Author Name: Utano Amaya
E-mail Address: [1]JMFreader@aol.com
Story Title: The Beginning of Fate
Author's notes: Okay.... Umm...this is my first fanfiction so I'm kinda new ^ ^. It's supposed to be how the sailor senshi met in the silver millennium... and how Uranus and Neptune ended up being guardians of the solar system to keep things from coming in and destroying us...and why Usagi is so scared of storms...and why her father from the silver millennium is never mentioned...and why earth ended up warring with the moon...and lots of other things. But actually none of them are brought up in this first section. It's kinda long, I apologize for that, the other sections shouldn't be quite so long (I hope), but because this was an intro sort of thing it ended up being... well... long. I hope you enjoy it, it gets better. And if you want to read the next parts I would suggest saving this or printing it or something, because the story flows really well and I won't have any recaps. If you enjoy it_e-mail me; if you hate it_e-mail me. Tell me why you feel how you feel. I am
WAAAAAAAY open for suggestions. It might be a while before I send out the next part so...uhhh...be patient.
The Beginning of Fate
Part 1
A young girl opened her eyes and sat up in her white curtained bed. She blinked; growing adjusted to the light, and pulled the curtains apart to step out of her large bed. When her bare feet touched the cold granite floor it sent a shiver through her body making her instantly want to jump back in again. She sighed knowing that it would be useless because she'd never get to sleep a second time.
She walked to a light blue vanity on one side of the room and picked up a big silver hairbrush in her small hand and began to caress her hair as she looked into a round mirror In front of her. She looked at the golden wave that fell all the way to her thighs, then wished it were longer. She wanted hair like her mother's, that fell almost to the ground even when it was up. She always wanted to be just like her elegant mother, and was very pleased when people told her she looked like her mother, told her that she had her mother's bright blue eyes and her soft complexion. She would do anything to evolve into the loving person her mother, Queen Selenity, was.
The girl had even been named for her mother, "Selenity", though most people who knew her just called her "Selena". It was not surprising that she wore her hair in the same style as her mother, the style that she was putting it in now, two balls on the topsides of her head - letting what hair that wasn't used to form the orb fall in graceful pigtails down her back.
Selena then curved her bangs around a golden mark in the center of her forehead, a mark she had also inherited from her mother. It was the birthmark of the royal family of the moon, telling anyone who saw it that Selena was a royal princess. That was probably the only thing she inherited from her mother she wasn't sure she wanted.
She walked across the room to her closet, where she pulled off her lacy nightgown and dressed her six-year old body in a cream gown with a layered ruffled skirt. She looked at the towering grandfather clock to her right and discovered it was earlier than she thought it had been. She decided to just wander the castle until breakfast.
People were often surprised that Selena was only six. It wasn't that she looked older, in fact she might have looked younger than her age to some. And it wasn't her large vocabulary, she rarely spoke, and besides- one would expect no less from a princess. It was her incredible awareness, Selena was aware of any secret ways adults might use to say things they thought she wouldn't understand or didn't need to hear. Because of this people often forgot that she was still a wide-eyed six-year-old.
Selena walked out of her room in to the stairway in the hall. The long stairs were carpeted in scarlet and the high walls and ceilings were made of silvery marble that glowed with the crystal chandeliers that hung like icicles.
She began to wander. She wasn't quite sure where she was going but she wasn't really paying attention anyway. Her mind was drifting with her feet. It was an odd site to see such a small child strolling a castle alone, but the castle was what she knew. She always enjoyed exploring the smallest corner that she'd seen a thousand times.
Selena found herself in front of crystal glass windows and doors that led to a small stone balcony where she saw a woman, with her hair blowing in the wind and hand resting on the balcony rail. She looked comforted and content there, as if she could stay there and just forget the world she had to face. Selena smiled and leaned against the wall, watching the woman glow and breathe in a golden-red sunrise over a stone crystal city. Selena continued to grin, and the woman turned to face her.
Upon seeing Selena the woman's smile turned to a glow. She stepped off the balcony and into the hall. Her slim figure was draped in a silver/cream strapless gown, across the front a white bow lay over her chest. Her ivory hair (though she claimed it to be blonde) fell almost to the ground.
She kneeled casually down on one knee in front of Selena so they were facing each other eye to eye and Selena giggled.
