Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize.

This is my first fanfiction, so please know that I am still working out the kinks of FF. This chapter has undergone a little bit of editing because I looked back and really didn't like the original first chapter. Sorry to any readers who liked the original chapter!

Chapter 1

Silver Isles: October 17th, 3018

A cloaked figure stood upon a balcony overlooking fragrant cherry groves, its grey skirts swirling around and whispering in the night. Queen Titania of the Silver Isles raised her head towards the moon, an unusually large globe of gently pulsing white light. Her angular features were painted with unease and distress, the violet eyes that marked her rightful fairy queen troubled. "You ask too much of me, my friend," she warned the heavy night air before her. "I could not possibly do what you ask."

Why? replied a smooth, melodious voice in Titania's head. Do you no longer care for the fate of a world not your own? Sauron the Deceiver rises once again! His Ring has been found! Surely you know how vital it is that you contribute to the efforts to return him to the void. Will you separate your nation so completely from the happenings of Middle Earth? How can you call yourself a just ruler of your own country when you will not care about those outside of it? Have these years hardened your heart so much? Titania gripped the railings of the balcony tightly.

"You know that is not what I meant, Galadriel," she retorted. "I have known you for so many millennia. Surely you know that I still care for the affairs of the Far West, especially ones as serious as this issue in particular. But for me to sacrifice my eldest daughter for your cause, the heir to the throne, is simply asking too much of me." The Lady of Light's mental voice sighed heavily.

Her demise is not guaranteed, she pointed out.

"But is her return?" countered Titania. There was a brief pause.

No.

"Precisely my point! Sakura is necessary for the functioning of the Silver Isles. Besides, this is not a choice I can make for her. 'Tis her life, and we cannot negotiate with it as if she is a common mule!" cried the queen, growing more and more agitated. Another weary sigh came from Galadriel.

Would you rather have her never find love and remain in the safety of the Silver Isles forever, or would you have her risk her life but learn to live, to love in the process? Titania stiffened. Do not deny it, my friend. We have both seen it, and we both know that no matter if she lives or dies, if she returns to Middle Earth, she will be happy. Titania leaned heavily on the balcony.

"This is no longer your decision or mine, Galadriel," she warned. "It is my daughter's life on the line here, and it is my daughter's decision that I will support."

Titania, we both understand that Sakura will not leave her home if we tell her of why she is needed, argued the Lady. We cannot tell her of the love and knowledge she may gain in Middle Earth for fear of changing her future, and without such encouragement, no sane person would leave their homeland for the fate of others.

"Are you suggesting that I send my beloved daughter into danger without giving her a choice?" demanded the enraged Titania.

It is the only way! cried Galadriel. You know it as well, you just do not want to admit it.

"I will not do this, Galadriel," refused Titania. "If I am to sacrifice my heir, my daughter, she will know what she is getting into before she goes." Galadriel groaned.

Titania, send her to Middle Earth. Elrond of Imladris is holding a council, and there will the fate of the Ring and Sauron be decided. She may choose whether or not she wishes to attend the council, and from there if she wishes to aid our cause. In that way, she may decide what she wants.

"I do not like this, Galadriel," warned the queen.

I fear that there is no other way.

"That is the best offer I am going to be getting from you, is it not, old friend?" asked Titania sadly.

There was no response from Galadriel.

"Then so be it."

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"Lady Sakura! Lady Sakura!" A fairy maid turned the corner, panting heavily as she scanned the clearing in search of the crown princess. Sakura sat huddled in a bush, her arms around a young feyling. Her eyes turned to the maid and she made to get up.

"Auntie, don't go!" cried the younger fairy, her doe brown eyes piteous and pleading. Sakura smiled benevolently down at her niece, her amethyst eyes twinkling merrily.

"Ya Ya, I shall return right away," she soothed. "We can continue to hide in bushes and play hide and seek after I deal with this." The little feyling pouted and crossed her arms, her messy black pigtails sticking out in all directions.

"Fine," she griped crabbily. Sakura laughed and clambered out of the bush, brushing the long green leaves from her skirts.

