A/N:: I do not own Sailor Moon, it belongs to Naoko Takeuchi/Toei animation. Please r&r and tell your opinion. :)
2. Different kind of encounter
Sailor Mercury was sitting on her bed in her room, typing up notes into her laptop, which she had collected earlier that day from the Moon Kingdom palace's royal garden. She had been utterly bored during the time she had spent in the Moon Kingdom's palace since there wasn't much to do for a girl like her; a girl who liked to study as much as she could. Luckily she had come up with an idea to study the plants in the palace's royal garden, which was so large it would give her something to do for years. Mercury had even asked permission from the queen, which she had granted her more than willingly. Everyday after the morning meeting of the Inner senshi Ami would go to the garden, record different varieties and quantities of the flowers and other plants and then draw a picture of each. Of course she could simply take photos but in that way she had more to do. If there were flowers she didn't identify, she would take photos of them and identify them later with the help of her laptop and record them in the next day. If she couldn't identify the plants even with the help of her laptop, she would simply walk around in the palace and ask from people coming from different planets; there was always someone who knew their own planet's flora.
Finally Mercury was ready with the typing and she closed her computer. She stretched luxuriously her numb muscles and then rubbed her tired eyes. Mercury had heard after the morning meeting that Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mars were having once again a training duel in that afternoon. Sailor Mercury was going to go to watch them like she always did, though she wasn't quite sure why she went to watch their duels every time. First she had thought it was simply because she wanted to see how they fought, both coming from pretty militaristic planets, but she had seen it so many times already that excuse couldn't be used anymore. She actually knew what was the real reason but she didn't want to admit it even to herself: she simply enjoyed watching Sailor Jupiter whenever it was possible. During those duels she was able to stare her as much as she wanted to and no one would notice it or ask awkward questions about it. The fact that she shouldn't be interested in Jupiter or try to see her as much as possible was even more fascinating for her and she found herself enjoying it very much. She had always been obedient child who never caused harm, so in some level it was also one form of rebellion for her. She hadn't gotten close to any of the other senshi or princess just like she had thought in the first time she had met everyone. The situation between her and Jupiter had been even worse; they barely spoke to each other and when they did, it had always something do with their duty and it was always strictly formal. Sailor Mercury sighed wistfully, a dreamy look painting her face as she thought about Sailor Jupiter. She found Jupiter a bit scary and dangerous in an exciting way, which made her heart skip a beat most of the times. She enjoyed thinking about her even if she knew they would probably never be friends, but at least she had her fantasies.
Sailor Mercury stood up and unplugged her small computer. The laptop worked with rechargeable battery that could be charged with regular energy or with the energy of the sun, which Mercurians had developed few years ago. Being so close to sun had its downsides but also its benefits. Sailor Mercury's personal room was simply decorated; there were almost no furniture or paintings, only books and other scientific equipment. There was only one picture of Ami and her parents, which was taken when she had been just a little girl. Sailor Mercury didn't miss her parents that much since they had been pretty cold, distant and practical towards her through her whole life. She had been practically raised by her nanny and after she had died two years ago, it was insignificant to her whether she was alone in the Mercury's Mariner castle or in the Moon Kingdom's palace. Sailor Mercury had received more affection and warmth from the queen Serenity during her year stay at the palace than she had received from her parents in her entire life. She had no brothers or sisters so she had been raised from the beginning to become the ruler of Mercury someday. Yes, she knew everything about ruling, economic management and royal etiquette, but she knew nothing about real life or love. She had never been in love and she had no idea what it was like. Of course she had read about it among other things, but it was whole different thing to experience it first-handed or at least that was she thought logically.
