Girls and Gossip! (Mina, Hota, Open)

[Aino Minako]

After a quick stop off at the bar to collect a flute of champagne, Minako headed for the buffet line. She had spent half her night dancing with Khalid and the other half dealing with Nephrite's sudden appearance. Her stomach was growling and she decided that perusing the buffet to sample Makoto's tasty menu would be an excellent way to calm herself down after all the excitement of the early evening's events. Plus, there was still the countdown to come, she'd promised to spend some time with Motoki, Zacharie was in attendance and she wanted to greet him, and Khalid was likely to find his way back to her side anytime soon.

She picked up a place, and made her way along the food line, setting her glass down as she place a few morsels of the different selections on her plate. Sushi, dumplings, and rice were standard, but there were also selections from foreign cultures, some of which Minako was familiar with; others she'd never tried before. Plate filled, she headed for one of the tables that lined the edges of the ballroom and settled into her seat to eat.

[Tomoe Hotaru]

Carefully balancing her own full plate, Hotaru sought desperately for an empty seat, wondering how on earth she was going to manage to eat all of the food she'd gotten. She hadn't meant to get so much, but then one of the servers had noticed her at the buffet and had guided her along, heaping her plate with a little of everything before rushing off to help someone else.

Her eyes flickered over the crowed and caught sight of a flash of blond, recognizing the slender young woman as Minako. Hesitately she approached the table, glancing at the empty seat before tenatively looking back up at the other senshi.

"Would you mind if I joined you, Minako-chan?"

[Aino Minako]

Minako's head turned in the direction of the young voice and she immediately nodded. The pace of her chewing increased as she tried to clear her mouth of food in order to give a proper answer; she'd taken far too large of a bite, especially given the formal gathering around her. She been so hungry after the hour of dancing and the events in the garden that holed up at the out of the way table, she let all her etiquette training lapse.

Finally swallowing, she smiled up at Hotaru. "I'd love for you to join me. We haven't had the chance to talk much since I returned from touring and I want to hear all about what's going on with you." Minako eyed Hotaru's plate, and then shot the skinny young girl a look, "Hungry?"

[Luna]

Luna was definitely enjoying this night. She had come in on Artemis’s arm earlier and had spent the time delighting in everything. She had enjoyed speaking to people without them getting that ‘shocked’ expression they always wore whenever a cat spoke to them. These people really had no clue as to who she was and so she didn’t have to put up with any false niceties either, not even the palace staff knew that she was Usagi’s little black cat advisor.

She had sipped at a flute or two of champagne, listened to the music, and just all around enjoyed herself. Luna had been greatly startled and more then a little worried after the floor had trembled violently beneath her feet. She hadn’t been at all convinced by Usagi’s story that it had been an earthquake, especially after she watched Usagi, Mamoru, Lucan, and Minako head toward the gardens as quickly as they could. However, she knew that there wasn’t anything she could do to be of help and so she had stayed inside with Artemis and all the rest of the guests, praying that whatever had happened would be handled just fine by Usagi and the girls.

Luna had been relieved when she saw the Usagi return to the ball room later and after she had caught sight of Nephrite with both Mamoru and later Makoto she had even figured out what must have happened. This disturbed her a bit, but considering the fact that everything seemed at peace she figured that all was well at the moment.

However, she still wanted answers and so after she had spotted both Minako and Hotaru by the buffet table she left Artemis to his own devices and made her way over there. Besides she had yet to sample any of Makoto’s food and she was beginning to be hungry. She made herself a plate, before stepping over to Minako and Hotaru’s side and asking, “Would you mind if I joined you both?”

[Tomoe Hotaru]

"Thank you," she responded gratefully, placing her heavy burden down in front of the empty chair before taking a seat. "My life has pretty much been the same as it was since you left. Nothing terribly intresting, I'm afraid. I hadn't heard you had gotten back- I really want to hear all about your travels." She tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear before carefully placing one of the white linen napkins in her lap, looking down shyly before admitting, "I bought your albums. . ."

Hotaru blushed, staring down at her overflowing plate in time to see a stray olive fall off and bounce away, rolling underneath a neighboring table. She groaned quietly, hoping no one else had noticed. "Apparently according to one of the servers, I just had to try this, and some of that, oh, and I'm too skinny and need to eat more." She shook her head. "I doubt I'll be able to eat most of it."

