Clarify as Needed
Section A: Mako and Ami
“W-what?” There was a faint ringing in Makoto's ears, but she could have sworn she heard something underneath the surface of Ami's declaration.
Blushing and stammering, Ami blurted out, “The cooks are horrible without your help! I can't help it... Even after so many years to get used to their cooking... yours always tasted the best...!” She paused, both girls watching her shaking fists, before continuing in a subdued tone, “If... if what we've learned from Rei is true... about her and Minako-san... I... Your mere presence would be graciously appreciated.”
Makoto's mind was whirling. If she's thinking about Rei and Mina... is that how she feels about me? No... I shouldn't be assuming anything... especially since I feel like I don't know her very well anymore... not that I did when we were kids but... “A-ami?” When Ami looked up, eyes flickering with a small amount of trepidation, such as a convict might in face of an executioner, Makoto found that she couldn't bear to disappoint her. With a soft sigh, Makoto turned and responded, “I'm thinking about it, all right? Come on, we should go find the others- we'll worry about whether me, Ruka, or the both of us are returning when it's definite that the Princess has a way of returning.”
As Makoto started walking towards the light forestry, Ami stared at her back in silence, before abruptly snapping out of her daze and running to catch up. After a moment of pondering, Makoto suggested, “If we're all together, couldn't we just use the Sailor Teleport?”
Ami hummed in soft consideration before answering, “But Saturn's not here. We can only do it with just all the Inners or all of us combined, right? If we aren't going to leave Haruka-san, Michiru-san, and Setsuna-san here, then we need Hotaru-chan's energy, too.”
Realizing the futility of it, Makoto sighed. “And then there's the crew to think about, too...”
A companionable silence settled over them as both mulled over the possible escape routes that they could use. Every so often, one of them would offer a possibility, which was then effectively tossed away by the other, or Ami would redirect them in the right direction to reach Haruka and Michiru. At one point, Ami tested the wood by soaking a newly fallen tree with a small tsunami blast. The trunk promptly obliterated into millions of fragments. Building a sea-worthy ship would be hard... or impossible.
“Hey, wait a minute.” Mako chose to take her own advice, and continued once Ami had paused. “Can't we teleport using Setsuna's staff? If we all hold onto it...”
Ami sighed and shook her head. “I considered that, but then I remembered, she told us a messenger from whoever created her staff took it with them to upgrade it. Right now, it is effectively in the 'repair shop'.”
A small sweatdrop appeared on the side of Mako's head. “And she still left to find us...?”
“Setsuna-san isn't completely handicapped without her staff, you know,” Ami objected, “A few days ago, we succeeded in escaping a whirlpool with her expertise navigational skills.”
Mako shrugged indifferently. “Well, I suppose if you can navigate through time and space, sailing the ocean blue is like child's play.”
There was a long pause before Ami finally decided to ask, “W-what do you like, about sailing the seas, I mean?”
“What do I like?” Mako hummed thoughtfully as she looked to the treetops for answers. “Well... I don't know... There's just something about the sea that's... comforting... in a way that the Kingdom never was. I can't exactly place my finger on what it is but... mmm...”
“Since Water acts as a catalyst for Lightning... maybe knowing that you're surrounded by an outlet for power... is a reassuring thought?”
Section B: Ruka and Mich
“Hey, let's take a break and eat. There's some fruit here that looks good to eat.”
Michiru blinked and looked up. Sure enough, on either side of the pathway Haruka had subconsciously made, ripe fruit awaited the time to be eaten. “All right,”she called, “Let's.”
As both of them found suitable seats, concentrated slices of wind made short work of the stems connecting the fruit to the trees. A soft, caressing breeze planted them in the hands of the two Senshi. “Thank you,” Michiru murmured... which Haruka responded to with a small grunt before taking a large bite out of the fruit. Sighing softly, Michiru followed suit in a much more lady-like fashion.
“Do you intend to sail the seas forever?”
Michiru's sudden question startled Haruka out of the daze she had been blinking in and out of, but she shrugged it off and answered, “Sure, if I don't find anything better.”
“Turning a kidnapping into a mutiny... are you sure you weren't willing when you left?”
“Who said I wasn't willing?”
“Then why? Why did you leave your post, knowing it was your duty to protect the Princess? The throne?”
“Ever occur to you that a ruffian like me isn't suited for Kingdom etiquette?”
“Yes, actually.” Michiru paused, as Haruka gave her a bewildered look. “But if that's your reason... aren't you just running away? I never imagined a coward could become a pirate captain. Especially one as reputed as you.”
Anger visibly flashed through Haruka's eyes, ending as she turned away in a sigh of disgust. “I don't know whether I should thank you for the compliment, or slap you for the insult.”
“I'll take neither, if it's the same to you. A mark of gratitude from a pirate would stain my reputation.”
Haruka stood with a feral growl. “Then why are you following me? If that's how you feel, then why did you leave the Kingdom to search for me?”
Michiru scoffed as she, too, stood up, folding her arms in front of her. “In case you haven't noticed, you took Minako-san and Rei-san aboard your ship a few days ago. We were searching for them. We gave up searching for you as soon as we learned what you were doing.”
“Oh?” Haruka's eyes narrowed. “And what did the Kingdom say to that?”
