Everything was quiet and still. The teen sat alone on a bench beside a porthole in the ship, enamored by the spacescape just outside the window. The impenetrable blackness of it all, dotted with pinpricks of pure, white light. Glowing with a bright heavenly aura, the moon hung suspended in space, growing bigger with the approach. Endymion stared through the tinted window at the surface, examining the various craters of its pockmarked surface. The moon was so empty, so devoid of life – nothing like Earth and its trees, its winds, the wildlife…

A door whisked open and closed behind him. A glance told him it was Kunzite, whom smiled and inclined his head in greeting. Endymion raised a hand in welcome and turned back to the window.

“Strange, isn’t it?” Kunzite said, taking a seat beside him on the window bench, “to realize how small our planet really is?”

Endymion rested his forehead on the cool glass, keeping an eye on the approaching moon. Though he did not say it, he was thinking of all the life found on Earth – even if his planet looked miniature in the big scheme of things, he would never think of it as being small, not holding all of those creatures and foliage.

“It looks lonely, even,” Kunzite added, turning his attention towards the window.

“If anything is lonely, it’s the moon,” Endymion said, not breaking his gaze, “The surface is barren and monochrome – all of its wildlife are in zoos and were brought there from Earth. The plants are imported – only the people are native, and there aren’t many of them. It’s a sad little thing, all alone,” the prince paused then turned his blue eyes to his companion, “so, if anything is lonely, it’s the moon.”

Kunzite smiled unexpectedly. “You know, you said something very similar about ten years ago,” he said.

Endymion sat up, “What?”

“Yeah,” Kunzite confirmed, “You said something about the moon looking really lonely,” he reached into his jacket pocket and brought out a small flower bud, its roots wrapped securely in a soft white cloth, “and you wanted to give them a rose from the garden to make them happier.” He offered the rose to the prince, who took it, still looking taken aback.

“Really?” Endymion asked, though he knew it must be true. Kunzite’s memory was excellent, and it wasn’t the first time he thought the moon looked lonely.

“Yes,” Kunzite nodded, “but you know what? Since then I’ve thought about it, and I have to disagree.”

“You do, huh?” the prince asked with a raised eyebrow, placing the plant gently in his lap.

“The moon isn’t lonely at all – it’s always with Earth. The two are pulled towards each other, locked together forever. So even if it isn’t brimming with life and the elements, it is never alone.”

“Locked together?” Endymion looked back to the bright white moon, mentally evaluating Kunzite’s interpretation. “I guess so…” he replied, not entirely convinced. Watching over something, but never quite being able to enjoy what it has? He didn’t quite believe that that would make it feel less lonely.

The intercom clicked on, a voice announcing that the ship was readjusting to orbit around to the Mare Serenitatis; the ship slowed and began drifting to the right, towards the day/night line of the moon.

“Could you imagine what it’s like to have two weeks of day and two weeks of night?” Endymion wondered aloud, his eyes glued once again to the moon.

Kunzite considered, “It would take some getting used to… but I hear they have artificial darkness and daylight for those periods. Think of it though – how beautiful must it be to see the Earth go through phases, instead of the moon? To be able to see cloud patterns and storms from above?”

The prince thought, and suddenly wished to visit the moon during its weeks of darkness, when the Earth would be full. “Do you think the Earth is in its “new” phase now?”

“Probably waxing crescent, since the moon was waning gibbous,” the general said offhandedly.

The two sat in silence for a time as the moon drifted past.

“Who is the ruler of the moon?” Kunzite quizzed unexpectedly.

It took Endymion a second to remember, sifting through hundreds of names and faces before he could place the Queen of the moon, “The moon is a monarchy under the rule of Queen Serenity. No king is said to have ever been in rule.”

“Her advisors are?”

“They go by the name Luna and Artemis, but none from Earth have ever met with them.”

“The royal family?”

“A princess, Princess Serenity, who bares remarkable resemblance to the Queen, they say.” Endymion had always wondered a bit at that – no king or courtier ever mentioned of the Queen, yet she had a daughter, and the daughter was as spitting image. It was odd, but it didn’t seem so be an item of mystery for the moon people.

“The princess has guardians. Their names and ranks?”

“Er…” Endymion thought for a second. They had something to do with the planets…

Kunzite counted down, “Three…. Two…. One…. Sailor Scouts, Sailor Venus, Sailor –“

Endymion interrupted, “Mercury, Mars and Jupiter. Venus is the leader and they are rumored to be princesses of their respective planets, though we have no record of civilizations on those planets.”

Kunzite looked him over, his green eyes critical. “Well, you’ll do. Zoisite is in charge of memorizing names of any officials we meet beyond those that you already know; he’ll be at your shoulder as usual, so work out a sign if you forget a name and he’ll jump right in. No worries, no one expects this to be an official Earth visit, just a prince getting to know the alliance. I think there’s a ball in store for tonight, thrown in honor of your visit. Your state attire will be waiting for you in your room when you arrive; we’ll be staying in the palace.”

“How long are we staying, again?” Endymion asked, thinking of his horse, his forest, and the gardens waiting back at home.

Kunzite smiled slyly, “Thinking of going back already?”

“I just don’t think I’ll be comfortable here.”

His expression did not change, and Endymion was just about to question it when the door behind them slid open with another soft whisk. Jadeite walked in, the younger general wearing confidence like a cape.

“We’ve got about an hour left before we land, so… what do you two say to a game of cards?” Jadeite asked deviously.

Kunzite stood, “You sound like you think you have a chance at beating me.”

“A chance? Ha! I have much more than a chance,” Jadeite responded with a bark of a laugh, cockily striking a pose. “When I’m through with you, you’re going to wish you had declined my offer!” A moment passed, and no one said a thing. Clearing his throat, Jadeite dropped the pose and the attitude, returning to his normal calm demeanor, “What about you, Prince Endymion? Would you like to play?”

The black-haired boy considered the blonde and his offer. Cards, or staring at the moon? “I’ll play. Which game?” He placed the budding rose carefully into an inner pocket of his jacket, instinctively keeping it safe.

“Not poker – you owe me too much already, Jadeite,” Kunzite admonished.

“I could win it all back—“

“Or you could end up owing me much, much more. Face it: you just don’t have a poker face. What else can you think of?” Kunzite walked to the door, Endymion joining them both.

As the door whisked open, Jadeite could be heard offering several other card games, “Euchre?”

“Nah, I might end up paired with you or Nephrite,” Kunzite vetoed.

“Hey! Now that’s just uncalled for!”

“How about hearts?” Endymion offered. The door closed behind them.

“And that’s game,” Zoicite announced, flipping the score cards over. “So that’s Kunzite and me for three and Endymion and Jadeite have nothing.” The calculating blonde picked up the cards in front of him and began to shuffle as the losing team, Endymion on his left and Jadeite on his right, sighed exasperatedly.

“You two aren’t allowed to be on a team together anymore.” Jadeite declared, picking up his white gloves and placing them back on his hands.

“You mean you’d rather have us both beat you separately?” Kunzite teased, “Like with those games of Hearts?”

Jadeite groaned.

“Hey, at least in Euchre you’re losing with someone,” Zoisite shrugged uncaringly then turned a pitying look on the prince. “Sorry, prince, but you drew him as a partner.”

“I’m beginning to think that the straws were rigged,” Endymion complained, nodding towards a pile of straws they had drawn to determine partners at the beginning of each game. Though they had repeated the process at the beginning of each partnered match, he had always somehow managed to be on a team with Jadeite. He didn’t mind, honestly – he just liked messing with him.

“And here I thought you were different,” Jadeite mock-sulked, crossing his arms in front of his chest and sniffing loudly to keep with the charade.

Just then, the door whisked open to reveal a breathless Nephrite. “Guys! We’re about to dock – you can see the city and everything!”

They all stood – none of them had ever seen the city before – and followed Nephrite down the hallway to the sitting room Endymion had previously occupied.

“So what have you been up to, Nephrite?” Kunzite asked conversationally.

“I’ve been all over, really. After they finished giving us the tour earlier, I stuck around and asked to meet a few engineers. The captain introduced me to a guy named Pan – he’s actually from the moon and was able to tell me a bit about the moon’s gravity-modification modules, their water purification system and the propulsion system employed in the Ark. Some of it was over my head, I fully admit, but it was interesting nonetheless.”

“I wish I could have joined you,” Zoisite honestly confessed, “but I didn’t study enough before we left and really had to review more of Queen Serenity’s court.”

