Title: Gather the Moon
Author: Angel Leviathan
Disclaimer: PGSM, characters, concept, etc, aren't mine.
Spoilers: Nothing specific.
Notes: Written for an LJ challenge.
In her dreams, she walks amongst the aged ruins of the Moon Kingdom. She thinks these must be ruins she has designed herself, for she was dead long before the body of Endymion hit the floor. If she had been alive, Serenity and the foreign prince would have survived. So she likes to tell herself. Perhaps it is egoistical of her, but she cares not. It is surprisingly comforting to think of a world where they lived, where everyone lived and they defeated the darkness moments after it struck their kingdom.
Tonight it is dusk. Toppled pillars and the remains of stylobates litter the ground – few remain standing. She hears Serenity's laughter as her princess leads Endymion on a chase across the sandy earth. Mercury sits on the drum of a pillar, head tilted back, staring up at the sky. The sunset and the rising dust, disturbed by boots and heels and slippers, bleach the area a dim orange, the ruins almost glowing around them. She hears Mercury chant an ancient rhyme under her breath and sees her smile and close her eyes, smiling up at the sky.
Jupiter leans against one pillar, watching Serenity closely, a faint smile on her face. Arms that were folded fall to her sides, one hand brushing imaginary dirt from the edge of her skirt. She briefly follows Mercury's gaze to the sky, then resumes her guard of Serenity, ready, at any moment, to vanquish whatever threat would dare to touch the precious girl.
She stands at the back of the scene, in the tall, burnt, grass that reaches her knees. She knows that this grass was once green and healthy, not scorched and bereft of life. However many times she dreams, she can never spring it back to life. She can conjure scenes that never occurred, scenes that are impossible, but she can never rebuild the kingdom. It always lies in ruins.
Mars sits at her feet, occasionally glancing up at her, hiding in the grass like a lioness on the hunt. The dusk makes her uniform glow a deeper red than ever before. She thinks it tints her eyes, though that too is impossible. Her companion watches the scene with a grim expression, concerned, almost as if she knows none of it is real. Sometimes she can make Mars smile. Sometimes even make her laugh and seem carefree. But only for a moment. She can never make Mars something she is not.
Her vision is momentarily obscured by several strands of her long, blonde hair. Venus reaches to tuck it behind her ear and folds her arms. She never smiles. She is watching over everyone and everything. Serenity is her charge, but so are her team, or so she believes. She loves them all. She would die for each of them, is afraid to let them out of her sight. If they slip from her gaze, she never knows what could happen. She is their leader and she is responsible for them all. They are just as strong as she is, and she would never dare to utter her self imposed duty aloud, but she hopes they know…that they know just how much they mean to her.
She knows she is dreaming. This scene never happened. Venus never stood guard over her friends and loved ones at dusk. Her team never watched over Serenity and Endymion. Venus once caught her princess with the Earth prince, and often followed her secretly after that, but accompanying her officially would have been treason. No matter how much they loved Serenity, her team would never have condoned her relationship with Endymion by remaining in their company. But that doesn't matter. Tonight they are together and they are happy. Even Venus, though she dare not smile. They dance as spirits in the ruins of their long abandoned kingdom and are free.
She awakes to a nagging headache and a room with light spilling in through the windows. Artemis is asleep on the pillow beside her. She can still see her friends if she keeps her eyes closed. As they were. As she was. When she was Venus and she was strong.
Minako opens her eyes. She slowly sits up and drags a hand through her hair. Dark eyes stare back at her from the mirror across the room, hand caught midway through even darker hair. She does not have blonde hair and she does not have blue eyes. She doesn't have a red ribbon in her hair. There is no symbol of Venus. She is not Venus. She is someone else now. Venus is merely an alter ego. It hurts. More than she can dare to contemplate.
She lies down, closes her eyes, and tries to recreate the ruins. She can never rebuild the kingdom, but she can send herself back through the memories of a life nobody would ever believe to be true.
Fin