At the sound of Luna's voice she looked up and smiled, gesturing to the empty chair. "Not at all. How have you been, Luna?"

[Aino Minako]

"Well, I spent some time in Europe last year touring through France, Germany, and Italy. I found the people there to be quite nice, even in France, although I suppose when you're a celebrity they don't care where you're from. I was surprised that people there knew me, but apparently the J-pop following as really picked up over the last few years, especially after Usagi's coronation, and I was recognized everywhere I went. Maybe some of that was being part of the queen's court. Who knows. But the best part was returning to London. I hadn't been there since I was thirteen, and I have to say I was relieved that overall, not much had a changed. There is still that old fashion vibe there - you know they still have a queen as well, even if she's always been a figurehead and from now on will definitively hold the title only in memory." Minako realized she was rambling on, and laughed, "Listen to me. You bought my album? Did you like it? I think this last one was my favorite."

She turned as Luna walked up and joined them. The rest of the attendees may not recognize her, but Minako and Hotaru could place the cat, even in her human form, with little difficulty. "Of course we don't mine, Luna," Minako told her. "Are you enjoying the ball? What about Artemis?" Minako suddenly glance around looking for her cat - she was used to being without him and adjusting to his return had taken a little time, even if his presence was completely natural to her. "Is he here too and in human form?"

[Luna]

Luna smiled at the youngest senshi and took the chair beside her. She really needed to make a point of talking to Hotaru more often, especially since the younger girl was under their care while her parents were away. “I’ve been doing fairly well Hotaru, a little stressed with all of the current events but otherwise just fine. Thank you for asking.”

She turned toward Minako delightedly and said, “I am enjoying being here at the ball. It’s the most fun I’ve had in a long while.” Luna pointed across the room to where she had left Artemis and added, “Artemis is right over there. Usagi was kind enough to give both of us this great gift for the evening.”

Luna watched Artemis appreciatively for a moment before turning back to Minako and saying, “You should go talk to him later. He’d enjoy that immensely, he really missed you when the two of you went your separate ways.”

[Tomoe Hotaru]

Hotaru listened to Minako with wide eyes, eager to hear more about the other countries, and smiled when the other senshi cut off her rambling. "I don't mind- it's fascinating. I've always liked hearing about other places and their histories. "

Her small smile turned into a wider grin. "I have all of them, actually. I do like your latest, but I think your second album will always be my favorite- the ballad on there is wonderful. Not that the newest isn't good," she assured the blond, "I like it very much- especially that one they've been playing on the radio non stop."

She followed Luna's glance to the other of the feline advisors, smiling to see him apparently enjoying himself. "I can imagine how much he missed Minako- they were together for a long time. . ."

"You look very pretty, Luna,"she added, taking a small bite of her salad, admiring her long wavy black hair and elegan gown. "I would like my hair to do that."

[Aino Minako]

"I missed him too, Luna," Minako replied as her eyes followed to where Luna pointed. Artemis stood off in the crowd in human form, dressed up in formal wear. He did make for a handsome human, she thought to herself, but she voiced nothing more on the subject. She had forgiven him for leaving, but the memory was still something she didn't feel like sharing, even with those she trusted. She picked up her fork and took a bit of food as a way to deter more questions on the subject and was glad when Hotaru turned the conversation to Luna.

"You do look lovely, Luna. Have you danced with Artemis yet?"

[Luna]

Luna nodded in agreement to Hotaru’s words, but a lot of her attention was on Minako. She patted her gently on the hand in understanding, but didn’t say anything more on the subject. She could see that Minako didn’t want to talk about it and so she wouldn’t force the issue. It was between Artemis and Minako anyway.

She turned her attention back to Hotaru with a smile. “Thank Hotaru, but you know you look very pretty too. That gown is just perfect for you and in a few years you could grow your own hair out if you really wanted to.”

Luna glanced back toward Minako with a blush and murmured, “I haven’t had to chance to dance with him yet, but I’m hoping to be able to before the night is over.”

[Tomoe Hotaru]

Her gloved fingers automatically smoothed her skirts again, the amythest fabric whispering softly around her ankles with the movement. "Thank you, Luna," she murmured, her cheeks warming.

