Affair - Chapter 1
by Sereko
princess-serenity@rocketmail.com


And now on to chapter one. It took me a while to figure out an original
and interesting way for Serenity and Endymion to meet...I hope that 
what I came up with is adequate in both respects.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the characters
associated with the story. I merely use Naoko Takeuchi's genius as a 
starting point for my own storytelling.




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Chapter 1
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	'How could she?! How could she be so cruel?!' Soft feet padded 
on soft ground. 'I would give my life for her at the drop of a hat and 
yet she can barely stand to be near me!' The resulting methodical 
thumping began to falter. "Mother!" 
	Serenity's cry was muffled and stilted from her sobs. "I have 
got to get out of here," she whispered to herself. "I just cannot stand 
it anymore! I need a break!" Now with a mission, the princess's stride 
resumed its powerful length. She tried to think of places that she could 
go. There weren't many places on the Moon that she could run to where 
the Queen wouldn't be able to track her down within the hour. The 
thought of teleporting to another planet flashed through her mind, but 
it was quickly discarded. No one had so much power that they could do 
such a thing. To teleport across a planet was hard enough, but it was 
nearly impossible to go from planet to planet. 
	The runaway scrunched her face and sealed her eyes tightly in 
frustration. 'There is no way that I can just go back and face the Queen 
right now.' She raised her head to the sky and screamed, "I have got to 
get out of here!!" 
	A tingle ran down Serenity's spine as she ran blindly forward. 
The sensation caused her to open her eyes. What she saw made her heart 
stop. She was no longer surrounded by endless hills of silver. Instead 
everything was green and blue. 
	She had teleported to Earth.

-----

	"Now, now guys. I did not MEAN to push you in the river. Really! 
It was an accident!" A young man of twenty-one with thick, black hair 
took another hesitant step backwards. He glanced nervously over his 
shoulder and noticed that the river he was referring to was now a mere 
two feet away. He giggled nervously. 
	Another man, this one with silver hair and of the age of twenty-
three, advanced further. The younger man in front of him with his arms up 
in a defensive position let out another nervous giggle. "But Endy," he 
began all too sweetly, "if it was not you, then why is the missing part 
of my ripped shirt hanging out of your pants' pocket?"
	Royal blue eyes widened. They glanced down, noticed the piece of 
cloth and then looked up. "Heh, well you see..." 
	"Yeeeeees?"
	"I was...um...trying to keep you from falling in! That is all! I 
grabbed your shirt to keep you on the riverbank, but the darn thing 
ripped instead!" The eyes looked around frantically.
	"Riiiiiiiiight." The silver-haired man threw a knowing glance at 
his three comrades who were stalking along side him. All three caught 
the signal and prepared themselves. 
	"GET HIM!!!!!"
	Immediately, all four men lunged at the guilty party. They each 
managed to lay a hand on their victim, which led to their victim being 
shoved backwards. *SPLASH*
	Hearty laughter erupted into the crisp air of the riverbank. 
	High fives were shared. 
	Moments later, the black-haired youth floundered to the top of 
the river. He heaved with deep breaths and glared at the laughing men 
above him.
	The one with short blonde hair noticed the glare. "Serves you 
right!" He laughed some more while walking over to his friend. He threw 
the young man a sympathetic look and reached out with one of his hands. 
	While being helped out of the cool water that he had found 
himself in, the victim said, "It is not MY fault that I managed to drive 
all of you into the water before you were able to land a good attack on 
me!" 
	The laughter started to die off leaving a friendly atmosphere in 
its wake. "And it is not our faults that you are the best fighter in the 
known world!" 
	More laughter. "Come now, we have had our fun, but now we must 
get back to the palace before nightfall. I do not want to have your 
mother on my case for not bringing back her precious Endymion in time 
for dinner." 
	"All right, all right. We may leave now, Kunzite." Endymion wrung 
his shirt for the third time to try and get the water out of it. Kunzite 
and the others walked over to where they had tied up their horses and 
began to mount. When the prince noticed that his guard was ready to 
leave, he said, "Why don't you guys go on ahead? I will catch up in a few 
minutes."
	Zoicite shook his head. "No, Endy. The only thing worse than 
making you late for dinner is leaving you alone."
	"Do not worry about it. I just want to dry my clothes a bit more.
It is very uncomfortable to ride a horse with wet clothes." 
	The generals glanced at each other. Without another thought, 
they turned around and rode off. "We will tell your mother that you will 
be home soon," Jadeite yelled over his shoulder. "Stay out of trouble 
and telepath us if you need any help!"

