"But mother, why do I have to marry this man

"But mother, why do I have to marry this man? I do not even know him." The petite blonde in a floor length white gown asked.

"Serenity, you are coming of age. You will need a man by your side, and you know how we have been quarreling with the Earth. This marriage is a perfect peace offering between our Kingdom and the Earth."

"But mother…"

"No buts Serenity. You will marry Prince Endymion."
"Why can I not find my own husband?"
"Because soon all the power of the crystal will be transferred to you. You cannot handle all that power by yourself, but if you are married, you can transfer some of the power to your husband."

"Can you just give me the power when I find the man I wish to marry?"
"I wish I could dear, but the power leaves me the minute you turn sixteen. I will still have some power until you are twenty-five, but you will have a strong portion of the power."

"I hate this." Serenity mumbled under her breath.

"Excuse me, your highness?" A tall man with white hair said peeking his head in the door.

"Yes Artemis?"

"The royal family from Earth has arrived."

"Thank you. Could you and Luna please escort them to their rooms?"
"Of course your highness."
"Thank you."
He bowed before leaving the room.

The queen stood. "Now go get ready for dinner. You will be meeting Prince Endymion and his family tonight."
"So soon!?"
"Do not be so shocked my dear. Your birthday is only one week away."
"I know mother." She sighed.

"Now go get ready."
"Yes mother." She said before both left the room.

Serenity was not paying attention as she bumped into something hard. She was about to fall backwards until two arms caught her.

"Excuse me miss. I am very sorry. I was not looking where I was going." The owner of the arms said.

"Oh, no. The fault is all mine. I was not paying attention." She apologized quickly.
"Well if you would be so kind as to excuse me, I must be going."

"Yes. I must be going as well."
"Good day."
"Good day." She repeated before hurrying to her room.

…

"What about this one Serenity?" A girl with brown hair asked holding up a silver dress with white beading.

"I do not really care Lita." She sighed sitting on her bed. "I do not wish to marry this man."

"Well there is nothing you can do about it." A blonde said sitting next to her.

"Mina-"

"Hey, at least he is pretty handsome." A girl with black hair cut in.

"Raye, you know I do not care how he looks."

"But it is a bonus."
"I guess."
"Guys, leave Serenity be." A girl with short blue hair said. "Just put on one of your nicer dinner gowns. Your mother is expecting you for dinner in five minutes."

"Okay. I will. I will have to do my hair quickly."

"We will help. Go put your gown on." Lita said pushing her towards her bathroom.

Serenity sighed as she took the garment and proceeded into the bathroom.

…

"It is a pleasure to have you visit out Kingdom." The queen stated.

"The pleasure is all ours." The King of the Earth replied.

"This truly is a beautiful place." His wife stated.

"Thank you."

She nodded. "I wonder what is taking Endymion."

"Sorry mother. I got lost on my way from the restrooms." A young man said as he sat at the table.

"Endymion, this is Queen Serenity of the Moon."

He stood and walked towards the queen as she stood. "It is a true pleasure to meet you your highness."

"And you too Prince."

"Please, call me Endymion."

"Sorry I am late." Serenity said as she entered the giant dining room.

"It is okay darling. Come and sit down."

Serenity took a seat between her mother and a vacant chair. The man that was standing next to her mother took that seat.

"Dear, I would like to introduce you to King Darren and Queen Erin of Earth."

"It is a pleasure to meet you both." Serenity said as she stood and curtsied.

"Please sit my dear." King Darren said.

Serenity took a seat.

"And to your right is Prince Endymion. Endymion, this is my daughter, Princess Serenity."

Endymion took Serenity's hand and kissed the back of it. "It is a pleasure to meet you your highness."
"Please, call me Serenity. And it is wonderful to meet your acquaintance."

Serenity looked up to his face as he lowered her hand. Their eyes met.

"Ah, so you are the one I met in the halls."
"Yes. I was wondering why I did not recognize you."
"What are you two talking about son?" King Darren asked.

"When I was making my way back here, I ran into someone in the hall. I did not have time to catch her name because I was already running late."

"And I was heading to my quarters. We were not really paying attention where we were going; therefore, I ran into him."

"Well let us have dinner, shall we?" Queen Serenity asked as a few people came out with trays. "I had our best chef prepare today's meal."

Serenity perked up. "Lita cooked it?"

"Lita?" The King and Queen asked together.

"My daughter does not agree with the formalities so much. She is very close friends with our chef, Lita Keno, our seamstress, Mina Aino, our doctor in training, Amy Mizuno, and our fire reader, Raye Hino."

"Those names sound very familiar." Endymion stated.

"They are the Princesses of the inner planets."
"Ah, now I remember. Why are they working in the palace though?"

"Well they came for some training on the Moon. When they met my daughter, they became close friends, so they told their parents they wanted to stay here. Each of them said they had to be useful, so I put them to very simple yet useful jobs. They each do something they love to do."

"It is good that you have close friends." Endymion said envious.

…
"Serenity, you should show Endymion the garden." Queen Serenity suggested.

