Affair - Chapter 11
by Sereko
sereko13@yahoo.com


Not much to say this week. I just hope you enjoy Chapter 11!
I haven't finished writing Chapter 12 yet, so I can't 
guarantee that it will be posted next week, but I'm crossing
my fingers!! :)



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




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Chapter 11
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	"WHAT? You have been sneaking around behind our backs for FOUR 
MONTHS!?" 
	Endymion cut Jadeite off quickly, "No! It is not like that! We 
have not been sneaking around-"
	"What else would you call this?" Nephrite interrupted. The 
general had to refrain from shrinking back at the glare that his liege 
turned his way. He continued, leaving his quivering knees behind, "I 
expected you to at least have the decency to tell your trusted friends 
about this scandalous affair that you have been having!"
	"THAT IS ENOUGH!" The scream echoed throughout the royal 
gardens. "I will not be reprimanded like a child! You know nothing of 
the situation and yet you are already accusing me of wrongdoing!" 
	Sensing the bad turn that all of this could easily take, 
Kunzite finally stepped in. "Calm down, prince. They are just worried 
about you. That is all. Though they could express their worry in a 
better way," he paused to glare at the two in question, "they do still 
bring up a valid point. Why have you kept such actions hidden from us? 
What has caused you to be secretive about this young woman?" The 
general's eyes glinted while he feigned ignorance. He did not think it 
a good time to inform the other men that he had known all along of the 
situation and that he, himself, was in a similar one. Gratefully, the 
prince seemed to decipher his thoughts and was able to join in the game 
of pretend. 
	"Something that I cannot tell you," was his response. 
	"WHA-" Kunzite flicked his wrist in Jadeite's direction to stop 
the blonde's cry.
	"Why not, my liege?" Kunzite said instead.
	There was a sigh. No, there were two sighs, consecutively. 
Nephrite craned his neck to see that Serenity had as much a defeated 
expression on her face as Endymion did. "What is it?" The two did not 
respond immediately. "Please, tell us."
	"We cannot tell you for fear that when we do we will never see 
each other again. We could be imprisoned, maybe even executed, for our 
actions." 
	The generals took a step back. Zoicite spoke up, "It cannot 
possibly be that severe." The look in his prince's eyes told him 
otherwise. He quickly tried to change the subject. "Well, can we at 
least be enlightened as to what your name is, milady? Or is it Usako?"
	Serenity would have fallen on the floor laughing had the 
situation not been so grave. As is, she managed the best bow she could 
while still clasping Endymion's hand. "My name, dear gentlemen, is...
part of the problem." The men fell into a confused and disgruntled 
silence.
	Zoicite tried again, "So it is not Usako?"
	The princess held in her mirth once more and merely said, "No 
it is not."
	"Well, since we have nothing else to address you as, may we use 
Usako anyway?" 
	Serenity turned her attention to Jadeite. Then she shot a quick 
glance over to Endymion who didn't seem too thrilled at the idea. She 
unconsciously moved closer to him in reassurance. "I think it best if 
you refer to me as Usagi for now."
	'Well, better than nothing.' Jadeite thought. 'But, why would 
her name be a problem? It just does not make any...oh, wait...' He took 
a cautious step towards the couple. "*Who* exactly are you?" That 
struck a cord. Immediately, Jadeite and the others could see the two 
flinch. They also noticed, for the first time, that their prince was 
clasping the mystery woman's hand as if his life depended on it. His 
grip only increased after Jadeite asked the simple question.
	"Why do you ask?" Serenity cautiously replied.
	"Well, when you said that your name was part of the problem 
that you were facing, I was confused. It did not make sense that 