Endymion was about to voice a protest – he should really be learning these names himself – but Zoisite hurriedly blocked any such protest, “Not that I mind at all! Her court is a really interesting place, you know? If you read between the lines in some personnel profiles, it almost suggests that a handful of individuals might not be from the moon or Earth.” Zoisite’s eyebrows were raised conspiratorially.

They all looked at him, then Jadeite burst out in laughter. He was joined by the other three almost immediately. “Aliens? Really Zoisite?” Jadeite laughed, “You’re too good. You’ve been reading those science fiction books again, haven’t you?”

Zoisite looked affronted, “They’re not so far-fetched, you know. I mean, think of where we are!” he threw his hands out, signaling the high-tech hallway they walked through, “we’re in a space ship that makes the trip to the moon in a mere 6 HOURS to visit a race of people that can live for one thousand years! And they say the Queen might even have some mystical powers that she uses to protect the masses!”

“Mystical powers?! Now I know you’ve been reading too much!”

“Shut up, Jadeite.” Zoisite said cooly, pouting a bit at their disbelief.

“Aw, don’t be like that, Zoisite,” Nephrite reassured, “I don’t think you’re crazy for thinking that! I’ve also heard rumors about the moon court.”

The door to the viewing room opened and the topic was immediately dropped. Every porthole window was filled with the bright white glow of the lunar surface. “Woah!” Jadeite exclaimed, voicing the wonder in all but Nephrite’s eyes (as he had just seen the scene minutes ago). They all but ran to the windows and were practically pressing their faces to the glass, their behaviors highly reminiscent of eager young school boys.

“That must be the palace!” Zoisite pointed to an estate made of white alabaster with domed ceilings, expansive gardens and a huge viewing pool.

“Is everything here made out of white stone?” Jadeite wondered aloud, peering down at what must have been civilian houses.

Nephrite exclaimed, “Wait, is that – yeah! They have an ice-skating rink!”

“Really?” Endymion glanced in the direction that Nephrite was pointing and, sure enough, there was a large white expanse that appeared to be a rink. He looked around quickly for other recreational areas, but the ship was already positioned vertically above a landing zone and was starting the descent for the landing.

Their chatter grew quiet as the lunar surface got closer and closer.

“Is… is anyone else getting nervous?” Nephrite asked, and Endymion was glad he did – he knew he wasn’t alone in his apprehension anymore. A small twinge of anxiety was pulling at his gut as the details of the landing pad came into focus below them.

“I know I am,” Jadeite confessed, the usual energy drained from his voice. “We’re a long way from home.”

“And about to meet some very important people,” Zoisite added; his voice, too, was wary.

“People that could decide the future of the Earth-Moon relationship,” Kunzite said.

Their words hung heavily in the air.

“Well,” Prince Endymion said, taking a deep breath, “thanks guys, I feel so much better.”

Nephrite chuckled, and was joined by Zoisite. “Why would you feel stressed? You’re just the Prince of Earth!” Jadeite teased, laughing along with the other two. Kunzite smiled slyly, “it’s not like they’ll be judging everyone on Earth by your actions or anything.” Their laughter grew louder as Endymion joined in, every chuckle releasing the pent-up trepidation.

When they stopped, Endymion did feel a lot better about the situation. He looked fondly at his friends: Jadeite, full of emotion and quick to show it; Zoisite, incredibly intelligent with a flare for the unbelievable; Nephrite, who found any situation interesting or amusing; and Kunzite, level-headed and dependable.

With these guys with him, he could probably get through anything.

This is a nice concept, Kyralih. I like how it's panning out so far, although one little nit-pick did stick out to me. (Just the fact that the senshi powers are treated as hypothetical in this setting, since they're so deeply ingrained into the series. But then, it might just be my head-canon kicking in.)

I do certainly like it, though, and it's a shame no one else has commented yet. Good luck with your next chapter. ^^

It's only hypothetical to the people living on Earth - everyone on the moon/other planets know about it, but the Earth acts as a stand-alone entity, even when the moon is protecting it from without. Thanks for commenting!

Oh, okay. That is a solid concept, then.

And, no problem!

“Welcome, your majesty, to the Moon Kingdom,” a cheerful yet incredibly respectful attendant greeted, ushering the group of teenagers off of the ship and straight through a set of large double-doors. “I trust your journey on the Ark was satisfactory?”

Though in Endymion’s opinion the question did not warrant an answer, Nephrite jumped in immediately with a remark, “It was amazing. Efficient, stylish – a work of art in transportation.” Nephrite’s eyes were bright and his step energetic; he was clearly enthusiastic to talk to someone else about the Ark – Endymion was just glad it wasn’t him. He loved Nephrite like a brother, but he had been caught in one-too-many one-sided conversations about something he really didn’t know anything about. Once he was caught in a “discussion” that lasted over an hour before Kunzite found him and gave him an excuse to politely excuse himself. He didn’t remember what Nephrite’s topic had been – he had phased in and out several times – but he knew now to make himself scarce or have a really excuse ready when Nephrite’s brown eyes looked as feverishly excited as they did now.

He slowed his step, letting Nephrite and Zoisite get ahead of him. Jadeite and Kunzite kept beside him, Jadeite rolling his eyes at the brunette’s comment.

The young woman smiled graciously, “Thank you very much, General Nephrite.”

Nephrite glanced at Zoisite, surprise in his profile probably due to the young woman knowing his name and rank. Endymion kind of expected it, though – there were only five of them, after all. If they were to try to know the names of everyone in their court, they could learn the names of their five guests. He caught Jadeite looking at him and glanced surreptitiously over. There was a mischievous look about his younger friend. Without asking, he could guess at the blonde’s idea – he wanted to swap names on the poor girl. He started to smile, but a quick and meaningful clearing of Kunzite’s throat put an end to their budding plans.

The attendant was saying something about the festivities planned for tonight so he tuned back in. “—the council, followed by a quick tour of the grounds. After a light dinner, the ball will begin. Everyone has been invited – your presence has definitely sparked the interest of the city’s young ladies,” she turned and winked at them all, her voice taking on a sly tone.

Endymion blushed hotly and averted his gaze, seeing, as he did, his friends doing the same. Again, he was glad he wasn’t the only uncomfortable one. Too much attention from the opposite gender seemed to be an occupational hazard, one that had, at first, been rather amusing. As time wore on however, Endymion could honestly say that he was quite tired of being pursued so relentlessly. Nephrite was the only one of them that still enjoyed the amorous over-interest, but he more played with them than really made a connection. Kunzite brushed most of them off, Zoisite claimed to be too busy (but he had a silver tongue, Nephrite had mentioned), and Jadeite… well, he still was a little flustered by their advances.

Moon girls… Endymion wondered if they were any different from their counterparts back on Earth and silently hoped they weren’t any pushier.

“Your majesty, Queen Serenity, it is my honor to present his highness, Prince Endymion of Earth, and his four generals, General Kunzite, General Nephrite, General Zoisite, and General Jadeite.” Endymion covered his heart with his left hand and bowed in acknowledgement as his generals bowed a little deeper behind him.

They were in the Moon palace’s audience chamber, a room that was comfortably large with adequate space to hold a crowd, if necessary. The floor was white marble, the walls a soft alabaster stone, broken in their vast expanse by windows that overlooked the gardens surrounding the building. Columns spread in rows on either side of the room and hanging from the ceiling were several large lamps, unlit now, that took the shape of a golden half-circle, reminding him strongly of the sun. There were large double doors at one end of the room – the entrance that visitors used – and a smaller pair of doors on either side of a dais set on the opposite wall. On this dais was a large white throne with a golden crescent moon adorning the top of the seat.

Standing before the throne to welcome them was Queen Serenity. She was beautiful, wearing her regality like the crown that was conspicuously absent. Her hair was tied up in twin buns on either side of the top of her head, the remaining locks cascading almost to her feet in silver waves. Her sleeveless white gown was neither flouncy nor poofy, as some dresses were in his court at home, but was simple and silhouetted her slender figure, the fabric pooling around her toes. The only ornament that adorned the outfit was a white bow, a golden crescent moon broach centered on the white material that matched the odd crescent moon shape on her forehead. Was it a tattoo? It seemed more natural than that, but Endymion couldn’t quite place what it was. Maybe that was the sign of royalty here, instead of a crown?

She shifted slightly and the light pouring through the windows reflected off of the strange crescent shape, revealing it to actually be a delicate tiara, tiny golden beads leading from either tip of the crescent moon back into her silver hair.

“We are honored to have you, Prince Endymion,” Queen Serenity addressed, her silver eyes warm and welcoming, “As this is not an official visit of state, we hope you do not mind the lack of administrative business,” she smiled understandingly.

