother Saiki the favorite contender. Saturn's news was almost non-existent, a communications blackout mirroring the fear implied by the closed spaceports and the upcoming meeting on Titan. The rest of the kingdom continued to conduct life as usual while Saturn prepared for the worst and the senshi trained every waking minute. Not in the mood to be reminded about the possibility of an apocalypse, Rei switched to the Uranian news feeds. Koshu had returned to his planet the day before in shame without his daughter, and the War Queens had begun to demand his immediate resignation. As a native of Pluto, his only claim to the throne was through Kazeko and her daughter, but without Haruka by his side the Queens no longer trusted him to be their king. Three of the ten War Queens sided with the King, urging patience and trying to convince the public that Princess Haruka would return in time, but the other seven were convinced that she had been kidnapped by a splinter faction opposed to the ruling class and that only the combined might of the Queens' fleets could find her.

"This could be bad."

"What could?" Minako, her skin still pink from her hot bath, joined Rei on the couch and poured herself a cup of tea, leaning over her lover's shoulder to read the news. "You got up early."

"I had strange dreams. Something is coming."

"Maybe you are finally sensing Michiru's premonition."

"Very likely. But this news from Uranus is worrisome. The War Queens are trying to take over the planet so they can search for Haruka without Koshu's interference."

"They've always been a handful," a sleepy voice noted as Makoto and Ami emerged from their room. The Mercurian looked drained, as if she hadn't gotten any rest, but the sparkle in her sapphire eyes indicated that she had enjoyed her night too much to care. Clearly, despite her exertion the night before, her mind was still as sharp as ever. "My mother says that the queens voted twenty-one years ago on whether it was safe to leave Koshu in charge of Uranus in his daughter's name. A planet of very powerful, very self-assured warrior women does not easily take orders from a man and a foreigner, but Setsuna convinced the other queens that it would work out. If the War Queens are becoming restless, then Haruka might have to go home to calm them."

"Three of the most powerful War Queens are advocating patience," Rei pointed out, reading the names from the news report, even though she knew nothing about the three women. "Fourth Ono Hikari, Second Kimura Sanae, and First Endou Ado. As long as they can sway the other ones, Koshu will keep his throne. I'm sure he's desperate for Haruka to return by now, however."

"Speaking of our Uranian sister . . . is she still asleep?"

Minako rolled her eyes as Ami's innocent question, her amusement echoed by the two warriors. "Michiru wore her out. She's probably hoarse from all the screaming and too sore to even get out of bed. We . . . fell asleep an hour or so after midnight, and they were still going at it."

"They probably just want to make the most of whatever time they have," Rei replied, her amethyst eyes unfocused as she began to imagine the queens' reactions to the secret Earth wedding. "Once Shousha and Setsuna find out what they did, there could be trouble for them. Maybe we should go grab a quick breakfast and teleport to Mercury with Serenity. If we leave a note, they can join us when they regain their strength."

"Good plan, Mars. Everyone, let's gather whatever supplies we will need for a week and get moving." The other senshi nodded at Minako's order, heading to their rooms for some very quick packing while the blonde typed a note for Haruka and Michiru, leaving it visible on the computer screen. A few minutes later, the suite was empty.

"Ami, it's so nice to have you home."

The genius bowed to her mother, smiling at the older woman. Her eyes flew to the chain around Amami's neck that held the keystone, wondering how she was going to approach her mother about receiving the necklace so she could track her planet crystal. Despite all of the research she had done the day before, she couldn't be complete sure that the senshi could track their planet crystals with the keystones, but she also hadn't disproved that theory, either. "I won't be staying long, only a day or two at most."

"Your siblings will be upset with you. They haven't seen you in months."

"I know. Please, arrange a formal dinner tonight so I can see everyone. If my cousins are still in the capital I would love for them to come, as well."

"Of course." Amami waved her hand and a servant vanished into the palace, heading to the kitchens to begin preparations for a feast. The Queen of Mercury, her hair darker than Ami's and her eyes shades lighter, turned to Princess Serenity, offering a curtsy to her future sovereign. "Welcome to Mercury, Your Highness."

