"The castle has rules, you know them, Ruby knows them. You understand that you are going to have to be punished don't you?" Diamond said annoyed.   Sakura silently nodded her head but she still had a gentle smile on her face. The older girl mistook it for a sign that Sakura didn't care about the trouble that she was causing.

"Your punishment will be…" Diamond started to say, she was cut off however when Jade rushed into the kitchen area with an angry look of her own.

"This is a private meeting, you will have to wait outside." Diamond explained to her.

"No, it's not." Jade insisted.
"Sakura go change into your own clothing, I'll handle this."

"I'm not done speaking to her." Diamond said getting angry.

"You are now, if you have anything to say to her, you will have to say them to me. If you insist on trying to punish her, I will go in her place. But as of this moment, Sakura is free to go." Jade replied firmly. She stood staring at Diamond unmoving.

"Sakura, go change." Jade repeated. This time Sakura looked at Diamond cautiously and then slowly backed out of the kitchen. She was afraid that if she didn't, someone might get hurt.

"You speak too boldly Jade, mind your place in this castle." Diamond tried to warn.

"Let me make myself clear Diamond. You are in charge of us, you enforce the rules and even administer punishments when needed. However you will never be allowed to punish Sakura. If the time ever comes that she does something bad with a mischievous intent, then I will deal with her myself." Jade said.
"Now, let's settle this without the need for hard feelings. What was to be her punishment."

"You will spend the night downstairs, a meal will be brought later tonight but you will remain until breakfast tomorrow morning." Diamond replied.  Reluctantly she realized that she wasn't going to win against Jade without physical violence, and that was not the way of the castle. The forth rule strictly forbids harming each other for any reason.

"Very well, do what you must. But if you attempt to retaliate against her then you will lose your power over the both of us." Jade warned.

"Somehow she might be able to make good on that." Diamond thought cautiously.
"You know the way." She said simply. She allowed Jade to lead the way, staying close behind the child. However Diamond wasn't afraid that she would try to back out.

The two of them left the kitchen and descended into the basement. They walked past all the storage areas and went farther down until they reached one of the castles old dungeons. Jade calmly stepped into a cell, and Diamond locked the door behind her, leaving without a word.

Jade went to the far corner of the bare cell and sat down, closing her eyes she thought about Sakura and nothing else.

"Sakura can you hear me?" she thought.  Jade shared a special bond with her sister, and the two of them had started to develop these strange ability's with each other that they had never dared tell the other girls about.

"Are you alright? I'm sorry…" she heard Sakura's voice inside her head. They could share thoughts, and had been working on it with each other for years now, always in secret and this past year they discovered they didn't even have to be in the same room. When she spoke to Jade's mind, Sakura talked like the rest of the girls in the castle. But jade wasn't sure if that was how Sakura thought, or if her own mind translated Sakura's thoughts.

"Did you change back into your own clothing?" Jade asked ignoring Sakura's apology.

"I'm alone so we can talk, and yes I changed." Sakura's voice replied.

"Good, I need you to tell me if Diamond tries anything with you." Jade thought to her.

"She won't have the chance, I plan to stay up here until you are released…" Sakura replied.

"I don't want you to skip supper Sakura, don't you dare lock yourself away!" Jade warned.

"I wish I could be with you, I'm so sorry I got caught up in the fun." Sakura pouted.

"Don't feel sorry, it makes me happy to see you enjoying yourself. So let me worry about this. Your job is to brighten the castle with your smile." Jade explained. The two of them fell silent as the act of sharing thoughts could be difficult to maintain. But jade found comfort in the feeling that Sakura was there with her, not in body but she felt her sister's presence.