Endymion heaved a mental sigh of relief. He had accepted the possibility that they would want him in on official meetings, voicing opinions for Earth society and such, but he had really hoped that this trip would just allow him to see what living on the moon was like. “Not at all, Queen Serenity,” he returned the smile, “it’s a pleasure to be here and we had hoped to see as much of your beautiful kingdom as we could over the next few days.”

The queen clasped her hands before her with a genuine smile at the compliment, “It was rather fortunate for you to come at such a festive time for us, then. In one week’s time we will be hosting the Sunset Celebration and we would be honored if you five could attend.”

Wondering how big this celebration would be (and exactly how often they celebrated – did they celebrate the sunrise, as well? Was every two weeks a holiday, or was this a special sunset?) Endymion nodded, “Thank you for the invitation; we would love to.”

She smiled in silence for a moment, the changed subjects. “You must be tense, having been cooped up in that ship for so long. Your belongings are being delivered to your rooms here at the palace as we speak; Terran will show you where those are. Once you are comfortable, please feel free to roam the palace grounds.”

All of them knowing a dismissal when they heard one, Prince Endymion and his four advisors bowed, turned, and left the room. Listening respectfully as Terran, a gentleman servant, told them the history of the palace, they were led up a staircase and to the left, down a corridor and into a suite of rooms connected by an expansive sitting area. “Gentlemen, if there are any problems with your rooms please do not hesitate to tell any member of staff and we will fix the situation as soon as possible. Please feel free to visit the gardens and the libraries. We will find you when there is an hour before the light dinner – please dress for the ball.” Terran bowed and exited.

“She looked so young,” Nephrite said in amazement, dropping into an overstuffed armchair situated before a cold fireplace. “I would guess no older than twenty… Yet she’s been ruling the moon for…”

Zoisite completed his thought, “Over 500 years.” He moved towards the set of windows that looked out over a small strip of flower beds, the large reflective pool beyond showing an upside-down image of the palace itself.

Endymion joined him at the windows, curious to see the sky – would it be black as night? To his amazement the sky was a pale blue, just like home. Curious, he posed the question to the group, “If the moon has no atmosphere, why is its sky blue?”

“Oh,” Nephrite said, pausing as he seemed to gather the answer, “Pan was telling me that they tried mimicking the atmosphere on Earth, so the look, during the day, is about the same. He said it’s a lot nicer than the harsh glare of the sun without such an atmosphere diverting the light around. They’ve got almost the same atmospheric composition as Earth does, caught up in a giant bubble surrounding the city.”

“Did we pass through the bubble or something?” Jadeite asked from his position on a single-armed couch, “I don’t remember stopping and waiting for a dome to open or anything. Is it like a greenhouse?”

“No, it’s seriously like a bubble,” Nephrite corrected, “it’s got a flexible membrane and everything - Pan wouldn’t tell me how they achieved it, so I’m thinking its – “

“Magic.” Zoisite said at the same moment Nephrite completed his original thought:

“Top secret.”

Jadeite rolled his eyes at Zoisite. “I think I’m going to take a nap,” he announced, arranging himself more comfortably on the day-bed, his boots thrown up over the cushions.

“Do whatever you please, but don’t ruin the furniture,” Kunzite said flatly, pushing the blonde’s feet off of the couch as he headed to one of the bedrooms.

Endymion considered his options – he wasn’t particularly tired, didn’t care to look at books, but he was interested in the gardens… “Anyone want to check out the gardens?” he offered.

Both Zoisite and Nephrite agreed.

“The gardens are very pretty,” Nephrite commented, nodding his head in appreciation as he gazed around the grounds, “I love what they’ve done with the water features.”

The gardens were indeed pretty, but, to Endymion, they were kind of bland – the colors were all very pale, all of the same pallet – not at all like the gardens at home, where the leaves were a deep green and the flowers large and riotous in the variety of their color. These were small flowers in pale pinks, purples, yellows, and blues gathered in beds through which a white path made of crushed seashells meandered. Small blooming dogwood trees were placed tastefully throughout the garden, and their small pink flowers littered the path around them and floated in the many fountains that were made focal points in several alcoves throughout the expansive gardens. The air was filled with the sound of trickling water – the overall effect was calming…

...but then the spell was broken by a great splash from somewhere to their right.

The sound of higher voices broke through the air – it sounded like girls laughing, one voice cutting above the others in an apologetic, worried tone, but he couldn’t quite make out what they were saying…

“Seems we’re not alone,” Nephrite commented, turning to look at Endymion as he took his hands down from their previous position of cradling the back of his head. He smiled, “might be some of those girls the reception woman was telling us about. Would you like to head the other way?”

Nephrite offered only because that was what Endymion usually preferred to do when they came across a gaggle of girls – it was just easier to avoid them back on Earth as they all knew who he was and were eager to make him like them – but something was different this time. Endymion found himself really wanting to investigate. He looked back at his friend and declined in as casual a tone as he could, “Nah, we can keep going. Let’s go check it out.”

Zoisite, who had been quietly looking around until then, turned to him with an amused look on his green-eyed face, “really?”

“Oh shut up,” he said lightly and started walking towards the sound of the commotion. Zoisite and Nephrite caught up quickly and, together, they turned a bend or two, the sound of laughter punctuated by the fretting voice getting louder and louder until the path branched one final time to the right, opening to an alcove. The alcove was generally round with a dogwood and large rocks intruding upon the circumference, a generously-sized fountain the center point of the area. There was an archway covered in pale ivy behind the tree that lead back into a hallway of the palace… but Endymion’s eyes fell immediately upon the blonde young lady who was sitting completely drenched and facing away from him on the lip of the fountain, her feet dangling in the water. She was being fussed over by one of the girls there – one with short blue hair – but she was laughing, ringing out one extremely long blonde pigtail with another girl, this one a brunette. That they were looking back towards the castle was the only reason why
they continued on without noticing their quiet intrusion.

“I’m so sorry, I just wasn’t paying attention – “ the blue-haired girl was apologizing, hers the voice they had heard under the laughter.

“Can I help you?” a sharp voice called with an accusatory tone.

The girl with long black hair must have caught sight of them as she exited the palace, and Endymion was infinitely glad that she had. All three girls by the fountain ceased their laughter and turned. As the blonde’s blue eyes met his he felt an electric shock travel the length of his body, rooting him in place. He couldn’t look away from those eyes, that angelic, if wet, face. Her bangs, still dripping but starting to curl, seemed to emphasize the look of surprised interest that overtook her countenance.

She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Her pale skin looked soft; her tiny nose, adorable; her rosy lips, slightly parted in her soft, quizzical expression, were what he would consider perfection; but her eyes held him most – bright, clear and blue. Neither like the blue of the sky in midday nor the deep hue of the ocean, not the intense blue of frozen glaciers… If anything, he would compare them to the deepest, purest cut sapphire he had ever beheld. There was an intensity about them, a depth that felt infinite, yet comforting.

He felt different, and while he couldn’t put his finger on what, exactly, had changed, he knew for certain that this girl was the reason. He felt like there was a connection there – like he suddenly felt part of himself leave and attach itself to her, almost like he was a part of her, and her a part of him. That was insane, right? He was being dumb. But those eyes…

“Our humblest apologies,” Nephrite smiled, turning on the charm. Barely a second had passed since the girl had called them out, yet for Endymion it seemed like an eternity. He could find those eyes in a crowded room, could draw them with charcoal, sketch them in the sand… yet he wanted to know them more. He needed to find out more.

They suddenly broke eye contact as a fluffy pink towel was thrown around the girl’s shoulders by another blonde, whose long hair completely obscured his view of her. As if snapping out of a daydream, the prince took stock of the scene – the blue-haired girl and the brunette still looked taken aback, the raven-haired girl glaring almost angrily at them, completely immune, it seemed, to Nephrite’s charms. She and the girl with the blonde hair that was just a shade or two lighter must have gone in to get a towel and came out to find… three unfamiliar guys staring at their oblivious friends from the walkway. Endymion almost blushed in embarrassment.

The black-haired girl said nothing, only crossed her arms and intensified her gaze.

“We are truly sorry, m’ladies – we heard your laughter and couldn’t help but investigate,” Zoisite apologized for them, placing his hand over his heart in a salute, “We’ll be on our way.” He took Endymion’s elbow and pulled.

Still almost in a state of shock, the prince allowed himself to be led away. Looking back as long as he could, searching for those blue eyes, he still did not get to see them again before they passed out of sight.

