Sailor Moon LegendS

ONE: The Bedtime Story

The Queen strolled down the glittering hallway of the palace, her mind still buzzing from the council she'd just left. Her head had been aching horribly, and she said so to her generals of defense, and immediately they allowed her Majesty to exit. Her husband had jumped to her side, softly touching her elbow, asking, "Do you need me, my sweet?"

"Oh, I always need you, my love," she'd smiled, "but you're needed here as well. I'll be fine." She kissed him tenderly, pressing her hand against his chest where his heart was, then left the great chamber. She had never had much of a head for politics. Oh, when it came down to it she could come up with some sort of strategy to strenghten their kingdom, sure, and she supposed this was some hidden talent that came with the bloodline, some memories of reigns long past, tucked into the far reaches of her mind.

Really, she had such a headache. She stopped in the middle of the hall and let out a breath, massaging her temples. She glanced around her, looking at the exquisite artwork hanging in this wing of the palace; great portraits of ancient heroes, marble busts of the Galaxy's guardians, and (the Queen's personal favorite) a large crystalline statue. It had been hand-carved, a present to the kingdom from another, far far away. The detail was absolutely astounding, as if the statue would jump to life at any moment. It was a statue of the kingdom's first Queen in all her glory, looking like some sort of messiah. The current Queen smiled, lightly touched the statue, and that was when she heard a shattering crash.

The Queen turned abruptly, magicking her sceptor from the ether, and turned to face whatever hid behind her. Her eyes were ablaze and she seemed to glow with power and strength that her graceful form didn't originally reveal. Then the Queen blinked in surprise. Then she just laughed.

The crash had come from the Queen's only child, the kingdom's Princess. The young girl had been standing in front of what was once a marble bust and was now a pile of snow-white rubble. The child's face was red with embarrassment, but at her mother's tinkling laughter she smiled. The Queen held out her arms and the Princess ran forward, hugging her mother tightly.

"Your father won't be pleased," the Queen smiled. "He liked that one particularly."

"You won't tell Papa, will you?" the Princess asked worriedly.

"Oh, we'll get it fixed, my precious, don't fret."

So saying, the Queen waved her sceptor and the bust swirled together, reformed into its original shape (even cleaner than before) and settled itself upon its pedestal. The Princess grinned hugely and clapped her hands at her mother's trick. The Queen released her sceptor and it immediately disappeared back into the strange non-existant pocket of space where it was kept.

"It's past your bedtime," said the Queen.

"Isn't," said the Princess. "Not by much, anyway."

"Oh, not by much, eh?" The Queen stood, carrying her child on her hip, and continued down the hallway. "Well, if that's your excuse, then you're not really in trouble. Not much, anyway."

"No, no!" the Princess squealed, and pressed herself against the Queen. "I'll be good."

"Yes, and you'll be asleep as well," the Queen said. "It's bedtime. For me as well as you."

The Queen held her child to her breast as they strolled in sleepy silence down the hall, past a large open balcony facing out into the courtyards. The petals of cherry blossoms were swirling everywhere, dancing on the soft breeze. The Princess reached out for them, and the Queen stood at the balcony's edge, against its grating, letting the child have her fun. Once the Princess had gathered enough petals to fill her skirts, the Queen kept on. Finally, they reached the Princess' bedroom. The Queen sat her child down and shut the door, then moved around the room dimming the lights. The Princess jumped onto her large feather bed, dumped the petals everywhere, and began to jump.

"Oh, sweetheart, your dress," the Queen half-scolded, and the Princess was still just long enough for her mother to free her from the cumbersome outfit. Once in her underclothes, the child went back to jumping and playing, causing petals to fly in every direction. The Queen folded the girl's gown and placed it on the back of an ornate rocking chair in one corner; it was the same chair the Queen had been rocked to sleep in as a child. With a little sigh, the Queen sat down and leaned back.

The Princess stopped jumping. "Mama, are you okay?"

The Queen smiled at her child's concern; so young and already more concerned with others than with herself. Truly, a Moon Princess. "Yes, my dear one," the Queen assured. "I'm just tired."

The Princess scrambled from the bed and climbed into her mother's lap, leaning against her chest. The Queen ran her lithe fingers through her daughter's silky hair, occasionally leaning down and planting kisses on the Princess' forehead. She knew what was coming; so did the Princess, but the child wanted to draw it out as long as possible.

Finally, the Queen asked, "Well?"

"Well what?" said the Princess, playing coy. She knew it, too, her glittering little eyes gave it away.

"Oh, nothing," said the Queen. She stood, holding her daughter, and carried the girl to her bed. The Queen tucked the Princess in, gave her the stuffed rabbit doll that by now was ancient, and smoothing the girl's hair and kissing her forehead again, knowing that someday, this small child before her would be the next ruler of the kingdom, and would be destined for greatness. The Queen stood, turned off all the lamps but one, an old oil lamp near the Princess' bed, and that lamp she dimmed to almost darkness. Then she turned to leave, surprised that her daughter hadn't asked yet, and for a moment worried, as all mothers do, whether her child was now too old for this sort of thing. But once the Queen reached the door, the Princess said, "Mama, tell me a story."

The Queen turned, one foot still out the door. Faithfully, she recited her part, "Oh, child, it's much too late for that."

The little girl was sitting up in bed, clutching her little rabbit, and said, "Tell me the story about the Moon Palace, and the Silver Millenium, and how the Time Door was made and how all the Sailor Soldiers came together and Sailor Moon and Sailor Cha--"

"Much too long a story," said the Queen loftily, but she had shut the door and sat down on the side of her daughter's bed. She pretended to be very interested in removing her shoes while the Princess quivered with excitement behind her. "And it's a scary one, too. You'd have nightmares."

"Would not, Mama!" the Princess whined, then caught herself. The Queen looked at her sternly, and the girl opened her mouth to apologise. Suddenly, the Princess was under attack by the Queen's infamous tickling attack, and the girl could only laugh hysterically and try to squirm away. The two played like this for some time, mother and daughter, Queen and Princess, until finally they both fell back, giggling and exhausted.

The Queen was surprised to find her headache had gone away.

The Princess looked at her. "Please, Mama? Pretty please?"

"Oh, in the name of the Moon, child, you are too much," said the Queen. Then she sat up and pulled her daughter to her. "Long ago--"

"You did it wrong, Mama, it starts 'once upon a time!'" said the girl.

"Oh does it?" smiled the Queen. "I apologise. Once upon a time, long ago, when the galaxy was still young--"

"Like me?" asked the Princess.

"Yes, like you," the Queen said, tickling her daughter again. "Long ago when the galaxy was still young, there was a great kingdom, ruled over by a great and beautiful queen called Serenity."

"But there was another moon queen, too, wasn't there, Mama?" said the Princess automatically.

"Yes, child, there was another queen. Do you know what she was called?"

"No," breathed the girl, though she knew perfectly well.

"She was called Nehellenia."

A/N: Sailor Moon and all related characters are © Naoko Takeuchi; this particular story is the only thing I've come up with, plus any original characters that manage their way in.

So, a brief explanation: The is the first chapter in a story that spans the three times of Sailor Moon, pre-dating the Silver Millenium and post-dating Crystal Tokyo as we've seen it. Who are the Queen and the Princess in this story? Well, you'll have to keep reading to find out! But I bet you can come up with some pretty good guesses. Also, it's been ages since I've read my old Sailormoon mangas (they're all gone; sob!) so if I make any mistakes, please let me know, and if they're legitimate mess-ups, I'll fix them. Thank you for taking the time to read this, I hope you enjoy!

-Cadence