"Selena, what on the moon are you doing up so early?" the woman laughed, her voice like a bell.
"Oh_ nothing, Mama, I just woke up early", Selena grinned. Her mother always talked to her like an equal, not an important princess and not an ignorant child. Selena didn't get that often.
"Well then, I say we go walking, I have something to talk to you about." Selena noticed the sudden seriousness in her mother's voice and followed.
The two walked in silence for a while, until they came to the gardens within the castle walls. In the center of the circular gardens, that had paths running through them like a spider's web, was a ring-shaped stone bench. The gardens were full of all sorts of flowers, violets, tulips, orchids, too many exotic flowers to mention, and roses. Selena couldn't say why, but she liked the roses the best, the bright, silky scarlet roses that seem to whisper promises to her as the wind blew them in a magic dance.
Queen Selenity led Selena to the round bench and set her down, soon sitting next to her. Queen Selenity looked hard into Selena's eyes and Selena looked wide-eyed back. Was there bad news? Had something happened? What could it be? Selena felt panic course through her and tensed at what might be coming.
Her mother saw the fear and wondered in awe, her daughter was so innocent and yet so aware. It was incredible. "Selena", she said, a weak smile coming to her face, comforting her daughter a little. "Do you know you're beautiful?"
It was obvious that this was not what Selena had expected to hear. She blinked; silent for a moment, absorbing what was said. "Mama, What's this about? I don't understand."
Selenity sighed, she could never get anything past this girl. "Selena, something very important is going to happen tomorrow, and it mostly concerns you."
This intrigued Selena all the more, "What Mama? What is it?"
"Tomorrow you are going to meet some new people, girls your age." She paused, "It's pretty important considering you'll be spending the rest of your life with them."
Selena's only response was more confusion. Selenity decided it would be best to finish first, then explain all the details.
"They will help you and you will help them. They will have very important jobs when they're older, just like you, but for now it's so you can learn to be a good leader...and so you can have some friends." Selenity took a breath; "You will also meet Prince Endymion, of Earth. The people of moon and earth are only allowed to communicate every ten years. I know you are very young but you have to make a good impression. The job of our kingdom is to protect the earth and they have to know we're doing it!"
Selenity looked at Selena for some reaction. It took awhile for anything to show, and when there was emotion it was only worry.
"Who..."Selena paused, thinking of the right words, "...are the girls? Who are their parents? Where do they come from?"
Selenity emitted a low sigh, how could she explain this? She took a deep breath, "They're...orphans, or their parents gave them up. Sometimes parent would give them up for this purpose, so they could have a place among royalty, and sometimes they just weren't wanted anymore."
Selena glanced down, hands clenching her skirt. She thought she understood, at least she thought she knew what her mother was saying. She could never understand why anyone would want to give up their children, it just didn't sit right with her. Then something else came to mind.
"How long will the prince be here?"
"About a month, by the end of the month a lot of things will be happening." Selenity's voice seemed to drift away with the breeze, as if it were only the vocalization of a passing thought--a thought that wasn't welcome. She sighed. Selena thought about questioning what her mother meant, but thought against it.
Selenity watched her tiny daughter contemplating everything that was being told her and was encouraged. "You really are beautiful, you know". She stood and smiled, turning to face Selena. "Don't worry, it's just something new to look forward to, nothing more. Now let's go have breakfast."
All the sudden Selenity seemed more relieved. Maybe Selena had nothing to worry about. Maybe Selenity had only been nervous about telling her daughter, though Selena couldn't see why.
Selena walked with her hand in her mother's. She had to take two steps for every one her mother took, but she didn't mind, she was cheered. Nothing bad had happened and she was going to meet new friends. She could finally have a bit of fun with people who were good at hide-and-go-seek, instead of the adults, who could never find big enough hiding places. This was going to be fantastic!
She and her mother walked into the dining hall. The whole room glowed with light blue tinted lamps. The ceiling was high, with wood halfway up the wall and flowered wallpaper up the rest. The table was far too big for the three people who ate at it. But the entire room had a strange elegance; it was on of Selena's favorite rooms.
Mother and daughter were about to sit down when a tall man with light brown hair walked in, smiling confidently. He walked across the room to Selena, bent over and gave her a kiss on the forehead, she giggled. Then he strode over to Selenity and grabbed her around the waist with one arm.