someone's name could be of any problem in any way. However, it was then 
that I realized that it is not your name that is the problem but the 
person behind the name. And so I ask again, who are you?"
	"She cannot say." Jadeite immediately turned his attention to 
Endymion. The protective tone in his voice was not completely lost on 
the group. 
	"If she cannot tell us who she is, then that only means that 
she is someone whom you should not be with. Otherwise, neither of you 
would have any hesitation in answering our simple questions."
	Zoicite finished what Nephrite had started to say. "And if you 
are not supposed to be with her then why have we found you two together 
in the middle of the gardens late at night?"
	"Because I love her and no matter who she is I will continue to 
love her!" The men's eyes widened at this blunt proclamation. Serenity 
let go of Endymion's hand after his having said this, only to slip her 
arms around his waist instead. The Earth Prince responded in kind, 
gathering her up against his side.  Utterly blown away, the three 
generals could do nothing more than gawk. Kunzite smiled slyly in the 
shadows. 
	Their jaws quickly snapped shut when a familiar scream was 
heard coming from the palace gates. "Intruder! Intruder!"
	A rustle sounded to their left, then their right. Before they 
knew what was happening there were thirty men surrounding them from all 
sides.
	Kunzite, Jadeite, Nephrite and Zoicite immediately fell into 
general mode. First, Nephrite called the attention of the guards who 
had come into the clearing after sounding their warning. Then, the 
three others joined their leader in the middle of the clearing and 
flanked him on each side. 
	Endymion barely had to give a nod before Kunzite spouted out 
his analysis. "They outnumber us three to one. That would be bad enough, 
but I am not sure if Usagi or our guards will be able to take them on 
with those odds."
	"Do not worry about Usagi, she can take care of herself. Stay 
close to our guards, though. They do not have the training to fight 
three people at once. They may need some help. Now, let us get into a 
circle, facing out. Whatever you do, do not lose sight of the bushes in 
front of you. We cannot be sure how many more men are lurking back 
there." Zoicite left to relay the orders to Nephrite the moment that 
Endymion stopped giving them. The men then assembled into a circle with 
Kunzite and Usagi taking up each of the prince's sides. 
	All of this strategy and formation happened in mere seconds. 
The intruders were just as stunned by their victims' efficiency as 
their victims had been of the intruders' own timely approach.
	"Who are you and what do you want?" Endymion belted out before 
the black-clad men could move an inch. 
	There was snickering off to the side before a voice cut through 
the darkness, "I am but a humble thief, come to collect the biggest 
prize of them all...the Crown Prince of Earth." Without any warning, 
the body of the one who just spoke shot out of the shrubbery and 
started a sword fight with Endymion. 
	Zoicite quickly unleashed his own sword when the rest of the 
thugs began to advance. "And here I thought we were going to be in for 
a dose of originality. But no..." he paused in order to parry a blow 
directed at him, "...the same old 'kidnap the prince' trick is all that 
they could come up with. How unbelievably dull." 
	The brawl fell into full swing after that. The palace guards 
had their hands full, forcing Jadeite and Zoicite to add one more thug 
each to their already full plates. Jadeite was mostly being defensive 
since he had to deal with four men at once, but when one of the men 
punched him after their swords locked he threw himself fully into the 
offensive fray. "Now you are going to get it!" He jumped forward, 
shocking one man while slashing another with his sword. The two fell to 
the ground, but he knew it wouldn't be for long. Sure enough, both men 
almost immediately righted themselves. "Endymion! I will not be able to 
keep this up for very long!!"

