Note- I had this idea a while back, but never actually worked on it until now. Rather then focus on the familiar 30th Century incarnation, I wanted to play around with the idea of 'present-day' ChibiUsa; the one hinted at being in Usagi's womb at the end of the manga. I've always wondered what exactly happened to her after the events of the manga, like did future ChibiUsa disrupt the timeline so much, the 'present' her was affected? Would she be able to tap into her hidden power and grow? Did she get her Senshi powers early on? The idea is limitless and I'm surprised I'm one of the first on here to actually pounce on it.
In the end, the story came out longer then I intended, I liked it, nonetheless. Well, I'm actually a bit iffy about the end. If it seems rushed, it's probably because I was writing it at 2 o'clock the morning and wanted to go to sleep. :P By the way, if anyone wants to fix any of my grammar mistakes, feel free to do so. Staring at this of over four hours really doesn't help in looking for mistakes.
And sorry in advance if ChibiUsa comes off as a brat or Usagi and Mamoru appeared in a negative light; she's twelve…I think we can all agree age twelve is the 'brat' year.
Disclaimer- Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon, R, S, and Stars belong to Takeuchi Naoko and is no way used in this fanfics for any profit besides the enjoyment of others.
Dancing on Water
From what she heard, there were people out there who would kill for a view like hers. Evidentially, none of those people would know what it was like to have the same floating view day after day after day…
Outside of her crystal world there were people that didn't have the comfy bed she slept in or the tables of food which graced her every morning, noon, and night. For that, she was grateful, but even grateful people can become selfish of the people out on the street with the world at their disposal. They probably felt a variety of things, but she doubted they felt as utterly trapped like she did.
The Crystal Palace was luxurious, glamorous, alluring, and statuesque. Artists only dreamed of capturing each perfect inch of it in a painting. None have been able to do so as far as she knew.
Yet, that was only on the outside. She distinguished it as also constricting, disconnected, isolated, exasperating, and disheartening. Not to mention so mundane that by the time she was at her current age of twelve, she had memorized the Webster dictionary up to the letter 'M'. Right now, she was half through 'N' on the word 'nitroglycerin'.
Most twelve year olds would be outside playing in the snow with their friends. At least…that's what she gathered from the high floors of her home. Part of her hated those girls when they were down there by the base of the Palace. They walked on the streets on their way to school and back to their homes. They laughed and giggled with each other, on some days they whined about school or their parents (they really had no right to complain, considering her predicament). Sometimes they'd play in the road or sit down and peer up at the castle, as if they could see her looking down at them in a mixture of bitterness and wanting.
Crystal Tokyo had started construction just before her mother's marriage and her ascension to the throne. From what she understood from the books in the royal library, the entirety of the kingdom was built and held together by the Solar Senshi's combined powers and ancient blueprints from the days of the former-Silver Millennium. During the creation of the Palace, her mother had given birth to her and the power of the Silver Crystal spread throughout the planet.
For the first four years of her life, Princess Small Lady Serenity Usagi II—ChibiUsa to family and friends—was free, just like those girls outside the Palace walls. They traveled from country to country and resigned in the former imperial palaces of the lands; yes, it was tiring but sleep didn't matter to the princess so long as there was still light outside her window. She loved it all, the grass, the trees, the snow, the ice, the rain, and the mountains. She adored rolling in the dirt and chasing after animals to play with. She loved to swim with Michiru and Ami and drive around in Haruka's car when her mother decided it was safe to do so. It was alive, it was real, and it was her world, free from cages and chains.
Then came the day that the monstrous Palace was finished and she was torn away from the natural world. In flooded endless hours of dresses and lessons, meetings in which words she hardly understood at the time were thrown back and forth, and a garden manufactured to never die.
ChibiUsa asked several times a day back then when she could go out into the city again. Her mother never gave her a straight answer and, after while, she sort of caught on to what she was trying to convey.
"ChibiUsa, the world out there isn't a nice place for a princess. What if you wander off and someone attacks you? Your father and I don't want to take that chance."