"How's my love this morning?" he laughed, kissing her on the lips.
Any tension that might have been left over from the previous conversation fled. Selena loved that about her father, he had a glow about him that tore away any concerns, doubts, or tears. She watched him kiss her mother and smiled, every time they kissed she could see that Akemi and Selenity were meant for each other, it comforted her to know that her parents loved each other so much.
They sat down and a servant woman brought them their breakfast trays. The woman had strawberry hair and bright dancing brown eyes. Selenity smiled at the woman.
"Miaso, thank you, this is fantastic!" then she laughed "so when are you going to marry that fiancé of yours?"
The servant, Miaso, giggled back "As soon as he lets me!"
"Well tell me when you've set a date, I want to be there."
By now Miaso was in a fit of twitters, "I'll be sure to Selenity, don't you worry."
Selenity smiled, she always treated her servants as equals, and in fact the main job requirement to be a servant at the castle was "Will you promise not to call me `miss' and keep me as a friend?" They were her employees, not demons. Selenity's best friends were her own servants, Selena love that. Her father was the same way. Unfortunately there were no children servants, and none of the adult servants had kids, Selena often felt very lonely. But when that feeling approached her now she remembered that tomorrow she would be able to meet a whole load of girls and she didn't feel lonely anymore.
When Miaso left the three began eating their breakfast from the silver trays. The all ate gracefully, though the food was so good Selena felt like digging in face first.
As she took another bite, Akemi glanced at her, "So, I'm guessing your mother told you about tomorrow." His voice was unreadable and Selena didn't know what to think. What were they keeping from her?
"Yes, Daddy, Mama told me." She paused, wondering about her feelings, then added, "I'm excited"
Akemi grinned. His voice was solemn but his face was expectant, "Selena, I'm very happy for you. You could use some friends, I know it's very lonely in the castle. Remember, now you will have to be a real princess, because you will have someone to princess to."
Selena froze, only for a second, she didn't even think her parents saw. She continued eating but her mind was racing. What did her father mean? It was obvious he was not aware he had upset her at all. But Selena suddenly felt the crescent moon press against her forehead as if the air around her was closing on it, and she didn't want to be a princess anymore. These girls would either be expecting a high class, socially polite, wonder princess or a stuck up snob. They would want her to change, to be the stereotyped princess from fairy-tales, and not be the girl she was. All of the sudden she was frightened and nervous, she wasn't ready for this to happen.
She finished eating and excused herself from the table. She found her way through the palace to a small room where she had her lessons. There were ten wooden desks set up on the green carpet, though so far she'd been the only student. At the front of the room was a wooden desk, Selena's desk right in front of it, nearly touching it. Selena walked to the back of the room where a bookshelf covered the back wall, she picked up a literature book then carried the book to her desk and sat down.
She looked up into the face of her teacher, who had been sitting on the front desk the whole time, unnoticed. Selena realized she'd been so worried about tomorrow that she hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings.
"If I was a snake, I would have bit you" the teacher narrowed her eyes.
"Yes, Ms. Luna, but you are not a snake, your a cat" Selena wasn't in the mood for lectures, she was preoccupied with other things.
"Cats can bite just as well, you need to pat more attention to what's around you. As a princess you're a prime target for anyone who wants something from this kingdom."
"Children can bite too. Their teeth just aren't sharp enough to do much damage. Besides, I'm not here to learn about my surroundings, I'm here to learn books!" Selena had been yelling very quickly with this statement. The black cat on the desk did not seem impressed.
Selena sighed, relaxed her tense body and let her head plop down on the desk before her. She felt like crying and didn't know what brought it on. She held her tears in though and just squeezed her eyelids together tightly. Maybe she could block it all out, maybe it would all disappear.
She felt a rough lick on her cheek and opened her eyes to see a gold crescent mark in black fur above big cat eyes. She never understood how Luna had a crescent mark, she wasn't of royal blood, all she knew was that Luna was Selenity's first counselor and that had something to do with it.
"You okay?" the cat's eyes were worried, Selena had never seen Luna be kind like this before. She was never cruel, but always strict and trying to make Selena realize all of her responsibilities and potential. Luna wasn't one for kind words and Selena saw her now and wondered what was different as the cat spoke on, "I know things are kind of stressful right now, sorry if I upset you."
