Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Utena, Revolutionary Girl Fan Fiction ❯ Being a Princess Doesn't Mean You are Helpless ❯ Settling In ( Chapter 2 )

Being a Princess Doesn't Mean You Are Helpless II

Disclaimer: Neither Shoujo Kakumei Utena or Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon belong to me, and I make no money from this work of fanfiction at all.

Dust flew up, filling Usagi's nose and eyes, causing a truly gigantic sneeze. This was followed by the sneezes of the other girls in the room, and Usagi sneezed again, and the round continued for some minutes before they stopped.

"So, this is the room you were assigned?" Utena asked her new friend, and Usagi nodded glumly. It was on the same floor, right next to the one that Utena and Anthy occupied. It was coated in dust and cobwebs, like most of the building that Utena and Anthy didn't use.

"I'll help you clean it," Utena said, brightly, even though she cringed at the thought. "Since you're new here. Maybe Wakaba could help, too, and you can stay in our room until its all cleaned up, right Anthy?"

Usagi looked at the placid-eyed girl, and was surprised to almost see a touch of emotion on her face. It was gone as soon as it registered, and Usagi wondered if she had really seen it.

"Of course, Utena-sama," she murmured, in a way that made the Moon Princess' skin crawl.

"Well, lets get your things into our room," Utena ordered, and grabbed Usagi's bags, and they hauled them into their room. All of them changed clothes into something they wouldn't mind getting dusty, and attacked the nasty room Usagi had been assigned. They went at it for hours, until-

A low growl caught their attention, and Utena and Anthy blinked, turning to Usagi who had the grace to look embarrassed. Her stomach kept making noises, however.

"I guess we need food," Utena said delicately, and got up. They had made some headway, but the room still was messy. Getting to their feet, the girls all headed to the cafeteria, and found Wakaba waiting for them.

"Ew, what have you guys been up to?" she asked, wrinkling her cute nose. Usagi rolled her eyes.

Putting her nose in the air, Usagi crossed her arms. "I'll have you know we have been doing honest work, you freeloader," she sniffed. Wakaba giggled- and walloped her over the head with a roll. Usagi looked miffed for a moment before returning the favor-

The War of the Rolls was on.

~*~*~*~*~

"This is probably the most childish display that has ever been seen in Ohtori," Touga snarled, standing in front of the food splattered Wakaba and Usagi. Both girls were trying hard to look penitent, but with Touga having crumbs in his hair and his once spotless white uniform covered in gravy…

Well, lets say that no one would be thinking the pretty boy was very dignified for a while.

"Its no more childish then some of your antics," muttered Juri, under her breath, just loud enough for Usagi and Wakaba to hear. Neither girl looked at her- but they were both suddenly grinning even more.

Touga glared, trying to intimidate both. It wasn't working.

"You will both have to hold water buckets for the next twenty minutes," Touga snarled, mad that he couldn't do more to them.

Both girls dutifully nodded, as the irate student council president handed them both buckets. They went to fill them with water, and Juri winked to them as they left. Honestly, getting gravy on Touga was something she had wanted to do for a long time…

"What's so funny, Treasurer?" Touga glared. It had always irked him that Juri was so immune to his charms, and what was worse, she seemed to be teaching these new girls how to resist him too. He kept glaring as she casually shrugged and left the room.

The lovely tigress waited until Touga had left, fuming, and she smiled casually at the two girls holding buckets.

"Do you two mind helping me with some fencing equipment? As a member of the student council, I have the right to get people to help me…"

Usagi and Wakaba looked at her gratefully. Their arms had already started to tremble with ache at the full buckets. Juri didn't say anything, just gave the impression they were expected to follow, and follow they did.

The gym they went to had lots of smelly fencing equipment, masks, jackets, electric score keeping equipment, foils, epees, sabers, pasterns… They were littered across the floor.

Without preamble Juri dragged out several boxes, racks, and trashcans on wheels.

"Put the jackets here," she pointed to a large bin. "The pasterns here, and the masks go on the rack. The weapons go into the cans, and we will wheel them to the storage rooms. The jackets we need to carry to the laundry. As the head of the fencing club, I usually end up with this job," Juri sighed and stretched a bit. Those things were heavy.

She immediately went to work winding up spools of cable, and collecting the scoring equipment. They went into their properly labeled boxes, and she turned to see that Usagi and Wakaba were making a quick job of putting things away, bantering as they did. Juri wondered if she should stop them from chattering… but she enjoyed watching their easy familiarity. It also made her wistful, and in her mind's eye, she imagined herself of several years ago, with Shiori.