"Please, don't be so formal. I'm only here to keep my senshi company. They worry so much when I'm out of sight."

"As well they should, Princess. Are you planning on staying the night?"

Serenity smiled sweetly at the queen, her light blue eyes sparkling in the morning light. "If it isn't too much trouble."

"Of course not, but with Ami's cousins in town I only have three guest rooms available. Our palace is much smaller than any others you might visit, so I cannot offer you as much hospitality as I would like."

Ami glanced at her princess for permission before stepping forward to take charge of the sleeping arrangements. "We've been sharing a guest suite on the Moon for a few weeks, Mother, so bunking together would not be too much of a problem. Serenity can have her own room, of course, and the rest of us can double up. Princess Michiru has recently wed and will be joining us with her new partner, so they can have one room, and one of you can share with me in my chambers, leaving the last guest room for the other two."

Rei shrugged nonchalantly, as if the sleeping arrangements were of no concern. In reality, she knew that the other senshi were overjoyed to have to share, since no one would question their relationships in such tight quarters. "Minako and I had to share a suite while I was helping her tour the cities of Mars and its moons, so I don't mind sharing with her again. Makoto, would it be too much of a bother to share the princess's suite with her instead of squeezing into the guest quarters with us?"

"Oh, that's fine. I shared with Ami and Lilia on her spaceship a few weeks ago, so it should be just as comfortable now as it was then. Anyway, I don't want to share with the two honeymooners any more than you do."

Amami nodded at the arrangements, typing something on the small computer in her hand. "And when will Princess Michiru and her husband be joining us?"

"They were still out cold when we left the Moon, but she has enough power to teleport both of them here when she wakes. If she arrives after we leave for training, you can send her my transponder code and she can call me."

"Very well. Follow me, please."

Ami leaned against the wall beside her bed, sapphire eyes closed as she tried to ignore her mother's demanding glare. Makoto had left with the other senshi to gather supplies for their day of searching, but Amami had insisted on speaking with her oldest daughter in private before she left. "You know."

"I was young once, too, Ami. And I spent my days and nights with Meika, but that doesn't mean that what you are doing is safe or healthy."

"That's odd, because I've never felt healthier or happier in my life."

"You know what I mean."

"I know, but I don't care." Ami opened her eyes, the accusation in those blue depths shocking her mother. "It's not like you aren't still seeing Meika behind Father's back. How is what you are doing healthy when a loving, monogamous relationship is not?"

"How do you know?" Her voice was barely a whisper, shock in the queen's normally even tone. Her ice blue eyes had paled almost to white, something Ami had only seen a handful of times before.

"I'm the Senshi of Mercury; how long did you think it would take me to connect the dots?" Ami's voice was harsh and cold, far stronger than it had ever been before. Never in her life had the young princess stood up to her mother, but after spending so much time with the other senshi she could no longer cower meekly before the Mercurian queen. "I don't care what you do at your retreats, but I won't have you judging me and Mako when you can't keep yourself loyal to one person."

"I've always been loyal to one person. Meika. Kashin . . . I love him, you know. I loved him when I met him on Neptune and asked him to marry me. But the love I have for him is slow and deep while the love I have for Meika is fast and hard and forever. I think the Venusians call it body-love and soul-love. My body does love Kashin, but my soul will always choose Meika."

"I'm a lot like you, Mother, except in this one instance. I don't think I can sacrifice my happiness and hers for the sake of appearances." Ami's eyes pleaded with her mother to understand, to see the logic in her choice, but if course Amami's logic had been formed around the Ancient Laws and she could not understand.

"You would marry that Jovian and forsake your people? What about your lineage, your legacy? Who will carry the henshin stick when you are old?"

"My daughter."

"Ami, two women cannot have a child, as you well know. No matter how advanced our medical technology, such a thing is still beyond us."

"Mother are you familiar with the ancient concept of Consorts?"

Amami shrugged. "I never studied for a Scholarship in history. Is that the leader of a harem? It sounds like a Uranian thing."