-----

	Serenity was fascinated. Everything looked so vibrant, so alive. 
She couldn't help but touch everything that she came in contact with. 
	After the princess had come to the realization that she had, 
indeed, done the impossible and transported herself to another planet, 
she screamed with joy. "Earth! I am on Earth!!" She tried to hold back 
her childish giggles, but failed miserably. "Of all the planets to end 
up at, I find myself on the most wonderful one of all!" She splayed 
open her arms and spun around in happy circles. 
	Since she had closed her eyes in order to let her other senses 
fully take in all that was this magnificent planet, Serenity did not 
pay any attention as to where she landed - in dizziness - from her 
spinning. 
	She let out a light laugh at her antics, opened her eyes and sat 
upright. "Oh my-" she gasped.
	There, mere inches away from where she had fallen, lay a half-
naked man. By the even breath passing through his lips and the relaxed 
position of his body, Serenity decided that he was asleep and that she 
had luckily not awakened him. He had on a pair of striking black pants 
that brought forth the richness of his deep black hair. His white shirt 
was laying a few feet away in a ray of sunlight that managed to slip 
past the tree leaves overhead. It looked a bit damp from the princess' 
view and was laid out in a manner that suggested that the man had 
intended it to dry in the small circle of sunshine that it was in.  
	She brought herself to her knees curiously. "So this is a 
Terran." Hardly able to contain the excitement flowing through her 
veins, she held herself back from squealing in delight. It was 
forbidden, disgustingly forbidden, for people of the Moon to even think 
about a Terran or the world they inhabited. Supposedly at one point in 
history, a point before Serenity was born, the Moon and Earth were at 
peace with each other. However, since that time, a complete lack of 
communication had transpired. There were no wars or angry revolts, just 
a silence. Serenity, herself, knew of the reason for this though most 
people were left in the dark on the matter. Her mother had told her 
when she was younger so that she would better understand the Moon's 
relations to other planets when she ascended the throne. 
	At a time when the current Queen Serenity was just a toddler, 
the people of the Moon had started to second-guess their guardianship 
over the blue and green orb. There was such hostility in the minds of 
Terrans and it bred many horrible things such a plagues and negative 
magical energy. That negative energy was what had really scared the 
Lunarians. In times of increased anger, such as a war, the planet Earth 
would lose some of its strength and a little bit of its essence would 
fall to negative powers. Within time, the negative powers would grow to 
be quite a formidable force against the mother Earth. Then chaos would 
break out and there would be no telling what would happen to the Earth 
or the planets surrounding it. This fear of eventual downfall to evil 
led the Moon to retract from its position as guardian. The monitors 
used to supervise Terran activity and things of the like were turned 
off and taken away. The Moon did not want to fall to evil like they 
knew the Earth would at some point. And so the Moon retracted itself 
and the Earth became offended by its watcher's loss of faith. 
Communication was severed and people on both ends were banned from each 
other. 
	Serenity sighed in frustration. She didn't agree with what had 
occurred those many years back. She loved the Earth. She had studied it 
as a child and even secretly visited the planet with Haruka and Ami when 
she was five. The breathtaking landscapes and bustling townsfolk 
intrigued her to no end. 
	The princess heaved another sigh while plopping down on her rump 
next to the stranger. She glanced over at his face. His beauty was not 
lost on her. Stretching her bounds, she leaned over his bare chest to 
more easily view his face. He had a strong nose that was complimented 
by strong cheekbones. His luxurious hair was tousled from the wind and 
hung disheveled on top of his head and over his brow. Eyes, that Serenity 
had assured herself must be amazing, were hidden behind closed lids and 
thick black lashes.
	She tentatively reached out a hand to his cheek in order to touch 
his soft skin. Then, she moved her hand to the side and curled one of his 
unruly locks behind his ear. She was surprised at her brevity in tempting 
fate so much and thinking that the man would not wake, but brushed it off 
