Kitari: "Sailor. What's going on down there."

Kitari's voice was void of emotions. That was the first thing Sailor figured out once she got her healing attribute working (Pisces Ability). At first, she was shocked, but then steadily found herself sound the same way. Apparently the forest they were near was close the palace square, where women were dressed in elaborate Punishments or Wishes themed dresses. Sailor rolled over a little, from her tree crater dip.

"Ooh! I worked so hard thing of the right design for this~!"

"What? You think you have a chance? As if!"

"Hm? What are you ladies going to?"

"Oh, are you a commoner!? There's to happen, the Department Gathering Party!"

Sailor/Kitari: "....."

Though, they can't seem to show it, Kitari and Sailor instantly felt nostalgia once they heard the name of that party. They remember their first time doing that. Too bad they only got to do it once.

"You know what the theme is this year?"

"Oh, his highness NEVER runs out of ideas...oh...but I still have my heart set on Lord Leon!"

"So? What is it?"

"A Wishes and Punishments Themed Dress theme. The contest is specifically based on who has the dress that charms the members of the department their dress is themed as! And if you win, you have the honor of dancing with he whom of your choosing!"

Sailor: "So...you wear a dress themed Punishments or Wishes...if the department likes your dress...you get to...dance with the guy you choose from that department...."

Kitari: "Star King's crafty as always."

Sailor: "Hmph, you still have that Wishes Leo Zodiac dress from your...special occasion?"

Kitari: "Punishments Scorpious Zodiac?"

Sailor: "Huh...whatever. We're not going, anyways."

"ALL of the Punishments and Wishes members are to be there!"

"Ah, I wonder if Lord Leon would notice me...?"

Kitari looked down at the nervous, giddy-looking woman who said those words and chuckled darkly.

Kitari: "Ha, as long as you love him for who he truly is, by a little shy, a little oblivious and innocent, and is not a gold digger or someone who pegs for looks, I bet you'll go a long way, if you can at least keep THAT façade up."

Sailor: "If someone can match that and do it as a façade, I'd be impressed. Shy, oblivious golden roses are Leon's type?"

Kitari: "I'm his former department queen. I gotta know everything about my former members."

Sailor: "...I bet since you know everything about him, you could get him under your thumb...or maybe the better saying is...'wrapped around your little finger'?"

Kitari: "No red string of fate, of mine is tying itself around Leon's whatever without my permission."

Kitari grumbled, irritated, and above all red in her pale face.

Sailor: "...Have you ever wanted to see how the guys are doing? Maybe not as close friends and family, but...you know as former department queens."

Kitari: "...As former department queens...?"

Sailor: "Yeah, we can load up the dress and everything. It's all girls party, and no one's gonna see us. Plus they got food for fun and stuff."

Kitari: "...fine. Just to see how they're doing."

*****

Judging from the memory wipe, they all figured that the guys don't know what their matrix modes (the natural mode that happens when their power goes full-out) looked like. So no one commented on Sailor and Kitari's dresses when they entered the ballroom. Amidst the women and the conversation, the first thing they saw was the Department of Wishes and Punishments all crowed together having a conversation. Kitari was gonna go walk up to Leon, hit him in the head and say something like 'You guys aren't fighting, are you?', but stopped herself. Sailor saw this and patted her on the shoulder.

Sailor: "Kinda kills you inside, huh?"

Kitari: "...Yeah...remember when Karno was so nervous, he latched onto Leon's arm during the annual minister meeting and begged him to stop fighting?"

Kitari didn't mean to dig around in their forgotten pasts, once they found a place to sit, next to the food and the wall. But it just popped out of her mouth when she saw the agitated argument. Sailor stared for awhile and thought about it a little.

Sailor: "...Then we said 'When did this Karno x Leon ship become a thing?'. The meeting went way better after that."

Kitari: "Especially when I pegged off of Zyg and Scorpy."

Pretty soon, they completely ignored all that was going on and got lost in talking about their pasts of them and the guys. Then they started looking around, picking guys, then made the other say something secret about them.

Kitari: "Um...Partheno!"

Sailor: "DK's son. Demon prince, and according to your prime minister-"

Kitari: "O Lord of the Skirt-Chasers?"

Sailor: *pfft...!!!*

Kitari: "And DK? What's that supposed to mean, 'Donkey Kong'?"

Sailor: "What (haha)? N-No! I meant 'Dark King'! Okay, my turn...uh, Tauxolouve! He's the dude I know least about!"

It was so happened that Tauxolouve was right walking near the girls when Kitari shared one of the secrets.

Kitari: "Do you know Lou's special ability?"

Tauxolouve: "....!!!"

Sailor: "No..."

Kitari: "It's...kind of sad."

Sailor: "But if he has it, you have it too, right?"

Kitari: "Yes, it's the ability to see when a person dies by kissing them."

Tauxolouve's head whirls around to see Kitari's solemn and sad looking face, but it bears a lukewarm and worried, small smile. She wasn't saying it for gossip. He saw that she genuinely cared for him. But for some reason, not for romantic type reasons.

Sailor: "...Yikes...did something...happen...?"

He also saw that Sailor had the same face, her expression crossed with worry.

Kitari: "Just...a power malfunction. There's a lot of things that he doesn't even know about himself. That was just something he knew."

Sailor: "Oh...then...I won't pry...I guess...ah, it's your turn."

Kitari: "Hm? Okay!"

He already had walked away when Kitari was ready to choose her person. He couldn't stop the warmth blooming in his heart. It didn't feel like romance, again, he couldn't understand it. But...more like an older sister or mother worried about her family. That's what it felt like.

Leon: "Lou."

Tauxolouve: "Hm? Oh, Leon, what is it?"

Leon: "Well, you were spacing out for a few seconds there and your face is a little relaxed and...pink. You haven't fallen for any of these women, now, have you?"

Leon's face curled up into a defiant smirk and Tauxolouve just brushed it off.

Tauxolouve: "No, but there is one that I have interest in."

Leon: "Good, because we have to decide by midnight, and there's no one here that I have interest in."

Tauxolouve: "Then may I make a suggestion to my interest?"

Leon: "Hmph, no thank you."

Tauxolouve: "...Those women over there. The ones with the teal hair and black hair. They haven't tried going after any of us the entire ball. They just sat there and talked to each other."

Leon: "You're interested in lone wolves?"

Tauxolouve: "I am more interested in how they know everything about us and understand it deeply...as if they've been through it themselves...or worse."

Leon: "They're just gossiping, that's all."

Tauxolouve: "Whatever they're talking about, they aren't gossiping. They looked genuinely worried about us."

Leon: "Hmph."

Tauxolouve: "By the way..."

Leon: "You're still rambling about this?"

Tauxolouve: "...If you ever happen to want to talk to them, try not to let them notice you. If you try to engage them, they'll clam up and pale, as if they wish not to be there to begin with."

With that Tauxolouve walked away, leaving Leon slightly shocked.