Sailor Mercury exited her room and started to walk briskly towards the stadium, because she didn't want to miss their match. Jupiter was amazing fighter; Mercury hadn't seen her losing even once. It was unbelievable how the Jovians were able to wield so much power. It was almost inhuman and the fact Mercurians couldn't understand or figure it out was one of the reasons why they hated the Jovians and considered them barbarians. On the other hand Mercury had never seen Sailor Jupiter hurting anyone during the duels even though they were always furious, especially with Sailor Mars. Still Rei had walked out of the duels every time with her own legs and not seriously harmed. Jovians might be brutes but at least Makoto had some self-control in her. Sailor Mercury doubted all the other Jovians had that kind of self-control, at least that was what her teachers had told her about them. Ami herself didn't like fighting at all and she had only had few training duels during her stay at the palace and she had never fought against the other senshi. She had only fought against common soldiers, but she had managed to win all her duels with the help of her laptop and tactical skills, not with the amount of muscles. Mercury liked more the planning and strategic side of the battles than the weapon handling and different styles of fighting; she just hoped she would never have to fight in a real battle. Mercury was especially good in finding out the opponent's weaknesses or mistakes they tended to do and her success against the common soldiers were based on that, but she didn't know would that be any good against another senshi who's fighting skills were beyond normal soldiers. Sailor Mercury smiled inwardly as she reached the stadium just in time to see Jupiter and Mars' arrival. Immediately those two took off their uniform coats and started their warm-ups. Ami took a seat from the middle of middle section of the stadium and sat down, watching intently as Jupiter was doing her warm-ups and waited to see some real fighting.
---
Sailor Jupiter glanced her opponent, Sailor Mars. At least once a week those two met in the battle arena located behind the Moon Kingdom's palace and tested their skills on one another. Until now Jupiter had walked out of the duels a bit bruised and as a winner, but it became harder every time. Sailor Mars was fast, good in handling any kind of weapons, knew incredible amount of techniques and was very strong; but not strong and cunning enough for Sailor Jupiter, since she hadn't managed to break through Makoto's defence even once.
''What will it be today, Makoto-san?'' Jupiter heard Mars asking and calling her by her birth name like the two always did.
''How about the battle axes?''
''Okay.'' Mars answered.
Jupiter went to fetch her weapon from the weapon rack and inspected carefully that it wasn't broken or rusty. Notches appeared easily in the blades of weapons like those axes, which might be dangerous when in close combat where the blades usually struck directly together. The battle-axe was almost five feet long and hard to handle since the weight was set on the other end of the handle where the blade was located differently than in swords, which were perfectly balanced and therefore easier to control. They used real weapons in training so they had to be extra careful not to kill or hurt their opponents. In a way it was more than mere battle training because it was also spiritual training since it taught responsibility and respect towards the opponent as well and the skill to be able to control oneself.
Jupiter was satisfied with her choice of weapon and casually laid it against her shoulder. She glanced at the audience and saw Mercury there. For some reason the shy blue haired girl came to watch every time she and Rei had a training duel. Sailor Jupiter had no idea whether or not Mercury simply wanted to observe the heir of the enemy planet or if she just simply enjoyed watching duels, which seemed rather odd since she was a Mercurian and Mercurians weren't supposed to be interested in things like that. Sailor Jupiter turned her gaze away from the bluenette and looked her left hand. The skin on her palm wasn't soft, it was hardened by countless hours of training with different weapons and few scars could be seen on her hands. She was merely fourteen and she wondered what her hands would look after ten more years of constant training and fighting. 'I wonder if Mercury's hands are any softer..it would be nice to feel them against my own coarse skin..' Jupiter mused and was shocked by her thoughts; she had decided long time ago to stop that line of thinking, but her mind didn't obey her and wandered on dangerous tracks every time she wasn't paying attention.
Sailor Jupiter shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts and turned her attention back to Mars instead. She noticed Mars staring at something intently. Jupiter followed her gaze and saw their leader, Sailor Venus, sitting at the other side of the stadium. Sailor Mars shifted nervously and suddenly an absolutely determined look appeared on her face. Sailor Jupiter smiled amused, maybe Sailor Mars had pressures of proving she was the most fit for the vice leader's role. However, the more Sailor Jupiter studied Mars' expression the surer she became that she saw something else in those lavender eyes than mere need to prove herself. Maybe it was longing, who knows; at least Jupiter didn't know. Jupiter shook those thoughts away and walked in the middle of the stadium to wait for Mars who was still daydreaming.