---

	Serenity heard Jadeite's call and cringed. She knew it wouldn't 
take long for the intruders to overpower them all. However, until then 
she was going to have a little fun. She halted her next round house 
kick and stepped back to put some room in between herself and her three 
opponents. Her torn dress flopped around her. It allowed for 
maneuverability, but she still fervently wished for a Lunarian fighting 
fuku.  
	After bowing, a sly grin graced her face that succeeded in 
thoroughly confusing the thugs. Serenity then put her palms together 
and lay them perpendicularly in front of her. As she slowly drew one 
palm away from the other, a slim beam of bright golden light appeared. 
"May I introduce you to..." Her palms stopped moving and the light 
immediately burst. A sword of unbelievable beauty was left in her hands.
An inch wide blade of shining silver that had intricate carvings on it 
connected to a base of artistically, yet practically designed gold. 
"...Excalibur." 
	The men in black were utterly perplexed by the magic that had 
just been displayed before them, but they didn't waste much time in 
taking on the woman, even with her sword. A tough fight ensued. 
 
---

	The prince was in the middle of a fierce battle himself. He was 
viciously fighting the leader of the pack while also shrugging off two 
other men. "Why do you not simply give up this pointless ambush?!"
	The leader scoffed back. "Give up? Pointless? Unless you are 
blind, Prince, you must have noticed that *I* have the upper hand here!" 
He swiped his sword to the left then quickly to the right, a move that 
would have caught a normal fighter off guard. The prince was not so 
gullible. He immediately blocked the move and advanced forward. "I must 
say, however, that you are quite the worthy opponent!"
	Endymion growled through his teeth. He knew this could not last 
for long. Where were the rest of the palace guards? Had they been held 
up in another battle?
	Taking a moment to kick one of the troublesome thugs that was 
on his back, he glanced around to the rest of the battle. Only a few 
minor scraps and bruises had managed to mar his guardians. They were 
doing well, but eventually they would run out of stamina. He had to 
think of something else, something to move the favor over to his side. 
That's when he noticed Serenity. Sweat was slipping down her forehead 
in steady streams. She had a determined look to her face as she took 
advantage of another weak spot in her enemy. Excalibur gleamed in the 
moonlight causing Endymion to smile. 'She does so love that sword.'
	Serenity chose that moment to stare up in his direction. Their 
eyes locked together and something passed between them. In the mere 
second there was before the leader of the opposition struck out at 
Endymion and Serenity's own enemies executed their next move, both of 
them had silently determined what had to be done. They couldn't quite 
understand it themselves, but realized it must have been a side effect 
of their bond. 
	Quickly disposing of their adversaries, the two drew together. 
The head of the intruders was well trained, though, and pulled himself 
together fast enough to catch Endymion before he had fully walked away. 
Serenity watched as he lunged at the prince and screamed out a warning 
to her beloved. Unfortunately, while she was occupied with that, she 
failed to notice one of her own discarded enemies coming up behind her. 
Her internal sensors only warned her enough so that she was able to 
twist around before the man had pulled out his knife to stab her. 
Instead of catching her right in the back, he gouged her side. Her 
scream died in her throat from the surprise. The thug didn't have much 
time to gloat, however, because Serenity was quick to use Excalibur to 
render him inoperable. 
	Endymion, in the meantime, was able to throw his main foe far 
enough away from him that he could continue the trek to his one and 
only. What he saw when he turned back in her direction only made him 
move faster. He grasped Serenity's hand when he finally reached her and, 
without further delay, an intense heat passed between their entwined 
fingers. The build up of power increased until it was too big to 
contain and then it exploded into a large sonic boom. The ripple of 
gold and silver expanded in a circle throughout the entire garden until 
it finally faded into nothingness. 
	Nothing happened at first. Then, slowly but surely, all of the 
intruders began to fall to the ground. As Serenity and Endymion had 
intended, the raw energy had passed harmlessly through everyone in the 
area except for those men. 
	The two who had initiated the blast immediately fell to their 
knees, panting heavily. 
	Kunzite quickly told the amazed palace guards to put the 
unconscious men in cells. At once they left to find more guards to help 
them with the task. With them out of the picture, the prince's personal 
guard rushed over to the two lovers. Serenity had collapsed on the 
ground because of her stab wound and Endymion had lifted her upper body 
so that it was close to his own.
	Zoicite dropped to one knee beside the young woman in order to 
examine her. "What happened? What hurts?" He didn't have to try hard to 
ignore all of the reasons why he should just shove this woman out the 
gate and send her on her way. If his prince would mourn the loss of her 
presence, as Zoicite knew he would, he could momentarily forget all of 
the voices in his head that were telling him how many rules the two 
lovers had broken by being together. 
	She groggily turned her head from Endymion's chest to stare at 
the medic. "M-My side. One of those men stabbed me when I was not 
paying atten-ention."
