Ask any cook why they enjoy cooking and they would probably give about the same response a ball player might give if asked if there was anything special he did to win the game. "Well gee, Bob, I just try to get the ball in the goal, yanno? That's what you gotta do, just don't let anyone on the other team get in your way..." Although a cook might simplify it to "I feed people, Bob. If I feed a lot of people then I guess I'm doing my job right, eh?"

Makoto wasn't a cook. She was a chef. It wasn't just about feeding people. Ask Makoto why she enjoyed cooking and she would say without hesitation that she enjoyed the artform. She could be lost for hours in the balance between the precision science and creative leniency of cooking.

Of course, it was much, much harder to lose herself when there was someone around ready to constantly distract her.

"Are you lost, my lord?"

"Huh?" Jadeite looked up, an expression on his face as though he were a child caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar. "Oh, no. Beg pardon Lady Jupiter, but I was coming down the hall and the smell of your most enticing cooking lured me in here."

"Then perhaps another distraction could lure you back into the hall and away from the kitchen?" she suggested politely. Lord Jadeite seemed oblivious to her subtle hinting, and wandered further into the kitchen.

"Is this for dinner tonight?" He stuck his finger into a bowl of sauce and tasted it, a surprised smile on his face. "It's delicious. Compliments to the chef."

"Thank you my lord, but might I advise you not to disrupt a woman who is protective of her kitchen and wields a very sharp knife?" Makoto smiled toothily, half teasing and half serious and most definitely pointing said knife warningly in his direction.

"My apologies, Lady Jupiter." Jadeite looked sufficiently abashed. She went back to chopping vegetables as he looked curiously around the room. "What are we having? It smells like venison."

"It's not, though hopefully it will taste like it when I'm done. We've not had time to do any hunting as of late, so don't expect much meat."

"But we've had meat most of the time we've been here!"

"No, you've had vegetables, cooked to taste like meat. Hopefully you'd have learned by now I can make anything taste like anything." She grinned in a self-satisfied way.

Jadeite tried to hide the sick expression that crossed his face, but couldn't escape Mako's keen eyes. "Well, Zoisite is always reminding me to eat my peas...I guess he finally found out what the smell was that came from the broken table leg..." To his surprise, Lady Jupiter giggled.

"Oh come, Lord Jadeite. I don't understand why everyone complains so about their vegetables! They're far healthier than most meats, and you have less chance of contracting food poisoning from them."

"True, but they have such a soggy, bland taste..." She raised a mocking eyebrow at him and he carefully cleared his throat. "Of course, your ladyship has opened my eyes to the new, delicious wonders of plants. I shall never look at a broccoli the same again." He cordially bowed his appreciation in her general direction. This time, Jupiter laughed out loud.

"Lord Jadeite, you are quite the comedian. I can't understand why R—Lady Mars is so displeased with you. Usually she favors light humor."

"Ah, then clearly my level of comedy is too advanced for her."

"No, I believe it would be more along the lines of being too far-fetched to be taken seriously."

"But Lady! I am always serious!" he grinned at her, pleased at the friendly banter. "The only time I'm not serious is when I'm not."

"Which is?" she inquired.

"When I'm not?"

"Yes."

"Exactly."

She blinked a few times, and he laughed. She narrowed her eyes at him in good humor, only then remembering the food in front of her. She shooed at him with her knife.

"Lord Jadeite, I'm afraid you're distracting me from my work. If you wish to eat on time—"

"Oh and I do, I assure you--"

"Would you kindly leave?" Her voice was firm, until she caught the disappointed expression on his face. It was the kind of expression that one couldn't just ignore. She sighed. "Or have you any talent with cooking?"

"Not as much, my lady. Unless you want to count war-camp gruel, which can hardly be considered food to begin with."

"Very well," she agreed. "But surely you can cut? I can always use some help cutting."

"That I can do. And I shall impress you beyond words with my skills with a blade. I'm a master at --"

"Just cut the vegetables."

Dinner was yet another success in Makoto's book, with just enough food to feed them to satisfaction but not so many leftovers as to go to waste in the next meal. She was putting things into the icebox when Rei entered into her domain, arms crossed and leaning in an accusatory mannor.

"You sure were friendly with the gentlemen tonight."

"Why shouldn't I be? We all decided before to start opening up." Mako shrugged and closed the icebox. "Why does it matter?"

"I'm just surprised," Rei's eyebrow quirked dangerously, "that after what I told you about Lord Jadeite's nature, you would then proceed to spend the majority of dinner talking, dare I say flirting so animately with him."

"Honestly, I don't know where you got your impressions of his character. He's a perfectly enjoyable companion, he spent an hour in here helping me prepare dinner and I saw no need to discontinue our conversation during the meal."

Rei's face contorted. "He helped cook? Oh god, I thought something tasted funny."

"He only cut vegetables." Mako's eyes narrowed. "You're jealous, aren't you."

"Hardly." Rei scoffed. "I have no reason to be jealous of you or that idiot. I'm not desperate." With that, she turned on her heels and flounced out of the kitchen.

Mako closed her eyes and slowly counted backward from fifty, willing her jaw and fists to unclench. Rei had been so touchy after her encounter in the aviary. Truly, she had never understood the woman's desire to be completely free of men. At least in her own case, she had reason to deny the company of males, but that didn't mean she did not wish it sometimes. Rei on the other hand...

There was a slight cough from the doorway, where Mina was casually leaning.

"I didn't hear you, I'm sorry."

Minako waved a graceful hand. "No worries. Are things okay with you and Rei?"

"Yes." It couldn't be a lie if she wasn't entirely sure. Minako let it slide.

"I just wanted to let you know, we're taking them out riding tomorrow. Since there are only our horses, we're going to have to figure who stays and who goes."

Makoto took a moment to digest this information. "Right. If they found a city..."

"...if they found a city. Two of us will accompany them to make sure."

---

I've been stuck trying to get the next part of this chapter going for a really long time now, and have received some very kind nudges from people asking for an update. My sincerest apologies to all of my readers, I know it's hard waiting on updates especially as erratic as mine have been. I'm trying my best, but I'm just about to graduate from college and the stress of meeting those requirements and working on my senior thesis has been eating my soul, quite literally. Don't fear, I do intend to keep writing. I have a lot of scenes already mapped out, it's just...getting there is the trouble. I hope that it'll be worth the wait. I've also been toying with the idea of re-writing the eariler chapters, because I feel I've made a lot of improvements in my writing since then...but that'll take more time than I'd like and hamper the sparse updates anyway.

Again, thank you for your patience, and I love hearing from you guys. Thanks to those of you who asked when I'd update next, it spurred me into finalizing this chapter. Thank you, thank you, thank you all.

Love,

Wil