Tiff47@AOL.COM wrote:

Hi again.  It's been a while...hmm...is anyone even reading this. eh, oh well
=) Here's part two of my sm fic.  I'm not sure if everything I wrote
regarding the tasks and titles of each senshi is correct, so if someone could
tell me if it is incorrect? thanks ^_^

ok here you go:

Standard disclaimers apply.

Chapter 2

The sun was just beginning to rise and its beams crept
into the darkened room.  Both senshi were still asleep,
though one was more restless than the other.  Michiru
was slowly awakened by the sounds of rustling bed
sheets.

'What is she doing?' Michiru thought to herself, still
wanting to get a few more winks before the day started.
It was not until she heard sounds of moaning before she
opened her eyes. 

Are you trying to be sexually suggestive, or is that just 
a bonus?  

'Haruka?' Michiru rubbed her eyes and

sat up from her bed to look at the other girl.  She saw
the girl still asleep, but tangled in her sheets and
squirming to get free.

Michiru immediately got out of her bed and jogged over
to the other.  "Haruka, Haruka, wake up," She began to
shake the blonde on the shoulders.

"No, no, stop," Haruka groaned out, still asleep and
moving her head side to side.

Hmm.  What's the definition of a Uranian virgin?

"Haruka? Haruka!"  Michiru said a little louder.

Haruka abruptly opened her eyes, looking around wildly.
When she finally realized where she was, she turned her
attention to the figure still holding on to her shoulder.

"Haruka, are you all right?" Michiru then let go of the
girl's shoulder when she realized she was staring at her.

"I'm fine.  Why shouldn't I be?"  The blonde answered,
a little harsher then she intended to.

"Don't talk to me like that," all the concern on Michiru's
face was washed away and replaced with anger.  "I was
just worried about you."

"It was only a dream.  Nothing more than a dream,"
Haruka then untangled herself from her bed sheets
and got out of bed, and headed to the bathroom.

'Oooo...I'll never understand her,'  With an annoyed
look on her face, Michiru walked towards her own bed
and began to make it.  'There's no point in going back
to sleep now.  I'm already too wide awake.'

Aren't they princesses in a palace?  Why is she making her
own bed?  And why are they sharing rooms?  

* * * * * * * * *

Place: Dining Hall

When Michiru arrived at the dining hall for breakfast,
she saw that the other girls were there already, chatting
about some cute guy they just saw.

"Serenity, I can't believe you live here with all these
cute guards walking around," gushed Minako.

"Actually, I never really noticed."

"Sure," Makoto said with a smile, and everyone
began to giggle.

'They already seem like very close friends,' thought
Michiru, as she walked closer to them.  "Good morning
everyone."

"Oh, good morning Michiru," responded Ami.  The rest
greeted the older girl as well.

Serenity then looked behind Michiru. "Michiru, where's
Haruka?"

"Oh, she's coming," Michiru replied shortly, not wanting
to even think about her right now.  She then took a seat
at the table.

The four senshi exchanged glances, while Serenity began
to pout.

"I hope she comes soon.  I'm starved."

Just then, Haruka walked into the room.

"Good, she's here.  Now let's eat!" Serenity reached out
her hands and began to grab at all the contents in front
of her.  Small sweat drops appeared on the four senshi's
heads.

You know, Serenity would have extensive etiquette training
that Usagi missed out on.  Her table manners would likely
be exquisite...and she'd be eating most of the day.  

"Good morning," Haruka said and sat down.  Everyone,
minus Serenity and Michiru, returned the greeting with
their blushed faces directed towards the floor.  Haruka
noticed this and sighed.

"About yesterday," she began, "I'm sorry for what I did.
It wasn't very nice of me and I shouldn't have done it."
With that said she reached for an apple and took a bite
out of it.

Michiru raised an eyebrow. 'So, she can be civil when
she wants to.'

And she can be military...

Minako was the first to smile.  "Oh, that's all right Haruka.
It was a little funny, wasn't it minna?"  The other girls
nodded.

"It was pretty funny.  Ne Haruka, do you do it all the
time?" Makoto asked.  "I mean it looked like you knew
what you were doing."

Haruka choked a little on the apple in her mouth.
"Heh, heh, no, I don't do it *all* the time."

"Well, if she hadn't dressed the way she did, and
wore a dress like the rest of us, we wouldn't have been
fooled," Rei said smugly.

"Of course we wouldn't have been fooled! What
kind of guy would wear a dress?" Makoto replied
sarcastically.

