"What do you expect? He's the prince, naturally they're
going to give him the best one." Nephrite said.
The five men had gathered in Darien's room and having
nothing else to do, they sat around relaxing and talking.
"You know what really confuses me? How come both
mother and daughter have the same name? It's just very strange."
Kunzite said, looking at Darien.
Darien took a sip of his drink before answering, "It's
some kind of royal family tradition. The first daughter born,
who, strangely enough, also always happens to be the first child,
always takes that name."
"Hey Dare, what happens if the first child between
you and Serenity is a boy?" Nephrite asked slyly.
Jadeite chuckled at seeing Darien's eyes go wide.
"My guess is, he'll just have to name him Seren."
"Yeah, the Princess will wriggle her eyelashes and use
her wiles and Darien, so besotted with her, will readily agree to
the name."
They all laughed until Darien heard something. His
ears pricked at a slight noise and he gestured at the men to
continue talking as he slowly walked to the door.
The others catching on continued to talk while looking
towards Darien.
Meanwhile on the other side...
'I am not eavesdropping,' Serena thought, leaning
against Endymion's door, 'I am not being nosy, I am merely
being....'
"As inquisitive as a wild cat," a voice scolded.
"Am not!" she whispered to herself and then she
proceeded her ear to the door. She could hear several deep
voices and wondered which one's was Endymion's.
She could make out their conversation and her ears
flamed red when they talking about her having a boy child.
Seren? Never in a million years would she name her child that!
And wriggling her eyelashes?! She didn't even think she could do
that yet. She wondered where Mina was. The girl had left her
here to go see if 'her man' was in his room.
All of a sudden the door flung open and Serena,
caught unaware fell forward, stumbling on her long dress.
Darien had been expecting a child to fall before his
feet, not a woman in a flurry of white to fall into his arms. Totally
surprised, he tripped backwards and took the girl with him as they
both landed on the floor, with her sprawled on top of him.
He closed his eyes at the sudden silence and wished
fervently that he were anywhere but here on the floor. The woman
above him moved slightly and he nearly groaned, soft curves, a
lithe body, it was enough to make him feel uncomfortable.
"Oh Goddess of the Moon, are you alright? I'm so
sorry." Serena quickly sat up, straddling him, blushing furiously at
being caught.
'Mother will have a fit when she finds about this,' she
thought.
She placed her hands on his chest and peered into his face.
"Sir, are you alright?"
He opened his eyes and turbulent blue met blue. She
gasped, Mina's words coming back to her, captivating and mysterious
eyes she had said. The girl was definitely right, for once. And then
she groaned as realization hit her; she had fallen on Prince Endymion!
Oh, the girls would never let her live this one down.
"Are you alright?" he asked, gazing at her.
"What? Oh yes, I'm fine."
"Then if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you please
get off of me?"
"What? Oh! Of course, I'm so sorry!" If possible she
blushed even more and quickly scrambled off of him.
Well, it wasn't
her fault she fallen on him in the first place, she reasoned, if he
hadn't opened the door so suddenly they wouldn't be in this
embarrassing situation right now.
She stood up and held out her hand,
giving him a look that said she'd rather not help him.
He looked at her hand strangely and then looked at her.
He was not used to woman helping him up.
"Take my hand, I'm not going to bite you."
Embarrassed, he grabbed her hand and pulled himself up.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, whichever way you looked at it, he
pulled a little too hard and she fell against him.
"Oh," she said quietly and once again their eyes met as
they stood, transfixed, staring at each other.
A slight cough broke their trance and Serena quickly
moved away and looked behind Endymion to see four pairs of eyes
looking at her curiously. She stared right back, all her lessons on how
to act the lady having disappeared the moment she fell on Endymion.
Darien, in the meantime, recognized her immediately, the strange
hairstyle exactly like that of Queen Serenity. 'This must be the Princess,'
he thought, his fianc�e, the one who just gave him that disdainful look.
Well, they were off to a great start.
"Prince Endymion, I presume?" she looked at him
questioningly.
"That would be me. And you would be Princess Serenity?"
"I have that honor," and she lifted her chin, as they gazed
at each other steadily.
He met her gaze in open challenge and then let his eyes
rove over her. She was definitely beautiful, delicate almost, but he
saw that she had a backbone of steel. He looked back up at her face,
his lips forming a slight smile.
She could feel her face growing hot once more as he
looked her over and when he smiled she almost gave him a piece of
her mind. What right had he to look at her in such a way? She was
not some piece of meat to be examined!
"Well, how rude of me, I almost forgot to introduce you to
the Generals, my royal guard and close advisors. This is Kunzite,"
he said gesturing to a man with white hair, "he is the captain of my
guard."
'That must be the man Mina's fallen for,' Serena thought.
She then smiled, almost smirked when she realized that Mina had
left her to go look for him and he was standing here right in front of
her. Poor Mina.
Darien, who was momentarily stunned when Serenity
smiled, shook his head and then went back to introducing the others,
"This is Zoicite, Jadeite and Nephrite."