''What are you waiting, Rei-san? Are you scared and waiting for some excuse to escape?'' Sailor Jupiter stated teasingly.
Mars' head shot at her direction and she was clearly blushing as she hurried after Jupiter to face her. They bowed politely and started to circle each other's, waiting like preys the other one to take the initiative. This time though Sailor Jupiter saw something different in Mars and it wasn't only in her eyes but in her whole appearance and manner. She was much more vigilant, her stance tensed and she had an absolutely serious glint in her eyes. Sailor Jupiter's gaze wandered for a fraction of second to the blue haired girl in the audience and saw how intently she was watching them. Sailor Jupiter wondered what Mercury was thinking as she blocked the first swung of Rei's axe, ignoring the hard impact which the blow caused to her arms. She knew Mercurians considered Jovians as brutes and barbarians and kami knows what else, but she would have liked to know whether or not the Sailor Mercury considered her to be that kind of person too. She always beat every opponent she was against to, but at least she knew how to control her battle rage unlike some of her fellow soldiers back on Jupiter, though no one had ever died in duels there either, just injured rather seriously sometimes. Sailor Jupiter on the other hand had never hurt anyone seriously, she always held back in the battles if she was against a weaker opponent than herself.
Sailor Mars swung blows unbelievable fast and furiously and it was getting harder and harder for Jupiter to block her strucks. She had never before seen Rei fight so focused and well and her blows seemed to be much harder than before. Sailor Jupiter thought how long Mars would be able to keep her strucks so powerful before tiring herself out. Sailor Jupiter traits were durability and strength, but Mars was actually a bit more skilled with handling weapons and mastering different fighting styles. That combined to her current power using was making it harder for Makoto to block her. Before she had simply defeated Mars with pure force when blocking her blows, first tiring her in defensive battle and then attacking as Rei had tired herself and couldn't block Jupiter's attack. Never before had Mars put so much force in her blows that it almost penetrated Makoto's defence. However, Jupiter grinned because it still wasn't enough; Jupiter was able to wield the battle-axe with just her other hand when Rei had to use both hands and Jupiter was going to use that advantage.
When their axes struck together again, Jupiter didn't push Mars away like she always did, instead she held them together until Mars was sweating, her raven locks glued against her skin. Then Jupiter took a strong hold of the handle of Mars' axe with her left hand and twisted it a bit but was unable to break Rei's hold of it. That didn't matter though, since Jupiter swung her right axe arm to the direction of Mars's throat. It looked like Rei was surprised for a fraction of second but for Makoto's surprise she disappeared from her view and her axe swung through air. Luckily she was able to stop the movement, regardless from her surprise, before cutting her own arm. Jupiter felt Mars' axe being twisted from her left hand and so much was happening at once that her balance actually swayed slightly by the sudden jerk. Makoto had no idea how Rei had moved so fast, but when she got her balance back she felt the cold, sharp blade of Rei's axe pressed against her bare throat. Everything had happened in mere seconds and Jupiter was left to wonder how Mars could have been so quick. Makoto gulped a bit; she had never been in that end of a weapon and it really didn't feel that nice. She looked into Mars' eyes and saw hesitation there, as if she was waiting Jupiter to continue fighting even after that. 'Well first time for everything, ne?' Makoto thought and smiled a bit as let her axe drop on the ground.
''Who lives today is able fight tomorrow.'' Sailor Jupiter stated grinning as she lifted her hands a bit to mark her surrender.