"Oh yea..." Rei blushed, while everyone laughed.

"Speaking of dresses," Minako said with a glint in her
eye. "What is everyone wearing tonight for the party?"

Everyone started to talk at once, describing the dresses
they would wear.  Everyone but Michiru and Haruka.
Serenity noticed and spoke up.  "Ne Michiru? What are
you wearing?"

Michiru looked over to the girl and smiled. "Ara, nothing
special. It's sky blue, reaches the floor and it's straps
hang loosely over my arms."

"That sounds just like mine, but mine is a light yellow-
orange color," the senshi of love said.

"How about you Haruka?"  Serenity leaned over the
table and asked.

Haruka lifted her head and looked at them. "Me? I guess
I do have to attend don't I?"

"Of course you do.  Tonight we will be formally
introduced as the Sailor Senshi, to the people of this
kingdom," Ami replied.

"So, what are you wearing?" Serenity persisted.

"Hmm...I don't know.  It doesn't really matter. As long
as I'm wearing something right?"

Ruffles.  Lot's and lots of ruffles.  I wanna see Haruka
in a crinoline.  

Everyone sweatdropped.  "Of course it matters!"
Minako exclaimed.  "There will be so many hot guys
there...er...I mean very important aristocrats there
tonight. We should look our best."

"Uh-huh, sure.  Hmm...maybe I'll just wear my navy
tuxedo..."

"A TUXEDO!!! How do you expect to attract the guys
if you're wearing a tuxedo!" the blond with the red bow
in her hair shouted.

Personally I love a girl in a tux.  

"Don't you mean the very important aristocrats?" Haruka
smirked.

"Uh, oh yea, right," Minako blushed.  Everyone started
to laugh.

'What am I doing?' Haruka thought and stopped
laughing. 'Talking about what I'm going to wear
tonight...there's more important things to do right now,
then talking about this nonsense.

Makoto noticed that Haruka had a very serious
expression on her face.  "Haruka? What's the matter?"

Haruka snapped out of her thoughts when she heard her
name.  "Nothing's wrong."  She then stood up from the
table. "I just think we're wasting our time discussing
something so trivial.  I'm going for a jog."  The blonde
then quickly exited the room.

"Boy, she sure knows how to ruin a good time," Rei
said while the others remained silent, pensively thinking
about why Haruka was acting so coldly.

* * * * * * * * *

Michiru watched her roommate all morning, still trying to
figure out why the other wasn't trying to associate with
the rest of the senshi and herself.  She watched as the
blonde turned around another corner, still running at the
same pace as she began with.

'I wonder why I even bother worrying about her. If she
stays to herself, why should I care?  It's not like she's
even nice to me.'

"Why have you been watching me all morning?"

Startled by the voice behind her, Michiru turned abruptly
around to find Haruka staring at her with her arms crossed
over her chest.

"Wh...What are you talking about?  I wasn't watching you,"
Michiru tried to sound convincing and lifted her head and
glanced away from the other.

Haruka looked at the other smugly.  "I'm not blind you know.
I know when someone's following me."

Michiru still kept from looking at the other directly in the
face. "So what if I was, what are you going to do about it?"

Haruka smiled and shrugged. "Nothing."  She then walked
passed her.  "So...you wanna race to the other side of
this field?"

Michiru turned to face the taller girl with a confused,
questioning look on her face.

"Well?" Haruka said, challenge etched all over her face.

Michiru nodded and walked up next to the other, waiting
for the signal.

"Okay, who ever reaches that tree first, wins,"  Haruka
motioned her head in the direction of the tree.
"Ready...set...GO!"

The two dashed forward running side by side.

* * * * * * * * *

'Hmm...' Haruka thought to herself as she looked at the
girl running beside her. '...she's faster than I thought.  I
guess I'll have to take this seriously.'  With that last
thought she pulled herself into the lead.

And that's the definition of a Uranian virgin.  

* * * * * * * * *

Michiru glanced to her left.  'I don't get it.  Why would she
suddenly want to race me?'  At that moment, Haruka
bolted in front of her with speed she knew she could never
acquire.  'Well, I'm not going to let her beat me by that
much,'  Michiru forgot her previous thoughts and focused
on the race.  She reached the tree about 3 seconds after
Haruka did.  She bent over, resting her hands on her knees,
to catch her breath.

"You're faster than I originally thought."

Michiru raised her head still breathing a little hard and
noticed the other hadn't even broken a sweat.  "Well, you
shouldn't judge a book by its cover."

