							April 2000

			Secret Garden 3: Final Battle
				Scene 4

	Endymion arrived in the main chamber of the Moon Palace at a
 dead run, skidding to a halt as his mind finally registered the
 chaos and he swallowed hard seeing the shrouded bodies on the dais,
 Queen Serenity being tended to by Sailor Neptune, Sailor Saturn and
 Sailor Uranus.  The boyish senshi looked up as he entered, her face
 a grim mask.  Four bodies were apart from the rest, the symbols of
 Jupiter, Mars, Mercury and Venus prominent on the shrouds.  He
 advanced slowly and ascended the stairs of the dais as Saturn was
 pulling away from the Queen, a slightly purple glow fading from
 around her fingers.

	"Queen Serenity," he knelt next to her, his hands pausing
 just shy of her shoulders as his cape dragged on the floor behind
 him.  He looked into her eyes, seeing the anguish and pain she was
 going though clearly visible in her shimmering orbs, "Serenity, what
 happened to my wife?" he asked, almost choking on the words.  

	He could still feel Serenity's terror, her determination and
 her love from a huge distance.  His stomach hadn't unclenched and
 his hands still felt clammy.  It didn't help that it had taken him
 almost a half hour to get to the Moon Palace from the Earth.  Part
 of the teleporting system had been damaged and they'd had to
 reconfigure everything.  By the time he'd stepped into it and been
 transported from one spot to the other, the battle was already
 finished and the trail to his wife getting even colder.

	"Diamond stole her," Queen Serenity's voice was filled with
 anguish as she clasped one hand in a vise-like grip around his
 wrist, "He took my baby," she looked deep into his eyes and Endymion
 shivered.  She was fighting madness, it was obvious, though she
 probably didn't know it, "Get her back, Endymion, get her back, she
 can't resist him forever..." Endymion nodded but pulled back in
 alarm as the Queen of the moon burst into silent tears, collapsing
 in on herself and weeping like a child stretched out on the floor.

	"My Queen," Saturn's voice was soft as she laid a gentle hand
 on the Queen's shoulder and applied gentle pressure.  Queen Serenity
 sighed once before collapsing unconscious and Endymion looked at the
 diminutive senshi.  Saturn shrugged, motioning for Uranus to pick up
 the Queen, "She needs her rest.  Uranus and Neptune know the
 location of the main base of Diamond's forces, they have been
 watching it for the last little while, though his attack came from a
 different angle.  Take them with you, Prince, and they will help
 rescue our princess."

	Endymion nodded once, looking at the senshi, "If you would
 accompany me it would be greatly appreciated, but I warn you, I will
 put no life above hers, not even my own."

	Neptune laid a gentle hand on his arm as Uranus carried the
 Queen from the room, Saturn on her heels.  Green eyes followed the
 boyish senshi and Endymion felt the strong bond between the two as
 if it were a tangible, touchable, entity.  Neptune's sea green eyes
 finally met his and she smiled, "Uranus and I would have it no other
 way, Prince Endymion.  No one, not even the senshi, especially the
 senshi, would put their own lives above those of our Queen and
 Princess."

	"We will leave in an hour, collect what you must, but it will
 be just the three of us," Endymion told her grimly, his hand
 gripping the hilt of his sword, "Diamond will not have her for long,
 I swear it on my life."

********

	Diamond looked at the alabaster skin of the woman in front of
 him and shook his head, "Serenity, my love, you are too pale, did
 you not eat?"

	Serenity didn't, couldn't, look at him.  She'd heard him kill
 her aunt, seen him almost kill her mother and now he was trying to
 pretend he loved her, trying to be granted the privilege to touch
 her.  The thought of having him touch her in any way made her skin
 crawl and she swore she would die before she suffered it.  She
 continued to stare out the barred window of her room, barely
 noticing the opulent surroundings.  

	A huge bed was the center piece, covered in silks and satins
 so fine they rivaled those of the moon's.  A large armoire covered
 one wall, black and bleak, holding gowns of every color in just her
 size, or so Diamond had said.  Serenity was seated next to the one
 window in the room, staring out across the blackness of space
 through rough bars.  She has her feet curled under her protectively,
 taking up the whole, plush chair.  In the day and a half since she'd
 become his prisoner, she had not moved from the spot, nor looked
 anywhere but the window.  There was but one door, and it led into
 Diamond's chambers, as she knew from when she'd been lead through
 it.  Her body was starting to protest the lack of food and water,
 not to mention other facilities, but she would not take anything
 from the vile creature in front of her.