"Oh, Luna, You didn't do anything. I'm just...I dunno...worried about tomorrow for some reason."
Luna looked at Selena. She acted and sounded like an overwhelmed teenager, or even an adult, dropped into a six-year-old body. She was doing things like worrying about growing up to be a leader and rule a kingdom, she was too young for this. She didn't choose this, she didn't choose who she was born as. Luna sighed and watched her realize exactly what that meant.
"Do you want to talk abou_"
"No!" Selena cut her off then calmed herself, trying to use all her six-year-old acting skills to pretend as if nothing had happened. "Let's get on with our lesson. Shall we?"
And so they did. Though neither could get very into it. Selena went trough the rest of the day silent and in deep thought. At some points thoughts of tomorrow would make her ecstatic, at others she would want to crawl in a hole and hide away. Even in her dreams that night she was tossing and turning as her dreams changed from fairy-tales to nightmares. She awoke unrested and scared, a nervous wreck. Why was she feeling this way? Why couldn't she decide if this was good or bad? Why did she feel so helpless?
Selena sighed. It was so confusing. What should she do? She sat up in bed thinking and worrying. As she became lost in thought her mother came in.
"Oh good, you're awake. We have to get ready a little early today for everyone coming." Selenity smiled, "We'll be meeting them at breakfast."
Her mother had left and she still didn't know what to think of anything. She couldn't be these children's princess! They were probably expecting some quite, cultured, quick-thinking leader! She was just a girl, the word `princess' didn't mean anything more to her than a possible addition to her name! And the prince was probably someone more cultured than her looking for some `civilized' conversation. She couldn't meet these people's expectations! What would they think of her? If only she could meet them before they met her.
But there was nothing she could do. She began to get ready- that thought repeating in her mind. `There's nothing I can do but accept it. THERE'S NOTHING I CAN DO!'
Then she froze. May be she didn't have to accept it. At least she could avoid it until she was more ready. She closed her eyes; she didn't have time for thought, only for action.
References
1. mailto:JMFreader@aol.com
E-mail Address: [1]JMFreader@aol.com
Story Title: The Beginning of Fate
Author's notes: Okay.... Umm...this is my first fanfiction so I'm kinda new ^ ^. It's supposed to be how the sailor senshi met in the silver millennium... and how Uranus and Neptune ended up being guardians of the solar system to keep things from coming in and destroying us...and why Usagi is so scared of storms...and why her father from the silver millennium is never mentioned...and why earth ended up warring with the moon...and lots of other things. But actually none of them are brought up in this first section. It's kinda long, I apologize for that, the other sections shouldn't be quite so long (I hope), but because this was an intro sort of thing it ended up being... well... long. I hope you enjoy it, it gets better. And if you want to read the next parts I would suggest saving this or printing it or something, because the story flows really well and I won't have any recaps. If you enjoy it_e-mail me; if you hate it_e-mail me. Tell me why you feel how you feel. I am
WAAAAAAAY open for suggestions. It might be a while before I send out the next part so...uhhh...be patient.
The Beginning of Fate
Part 1
A young girl opened her eyes and sat up in her white curtained bed. She blinked; growing adjusted to the light, and pulled the curtains apart to step out of her large bed. When her bare feet touched the cold granite floor it sent a shiver through her body making her instantly want to jump back in again. She sighed knowing that it would be useless because she'd never get to sleep a second time.
She walked to a light blue vanity on one side of the room and picked up a big silver hairbrush in her small hand and began to caress her hair as she looked into a round mirror In front of her. She looked at the golden wave that fell all the way to her thighs, then wished it were longer. She wanted hair like her mother's, that fell almost to the ground even when it was up. She always wanted to be just like her elegant mother, and was very pleased when people told her she looked like her mother, told her that she had her mother's bright blue eyes and her soft complexion. She would do anything to evolve into the loving person her mother, Queen Selenity, was.
The girl had even been named for her mother, "Selenity", though most people who knew her just called her "Selena". It was not surprising that she wore her hair in the same style as her mother, the style that she was putting it in now, two balls on the topsides of her head - letting what hair that wasn't used to form the orb fall in graceful pigtails down her back.