"Good idea mother." She turned to Endymion. "Would you care to accompany me to the Moon's garden?"

"Of course milady." He offered her his arm and she took it before the two walked towards the front door.

"It seems like they will get along just fine." Queen Erin said as she watched her son walk out the doors.

…

"These flowers are truly beautiful." Endymion said as he kneeled down and smelt one.

"I love the flowers." Serenity sighed in contentment as she sat on a nearby bench.

Endymion stood and sat next to her.

She giggled.

"What, may I ask, is so funny?"

"Well my mother and I were having another conversation about our arrangement when you arrived."
"And that is funny?"
"Well no. Ever since she told me of this, I have been regretting it. It is nothing personal towards you or your family." She added quickly. "It is just that I wished to find my own husband. Someone I love. I did not wish to be forced to marry."
"I understand. I was the same way."
"Was?"
"Well when I heard that I was marring you, I was outraged."
"Thanks."
"Nothing personal, but I have seen Princess Amara from Uranus and how she acts. She can be stuck up and rude to everyone she meets. She is a Princess and acts like she can get whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. I had not, prior to today and other than meeting her, had any encounters with any other Princesses, therefore I thought all would be like Princess Amara. Rude and stuck up, so I thought you would be the same way. But I also wished to meet someone myself and pick my own bride…"
She felt his sentence was incomplete. "And?"
"I hope I am not being too forward, but I think I could fall in love with you."
"You are not. I think I could learn to like you as well." She said placing her hand on his.

"I am glad. I do not think this marriage would work too well if we do not learn to at the very least like each other." He chuckled.

"I agree." She giggled.

After their laughs deceased, Serenity gazed towards the Earth.

"What are you thinking about?"
"How much I love Lita for bringing these flowers from Jupiter." She said pointing to some green Roses behind her. "And Amy brought those." She pointed to some blue ones. "Mina these." She pointed out some orange ones. "And I know red is natural, but the ones Raye brought from Mars are even more of a firry red."

"You are really close with them?"

"Very."

He sighed.

"You do not have to answer, but do you not have friends?"
"I am very close with my cousin, but other than him, I do not really have friends." He said looking off into the distance.

"Well you can add another friend to your list."
He looked to her confused.

"I would love to be your friend. That is, if you would like."

"That would be great Serenity. Thanks."

"Of course." She heard some rustling behind her. "Endymion, I would like you to meet my four closest friends."

Endymion looked around. "Where are they?"

"Trying to listen in on our conversation. Girls, you can come out now." She said standing up and facing behind her.

Nervous giggles came from behind Endymion.

"H-hello your highness." Mina said.

"Hello Mina, Lita, Raye, and Amy. Would you kindly explain your eavesdropping on my and Prince Endymion's conversation?"

"Well – uh – we – erm?" Lita stuttered.

"Sorry you highness." Amy sighed. "You know they never listen to me."

"I know Amy. I was kidding anyway. Girls, this is Prince Endymion of Earth. Endymion, these are the girls."
"Hi." All four said as they introduced themselves.

"It is a pleasure to meet you all."
"You too."

"So why do you refer to them as their names, but they call you 'your highness?'"

"Well the Moon and Earth are higher." A male's voice came from behind.

"Oh, hello father, mother, Queen Serenity."

"Hello." The other five girls greeted.

"Hello to you too."

"But since the Moon and Earth are higher then the rest, the people refer to the royals of the Earth and Moon as 'your highness.'" King Darren explained.

"And Serenity should be referring to them with their proper names."

Serenity sighed. "I hate that rule."
"I know dear."
"I am the same way." Endymion said.
"Well it is getting late." Queen Erin said. "That is why we came out here. You two should retreat to your chambers."
"And you as well girls." Queen Serenity said sternly.

All nine headed to their respective halls.

"You are this way?" Serenity asked.

"I believe so."

"Serenity, his quarters are right across the halls from yours. Please be a dear and escort him." Her mother asked.

"Of course."

"Closer then I thought." He said once they were down their hall.

"Very." She said as she swayed a little.

He quickly placed his hands on her shoulders to steady her. "Are you okay?"
"Just a little tired. It has been a very long day."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." She said stopping in front of a set of doors. "Well here we are dear Prince."

"I would feel better if I saw you to your bed."

"I assure you I am fine."

"Please? I will not sleep easy tonight if something unfortunate happens."
"If you insist." She said opening her door.

Once he stepped inside, he stopped. Her room was done in complete silver and pink. He was not one for pink, but it looked nicely put together. Pink ceiling and carpeting and silver walls. The furniture was pink as well.

"I will just step into the bathroom to change. Make yourself comfortable."

He sat on the pink fluffy couch. It was the softest he had ever sat on.

She finally emerged from the bathroom with a soft pink nightgown on that went right above her knee. She blushed as she caught him staring at her.
He walked over to her and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Sweet dreams Sere."

"Thank you for caring Endy." She said sitting on the bed. She lay down as he walked to the door.

He opened it and turned to her. "I will take care of you always."

And with that, he left the room.