But the bookstore owner keeps shouting at me and telling me
this isn't a library!

"I'll have to remember that.  Thanks for the race,"  Haruka
turned and again, began her jog around the castle grounds.

Michiru walked back to the castle to take a shower before
the party.  She was a little exasperated for not having
gained any new information on the blonde.  Instead,
becoming more puzzled than ever.

* * * * * * * * *

Michiru was just putting the finishing touches to her makeup
when the door to her room opened, revealing a sweat-soaked
Haruka. Michiru continued what she was doing as she spoke.
"I was wondering when you were going to come back.  The
party starts in a half an hour."

The blonde just shrugged and plopped herself on her bed.
Michiru turned around to face the girl.  "Aren't you going to
get ready?  You don't have that much time,"  Haruka just
continued to stare up at the ceiling.  Michiru was getting a
little bit annoyed of being ignore.  "Haruka...did you hear me?"

The mass on the bed let out a sigh.  "Yea, I heard you."
However, it didn't seem as if she had any intention of moving,
in Michiru's opinion.

She stood there for a few minutes, waiting.  "Well...what
are you waiting for?  You only have twenty minutes now."

"Don't worry," the other replied, "It doesn't take me that
long to get ready."

"I see..."

After another few minutes, Haruka dragged herself off the
bed and went into the bathroom.  Seconds later, the shower
could be heard turning on.  Michiru looked at her watch.
'Hmm...eleven minutes to go. I wonder if she can make it...'
She heard the water stop running and moments later a blow
dryer went on.  'Eight more minutes...'  Finally, the bathroom
door opened and Haruka stepped out wearing a robe.  She
walked to her closet and rummaged through it.  "Ne Michiru?"

Michiru snapped her head up from her watch.  "Yes?"

"Is this party very formal?"

"Yes, I suppose it is."

Haruka let out a sigh.  "I guess it means I have to wear a
dress then, huh?"

"Well...Queen Serenity didn't say we had to, so I don't think
you would need to."

Haruka stood for a minute contemplating on what to do
next.  The words of her father telling her she couldn't
behave as freely here as she usually could at home, ran
through her mind.  'Well, no point in starting up any
problems now, no matter how insignificant they may be.' she
thought to herself.  She pulled out a deep navy blue dress,
simple in style and laid it out on her bed. She pulled off her
robe and stepped into the dress.  She then turned around
to the other girl in the room and saw that she was staring
very intently at her wristwatch, muttering something about
a five.  "Ano..."  This seemed to startle her and she looked
up.  Haruka turned back around.  "Could you zip this up for
me?"

Michiru walked over and did as she was told.  "You're a
very fast runner Haruka," she said as she pulled up the
zipper. "Quite fast actually."

"Yes, I have to be."

"Have to be..." Michiru repeated as she latched the small
hook on the back of the dress.  "What do you mean?"

Haruka turned so she was face to face with the other.
"Exactly what I said."  She then walked over to her dresser
and applied a light colored type of lip gloss on her lips.
"Done..." and she walked over to the still frowning girl and
grabbed her wrist.  "...and...with two minutes to spare."
Michiru blushed, after realizing the other knew she was
timing her.

"I-I just find it interesting how you can get ready in only
18 minutes and still look great..." her blushed deepened,

Go...Speed Racer!  Go...Speed Racer!

"what I mean is...that the fastest it took me to get ready
that I know of is at least an hour and it still wasn't as much
time as I would had preferred..."  Michiru lifted her head and
saw that Haruka had a very amused grin on her face.  "Why
don't we go to the ballroom now?"  The blonde nodded and
opened the door for the other.  Michiru walked quickly
through the door and into the hallway.  She didn't need to
turn around to know that Haruka still had a very wide grin
plastered on to her face.

* * * * * * * * *

When Michiru entered the ballroom, it was already filled
with about a hundred people, all chatting and eating
whatever food was being served on trays.  She noticed
that Minako was already listening starry eyed at a very
handsome looking man, as were Rei and Makoto.  The only
difference was that Rei and Makoto were actually replying
and adding on to what the gentlemen were saying, whereas
Minako continued to nod her head at anything the man said.

She then glanced at the dance floor to see Ami dancing shyly
with another one of the many handsome men in the room.
Michiru walked towards the long table meant for them and
saw a woman with ravishingly long midnight green hair.  The
woman smiled at her, and she did the same and took a seat
next to her.  "Hello, are you one of Queen Serenity's
advisors?"

The woman seemed amused by the remark and smiled more
fondly.  "No, I'm afraid those positions are already filled by
two most reliable felines."