as insane curiosity took hold of her. It was not that she had never seen 
or come in close contact with a man before. It was that something in her 
heart jumped when she looked at him. He was so handsome and had just 
happened to be in the same place at the same time that she was dancing 
around enthralled at being on Earth.   
	The combination of her elation and curiosity had left her 
interested to see what the difference between Lunarians and Terrans was, 
if there was a difference at all. 'Yeah! That's it!' Serenity thought to 
herself, confident that she had justified her actions well enough. 
	She was quickly taken from her reverie when she felt something 
touch the hand that was resting on the man's face. Bright blue eyes 
carefully and slowly fell from a view of the treetops to that of the most 
intense pair of dark blue eyes she had ever seen.
	Somehow, she managed not to jolt in surprise at finding the 
stranger awake. 
	The thing that she had felt earlier on her hand was his own hand. 
It had moved from his side initially in surprise at the girl's presence, 
but then he had calmed and moved it to rest on her own hand instead. 
Endymion stared up at the stranger curiously. What had she been doing? 
Who was she...and why was she caressing the side of his face?
	Serenity was the first to talk. After she nervously untangled 
their hands to clasp hers together at her lap, she stuttered, "Um...uh...
H-Hello." Her unconscious immediately smacked her upside the head. 
'"Hello"? That is the best you can do?! What a disgrace!'
	Endymion slowly lifted himself to a slightly sitting, slightly 
leaning position next to her. "Hello." That was awkwardly the last thing 
spoken for a good minute. The two just keep staring at each other, both 
in equaled fascination of the other. 
	"My name is Usagi." Serenity said instinctively. After she spoke 
the name she wasn't sure why she hadn't told him her more formal one. 	
	"I am Mamoru." Some of the same thoughts were running through 
Endymion's head. There was just something about the girl that made him 
think he could tell her his deepest secrets.
	"It is nice to meet you."
	"It is nice to meet you, too."
	Well that was it for the usual conversation starters. Now the two 
were really in a pickle to think of something to say to the other. More 
silence and more staring pervaded the riverbank. That is, until one of 
them finally built up a little bit of courage.
	"What were you doing sitting next to me?" Endymion asked abruptly.
	"I was memorizing your face," she replied instantaneously.
	"I remember that." The young prince said with a smile. He still 
couldn't figure out why he hadn't jumped up when he first awoke to yell 
at the girl and demand to know what she thought she was doing. "Why?"
	"Because-" Serenity panicked. She couldn't very well tell him it 
was because he was a Terran. It would be a little odd for a Terran to say 
that to another Terran and she didn't want him to know where she was from 
just yet. "Because when I had stumbled upon you during my walk through this 
area, I thought-I thought..." She paused in her failed attempt at a white 
lie, sighed and let the next words tumble carelessly out of her mouth, 
"Because my heart told me that I did not want to forget you." Well, it 
wasn't a lie. It wasn't the truth she had planned on bestowing upon him, 
but it was still a truth - and an embarrassing one at that.
	Endymion did not laugh at her comment. He, instead, cautiously 
lifted up a hand and gently let it rest on one of Serenity's cheeks. She 
was surprised at the gesture, but didn't pull away. She thought for sure 
that he was going to mock her for making such a bold statement, seeing as 
how she had spoken about a total of three sentences to the man and had 
been in his presence for barely ten minutes. Her thoughts halted on 
their self-deprecating path when the man with the rich black hair and 
tantalizing blue eyes moved his hand in a caress about her cheek. 
"Wh-What are you doing?" She mentally kicked herself for stuttering like 
a schoolgirl.
	"I am memorizing your face."
	"Why?" She asked him curiously.
	"Because, like yours, my heart told me that I did not want to 
forget you."
	"Oh." Serenity said dumbly.
	Endymion's touch was doing bad things to her nerves. His hand 
continued its exploration across her forehead, down her temple and cheek 
as it nipped her earlobe and then followed her jaw line. The princess 
sucked in a breath when Endymion's calloused hand stopped at her chin and 
his thumb moved up and over her lips slowly. She watched his eyes as they 