Juri's lips quirked downward in the barest of frowns. She knew it didn't do well to dwell on those memories, but her faith in miracles had been alive then, and she had been happy. Her heart ached.

Someone tried to get her attention.

"Hmm?" she asked, not knowing what was said.

"Juri-sempai, I asked if you were all right, you looked sad," Usagi asked softly, her blue eyes brimming with concern.

"Its nothing," Juri tried to snap. Dammit, how come she couldn't get mad with those eyes staring at her?

"All right," Usagi sighed. Wakaba blinked at her, and looked at Juri. The fencing captain was surprised to see the other girl's eyes widen then fill with concern, before turning to Usagi. They went back to work on their cleaning duty, and Juri was left to wonder exactly what had happened there…

~*~*~*~*~*~

"I never thought about it," Wakaba said softly, as she and Usagi walked back to her dorm. It was the weekend, no classes, but clubs often met.

"Thought about what?" Usagi asked distractedly.

"That being one of the special people on campus was so much work! I just sort of thought that people who were special… were. Does that make any sense?"

"Being special is part of who you are," Usagi answered, eyes still in the distance. "People are special in different ways. Utena is special because she shines with nobility. Juri is special because she is hurt, but tried to help us anyways. You are special, because you love people for who they are, and bring joy to those around you."

Wakaba stopped dead. "I'm not special," she protested. "If I were…" She bit her lip.

"If you were, what?" Usagi asked in confusion.

"If I were, the guy I liked would notice me," she said carefully.

Usagi abruptly slapped her on the back. "Cheer up! If he doesn't notice you, he's not worthy!"

"But-" Wakaba whimpered. Usagi immediately began to plot…

"It might be that this guy is just shy, you know," Usagi said, thinking. Wakaba shook her head.

"No, he's not shy," she whispered.

"Have you done anything to show him you exist?" Usagi questioned, turning and poking a finger into Wakaba's chest. She blushed wildly.

"N-no," Wakaba replied, eyes widening.

"WELL!" Usagi declared. "This should be easy! We just have to get him to notice you!"

Wakaba's eyes filled with fear. Sweat broke out on her face.

"I'm not sure I want him to notice me," Wakaba muttered uneasily. "I think I'll enjoy my crush in private." She started to walk off, startling her friend.

"Wakaba! What's wrong?" she called, trotting to keep up with her. "I know all about dealing with guys! It's not that hard. We'll be able to get you two together in no time!"

Wakaba didn't say anything, just kept walking.

Usagi stopped, stumped by what was going on. She didn't know why Wakaba would act like that, when they had chatted so easily before. Usagi had told her all about her friends and Mamoru- well, not the Sailor Senshi part, she knew better than to do that. Wakaba didn't seem that shy about things...

All of a sudden Wakaba broke down crying. Usagi bit her lip. She wanted to run to her and give her a hug...

Oh hell, she knew what a heart needed when they were broken. The Moon Princess pulled the genki girl into a gentle hug, and let her soak her white clad shoulder.

The story came out in blurbs and drips. She had had this crush on a guy, for a long time, and finally sent him a love letter. He'd posted it for everyone to read. An old friend had found out, and gone to challenge this guy to a duel to avenge her honor. Wakaba, who had always teased her friend about being her only true love, had slowly become it. Wakaba had no idea what to do now...

"Are you afraid you'll loose your friend if you tell him how you feel?" Usagi asked gently.

Wakaba nodded, hurriedly.

"Who is this person? I think I can help."

Wakaba refused to look Usagi in the eye, her neck and shoulders tensing, like she expected to be hit.

"Utena."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Several days had passed, and Usagi still didn't know what to do. She didn't find anything wrong with how Wakaba felt for Utena, considering Haruka and Michiru. She was just at a loss as to how to get them together.

Absently she twisted a piece of hair around a finger, and chewed her bottom lip. Usagi wasn't the type to sit and think long and hard about things, but this was a situation that warranted it. Under normal circumstances, she would have gone to Minako for advice. Unfortunately, she couldn't- Minako was in England, trying out for a part in the latest Sailor V movie.

The fountain she sat at was beautiful, part of her thought distractedly. It was easier to focus on that than it was to try to and come up with a matchmaking plan. A large lion statue overlooked her, in an almost protective posture, as she gazed into the reflective pool. The moon stared serenely back.

Utena might swing that way, part of her decided. The problem was getting her away from Anthy. The girl followed her constantly, and that made Wakaba both nervous and jealous.