	 A rough hand grasped her face, squeezing her cheeks and
 causing her teeth to cut into them, drawing blood, as pressure was
 applied.  She reared her head back, pulling her face from his grip
 and turned eyes full of fire on him, "If you touch me again, I will
 kill you," she swore softly, licking her lips as they cracked.  She
 turned her gaze back to the window, leaning as far away from him as
 the chair would allow.

	Diamond looked at her calmly, "You are my prisoner, my lovely
 Serenity, and I swore to myself I would some day have you.  If I
 have hurt you in anyway I am sorry."

	"Just like you are sorry you killed my aunt, Diamond?  Just
 like you are sorry you nearly killed my mother to get me?  Just
 liked you are sorry you killed my mother's court?  I do not believe
 you.  If you had wanted to make amends you would have released me
 before now.  If you truly loved me as you claim to you would want to
 see me happy."

	"I do want to see you happy, my love, name anything, anything
 you want that is in my power to give and it is yours."

	She flattened her lips into a firm line, refusing to answer
 him.  Her heart was crying out but for one person and Diamond would
 never allow any mention of him.  

	"Nothing, sweet Serenity?  A new gown perhaps? Jewels to
 adorn your slender throat? Come my dear, there must be something
 that you wish."

	"I want nothing from you, Diamond, except to be left alone."
 she told him calmly.

	Serenity cried out in surprise and pain as her arm was
 roughly grabbed and she was dragged to her feet to stand in front of
 him, forced to look up at him, "I can not make you happy," he told
 her gently, his tone at odds with his bruising grip, "If you do not
 tell me how."

	"Get your hands off me," she told him softly, "That will make
 me happy.  Never touch me again and that will make me happy."

	Serenity shivered and tried to pull away as his hand caressed
 her cheek, feeling fear spiral deep into the pit of her stomach as
 his gaze traveled over her face, "So beautiful..." he murmured, "You
 will be mine, Serenity, if not tonight, then tomorrow.  I can wait,
 but I will not wait for long." his head swooped down and she tried
 to turn her face away but his grip tightened and his lips mashed
 down on hers, trapping her.

	Serenity struggled, kicking at his shins and lashing out with
 her hands, hitting him, and pulling away.  She finally stopped and
 dropped, falling out of his grasp and onto the floor, the sound of
 her gown tearing making her gasp.  She looked about and then up, her
 eyes blazing with fury as she raised one hand and deliberately wiped
 his kiss from her lips, "I have warned you, Diamond, I will kill you
 if you touch me again."

	"Idle threats my dear, we both know you could not hurt a
 mouse."

	Serenity rose slowly to her feet, making sure to keep one
 hand on her gown, finally removing it when she was sure it wouldn't
 fall, "I have injured the Lady Beryl before and I can do the same
 for you, keep her hands off me, sir, if you wish to keep them
 intact." She spun away and retook her seat at the window, one eye
 watching Diamond, but most of her concentration going to keeping her
 composure while he was in the room.  She was dangerously close to
 tears, fear eating its way through her stomach and up her throat. 
 She was just barely managing to keep her voice level with him.  If
 he touched her again... she couldn't even think of what she would
 do.  She'd probably dissolve into hysterics and kill him as she's
 threatened.

	Diamond whirled away from her, "If you wish to live, my dear,
 I suggest you eat up.  I would not poison my future bride, no matter
 what she does to incur my wrath.  Think hard, Serenity, for no one
 will rescue you here, you have no allies and I will kill all who try
 to take you from me.  Sleep well, Angel."

	She whirled on him, her eyes again spitting fire, "You have
 no right to call me Angel, Diamond.  You may address me as Serenity,
 but if you think to use my mother's pet name for me, think again."

	Diamond just smiled and closed the door behind him as he
 exited, the click of the lock and the sound of the bar on the other
 side of it echoing through her room.  Serenity turned her gaze back
 to the window, her eyes welling with tears as she gave into her
 anguish, and they silently streamed down her cheeks.  

********

	Endymion raised one hand to his lips for quiet as Neptune and
 Uranus followed him through the caves of the Dark Moon's main base. 
 It was underground, just beyond the view of Pluto and hidden from
 the earth by the sun, on a piece of rock that was protected from the
 elements by some kind of shield.

	Endymion placed his soft soled boots carefully, testing the
 ground for solid footholds, as he crept forward.  They three of them
 had been on the moon for just under two days and the prince was
 pushing them relentlessly, exploring every cavern in the place and
 doing everything possible to keep them from detection.  So far they
 had been lucky.  They had not encountered any guards they couldn't
 slip past, but they were starting to notice more alert guards as
 they made their way quietly through the caverns, a hint they were
 nearing their objective... or so they hoped.

