'I don't recall a single care, just greenery and humid air.' ---------------------- "I knew it was going to be one of those days." Mars said with a grin, cracking her neck. Venus flashed her a dazzling smile from across the large ring of turf, marked off with a white outline. "You know Pyro, I'm not going to go easy on you." "I would certainly hope not. It would take all the fun away." Rei replied, wondering how fun it would be to dump Minako into the pond the others were seated beside. She decided against it, as it would completely ruin the match. Mars' brain rebelled, calling up the mental image of a soaking wet goddess of love, and she banished the thought quickly. 'Woo. Lack of sleep there. Really need to be focused. What the hell is wrong with me today?' "Any special rules?" Minako called over to Jupiter, snapping Mars back to attention. "Just one. Don't kill each other." Makoto muttered. Serenity cast a worried look over to her warriors in the ring. "Is this safe? Are they going to be ok?" "Princess, you wanted to see a match." Mars replied. "They'll be alright." Mercury said with a smile. "The only ones we can really train with at full strength would be each other." "So are we gonna go, or what?" Rei called over anxiously, the prospect of a good fight pumping her up. "Why are you so anxious to lose?" Minako teased. "Like I'd lose to a ditz." came the snarky reply. Venus huffed in indigence and threw a look over to where the others were seated a safe distance away. "Call it! I want to put her in her place!" Jupiter laughed. "Alright. First one to get a death blow wins, step out of bounds and you lose! No pulling hair now, ladies." Mars snickered. "No worries here. That's a blonde's move." Minako's jaw dropped, and she fixed her opponent with a death glare. "Truth hurts, huh?" the fire soldier teased. Makoto smirked and tossed a ball of lighting energy over the heads of her comrades, signaling the battles start. 'I know her. She's going to attack my left side. She knows it's still weak.' True to her prediction, Minako drew her gladius and charged straight for Mars, strafing at the last second to bring her blade down on the fire soldier's left side. Mars quickly brought her own blade up horizontally, effectively blocking the attack, taking a quick step back to help deal with the force of the blow. The blonde threw her a rather disarming smile and dropped to the ground, pushing herself forward with her left hand firmly in the dirt, and sending a hard kick across the greaves of Mars' right leg. Rei grit her teeth and sent her sword into a downward thrust, connecting with nothing but dried turf. Venus was already on her feet again and coming around behind her quickly. Mars whirled around quickly, yanking her sword out of the earth. She blindly threw a handful of fire in the blonde's direction, and was pleased to hear a rather undignified squeak of shock. "What, you were going to try and get me from behind?" Rei smirked. Minako rapidly patted out the flames on the ends of her hair and scowled. "Oh, you are so dead." "Promises, promises." Mars muttered in response, taking the initiative while the blonde was still distracted. She leaped into the air, aiming for the blonde's left arm with a heavy forward thrust. Minako recovered and parried her blade, launching a crescent beam near inches from Rei's face with her free hand. Mars let out a low whistle of appreciation as a small cut on her grazed cheek split open. "Thanks." Venus growled, bringing her blade down. Mars met it with her own, and the two were locked in a dangerous shoving match. "You know," Rei grunted. "You could make this easier on yourself and just give up." "Highly doubtful." Venus said with a wink, pushing herself close to Mars and hooking a foot behind the fire warrior's. "Oh, hell no!" Mars cried, releasing one of her hands from her sword's grip to pull the goddess of love down on top of her as they fell. She quickly readied herself for the fall, and rolled with the force on her back, bringing a knee up to connect with Minako's midsection, effectively tossing the blonde off. Minako righted herself in mid-air and landed on her feet, panting heavily, while Mars rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself back up onto her feet. As they stared each other down, Rei had to fight the irresistible urge to tackle the blonde and take her right there, audience be damned. She shook her head rapidly to clear her foggy mind and attacked Venus again. Serenity watched the power struggle with wide eyes. "How long does this go on, Jupiter?" Makoto smiled. "Sometimes they go like this until they're both so angry one of us had to call it, because at that point, someone really could get hurt. We just threaten to dump them both into the pond until they cool off, and it usually works." "Who wins most of the time?" "Ah, probably Minako. She tends to keep a clear head, which is something an infuriated Mars doesn't do very well." Serenity winced as Rei took a full on punch to the face. "Come on Venus! Why do you always punch me in the same spot??" Mars growled. "I don't even think it's healed from the last time!!" "Hey!" Minako laughed. "You totally deserved it last time!" "Whatever!" the Martian growled. tackling the blonde. and twisting her wrist until her sword fell from her hand. Venus donned a panicked look and tossed Rei off of her, quickly making a mad scramble for her blade. Mars was faster however, and tossed the gladius out