"Nice to see you in something other than that awful uniform," called a soft voice. Startled, Usagi's head whipped up, and again, there was Juri. Only this time she wasn't in her Student Council uniform. Now she was in a long white robe, frilled at the V collar, and a purple wrap to keep off the chill.

"Juri-sempai," Usagi replied, stuttering.

"School's out, Usagi. You can call me Juri if you want to."

"Hai, Juri-san."

Juri just shook her head and sat next to her. Usagi stared at her, and then tried not to but didn't have much luck. The upperclassmen, without her rigid curls, in the elegant robe, seemed much more human than she usually did. Far more approachable, in fact.

"What's wrong, Usagi-san," Juri asked softly, her voice almost a whisper.

"I have a friend," she began hesitantly. "She is in love with someone but is afraid to do anything about it. I am trying to think of some way to get them together." Usagi sighed. "My friend Minako was much better at this than I am."

"Maybe if they were do to something together they enjoyed? Or start a new hobby together? You might not want to suggest it to them as a 'couple' thing, but as a group? You and them, to keep them from getting nervous?"

Usagi turned to Juri and stared at her like she had never seen her before. "Sempai- that is BRILLIANT!"

Then came the flying glomp.

"But what?" Usagi muttered, her chin in her hands as Juri recovered from the hug.

"I could get you and them into the Fencing club. If you don't want to try that, you could always try the Kendo club, or another sports club."

"So long as it's not chess," Usagi said, wrinkling her nose. "Chess drives me nuts."

Juri shrugged. "There is always bowling."

Usagi laughed at that. She didn't know why... Having the Sempai around just cheered her up, and made her feel a great deal more confident.

"Arigato gozaimasu," she told the red haired tigress.

"You are welcome, Usagi-san," Juri answered, and got up to leave. She walked off to bed, with the lightest heart she had had in years...

*~*~*~*~

Usagi watched the distant Juri talk to a young, blue haired man, whom Wakaba had told her was called Miki. The resemblance between him and her friend Ami was startling, and she felt like giggling when she imagined her friend in such a costume.

Biting her lip, she wondered how she could tell Juri thank you for helping her come up with ideas the other day. There had to be something she could do...

Looking around, she cast about for anything at all- then caught site of a garden- one that she hadn't seen before. It was different than the ever-present roses she had become familiar with. This one held delicate orchids and lilies, violets and tulips. It was in an out of the way corner, walled away like it was diseased, but it held a charm to it that she couldn't ignore. Drifting into it, she noticed tiny white flowers forming a moon in the center and she smiled. It was felt so different here- the oppressive cloud on her that seemed to fog all thought lifted. She breathed deeply.

Lovely, speckled pink and white lilies covered the far wall, and she crossed the lush, green carpet of grass. Plucking one, she inhaled its bold scent.

"A stargazer lily," she murmured, and headed away. Grinning at her gift, she skipped over to the elegant panther of a woman named Juri.

She waited until Miki and Juri noticed her to say anything- she wanted to be polite for giving a gift.

The silence that stretched out between the three became noticeably awkward, and the Moon Princess wondered what she had done. Looking into Juri's stunned eyes, she noticed the emerald eyes soften, the mask of indifference falling enough to let a profound loneliness shine through. Her kind soul ached to soothe that pain...

Juri was shocked. Her first thought had been of when Shiori had given her an orange rose- then the time she had slapped Anthy for doing the same thing.

Yet this wasn't an orange rose; it was a lily, a stargazer.

"I haven't seen a flower that wasn't a rose in... forever," she whispered, voice catching in her throat. She reached out, and took the thick green stem between her fingers. The pleasant, strong smell seemed to bring with it a feeling of care and comfort that surprised her. It was a gentle balm on her sore soul.

"Do you like it, Juri-sempai?" Usagi asked, eager to hear her answer. Juri finally met her eyes, and they smiled at each other.

"I do, thank you Usagi-san."

"Do you want to be friends?" Usagi blurted, before she realized what she had said. There was a soft gasp from Miki. As far as he knew, people just didn't go up to Juri and ask to be friends...

To be continued!

A/N: Yes, its true, my great secret is out… I am a closet Wakaba/Utena fan. My reasons are that no one truly appreciates her the way that Wakaba does. She teases her, lightens her moods, and was he one to snap her out of her Touga induced funk after she lost that duel. What happens during the Black Rose Saga breaks my heart, because Wakaba deserves better. I empathize and identify with her about how hard it is to be in the shadow of the 'special, shining' people of the world. Anthy, while she is the princess of this fairly tale, doesn't care about Utena the same way that Wakaba does. That doesn't necessarily mean I'll put them together… Can't have things be too predictable, can I?