"True, the Uranians did start it, but it has nothing to do with a harem. A Consort is a secondary partner that fathers a queen's child when her official partner is unable to do so. In the past, sometimes a king was deemed infertile and one of his brothers or cousins fathered the heir instead." Ami's voice had taken on that instructional timbre that told her mother that she had researched this topic at some length. "Thousands of years ago, the senshi queens did not always take husbands, instead marrying other senshi and taking consorts to father their daughters. With our new artificial insemination technology, the consort would not even have to sleep with the queen to father the next generation."

Amami stared at her daughter for a long time, processing the information and realizing what Ami was planning. "You would take a consort from Makoto's family, denying them a monogamous marriage so you can selfishly stay with your soul mate?"

"What would I be denying them? Consort is a title, not a position. The Consort of the Queen of Jupiter would still be able to marry and have his own children, but the honor of fathering the next princess would be his. Makoto has three brothers who love her, and she thinks any of them would be honored to father the next princess of Mercury."

"And her Consort? Your brother is only fifteen and you would ask this of him?"

"Mother, I'm only eighteen. I'm not ready to have a child yet. In five or ten years when I'm ready to settle down or maybe when I'm queen, then I would ask him. And if he isn't comfortable donating sperm to Mako, I would ask Jurin. This doesn't have to be an uncomfortable situation if you don't make it sound like one."

"I would do it."

"Kaichou!" Amami spun around and faced the door, her son standing proudly in the open space. "I thought you were in tutoring."

"I wanted to see my sister. I would do it for you, Ami, to make you happy."

Ami smiled at her brother and opened her arms, giggling as the usually somber child grinned and ran forward to embrace her. Kaichou's silver eyes were filled with joy at the reunion with the sister he admired, their mother watching in silence. "How have you been, Kai?"

"Bored," the boy admitted. "Haku and I have been studying interplanetary law for our third Scholarship, and it is far more complicated then I originally thought. We wanted to give up, but you never did so we are still working on it."

"I'm very proud of you, Kai. You'll have your five titles in no time. I found some very interesting ancient books on my trip; remind me to show you some of my translations later tonight."

Kai's eyes brightened at the mention of ancient books, since his first Scholarship had been in history and he had always been fascinated by the past. "I know you have to go train now, but I'm glad you're home even for just a little while. And whenever you need me to help you, please just ask. You're the best older sister anyone could ask for, and I want you to be happy."

"Right now, I am happy. I love you, Kai."

"Love you, too, Ami." The boy grinned and dashed away, hoping to return to his twin sister and their tutor before either noticed that his absence was longer than usual. Ami glanced back up at her mother and smiled, shrugging slightly.

"You have nothing to worry about, Mother. Mako and I will be fine."

"I'll leave you alone to live your life, but please consider the decisions you make very carefully. I don't want you to be hurt."

"I know. Oh, and Mother, could I have the keystone, please?"

Amami reached under the collar of her dress and pulled the small sapphire free, staring at it for a moment before slipping the chain off and passing it to her daughter. If she was surprised by the suddenness of Ami's request, she did not show it. "It belongs to you now, I suppose."

"Thank you. If you would excuse me, please, I must join the other senshi now."

"Be careful."

Haruka slowly opened her eyes, sunlight streaming through the partially closed drapes and blinding her. With a groan, she rolled over to hide from the morning, amused sapphire eyes meeting her as she did. Michiru, graceful even with tangled hair and clothed only in a thin sheet, smiled at her wife, leaning over to kiss her cheek. "Good morning, Ruka," she breathed, snuggling into the blonde's embrace.

"Morning," Haruka managed, her husky voice still hoarse from the night before. Michiru giggled at her wife's inability to speak properly, the Uranian silencing her with a kiss. "I can't believe I never made you scream."

"You did enough of that for the both of us. I hope your throat doesn't hurt too much."

"It'll be fine. It's the least of my injuries, in any case."