Been a few installments since I've reviewed now. I definitely like where this is going, and was admittedly amused by Endymion's "stop and stare" reaction of Serenity. It's nice that you included the Inner Senshi already, too. ^^

Usually, love at first sight in fiction just makes me laugh because of how incredibly cheesy it is. But you actually handled it well. Kudos for you. *Huggle*

=) Thanks! I'm catching up to where I'm actually working, so it'll get slower... especially as I'm now thinking of a huge event in the future... o_o would it be cheesy to have a kidnap scene when Princess Serenity sneaks down to Earth one time? I haven't quite decided. I'm trying to get the angle of a 'forbidden love' in there, as I have their political atmosphere a friendly one. ... it'd get the "Magic is real" idea out there and would give Zoisite something to crow about. ... as he's feeling ridden with shame for letting it happen. ... What do you think? I could just keep it short and have the main and only conflict being the uprising of Earth against Moon.

((I'mma post the last decent-sized entry now.))

“Well, that could have gone better,” Nephrite commented casually as the trio reentered the palace. “They were cute, too,” he added with a hint of regret. “I wonder what her problem was.”

Zoisite stopped mid-step. “Do you mean to tell me you do not know who we just ran into?!”

The others stopped and looked back at him, “If that’s what you inferred, I won’t deny it.”

“THAT WAS THE—“ Zoisite stopped mid-exclamation, checking his voice and continuing in a fierce whisper, “That was the crowned princess and her guardians! You can’t tell me you didn’t notice their uniforms!”

Nephrite glanced up, his brows furrowing in his attempt at recalling, “Come to think of it, four of them were wearing similar outfits…”

Were they? He had been focused elsewhere…

“And you wonder why Sailor Mars was upset?! Princess Serenity was soaked, and she was wearing a white dress!” Zoisite finished in a hiss.

Nephrite snickered, “Oh, really? I hadn’t noticed…”

“Pervert,” the blonde sniffed, planting his hands on his hips disapprovingly.

Nephrite rolled his eyes, “You couldn’t see anything; the top of her dress covered anything risqué.”

“You were looking?!”

As the two bickered about common decency, resuming the walk through the palace that would eventually take them to the only familiar spot in the place (their quarters), Endymion was lost in his own thoughts. Princess Serenity… the moon symbol must have been hidden by her bangs. What was she like? He wanted to know everything he could about her – did she like to dance? What was her favorite food? Author? Did she play an instrument? … Did she have a suitor?

Suddenly an unnerving thought struck him: Did she think he was creepy? There she was, just pulled out of a fountain, wearing a white dress and laughing with her friends, only to turn and find a trio of peeping toms. Endymion winced. On top of that, he had just stared at her. She probably thought he was a creep. Unpolished, blatantly lacking in etiquette, and a fool on top of that.

Was there any coming back? What kind of apology would wipe that first impression from her mind? ‘Hello, Princess Serenity. My name is Endymion and I’m sorry for the mishap at the fountain earlier. I didn’t know you were wearing a white dress’ —no, that’s dumb. ‘Princess Serenity, I am truly sorry for coming across you at such an awkward moment.' Though honestly, he wasn’t sorry at all. Meeting her, seeing her for the first time… no, he was not sorry at all. 'I hope that we can start over’ … would that work? Hmm… I’m just not good at this.' They had reached the stairs, the two still talking about something or other. 'Maybe I could get Zoisite to help me with a proper apology?' He almost discarded the idea entirely, not really wanting to admit to anyone that he might like Princess Serenity. Unless… 'I could spin it as an Earth/Moon thing. He’d probably go for that without any further question – the Prince of Earth and two of his generals were caught in a compromising situation. We don’t want to make the wrong impression…' Thinking he had a pretty good plan, Endymion started concocting ways he could broach the subject when his ears caught a snatch of their conversation.

“…--ncess Serenity just kept staring at you,” Zoisite was saying, his green eyes and Nephrite’s brown were looking back at him now, “Did you notice?”

He was caught off guard, “she what?”

“She just sat there, staring at you. It probably would have gotten uncomfortable if it had lasted much longer,” Nephrite shrugged.

Now that he thought about it, it made perfect sense – he was staring into her eyes that whole time, so she had to have been staring back. But was she staring because she wanted to stare, or was she just staring to meet his gaze? This was dumb. Overanalyzing a girl’s reaction was insane – what did he care? … he internally groaned his own response, ‘I care because I can’t get her out of my head.’

“Do you know how long we have until the dinner?” Nephrite asked Zoisite, dropping the Princess Serenity talk.

“I’m not sure – they said they’d find us when there was an hour remaining,” Zoisite replied, coming to a halt just outside of their suite, “Why?”

“Those girls were cute,” the brunette responded, “I thought I’d try for a quick nap to be at my best at the ball.” He stretched languidly.

Zoisite rolled his eyes and opened the door, leading the way into the room. They found everything as they had left it, Jadeite still snoozing on the couch, but for a small rack of clothing beside the door that held their evening attire: gray general’s outfits for the four, each trimmed in the color of their ‘office’, and a black tuxedo for him, paired with a black and red cape. He didn’t expect they’d let him wear his favored attire as it included an ornately wrought breast plate (and armor at a festive celebration was a little out of place…), and he was extremely grateful they chose the updated “princely attire” over anything designed by his old nurse-maid. Everything she touched turned puffy and shimmering.

“Well,” Nephrite announced, leaving them for one of the bedrooms, “Later.”

Zoisite raised a hand in farewell.

“I think I’ll rest for a bit, too,” Endymion announced, heading for one of the unoccupied rooms himself. He raised a hand in parting and shut the door behind him.

The bedroom was comfortable and elegant, decorated in reds and creams similar to the sitting room beyond. The window looking out over the viewing pool was framed by thick red curtains, which, when he pulled them, effectively blocked the daylight completely. Stumbling, he found the queen-sized bed and pulled his boots off before climbing onto it. After stripping off his shirt and tossing it onto the foot of the bed, Endymion climbed under the top comforter and fell back into the silk sheets. More tired than he had expected, he fell asleep almost immediately, his mind’s eye seeing nothing but long blonde hair and sapphire eyes set in her angelic face.

Hmm ... The kidnap scene might have trouble depending on how you go about it. If you want, you can PM me to save spoilers for others, but a basic design of how it'll go will give me enough to judge.

And why keep the conflict so brief, when you could make it so much better? Beryl wouldn't be the only one capable of causing trouble. And there are bound to be those with a superiority complex and look down on the alliance with the moon. There is a lot you could do.

(Oh, and I liked the new chapter. Endymion is so clueless right now. :3)

He awoke groggy and a little disoriented to the sound of Jadeite’s voice.

“Hey, that guy came back. We’ve got an hour until dinner – Zoisite is following him to the baths and reviewing some timeline or another. He’ll be back to show us where we’re going,” he explained, then cursed softly and pulled the curtains open, the light spilling in betraying that in his clumsiness he had kicked the desk chair and stubbed a toe.

“Graceful,” Endymion commented sarcastically, throwing the covers back and swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

“Shut it.”

“Is that any way to talk to your prince?” he said in mock disgust.

“Oh? You’ve seen him lately?”

They both cracked a smile. Endymion opened the closet on the far side of the room and pulled out a white button-up shirt to throw on between here and the bath. He always appreciated the work that servants did – how things appeared where he expected without ever having to worry was something he valued immensely. He took a seat on a chest positioned at the end of the bed and pulled his boots into place. Jadeite stood before the mirror, smoothing down his hair.

“Don’t bother,” Endymion stood, “Your hair is like mine – the cowlicks and fluffiness won’t go away no matter how you try to coax them.”

Jadeite growled, pulling at his locks and flattening them to his head one final time before turning on his heel. “I think I heard Zoisite out there,” he said, opening the door. He muttered to himself as he left, “maybe with water and some sort of straightening agent…”

Endymion stood, smiling. He had given up on his hair a long time ago – really, he preferred how it naturally fell when compared to the way his mother’s attendants had styled it when he was younger. Before leaving the room, he picked up his discarded shirt, folded it, and placed it neatly at the foot of the bed out of habit – servants or no, he could not leave a room that he personally had made a mess in.

The other four were already in the sitting room, dressed in loose articles of clothing and ready to head to the bath house. The rack of clothing for later had been removed, supposedly to their destination, and so they set out at once, joking with each other along the way.

The bath house was beautiful, with marble walls and floors tiled in intricate patterns. Hot water was constantly flowing into the great pools via a waterfall duct in the wall; the excess water spilled over the side and disappeared down a grate in the floor, supposedly to a refinery somewhere. Steam escaped through small windows near the ceiling, keeping the air relatively cool despite the heated water. The five of them, as used to training in the barracks back home as spending time in lavish castles, stripped and went about the business of washing without blinking an eye. There were stalls over on one side wherein water fell straight onto the floor and down a drain – they took turns using those first to wash their hair, then lathered up and rinsed off whatever leftover sweat and grime there was before relaxing in the hot pool. Zoisite kept them all on track (somehow), and they had just finished drying off and were dressing when Terran knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Endymion called, buttoning the cuffs on his tuxedo shirt.