In other words, somewhere down the line her mother became paranoid and the Palace was like a giant security blanket to her. Of course, she tried to argue that she knew how her daughter felt; that she wished to could throw off her gown and play in the arcade with her father like they use to.
Yet here was the difference: her mother and father stayed in the Palace by choice and even if they were constrained in manner as she was, that didn't mean she wasn't going to be bitter for the fact that the whole royal court had received somewhat of normal childhood before they had taken their roles. Wasn't it just a little logically that she would be displeased with her life at this point?
This was the case that went through the pink-haired princess' mind as she put on her warm mittens and threw on a heavy, fluffy white hood. Eight years; she hadn't touched snow for eight years. She hardly remembered what it felt like when it slipped between her fingers. Was it fluffy and soft like cotton or hard like ice? ChibiUsa pondered this as she slipped out of her room, making sure not to wake Diana from her sleep.
Why was she doing this, when she knew perfectly the moment her hand touched the Palace door, one of the Senshi would materialize in thin air to drag her to some other room as to distract her from her goal? Well, it was actually quite easy; ChibiUsa had figured a way out of her home.
To tell the truth, she had stumbled upon it accidentally and she wasn't entirely sure if it was safe. She had been running away from Minako after one horrendous dance lesson (so she didn't like tap; sue her) when she came across a standard door—which was quite unusual seeing as most of the doors in the Palace were giant and arched—that read the words 'DO NOT ENTER' in red writing—there was some kanji underneath, but ChibiUsa wasn't really…good…with kanji yet, so she ignored it. Rather then go through another hour of jumping up and down in three inches heels to the easy listening of 'Kiss from a Rose', ChibiUsa jumped into the room head first and locked the door behind her before the Venus Queen could pounce on her.
When she had turned on the lights, she came face to face with a long pole that beamed blue, red, and green. It had a base made of crystal which blossomed like a flower, buttons on the petals. When the princess took a step toward the machine, it sparked, like it was a threatened animal, and then died down. After a moment's hesitation, ChibiUsa approached the thing and put her hands down on one of the petals. It sparkled again at her touch and started to beep with, lighting in rainbow. The child stared up at it, awed, and smiled as she whispered, "Wow…"
Then it flashed bright purple and the next thing the pink haired child knew, she was being thrown down on a glass floor right at the feet of her best friend, Princess Saturn Hotaru. The girl was some years older than her and, as expected, knew more then she did about the Palace and what went on inside it. This was why it came to no surprise when the dark haired girl told her she had found one of the Senshi's teleportation devices. Apparently, long before she had been born, the Senshi use to do this thing where they held hands and yelled 'Moon Teleport'. She didn't know how yelling got them anywhere, but it did the job and the power they used fueled the thing which sent her to Saturn's castle, Titian.
After that little discovery, ChibiUsa took advantage of the teleportor when she could. The Senshi had taken to her hiding spot being one of the high towers she use to use when she was depressed; for the time being, that meant she was safe.
The thing about the teleportor is that she didn't know how it worked. When she came near it, it would just fling her anywhere before she could do something. Usually, it would be Titian or one of the other Senshi's home—luckily, the Four Guardians were never home and Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto never minded the little intrusion. ChibiUsa ventured a guess that the teleportor was linked by the kingdoms, which meant she wouldn't end up in a place she could not get back from.
Happy that her boots were soft bottomed for once, ChibiUsa snuck her way back down a familiar hallway, her heavy pink skirt trailing after her. It was early, 10:30AM to be correct, which meant everyone was sleeping in. The night before it had snowed heavily, which made today an unofficial holiday in Crystal Tokyo; even she was being excused from her daily lessons, despite the little effect the snow had on her. Oh well, don't look a gift donkey in the mouth, as Minako would say.
She arrived at the door with no problems and proceeded inside, her game face on. Today she was not going to let this thing just thrown her in an unknown place. If she went to any of the Senshi's castle, they would be empty due to a gathering in celebration of another alliance. Even Hotaru and Setsuna were here and they rarely left their stations. She needed to make it clear to the damn machine where she wanted to go.