	Each were dressed in black from head to toe, wearing hoods to
 hide their hair and facial features, black shirts and pants, boots
 and gloves.  Endymion had his sword strapped across his back, the
 Space Sword hadn't left Uranus' hand since they'd landed and the
 Aqua mirror was tucked into Neptune's belt next to a rope and
 grappling hook.  Uranus had a pack on her back with supplies and an
 extra pair of clothes for the princess for when they found her. 
 They hopped to sneak her out from under Diamond's nose, but Endymion
 had the feeling Serenity would be harder to rescue than he had been.

	Endymion paused as he felt a firm grip on his arm and he
 turned his head halfway too look at Uranus.  She pointed up to the
 next bend and then pointed to herself with her blade.  He nodded and
 the senshi and she crept forward cautiously, careful not to make a
 sound as she peered around the corner.  She waved them forward and
 then put up one hand, pointing downwards.  The other two looked
 down, Neptune laying one hand casually on Uranus' thigh for balance.

	Below them were two guards talking in quiet voices.  Endymion
 strained to hear but couldn't make anything out but murmurs and then
 turned to the other two and pointed further down the tunnel, or what
 was left of it.  Uranus shook her head and made a sign for five. 
 Endymion looked at her questioningly and then she shrugged and
 dropped off the ledge, dropping the two and a half meters to land on
 the surprised guards, knocking them both unconscious.  She crouched
 on their backs, spinning for a careful look around before looking
 back up and grinning.

	Neptune and Endymion dropped down near her, "I swear you are
 enjoying this," Endymion told her in a quiet voice just above a
 whisper.

	She shrugged as Neptune checked the guards, stepping off
 them, "I am.  It is not often I get into close combat.  I have not
 forgotten our mission, Prince Endymion, but I want to make them pay
 for what they have done to our Princess."

	"Then let's wait to take it out on Diamond," Neptune
 suggested in the same hushed tone, "Because these guards will soon
 be replaced.  Come on, we must move."

	Endymion and Uranus didn't question her, having learned early
 on to trust her intuition."

	They moved quietly into the shadows as Neptue hastily
 arranged the guards to make them look like they had just fallen
 asleep on watch before joining them.  She motioned for them to go
 down one tunnel, taking up the rear as the others made their way
 forward.

	A few hours later they stopped in a small cave, Endymion
 closing his eyes in frustration, 'Serenity, where are you, love?'

	Neptune and Uranus watched him as they unpacked their things
 for setting up a small, temporary camp, "He doesn't look so well,"
 commented Uranus.

	Neptune shot her a glance and a smile, "No worse than I would
 feel if something should happen to you.  Give him time, Ruka, he's
 taking her disappearance hard."

	"And the rest of us are not?"

	Neptune sighed, stepping close to her and grasping one of her
 hands, "If something happened to you I would be a mess, just as he
 is now.  Believe me, no one is taking it as hard as he is, we may
 not be married, but soul mates feel the strain when they are apart,
 you know that as well as I do."

	Uranus nodded thoughtfully, "Just as knowing she is near but
 unable to find her is draining on him.  I think I understand, but he
 is the prince, he should be strong."

	"For how long, Ruka?  Even you need a moment or two of
 weakness every three hundred years," Neptune teased, "Leave him be,
 he will join us when he is ready."

	Uranus squeezed her hand and then dropped it, moving over to
 the door to keep a look out as Neptune set about making something to
 eat.

	Endymion finally joined her near the heating unit, a weary
 look on his face, "You should sleep, your highness," Neptune told
 him softly, "You will need your rest if you want to fight Diamond
 and best him."

	"Diamond is a coward, Neptune, he will probably try to kill
 me without sullying his own hands."

	"On the contrary, he will want to kill you with his own,
 Prince, so that he can tell Serenity he felled you with his own
 sword.  Cowards need to know their rivals are dead.  Sleep, Uranus
 and I will keep watch this night."

	Endymion smiled wanly, "How long have you known her?" he
 nodded towards where Uranus was sitting in the shadows of the small
 cave, her sword across her knees, her fingers idly caressing the
 blade.

	Neptune watched her and smiled softly, "Forever, your
 highness.  She and I... we will always be together, we always have
 been together, I could not ask for a better partner."