"Yes, Shu?" she answered the maid as she straightened up. The young maid appeared slightly taken aback that her princess was climbing out of a bush.

"The – the queen wishes your presence in her rooms," Shu stammered. Sakura nodded and dismissed the maid.

"Ya Ya, your grandmother wishes for me to go visit her," she called out to the pouting bush. The bush rustled and the feyling poked her face out eagerly.

"Oh please, Auntie, can I come visit Grandmother as well?" cried Ya Ya. Sakura chuckled.

"Ya Ya, you just saw her at supper time. Besides, you should be in bed right now. Look, the moon is already over our heads. Your mother will skin me and eat me alive if I do not return you home soon," she reminded the feyling. Ya Ya's eyebrows drew together.

"But you said we could play hide and seek after you came back," she whined. Sakura put her hands on her hips and put on her sternest expression. Ya Ya's stubborn countenance instantly morphed into an unhappily obedient one. "At least walk me home, Auntie," she griped. The older fairy laughed and swung her niece up into her arms.

"All right then, off we go!" she cried, dipping her niece this way and that as the feyling screamed with laughter.

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"Mother, you called for me?" questioned a soft voice. Titania did not turn from her balcony and kept her eyes transfixed upon the moon.

"Indeed, Sakura," replied the queen. "To tell the truth, I was expecting you here much sooner." Sakura lowered her head sheepishly.

"I was only taking Ya Ya home," she murmured. Titania let out a brief peal of laughter.

"That grandchild of mine," commented Titania drily. "I do not know what I shall do with her when she reaches her more troublesome years."

"That will be Jang Mi's problem," reminded Sakura, referring to Ya Ya's mother, her sister.

"True," replied Titania softly. "But that is not what I have called you here to discuss."

"Pray tell, mother, why am I here?" At this, the queen turned sharply from the moon, her eyes the exact color of her daughter's.

"Trouble rises in the Far West, in Middle Earth. Sauron the Deceiver and his followers thrive once more." Sakura drew back.

"Surely not, mother," she chuckled nervously. "That is not possible." Titania sighed heavily, pinching her forehead with her fingers.

"Unfortunately, it is very much possible, and it is most definitely happening. Lady Galadriel has requested that I send an emissary to Middle Earth."

A brief silence ensued.

"Mother, surely you do not intend to send me?" cried Sakura.

"Sakura, she specifically requested you."

"Why not one of my brothers? Zhuang is a messenger, when he flies he has the protective encasing! I have not been back to the Far West for millennia!" reasoned the eldest princess.

"I do not know, love. All that I do know is that you must go, for our country and for theirs. You – you cannot become a true queen of your people until you learn to care for the people of other nations," Titania got out through her teeth, remembering Galadriel's nearly identical words that she was now regurgitating to her daughter. Sakura sighed and leaned against a pillar.

"What shall I bring to Middle Earth, then?"

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An hour later, Sakura was packed and ready to go, her crescent knives strapped to her hips and her pack firmly attached to her body.

"Remember, daughter, fly to Imladris. Gandalf awaits you there," instructed Titania.

"Mother, you still have not told me exactly why I am going," complained Sakura.

"Hush now, Gandalf will tell you when you get there. Fly away from the moon for seven days and you shall reach Middle Earth," hastened Titania. Sakura sighed and bobbed her head.

"I know. And mother?" she asked, raising her eyes up. Titania's eyes softened.

"Yes?"

"Please do say goodbye to Ya Ya for me. She is in bed now, and when she wakes up tomorrow I shall be gone. Do tell her that I shall miss her and that I will return soon to play hide and seek with her." Titania stifled a sob. Will you return soon?

"I shall," she managed to squeak out. Sakura smiled bravely and carefully unfurled her transparent wings, churning the heavy night air. With a mighty leap, she sailed into the air, filling the night with the almost inaudible humming sound of her wings beating powerfully. Titania's lips curled up at the sight of her daughter's wings illuminated against the enormous moon. "I am so sorry, my daughter. Come back alive," she murmured.

A/N: I realize that this chapter is on the shorter side, but I promise that they get longer as they go. In the meanwhile, read on and review!