As Chibiusa placed her hands on it, the teleportor spurn to life and became flashing color after color. "Oh no, you don't!" The princess said, "Don't just send me where you want without listening to me!"
The machine made no response. Maybe it was ignoring her (how rude!) or maybe it was waiting for her command (well, how polite…); the princess couldn't actually tell. And, in all honesty, she didn't know where she wanted to go. She was so huffy about its attitude that she didn't think it through. She could be so like Mother sometimes.
She blushed at her lack of words, "Oh…uhhh…well, I guess…" She poked her bottom lip with a gloved finger, "Send me to a place covered in a blanket of snow?"
The machine buzzed quietly, forcing her to fear her request somehow broke the thing (come on, she wasn't that much like her mother!) when it suddenly burst with a flash of light so bright ChibiUsa fell backwards and tripped over her dress.
Instead of hitting hard marble, the pink haired girl felt her head hit something soft. Cold air nipped at her bare face and, as she felt her way against the ground, she noticed in delight that her hands and skirt were covered in snow!
"Snow! Snow! It's really snow!" The child exclaimed, jumping up and twirling around.
Her odango-styled pink hair swung around her head as she examined her surroundings. T-This was amazing! Not only was she in a clearing covered in snow, but the land around was…stunning. The trees and bushes appeared as if they had jumped off one the paintings in her room, the crystal leaves shinning water colors where the sunrays laid. White roses grew off the bushes, untouched by the chill of the season.
ChibiUsa couldn't believe her eyes and thought, as she looked at the ground; I wonder what the grass under the snow looks like!
Bending to her knees, the child readied to dig through the thick layer of snow when a sound caught her attention.
A…bell?
More then one, actually. They didn't so much ring either but…sing. The sounds echoed off the painted trees, collectively coming together in a melody that the princess couldn't quite explain. It was beautiful and it captivated her until she was in a daze, her legs standing her up right again. The child searched for the source of the music, dropping all thought of the snow at her feet.
There was a thud behind her, startling the girl and snapping her body to whatever it may be. ChibiUsa froze and a smile slowly sprawled across her face. Sticking its head out of a frost-bitten bush was a horned horse, bells swinging from the golden bridle when it moved. ChibiUsa's mouth gapped at the purely white creature and realized when it walked farther through the bush that it had a pair of wings.
A Pegasus! The princess thought, her chest feeling like it could be shattered with each pounding heartbeat. She only saw this animal in her dreams as it soared high, sometimes alone and sometimes with her on its back. It was more magical then any of her dreams could create and the very sight of it standing in front of her forced her voice to get tangled and choked within her throat.
Unable to do anything else, ChibiUsa flung her wide-sleeved arms out towards the Pegasus and stood still like a statue, her face timidly hiding under her pink curls. The white creature blinked at her form with crystal amber eyes and whined, shaking his white mane free of the snow that fell from a higher tree branch. Gulping hard, ChibiUsa watched as the creature trotted to her and halted, his head barely brushing against her fingers. The princess peered at it with unsure eyes, not knowing if it wished her to touch its head until it rubbied its nose against her open palm.
ChibiUsa blushed red, smiling gently, "Hello there. It's nice to meet you." She mused; threading her fingers in its mane. Removing her hands from its face, ChibiUsa bit down on the first finger of her glove and pulled it off, dropping it to the floor. She did the same with the other, happy to feel the chill of winter against her skin. She touched the Pegasus again, feeling the soft fur brush against her hand.
"You're beautiful." The princess whispered, wrapping her arms around the creature and hugging it. The Pegasus grunted its approval by nuzzling its head against her cheek. ChibiUsa inhaled deeply, smelling berries and flowers in the air around them. Her hands found their way to its hair, running them up and over its ears.
"Where did you come from?" She asked, pulling away to look at its swirling amber eyes, "Do you have a name? Mine is ChibiUsa."
"Pegasus? Please stop wandering off without me. Eos would hate it if I lost track of you in the cold."
The princess jumped, frightened by the new voice, and stepped away from the Pegasus. A person? What if he was a guard? What if he was one of her father's guards? She had never traveled to her father's land; she knew he had some type of mythical palace. This would explain why the teleportor sent her here and she didn't recognize it out right.