The old man entered, closing the door after him. “Young masters, I am to take you to dinner as soon as you finish here. The official service will be starting in about 15 minutes. Does anyone require any assistance?”

“I might with the cape, but I’m pretty set until then,” Endymion replied, the others voicing similar statements.

Minutes later they were all dressed, capes and all, and were walking down a long hall towards the centrals section of the palace.

“The capes feel much lighter since last time we wore them,” Jadeite commented, shrugging his shoulders experimentally.

“That’s because these aren’t weighted.”

“What? Weighted?” Jadeite turned to Kunzite, who looked unconcerned. “Weighted as in—“

“As in I purposefully stuffed them with weights for strength training. Them and your gauntlets, shin guards, belts, and chest plates.”

“You sneaky—“ Nephrite started, raising a gloved hand in a fist to hit his superior officer, but was held back by Jadeite.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get him back,” Jadeite promised sinisterly, his blue eyes dropping into a glare.

Endymion smiled, knowing the two were joking; even if Jadeite was serious about retaliation, his efforts were usually weak at best and typically were nothing more than practical jokes. As they neared the dinner area, the muffled sound of voices floated down the alabaster corridor.

“You will all be sitting at the high table with Queen Serenity, her daughter, Princess Serenity, her advisors, Luna and Artemis, and the Guardian Senshi,” Terran explained as they neared the tall set of double doors, but Endymion had stopped listening.

At the mention of the princess, Endymion’s heart skipped a beat and everything else mentioned was but buzzing in his ears. Thoughts that hadn’t entered his mind since he woke up earlier suddenly came flooding back to him – the damp blonde hair, the pale skin, pink lips and blue eyes. She was going to be at dinner… butterflies rose in his stomach, only to be utterly destroyed by a wash of cruel, cruel stomach acid as he realized he hadn’t found an appropriate apology for earlier. Mind in a panic, he tried to remember the speech he had concocted earlier. ‘Princess Serenity, I’m sorry we snuck up on you. I’m not a peeping tom, I swear’. No, that wasn’t it! ‘Princess Serenity, I am Endymion of Earth, and I am so sorry to have caught you in that awkward situation earlier today—‘ Lame! So lame.

The doors were drawing closer with every step, the old man was still talking about who-knows-what, the guys would be no help now – he was on his own in this. Should he just wing it? He’ll just wing it. It won’t be so bad, something is bound to come to him, right? Yeah, something like…. …. He drew a blank.

The doors opened before them and the crowd hushed.

“Presenting his royal highness, Crown Prince Endymion of Earth and his personal guardians, General Kunzite, General Zoisite, General Nephrite, and General Zoisite.” A voice announced as Terran swept his arm out, indicating he should move forward.

Too soon, it was far too soon. He had nothing to say – nothing at all!

He stepped forward and found himself in the middle of a good-sized room, five circular tables filling the hall – four in a row, one at the head. The tables sat 12 people each and all seats, but the five for them, were filled. A small dinner, then. The dress for the evening was formal and the people of the moon were not shy with their colors. Though most seemed to be lighter shades, they were of all the colors of the rainbow. Great, time wasted looking at colors when he should be thinking about…

Then he saw her.

Her long blonde hair was caught up in the same double-buns as before, but was noticeably bouncier. Her bang curled towards the center of her face, the golden moon-mark in her forehead obvious now. She wore no obvious makeup, yet seemed to be glowing with an inner light. Still looking at her, he half-bowed in a greeting to the people and found his feet beating the path straight towards her. She was looking at him, and there was no trace of skepticism, no hint of her thinking that he was odd. Her gaze was welcoming, maybe a bit shy.

Someone cleared his throat behind him.

Startled, Endymion broke his gaze and glanced to his right to see Kunzite giving him a weighted look. He had only started to wonder what it meant when it hit him all at once – he was doing it again. Openly staring. In front of everyone. ‘Idiot. Can you be any more obvious?’ he mentally hit himself and wiped the strange look off of his face, concentrating on looking neutral as he finished the walk to the table.

The head table sat the Queen near the center facing the people, the princess to her right, and the four other girls (not wearing their uniforms, but strange, loose-fitting outfits reminiscent of Roman garments in the primary colors, accented with gold or silver ornate belts) were strung out beside the princess. His seat, then, would be on Queen Serenity’s left. As they approached, the occupants of the head table stood as one and waited for his company to pull out their seats. As if a silent cue was given, all twelve of them sat down together.

“Thank you for joining us for dinner tonight, gentlemen,” Queen Serenity said, a small smile playing across her face, “I hope you enjoyed the palace earlier?”

‘Did she know?’ Endymion nervously glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, seeing as he did the angry glare take over the purple-eyed face of the guardian with long black hair. The girl with blue hair looked down uncomfortably and, beside her, the princess blushed a deep pink and averted her eyes. It was one of the cutest things he had ever seen. She looked so flustered. He smiled despite himself… until he saw Queen Serenity’s silver eyes looking at him out of their corners, as well.

“Your majesty, your home is truly beautiful,” Zoisite supplied. This was so unexpected (as Endymion had deeply believed he was sunk) that Endymion’s head whipped around to stare at him. He continued, “The architecture is interesting and eye-catching, and we particularly enjoyed the water features of the western gardens.”

Was he going to say it? Was he going to apologize for them? Hope surged…

“While we were out there, however, we came across a potentially embarrassing scene, and I would like to apologize on behalf of the three of us who were there earlier today.” Zoisite turned his attention from Queen to Princess as Endymion’s head stopped functioning – he was getting away scott-free, without having to do anything? Zoisite was currently number one in his books. “Princess, it was only the sound of your laughter that drew us, and we request forgiveness if we caused you any discomfort in our presence.” The blonde smiled apologetically, and Princess Serenity glanced up at him, then down at her plate again and shook her golden head negatively.

“It’s alright,” she said, smiling as her eyes now seemed to rest on her silverware, “no harm done.”

Then the most marvelous thing happened – she glanced quickly at him.

I'll just...sit here and wait for more. >__________> This is coming out really good.

I have to admit, this story completely distracted me from my readings for social archaeology. Although my social archaeology professor would hardly accept this as an excuse, but I couldn't stop reading this fan fiction until the very end. I will definitely enjoy what is to come. Please, do not hesitate to write more.

=D You guys!! *hugs all around*

*pulls out Endymion playlist and starts typing*

“Thank you, Zoisite, for you compliments,” Queen Serenity said with a smile, “Now, please, tell us a little more about yourself. How long have you been at the Earth court?”

“Nephrite and I joined the court around the same time, roughly ten years ago. I am the eldest son of Kingdom of the North, and, as is tradition, I was sent to the capital at age six to train and to learn under the greatest minds in the world,” he took a sip of water.

“So, you’re all princes?” the brunette of the princess’s guardians asked.

“Well, not in the technical sense. As Earth has been united under one kingdom, there is only one actual prince,” he nodded his head toward Endymion, “As our fathers still maintain the country that made up their former kingdoms, we are more along the lines of Barons – I think they keep the kingdom title for romantic effect.” Zoisite explained with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

“Ah,” the brunette replied as a response.

“So… who were you all again?” the blonde guardian, dressed in a light shade of orange, asked blatantly.

“Aphrodite!” the girl with blue hair exclaimed, clearly shocked.

The blonde, apparently of the name Aphrodite, waved one hand in dismissal at her, “I don’t pay much attention when the herald starts talking. He usually drags on and on, you know?” staring intently at Kunzite, her question was still on the table.

Kunzite cleared his throat, “Zoisite,” he said, indicating each of them as he spoke, “you have met already. Nephrite represents the Eastern kingdom, Jadeite the Southern, and I, Kunzite, represent the Western Kingdom. We are to Prince Endymion as you four are to Princess Serenity, if I understand your stations as well as I think I do.”

The brunette and the black-haired girl exchanged a look of some sort. Did they not just guard the princess and study together? His four generals were his best friends and confidants; true, they all shined in different areas that they referred to as their area of expertise, but they were all still learning. What could make their relationship so different?

“Since we have been so forthcoming,” Nephrite smiled as the first course – a cold soup – was placed before them, “perhaps you could indulge us, as well? Please, your names?”

