I looked over at Seiya, who was smiling at the dress I had put on. She was right, it was beautiful. In fact, I would go as far as to say that it was probably the best and most beautiful dress I had ever seen in my entire lifetime. I couldn't believe that Seiya could choose anything that beautiful - having spent nearly half her Earth life as a boy must have dulled her feminine fashion sense in some way or another. I stared at Seiya, who was currently still in her Three Lights getup. She had been in that suit for days now. Doesn't it get boring, wearing all the same clothes? I would have thought that it would, but my Senshi had always worn the same henshins, just with extended bows, different brooches and various tiara gem shapes. Saturn's first henshin always stuck out the most to me, but it had also changed to her 'eternal' form. I had seen it with wings a couple of times, but that was rarely, only when she was calling upon my daughter to lend strength to her and the others. She was really my daughter's senshi, whether I liked to think of it that way or not. I clutched at Seiya's hand as we headed out of my chambers, and I couldn't help but notice a cute little blush on her cheeks. I really wanted to pinch them, but was that really appropriate of regal to begin with? As soon as I were to come into that room, I would be the example for the whole of Crystal Tokyo. I had to make sure I was putting my best self out there - something I never needed to worry about when I was a mere teenager. Something I didn't even need to think about back then. But, I had to right now, no matter how grave the circumstances were. And that saddened me.

I was ushered in, and that was when I realised that I was dead, for there were too many people in that room to greet one by one, which meant I apparently had to greet all of them, and I didn't want to. All my friends, as well as Chibi-Usa and her senshi, and heaps of my servants had filled my dining hall, to the point where it was filled past the walls, and there was a queue of people waiting to get in - likely the press. I saw Makoto shoot jealous daggers at Taiki, who had Ami resting against her right shoulder. It was obvious that the strong but feminine girl, Mako, was broken by simply seeing the girl she pledged her love to before the Starlights even came with one of those very people. She had clearly never truly wanted to marry Motoki, he was just for show. Makoto detached herself from Motoki and stormed out the room, right as Palla was carting some cakes for herself and the new senshi. I couldn't help but see that there was a stormy look in her eyes. She didn't like the fact that Taiki and Ami were so close, and it would be hard trying to let the bluenette go. She took one last stormy glare at Taiki as she left, and then left for good. Could it be that she was jealous of the bluenette and Taiki? I frowned as she left, but then put on a smile to disguise my concern for Mako. She never usually had random emotional outbursts like that, so I wondered what was up. She only ever had those outbursts if she felt like she was being provoked, but I wasn't quite sure about her current emotional state - was she even emotionally stable at this point? I wasn't quite sure.

I surveyed the room with my hand over my brows, immediately going into the mindset that there was some sort of danger in the room for me to conquer. All people were doing were talking, and maybe even flirting at some point. I couldn't help but notice Haruka and Michiru looking at me suspiciously from the back corner, as if I were the one putting us in danger. In fact, they were the only two that were actually not talking or mingling with others. There were even couples that were having a very flirty time, trying to grow a romance when they barely knew each other. I noticed Yaten and Minako flirting. I needed to call a speech. But how? I needed to talk about my daughter and how amazing she was. She was about to have a birthday, and a huge celebration was taking place.

"Mama, you finally came! And you look - what's the word they all use - immaculate! I can't believe you have a fashion sense nice enough for this!" Chibi-Usa remarked with a smile. "This feast is so yummy, Mako is such a good cook! She really did herself out with the cakes, Palla-chan has had about twenty of them. She should be ill, but she was clearly pigging out on the fried rice just a moment ago. Hey, at least she is eating something healthy."

"Yeah, she is a good cook," PallaPalla agreed with a smile, coming back from the table with a big grin and a tray of sushi. "I feel like a princess, 'cause I've feasted so much!"

"That's 'cause you are, baka imoto," VesVes retorted, smirking, and holding a few cakes that she had grabbed from the table before PallaPalla could get to them. She bit off some of the icing wildly, and her eyes glistened. "Wow, this cake - it's so good! I didn't know the cook was that good at her job!"

"What did I tell you, Ves-chan?" JunJun remarked. "I need to take some tips from Kino-san. She's so good at this. I need to bake just like her!" She was grinning as she took a bite of some dumplings.

"Go ahead, Jun-chan," CereCere added, munching on three mochis at once. "I'm sure she'd appreciate it."

I smiled at them. They seemed to be having fun. "Yes. I taste-tested the batter. She was really nervous about it. She would be happy to know that she had someone that wanted to learn from her." I smiled warmly.

"Ohayo, Taru-chan! Come over here," Chibi-Usa instructed, waving over to Hotaru.

Hotaru was carrying a small plate of food that didn't have much more than noodles and mochi on it as she came over to us.

"This food is great," she complimented. "I wish I could eat as much as you all. But I don't want to be ill like before."

"I don't want you to be either," Chibi-Usa soothed.