Michiru freed one hand from the constricting blanket, running her fingers over the bruises decorating Haruka's breasts, smiling when the blonde hissed in pain. "You enjoyed it."

"Of course I did. I'm Uranian. That doesn't mean I won't be sore today."

"Your senshi healing should take care of that." Michiru glanced at the window, frowning as she realized that it was getting late. "What time is it?"

"Almost noon," the warrior replied, her internal clock having already determined the time. "We didn't fall asleep until dawn." She caught Michiru's wandering hand and rolled the woman over, leaning over her wife. She lowered her face to Michiru's breast, nibbling on the exposed skin around the nipple, her free hand wandering lower. Michiru gasped as Haruka's fingers entered her, the blonde ready for another round despite the hours they had already spent worshipping each other's bodies.

"I thought . . . you said . . . it was noon," Michiru whispered, breathing in time with Haruka's thrusts.

"It is. So, they've already left. If we're going to be late—" she pinched Michiru's clit and basked in her lover's moans "—we might as well make the most of it."

An hour later, the couple stood by the door to their room and surveyed the damage their honeymoon had caused. They were finally clean and dressed, packed for their trip to Mercury, and mostly capable of controlling themselves. The room, however, was in sad shape. The floor still hosted haphazard piles of clothes from the night before as well as the blankets that had been wrapped around Michiru earlier, the headboard and bed posts were warped in ways that would not be possible without senshi strength, the curtains and curtain rods were on the floor from Haruka's failed attempt to block out the sun earlier, and there were two broken lamps along the back wall that neither woman could account for. In addition to the very visible spots of discoloration on the sheets, the musky smell that lingered in the air would make it very clear what the two women had been doing all night.

"I feel bad for the servants Queen Serenity assigned us."

Haruka snorted at her wife's concern. "Don't worry; they've been dealing with this and worse in Rei and Minako's room for weeks. Although, I'm sure they're glad to be rid of us for a while."

"We should go before the others get worried. We can't teleport from inside the building without the possibility of damaging something, so we need to head outside." Michiru leaned down to grab her back, smiling when Haruka took it from her and left the room, the blonde's bag in her other hand. "Always the gentleman, Haruka."

They exited the palace without passing more than a handful of guards or servants, the blonde frowning at the lax security. "There were three times as many guards when I was here a few weeks ago. I wonder where they all went."

"Maybe they reduced their patrols in this wing since the senshi were here to protect the princess? They are more adept at keeping her safe than a handful of mortal guards."

"Perhaps." They reached the training grounds Haruka had used to teach the senshi how to fight, the fields empty so soon after the noon meal. Dropping the two bags to the ground, Haruka flicked her wrist to summon her henshin stick, watching her partner do the same. Glancing around to make sure that they were alone, Haruka raised her hand to the air and called out her transformation phrase.

"Uranus Planet Power, Make Up!"

"Neptune Planet Power, Make Up!"

Neptune's sapphire eyes widened as she stared at her partner, nodding her approval as Uranus leaned down to collect their bags again. "What?"

"I've never seen your senshi form before. You look so feminine."

Uranus snorted and drew her glowing sword, settling the bags on her shoulders as she took Neptune's gloved hand in her free one. "Considering the bows and this silly tiara and the skirt, I certainly feel feminine. I could never wear something like this normally, but in this form having my legs and arms free makes me feel more powerful. I could do without the heels on these boots, though." Neptune summoned her mirror and closed her eyes, drawing on her power as she prepared for the teleport. Uranus watched the familiar aqua glow surround her partner, reaching out to merge it with her own dark gold as they vanished in a flash of brilliant light. A singed circle of grass was the only evidence that they had been on the Moon at all.

From a balcony high in the tower overlooking the training field, a young servant stared in awe at the display of power he had witnessed.

"It's one of the smaller basins up here, and it is completely uninhabited."

"That's rather strange, isn't it? Mercury is not a huge world, and without any moons to colonize, I would expect every available acre of land to be used."