Zoisite looked at him sharply, but then, Zoisite already knew their names. Endymion listened closely, interested in anything that affected and influenced Princess Serenity’s life. She was smiling at the server as he placed her dish before her, softly saying something to him that looked like ‘thank you.’

The blonde smiled, “Well, I’m Aphrodite, Princess of Venus and guarded by that ever-so-beautiful star. When on duty, you can call me Sailor Venus, and I am the leader of the Guardian Senshi.”

‘Princess of Venus?’ Endymion glanced sharply from Serenity to Aprodite, ‘Surely she didn’t really mean the planet Venus?’ he didn’t have much time to ponder the announcement , however, as the other girls began their introductions.

“Bellona,” the black-haired, purple-eyed girl wearing light shades of red introduced herself, looking a lot less peeved after Zoisite’s apology, “Princess of Mars, Senshi of Fire and War.”

‘So they’re all senshi? Doesn’t that mean they’re guardian soldiers? No way – that word must have a different meaning up here,’ Endymion decided in a split second, just before the blue-haired girl, sitting next to the Princess, made took her turn. Serenity was taking a sip of the soup, still managing to look elegant even as she ate.

“It’s nice to meet you,” the blue-haired girl said shyly, “I’m Athena, the Princess of Mercury and Sailor Mercury.”

“And I’m Demeter, Princess of Jupiter and Sailor Jupiter, the senshi of protection,” the brunette finished off, giving them a lazy salute and winking a green eye. “So how long are you boys up here?”

‘Boys?’ Endymion looked at his half of the table to see similar incredulous looks exchanged between Jadeite and Nephrite. Kunzite just looked amused.

“Yes, gentlemen,” Queen Serenity put emphasis on the last three syllables, and Demeter winced at her mistake, “Are you indeed able to stay for our Sunset Celebration?”

“Your majesty, thank you for the invitation and we would love to stay. As it is, I sent a message to the King, requesting an extension, and it was granted. We should be leaving the first day of night,” Kunzite answered, taking a sip of soup.

‘He must have done that when we were out in the gardens,’ Endymion figured. Normally, he would have felt a little betrayed by his friend. When they landed earlier he was still thinking he’d try to get out of staying the pre-arranged five days, and that Kunzite did that without asking him first would’ve annoyed him to no end. But as circumstances had changed… he looked to see Serenity sipping her soup… well, now he didn’t mind.

“This is really good!” Jadeite exclaimed incredulously.

All eleven other eyes at the table turned to look at him; though most everyone was confused, Zoisite looked absolutely mortified, all color drained from his face – probably at the lack of etiquette displayed by their youngest friend whilst in the company of so many important people. Queen Serenity smiled slightly in amusement, as did, of all people, the previously icy Bellona. The purple-eyed ‘Princess of Mars’ had an eyebrow quirked and a half-smile twitched at her lips as she watched his blonde general.

Though all were looking at him, Jadeite was oblivious, staring down at his bowl as he took another spoonful of soup. “Mmm,” he hummed loudly, “Nephrite, did you try this?”

Only then did he look up. “What?”

“You’re hopeless,” Zoisite declared as if it were a matter being set to rest. Demeter giggled.

“I’m glad you like it,” Queen Serenity chuckled.

“Well, I mean – I-I just didn’t expect – “ Jadeite fumbled, looking around the table for support.

“Didn’t expect Moon food to be edible?” Bellona teased – teased! Maybe she was less of an ice-queen as she appeared to be at first. Her smirk was friendly.

“No, that’s—that’s not what I meant—“

“What my incredibly flustered friend means to say,” Nephrite cut in cooly, saving Jadeite from further bumbling, “is that he’s a rather picky eater.”

Jadeite nodded enthusiastically, “yeah, I usually just try to choke down whatever I’m given for the sake of good manners —“

“Which you are severely lacking now,” Zoisite stated flatly, his head bowed and in his right hand, unable to face anyone at the table anymore.

Jadeite’s face was growing redder by the moment, looking increasingly like a trapped rabbit. “What? No – I mean – “ he looked to Nephrite for another helping hand, but this time the brunette just grinned at him. Glancing around desperately at the guys, Jadeite jumped to the calmest looking one there. “Kunzite?” he squeaked, his breathing rapidly escalating.

“Take a deep breath,” Kunzite instructed evenly, taking a sip of water. “Calm down, gather your thoughts, and try again.”

Ever since Jadeite joined them, he had had a slight problem with panicking. It was a condition made evident almost immediately – upon his arrival at the court he had been caught in a similar situation, but it had escalated to the point of Jadeite breathing quickly and heavily, unable to calm down at all, and finally collapsing. His heart-rate had been through the roof and he had to be sedated by the physician. They’ve been working on it over the years, as it had surfaced several times, especially around and during important tests and tasks set to them by the scholars. Sometimes all it took was for him to get over-excited. Kunzite, a master of his own emotions and the apparent ability to rid himself of such anxiety, had often helped Jadeite take control before he went over the edge.

Endymion felt anxious himself, watching Jadeite’s breathing quicken, and felt like he should say something to take the attention off of the blonde, as attention always seemed to magnify the condition. He resisted, however, as Kunzite had once told him that doing so would only provide Jadeite with an outlet, not a true solution. Only through training in situations such as this would he get any better. So Endymion just watched the blonde closely, his hand below the table gripping the tablecloth apprehensively.

Jadeite looked as if cool water had been splashed in his face, but he did as Kunzite directed.

Thankfully, the girls at the table did not take this turn of events as something serious – this would make Jadeite less embarrassed afterward. To them, it seemed just as a bit of teasing of a flusterable guy. Aphrodite, Bellona, and Demeter were smiling toothily, glancing at each other then back at Jadeite. Serenity and Athena smiled, too, but there was a deeper understanding in their eyes.

Did Serenity have problems with public speaking, too, then? Maybe she blundered, once, at a public event?

Jadeite cleared his throat, looking much better. “What I meant to say is that I really enjoy this soup,” he stated being extremely clear. … He said nothing more, only started sipping it again.

Endymion found himself chuckling with the rest of them.

Nephrite elbowed the blonde, “I think it’s pretty good, too.”

((o.o apparently, positive comments make me write like crazy. ... Prepare for more dialogue!

Dialogue, engage!))

Not long after, the soup was removed and replaced with a small salad of fresh greenery. They started eating in relative silence. The salad was pretty good, too, as far as salads go, but the dressing was something he had never tasted before and wasn’t too sure he liked all that much. Sneaking a glance at the others, he saw similar reactions down his line – Kunzite was carefully picking each leaf up, on at a time, and staring at them as if contemplating something deep. For all Endymion knew, Kunzite was considering something of great importance, but he had seen the cool, silver-haired guy eat in a similar fashion before. His true intention was to drain each leaf of as much dressing as possible before eating it. Zoisite was dutifully munching away, but the small crease in his brow betrayed his dislike. Jadeite was pushing some of the greenery aside, seemingly searching for some vegetable or another but secretly waiting for the dish to be taken away, and at the other side he caught Nephrite surreptitiously looking at him, too. Nephrite smiled unhelpfully.

“So, Jadeite, what do you think of the salad?” Queen Serenity asked, breaking the ice once again. Endymion looked to her – was she still teasing him?

“Um…” Jadeite started, his fork clinking on the side of the porcelain plate. “Well, it’s…. delicious.” He pointedly picked up a small beet and stuffed it in his mouth. Chewing, he tentatively hummed in ‘pleasure’ again. “Mmm….”

Aphrodite laughed aloud, “We don’t like it much, either.”

Sure enough, each of the girls had just pushed their plate away from them, the forks placed delicately across the top. None of them had even touched it.

“Sorry we didn’t warn you,” Demeter commented, “but the new chef wanted to try something ‘exotic’ for your arrival and, well... we’ve tried his ‘exotic’ before.”

Athena giggled, “well, at least he’s trying.”

“He should let someone else ‘try’ first,” Aphrodite commented flatly. Did Kunzite quietly laugh?

Bellona leaned close to Aphrodite and looked reluctant as she said, “Let’s just hope he doesn’t reintroduce us to his ‘Supremely Striking Salmon’ dish from that conference a few months ago.”

“If he does,” Demeter cut in, “I might just have to go hungry.”

“He’ll feel so guilty when we all faint from hunger,” Aphrodite stated dramatically, her blue eyes swept upward theatrically. “Or worse,” she said, pinpointing him with her gaze, “when the Prince turns green and has to leave the ball thrown in his honor.”

“It was too bad,” Demeter commented, carrying on the charade.

Bellona joined in, “a shame.”

Endymion felt a little uncomfortable – did they really think his stomach to be that weak? “Uh—“ he started to say, but was interrupted by Aphrodite.