The men all bowed out of respect and Serena nodded at
them. They were all quite good looking but Endymion was apparently
the most handsome out of them all.
'Handsome? Where'd that come
from?' she thought, 'I am spending way too much time with Mina.' She
was startled from her thoughts when Endymion spoke again.
"Now, may I ask what you were doing outside of my
door?"
"I was waiting for a friend."
He raised an eyebrow, "Really? So you were leaning
against my door then, waiting for this friend of yours?"
"Are you implying that I'm lying?" she asked, outraged.
Well maybe she was lying just a little, but that still didn't give him the
right to question her like this, especially in front of his guard.
"No, no, of course not. It just seemed a little strange...."
he trailed off, and then picked up his glass, taking a sip, all the
while holding her gaze.
She strode up to him and poked a finger at his chest,
"You *are* calling me a liar! How dare you? I should let you know
that-" A light knocking at the door interrupted her before she could go
further and they both looked towards the door.
"I'll get it," Kunzite said to no one in particular and
headed towards the door. He opened it to reveal Mina, looking quite
worried. She looked up to see Kunzite and gave him a brilliant smile,
then remembering where she was she looked over at Serena.
"Sere-uh, Princess Serenity, we have a slight problem that demands
your attention."
"What?" Serena snapped.
"Well, um, the cook has decided to rebel."
"What? Are you serious? Why can't Lita handle it?"
"Well, Lita is in training and your mother is preoccupied
elsewhere and the cook has decided not to cook anything until she
speaks to someone of a high authority."
Serena was torn between whether to stay and let Endymion have it or
go and soothe the cook's temper. She decided on the latter and
turned back to face Endymion, "I'll deal with you later," she hissed
and strode out of the room, her head held high.
Kunzite closed the door after the two had left and then
turned back to the four. "She smiled at me."
"Mina, what are you doing? I thought we were going to
the kitchens!" Serena asked after being dragged back into her room.
After Mina closed the door she whirled around to face
her friend, "Serena, are you nuts? I cannot believe you just nearly
yelled at your fianc�, I could hear you from outside the door and
then when you nearly gave the poor man a piece of your mind I
decided to come in and stop you."
"So you're saying that cook thing was made up?"
"Yes, and all for a good reason. Serena, have you
forgotten all the lessons your mother taught you just yesterday?"
"Stop talking to me as though I were a child Mina,"
Serena replied hotly.
"But she's right," a voice told her, "you had lost
her temper unnecessarily and had Mina not stopped you, you might
have ruined everything.
"Oh Mina," she said, covering her face with her hands,
"I don't want to get married!"
"Serena?" a voice from the door said, "It's me Raye."
She came in and immediately went to Serena, hugging
her. "I just heard that last bit. You having problems?"
"The pre-wedding blues," Mina put in.
"Oh Serena, it'll be alright, you'll see. I don't
understand why you're fighting this so much."
"Don't you guys see?" Serena complained, "Once I get
married to this man, I'll lose all my freedom! He won't let me do
anything! He'll probably lock me in some room and never let me
out until I give him an heir!"
Mina and Raye just looked at each other and then looked
back at Serena.
"Um, Serena, I think you have been reading way too
many novels. I don't think Prince Endymion will quite act like that."
"Well, okay, maybe I exaggerated but let me ask this. Do
you think he will continue letting me train?"
Receiving no answer she
continued, "No, of course not, he'll expect me to act my role as the
perfect lady, something I'm not! I love to fight, I am a warrior and
I know I will be expected to give that all up."
"But Serena, you are a princess, and soon you will be
Queen, you can't go around brandishing swords all the time," Raye
said.
"You're against me."
"No I'm not," she countered, "I'm just trying to make you
see reason."
"Hey everyone, it's nearly time for dinner," Amy said,
walking in.
"Hey I heard there were some really cute guys from Earth.
Has anyone heard anything else?" Lita asked, coming in behind her.
"Oh Lita, you heard right. You would not believe how
gorgeous these men looked."
"Oh no," Serena groaned, "spare me Mina, I don't have
to hear this again!"
"Well I want to hear about it," Raye argued, "tell us more
Mina!"
"Well you all aren't going to talk about this here," Serena
said, pushing the girls out, "I have to get ready."
She closed the
door on the protesting girls and leaned against it, sighing heavily.
She pushed herself off and walked towards the balcony.
She leaned
against the railing, the view of Earth a spectacular image in front
of her. 'I'll have to go there from time to time,' she thought, 'will I
be able to survive?'
On another balcony a figure stood, gazing at his home,
so many miles away. A slight breeze brushed his spiky bangs, causing
them to fall slightly over his eyes. He pushed them back
impatiently, thinking about his princess. 'His princess? Where did
that come from,' he wondered.
His gaze fell once more on the planet
in front of him. 'I'll have to take her there,' he thought, 'teach her
all of our traditions, our customs. Will she accept them? Me? Will
I accept her?'