Mercury shrugged at Venus's observation. The four senshi had been traveling to Daire Basin for an hour, using a very small land car to cover the distance from the palace to the remote stretch of land. Since none of them had ever visited the basin, they had not been comfortable attempting a teleport with their princess, opting for the mundane vehicle instead. Finally free of the small contraption, the five women walked purposefully into the crater, trusting the keystone in Mercury's hand to lead them to the planet crystal. Serenity's simple dress and traveling cloak were of a Jovian design, made to withstand most weather while being comfortable enough to sleep in if the need arose. The dark green and brown served to camouflage her somewhat against the landscape, while the hood of her cloak managed to hide her brilliant golden hair and the moon mark on her forehead. Her guards, all much more brightly colored than her in their senshi forms, traveled in a loose circle around their young charge, her safety still their top priority despite their quest.

Mercury froze halfway across the basin, the keystone in her hand suddenly glowing with a fierce sapphire light. The Senshi of Wisdom paused and stared at the ground nearby, sapphire eyes narrowed as she tried to find anything out of the ordinary between the scruffy bushes and scraggly grass. She tilted her head to the side as she noticed a strange rock formation only a few strides away, and she shrugged as she turned to examine it.

Mercury jumped back in shock before she could even take one step, Jupiter's strong arms preventing her from falling as Venus and Mars flanked the princess to protect her from whatever threat had appeared in front of their companion. A moment later, the leader of the Inner Senshi sighed and relaxed, the other three releasing their tension at her signal. "Took you long enough. We've been here for hours."

"No one told you to get up so early." Sailor Uranus's voice was huskier than usual, a strange scratching undertone to her words, clearly still recovering from her night.

"I'm surprised you can speak." Mars was never afraid to say exactly what was on her mind, Venus snickering at the look on Uranus's face and the blush on Mercury's cheeks. "And you were supposed to get up early with us so we could travel here together."

"We were busy." Neptune, one hand wrapped around Uranus's upper arm, giggled at the defensiveness in her wife's voice, content to stand to the side and watch the interaction between the warrior senshi.

"I can tell," Jupiter replied, smirking while she pointed at Uranus's legs. The Senshi of Wind looked down, curious, a fierce red blush spreading across her face and covering her chest. With an enraged growl, she dropped her transformation, turning to glare at her wife as soon as her suit covered her legs.

"Why didn't you tell me those were there?"

Neptune let her transformation fade, uncomfortable in her senshi form while her partner was not, running her fingers over Haruka's bound chest. "I like them."

"Michiru, there are seven bruises on my inner thigh that are visible when I am in senshi form. At least everything else you did is hidden from our fellow warriors."

"Everything else?" Haruka turned to glare at Rei, the other senshi also letting their transformations fade in deference to their Outer counterparts. Rei grinned, waving her hand in a request for more information, frowning as the blonde shook her head. "You know, I had to resort to chains to drown you out."

Minako blushed and grabbed Rei's arm in warning, still sporting faint red marks on her neck and wrists. Haruka sighed and relented, glancing at her wife for permission before she began to speak. "Rei, do you remember when we were talking about lovers from the various planets? Well, we never got around to the Outer Planets, but Neptunians are . . . artistic in everything they do. They tend to see naked bodies as either inspiration or canvas. Michiru chose the latter."

"She painted you?" Serenity's innocent question led to another round of blushing, the blonde's eyes widening as she realized what Haruka had implied. "You mean . . . the bruises . . . that's art?"

"You would have to see the rest of it to understand the artistic implications," Michiru murmured, a proud light in her aqua-sapphire eyes. "I've never had such a beautiful canvas to work with before."

"Just do me a favor, Michi," Haruka whispered, running her fingers through her wife's wavy hair, "next time keep your art within the lines of my senshi uniform."

"You're the one who misbehaved."

"I think this conversation might need to change directions," Ami announced suddenly, holding out her keystone as she fought to control the blush covering her cheeks. "Before you two arrived, I saw something over there." She pointed at the small rise behind Haruka, leading the group of senshi to the tiny pile of rocks. The stone in her hand began to glow with a brilliant blue light, and the genius cleared the pile of rocks while her friends watched silently. She brushed the dirt away from the ground under the rocks, only mildly surprised to find the symbol of Mercury carved into a stone that had been hidden underneath the others. "This must be the right place. Now what?"