“No, no, dear Prince, conserve your strength. You don’t know the severity of the battle ahead.”

“Bravery won’t get you very far here, courageous prince,” agreed Bellona.

Serenity was look at him, too, probably waiting to see how he would take the playing. Would she join in, too? Though he didn’t particularly care for all attention to be directed at him – a strange quirk, being a prince and all – he wouldn’t mind her joining, if only to hear her voice again.

“Oh, no, our time is coming to an end,” whispered Demeter. The girls grew quiet and suddenly looked much more regal than they had seconds before. Endymion looked up to see the servers coming around to retrieve the salad plates (mostly untouched).

“Pardon me, Constence?” Aphrodite asked as the server took her plate, “what’s the main course for tonight?”

“Venison, Lady Aphrodite,” he answered.

“Thank you, Constence.”

As soon as the server was out of sight, the three more-talkative girls heaved an audible sigh. It seemed Serenity sighed too, only less noticeably. “We’re safe,” Demeter declared.

Smiling, the brunette continued, “his venison is delectable.”

“Fortunately, he doesn’t mess with success,” Bellona agreed, readjusting the napkin in her lap.

“You three must be really close,” Nephrite commented.

The three froze, then softened immediately.

“We all are,” Aphrodite said, leaning her head on Athena’s shoulder.

They offered nothing further.

“How long have you known each other?” Nephrite asked as a plate of steaming venison was place before them all.

Demeter, who sat beside Nephrite, tsked disapprovingly. “You can’t know everything about us the first time we meet – how boring would the rest of the week be if you did?”

Nephrite raised his eyebrow, as did Endymion, but the brunette soon agreed. “You’re right.”

“Well, Prince, go ahead. Try that and tell us whether you can make the dance tonight,” Aphrodite said with a wink.

He looked at the blonde, who smiled back. Their eyes were all on him again. He looked out of the corner of his eye at Kunzite, who, though also watching the girls, seemed to sense his gaze and shrugged imperceptibly. He sighed, rolled his eyes and cut into the dark grey meat. He raised the morsel to his mouth, still feeling silly as all five girls were now looking intently at him – the princess included – and took a bite. It was delicious, seasoned perfectly, yet not so much as to disguise the flavor.

“And?” Aphrodite prodded.

Not knowing what she expected, and still chewing, Endymion nodded.

“Success!” Demeter declared, “let’s eat.”

‘What strange girls…’ Endymion thought, cutting another bite-sized portion of meat and eating it. ‘Are they always like this?’ he pondered before his thoughts returned to Serenity, wondering if she was shy, or didn’t like to play as much as Aphrodite, Bellona and Demeter did. It was obvious from Athena’s demeanor that she was shy and a little reserved, but the energy of the princess seemed to suggest a more outgoing personality. Was she holding back? He took another big piece of venison.

“I think this is my favorite dish of his,” commented Demeter.

“I think so, too, and it’s really good tonight!” a male voice said from just behind him.

Endymion turned, still chewing. His eyes landed on the owner of the voice and his chewing slowed. He blinked twice, not quite believing what he saw.

The owner of the voice was a white cat.

“Really?” Aphrodite asked, her voice a little louder than it had been when addressing those at the table, “I thought you said the tuna was your favorite?”

She was speaking to the cat as if it were an everyday occurrence. The white cat, sitting not too far from the table, had a plate of venison in front of him, too, the meat cut into small pieces already. Beside him sat a black cat with a similar plate. Both had a crescent moon on their forehead, but other than that they appeared to be normal cats.

Except for that whole talking thing.

“The tuna’s good, too, but this… this is simply mouthwatering,” the cat said. … the cat. Said. The cat’s mouth actually moved, and coherent words came out. Not mewing or purring, but well formed, slightly accented but completely coherent words.

Maybe he had dreamt it? Maybe the meat was bad, and everything since taking that first bite was some sort of hallucination.

“My apologies,” the bell-like voice of Queen Serenity said, “I don’t believe I have introduced my most important advisors. These two are Luna,” the black cat nodded at him, “and Artemis,” the white cat mimicked the movement.

“Nice to meet you, Prince Endymion, and you all as well, Generals,” Artemis greeted with a cat smile.

Could cats smile? Did cats normally smile? More disturbed than he cared to admit, he smiled back at the cats, “Nice to meet you, too.”

“Artemis! You did it!” exclaimed Aphrodite. Endymion turned to see the biggest smile yet on her face, the other girls smiling as well – even Athena looked really pleased. Princess Serenity was staring warmly at him, her smile sending a pleasant heat through his chest. He wondered for that split-second what Artemis had done to make them all so happy, but Aphrodite soon elaborated (as Artemis was similarly perplexed), “You got him to speak!”

“We were beginning to think you might be a mute,” Demeter teased.

Nephlite laughed, “if only!”

Jadeite started laughing as well.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Endymion asked, putting his fork down and leaning into the conversation.

“Oh nothing, courageous prince,” Nephrite ribbed further.

Endymion rolled his eyes and reclaimed his fork, setting to the venison once more.

“How ironic – the cat got the human to speak…” Zoisite smiled. Athena joined him, but the others looked a little confused.

“Ironic?” Demeter inquired.

The light voice of Athena provided a definition, “it means the statement is apparently contradictory.”

“What’s so contradictory about it?” Princess Serenity asked, and Endymion couldn’t help but stare at her. Her voice was enchanting.

Athena looked at her blonde princess and explained, “Well, if I’m correct,” she flashed a glance at Zoisite before continuing, as if seceding to him if her assumption were incorrect, “the cats on Earth don’t talk; therefore, being impressed that a cat made a human talk would make more sense if it were the other way around.”

“Oh!” Aphrodite laughed at the joke, but quickly redirected to Zoisite, “so cats don’t talk on Earth?”

Zoisite looked slightly alarmed, “No – you mean it’s normal for cats on the moon to talk?”

“Well, there’s only the two of them here,” Demeter offered, looking over at Luna and Artemis who offered no explanation of their ability.

Queen Serenity spoke again, “Luna and Artemis are guests here,” she explained, with no further clarification.

“Guests...” Zoisite repeated thoughtfully, taking one of his last bits of venison.

Endymion had already finished his meal, feeling pleasantly full. He laid his fork and knife across the top of his plate and took sip from his almost-empty water glass. He knew his green-eyed friend was thinking this curiosity through and would probably discuss it at length with them later, so he let the matter of the talking cats drop. He was on the moon, after all, in a castle made of alabaster and marble sitting in a bubble of artificial air. Why not add in talking cats?

Soon their dishes were removed and, once the wait staff had exited with plates from every table, Queen Serenity stood.

“The ball will start in roughly thirty minutes in the Grand Ballroom. We will see you there,” she told them, “Serenity? Girls?”

The Princess and her guardians stood as one, as did he and his, and the rest of the people assembled (as was only polite). Queen Serenity waved once to the gathered people, smiling, and then turned to leave the room, the girls following in her wake. Aphrodite winked and waved as she left, while Demeter flashed them a grin and gave them a thumbs-up sign before the both of them straightened back into demeanors most regal.

Endymion looked bewilderedly at Kunzite, who was smiling and slightly shaking his head at the receding group. Nephrite, beyond him, used his head to nod in the direction of the door, where Endymion saw Terran waiting for them. Straightening his shoulders and taking a deep breath, Prince Endymion led his generals away from the dining hall.


((how's that for a dinner scene?
You know, at first I was all "blaaah, I could just skip to the end of dinner" but as I started writing and creating the slightly tweaked versions of the girls we all know and love, I just couldn't stop myself. They just kept talking and teasing each other - I couldn't stop them if I wanted to. And this scene is potentially super important, as it lays the groundwork for the whole senshi-shitennou relationship. do they love each other, hate each other, are they suspicious of each other? In this peaceful era and in their home court, these girls have their guard down as soon as they know the visitors mean to harm to their princess.
I'm sorry if this wasn't the way you saw the princesses act in that era, but I hope you don't mind them being this playful.
Oh, and don't worry too much about Serenity's apparent shyness - I'll explain that later. Or, rather, she will.
thanks for reading! What do you guys think?))

“I hope you enjoyed your meal,” Terran wished them as he led them down the hall towards the sound of music. “As there are minutes before the ball begins, I thought I might interest you gentlemen in a trip to a room where you could wash up.” Without needing an answer, the older man turned them down a short hallway and indicated the room on the right side of the hallway. Within was an expansive bathroom filled with mirrors, ornate sinks with hot and cold water, and a towel boy, beyond the usual things one might find in a rest room.