	"I knew it." Nephrite had meant for no one to hear the scoffing 
whisper, but his prince had. He was now receiving a very hard glare. 
	"She was busy warning me of a man about to attack me from 
behind. It was not her fault that she was caught off guard." He looked 
down at the angel in his arms after he saw Nephrite nod in guilt. "It 
was my fault." 
	Serenity immediately turned her attention away from Zoicite. 
She raised a shaking hand to grasp Endymion's arm tightly. "N-No!" She 
lifted herself up a bit so that she had a better angle with which to 
stare into her love's eyes. Right away, her side protested at the 
movement and she gave out a hiss in pain. She locked her eyes in an 
intense gaze with the familiar midnight blue orbs. "It was NOT your 
fault!" Endymion was about to argue when she touched his lips. The look 
in her eyes softened considerably and she dropped her head to rest in 
the crook of his neck. "No arguments, please."  
	The guardians smiled in sympathy as their liege tightened his 
hold on the blonde and rested his head on top of her own. "I cannot 
believe this happened. Of all nights, it had to be when you were here. 
I am so sorry, Usako." Serenity responded by nuzzling her head against 
his neck.
	Zoicite moved the hole in the young woman's dress further to 
one side so that he could see the inner edge of her cut. His gentle 
touches sent a tingle up Serenity's spine. Reluctant to break up the 
moment between the lady and his prince, Zoicite quietly spoke, "This 
wound is quite deep. We are going to need to take her to a healer so 
that he can stitch it." 
	Endymion's emotions clashed at Zoicite's news. He tightly shut 
his eyes. "We cannot. No one is even supposed to know that she is here."
	"But, prince! She might die if she loses much more blood!" 
Jadeite's outburst was followed by a cough and moan from the woman in 
question. "See!"
	"Endymion is r-right, I cannot."
	The generals stared at Serenity in disbelief. "Zoicite, you are 
an apprentice healer. Can you do nothing?" Endymion knew he was grasping 
at straws. He wanted more than anything to rush Serenity into the palace 
and yell out for the best healer there...but...
	The curly-haired man shook his head. "Not without the proper 
supplies."
	"I have the power to heal." The blonde weakly supplied.
	The prince shook his head sadly. "But you cannot heal yourself, 
Usako, only others." He was just about to stand up with his dearest in 
tow and ignore the consequences that her presence on Earth might bring
when Nephrite came to his rescue.
	His curiosity had been peaked. Mystical powers were his 
specialty. "Can you transfer your power?"
	"I have only don-done it once, but it is possible." Serenity 
let out another hiss. The stab wound wasn't that big, only about two 
inches long, but it was deep and it hurt a lot.  
	"And it also drained you considerably." Endymion's statement 
dashed the hope that was flowing through the others. "There is no point. 
To transfer your power would mean to diminish your energy to the 
breaking point. Then, to use that power to heal yourself from what was 
just inflicted...that does not make any sense. It is an oxymoron."
	"It does not matter. I would not be able to-able to heal the 
others' wounds in my current condition anyway. Nephrite can do th-that. 
He can heal me and can heal the others. Then everything will be settled."
	There was a deep sigh. "Usako, no. Nephrite would be able to 
heal your stab wound, but not your loss of energy." He paused. "It 
would simply drain you much too much."  
	Serenity lifted her head up a bit so that she could look her 
prince in the eye. "Not if you are here." He didn't miss the hope that 
flittered through her eyes, nor the fact that her shivering momentarily 
stopped as she said her statement. His heart melted. "Our connection, 
Mamo-chan. It is strong. It can take the burden." Endymion merely 
smiled. "It will hurt a bit, but not too much." She closed her eyes as 
he leaned down to give her a peck on the forehead.
	"You are right. Our bond is perfect. It will make it so that 
you will not have to drain yourself completely, you can drain part of 
my power instead." He squeezed her shoulders. "Let us start, then."
	Jadeite and the others were a little lost during the 
conversation that just took place, but they knew an approval when they 
saw one. "What do you need me to do?" It was Nephrite who asked the 
question and it was Nephrite who received Serenity's attention.
	She saw a flight of nervousness in the man's eyes and so gave 
him a soft smile. "Just h-hold my hand." Once he had complied, she 
continued. "This will not hurt. I promise." She tightened her hold 
around Endymion's waist and he, in turn, tightened his hold on her 
shoulders. ['We have already drained ourselves considerably with that 
last energy blast...let us hope that this will not put us over the 
edge.'] Originally, the mental message was only meant to be received by 
the prince, but in her weakened state Serenity lost control and the 
message was also attained by his four guardians.           
	Nephrite immediately tried to pull his hand away in fear for 
his liege's life, but the princess's grip was tight. Kunzite had 
screamed out and swooped down to separate all of the involved parties, 
but he was too late. 
	Two pained gasps came from the lovers.
	The first was from Serenity. Her wound immediately began to 
spout more blood, completely soaking through the cloth that Zoicite had 
put on it. 
	The second was from Endymion. It was like someone had reached 
down his throat and had forcefully taken out the air that was once in 
his lungs. 
	The transfer process began directly after that. A deep silver 