"The text was not very specific," Michiru murmured, running her fingers over the symbol. "Do you feel anything?"

Ami shrugged, wrapping her fingers around her keystone, flicking her wrist to summon her henshin stick. She almost dropped the stick in shock as it began to glow in time with the tiny stone, urging her to . . . Ami held the henshin stick closer to the inscription on the stone in the ground, spotting a tiny hole at the bottom of the symbol. Shrugging, she touched the end of her henshin stick to the hole and watched it slip in on its own, a key into a lock. The symbol of Mercury began to glow with the same blue light as the keystone, a small crack appearing in the stone.

The symbol vanished, leaving a hole in the ground at Ami's feet and a quiescent keystone in her hand. Retrieving her henshin stick, the senshi of Mercury carefully reached into the hole and pulled out a small spherical gemstone. The sapphire stone fit comfortably in the woman's palm, its surface as smooth as glass though it had darker blue striations throughout its depths. "It's dormant."

"Can you wake it up?"

Ami looked up at her lover and shook her head. "There's an outside force keeping it asleep. From what we discovered, I would assume that the keystone is locking its power away, but it is going to take a lot of research to determine how to unlock it. Maybe once we find all of the planet crystals we can figure out how to activate them."

"For now, it's enough that we know what that list was. Clearly, these are the locations of our planet crystals, so we should be able to find the rest of them in short order." Minako let her gaze pass over the other senshi, determination in her light blue eyes. "We've already agreed to stay the night here, so we might as well spend an hour or so training before we head back to the palace. Tomorrow we will travel to Venus, and the day after to Mars. As much as I would love to move faster, we can't risk wearing ourselves out by teleporting more than once per day until we become more proficient with our powers. Also, moving around too much will raise suspicions, so we will stick with the training story for now. Are we agreed on that?" The other senshi nodded, accepting her decision and recognizing her as their leader with the same simple gesture. "Good. Makoto, could you look through the supplies we brought and find the princess a blanket and a snack? If she insists on staying with us while we train, she might as well be comfortable. Haruka, we should continue the same training regimen we started on the Moon, so please, pass out assignments."

The blonde nodded, glancing around at her fellow warriors as Serenity settled onto a blue blanket on the grass. "Very well. We will spend a little time on unarmed combat to warm up, then we will move on to a no-rules free-for-all event to test your reactions to unexpected situations. For the warm up, Neptune will face Jupiter, Mercury will face Mars, and I will face Venus. I will call partner switches after the first round, so be prepared." She raised her hand to summon her henshin stick, pausing as she glared at her fellow senshi. "The first person to laugh at my bite marks will have double guard duty for a month." She summoned her transformation, watching as the others copied her actions, every face somber. "Begin."

Neptune faced her opponent, remembering her wife's advice as she watched the taller woman warily. The green-haired senshi had the advantage of height and reach, but as a warrior her moves would be predictable. Jupiter flexed her fingers and moved in to attack, Neptune dancing out of her way as she measured the force and distance of her punch, watching the taller woman place too much weight on one foot each time she lunged. Avoiding was easy, and the more she dodged the more annoyed her opponent became. "I knew you were a pacifist, but this is ridiculous," Jupiter growled, aiming a kick at Neptune's head that she easily avoided. "Attack me already!" Neptune smiled as she readied her body for the offensive, gathering her strength as she jumped, her foot connecting with Jupiter's chest and knocking the taller woman back. Without giving her opponent a moment to breathe, Neptune landed on her hands and flipped forward, planting one foot on the ground and kicking Jupiter's legs out from under her with the other, never losing her center of gravity. The Jovian grunted as she landed on her back, her sparring partner standing over her in victory. "Okay, I guess I asked for that."