Selena then curved her bangs around a golden mark in the center of her forehead, a mark she had also inherited from her mother. It was the birthmark of the royal family of the moon, telling anyone who saw it that Selena was a royal princess. That was probably the only thing she inherited from her mother she wasn't sure she wanted.
She walked across the room to her closet, where she pulled off her lacy nightgown and dressed her six-year old body in a cream gown with a layered ruffled skirt. She looked at the towering grandfather clock to her right and discovered it was earlier than she thought it had been. She decided to just wander the castle until breakfast.
People were often surprised that Selena was only six. It wasn't that she looked older, in fact she might have looked younger than her age to some. And it wasn't her large vocabulary, she rarely spoke, and besides- one would expect no less from a princess. It was her incredible awareness, Selena was aware of any secret ways adults might use to say things they thought she wouldn't understand or didn't need to hear. Because of this people often forgot that she was still a wide-eyed six-year-old.
Selena walked out of her room in to the stairway in the hall. The long stairs were carpeted in scarlet and the high walls and ceilings were made of silvery marble that glowed with the crystal chandeliers that hung like icicles.
She began to wander. She wasn't quite sure where she was going but she wasn't really paying attention anyway. Her mind was drifting with her feet. It was an odd site to see such a small child strolling a castle alone, but the castle was what she knew. She always enjoyed exploring the smallest corner that she'd seen a thousand times.
Selena found herself in front of crystal glass windows and doors that led to a small stone balcony where she saw a woman, with her hair blowing in the wind and hand resting on the balcony rail. She looked comforted and content there, as if she could stay there and just forget the world she had to face. Selena smiled and leaned against the wall, watching the woman glow and breathe in a golden-red sunrise over a stone crystal city. Selena continued to grin, and the woman turned to face her.
Upon seeing Selena the woman's smile turned to a glow. She stepped off the balcony and into the hall. Her slim figure was draped in a silver/cream strapless gown, across the front a white bow lay over her chest. Her ivory hair (though she claimed it to be blonde) fell almost to the ground.
She kneeled casually down on one knee in front of Selena so they were facing each other eye to eye and Selena giggled.
"Selena, what on the moon are you doing up so early?" the woman laughed, her voice like a bell.
"Oh_ nothing, Mama, I just woke up early", Selena grinned. Her mother always talked to her like an equal, not an important princess and not an ignorant child. Selena didn't get that often.
"Well then, I say we go walking, I have something to talk to you about." Selena noticed the sudden seriousness in her mother's voice and followed.
The two walked in silence for a while, until they came to the gardens within the castle walls. In the center of the circular gardens, that had paths running through them like a spider's web, was a ring-shaped stone bench. The gardens were full of all sorts of flowers, violets, tulips, orchids, too many exotic flowers to mention, and roses. Selena couldn't say why, but she liked the roses the best, the bright, silky scarlet roses that seem to whisper promises to her as the wind blew them in a magic dance.
Queen Selenity led Selena to the round bench and set her down, soon sitting next to her. Queen Selenity looked hard into Selena's eyes and Selena looked wide-eyed back. Was there bad news? Had something happened? What could it be? Selena felt panic course through her and tensed at what might be coming.
Her mother saw the fear and wondered in awe, her daughter was so innocent and yet so aware. It was incredible. "Selena", she said, a weak smile coming to her face, comforting her daughter a little. "Do you know you're beautiful?"
It was obvious that this was not what Selena had expected to hear. She blinked; silent for a moment, absorbing what was said. "Mama, What's this about? I don't understand."
Selenity sighed, she could never get anything past this girl. "Selena, something very important is going to happen tomorrow, and it mostly concerns you."
This intrigued Selena all the more, "What Mama? What is it?"
"Tomorrow you are going to meet some new people, girls your age." She paused, "It's pretty important considering you'll be spending the rest of your life with them."
Selena's only response was more confusion. Selenity decided it would be best to finish first, then explain all the details.
"They will help you and you will help them. They will have very important jobs when they're older, just like you, but for now it's so you can learn to be a good leader...and so you can have some friends." Selenity took a breath; "You will also meet Prince Endymion, of Earth. The people of moon and earth are only allowed to communicate every ten years. I know you are very young but you have to make a good impression. The job of our kingdom is to protect the earth and they have to know we're doing it!"