	Endymion sighed, "You speak as if you love her,"

	"I do, your majesty, with all my heart and as you would give
 your life to keep Serenity safe, I would do the same in a heartbeat
 for her.  As Serenity and you are bonded, so are Uranus and I.  It
 is different, for sure, but not by much."

	Endymion looked Neptune up and down, taking in her quiet
 beauty, the aqua hair framing her face and he shook his head, "I
 cannot say I blame her.  You are indeed beautiful in heart and
 soul."

	Neptune blushed, "Thank you, your highness, but flattery is
 unnecessary."

	"But sincere I assure you.  Would you die for Serenity as you
 would die for her?"

	Neptune nodded, "We both swore an oath, and part of that oath
 puts our mission, to keep the Queen and the Princess safe, above our
 safety.  Should she fall she knows I will mourn her later, but she
 also trust me enough to complete the mission.  You should trust us,
 Endymion, we have the same objective and we love our princess almost
 as much as you do."

	Endymion closed his eyes for a couple of moments before his
 head dropped as if in defeat, "I cannot feel our link as strong as
 it was this morning.  I am dying, Neptune, dying because I do not
 know how she is.  I have a feeling of constant fear, of constant
 anguish, and there is nothing I can do to comfort her."

	"Sleep, your highness, you are weary and it probably does not
 help.  Uranus is right, we will keep watch this night."

	Endymion nodded his thanks before collecting a blanket and
 curling up to sleep in a dark corner of the cave.

********

	"Will he be alright?"

	"He will make it I believe."

	"He won't endanger the princess, then?"

	"Not in this lifetime, nor in the next. He would gladly die
 for her, surely you know that."

	"You spoke with him at length.  I did not.  I just wish to
 know if he will be any use to us if her life is in danger."

	"Her life is already in danger.  He will do anything to save
 her, as would we, trust him, and things will work out."

	"I will.  For your sake."

	A smile curved her lips in the darkness as the sentry turned
 back to her watch.

********

	Serenity looked up as the door looked open.  She'd given up
 looking out the window after the first six days, as if waiting for a
 sign.  She could not see the Moon, nor the Earth.  Darkness was all
 that lay beyond and it was starting to creep into her soul, as was
 despair.  Endymion should have been there by now.  He would come for
 her, she knew he would, she had hoped it would be before now though.

	Serenity breathed a sigh of relief as dark hair proceeded the
 figure into the room.  Diamond's brother closed the door behind him
 and raised his eyes to hers.  Her breath caught in her throat as it
 always did when she was with Sapphire; he looked enough like
 Endymion to be his twin.

	"You are well, Princess?"

	She shook her head, dropping her feet to the floor, the
 tattered and torn hem of her dress whispering against the bare skin
 of her ankles.  "I wish to go home, Sapphire," she told him quietly,
 her heart breaking with the words.  Her mother would be terribly
 worried.

	"Your home will not be yours for much longer I'm afraid
 Serenity."

	She gasped, "What do you mean?  Do they mean to attack
 again?"

	He nodded, and walked forward to grasp her hands in his in a
 gentle, firm grip.  He frowned as she winced and tugged on one of
 her hands.  He held it up and his lips flattened, "Diamond has hurt
 you."

	She nodded silently, unable to speak.  He looked so much like
 her beloved when he was displeased.  Tears welled in her eyes and
 overflowed.  Sapphire cursed and pulled her into his arms, surprised
 when she went willingly, curling close and crying softly, her tears
 wetting his shirt.  He rubbed her back gently, "Please don't cry
 Princess, I will make sure Diamond does not hurt you again."

	"You cannot stop him, or my tongue from infuriating him so."
 she told him between sobs.  "I miss my beloved, Sapphire, I can feel
 his soul and heart binded to mine but it is faint, almost like a
 whisper.  My heart is breaking, please, please help me escape."

	"I cannot, Princess, you know that as well as I do.  My
 brother... I cannot betray him, no matter how much I wish to."

	She pulled away from him, tears glittering on her cheeks.  "I
 will not marry him, I have a husband and he will come for me.  I
 will not even try to like him, nor pretend to, he makes my skin
 crawl when he looks at me." she swallowed hard, "I will hurt him the
 next time he tries to touch me, Sapphire, I swear it."

	"Do as you must to protect yourself Princess, and I will do
 as I must.  If you must injure him, do so, but try not to incur his
 wrath, or he will make you suffer."

	Her posture took on its regal bearing, "I will incur his
 wrath and more.  I would rather die than have his flesh near mine."