Mercury had been practicing her unarmed combat ever since Haruka left the Moon, but she was never going to be a match for Mars. The fire-haired senshi kept her blows light in deference to the genius's lack of skill, but Mercury still landed on her back moments after their fight began. With a tolerant grin, Mars helped her partner to her feet. "You have more important skills that brute strength, you know, so don't be upset."

"I know," Mercury replied, waving one gloved hand at Uranus and Venus. "She just wanted to fight your girlfriend, in any case."

Uranus faced Venus warily, knowing that the smaller woman had more experience in the art of war than a normal citizen of her planet and that she was as comfortable with armed and unarmed combat as Haruka herself. Venus grinned and flicked her wrist, summoning her chain in a silent request. Uranus answered by drawing her sword, moving to attack a moment later. The taller blonde was fast, her moves unpredictable and wild, but her style was highly effective. Venus jumped away from the danger, sending her chain at her opponent and somersaulting back a few feet as the end of her talisman bounced off of the Space Sword. She ran forward, an obvious attack, and curled her chain around her waist before aiming a fist at Uranus's face. The older warrior grabbed her fist with her free hand, grunting in surprise as Venus's leg slammed into her ribs. They separated again, Uranus with a newfound respect for her resourceful ally, and Venus with a sharp pain in her ankle that she dared not show. The move had been well planned and perfectly executed, but costly.

Uranus raised her sword and charged again, her opponent's chain stopping the attack. She hooked one leg behind Venus, knocking her off balance long enough to retrieve her sword and slam the butt of it into the other warrior's unprotected stomach. Venus fell to the ground in shock, throwing her chain at Uranus and watching in satisfaction as it wrapped around the taller woman, pinning her arms to her side. With a sharp tug, she pulled the other blonde to her knees, standing up and glaring at the Uranian. Haruka smiled, her emerald eyes proud as she conceded defeat, Venus's chain fading a moment later. "You've learned a lot."

"Our last fight was less than satisfying," she replied evasively, reaching down to help Sailor Uranus to her feet. "You've learned a few things yourself. You're sneaky."

"Michiru is sneaky," Haruka replied, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. "I've been training her for weeks, so I suppose that I picked up a few things."

"Let me fight her."

Neptune stepped forward, examining Venus for a moment while both of them waited for Uranus's response. "Why?"

"Her power . . . she reflects her opponent's fighting style and exploits it. She can analyze their attacks almost as easily as Mercury, but instead of using that information to find their weakness, she senses their next move and counters it. Jupiter's weakness is her lack of speed, but instead of exploiting that with quick, wild attacks from unpredictable angles like Mercury and Mars have done, Neptune simply waited for Jupiter to get frustrated and taunt her, going into full defensive mode in expectation of an attack. She exploited a weakness that I have never seen in weeks of training, and it's such a simple one that I find myself intrigued. Jupiter keeps her feet on the ground."

Neptune nodded slowly, a smile spreading across her face. "She expects the same from her opponent. The last thing she would know how to counter is a foot to the chest, and after losing her balance while in a defensive mode, she was unable to regain it. Letting oneself become too grounded and too defensive is a fatal flaw that even Haruka has to overcome on occasion."

"You saw that, and it's interesting. I want to fight you." Venus raised the hand that still held her chain, letting it vanish with a golden glow. "No weapons."

"Well, you've given me the gift of seeing my wife in chains, so I suppose I will return the favor with a sparring match." Neptune raised her hands in an intentional echo of the strong defensive stance Venus had used against Uranus moments earlier, her sapphire eyes challenging the slender blonde. Grinning, Venus gestured for the other four women to move back as she readied herself to attack.

AN: Would you like to know why the sex scene is in this chapter instead of the last one? The last update for this story is the night of July 18th, and today is the very early morning of July 26th. I just finished the first part of this chapter, even though the rest of it was done on Friday. I wanted to get the last chapter out, so you got the fun scene with Rei and Minako drowning Haruka out instead of having to wait an extra week for the whole chapter with the actual scene. I hope you enjoyed it (one week later) since it is the hardest scene I have written to date, and I'm sure you understand why the rating had to change to M. Now I get to have fun writing fighting scenes and the dinner on Mercury. If you can guess who the part about one of Ami's duchess cousins had become romantically involved with a Uranian actress refers to, you might be able to predict the dinner scene. Otherwise, prepare to enjoy meetings between Haruka and women who flirt more than her.