That sentence certainly wasn't part of the Jovian philosophy, but it was something Makoto's onesan had taught her when Makoto had been a little girl. Her sister had been different; she had travelled a lot and had adopted different philosophies and ways of thinking from other planets, which often differed from Jovian habits. That was part of the reason why her sister's relationship to their father had been hard and that was the reason why Makoto was the heir of Jupiter's throne instead of her, though Makoto would have been now anyway since her sister had died in a disease couple of years ago. Makoto missed her dearly and especially her wisdom, Makoto found most of her thoughts interesting and sensible, though she wisely avoided mentioning that to her parents; especially the part that Makoto would practise few of those thoughts when claiming the throne of Jupiter. Sailor Jupiter also thought what Mercury would think about her now, seeing her losing for the first time. Seeing that she was a human being too, not some immortal and unbeatable goddess of war.
Sailor Mars was smirking unashamedly as she withdrew her axe from Jupiter's throat and they bowed politely to each other.
''Good match, Rei-san. You were quite impressing.'' Makoto complimented.
''Well, all thanks to my improvement goes to my sparring partner, Makoto-san.'' Rei answered cheerfully.
''Yeah, but I still wonder how? I mean you seemed to be fighting more focused, stronger and faster than last time, so how did you managed to do that in such a short time?''
''Well I gave my absolute all, Makoto-san. But.. there also was something different in you today.''
''What do you mean?'' Jupiter asked confused.
''Well, you see, it felt like I was somehow able to read your moves more easily. Normally when you fight, you're pretty expressionless, but it seemed you were having some kind of inner conflict going on today. I'm sorry if I'm wrong..'' Mars explained shrugging.
Jupiter stared her in disbelief; she had never before let her emotions to be seen, especially not during a duel. She had no idea that blue haired wonder had so big influence on her. Before Jupiter had a chance to answer to Mars she heard a frantic yell:
''Sailor Mars! Jupiter!'' Sailor Venus yelled as she ran down the stairs, her blonde hair swinging freely on the air.
''Nice match, Jupiter.'' Sailor Venus said to Makoto as she walked past her to face Mars, Jupiter just nodded for reply.
''Very good match, Sailor Mars. Well done.'' Minako congratulated the slightly blushing vice leader.
''Thank you, Sailor Venus.'' Mars said sounding very formal and Jupiter couldn't but to smile; it started to seem that Sailor Mars had someone she liked very much.
So much that Rei had found a new source of inner strength within her to beat Sailor Jupiter, though Jupiter's own feelings might have had something to do in that department. Sailor Jupiter watched amused as Sailor Mars enjoyed Venus' compliments and then searched Mercury from the audience with her gaze. There she was, once again readying herself to leave without saying anything.
''Sailor Mercury! Please wait!'' Sailor Venus yelled making Mercury halt surprised.
''Come here and have a duel with Sailor Jupiter. I haven't seen you fighting with a proper opponent yet.''
Mercury hesitated for a moment and then answered obediently ''Okay.'' as pressed her laptop harder against herself, seeming obviously to be very nervous.
''Oh and leave your laptop on your seat. Me and Mars are going to observe the situation from the audience.'' Sailor Venus stated as she dragged the foolishly grinning Mars to the benches.
Sailor Mercury had no chance to respond and she had no other choice than do like Venus had told her. She put her laptop down on her seat and took her uniform coat off slowly as if it was her last lifeline, some kind of armor which she didn't want to give away. Sailor Jupiter watched as the mortified looking Mercury walked down the stairs leading to the battling field and she actually felt a bit sorry for her. She knew Mercury didn't like that much duelling or fighting since she attended those trainings as rarely as possible and now she would have to prove her skills before their leader. On the other hand, it would have been a perfect opportunity to humiliate the heir of her supposed enemy planet and Makoto knew many of her fellow Jovians would have took the chance more than willingly, but Makoto pushed those thoughts aside. They were equal in the Moon Kingdom's palace, they were comrades there; fellow senshi. Therefore Sailor Jupiter decided to go easy on the Mercurian girl and let her show some of her moves before defeating her. She watched intently as Mercury did quickly her warm-ups and Jupiter found herself enjoying the sight. Finally Mercury was ready and she glanced around nervously.