Selenity looked at Selena for some reaction. It took awhile for anything to show, and when there was emotion it was only worry.
"Who..."Selena paused, thinking of the right words, "...are the girls? Who are their parents? Where do they come from?"
Selenity emitted a low sigh, how could she explain this? She took a deep breath, "They're...orphans, or their parents gave them up. Sometimes parent would give them up for this purpose, so they could have a place among royalty, and sometimes they just weren't wanted anymore."
Selena glanced down, hands clenching her skirt. She thought she understood, at least she thought she knew what her mother was saying. She could never understand why anyone would want to give up their children, it just didn't sit right with her. Then something else came to mind.
"How long will the prince be here?"
"About a month, by the end of the month a lot of things will be happening." Selenity's voice seemed to drift away with the breeze, as if it were only the vocalization of a passing thought--a thought that wasn't welcome. She sighed. Selena thought about questioning what her mother meant, but thought against it.
Selenity watched her tiny daughter contemplating everything that was being told her and was encouraged. "You really are beautiful, you know". She stood and smiled, turning to face Selena. "Don't worry, it's just something new to look forward to, nothing more. Now let's go have breakfast."
All the sudden Selenity seemed more relieved. Maybe Selena had nothing to worry about. Maybe Selenity had only been nervous about telling her daughter, though Selena couldn't see why.
Selena walked with her hand in her mother's. She had to take two steps for every one her mother took, but she didn't mind, she was cheered. Nothing bad had happened and she was going to meet new friends. She could finally have a bit of fun with people who were good at hide-and-go-seek, instead of the adults, who could never find big enough hiding places. This was going to be fantastic!
She and her mother walked into the dining hall. The whole room glowed with light blue tinted lamps. The ceiling was high, with wood halfway up the wall and flowered wallpaper up the rest. The table was far too big for the three people who ate at it. But the entire room had a strange elegance; it was on of Selena's favorite rooms.
Mother and daughter were about to sit down when a tall man with light brown hair walked in, smiling confidently. He walked across the room to Selena, bent over and gave her a kiss on the forehead, she giggled. Then he strode over to Selenity and grabbed her around the waist with one arm.
"How's my love this morning?" he laughed, kissing her on the lips.
Any tension that might have been left over from the previous conversation fled. Selena loved that about her father, he had a glow about him that tore away any concerns, doubts, or tears. She watched him kiss her mother and smiled, every time they kissed she could see that Akemi and Selenity were meant for each other, it comforted her to know that her parents loved each other so much.
They sat down and a servant woman brought them their breakfast trays. The woman had strawberry hair and bright dancing brown eyes. Selenity smiled at the woman.
"Miaso, thank you, this is fantastic!" then she laughed "so when are you going to marry that fiancé of yours?"
The servant, Miaso, giggled back "As soon as he lets me!"
"Well tell me when you've set a date, I want to be there."
By now Miaso was in a fit of twitters, "I'll be sure to Selenity, don't you worry."
Selenity smiled, she always treated her servants as equals, and in fact the main job requirement to be a servant at the castle was "Will you promise not to call me `miss' and keep me as a friend?" They were her employees, not demons. Selenity's best friends were her own servants, Selena love that. Her father was the same way. Unfortunately there were no children servants, and none of the adult servants had kids, Selena often felt very lonely. But when that feeling approached her now she remembered that tomorrow she would be able to meet a whole load of girls and she didn't feel lonely anymore.
When Miaso left the three began eating their breakfast from the silver trays. The all ate gracefully, though the food was so good Selena felt like digging in face first.
As she took another bite, Akemi glanced at her, "So, I'm guessing your mother told you about tomorrow." His voice was unreadable and Selena didn't know what to think. What were they keeping from her?
"Yes, Daddy, Mama told me." She paused, wondering about her feelings, then added, "I'm excited"
Akemi grinned. His voice was solemn but his face was expectant, "Selena, I'm very happy for you. You could use some friends, I know it's very lonely in the castle. Remember, now you will have to be a real princess, because you will have someone to princess to."