of bounds. Minako groaned in frustration as Rei laughed triumphantly, readying her sword. "It's over, Venus." Venus formulated a last-ditch plan in her mind as Mars charged in for the death blow. Just as Rei moved to bring her sword down, Minako lashed out with her Love Me chain, catching the blade and yanking it out of the Martian's hands. Rei reacted one second too slow, and found herself on the ground, the edge of her own blade pressed against her throat. A rather amused goddess of love sat on top of her, smiling gleefully. "Got a little overconfident there, Mars." she pointed out cheerfully. "Looks like I win again." Rei scowled. "Lucky shot with the chain." "No luck Pyro. All skill." Venus proclaimed, getting to her feet and offering a hand to Mars. Mars took the offered hand and let Venus pull her up. "Maybe next time then." Rei said with a smile, wanting nothing more than to kiss Minako. "But seriously. Can you start punching my face on the other side? I'm going to get some nasty scar tissue." "Like I said, you deserved it." Minako grinned. Mars rolled her eyes, and found herself flying through the air. She landed in an ungraceful heap in the grass, completely baffled by what had just occurred. She lay on her stomach for a moment, eyes closed, while her brain attempted to play catch up. Somewhere behind her, she could hear Venus cheering victoriously. "Teach you to roll your eyes at me!" Mars let out her breath in a huff, and heard an all too familiar chuckle from above. She opened her eyes, and caught her reflection staring back at her on a pair of shiny silver boots. "Huh. Guess it's a good thing we came to help out." Mars pushed herself up on sore elbows and immediately recognized the sandy haired woman standing before her. "Uranus?" "Hey Mars. Been a long time. I see the little blonde is still pushing you around." Rei was about to grumble something in her own defense, but Minako rushed past her. "Ah! Haruka!" she squealed happily, jumping into the tall woman's arms. "It's been forever! I've missed you so much!!" Mars stared, slack jawed, as Venus draped herself all over the legendary soldier. Her heart burned with such intensity she almost didn't recognize the feeling that flooded through her. As Minako batted her eyelashes, and tossed her hair over her shoulder, Rei recognized the feeling. Jealousy. Complete, total, brain-numbing jealousy. Her princess knelt down beside her, and patted her arm. "Are you alright Rei?" Mars stared at her, blinking stupidly. "She threw me." "I saw." Serenity giggled. Mars nodded dumbly, and returned her gaze towards Minako. "Maybe you should get up now?" the princess tried gently. "Huh?" "You're still laying on the ground." "Oh." Rei stared at the grass beneath her, almost as if she had never seen it before, then added a plaintive "She threw me!" "Pretty hard too, apparently." Serenity smiled. Rei frowned, and looked back over at Minako and Haruka. "Don't do it." Serenity whispered. "Do what?" Mars hissed back. "Punch Haruka. She'll knock you out, and besides, she hasn't done anything." "Oh. That obvious, huh?" "Just a little." The princess shook her head and rose to her feet, tugging Mars up with her. "I really need some sleep." Rei grumbled, brushing herself off. "I just knew it was going to be one of those days." "I hope you're not saying that just because you have to spend the whole day with me." Serenity teased. "Wait, I don't want to answer that until I know something for sure." Mars replied. "Oh? What do you want to know?" "...are you going to throw me too?" The princess gave her a bemused smile. "I don't think I could, even if I wanted to. I think that means you're safe." Mars turned her attention back to Minako and Haruka, who had now been joined by Neptune, Mercury, and Jupiter. "Must be a soldier thing." Serenity mused. "What?" "The way everyone idolizes Uranus and Neptune." "Don't get me wrong," Mars said, "I do have great respect for the two of them. They lead the loneliest lives out of all of us, and they were the ones who trained us. I just wonder why Minako does that." "Maybe it's just a part of her." Serenity answered, smiling happily as she watched her warriors laugh and talk animatedly. "You have your own little quirks." "Like what?" "Well, you're alone most of the time, and we can all tell something is bothering you, but you won't let us help you." "That's not a quirk." Mars argued, eye twitching as Minako rested her hand on Haruka's forearm. "How about violent urges then?" the princess teased. Mars tried to find the energy to glare at her, but couldn't. "Well come on," the princess said, tugging on Rei's arm. "If it bothers you so much, stop being anti-social and get her attention. The longer you stand over here, the more steam I can see coming out of your ears. It's not healthy, and if you keep it up, you're going to have an aneurism by the time you're thirty. Besides, I know you've missed those two as much as the others have." "The idea of me living until thirty seems highly unlikely." Mars grumbled as her princess dragged her off. "Well then, I guess you better hurry up and seize the day." Serenity replied with a smile, pushing Rei towards her comrades. 