''The battle axe Rei used is there.'' Sailor Jupiter said casually to Mercury and pointed at the weapon rack as Mercury reached her.
Sailor Mercury looked around nervously again as if looking a way out and when she found none she finally whispered so quietly that only Jupiter was able to hear her: ''Could we use some other weapon? Please, I'm not sure I can even wield that weapon because of its size.''
''Sure. What do you you want to use?'' Sailor Jupiter asked, keeping her expression plain and saw a look of surprise on Mercury's face.
She had apparently waited Jupiter to humiliate her before they even got started.
''T-Thank you. Could we take the sabers?'' Mercury said and blushed; Makoto had noticed the other girl blushed a lot and because of lot of things and she found that actually quite cute to her own surprise.
''Okay.'' Jupiter answered walking back to the weapon rack, putting down the battle-axe and choosing a saber carefully.
Makoto glanced Venus and Mars sitting in the audience; Venus waved at her cheerfully and Mars seemed to complain about something but Venus ignored her totally. She probably complained about the fact that Minako had made two heirs of the enemy planets fighting against each other. Sailor Jupiter too found the situation odd, but she also knew the fact Ami was a Mercurian wouldn't change anything and she would fight like she always did. She normally knew how to keep her emotions out of duels, whether practise or real. Besides they had a more important mission in guarding the princess than disputing with each other. Sailor Jupiter turned her attention back to Mercury and noticed the girl had picked her choice of a weapon. Sailor Jupiter walked casually to the middle of the stadium and took her fighting stance.
---
Sailor Mercury walked behind Sailor Jupiter to the middle of the stadium. She glanced around nervously the huge stadium, which managed to look even bigger when you were in it than when looking from the audience. The stadium was shaped perfectly round and its structure was made of grey stone as well as the floor of the stadium. It would have been softer to land on fine sand, but hard floor gave better foot hold and therefore accuracy, which they needed in fighting with real weapons unarmored, and it was easier for Moon Kingdom' servants to maintain it. Mercury stopped before Jupiter to face her and looked from Jupiter's shining steel saber to her own cold looking weapon and gulped rather loudly. She knew she had no chance against Makoto especially since she wasn't allowed to use her laptop in analysing the opponent and creating different strategies. Luckily though Mercury had seen Jupiter fighting many times so she at least knew what she was against to. Mercury had no idea why Sailor Venus had insisted out of nowhere her to fight and especially against someone like Jupiter, but she had no chance than to obey if she didn't want to lose her face before her sisters-in-arms. Losing the little respect she had in the eyes of the others didn't seem like an option at all, so she nervously took a better hold of her saber with her sweaty hands and tried to concentrate.
They both bowed and Sailor Jupiter indicated Mercury to make the first move with a small movement of her own hand. Mercury was thinking hard whether or not Jupiter was setting a trap for her and would finish her with the first strike to show her superiority. On the other hand, Mercury had nothing to lose so she took the initiative and swung her saber in a basic move, which Jupiter blocked easily. Their sabers made a contact with loud bang and bright sparkles. Jupiter shoved Mercury's saber away with such a force that the pushing movement made Mercury literally fly through the air and hitting the ground several feet away, her saber dropping from her hands. Quickly Ami lifted her hands on her head protectively, waiting for a blow and it took all her willpower not to call her planet power for aid, but if she was to die there she didn't want to lose her face and die as a coward. Mercury should have guessed that everything she heard about Jovians had been true and now she had fallen in one's trap and was going to pay for it dearly.
Mercury held her eyes tightly closed but no blow came. Finally she opened her eyes and saw Jupiter standing before her in a relaxed stance.
''I don't hit my opponents when they're on the ground. Please stand up so we can continue, our audience is getting restless. Or do you wish to give up already?'' Sailor Jupiter stated expressionlessly.
