Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or any of its characters.

Chapter 3: Spiders

Serenity woke up, still cradling a soundly sleeping Small Lady. She tried to turn to see if Endymion was awake but almost woke the sleeping princess.

"I'm surprised you slept through the other storm last night," someone whispered in her ear.

She knew who it was. "There was another one?"

Endymion gave her a kiss on the cheek," Yeah, but you didn't move a muscle. Slept through the whole thing."

She felt him get up and heard his footfalls as he walked away. She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, great. Just leave me here. I'm can't feel my arms!" she mumbled after him. But there he stood, next to her. He lifted the sleeping princess from her mother's arms, setting her on their bed and tucking her in. Serenity sighed as the circulation returned to her arms and vacated the bed. The instant she was up, Endymion wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Morning," he whispered and kissed her on the neck.

Serenity turned in his arms and kissed him. Endymion deepened the kiss, his hands wandering her body. He went to lay her on the bed, but she stopped him and pulled away. "Easy, Endy. Chibi-Usa is asleep and we have another council meeting today. It does start soon."

He chuckled quietly, "Never thought you would be the one to remember a meeting, but alas, you are right."

Reluctantly, the two pulled apart. Serenity walked off towards the bathroom. When Endymion heard running water, he had an idea. He snuck into the bathroom and locked the door.

Later, the two emerged from the bathroom, extremely flushed. Serenity was surprised to see Small Lady was still asleep. After they were dressed, Serenity stood at the end of the bed, gazing at her daughters sleeping form. She quietly called to Endymion, "She is still asleep."

Endymion looked at Serenity, a smile playing on his face, "Well, she did get your sleeping habits. And eating habits for that matter!"

Serenity turned to him, red-faced. "You're mean!" she hissed. She turned and stormed out.

Endymion sighed and followed. He shut the door behind him as he walked out, careful not to wake the princess. He turned to chase after Serenity, when a pair of arms circled his neck and some very familiar lips crushed his own.

When they pulled apart, Serenity smiled impishly. "Just kidding. I love you."

When they arrived at the door to the throne room, the announcer bowed. "Your majesties."

They smiled at him. But before he turned to open the door, he looked at Endymion. "Uh... your majesty. You might want to um..." He nervously pointed to the King's face.

Serenity turned to examine and started laughing softly. "Endy! You have lipstick." She wiped it off and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Sorry."

Endymion glared at her, good-naturedly. "Shall we?" He turned to the announcer, and nodded, desperate to regain some kind of dignity.

The doors to the council meeting room opened. "Presenting Their Royal Highnesses King Endymion and Neo-Queen Serenity!" Everyone in the room stood as the two royals entered. Endymion and Serenity sat on their thrones. Everyone assembled then followed suit.

"Who's first?" Endymion asked.

The police chief stood up, "The report on drug use and trafficking." A report was placed in front of Serenity and Endymion. Endymion picked it up and held it close enough for Serenity to see as he flicked through it, waiting for her nod before turning a page. The police chief started talking as they examined the report.

After a while, Serenity gave a giggle. "Endy. Stop tickling my shoulder," she hissed.

Endymion turned from the report. "I'm not. See?" He held up his hands. He then turned his attention back to the report.

Serenity slowly turned to look at her shoulder. Her eyes widened as her face turned a ghostly white, and she let out a blood-curdling scream.

Endymion instantly thought she was being attacked. His hand flew for his sword but when he saw Serenity jumping around yelling, "Get it off! Get it Off!" he figured it must be something else.

"Sere? What is..." He stopped when he saw a tiny black spider clinging onto her back for dear life. He laughed. "Sere. Calm down. It's just a spider."

Serenity flicked the spider off her back and squashed it. "Just a spider?" she gasped. "Just a spider! It's a disgusting little vermin with 8 legs. Anything with more than 4 legs is gross and scary so don't you dare tell me it's just a spider!" she yelled at him. She stormed off to the door and yanked it open. "I HATE THEM!" She walked out and slammed the door behind her.

Endymion broke out laughing and the council stared at him, astonished. He eventually caught his breath and looked at the council. "I'm sorry," he explained. "She's always hated spiders." He looked at the door. "I better go after her."

Endymion found Serenity sitting in the rose gardens twirling a rose around finger anxiously.

"Sere?" He walked up and sat down beside her. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have laughed at you like that."

She regarded him stoically. "No. You shouldn't have." She ignored him for a while before letting out a heavy sigh. "No, I should be the one apologising."

Endymion quickly stopped her. "Don't say that. You shouldn't have to."

"I didn't have to react like that though," she replied. "I'm meant to be a heroine as well as a queen, and I can't even deal with a tiny spider. Mother would be horribly disappointed in me if she had seen me like that." She looked down to the rose in her lap, tears rolling down her face.

"Hey," he lifted her head up, "Don't cry. We all have weaknesses. It's not your fault spiders and storms scare you. They scare a lot of people." He wiped her tears away.

"They don't scare you. You're scared of nothing," she said quietly.

He shook his head. "You're wrong. When you screamed, I was so scared someone was attacking you," he wrapped his arms around her, "I was so scared that something would happen to you. I'm terrified of losing you and Chibi-Usa." He kissed her. "You hungry?" he said, offering his hand. She nodded and stood up.

"Thank you," she murmured as they left the garden.

XXXX

"I'm hungry! How much longer till lunch?" Small Lady whined.

"Not much longer. Here have a chocolate bar while you wait," Endymion said offering the treat.

"Endy! She's a 4-year-old child. She shouldn't be having sugar before lunch," Serenity scolded, taking the chocolate bar off Small Lady. "I, on the other hand …" Serenity trailed off lustfully, dangling the chocolate over her mouth.

"MUM!"

"SERENITY!"

She stopped halfway, "What?"

"That's not fair!" Small Lady said, crossing her arms petulantly.

"No kidding," Endymion complained. "It's my chocolate!"

"Look. I'm a neutral party; I'll sort this out," Minako offered, diplomatically. She then grabbed the chocolate bar and fled from the room.

"MINAKO!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: There you have it. There haven't been many changes but I think it at least sounds better now. Also I have had some inquiries as to when the next chapter to Present and Future will be out. As you all know, I'm trying my hardest to get it done, but with everything that I am doing at the moment, it may be a while. I will try and get it out in the next few weeks but no promises.

Anyway, Happy Easter!

--Moosagi