Disclaimers- Sailor Moon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko-san, and not me at all! Also, to Toei animation, and though I hate to admit, the English version to Clover Wave and Dic. However, the original characters featured belong entirely to me, and the plot line is mine as well! If I catch any "thieves", you�ll have to face my wrath!

Characters (Last names first, mind you!)
Bino Kodomo
Heiwano Kokoro
Kou Seiya
Kou Taiki
Kou Yaten
Yamabikono Shizuka

Kodomo almost didn�t know what to think of the three young men approaching them. However, she hardly had time to even ponder the situation before the trio stood before them.

"Good evening, princess," the dazzling man greeted, bowing before Kokoro. His eyes briefly trailed to Kodomo as he straightened back up, and he nodded to her as a greeting. The young man seemed as though he wasn't nervous at all with this ordeal, but very relaxed. Kokoro, on the other hand, was fighting back a blush and carefully containing her excitement.

"Konbanwa," she replied smoothly, sounding almost as placid as the man she met.

The eyes of the man�s raven-haired accomplice widened a moment, and he gently hit the olive-eyed one�s chest with the back of his hand. He kept smiling eyes on the girls as he spoke to them. "Ah, gomen nasai; my brother here isn�t very proper with manners. Let me do the introductions." He put a hand over his chest. "I am Seiya. My brother, whom you seem to have already met, is Yaten. This," he said, gesturing to the third young man standing with them, "is Taiki. He�s a little on the quiet side, don�t worry about it though. We are the Kou brothers--princes from our planet far from your galaxy. The queen was very happy to have us come."

It seemed as though Seiya had more to say, but his brash brother with the olive eyes snapped his fingers and interrupted with his own voice. "Sorry, he rambles a lot. You have our names, now what about yours?" Yaten�s eyes twinkled as he watched them closely.

Kokoro had only been waiting for this moment, and jumped at the chance to speak, her voice sounding anxious. "Oh! I am Heiwano Kokoro, Princess of the planet Nanaki. This isn�t my home galaxy, either. My friend here is Bino Kodomo. She hails from Pluto�"

Seiya seemed surprised, and cut in immediately. "She is related to the wonderful Pluto-sama? Amazing! I didn't know she had siblings!"

The lavender-haired grinned nervously and waved a hand. She meant to correct Kokoro for misleading them. "Iya, iya� I hail from Pluto, but I�m not a princess at all! People sometimes call me �hime�, however, to show respect� at least I suppose that�s why they say it."

The trio nodded in understanding, almost in unison. There was a slight pause, and Kokoro began to wonder what to do to keep the situation from growing awkward. But, Yaten was already ahead of her, and clapped his hands together to get attention before he spoke again. "Alright! We know one another now! Why don�t we have a dance? Kokoro, I�d be pleased to go with you."

"Really? Wow�" The redhead smiled and finally let her blush overcome her. She held out a hand, which Yaten took, and was lead deeper into the crowd to dance.

Kodomo felt a bit out of place now, and was actually surprised when Seiya asked her to dance as well. She comfortably agreed, and vanished into the crowd with him. Taiki lingered there, not minding at all, as he wasn�t much for dancing. Somewhere else in the palace, Shizuka was mingling with the universe�s royalty.

Once on the dance floor, Kokoro was stunned by Yaten�s natural grace in the field. He whirled and dipped her all about and showed great elegance. The young princess was not used to such impressive skills coming from a man, since she hadn�t been around many men her age at all. However, despite the prince�s abilities in dance, he acted very lively, and kept a smile on Kokoro�s face all the while.

"My my," his soothingly casual voice would chime in, "look at that woman over there! She is absolutely obese!" Keeping his voice low to make such comments, he would lean closer to Kokoro, making her blush every time. They would each then allow a short, quiet giggle to escape their lips before resuming their dance.

After three songs had passed, Kokoro suddenly realized that Kodomo and Shizuka were probably more than ready to move on to doing other things. Bowing to Yaten, she took a step back from him to excuse herself. "Gomen nasai. My friends are probably waiting for me."

The prince, letting a frown cross his lips for a moment, shook his head at her. "If you say so. But I would love another dance with you." He then stepped toward her to regain the closeness lost when Kokoro had stepped back, and leaned nearer to her, his lips very near her ear. "Go find your friends then," he whispered, "but do come back to me tonight."

While this was happening, Kodomo and Seiya were having a wonderful time on the floor. The young prince was a perfect gentleman, talking very little to his accomplice as they swirled about the room in a misty motion. Seiya was the one to excuse himself from this pair, making sure he bowed more than a couple times to show his sincerity. Kodomo, on the other hand, tried to dismiss this, and told him she would have to be going anyway. The two promised to meet again sometime during the Millennium Ball, but not necessarily right away.

Shizuka, on the other hand, ended up mingling very little with the dignitaries. She had spent most of her time wandering throughout the human maze of dancing bodies in the front of the ballroom, and the chattering folks in the back of the room. Unfortunately, she didn�t find herself to be very social, and finally took a seat on a velvet-covered bench against the back wall.

It just so happened that Taiki stood only mere feet from the same bench. The dark princess noticed him there, and allowed idle eyes to fall upon him more than once. Even though the young man seemed to notice, he tried not to pay her any attention. Shizuka, a little flustered at being ignored most of the night, repaid the deed, and acted as though he wasn�t there.

Returning from the dance floor, all her two friends could wonder was why the two stood so near, yet in such a stern silence