''No..'' Mercury replied, picking up her saber and standing up cautiously, still not believing what Jupiter had said.
Sailor Mercury frowned slightly; Jupiter had been even stronger than she had thought and no matter how hard she tried to think she couldn't come up with a way to break her defence though she knew it was Jupiter's weak point if she even had any. Sailor Jupiter left her defence sometimes slightly open but always had time to correct it before the enemy got chance to strike, so her defence was almost impervious and Mars was the only one Ami had ever seen breaking through it -once. Mercury sighed under her breath in frustration as she attacked again, striking fast but quite powerlessly. Sailor Venus had put her in a very awkward situation and she had hard time of getting out of it with keeping both her face and life in the progress. However, for Mercury's surprise Jupiter didn't block her blows with such force than she had in the first time and Ami actually got a chance to show some of her unique Mercurian moves as she was getting her battle spirit on. 'Is she holding back for me? But why? That makes no sense since has no obligations whatsoever towards me. Especially because of our planets..'' Mercury thought and felt in the same time her muscles getting tired and numb from the hard blows and long duel. She was pretty exhausted; sweat was running down the sides of her face and she knew she couldn't keep up much longer.
Finally Jupiter took the offensive and forced Mercury take steps backwards with each struck. Still Mercury was sure if Jupiter wanted she could end the duel in any time. Actually Mercury didn't mind anymore if she would just do that since she had already saved her face before her comrades and leader, but she knew quite well she couldn't just suddenly stop blocking the blows, since Jupiter wouldn't know to wait that and might hurt her accidentally. There was no other choice for her than wait their duel to come into conclusion in some other way. Suddenly Mercury gasped in surprise as she felt her back hitting into something solid and she realised she had been backed against the stadium's wall. She quickly glanced around and saw Venus and Mars still sitting at the audience, looking a bit nervous. Quickly Mercury turned her attention back to Jupiter who came nearer and nearer looking kind of spooky in Ami's opinion. Mercury raised her saber in one last attempt, but in vain as Jupiter grabbed her right wrist with her left hand, squeezing it lightly and making Mercury to drop her saber, shaken by the sudden touch. She had actually never touched Jupiter and now she was so close it was starting to have an effect on Ami. Jupiter lifted her saber and pressed it ever so slightly against Mercury's throat. Sailor Mercury didn't even want to know what her parents would have said if they had seen her right now; this was probably one of those situation which she should have avoided with any cost. Mercury was so caught up in the moment that all those thoughts banished from her head in mere seconds; even the feel of cold steel against her throat was forgotten as she stared into the auburn haired girl's bright green eyes. She was enchanted by Jupiter's touch and their closeness, which she had never experienced and she didn't want the feeling to stop. For some inexplicable reason Mercury had a raw need to kiss Jupiter hard and passionately right then and there. She wanted taste her, drink her empty and get drunk from her sweet scent. Ami had no idea if it was the after effect of her battle adrenaline, but she was shocked by her own thoughts in that kind of situation and she blushed bright red. Ami liked to stare Jupiter and found her fascinating, but never before had she thought the other girl in such a sexual context and it made her feel confused.
''Will you give up already or do we stay here for the rest of the day since I really don't want to hurt you more than this.'' Sailor Jupiter finally managed to say, feeling the weird tension between them as well.
Sailor Mercury's blush deepened as she realised she had totally forgotten where she was and what she was supposed to be doing instead of daydreaming and fantasising. Quickly Ami lifted her free hand a bit to mark her surrender and Makoto pulled her saber away. Mercury noticed something else in the Jupiter's expression as well as she took a step back but she had no idea what it was. Usually they acted so professionally and formally towards each other, but that duel had thrown them into different kind of situation and behavior.
''Good fight Sailor Jupiter.'' Sailor Venus said and slapped Makoto on the back as she suddenly appeared in the ground level of the stadium.
''Thank you, Minako-san.'' Sailor Jupiter answered and left to return her saber back on the weapon rack and talk to Mars who was there as well.