light could be seen trailing from Serenity to the brown-haired general. 
Warmth spread through the man's body when the stream entered through 
his chest. The feeling was indescribable. He temporarily forgot about 
the possible ill results from this transfer and basked in the pure 
energy that the princess possessed. 
	It was over soon enough. Endymion's body slumped to the ground, 
barely able to stay in a sitting position. Serenity fell limply in his 
arms. She could hardly keep her eyes open. 
	"Prince!" Zoicite had managed to prop his friend up before he 
collapsed onto the ground. "Are you all right?" 
	Glazed blue eyes stared up at him under heavy lids. "Yes." 
The affirmation came out rough. 
	The medic looked over at Nephrite. "Heal Usagi quickly! With 
her power at such a low level, she will not be able to handle the 
additional injury!" Nephrite did as told. It took him a few seconds to 
adjust to the new and raw power coursing through his veins, but once he 
had he leaned over the gaping tear. His hands burned hot as he let a 
silver cloud engulf its target. The magic oozed into every pore in the 
princess's skin and started to piece the flesh back together. 
	Serenity let out a whimper at the process. Usually her healing 
power didn't hurt. However, with someone inexperienced at the helm and 
with the wound so jagged, it caused quite a bit of pain. Endymion 
barely had enough energy to be able to rest one of his hands upon her 
cheek to soothe her. He did manage it, though, and she closed her eyes 
at the tender touch. 
 	Once he finished, Nephrite quickly went over to heal his 
friends, afraid that the power would flee his body at any moment. They 
all looked on in amazement as their cuts and scrapes vanished without a 
trace. One of the larger slices on Kunzite's arm completely disappeared, 
not even leaving a scar. They could hardly believe it. Nephrite still 
felt anxious about the amount of time that he would be able to possess 
such altruistic majesty, so he turned his attention back to Serenity. 
"How long will this last?"
	The haze in her mind led Serenity to initially misinterpret his 
question. "Forever. Once a wound is healed, it is healed."
	"No, no. I mean, how long will I have this power?"
	"Oh. The only other time that I have tried this," she stopped 
in order to take a deep breath. With her energy at such a low level she 
couldn't even finish a sentence without exhausting herself. "-the person 
had my abilities for a day or so. It does not last that long." With 
that, Serenity laid completely down on the ground. Zoicite had let 
Endymion sink there earlier and the prince held his arms open for her. 
They were so tired. So very tired...
	"Hey!" They didn't budge. Jadeite tried again, "Hey, WAKE UP!" 
That got their attention. "Usagi, you cannot fall asleep yet. I am sure 
there is someone from your home who would miss you and wonder where you 
went off to." 
	The princess lazily waved a hand in dismissal. "No, *yawn* I 
can just tell them that I went for a walk in the forest and...and 
*yawn* got lost." Never mind that she would not have been allowed 
outside while in preparation for her wedding. She leaned into Endymion's 
shoulder and curled her body so that it was pressed right up against 
his own.
	"NO!" Two sets of eyelids shot open. "Where are you going to 
sleep?"
	Zoicite walked up next to the younger man. "We could just put 
her in one of the guest rooms. I do not think anyone would check. Well, 
except for the maids...but we could wake her up and get her out of 
there before they go on their rounds."
	"But the maids start their work even before any of us usually 
get up. And we get up fairly early in the morning as is." Kunzite 
paused in his speech to look at the two falling asleep on the ground. 
"I do not think a few hours of sleep will be enough to rejuvenate 
either of them."
	Thinking Endymion and Serenity to have already drifted off into 
dreamland, Nephrite whispered, "Then we just place her in one of the 
rooms next to us. If anyone happens to stumble upon her, then we will 
be able to figure out what all of this fuss is about. They were 
probably just overreacting anyway when they said that they could be 
imprisoned for their actions. She is probably just a common town girl 
and they were worried because she was not a princess. That is all." 
Jadeite's face looked skeptical. Usagi? That blonde angel on the ground
...a town girl?
	"No..." Endymion's drowsy voice filtered through the air. "Not 
quite..." Nephrite's eyes widened. He was sure that they had fallen 
asleep. "She *is* a princess..." The prince's short phrases drifted in 
and out as if he were just on the edge of unconsciousness. His 
guardians couldn't tell if he knew what he was saying or if he was so 
out of it that he was letting things slip. Kunzite's eyes grew frantic 
when he realized that his liege might accidentally let out the biggest 
secret in the universe. He took a step forward as if to silence him, 
but was cut off.  
	Serenity let out a sleepy giggle. "Yup...I am..." She nuzzled 
further into her lover's embrace, her eyes shut like his. "I am...

	...Princess Serenity..."

	With that, they both lost the battle with sleep and turned 
themselves over into the dream world.   


 





End Chapter 11
--------------

What do you think? The generals
finally find out! Next up, a 
touch of fluff (and seeing as 
how it's me, that means a *heavy*
touch ^_-) and more general
business. It's still in the 
works, so we'll see what else
pops into it. Thanks to all of
you who have reviewed. I look
forward to each comment!

 
Please send ANY comments to me, Sereko. 
My e-mail is: sereko13@yahoo.com

Copyright © 2003 by Sereko