I'm still working on "Return of the Past", but this idea came to me and I couldn't wait to write it. The girls are seventeen, while the guys are twenty. Enjoy! n_n Please read and review.
Disclaimer: I wish. Sailor Moon does not belong to me.
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Her features were twisted as she tried to hold in her laughter. The prince seemed to be in a state of shock. She could feel his eyes wander over her hunched back, straggly brown hair, and tiny blue eyes. Halfway bowed he was frozen and Princess Serena could do nothing but hold in her laughter. "Prince Zonmei, is there something wrong?"
He straightened immediately and shook his head quickly. "N…no! There is nothing wrong. I … I was just … um … admiring your … unique looks." His hands were wringing in front of him and Serena could see him trying to avoid looking at her.
She smiled sweetly … well as sweetly as she could without scaring off everybody. She heard her mother sigh next to her and her smile grew. Queen Serenity did not approve of the princess' plan, but she agreed to it anyway. "Well, Prince. Will you be staying?"
"Well, you see … um … Princess Serenity. I … I just remembered that I have a meeting tomorrow with my planet's council and I just can not stay any longer than an hour." He smiled brightly and let out a long sigh of relief.
"I see. Well, I'm sorry about that. We could have spent more time with each other. Perhaps you will visit another time?"
"Yes! Another time but I'm afraid I will be busy for awhile, so it might not be anytime soon." He bowed again and turned towards the Queen. "I apologize for this inconvenience. Will a ship be ready to leave soon, your highness?"
The queen sighed and flicked her hand, forcing a smile. "Of course, Prince Zonmei. I'm afraid that I won't be able to escort you there, but I'm sure that my daughter would be delighted to."
"Oh, no that won't be necessary, I'm sure she has many things to attend to. I can manage to go there myself. Now I must go and prepare my belongings. I'm sorry that this was cut so short." Bowing once more, he quickly left the room.
As soon as the doors shut closed, the Princess burst out into laughter, holding onto her stomach. Tears streamed down her face as she fell into her own throne and almost crashed into her mother. "I … (giggle) … think that the … (snort) … hunchback was a … great touch!" After a few minutes, the princess seemed to calm down and only broke out into giggles in a small amount.
"Why must you do this, Serena? You scare off all your suitors! And get rid of that ridiculous disguise." The princess just smiled and closed her eyes, letting a strange silver glow to surround her. When the light had disappeared, instead of a hunchback girl, there stood a lovely girl with two long silver ponytails streaming down her sides. The spheres on the top of her head supported the tiara she wore. Her eyes were wide with innocence and kindness and she was over all a beautiful woman.
"Oh, mother. You take the fun out of everything." She sighed and straightened her creased dress. Her back was aching; bending over for two hours was not fun.
"I don't see why you do this. You could have any suitor you want and yet you scare them off with these atrocious disguises. You are one of the most beautiful women in the galaxy! Can't you take pride in that?"
"Mother, we have been through this. I don't want to marry a man who would carry me on his arm as a prize. It would be like printing on me, "This Man Won the Supreme Princess Serena and Everything she is to Inherit". I swear if I marry a man who thinks that I'm one of those princesses who would sit back and be pretty all day, I'll kill myself." She sighed and leaned in the chair, rubbing at her temples. A headache was coming in full force.
"Must you be so dramatic?"
"Yes, mother I must." She smiled weakly and stood up. "I'm going to find the Senshi. In the meanwhile, promise me that you won't find another suitor for me?"
"No, I don't promise that. I'm getting old, Serena. You have to learn how to be a Queen!" Serenity was dead serious and her eyes gazed into the ones of her daughter.
Serena could see the worry and fear in her mother's eyes and felt guilt shoot through her heart, but she ignored it. Forcing a smile, she winked at the powerful woman. "Don't worry, mother. You don't look a day over one thousand." Then, she spun on her heels and left the room before her mother had the chance to speak.
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"So, Ami, do we have a future King by any chance?" Lita and the other girls looked as the Mercurian princess entered the room, frowning.
