-1Couples: Endymion/Serenity, Kunzite/Mina, Jedite/Raye Nephlite/Lita, and Zoicite/Amy

Summary: Endymion was a prince turned head priest to the goddess Selene. Serenity was the little known daughter of the goddess. After her first trip to Earth, she returned often to admire the beautiful scenery that could not be found near her home on the moon. When the two met, she was frightened away. Even if she wished to return, how could anything develop between the demigoddess and the priest who was forbidden to her? As Serenity found Earth becoming a greater part of her life, a plot was discovered that would end both the Moon Kingdom and life on Earth as she knew it.

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon copyright 2007 Naoko Takeuchi/Kondansha, Toei Animation. All rights reserved. Sailor Moon characters and their respective names are trademarks of TOEI Animation. Licensed by DIC Entertainment, L.P.

Endymion lifted his head as he finished the end of his prayer. He looked at the figure of his goddess until he heard the rustling that meant the other priests had risen. He then made a gesture over his heart with his right hand, following the ceremony perfectly. He stood slowly with his eyes still on the figure and pulled up the white hood from his back. As one with the others, he turned and walked between the same two pillars that he had walked between since he had become the chief priest to the Goddess Selene. However, he rarely considered his life before his title.

Being the second son of the king for the first ten years of his life had been no easy task. Fortunately, his brother was kind, or he would have been forced to endure his insults and bend to his every whim. It was the constant whispers of the courtiers and nobles that had finally driven him away. The kingdom was in an uproar when his father and mother discovered him missing. Even Crown Prince Andrew was said to have gone quiet whenever people mentioned his brother's disappearance. Endymion never once regretted this decision.

Several months later, it was discovered that a ragtag boy that swept up in a small temple to earn his way was the younger prince of the Earth Kingdom. All citizens of the kingdom were forbidden by law to enter a temple on any mission other than to worship the temple's god or goddess. Thus it happened that the "party" sent by the king came to the gates of Endymion's hiding place with a letter written by the king, asking that the temple's keepers kindly send his son out. When the priests and his son disobeyed, the king became furious. Some exaggerated so much as to say that the king had his army prepared to march on the temple. It took the entire King's Council to convince him that it would be best if his son stayed in the temple.

Out of the kindness of his heart, the king pulled a few strings at the main temple of his son's chosen goddess. The prince was immediately accepted at the lowest level, though the temple rarely took in anyone. Endymion wondered privately if the king simply couldn't stand the thought of his blue-blooded family in an unknown temple in a small city, but this thought had been banished the moment he thought it. With other privileged boys near his age, he moved upwards in the Great Temple of Selene, never once looking back on his old life.

Endymion sat quietly, staring into the clear water of the garden pond. The silver fish, he thought, were much like some thoughts he had, always slipping away behind something. It was at times like these, when he was frustrated, that he turned to his goddess. The purity and strength she embodied seemed to flow through him and steer him towards the right path, away from his past.

"Endymion," a voice repeated.

The man was stirred from his repose. "Kunzite?" he replied, looking at his fellow. The four high priests that populated the temple were used to his usual distraction.

"Always deep in thought, Endymion," murmured Zoicite, fanning his long blonde hair across the grass.

"One might begin to wonder what goes on in your skull," commented Jedite, forever ready to be amusing.

"Quiet. Look at the stars. Look at the moon. You are more unfocused than a boy," Nephrite interrupted. He lay on his back with his brown hair below him.

"Jedite will always be a boy," Kunzite commented, settling himself similarly; it took some skill to keep their white uniforms free of stains. Jedite looked slightly annoyed before he glanced up at the sky and relaxed onto the ground.

Endymion leaned back to view the sky. He stared at the moon, thinking of its goddess.

In a large, white bed chamber sat three girls. "Mortals are so strange," commented the darkest. Lita had olive skin with brown hair; she wore a green dress to match her eyes. "They avoided me because they feared that I would make off with their children or something like."

"You are an Amazon. If you didn't live here you would be riding around on a horse doing who knows what to anyone that so much as glanced at you wrong," replied the ivory skinned, silver haired girl, whose white dress blended with the rest of her room.

"They think that we all live on Mount Olympus, you know," added the tan blonde, adjusting her skimpy, yellow dress.

Serenity laughed. Mortals were so odd; she didn't understand what appeal they had to her friends. "Honestly! Aphrodite living on a mountain! Why in the name of Jove do they think of that? At least they got the direction right: up."

"I have got to give them credit for that," Mina agreed, giggling at her friend's joke.

"Have you two ever even seen a mortal?" Lita demanded, not amused. She didn't like to be reminded of her heritage nor have it mocked.

"I have seen too many mortals to count," Mina responded. Her implication that she had done far more than see mortals wasn't lost on her companions.