switched from following his hand along her face to gazing up at her. As 
if it were the most natural thing in the world, both leaned forward. 
Serenity could feel the prince's breath on her lips as they neare-
	['Endy!']
	Both parties heard the telepathic cry and both parties 
immediately pulled away. Endymion let out a sigh. ['Yes? What is it?'] 
While waiting for an answer, he looked confusedly over at the blonde 
next to him. She didn't seem the least bit lost as to why he had pulled 
away and diverted his attention to seemingly nothingness. 
	['Where are you?! You were supposed to be home a half an hour 
ago!']
	['Oh...uh...sorry. I accidentally fell asleep while I was trying 
to sun dry my clothes.']
	['Well, you had better get your royal behind home soon or your 
mother will throw a FIT!!'] The voice seemed to speak from experience.
	Endymion cringed at the loud yelling in his head. When he looked 
over at Serenity, he was surprised to see that it seemed as if she were 
cringing too. ['Yeah, okay. I will be home soon.']
	['En-']
	['I promise.'] The prince cut off anything further with that and 
soon his mind was free of Jadeite.
	Serenity wasted no time in standing up and dusting off her 
clothes. "What-What are you doing?" Endymion, whose hand had slipped 
from the princess' face when she stood and who was now standing up 
himself, asked her dumbfounded. 
	"What do you think?" she asked back as if it were obvious. "I 
am getting up to leave so that you can go home to dinner."
	The prince stopped in his tracks. "What did you just say?"
	"I said that I am getting up to leave so that you can go home to 
dinner." Serenity had turned her full attention to the man now. Why was 
he acting so strangely? Wasn't he planning on going home after that 
telepathic call? Wait...telepathic call? Uh oh.
	"H-How did you know that I was called to dinner?"
	"Uh...well..." 'Stupid, Serenity! Stupid! Not all Terrans have 
the power of telecommunication like the Lunarians do!' "You see...I..." 
Serenity nervously backed away from the advancing prince until she had 
backed herself into a tree.
	"How did you hear that telepathic message? Only people born with 
the magical gift and expertly trained in how to use it can use telepathy. 
That is a very small number of people and most, if not all, of them I 
know."
	The blonde, blue-eyed girl stuttered up an excuse, "Well, I am 
from a village far away from here. I am sure you have never even heard of 
it. That is why you have never heard of me."  
	"Not very likely." Endymion towered over the girl while resting 
his hands on either side of her against the tree trunk. As he looked into 
her eyes, he could tell that she was lying to him. He didn't know how he 
could be so sure, but he was. He just knew this girl was different 
somehow and her being a telepath was definitely a start. "Even if you 
were from a village that I have never seen, there are only two people on 
this Earth who are qualified mages in the art of telepathy. They are the 
only ones who can train people with the gift."
	"Well, how do you know that I did not just happen upon one of 
them while he or she was passing through town?"
	Cobalt eyes narrowed to slits. "Because I know both of them very, 
VERY well and neither of them would pick up an apprentice while walking 
through town one day. Anyway, if they trained you, then they would have 
brought you home with them. Training is a very long, intense process. 
They wouldn't have been able to adequately-" The eyes that were once 
closed to slits shot open in realization. Serenity pressed her back even 
further against the tree behind her in fear. "What am I talking about?!" 
In surprise, the princess relaxed thinking that she was off the hook. 
That was, until the prince leered over her even more. "Jadeite sent that 
message exclusively to ME! NOBODY else should have been able to intercept 
it!" 
	"Uh...well..." Sky blue pools looked around frantically for an 
escape. They stopped and opened wide in alarm when a hand tenderly held 
her chin and turned her attention back to the black haired stranger. His 
eyes and demeanor had softened considerably from the fierceness they had 
possessed just moments before. 
	"Please, just tell me the truth."
	"How do you know that I am lying?"
	He chuckled at that. "Because you are a horrible liar and," the 
humor vanished from his face, "I can see something inside of you that is 
holding back."
	Before she could be drawn in by him again, Serenity laughed 
uneasily and ducked away from him and the tree. "How would you know 