Haru: Getting the keystones is easy, getting the planet crystals will be easy, but awakening them is going to be something else entirely. We're looking at 2-4 more chapters before the meeting on Titan, and maybe 3 after that until the planets wake. This story has so much plot now, so much epicness, that even I am a bit overwhelmed. After this fic is done (since I promised myself and my readers that I would finish this in a timely fashion) I do plan to edit some of my other stories like Kazeko and add some companion fics to tell parts of that story from other points of view. It'll be fun.

Fanficnis: Romantic enough for you? ^.^ It's a challenge to mix these scenes of death and destruction with the interludes of friendship and love, but I am using these scenes to make all of the characters (even Koshu and Shousha) into people you give a damn about because, in the end, everyone dies when the Silver Millennium falls, not just the senshi and the Queen. All of their brothers and cousins and servants and subjects are also going to die and they deserve to be mourned as much as our beloved senshi. On a side note, I think that Ono Hikari will get her own death scene.

Vientocortante: Thanks. I hope you continue to enjoy!

Neptune's Lover: I'm glad the wedding scene came across well since I agonized over it for days. The Queen did not recognize Haruka for the same exact reason that no one does (and something that will be explained in detail next chapter) because no one has ever seen her and they are not expecting a man. Queen Serenity accepts the customs of the planets under her rule, including arranged marriages that are not totally uncommon among the Outer Planets. As for Endymion, I wanted him to have a bit more personality this time around, especially since he gets ignored a lot in the yuri fics (for obvious reasons, but he does play a pivotal role in the fall of the Silver Millennium).

They stayed on Earth because their world is falling apart and they cannot waste an opportunity to prevent the destruction, no matter what Haruka's hormones want. All of the little interactions between the senshi are mostly just for my amusement, but I think the arm wrestling scene is perfect considering their personalities. The only thing that prevented Setsuna from finding out about the wedding was that golden light that she cannot understand yet, and she has no real reason to believe that Haruka and Michiru are gallivanting across the system breaking the laws she laid down thousands of years earlier. And here is your "in detail" scene as well as the AN explaining why you got the ReiMina scene last chapter and had to wait an extra week for this.

Meneldur: I'm glad you had time to read ^.^ Sometimes my weeks are too busy to read, let alone write (this chapter's late publish being a prime example). Usagi/Serenity isn't going to figure out the relationship between Serenity and Setsuna in this fanfic, but all of the senshi will in Kazeko and they'll actually get to be together there. Setsuna is very worried about the Ancient Law because she's already broken it and has been waiting for punishment for fifteen years. From her words to Serenity you can see that no one else has figured out what they did, but she fears it more than the darkness calling Sailor Saturn, and she knows that if anyone else breaks the rules, her own indiscretion might be discovered. Everything she does is to protect her princess, but the senshi are not going to understand that for another thousand years.

You're the second person to enjoy the arm-wrestling scene, so I'm glad I included it. I wanted to put something light hearted in just before the prophecies were discovered, especially since they are incredibly dark and end-of-the-world-y. As for Sailor Sol, the original one nine thousand or so years ago died during the Chaos Wars fighting alongside the second full generation of Star Senshi, and her sacrifice united the various star systems under a single council that reported to the first Queen Serenity (her sister). That history lesson will be in A Child of Darkness and Light eventually. The next Sailor Sol is revealed in Kazeko (though most of you have probably read that already). Michiru's mother has a sister (Raya, whom Shousha called when Kazeko was in labor) who has multiple children, and Haruka's closest relative is Hikari and her sons (she has seven to choose from) so they do not lack for Consort material.

AN2: As usual, it's almost 4 in the morning and I have to be up for work at 9. Here's a chapter for you so enjoy!