Hotaru shook her head slightly, causing her raven tresses in question to sway. "No. . . I don't think I'll grow my hair out. Not yet anyway." Her dark lashed lids closed briefly, an image of choking strands of black silken hair strangling, killing. Her eyes opened again, and she smiled. No, not yet. But perhaps soon; the memories would not torment her forever.

"I'm sure you'll get to dance with him," she told Luna sincerly, glancing at Artemis again before giving a brief flickering glance over the room to make sure all her sisters were doing well.

Taking another bite of her food, she chewed silently for a moment before speaking heasitantly. "Usagi-chan and Mamoru-san is everything. . ." She broke off, feeling awkward. "Never mind. It isn't my place to ask."

[Aino Minako]

Minako noticed that neither of her friends pushed any further on the subject of Artemis, and she silently thanked them. The conversation centered on Luna and Hotaru for a bit. Minako raised her eyebrows when the topic of Usagi and Mamoru came up. She wasn't surprised that Hotaru didn't know - she doubted the younger senshi spent much time reading the tabloids and Minako knew the local news wasn't on her top-tv-shows-list when she was a teenager.

"You can ask, Hotaru. If the media can ask, certainly you can." Minako set down her fork and took a deep breath. "Usagi broke up with Mamoru."

[Luna]

Luna nodded happily and murmured, “I know I will Hotaru ...” She nibbled at some of the food she had gotten, but she set it aside when Hotaru brought up Usagi and Mamoru. That subject still made her very uneasy, but like Minako she agreed that Hotaru had every right to ask about what had been going on.

“Minako is right Hotaru, there isn’t any reason why you shouldn’t ask. In fact we probably should have brought it up to you a lot sooner. You have every right to know what’s going on.”

[Tomoe Hotaru]

Minako's words hit Hotaru like a load of heavy bricks to the chest. The fork fell from her limp fingers onto the table top, the chatter and laughter of the guests around them white noise in her ears as she stared numbly at Luna, then Minako.

"Broke. . . up. . . " she repeated softly.

No wonder she had been feeling so uneasy. No wonder she had sensed such tension between Mamoru and Usagi. It made sense now why Chibi Usa suddenly seemed as insubstantial as a ghost. The future she had been looking forward to was in jeopardy and she hadn't even realized it until the it was too late to prevent any complications.

She took a deep breath to steady herself, forcing her fingers clutching at the edge of the table to relax, lifting her clear purple gaze up again. The path to the future wasn't as easy and as simple as they liked to believe. Setsuna-mama herself had told her this. She had to remember that she had to.

Believe in the King and Queen.

"Tell me," she requested softly.

[Aino Minako]

Minako watched Hotaru's reaction to the news and felt her heart sinking for the younger girl. Minako too had felt the impact of the loss of Chibiusa when Usagi had made clear to her that she wasn't in a position to forgive Mamoru easily. But while Minako loved Chibiusa as much as the rest of the senshi, Chibiusa had been Hotaru's only friend during Hotaru's first life, and Minako knew Hotaru looked forward to the day they'd be together again.

She didn't know how much Hotaru knew about their past with the Shitennou. "You saw what happened today with Nephrite, right?" Minako asked, then continued on knowing the answer was yes. "Nephrite is one of the Shitennou, the generals who were Endymion's most trusted advisors. In the Silver Millennium, they turned to the enemy's side - either by brainwashing or choice, I honestly don't think we'll every really know for sure. We were all killed during that time, and Usagi's Mother - Queen Selenity - sent us here to the future, where we once again face and destroyed them. But all this time, Mamoru has kept their souls locked in stones in a box, or something like that, while apparently their innocent halves made lives here on Earth."

Minako paused for a moment to take a breath. "Anyway, all that is back story I suppose. The issue is that Mamoru didn't tell Usagi about the stones and the Shitennou's souls and other such things and she felt she could no longer trust him. As bad as his secret sounds though, I don't think it's enough on it's own. I think something else underlying all this is the real issue and the secret about the stones simply brought it to light. I know she still loves him..."

Minako reached over and softly squeezed Hotaru's hand. "In the end, what is meant to happen will happen."