"I'm afraid not. I saw Prince Zonmei run into his room about half an hour ago and run out just as fast towards his ship. It looked like Chaos himself was running after the poor man. It seems Serena's plan to scare him off worked." She frowned and plopped onto a large couch, leaning against the soft material.
"Too bad. He was pretty cute." Mina winked at the others and laughed. "Get over it guys, Serena's not going to marry a guy unless he can "see" pass the disguise. Personally, I think it's a good idea, but I don't have the patience or the endurance to keep up with it."
"Yea, besides that many rejections in one day would be traumatic to me." Lita placed her hand over her heart and pretended to drop dead, getting laughter from the others.
"I think she's doing a great job. I agree with her, men are pigs and don't deserve any of us." Rei flipped her hair over her shoulder and smirked.
"Ah, Rei? You are way too cynical for your age." Mina sweat dropped and smiled at the same time.
"Probably because she hasn't had a suitor drooling over her in a week." Lita's mumble didn't go unnoticed by the fiery princess and she shot up off her seat.
"Want to say that a bit louder, Lita?"
"Oh, I see how this works now. When I'm not here, Rei picks on Lita." Serena entered the room, smiling. "But who does she pick on when both Lita and I are not here? Hmm …" She jumped out the way as Rei threw a pillow at her. It smacked against the wall and landed on the floor. "Hey!"
"Serves you right, Airhead." Rei grinned and jumped back onto her spot on the large bed. Everybody just laughed and made room for Serena on the floor.
"So, Serena … I have come up with a conclusion from today's escapade." Everybody blinked for a second and processed the girl's words.
The moon princess raised an eyebrow. "And what would that
be?"
Ami leaned closer, drawing
everybody into a tight circle. The girl met everybody's eyes once and the
suspense in the room thickened. Looking back and forth, she whispered out her
conclusion. "I think … Serena's going to die a virgin." She leaned back and sat
down, staring at the girls.
All was still for just a moment and then … BANG! Everyone face-vaulted down on the floor, sweat drops appearing on the back of their heads.
Ami blinked and tilted her head in confusion. "Was it something I said?" It was a logical scientific conclusion. Was she wrong? Then, she felt four pillows smack her on the head and laughter filled Serena's room as everybody tried to tackle the Mercurian princess.
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"We should have brought the Stallion! It was beautiful!" Jadeite smiled and went on about the Stallion he had seen earlier that morning. "The owner said that it was bred on the Moon! The Moon!"
Darien sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He cared for his guard, really he did! But if he didn't shut up about the stallion soon, he was going to be the first royal prince to commit murder. His thoughts turned to the trip he was supposed to take tomorrow. "Jadeite, what do you know of her?"
"The horse? Well, she's a pure-breed and is sup--ow!" Jadeite rubbed the back of his head where his prince and friend had smacked him.
"No, you idiot! I meant Princess Serena! You know the Supreme Royal I'm supposed to meet tomorrow?" Darien's eyes flicked up when his other three guards entered the room and relief was evident in his eyes. "Thank the Gods, you're here! Jed's about to drive me out of my mind!"
"Didn't we warn you, Darien?" Zoisite smirked and leaned comfortably against the wall. Kunzite and Nephrite made themselves comfortable on Darien's couch.
"Shut up, Zoy. Anyway, back to my question. What do we know about the all mighty powerful princess of the Moon?" His tone held a bit of sarcasm in it as he imagined a pretty lass that would run at the sight of a spider.
"Well, actually Darien. We really don't know anything about her. She's a real mystery. It seems the Queen have kept her a secret. Some rumors go around that she's hideous and others say that she's the most beautiful in the universe. Some say she's evil and corrupted while others say that she's a sweet girl. So, to tell you the truth, you know as much we do." Kunzite shrugged his shoulders, allowing his long hair to fall over them.
"Well, I heard that no Prince has stayed much longer after meeting the Princess. The one who stayed the longest was Prince Zonmei of the planet Saijo and that was about … oh … two hours." Zoisite sighed, not happy with the lack of facts. Although he didn't seem like it, he was an intellectual man and the lack of knowledge bothered him to no ends.