about anything inside of me? I have barely known you for ten minutes! We 
have spoken very few words to each other and are acting like we have 
known each other our whole lives!" She threw her hands up in the air to 
accentuate her disbelief at the situation. 
	"Usagi..." His gentle reprimand only served to send her emotions 
over the edge.
	"What? WHAT?" She made fists with her hands as tears pricked the 
back of her eyes. "Do you want to hear me tell you that I come from a 
forbidden place? A place SO forbidden that if I were found talking to 
you right now, I would be imprisoned or maybe even executed?! That I did 
not mean to end up here, but that I am so very glad I did because I love 
this place like no other! That for some reason, every time my eyes drift 
to yours, my heart jumps?!" Dry sobs wracked her body as she descended 
to the ground. "I cannot even begin to believe what is happening right 
now! Here I am, crybaby Usagi, pouring my heart out to someone I have 
known for a mere second as if...as if..."
	"As if we were lovers." Her bowed head shot up to stare at 
Endymion, who she found sitting on the ground a few inches in front of 
her. "Listen, I do not understand it myself. All I do understand right 
now is that I cannot ignore what just being next to you does to me. I 
may barely know you-" She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Okay, fine, I may 
not know you at all. However, I want to get to know you. There is 
something about you that makes me want to know your whole life story - 
where you are from, what your family is like, who your friends are, what 
you like to do in your free time-"
	"You mean, other than caressing the faces of perfect strangers?"
	He laughed. "Yes. Other than that." 
	Before he could start talking again, Serenity erupted. "But it 
doesn't make any sense!"
	"Why does it matter?!" 
	"What?"
	"Why does it MATTER?!" Endymion erupted once more and spun away 
from her. "Damn it, Usagi! Why does everything have to be logical?! Why 
can't you just accept that there is something between us - something 
strange, something special, something..." As his voice and body started 
to lose their tension, he turned back to face Serenity and once more 
knelt on the ground in front of her. He tenderly reached up a hand to 
brush away some stray tears from her cheeks. Then, he looked into her 
eyes and finished, "...something wonderful?"
	Serenity didn't hesitate in her answer. "Because it scares me." 
She quickly began to speak again when she saw questions flare up in his 
eyes. "Things like this do not happen to ordinary people! It takes weeks, 
months, even years for people to feel comfortable and close and connected 
to one another. The fact that, and I realize that I continue to bring 
this up, but that an hour at most has passed since our meeting means that 
there cannot possibly be anything between us." She lifted her chin in 
finality. "We simply do not know enough about each other."
	A devilish smile came to Endymion's face. "Are you suggesting 
that if I spent the time to get to know you, then you would acknowledge 
that there is something mystical between us?" Serenity's eyes widened in 
protest, but he merely smirked at her while shaking his index finger. 
"You said yourself that the only things missing between us were time and 
knowledge." 
	"But-"
	He continued, blatantly ignoring her protests, "So then I shall 
give you a few hours." He casually stood up and walked over to pick up 
and put on his shirt. "I must go to dinner now, for fear that if I wait 
any longer my mother may suffer from a heart attack." With his shirt in 
place, Endymion sauntered over to untie his horse. "But I will be back 
after that to talk with you once more. And then we will work on 
eliminating that knowledge boundary, since my few hours away from you 
will make you see the futility of your time boundary." 
	"Why you pompous, arrogant, little-" Her words slipped away as 
he seemed to pay them no heed.
	He pulled his horse forward the few short steps to Serenity and 
then squatted down in front of her. Slowly he reached forth and slid the 
back of his hand lightly across her face. "Until then, my sweet." He 
leaned forward to give her a peck on the cheek, a smug grin and, finally, 
he mounted his horse and rode off.
	"My sweet..." Serenity dumbly echoed.  






End Chapter 1
--------------

It's getting a little better, right? Now
that the two have met, I can start in on
the more interesting stuff...romance, 
intrigue, etc. ^_-


Please send ANY comments to me, Sereko. My e-mail is: 
princess-serenity@rocketmail.com