Afraid the sudden intruder would know who she was and send her straight home, possibly ending all her adventures in the process, ChibiUsa gathered her heavy with snow skirt and prepared to run into a nearby bush. "Eep!" Something clamped onto one of her sleeves and held her back. She turned to see the Pegasus was culprit, its strong jaw holding her place.
"Pegasus! P-please let go! If you don't, I might not ever see you again!" She pleaded, tugging her arm away. No good, the Pegasus stubborn and it would not let go until it was good and ready.
Feet crunched the snow as the person came closer to them, fighting his—she could tell by the voice—way through a bush. Pale hands pulled leaves and twigs apart, allowing a body to emerge through. "Pegasus? What on Earth are you…" The person stopped moving…and so did she.
A boy of barely fourteen regarded her with the same amber eyes of the Pegasus, centuries of wisdom imprinted within their pools. His wavy white hair blew in the wind, framing his handsome face in loose curls. The robes he wore were foreign to her, white and teal, but heavy as the white fur-lined cloak that sat on his shoulders. A familiar feeling radiated off him, so much so that ChibiUsa couldn't help but blush under his perplexed glance.
Silence crept up around the clearing, suffocating the princess as she awkwardly shifted next to the Pegasus, who, for its part, was now pulling the girl closer to the boy. If she wasn't scared, she'd call the creature a traitor.
Still feeling the boy's eyes on her, ChibiUsa readied to bow her head in apology when she heard him speak up.
"My Lady, Princess Serenity. What a pleasure it is for you to grace Elysion with your presence." There was movement in the snow and when she looked up, the princess blushed when she saw the boy bowing to her on one knee.
The princess had hoped the boy wouldn't have recognized her and that part was determined to make sure when she spoke up and said, "H-How do you know I'm the princess?" She questioned, her hands clenched over her chest. The boy's head snapped up and looked confused. The Pegasus bent down and made the same face. Under the pressure of two questioning expression, ChibiUsa spoke up, this time with more confidence, "A-after all, I don't have the Silver Crystal and I bet there are a bunch of girls that pass through here everyday!" She waved her hand energetically, trying to prove her point.
The boy, however, caught on quite quickly and laughed, "Well for one, I'd know that face and hair style anywhere. You look like your mother."
The princess mumbled something under her breath about 'cursed mothers and their genes'.
"Second." The boy smiled and pointed at her forehead, poking right between her rose pink eyebrows, "You still have the moon symbol there."
ChibiUsa gasped and began to rub furiously at her spot, attempting to get rid of the symbol as if it were simple paint. She never did get the knack of making it disappear when she needed too. Getting tired soon enough, the child stopped in her useless rubbing, her forehead dyed a pinkish red, and threw her hands down by her side. The boy held a hand up by his mouth, holding a laugh in. She did her best at glaring at him, but she didn't have the famous 'Rei death stare' and let it go.
Sighing, the child slump her shoulders. "Please don't send me home, yet." She whispered, her hand patting the Pegasus lightly.
The boy raised an eyebrow, confused once more—he looked really cute like that. "Home? My Lady, why would I send you home?" He asked, moving closer to her.
"Cause I'm not allowed outside. Didn't Mama tell you that?" She asked.
The boy blinked at her before rising to his feet. ChibiUsa closed her eyes when he moved; expecting him to start ushering to whatever would lead her home. However, she heard the sound of Pegasus' bells singing and when she gazed up, she saw the boy smiling at her. "I'm not going to send you home if you don't want me to." He gently told her, patting her head gently.
The pink haired girl beamed at him, "Really?" She pulled on his cloak, "I'm not in trouble?"
The boy laughed, "Of course not. You could never be in trouble when you come to this land." ChibiUsa stopped bouncing around at this and cocked her head, her turn to be confused and curious. "Why's that?"
"W-well because Elyison is…" He stopped and then gapped at her, "Wait…My Lady, do you know what Elysion is?"
The princess shook her head, "No. Should I?"