I doubt the Queen is limited to two advisers.  

Michiru gave the woman a strange look, clearly confused.
"Felines?...You mean cats?"

The woman nodded.  "I suppose you haven't had a chance
to meet them yet, since you all only arrived yesterday.
They both are in Mercury right now, taking care of a small
matter, but they will be returning soon."

Michiru just nodded once.  'Queen Serenity's advisors are
cats??  Those two will be a sight I will most definitely
don't want to miss.'  "I see.  Well then, I'm afraid I don't
have any idea who you could be."

The woman extended her hand in greeting.  "My name
is Setsuna of the planet Pluto.  I am also known as the
Guardian of Time."

Michiru let out a little gasp of surprise, but quickly
composed herself and shook the woman's hand.  "I am
Michiru of the planet Neptune.  It's a pleasure to meet
you Pluto."

"Likewise."

Before they could continue their conversation, the other
senshi gathered around to take their seats at the table.
A moment later, Queen Serenity called for everyone's
attention.

"Attention everyone."  She waited for a moment for
complete silence.  "Thank you.  As you know, we are
gathered here today to celebrate the gathering of the
Sailor Senshi.  These seven have been chosen by fate
to protect our solar system from any harm inside or
outside of this galaxy.  Allow me to introduce, Princess
Ami of the planet of Mercury."  Ami stood up from her
seat and approached the queen.  Queen Serenity handed
Ami a blue wand.  "From this day forth, she will also be
known as the senshi of water, Sailor Mercury."

Ami proceeded by repeating the phrase that had been
going through her mind all day.

"Mercury Power...Make up!"

A flash of blue light engulfed Ami and when it dissipated,
Sailor Mercury now stood in her place.  The room filled
with applause and did so after each princess had repeated
the same process as Ami had shown.

After Sailor Pluto took her place beside Sailor Neptune,
Queen Serenity began to speak again.  "As you might have
noticed, only seven of the eight legendary sailor senshi are
here today.  The reason being the eighth senshi, Sailor Saturn,
also known as the senshi of destruction is yet to be needed
at this present time, and has not been awakened.  Only when
she is needed, will she be called.  Now, I will be presenting
the three talismans to the outer senshi, Uranus, Neptune,
and Pluto.  Because their duties involve protecting this galaxy

<wince>  Please.  "protecting this solar system from outside threats" 
ought to be more than enough responsibility for a staff of three.  

from any outside intruders, they will be needing more powerful
weapons, along with their powers, to aid them."

Queen Serenity walked to a side table where three boxes lied.
The first box she opened revealed a sword with a golden handle,
encrusted in jewels.  She walked back to the line of senshi and
stood before Sailor Uranus.  "This is the first of the three
talismans, the Space Sword."  She handed it to Haruka, who
grasped it firmly and looked at it from the tip of its blade to the
shining handle.

Anybody got a potato that needs peeling?  

The Queen then stood in front of Sailor Neptune.  "This is the
second talisman, the Aquamarine Mirror.  With this, you will
be able to see the truth through its reflection."  Michiru held it
in her hand and turned it around to examine it more closely.

Queen Serenity then walked in front of Sailor Pluto and raised
her hand to the top of Pluto's staff.  "And finally, the third
talisman, the Garnet Orb.  Please," she said as she looked back
and forth from Uranus to Neptune to Pluto, "use these well to
protect our galaxy."

"It is my honor to be the first to introduce to you the Sailor
Senshi of this millenium." The room filled with loud applause
and cheers, until the queen motioned for them to stop.
"Please resume with the celebration and I hope you all have
an enjoyable evening."  She then turned to the girls behind
her.  "This goes for all of you too."

You vill make merry on penalty of death!

The girls nodded and detransformed.  Once they did, the inner
senshi walked back into the crowd of people in search of the
men they were talking to before.  The three outer senshi
remained in place, as Michiru began conversing with Setsuna
again.

"Well, I'm going back to our room.  See you later,"  Haruka
said, starting to walk to the exit.

"What? You're leaving already?" Michiru asked quickly.

I don't blame her.  There isn't even a mosh pit.  

Haruka turned back around and shrugged.  "Well, I don't
need to be here anymore, so why stay?"

Michiru was baffled with the girl's reply.  "Queen Serenity
said to enjoy the party."

"Actually, she said to enjoy the rest of the evening.  So,
I think I'll enjoy the rest of the night in my room, or
anywhere else for that matter."

I'm allergic to merriment!