Serenity blushed at Mina's suggestion. "No, I have not seen a mortal. Rather, I have seen a mortal but not in person."

Mina turned to stare at the girl with wide eyes. Serenity had never seen a mortal, and somehow Mina hadn't dragged the other girl there with her years ago. She felt like she had failed at her typical role of corrupting Serenity. "You have never seen a mortal? Never been to Earth?" At each shake of Serenity's head, Mina's amazement grew.

"You must go! There is so much to see, so much to do! Besides, there are many more men to choose from on Earth," Mina exclaimed, thinking of all the things she enjoyed doing on earth. Surely Serenity would enjoy them, as well.

The other two rolled their eyes at Mina. "I do not care how many men there are," Serenity replied, her voice heavy with chagrin.

"Nor do I. Men are a bunch of savages," Lita commented seriously, making a fist. The other two stared at her now. It was Lita's turn to blush; she couldn't help being Amazon.

Mina shook her head, tossing her beautiful blond hair. "Clearly, I appreciate the finer things in life. There are still many more things to be found on Earth than here on the moon, Serenity," she wheedled, trying to correct for her previous mistake. How could she forget Serenity's dedication to virgins; of course she wasn't interested in men. Yet.

"You, Mina, simply appreciate what Aphrodite tells you. She is right, though," Lita agreed, her eyes lighting up at memories of her past travels. "Earth is full of beautiful scenery, different culture, and new experiences."

"No where is as beautiful as the Moon Kingdom, not even your Jupiter's realm, Lita," Serenity disagreed. She loved her home.

Mina exchanged a glance with the brunette. "We're taking you."

"Taking me where?" Serenity squeaked, looking with alarm between the girls who had positioned themselves on either side of her.

"To Earth, you fool," Lita replied, rolling her eyes. She gripped Serenity's elbow, and Mina did the same opposite her.

"But Selene will find out that we have gone! What will she say?" Serenity exclaimed. She struggled to pull her arms away.

"Selene loved a mortal once, my pure little lamb," Mina informed her. Just because Selene opted to not mentions things to her daughter didn't mean that Mina couldn't.

Serenity gave the blonde a disbelieving look and appealed to Lita, who agreed with Mina that it was true. The group disappeared with a slight rustle.

"Welcome to the wondrous realm of the Romans," Mina said, gesturing to the new scene. They stood in the midst of a glen near a trickling stream.

Serenity made an uncomfortable noise. "There are no mortals," she noticed.

"Not out here, lamb. This is a forest. You would be lucky to stumble upon even a man-child out here," Lita replied. "Is it not one of the most peaceful things you've ever seen, Serenity?" She was standing next to a tree, running her fingers along its bark, admiring the texture and vibrancy of its life.

"It is fine enough," she agreed. It was pretty, but that didn't meant that she should be here. She shifted to her other foot, unable to contain her discomfort.

"Perhaps you do not like nature, princess, but you would love the cities. They are full of such motion and energy," Mina sighed. She was staring longingly off into space. Cities were so fun, but she knew Serenity would not allow them to take her to one any time soon.

"And men," Serenity vaguely heard Lita grumble. She giggled nervously. She couldn't help but feel she was betraying her mother's trust. They were not as close as they might be, but Selene did raise Serenity. Her mother had never once brought up Earth, so Serenity felt that it was a forbidden place. She sighed and disappeared.

Mina turned to the spot that the girl had vacated. "Our lamb has much to learn about the ways of Earth and mortals."

"Of men as well, I suppose?" Lita questioned, shaking her head at Serenity's unwillingness to experience Earth.

Mina smiled wickedly. Of course Serenity needed to learn about men. "You cannot learn about men. They change too often, Lita. It is something you will never know because you refuse."

"It is something I do not wish to know, and no amount of your trickery will change that," Lita argued, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"No, I have tried long and hard to change you, Lita, and you have yet to give in. You have a will to rival Hera's. Serenity, however, has the will of the lamb that we name her. She has already begun to see things my way. She has had a short taste of the beauty of Earth. Beauty, if nothing else, will call her back." Mina moved to stand next to her tall friend. She grimaced up at her. "You are much too tall. You make me feel like a dwarf."

"Perhaps you should have Cupid shoot me with a love arrow? I will fall head over heels, and you will then be taller," Lita mocked.

Mina gave her a calculating look. What a brilliant idea. "Fare thee well, Lita. I have business to attend to." Without a second of warning, Mina, too, was gone.

"I was not serious, you devious wench!" she called half heartedly. She was in for it now. Tugging at a few places of her clothing, Lita formed brown breeches, an olive shirt, and brown boots. With a flick of her wrist, her hair flew into horsetail. "Best to not be seen or heard for awhile. It will throw him off my trail," she said aloud. Her only answer was the swishing of the trees.