A malicious glint flickered in Michiru's eyes as she met Haruka's gaze head on. “The people aren't aware that 'Haruka' became a pirate. They truly believe that you're working undercover for the Kingdom, familiarizing yourself with the bad lot so as to properly inform us of danger should the need arise. They still believe the Senshi of Wind is on their side.”
Haruka tried to hide her flinch in vain, plowing on to ask, “And you? What do you think of me?”
Michiru scoffed lightly and began to walk away. Once she was a fair distance from Haruka, she responded, “You're about eleven years too late to ask what I thought of you.”
Haruka watched Michiru in silence before snapping out of it and following suit.
Section C: Rei and Usagi
“There, that should do it.”
Usagi looked down at herself, examining the intricately woven toga of broad leaves. If the material hadn't been what it was, it would have sold for a pretty penny back in the royal marketplaces. Eyes glowing with admiration, Usagi turned to Rei and started, “Ooh, it looks so nice! Thank you Rei-chan! Really, you could open a shop and be really popular with your talent! I just know-”
Rei simply laughed it off and shook her head. Rustling the crown of Usagi's hair that wasn't connected to the meatballs, she murmured, “Nah, taking care of you is enough work as it is. Does it fit right? Your dress is all in tatters now... so you'll have to wear this for a while.”
Usagi shook her head vigorously, her smile still wide enough to reach beyond her eyes alone. “No, no! It's perfect! Thanks a million times more, Rei-chan!”
To that, Rei sighed and tugged Usagi's hand, the remains of her dress tucked in her other arm. “Come on, let's go find the others.”
Nodding, Usagi easily fell into step with Rei, though she didn't let go of Rei's hand, even as the Senshi of Fire loosened her hold completely.
The chirruping of the birds and the rustle of the trees served as a peaceful background melody while the two traversed the forest. Before long however, Usagi's curiosity goaded her on to break the companionable silence.
“Rei-chan...?”
“Hmm? What is it?”
A light blush arose on Usagi's cheeks, even though Rei still kept her gaze facing front. “How... how far have you gone with Mina-chan?”
If Rei had been drinking at that moment, all of the liquid would have instantly been spurted out. As it was, she promptly became redder than a tomato. “W-what kind of question is that!” After recovering slightly, she clarified, “That... that's no one's business but mine and Mina's!”
Usagi pouted slightly as she leaned her head into Rei's arm. “As your Princess, I'm obligated to know how serious you are.. before I can defend you in face of the rest of the Kingdom.”
“You.. still... you don't need to.. we'll be fine.”
“Please, Rei-chan... answer me?”
The blush was still extremely evident, but it had calmed down some with the slowing of Rei's pulse. The silence was stretched taut before Rei sighed and gave her response in a low tone. “We haven't done anything beyond kissing. I know she's willing to go farther... and half of me does too, but...”
Usagi softly prompted, “...But what?”
Rei shook her head. “I don't know. When I think of it... something just doesn't feel right.”
As Rei retracted into herself as she was apt to do, a small smile grew on Usagi's face... and those who saw her then... might have sworn they saw a glimmer of hope reflecting in her eyes.
Section D: Mina and Sets
“Minako-san? If I may ask... what exactly were your thoughts, when you boarded the Zephyr?”
Mina paused mid-step, before shrugging and continuing on. “My thoughts...? Hmm... Well, Rei-chan was still first and foremost in my mind at that point... she was actually the one that suggested a mutiny-”
“Did she really?”
An uneasy chuckle rose from Mina's throat. “Well... technically she did... but I don't think she expected me to follow through with it...”
“What do you mean?”
“Well... We- erm... mostly I- were really bored... so I asked her the things I could do on a ship. She started listing a whole bunch of things, and a mutiny was one of them.”
Setsuna was quiet for several moments before she questioned, “And afterwards, Rei-san agreed to it?”
Again, a nervous laugh emerged. “Umm... at that point, she agreed to support me in whatever I did... I don't think she actually agreed to a mutiny... though she did a great job of starting to teach me what it was like to be a pirate!”
A curious eyebrow was raised. “And Rei-san knew the how-to of piracy... how?”
At that, Minako shrugged. “I honestly have no idea. She came up with several lessons that even Mako-chan and Ruka-chan hadn't thought of. I asked her about it once, and she only shrugged and said, 'Kami-sama blesses his followers with many gifts, even if you don't understand or realize most of them.'”
A long silence followed, before a certain action caught Setsuna's attention.
“Minako-san?” When the Senshi leader paused in her scratching of a tree trunk, Setsuna continued, “May I ask what you're doing? You scratched several marks on the other trees as well...”
Mina grinned, stepping aside so that a visible arrow could be seen. “Isn't it obvious? I'm marking the way we went, in case we start to go in circles!”
Setsuna coughed lightly into her hand before she pointed to the marked tree that was next to her. “But Minako-san, I don't believe two marks fifteen yards from each other should be pointing towards each other... should they?”
Grin fading quickly, Minako looked between both trees, a sweatdrop growing on her head as she realized what she was doing. “Ehehehe... whoops. Sorry. Umm... you wouldn't happen to know which way we're supposed to go... do you?”
With a soft sigh, Setsuna simply pointed in the direction they had been heading, completely ignoring Mina's arrows. Minako took one last look at her design, before following Setsuna, who had taken the lead again, as was apparently necessary.
The arrow... that had pierced a heart... which contained the initials “RH + MA 4EVER”... would remain as a mark of loving graffiti for other travelers to see at will.
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