He froze, shocked and turned to Pegasus, who appeared just as dumbfounded. "Good Selene, what has your father been teaching you?"
"N-nothing. Papa is very busy, I'll have you know!"
"Still, you'd think after…" He shook his head at that, "No, never mind. It makes sense after all." The boy extended his head towards the princess, bending some to be at her level, "Come, this clearing isn't very fun is it?" He smiled at her; like a prince. ChibiUsa felt her heart skip a beat. She gingerly put her hand in his and answered, "N-no."
Politely kissing the back of her hand (she flushed bright red at that) the boy swung her onto the padded back of the Pegasus. He heaved himself up behind, grasping the reins around her body. ChibiUsa shifted and asked, "Am I too heavy?"
"For Pegasus? Of course not. He's carried heavier things." The creature buckled irritably at that, recalling an unwanted memory. Helios pulled on the reins and patted his head, "Extra carrots if you forgot what ever you remembered." That calmed him down.
The creature started along, walking over the bushes with no hindrance. ChibiUsa leaned comfortable into the boy's arms, feeling at home there. It was then she realized she still didn't know his name, "I-I almost forgot. Who are you?"
Apparently, the sudden lapse in memory was joint effort, as the boy also blushed. "Forgive me, my Lady. I am Helios, Priest of Elysion, at your eternal service."
"Helios…" The child played with the name on her lips. She swore she had heard it before; wasn't that a Greek god? Whatever it may be, ChibiUsa shrugged it off and said, "It's nice to meet you, Helios. I hope we can friends."
He chuckled, "I'm sure we can be, my Lady."
There was quiet for that moment as they moved on, Pegasus' hovers crunching the snow. Then, "So, Helios?"
"Hm?"
"What exactly is Elyison?"
By the time they had reached their destination, it was just barely noon and ChibiUsa had earned her fill of information on the world of Elysion and how everything worked. Helios explained it all; how dreamers kept this place alive and his prays made it livable. She loved how things seemed to change every passing minute, becoming brighter and more colorful with each second ticking by.
"Can you see my dreams, Helios?" She asked, her head now resting on his shoulder. The white haired priest nodded, "Yes, when you are open to let others in. You have many beautiful dreams, my Lady."
ChibiUsa giggled at that, her expression joyful. Turning away from him, the child gasped, her wine red eyes wide at the sight before her. She pulled on Helios' shirt and pointed, "Is that where you live?" She asked.
"Yes. This is my temple." He answered, amused by her excitement.
Whether it was built by human hands or dreamers, the temple was magnificent. It stood high and wide, pillars of gold and silver surrounding the middle building which was encased by frozen rose veins. A lake surrounded it and as Pegasus descended closer, a bridge grew from the water, solid as the ground. The princess leaned closer to temple, peeking over Helios' arm for every bit of view she could get.
As they reached land, ChibiUsa didn't bother to wait for Helios to help her and jumped off, hitting the ground running. Snow sat on the long temple stairs and covered the grass around it, yet she could still see crystal flowers peeking out, white for the changing season.
"This is amazing!" She yelled out, arms outstretched while she let her body fall and hit the floor. She waved around for a moment, laughing and giggling in a fit of joy. Helios followed after her, grinning at her antics. When she finally lay still, he extended his hand out to her. She took it, but instead of sitting up, she gripped hard and pulled the boy down.
"Whoah!" He exclaimed, ready for neither the fall nor the snow that smacked into his neck. He snickered, despite the cold, and threw a handful of snow at his attacker. Soon enough, the two were in—ironically—a heated snowball battle, their hair mashed with snow and ice.
"Can I stay here forever?" She asked. Helios moved his arm away from his eyes at the sound of her voice. She had calmed down from her high, her eyes dazed as they stared up at the open sky. Her odango hair looked half formed compared to the way they were. Her image, hazed and otherworldly, took him back to another time with the same yet different girl in a similar manner, except rather then snow, she was covered in blood and dirt…
Helios blinked the memory away, sitting up to see her better. He sighed. "I don't think so, Maiden." Slip of the tongue. Memories tended to do that.
