Haru Kasai walked through the village with a bag over his shoulder, looked at the different foods for sale and occasionally argued with a vender to see if he could get a better deal on the produce when a crowd in the center of the square caught his eye and he hurried over. His emerald green eyes scanned a piece of parchment posted in the center of the town.

Hear Ye All!

Our great ruler of Emeraldu, Queen Akina, is now stepping down as Sailor Floraemerald. A tournament shall be held to determine the next in line to Emeraldu.

Haru’s eyes sparkled as he continued to read through the declaration and quickly pushed his way through the crowd and began to run back to his home. It only took him a few minutes for him to see the familiar fence of his orchard and he jumped over it and ran through the opamal trees and into his house. Throwing the bag down, he ran for his chest his father had given to him for his 16th birthday. Blowing a thin layer of dust off of the wooden lid, he opened the latch and smiled. The armor his father had passed down to him was still in good condition. Even though there was a sinking in the pit of his stomach at the thought of his father, Haru was bound and determined to see this tournament through to the end.

"I’ll make you proud at the tournament, father, I promise. You once said to mother I would never be a true warrior, but now I’m going to prove you wrong and make you see…"

The armor consisted of a chain mail shirt, two shirts that were both thick and made of a strong material, a pair of pants made of the most durable material in Emeraldu, a pair of arm gauntlets, shin guards, and a bottle green bandana with the family insignia in the center. Removing his clothes slowly, his bronzed body glowing in the afternoon light, he reverently began to put on the chain mail shirt, pants, boots, gauntlets, guards, and bandana. Since the tournament training wasn’t going to start for a few weeks and the training academy didn't begin for three days, Haru decided that it was time for him to pay a visit to his home. He locked up his small cottage, entrusted his orchard to his neighbor, and began to walk down the long dirt road back to his home.

"It’s been so long since I’ve been back home…and boy will father be surprised to find out I’ve been secretly training all these years. I just hope he’s going to help me," he whispered.

"What are you talking about now, Haru?"

"Oh, hey there Kei-kun, how are you doing?"

Another teen with bottle green hair and pale green eyes was leaning on the fence by the road, a smirk on his face. Keitaro and Haru had been friends ever since they were kids, and that hadn’t changed, even though they hadn’t seen each other in a while. Each had well-muscled bodies, but Kei was five inches shorter than his friend. Haru sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair, his mind wandering to what his father was going to say.

"Haru-kun, what’s on your mind?"

"Hm? Oh, it’s nothing really. I was just thinking about the tournament. My father once said I’d never be a warrior and now that this has come up, I want to prove to him that I am one. But…" he sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose. "I don’t know if my father will be that accepting and willing to help me after all this time. Even though I’ve been training in secret, I’m still afraid about what I could do if I let the adrenaline rush get to me."

"Don’t worry Haru-kun, you’ll be fine."

"Are you so sure?"

Keitaro didn’t have anything to say to that as they continued walking down the dusty road. Haru couldn’t stand the silence and soon he began to chatter inanely, like he tended to do when he was nervous. Seeing through his best friend’s ploy to change the subject, Kei let him chatter as much as he wanted about his opamal orchard, his family, and the tournament.

"Oi, Kei-kun, why aren’t you going for the tournament?"

"Because, Haru-kun, I don’t want to become King. Haven’t you ever thought of the fact that you’re going to not only be the kingdom’s warrior, but also ruler of it as well?"

"That just is something I’ll have to deal with. I mean, think of all the good that I could do for Emeraldu if I was the king. And besides that, I want the chance to defend my home."

"You’re crazy Haru-kun, but all right. If that’s really what you want, then I’m behind you."

Haru smiled genially and placed his palm on his friend’s shoulder in a gesture of thanks. Words between them were never complete without an action to back it up. Both of them were still immersed in conversation as they came upon the familiar road that led to Haru’s family home. Kei bid his friend farewell and headed towards the town as Haru steered himself for what he knew was to come. He walked through the gate with a feeling of foreboding as his two brothers came running out. The eight-year-olds were screaming in delight as their brother came up the driveway since they hadn’t seen him in weeks.

"Yo!" he said and scooped them both up in his arms. "How are my favorite brothers doing?"

"Oniisama, we’re your only brothers," Kanaye piped up.

"Hai, and how come you haven’t come home sooner?" Yasuo pouted as he stuck out his lower lip.

"Gomen about that little guys," he laughed and cuffed them both playfully on their heads.

"Haru! What are you doing here?"

"Konnichiwa okaasan," he said and embraced his mother tightly. "I’ve come here to speak to otousan and maybe stay for one of your delicious home-cooked dinners? May I?"

"Of course Haru, you know you’re always welcome here," Anzu replied cheerfully as she led her son to the backyard and pointed to where his father was practicing.

