Makoto Kino smiled as the brown haired woman walked the streets of Crystal Tokyo, her simple green summer dress swirling around her legs. She could have taken a bus or cab, of course, but being out in the sun like this was remarkably enjoyable, especially when she was going out into the city with a friend. 'Now,' Makoto thought to herself with some amusement, 'if I could only convince my friends that we're just friends.' "Mako-chan," Taiki waved from where the redish brown haired woman waited for her by the gate of the Starlight's home. She looked nice in her dress pants anf blouse, the swell of breasts and hips making it very clear the subtlelly androgenous figure was female. "I hope you we'ren't waiting too long," Makoto smiled, "I wanted to shower after I finished my trainig session with Erica." "You're still training her to fight?" Taiki asked as they fell into step together, heading up the street into town. "Hmm," Makoto nodded, "and she's getting pretty good, too." Taiki smiled, "I'm not surprised, considering who her parents are." "So what do you want to do today?" Makoto asked curiously. With an impish look Taiki chuckled, "Surprse me." She looked over at Makoto curiously, "It occured to me that I'm being pretty rude taking up so much of your time... am I taking you away from your duties?" "Not really," Makoto reassured him, "as Lady Jupiter my primary duty is being the representative of the police and internal security forces, most of which involves overseeing my very good deputies." Taiki smiled as they walked together through a rain of cherry blossoms, the delicate red tinted petals falling down from the trees lining the road as a breeze ruffled their hair. "You sound like a very good manager," Taiki admitted. "I try to be," Makoto said modestly. She chuckled as she remembered, "Back when we first helped found Crystal Tokyo we all took a much more hands on approach to running things... but now we try to let the people control their own destiny." "Queen Kakyuu would probably agree," Taiki nodded. It was oddly pleasant on the streets of the city, an example of the politeness that was one of the foundations of the society here. People recognized a preformer like Taiki, of course, but the custom of privacy caused the majority to keave them in peace, only the occasional flash of a camera disturbing them. "We're here," Makoto said as they came around a corner, the old style structure of gleaming white stone shining in the sunlight. "The Tokyo museum?" Taiki recognized it, her voice showing the excitement of a scholar finding a new toy. "Seiya mentioned you wanted to go but the others overruled you," Makoto chuckled as they walked up the sidewalk. The great doors swung open silently as they neared the building, the hall within lined with people looking at exhibits and following tours. "I know this sort of thing isn't her or Yaten's style," she said as Makoto lead her in, "but I had to try." "You sound like Ami when she deals with us," Makoto noted with some amusement, "trying to bring us culture and refinement even if it kills her." "I doubt you were ever that bad," Taiki said with amusement. Makoto actually blushed slightly, "Thanks." Right near the main entrance was a large, three dimensional map of Crystal Tokyo, then beneath it images that could be activated of each of the cities that had once stood in it's place. "Fasinating," Taikli traced the path from Tokyo to Tokyo-2, then the merger to the larger city of Megatokyo. Centuries of building and destruction had left only a Junkyard City at one point, before the reformation and foundation of Crystal Tokyo itself. "Isn't it," Makoto agreed. "Other than Arisugawa's Locket not much of old Tokyo remains, though the Palace itself is built on the location of Tokyo Tower." "I remember seeing the Tower when we were on Earth the first time," Taiki agreed. She looked thoughtful, "I heard the Tower was a focus point of unusual energies?" "Some very odd stuff happened around it," Makoto agreed as they walked on, chatting comfortably. "Dimensional incursions, superhuman battles and even a few of our Senshi battles," she revealed. There was a display on old Tokyo with historic landmarks, artifacts of the Corporate Wars, the Exodus era where starships had fled chaos from Earth and colonized the rest of the solar system and beyond. One section even dealt with the shock that had hit the archeological comunity when the ruins of the Moon Kingdom and other artifacts of that era were discovered. Taiki looked at the map of the solar system thoughtfully, "So do you actually visit the palace you have orbiting Jupiter?" "I make a yearly pilgrimage," Makoto acknowledged, "but not much more than that." She frowned, "Though recently I've had to take a more active interest." "Oh?" Taiki asked as they walked by a display of Juraian artifacts found on Earth. Makoto smiled wryly, "There's a project to build orbital habitats around Jupiter, hopefully to mine elemental gasses from it's atmosphere. Since it's my territory more or less, I'm keeping an eye on them." "Makes sense." Taiki said, stopping them at a larger display near the rear of the building. "Is this when Sailor Moon took over?" he waved towards the scene, a reproduction of when Neo-Queen Serenity had signed agreements with the surviving world governments shortly before the founding of Crystal Tokyo. Makoto laughed gently at how he described the event, "That's when she agreed to become queen, but she didn't take over." Taiki chuckled, "Sorry, I haven't had much chance to study your government." "Wish Ami was here, she could explain it better," Makoto frowned. Taiki reached out to put her hand on Makoto's bare arm, "I'm sure you'll do fine." Another faint blush touched Makoto's cheeks. "What we are is a variation on a constitutional monarchy," she revealed, "Serenity is queen but she's in part governed by Parliment, who can veto her decisions and hold power over budget and much of our policies." "Checks and ballances," Taiki noted. "Yes, Serenity refused to take the job of Queen unless there were a great deal of limits on the power of the office," Makoto agreed. "And the Senshi and your allies are...?" Taiki asked. "Many of us are ministers in charge of various areas," Makoto said, "and there is a certain amount of authority that goes with our reputations, too." "I know how that feels," Taiki cheerfully agreed, the two moving back towards the front of the museum. Makoto smiled over at her, "So how's the negotiations going with Serenity?" "We're probably going to have to summon Queen Kakyuu soon," Taiki said cheerfully, "to sign the treaties." Makoto hesitated, unsure if she wanted to ask the next question. "Does that mean you'll be going home soon?" she asked. "Actually, no," Taiki said with a slight smile, "Queen Kakyuu wants one of we Starlights to remain as an ambassador and I volunteered." Makoto smiled in relief. "I'm glad," she said, her voice barely a whisper. They walked out of the museum, both blinking in the bright sunlight. "I was wondering," Taiki said as they reached the building the Starlights were staying in, "would you like to go out to dinner with me later this week?" Makoto looked at Taiki in surprise, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, "I'd love to."
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