The girl exhaled and closed her eyes, bringing her head back down. Her hands clenched at her skirt, still damp from their fight. "I thought you'd say that. Oh well, I can dream even in the land of dreams, right?"
He didn't speak, knowing that it would just upset her if he ruined even that dream. He let her be, content with being able to see her smile, happy or sad. He had to admit, from moment he had saw her, he become uneasy.
He was dealing with a new ChibiUsa, a new princess…a new girl. Someday, they'd be the same, he knew that, but until then, he felt as if he were walking on broken glass. He had met one half in a crisis, when being truthful was threatened with death. The other half he was getting to know during peace time, yet he held back just as much as he did before. It confused him, sitting with the girl of the present, the future so far away.
It confused him because he didn't know if he could treat her the way he had done before.
Suddenly, an idea overcame him and he found himself jumping to his feet, taking hold of the daydreaming ChibiUsa. "H-Helios! What are you doing?" He didn't answer his hand tight around her tiny wrist. He ran to the lake's shore, refusing to halt even when ChibiUsa screamed him to do so.
"Don't! The water's cold—" The girl stopped her fussing, now focused on their feet…floating above the water's surface. She gasped, she giggled, and then squealed, testing what she could do by bouncing around. Her hands held tightly to Helios, who stood as steady as a rock. Her boots splashed against the water, yet they did not sink.
"How are we doing this?" She asked, all her energy reforming in her belly.
"Because we want to!" He simply answered, taking the opportunity to twirl her around. The two of them then linked hands, skating on the water's edge on the tips of their toes. They jumped and spun through the air, spraying the cold water. Fish flipped to see them as they danced to nothing but their own humming.
Above them, Pegasus soared with his bells ringing loudly around his neck. He dived and circled around them, one of his wings drawing into the lake. Helios and ChibiUsa laughed at his antics and cascaded farther away from him, allowing him room to dance where ever he so pleased.
"Helios!" One of maenads called from the shore, her hands waving frantically above of her head. "Please! Come quickly"
The boy stopped, letting go of ChibiUsa's hand. "Play with Pegasus." He told her, ushering her towards the winged creature. The girl did as she was told, parrying around the animal.
Helios skated back to his guardian, spinning into the air before landing perfectly on the shore. "This is the most fun I've ever had, Eos!" He told her with glee, missing the wary look in her pale pink eyes. "What should I show her next? Maybe the pray room? It may be a tad boring for her taste but I think—"
"Helios." Eos' stern voice broke through his rambling. She held up an envelope for him to see, "This just arrived from the Palace."
The priest stared at the paper, knowing what was written inside. Yet, the child in him still asked, "Do I have to bring her back?" It came out more as a whine then an actual question and for that, the stronger of the two maenads patted his shoulder and answered, "I'm afraid you do."
The princess chewed the inside of her cheek in frustration, the wind pushing her cotton candy colored hair free of her hairstyle. She had begged him not to make her go. The letter had only been recently written and it didn't say they knew where she was, just that they were searching for her. She could have stayed a little while longer. Helios refused; correct in saying the guilt in knowing both King Endymion and Neo-Queen Serenity were frantic about her disappearance would weigh them down and hinder them from having fun.
That didn't make her any less bitter about it.
"I'm sorry, my Lady." She heard her companion mutter, obviously dishearten by her soon departure. ChibiUsa shrugged and sigh, leaning into Helios' chest, her eyes peering down at Crystal Tokyo below. "It's not your fault, Helios. It was fun while it lasted."
The statement only made it worse.
Pegasus descended lower as they approached the Palace, bringing his hovers against solid pavement. He whined in disgust, not liking the feel of concrete, and moved closer to a crystal wall. Helios reached out and touched it, a door materializing under his fingertips. He wasn't part of the royal court, but he was an ally and that was enough to get him in.
They had entered through the garden, ChibiUsa noted with some distaste. Helios slid off next to a fountain and extended his arms to help her down. The princess snaked her hands around his neck and held there tight as she slipped off. Helios sighed into her hair, hearing a tiny whimper from her. "It's alright, my Lady…"
"Maiden…" He heard her mumble. Blinking, he pulled her back to see her pouting, her cheeks red. "What was that?"