Haru had to admire his father, even though he was getting old; he was still in the best shape of his life. When he coughed lightly, his father turned to him, a raised eyebrow.

"Nani?"

"Otousan, I’ve come to tell you that I’ve decided to enter the tournament to become Floraemerald. But I’m going to need your help…please refresh my training before I go to the academy."

"You’re not a warrior."

"Otousan, I’m sick and tired of you telling me who I am and who I’m not. Even though you never saw it, I trained in secret all those years. I didn’t want the adrenaline rush to overcome me and then I’d hurt you, so I didn’t reveal to you how strong I was. But now I want to become the new Floraemerald and I’m going to ask you one more time if you will help me."

Fujita looked thoughtful as he studied his son’s build. It’s true…he never would have become so strong if he hadn’t trained in secret all those years, he rationalized and sighed. With a nod, Fujita agreed to help his son. A brilliant smile illuminated Haru’s features as he spent the three days before the training academies opened with his father, reviewing everything he knew and learning new moves. Finally, the time came for him to go to the academy. For six long weeks, he trained his body and his mind with intense meditation and work. And each day, Haru grew more and more confident that his father was going to finally see him as a warrior. Things were going well for him, his opamal orchard was ripening, his father had accepted his plea for help, and he was hopefully going to become the new Floraemerald. It almost made him tremble in excitement at the thought of becoming the kingdom’s champion.

Although he wasn’t sure about becoming King so soon since he was almost of age, but he figured it was all for the best. While he worked on his push-ups, his mind wandered. Haru thought of his two little brothers and how they were coming to watch the tournament and he was bound and determined to win not only for them, but also for his father, and himself. Kei had let him know he too was coming by to watch the tournament and it made Haru edgy to think about his best friend being there. What if I make a mistake? What if I don’t win? These thoughts buzzed around in his mind as he stopped his push-ups and decided to go meditate for a while.

Finally, the day of the tournament arrived. Haru was dancing back and forth nervously as he tried to keep calm. Everyone was in the stands and Queen Akina was sitting on her throne. She rose to her feet and inhaled deeply to make her customary speech.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming here today. This is a very special day for Emeraldu for on this day, your new champion and future ruler shall be chosen. May you all do well."

"That was short," Haru whispered in surprise. "Oh well, time to focus, wipe all thoughts from your mind…"

He began to chant under his breath as he focused his power and absently trailed his hand over his belt, hoping he wouldn’t have to use his whip. The obstacle course was harsh and intense, and all he ever noticed around him was a passing glance of a young man he had nearly beaten. He wondered who it was, when he found out it was someone named Yukikuri. Secretly, Haru was impressed with his performance, but refused to lose, even to someone so formidable. When he defeated the Parian mage, he came away with a few questions about Yukikuri…like where he had come from and how he could have been so powerful. Shaking it off, Haru concentrated on the final round. It was the fight above the bar. Ironically enough, he was facing off against the guy he had come up second to in the previous competitions. The battle was fierce, and it took all of Haru’s power to stay aloft.

"You’re good…and as much as I wish neither of us had to lose, it must be. Just know you have my respect,"

And with that, he performed a kick to sweep Yukikuri off his feet, but couldn’t have predicted what happened next. The young man lost his balance and Haru moved to try and help him, but couldn’t reach him and he hit his head on the bar as he plummeted to the ground and landed so hard that the net broke and he landed on the ground. Wincing as he heard the breaking of several bones, Haru hurried to get down, but on the way, he saw the medics carrying the young man off and a young girl shaking her fist at him, her face a picture of fury.

"By the gods…" he whispered, a terrible sinking feeling coming to his heart. "What have I done?"

Haru tried to get to Yukikuri to make sure he was all right, but the officials cut him off and Queen Akina rose to her feet. As he was brought over, Haru had never felt guiltier in all his life. It shouldn’t have been me…I nearly killed him. Why oh why did I enter this tournament? As Haru was trying to deal with the fact he had nearly killed someone, the officials took him over to the Queen and he was so lost in his thoughts he didn’t hear anything until she said that he would be brought to the palace and would reside there.

"Wait, your Majesty! I can’t leave my orchard yet! My opamal orchard still needs my care, I’ve spent six years waiting for them to mature and I can’t stay at the palace and just leave it!"

Akina looked at him in thought as he pleaded his case. Finally, she nodded. "All right, I shall permit you to take care of your opamal orchard until next year when they are mature. However, you must stay in the palace to learn to be a proper King, and you are also responsible for your training as Knight Floraemerald. Fail to meet these requirements and you know the punishment."

"Yes your Majesty."

Akina stepped down from her podium and gave to him her emerald necklace. He felt the weight in his hands and he held it carefully in his hand. The weight felt familiar to him, almost as though it was meant to be his. Haru raised it over his head, it was a bitter victory, but it was his.

"Emerald Elemental Power, Transform!"