'Can I seize a drink instead?' "Hey! She moves!" Haruka cheered, patting Mars on the back. "You fought well, not as well as I would have of course, but well." "Thanks. I think." Mars mumbled, eyeing Haruka suspiciously. Neptune laughed quietly. "You were right Venus, she hasn't changed at all." Mars raised her head at the mention of her name, locking eyes with Minako. The blonde flashed her a dazzling smile, and Rei swore she could feel her bad mood drip right off. Before she knew what she was doing, she reached her hand out, grasped Minako's, and pulled the blonde to her. "Heh...h...hi Mars..." Minako stuttered with a nervous laugh. "Hi." Rei replied, flat monotone, without the faintest trace of a smile. "You're not mad, are you?" Venus asked sweetly, batting her eyes. "That's not going to work this time." Minako pouted. "That's not going to work either." "No?" the blonde replied, tracing imaginary shapes on Rei's shoulder with her fingertips. Mars shook her head sadly. "Nope." "So, what are you going to do?" Venus asked quietly, already looking rather chastised. Mars grew silent for a moment, looking as though she were contemplating something very deeply. Venus raised her eyebrows expectantly, and waited patiently. Mars moved quickly, dropping to one knee, and scooping Venus up over her right shoulder. The blonde let out a surprised squeak as her world turned upside down. Rei laughed, and bounced the blonde into a more comfortable position from her spot draped over Rei's shoulder. The others burst into uproarious laughter as Venus tried in vain to get down. "I swear to God, Mars, you better put me down right now!" she demanded. "Or what?" Mars questioned, spinning around in a circle. Venus let out a delighted laugh, which pretty much nullified any threats she could have made at that point. "And this is our leader." Mars said to the others, patting Minako's rump. "I'm thinking it's a really good thing we came to help." Uranus said with a grin. "I'll kick you Mars! I mean it!" the blonde growled between giggles. "Uh huh." Rei replied, clearly unfazed. "Maybe I should go dump you into the pond." "You better not!" she squeaked. "Ok, I tell you what. You admit that I'm the best, and I'll put you down." "WHAT??" Venus cried. "I'm serious. Tell everyone that I'm the best." "No!" "No?" Mars questioned, walking towards the pond. Minako wriggled her arms and pushed herself up slightly, using Rei's back as a support. She got her head up just enough to figure out where they were headed, and let out a panicked squeal. Rei laughed. "Believe me now? You better say it." "No!" the blonde cried, bursting into a fresh round of giggles. "Ok." Mars replied in a resigned tone. " I guess I'll have to throw you in..." "Aie! Ok! Ok! Fine!" Minako cried. She paused for a moment, sucking in a deep breath. "I'm the best!!!" Venus yelled triumphantly, laughing hysterically, even as Mars tossed her into the freezing cold water. The other warriors burst into gales of laughter. Mars waited until the blonde swam to the surface, and crossed her arms. "And what have we learned today Venus?" Venus shot out another Love Me chain, catching Rei around the ankle, and dragging her into the water as well. Mars resurfaced quickly, staring at Minako in shock. Venus beamed. "Well Mars, you want to know what I learned today?" Rei couldn't help it. She bit. "What?" "Martians are dumb." The others stood by, watching the ensuing water wars between Venus and Mars. "They are awfully cute together." Neptune commented with a smile. "No kidding." Jupiter replied with a grin. "I just wish they'd get a move on." "One thing about Rei, you can't push her." Serenity commented quietly. Mercury laughed. "But all Minako does is push her." "Hey!" Venus called. "Why are you all still standing there? Come on! It will be just like old times!" "You're crazy!" Haruka called back. Jupiter looked at Mercury and shrugged. "Well, she is the leader." "Come on Princess!" Mars yelled. "Seize the day, remember?" Serenity laughed, and looked towards the others. "I can't very well ignore my own advice, can I? What kind of ruler would I become?" "True!" Jupiter laughed, as the princess ran and leaped into the water. The others followed suite, forgetting all the horrors of reality, at least for a day. ------------------- Later that evening, Mars escorted a giggling, dripping princess back to her room. Serenity paused in front of her door and smiled. "Thank you Rei. I think we all needed that." "No kidding." Rei replied with a grin. "But I think Venus deserves some credit for that one." "Are you going to get some rest now? You look tired." "Yes, it's been a long day. Fun, but long. I've just got to wait for Mercury to replace me, and then I've got to see Venus. After that, hello sleepy time." "You really care about her, don't you?" the princess asked with a smile. Rei felt her face flush. "Yeah. I do." "Have you told her?" Serenity questioned. "Still working on that part." Mars admitted quietly. "Don't wait too long." "I won't." Rei promised. "Seize the day, right?" "Right." Serenity laughed. Mars smiled down at her, and knew that without a doubt, she would die for this girl, no matter what worldly attachments held her back. It comforted her to know that Venus would agree. The princess wrapped her arms around her bodyguard, and hugged her tight. "Thank you again. I had so much fun." "I know the feeling. It's always wonderful when you're with us." Mars replied, returning the embrace. She pulled back slightly, to wish her princess a goodnight, and just about had that predicted aneurism when Serenity raised herself up on her toes and kissed her. 'Long day? That was an understatement.'
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