Chibiusa's face grew redder, "I said, call me 'Maiden'…it sounded l-like a good nickname when you used before…" Her eyes evaded his after she had spoken, obviously wishing not to repeat herself a third time. Helios' own cheeks were red, gawking in embarrassment that she had even caught the little petname he had given her future self.
"Helios! Is that you? Mamo-chan! Helios is here!"
Royalty had hunted them down and Helios smiled respectfully he saw the monarchies stumble towards him, stress etched into their youthful features. He had let the tiny girl slip from his grasp, his form now hiding her body as he turned to her parents.
Serenity was the first to appear, blond hair frizzled with worry. Yet she smiled her usual best anyway, as if her only child weren't missing at all. "Helios. It's wonderful to see you again. What brings you here to the Palace?" She brushed her silver dress of wrinkles as she spoke.
Endymion followed after her, his face wary. "You haven't been here since the Palace was built. Is everything alright?"
Helios bowed, "Hello, your Majesties. You are looking well." He said. "Everything is quite fine, I assure you. I heard, however, you were missing something that was important to you and I thought I'd return it." He side-stepped to reveal the hidden girl behind him, clutching to his shirt.
"ChibiUsa!" Serenity exclaimed, relief washing over her body.
Endymion took a step towards her, clearly unhappy with his child's behavior. "You've been with Helios this entire time?" He asked, crossed, "How on Earth did you get to Elysion?"
The child hid deeper into Helios' cloak, sticking her tongue out at her parents in resentment. "I'm not telling you!"
"Small Lady Serenity! What has gotten into you?"
"Why are you acting up now?"
The yelling only made the child retreat farther behind Helios, making him look like he had a ghost underneath his cloak. The priest laughed lightheartedly, nonetheless, "If I may, your Majesties?" The confused royalty shot each other a look as he turned and bent down. He unclipped his cloak and joined the pouting girl.
"My Lady?"
She didn't answer. In fact, he thought she may have pouted out some more.
"Maiden?" That got her attention; the pink haired child uncrossed her arms and peered at him, "What?"
"Would you like to come visit me again?"
"…Duh." She answered dryly. Alright, he should have expected that. He chuckled, "I can talk to your parents, if you want me to. I'm sure it wouldn't be so hard."
ChibiUsa opened her mouth, ready to thank him, until she heard, "But…" Her mouth clamped closed and her smiled dropped. "You have to stop disappearing on them. They don't deserve it."
She protested, "Sometimes they!"
"ChibiUsa…"
The child wiggled around, tears threatening to break forth. Then she muttered, "I know they don't…" She peered down at her hands, her fingers caught in her skirt, "I won't do it anymore…"
Satisfied with that, Helios started to get up, but Chibiusa grabbed his arm before he could do so. "Wait, you'll come see me too, right?"
The priest blinked at her. He had explained Elysion needed him, didn't he? That for things to work correctly, he needed to pray within the dream realm. For anyone else, he would have said 'no' and been done with. However, this was ChibiUsa and no matter how much resolve he kept bottled up inside, he knew it was never enough when it came to her.
"I-I'll try…" He mumbled, knowing he may break the promise before she hit another growth sprint. Still, it was enough of an answer to make that incurable smile spread across her face and that was good enough for him. Leaning down, Helios planted a kiss on the girl's forward head, feeling her body heat up underneath his lips.
Then he let her go, her tiny form flying out of his cloak to the outside. The girl stalked to her mother's side, bowing her head in apology. Serenity, being the woman she always was, forgave her child instantly and hugged her until she couldn't breath, whimpering all the way.
Endymion watched on, taking a breath of relief at knowing their daughter was safe. That's when he felt the King's protective glare turn his way and he knew he was in for the conversation of a lifetime.
And yet, when he saw ChibiUsa turn back to him and smile, Helios knew that the conversation would be worth it and more.
"My King, could I trouble you for a word or two?"