Selena froze, only for a second, she didn't even think her parents saw. She continued eating but her mind was racing. What did her father mean? It was obvious he was not aware he had upset her at all. But Selena suddenly felt the crescent moon press against her forehead as if the air around her was closing on it, and she didn't want to be a princess anymore. These girls would either be expecting a high class, socially polite, wonder princess or a stuck up snob. They would want her to change, to be the stereotyped princess from fairy-tales, and not be the girl she was. All of the sudden she was frightened and nervous, she wasn't ready for this to happen.
She finished eating and excused herself from the table. She found her way through the palace to a small room where she had her lessons. There were ten wooden desks set up on the green carpet, though so far she'd been the only student. At the front of the room was a wooden desk, Selena's desk right in front of it, nearly touching it. Selena walked to the back of the room where a bookshelf covered the back wall, she picked up a literature book then carried the book to her desk and sat down.
She looked up into the face of her teacher, who had been sitting on the front desk the whole time, unnoticed. Selena realized she'd been so worried about tomorrow that she hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings.
"If I was a snake, I would have bit you" the teacher narrowed her eyes.
"Yes, Ms. Luna, but you are not a snake, your a cat" Selena wasn't in the mood for lectures, she was preoccupied with other things.
"Cats can bite just as well, you need to pat more attention to what's around you. As a princess you're a prime target for anyone who wants something from this kingdom."
"Children can bite too. Their teeth just aren't sharp enough to do much damage. Besides, I'm not here to learn about my surroundings, I'm here to learn books!" Selena had been yelling very quickly with this statement. The black cat on the desk did not seem impressed.
Selena sighed, relaxed her tense body and let her head plop down on the desk before her. She felt like crying and didn't know what brought it on. She held her tears in though and just squeezed her eyelids together tightly. Maybe she could block it all out, maybe it would all disappear.
She felt a rough lick on her cheek and opened her eyes to see a gold crescent mark in black fur above big cat eyes. She never understood how Luna had a crescent mark, she wasn't of royal blood, all she knew was that Luna was Selenity's first counselor and that had something to do with it.
"You okay?" the cat's eyes were worried, Selena had never seen Luna be kind like this before. She was never cruel, but always strict and trying to make Selena realize all of her responsibilities and potential. Luna wasn't one for kind words and Selena saw her now and wondered what was different as the cat spoke on, "I know things are kind of stressful right now, sorry if I upset you."
"Oh, Luna, You didn't do anything. I'm just...I dunno...worried about tomorrow for some reason."
Luna looked at Selena. She acted and sounded like an overwhelmed teenager, or even an adult, dropped into a six-year-old body. She was doing things like worrying about growing up to be a leader and rule a kingdom, she was too young for this. She didn't choose this, she didn't choose who she was born as. Luna sighed and watched her realize exactly what that meant.
"Do you want to talk abou_"
"No!" Selena cut her off then calmed herself, trying to use all her six-year-old acting skills to pretend as if nothing had happened. "Let's get on with our lesson. Shall we?"
And so they did. Though neither could get very into it. Selena went trough the rest of the day silent and in deep thought. At some points thoughts of tomorrow would make her ecstatic, at others she would want to crawl in a hole and hide away. Even in her dreams that night she was tossing and turning as her dreams changed from fairy-tales to nightmares. She awoke unrested and scared, a nervous wreck. Why was she feeling this way? Why couldn't she decide if this was good or bad? Why did she feel so helpless?
Selena sighed. It was so confusing. What should she do? She sat up in bed thinking and worrying. As she became lost in thought her mother came in.
"Oh good, you're awake. We have to get ready a little early today for everyone coming." Selenity smiled, "We'll be meeting them at breakfast."
Her mother had left and she still didn't know what to think of anything. She couldn't be these children's princess! They were probably expecting some quite, cultured, quick-thinking leader! She was just a girl, the word `princess' didn't mean anything more to her than a possible addition to her name! And the prince was probably someone more cultured than her looking for some `civilized' conversation. She couldn't meet these people's expectations! What would they think of her? If only she could meet them before they met her.
But there was nothing she could do. She began to get ready- that thought repeating in her mind. `There's nothing I can do but accept it. THERE'S NOTHING I CAN DO!'
Then she froze. May be she didn't have to accept it. At least she could avoid it until she was more ready. She closed her eyes; she didn't have time for thought, only for action.
References
1. mailto:JMFreader@aol.com