AN: I know, I KNOW I should be working on Entwined and my other in progress stuff, but I've been having some writer's block and I'm not really sure where to go with it. I actually started this one-shot a while back but went to bed before finishing it, and I just today decided to wrap it up. So, apologies to those readers that are waiting for updates. I'll try to get more up soon. Hopefully this short story helps a bit.

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own anything.

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It was a well-known fact in the Silver Palace that Princess Serenity was not a good person to wake up. The task typically fell to the Senshi, one of the Queen's Mauan advisors, or the Prince of Terra on one of his rare visits. Even Queen Serenity herself hardly dared the attempt. No one else was fool enough to accept the job.

Imagine the staff's surprise when one of the servants, checking the time, said that someone needed to wake the Moon Princess, and someone volunteered.

"I can do it!" One of the new maids said cheerfully.

"It would be best to send one of her guardians," a manservant cautioned. "She can be quite difficult to awaken."

The maid, Cecilia, shook her head. "I have three little brothers. I am sure it cannot be that difficult!"

She flounced off in the direction of the Princess's suite. The others watched with a mixture of horror and amusement. One of the Guardian Senshi, Sailor Jupiter, strode up the corridor and joined them.

"Whatever is so interesting?" she asked curiously.

At first, all she received was confused, stammered replied. Finally the manservant, a Mercurian called Andelko, explained what had happened. Jupiter's green eyes widened in worry.

"We tried to stop her," another maid said miserably. "She just would not listen."

Jupiter massaged her temples. "Andelko, please tell me she is not Venusian."

He winced. "She is, actually."

"Great," she groaned. "That is probably the worst news possible. Venusian temperaments are too blindly stubborn to recognize a lost cause. That girl is going to get herself hurt."

"Who is getting hurt?" Mercury asked behind her.

"Some fool maid's gone to wake Serenity," Jupiter told her smaller sister.

Mercury blinked a few times. "I do apologize, I must not have heard correctly. Did you say a maid had gone to awaken the Princess?"

"That is precisely what I said," Jupiter said grimly.

"Oh, dear. We should hurry. This cannot end well."

"End well?" Mars repeated as she joined them. "What has happened now?" The other two Senshi hurried to fill her in. "You must be joking. Someone was actually foolish enough to try?"

Venus meandered over before they could respond. "Why is a maid entering Serenity's room?"

The leader was quickly apprised of the situation. She tilted her head to one side, confused. "Why would she do something like that?"

"We should stop her before she is hurt!" Mercury urged, blue eyes bright with concern.

Venus laughed. "Absolutely not! This is a rite of growth."

"Rite of passage," Mercury corrected.

"Whatever," the leader shrugged. "The point is that she has to learn, and merely telling her that it was a poor idea did nothing to stop her. Serenity will teach her otherwise."

Jupiter glanced down the hall nervously. "The poor girl could be hurt."

"She certainly would not attempt to do so again," Mars murmured, considering. "All right. Let her try. She will learn soon enough."

Jupiter slowly agreed. Mercury was not so sure. Venus was positively cheerful.

"Let's watch!" she suggested with great enthusiasm. "It would be fun!"

Mercury certainly did not agree, but nothing she said seemed to reach her sisters. They tugged her with them into Serenity's suite to observe.

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Cecilia passed in awe through the beauty of the Princess's personal space. It was neither ostentatious nor overdone, but instead possessed a simple elegance that fit perfectly with the grandeur of the palace. The sitting room alone would have comfortably fit a few dozen occupants.

The bedchamber was only slightly smaller, decorated in delicate shades of gold, silver, ivory, and pale pink. The large bed was curtained with thin gauze. Cecelia marched over and pushed them aside.

Everyone in the united planets knew of Princess Serenity's astounding beauty, and for a moment the maid had to pause to admire it herself. She had never before been so close to the heir of the Silver Alliance.

After about a minute of silent contemplation, the maid reached out and shook Serenity's shoulder. "Your Highness? It is time to wake up."

A loud cracking sound echoed through the chamber. The maid stepped back, one hand pressed against her now crimson cheek. Serenity slept on, unaware that she had just slapped the other girl. Unknown to Cecilia, the Senshi were clustered just outside the bedroom, trying to muffle their laughter.

"Do you think she will give up now?" Mercury asked her sisters hopefully.

Mars snorted. "Not a chance. Now it's a matter of pride. We all know how Venusians are about such things."

The Senshi all turned to stare at their leader, who was too occupied with her spying and laughing to notice. Jupiter sighed and nodded. "The girl will definitely try again. I do not think she realizes that Serenity only gets worse the more you try."

As they had said, Cecilia squared her shoulders and once more stepped to the bedside. Taking careful hold of the blonde princess's wrists, she shook the girl's shoulder once more.

"Restraining Serenity never works," Venus laughed softly. "How many times do you think it'll take before she reacts?"

"You mean the shaking?" Jupiter asked. "I give it four."

Mars shook her head. "Within two more shakes, she will understand why that is a bad plan."

"I was thinking five," Venus mused.

They all turned and glanced at Mercury. The blue-haired genius just shook her head, blushing fiercely in embarrassment.

The maid tried again.

"One," Venus said unnecessarily.

Again.

"Two- oh, there she goes."

Serenity's knee had swung up and made very forceful contact with Cecilia's stomach. The girl reeled back gagging before she collapsed a few paces from the bed. Serenity remained oblivious.

"What's going on?" a deep voice asked from behind the Senshi.

The girls turned. "Oh, Endymion-sama," Venus realized. "We were not expecting you for another three hours."

"I managed to slip away earlier than planned. Why are you all clustered here laughing?" The dark-haired Terran prince looked highly suspicious.

The maid was crying now, so Mercury hurried over to check on her while the others explained the morning's events.

"You let her try, knowing that Serenity is a terror to wake up?" Endymion said skeptically. "Do you not like this maid?"

"It's not that," Venus chirped. "She just needed to find out for herself. A rite of growth."

"Passage!" the other two yelled at her.

"Whatever."

Endymion shook his head before striding over to Serenity's bedside and sitting next to her. "Serenity, it's time to wake up," he said softly. One hand caressed her cheek.

Her eyes opened no more than a moment later. "Endymion?" She flew into his arms. "Oh, Endymion-sama! We were not expecting you until noon!"

"The Shitennou told me that they would complete the work to be done in Elysian so that I could come early. Are you glad to see me, then?"

"Yes, very," she answered brightly before glancing around. Her brow knitted as she saw her four Senshi, as well as the young Venusian maid that was crying into the front of Mercury's fuku. "Whatever is going on here?"

The Senshi burst out laughing as she stared at them. Endymion just sighed and embraced his fiancée.

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AN: Yes, it's really short. Names: Cecilia is Latin for blind, as in the maid was blind to what was obvious to the others. Andelko is Greek for messenger, since he's both the bearer of bad news and from Mercury, Mercury being the Roman name of the messenger god Hermes. As usual, I love reviews and want to know what you have to say, so let me know! Till next time!