A/N: This is an AU story that I was inspired to write after Nim published The Memory Keeper. The characters belong to her and I ALONE. (So please don't use them without our permission) The original BSSM characters, however, are the sole property of the genius Naoko Takuchi. Thank you!

-Sanyo

Prologue: Unsettling Visions

For as long as she could remember she'd been plagued with the same dream, the same horribly realistic nightmare. She would start at the beginning of a lavishly decorated corridor lined with looking glasses. At first as she passed she'd only be able to see her own reflection but as she continued onward her likeness would begin to look disfigured until it resembled something monstrous and inhuman. That's when she'd begin to hear the screams...

The marble columns of Orion's summer palace glistened in the dewy twilight. The grounds appeared to be deserted for none of the royal family was up at such a late hour save for the guards on duty. Yet on this particular night a lone figure scurried threw one of the palace's many open corridors, making a beeline for the King and Queen's bedroom chamber.

Along the way he passed flourishing gardens, tinkling fountains, and alabaster statues before he arrived at his parent's room. Quietly he entered and wasted no time scurrying over to his mother's bedside. He found her lying on her back with an arm draped over her head and the other strewn across her stomach. She appeared to be muttering in her sleep and the sheets that had once neatly covered her now lay tangled between her legs.

"Mama…" he whispered tentatively as his gave her a little nudge.

The women turned away from the sound; too preoccupied with the painfully high-pitched wails in her nightly reverie. The accents, so distantly familiar, always left her puzzled.

"Mama…"

Again she feigned ignorance. Her self-consciousness had discovered a door cleverly concealed behind one of the many mirrors. Now to find out what was causing that awful ruckus…

"Mama!"

Sanyo's eyes gradually opened. Once again she'd been denied a glimpse of the horrifying monster and what's more she'd failed to save her comrades from an unruly fate. Yet the retired senshi couldn't dwell on that any longer for hovering above her, tiny hands clasping her shoulders, was a little boy.

"Yuuki," she blinked as she sat up, "is something wrong?"

His blue eyes, so similar to hers, glanced down at the floor, "I'm scared."

A sympathetic smile stretched across her pale features as she reached downward, hugging him around the shoulders, "Oh? Did you have a nightmare?"

He nodded, his face flushing a light pink, "Uh-huh."

"Oh," Sanyo glanced at her husband's sleeping figure briefly before returning her attention to her five year old son, "Alright. Would you like to stay here until you're able to fall asleep again?"

Again he nodded but this time more furiously as he scrambled to climb onto the king sized mattress. Almost instantly he was settled against her waist with his little head comfortably resting against his mother's collarbone.

The Queen couldn't help but laugh as she pulled the silk sheets around them, her hand coming to rest against his head of red curls. "Would you like to hear a story?" She inquired as she playfully tickled his sides. His giggles were answer enough.

"Alright," she cleared her throat as her eyes took on a far off look as she began the tale, like any good story is begun, with: "Once upon a time…"