"Wonderful and we're stuck on that planet for three days." Darien sighed and banged his head against the wall. His four guardians watched silently.
"I knew it. I knew this day would come and it has. Our dear Prince Endymion Darien has lost his mind … or at least trying to beat it to death." Zoisite grinned and ran out of the room, chased by a prince and three guards.
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"What?!" Excitement rippled through the council room as Queen Serenity announced the next suitor that she had chosen.
"Are you sure about this, your highness?" Mina was silent and worried. All of the senshi were in their uniforms and stunned.
"Yes, I'm sure but you must not tell the Princess. Please, I need a prince to meet her true form before she goes off and ruins everything." Her voice was pleading and desperate. "Prince Endymion is the last available suitor. If this works, we might be able to bring peace to our lands. In a way, I'm glad that Serena had managed to scare off all her suitors."
"But your highness, the Earth and the Moon have never been at peace. What if they try and assassinate the princess?" Lita frowned, worried about the safety of her princess. The Earthlings were known to be ruthless people, overrun with greed and hatred.
"That is what the senshi is for and contrary to what many think, the King and Queen of the planet are kind people and very good friends with me. We have tried countless times to make peace but the Earthlings wouldn't stand for it. If a marriage is to happen between the two kingdoms then the people would have to accept the peace and be part of the Silver Alliance." Queen Serenity was not as sure as she looked or sounded. Worry gripped her heart as she imagined the possibility the marriage could bring … rebellions … wars. But should the marriage be a success … peace should last among the kingdom … she hoped.
"I'm afraid your majesty, that we can not keep this a secret from the princess." Rei's eyes boldly looked into those of her queen, hoping that the queen would understand.
"And why not?"
"Because, Your Majesty … this disguise is something important to her. Falling in love is important to her. Should the man agree to marry her because of her beauty, she would lose her mind. She wants to love someone before they even know how she looks. Before knowing how beautiful she was." Her voice was quiet, but the truth that rang in the words hung in the air. "Please trust your daughter, Queen Serenity. She will know who the right person is."
Serenity sighed and closed her eyes. Waving her hands to the girls, she nodded her consent. "Very well, but do not tell her until an hour before the prince arrives, please."
"As you wish, your highness." The girls stood up to leave, heading towards the door.
"Venus, a word?"
The blonde girl stopped in her tracks and nodded to her fellow warriors to leave. When they had left, she walked over to her Queen. "Yes?"
"You are from the planet Venus, you should be able to sense if love will blossom or not. Tell me, is there a possibility?"
Mina blinked and sighed. "Queen Serenity, you know as I do, that I can not tell others what my gift senses. If there is love then it shall happen. If not, then it will not occur. Love is a very delicate emotion, but when acquired it is the greatest source of power imaginable."
The queen nodded and bowed her head. "Yes, I'm sorry. I should not have put you in that position. I want you to raise the security and double the guards. I trust the King and Queen but I do not trust their subjects. They might try and attack the princess. Be on guard."
She bowed and left the room, frowning. She could sense something was about to happen, but had no idea whether it was a good thing or not. "May the Goddess Selenity keep this kingdom safe." With that small prayer, she headed over towards Serena's room.
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"You ready, Endymion?" King Damien stood in front of the ship, his hand on his son's shoulder. He was an older version of the prince, except he had brown eyes and brown hair.
"As ready as I'll ever be, father." This was the day that they would meet the secret princess of the Moon. He groaned inwardly. Can he survive three days? Perhaps. "Where is mother?"
"She's coming. You know how women are. Ah, here she comes." The queen came floating out of the castle, her black hair floating down to her waist. A youthful woman, no one actually knew her real age. Her blue eyes held excitement at the thought of seeing her old friend again.
"What are standing here for? Let's go!" Queen Terra ran into the ship like a child, lifting up her skirts. Her husband and son just laughed and followed her in. The four guardians were in the ship, ready to lift off.
As the ship rose in the sky, Darien sighed. He was leaving the warm bed of a willing redhead for a mysterious princess. Wonderful.
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Okay! Tell me whatcha think! n_n … If I don't get many reviews, I won't continue it. :p