Camping in General

Day Four

Malachite woke first, squinting due to the blinding sunlight pouring through the paper-thin walls of the tent. The corners of his lips curved slightly as he recalled the previous night. Vaguely, he could remember Zoisite whispering, "I love you."

"I love you, too, Sakura," he murmured softly, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair that tumbled like water in rapids over her shoulders.

He suddenly heard an eruption of giggling stemming from the neighbouring tent. It would appear the girls have also awoken, his mind sighed within him. Today was sure to be a rather long and stressful day.

"Do you think he's talking in his sleep?" Serena questioned quietly. 

"Maybe, but not as much as you do about Darien," Lita added as an afterthought. 

"What if it's a nickname for one of us?" Mina mused, jiggling excitedly in her sleeping bag. 

"Put it this way: he barely knows any of us. Why would he have given us secret nicknames?" Raye reasoned. 

"Either way, I hope it's me," Mina grumbled, crossing her arms and acting defiant towards Raye's responsibility and maturity. 

"Why do you like him so much anyway?" the raven-haired girl turned to interrogate her friend. "He's just some guy with shiny hair."

"Exactly! His hair is awesome," she exclaimed in reply. 

"Who do you like then, Raye?" Serena asked, poking her shoulder (somewhat cautiously).

"No one, though if I had to choose...hmmm...Jadeite." 

"But I like Jadeite, too," Serena whined, gloomily draping herself across the floor space of the entire tent. 

"Well, I liked Darien before you did but you stole him from me!" she hissed, fury levels rising dangerously high. 

"You were clearly just some tag-along girl to him," came the princess's protest.

"That's enough now. I've had a thought," Amy paused while she waited for her fellow scouts to pay attention. "What if Malachite is cheating on Zoisite?"

Gasp after gasp flew around the tent, spreading like a wild fire. Incoherent mumbles were soon exchanged amongst the girls in an anxious manner. Speculations were brought up in hushed conversation and Malachite couldn't stand it any longer. 

"I am certainly not cheating on Zoisite!" he thundered frighteningly.

A yelp of fear escaped Serena's lips before she felt Lita's hand clamping firmly over her wide-open mouth.

"Then who's 'Sakura'?"

"Zoisite, of course!" he replied, clearly irritated at the dauntless attitude of the brunette.

"They are lovely flowers..." Zoisite mumbled, still in a sleepy state.

"Good morning, Zoisite," Malachite breathed.

Hints of a grin played across his stony features as his lover half-opened her deep, green eyes and sat up to give him a shy peck on the cheek.

"Guys, guys—I know you're probably busy kissing and doing whatever, but can you at least do it at a reasonable hour so I can update my diary?" Nephlite yawned, stretching his arms and accidentally hitting Jadeite in the process.

A loud wail came as a complaint from the blonde general before he almost immediately fell asleep again.

"Don't you mean my diary?"

After yet another argument about Zoisite's old diary, the Scouts (well, mostly Serena) began to make a fuss over the lack of breakfast. Groaning, Malachite eventually got up and made a start on getting ready whilst also encouraging everyone else to do the same. Unfortunately, he was partly unsuccessful. Within an hour, two generals were awkwardly eating in the company of five teenage girls who just seemed to never stop eating, giggling or being downright annoying.