The magic was totally broken and Sailor Mercury found herself looking into her leader's cerulean eyes instead of Jupiter's green ones.
''You fought very well, Sailor Mercury. I'm impressed.'' Venus complimented and Mercury's blush returned.
''She could have chopped me into pieces if she really had wanted to.'' Mercury confessed, not wanting to lie to her leader.
''Let me tell you a secret.'', Venus said and then whispered into Mercury's ear, ''I know she could chop anyone of us into pieces if she wanted to, I have kept an eye on all of you and I have your statistics, but I'm still impressed of your fighting skills though intelligence is your best trait after all.'' Venus concluded patting Ami on the shoulder and walked to talk with Jupiter and Mars.
Sailor Mercury picked her saber from the ground and stared Jupiter like she had done many times before. Since their very first meeting, the tall brunette had haunted Mercury's mind, but until now she had never been so close to her. For some reason Ami's beating heart didn't calm down even though the fight was over.
---
Later that night Sailor Jupiter was walking down the aisle leading to her personal room and saw Sailor Mercury standing in the corridor. It wasn't that big of a surprise since all the senshi lived along the same corridor so Jupiter decided just to ignore her and go to her room without saying anything.
''Um..Jupiter?'' the shy Mercurian started, her eyes never leaving Jupiter's form.
For some unknown reason Jupiter mouth was suddenly very dry as she turned to face Sailor Mercury.
'Why does that girl have so huge influence on me? We're supposed to be enemies.' Sailor Jupiter thought as she asked: ''Yes, Mercury?''
''Um.. Why did you help me today?''
''Why wouldn't I? Because we're supposed to be enemies?'' Jupiter shot back and Mercury turned her head aside in shame.
Jupiter immediately regretted her rude answer and tried to correct her behavior: ''Even though our planets don't like each other's, we're still senshi. It would have done no good if Minako hadn't seen your skills. Besides the duel wasn't even fair from the beginning since you weren't allowed to use your own equipment. It would have been the same if Minako had told me not use my right arm at all. I understand that our ways to fight are different so it was in a way an unfair duel.'' Jupiter concluded and thought in the same time that it had probably been Venus' intention from the beginning.
Venus had wanted to see whether or not Jupiter would use the given chance to humiliate her enemy or would she think what was best for the group. Their leader wasn't just some air-headed blonde but knew exactly what she was doing. Venus knew there was much more than mere strength to be a great warrior and it seemed today Makoto had passed at least one of her tests. She had no will to torment the Mercurian girl and she was tired of thinking all the time how she should think and feel towards her. All that time she had spent in the duty with Mercury she had seen nothing that would make her hate the other girl. Unnecessarily hate just makes one tired and eats one slowly inside, Makoto knew that. She spent lot of time trying to ignore everything, but still Mercury's face popped sometimes in her head and what she felt then was far from hatred.
''Oh, I see. I'm sorry for questioning your motives.'' Sailor Mercury stated, interrupting Jupiter's thoughts and bowed.
''It's okay, really. Now if you'll excuse me.'' Jupiter replied embarrassed and opened the door leading to her room.
''Um..'' the blue haired girl started again.
''Yes?''
''Thank you, Jupiter. I mean it.''
''You're welcome. Mercury.'' Jupiter said smiling a bit before she closed the door.
Makoto sighed in relief that she got out of sight since she was now blushing furiously. She didn't know what was so special in that shy girl that made her feel like pudding when they just talked casually. Never before in her whole life had Jupiter felt that way. Sailor Jupiter knew she was falling for the enemy planet's heir -and hard.
To be continued..
A/N: That was the a bit long second chappie, but it balances the situation since the first chappie was rather short, hehe.
In the next chappie something very bad is about to happen to Mercury but what will be Jupiter's reaction to it? I might not be able to update the next chapter as fast I would want to, but I won't take too long so hopefully see you later! :)
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