	Sapphire smiled slightly, "It is good to see six days has not
 broken your spirit.  A word of advice Princess.  If you prince is
 indeed coming for you, wait until you hear fighting in the next room
 to make your move.  The door is guarded well, you will hear him
 coming for you.  If Diamond is in here, take your opportunity, you
 will not get another.  Now eat, you will need your strength in the
 comings days."  Sapphire smiled at her again before silently
 departing.

	Serenity looked down at the small tray she hadn't noticed he
 was carrying.  She turned his words over in her mind and vowed to do
 as he suggested.  Her stomach turned as she backed towards the
 chair, swiping her arm across her eyes, and saw the door start to
 open again.  A shiver of dread slid down her spine as Diamond
 stepped through.

	He shook his head as he took in her appearance, "My dear, you
 are royalty, you should dress like it.  Perhaps I will have to strip
 you myself..." the look in his eyes didn't suggest anything to do
 with clothing, rather, more something to do without it.

	"NO!" she shrieked as he moved towards her.  She dodged from
 his grasp, crying out as he grabbed the end of one of her ponytails. 
 She tugged, trying to get away but he had a firm grip on her hair
 and she felt tears slide down her cheeks as his hand slid bruisingly
 to her waist, digging into the soft flesh.  His thumb gently
 caressed her stomach and she froze, frantically searching for some
 way to get out of the situation.

	"There, that's better.  Now, as I was saying, perhaps I
 should strip you myself so that you must change."

	Her stomach shriveled up and fear coursed through her veins,
 clouding her judgment as his other hand, the one still grasping her
 hair, slid up one of her arms, stopping on the outside of her
 breast.  She flinched away from the touch but he held her still as
 he continued to stroke her belly, "I would make you feel like a
 Queen, Serenity, if you would only love me."

	She met his gaze squarely, "I could never love a man such as
 you, Diamond.  Once you were gently and tender, now you are nothing
 but a monster.  Release me."

	"If I were a monster as you claim me to be, would I release
 you when I now have you where I wish you to be?" he asked her in a
 dangerously soft voice.


	She shook her head, "No."

	"Then why would I let you go if I am that monster?"

	She challenged him with her eyes, praying he couldn't read in
 them exactly how terrified she was he would do what he was
 threatening, "To prove me wrong."

	Diamond searched her face, both of his thumbs getting
 dangerously close to personal as he considered her words. Serenity
 swore if they moved any closer she would break them both and not
 think twice about it.  His hands finally stilled and he released
 her, "I am not a monster, my love, you will learn that, along with
 many other things in time." He turned on his heel and stalked
 angrily from the room, slamming the door behind him.  

	Serenity closed her eyes in a thankful prayer to Selene.  She
 had bought herself more time, she only prayed it was enough.

********

	"I thought you had the rope."

	"I did have the rope!"

	"Then what did you do with it?"

	"Where is that blasted rope?" Endymion hissed at the two
 senshi, his gaze on the barred window below him.  

	Uranus looked at Neptune, "Spread em, I'm going to find that
 blasted rope."

	Neptune slapped her hand over her mouth as Uranus began
 searching her waist and thighs for the rope.  She cursed after a
 couple of minutes, "She's right, she doesn't have it."

	Endymion closed his eyes, shaking his head but laughing
 softly as Uranus's voice drifted to him, "And I thought you just
 wanted my hands on your body..."

	"If you two ladies are finished, could we get back to finding
 a way to that window without the rope?" 

	"Jumping, maybe?"

	"We will not be able to take her out of there if we jump
 down.  We will have to go through Diamond's main chambers."
 Endymion's eyes glittered with suppressed rage, "If he's harmed her
 in any way, I will have his hide for a carpet."

	Uranus stared at him as if she'd never seen him before and
 watched as he started back down the tunnel for the main doors to the
 stronghold.  "I never thought I'd ever hear royalty say something
 like that..." she marveled quietly.

	Neptune chuckled, "You don't give him enough credit, Haruka,"
 she admonish in the same tone, "The prince is more set than we on
 getting Serenity out of here safely."

	Uranus smiled at her before laying a gently hand on Neptune's
 shoulder, "I know, Michiru.  Come, we must make sure they get out of
 here safely."

	Neptune grasped Uranus' hand as she was tugged gently
 forward, "Where you go I will follow.  Be careful."

	"You too."

********

 Author's note: Well, that is part 4.  I promise to try and get the
 next scene out very soon!  Questions, comments, and flames to:

 Jade_Max@innocent.com

 Thanks for reading!

 Jade_Max