“So… they were certainly cheerful,” Nephrite said as he washed his hands, a smile on his face.

Zoisite, standing near the door, picked a mint out of a dish built into the wall that stood just below eye level. He looked at it, gave an experimental whiff and put it in his mouth. “Wintergreen,” he informed a curious Jadeite.

“And teasing,” Kunzite added, “Weren’t they, Endymion?”

Endymion took a towel from the boy, his hands clean and warm, “I think Jadeite knows the answer to that one.”

“Ha ha, very funny,” the blonde said, checking his reflection.

“Really, though, that was a lot of fun,” concluded Nephrite.

“And informative,” Zoisite offered, approaching the mirror himself.

He didn’t say anything more. They all remained quiet until Endymion couldn’t let it pass any longer, “So,” the prince said just as Kunzite was putting his formal gloves back on, “Talking cats.”

Everyone froze for a second, as if they had been trying to push the thought out of their own minds before he had mentioned it. Zoisite unfroze first and opened his mouth to speak, but was immediately interrupted by Nephrite. In a Zoisite-esque tone, Nephrite proclaimed, “they must be aliens.”

Jadeite snorted, putting his gloves back on as well.

Kunzite shook his head and opened the door, “Don’t discount anything just yet,” he stated cryptically. He left the room.

Zoisite’s eyes were wide as he stared into the mirror where Kunzite’s reflection had just been. “Does he mean…” he wondered aloud. “Kunzite!” Zoisite called, moving as if to wipe his hands off on his pants but, thinking better on it, turned to grab a towel from the towel boy. “Thank you,” he quickly said, drying his hands in a frenzy and tossing the towel back to the lad, “Wait! Kunzite?!” in seconds, Zoisite was gone from the room as well.

Jadeite groaned, “Don’t tell me Kunzite believes in that stuff, too. Now Zoisite will never shut up about it.”

“But you heard what he said – we shouldn’t discount anything yet, and Queen Serenity had called them ‘guests’ – doesn’t that seem a little odd to you?” Nephrite commented, drying his hands.

“Not you, too. This just gets better and better,” Jadeite declared, walking out of the bathroom.

Nephrite, putting his gloves back on, turned to Endymion. “What do you think?”

“I honestly couldn’t tell you.”

Nephrite shrugged and raised his hand to open the door.

“Nephrite?” Endymion asked. The brunette put his arm down, waiting. Endymion cleared his throat, wondering himself what he had meant to say. In the back of his mind he had questions he did want to ask Nephrite – most was advice, really, about Princess Serenity. What should he say? Should he start with a joke? How can he show her that he likes her without being too obvious? What was considered too forward? What wasn’t forward enough? And how could he ask all of this without seeming as oblivious as he felt about all this?

“You know,” Nephrite said slowly, “As honored guests at this thing, I think we get to choose whom we dance with first… Personally, and I think Zoisite would agree with me on this, I think you should ask Princess Serenity to dance the first dance with you.” He smiled knowingly, “it’s only polite, right?” He left the room.

He knew? How did Nephrite know? ‘Couldn’t possibly be all the staring you did over dinner, now could it?’ he thought to himself sarcastically. Turning around to face the mirror, he ran a hand through his fluffy black hair and readjusted his cape. Asking Princess Serenity to dance was an excellent idea, he decided, and for the first time in his life, he silently thanked his red-headed mother for her insistence upon dance lessons.

Lady Lucina wrote:

Moar plz. :'D This is great!
Do you have it on fanfic.net as well?
(If you did I'd add you to my watched authors list or whatever it is.)

I love you! I'll be writing more later - I've been thinking up how I want the ball to go, but haven't decided on anything except how it ends. And hammering out details on the Sunset Celebration (or whatever I called it ^^')
I haven't added it to fanfic.net only because I've never added anything there before and am not sure how the formatting works, or whether I need to chop it up into "chapters" and post the chapters separately or if I could just (take the pictures out) and upload the whole thing at once and then go in and chop it up.

^^ Thanks so much for the comment - comments keep me going xD ((I got slight writers block after the dinner scene and pumping out so many pages in one sitting x.x))

You have to load it up chapter by chapter, essentially.

The music spilling out of the ballroom had been joined with hundreds of voices, all talking quietly amongst themselves as they waited for the dance to begin. Prince Endymion and his generals stood in a room off of the top of the grand staircase that led directly into the ballroom, waiting for their introduction. The prince didn’t care much for this sort of thing – standing above and before everyone, the exact center of attention – but he didn’t exactly have any say on the matter.

Being the center of attention came with the territory of being Crowned Prince. This had its disadvantages – such as never being free to act as he pleased, having his every word and move scrutinized and analyzed into oblivion – along with the obvious advantage of always having your opinion heard and considered. His solution to the disadvantage was to speak sparingly (and only when he had really thought things through) and always keep his ears open. Zoisite and Kunzite helped him with the rest.

“So, who gets whom?” Nephrite asked, breaking the waiting silence.

Zoisite opened his eyes and stopped muttering names under his breath, “What do you mean?”

“For the first dance – who wants to dance with whom?”

The blonde rolled his eyes, “Nonsense,” he muttered.

“It’s actually a valid question,” Kunzite voiced. “Just so there’s no embarrassing confusion for the first piece. Endymion should dance with—“

“Princess Serenity.” Endymion stated. There would be no question in this – he was determined to really talk with her. … even with Jadeite smirking his way.

“Naturally,” Kunzite continued, “I’ll dance with Aphrodite—“

“Really, now?” Nephrite drawled.

“It’s only proper, she being the leader of the senshi and I being in charge of you larks,” the silver-haired general brushed off.

Jadeite snorted, “Yeah, has nothing to do with that long blonde hair, her blue eyes or that perfect face, does it? You’re really suffering in this, aren’t you?”

“You can dance with her after I do, if you’re that enamored,” Kunzite said, but there was a touch of stiffness in his voice that Endymion only noticed through years of experience with the man. He had heard him laughing at Aphrodite’s remark earlier, then. He smiled to himself.

“We’ll get to that when we get to that. First dance: Zoisite, Jadeite?” Nephrite demanded, strangely on task.

“Athena.”

They all looked at Zoisite, a little shocked that the serious one of the bunch had a preference.

“Oookay,” Nephrite nodded. “Jadeite, I think you should go with Bellona. I’ll dance with Demeter. We good?”

Jadeite shrugged.

“Good, that’s settled then.”

They waited in silence, listening to the voices outside grow louder then softer as the band tuned their instruments.

“It’s forward with the left foot first, right?” Jadeite asked in a rush.

“Well which do you mean?” Nephrite asked mischievously, “the left foot or the right foot?”

“You know I meant the left foot! Quick, the band’s warming up.”

“You’re right.”

“My right? It’s supposed to be my right foot?”

“Nephrite, leave him alone. Jadeite, you were correct – forward with your left foot is the first move,” Kunzite clarified.

“The Queen and Princess!” a herald announced loudly and Endymion stood a little straighter. She was waiting out there, somewhere, and he was about to be called out to join her. The crowd without hushed to a silence so profound that he could easily hear the Queen welcoming the attendees.

“I would like to thank everyone for joining us tonight in welcoming our guests from Earth,” Queen Serenity’s voice rang out clearly, even through the thick door. “Their presence brings us great pleasure and we hope that further visits such as this can happen in the future, strengthening the bond between our two great kingdoms. Without further ado, I’d like to introduce to all of you, Prince Endymion and his four generals, General Kunzite, General Nephrite, General Zoisite and General Jadeite.”

The door opened and, right on cue, Endymion and his friends stepped onto the landing.


((this section was a little harder to write for me. :/ I'm really not good at speeches, so I'm really sorry Queen Serenity isn't all that great, either. ^^' ... ( ._.) things should start revving up again, soon. ... soon as I figure out how the dancing is going to go. XD Do I want to describe the whole night, or after the first dance include a quick summary and jump to the after-dance festivities? ... probably the latter. Anyway... I might throw this up on FF.net as soon as I get to the end of this first night on the moon. Hope this little snippet wasn't a disappointment XD))

Of course not, this section does not disappoint. Out of curiosity, do you think the Generals might have more formal titles?

x.x I couldn't come up with any besides their King of the title and I didn't want to get people who didn't know those titles confused. "Say what?" the unknowing person in my head said, 'But Endymion is the prince of Earth!!1!11 How can they be kings?!' though I think I did an okay job explaining the 'kingdoms' part in their introduction to the queen and senshi.

Do you have any suggestions?

Oh, I just mean when Queen Serenity is introducing them to the public crowd at the ball. I figure she would introduce them by their formal titles, rather than just their first names.