Hey guys! This is my first Sailor Moon fic! I just love this fandom, don't you? As you read in the summary, this story is one based largely off of the Question-the-Senshi ask blog on tumblr, which is NOT my creation, just so everyone is aware, but rather that of Sakura-Rose12. Please check it out! It's the best! And don't forget to review this story when you have finished reading! Also, Sakura-Rose12 has a lot of really nice drawings related to her Sailor Moon blog (such as pictures of her various original characters) on DeviantArt as well. Go see!
P.S. Don't be angry, but just so you guys know, I AM using the English DiC dub names for the characters, as it brings back so many fantastic childhood memories for me! It's what I grew up with! (Don't worry, though. Zoisite is still a man here, although I loved Kirsten Bishop's, RIP, performance, no matter how annoying that Spongebob laugh of hers was). Enjoy!
The Tale of a Reluctant Princess—Chapter One
It was a warm summer day, a beautiful day, one with a clear blue sky and, thus, a fantastic view of Earth. Princess Serenity often liked to sit out in the gardens of the Moon's Palace and stare at the green and blue planet on days like this. It was her time to get away from all of the annoying "royal" duties that her mother, Queen Serenity, kept forcing her to have. Granted, most of these duties were simply to attend meetings about politics and the economy, in addition to enduring many lessons about the aforementioned topics, but that was truly enough to bore the poor girl to sleep. In fact, embarrassingly, she had fallen asleep in a meeting a few weeks ago, thus earning a very harsh scolding from her mother.
"How do you expect anyone to take you seriously as a Queen if you can't even stay awake during so much as a meeting?" Her mother had given her a stern talking-to after the event had ended.
Princess Serenity, or Serena, as everyone she had ever known called her to distinguish her from her mother, had not had a good response to this inquiry. Actually, it had caused her to wonder the same as her mother had. How was anyone supposed to take her seriously, especially when she was so hesitant and reluctant to be a Queen herself? If she had had the option, Serena would have most certainly abdicated her rule, if a Princess could even do such a thing. At this moment in her life, her heart was not in it. That is, being the future Queen of the Moon Kingdom. Maybe in a few years, when she was twenty or so, but not now. All she wanted now was to be an ordinary girl, to have fun, and to enjoy her life as a child. She had even voiced this to her mother, but, nevertheless, Queen Serenity had forced her daughter to continue her lessons and training, and had even threatened to increase them ten times over if "the irresponsible girl" ever fell asleep in front of a group of government officials again.
Today was the thirtieth of June, Serena's fourteenth birthday. It was customary when the Moon Princess reached this age for a new group of guardians, known as the Sailor Senshi, to be inducted as warriors on her behalf. Like Queen Serenity before her, Serena would be getting these guardians today. These female guardians were already good friends of Serena's and happened to be the Princesses of the Inner Planets of the Solar System: Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. Serena had known them for nearly her entire life and couldn't think of any better girls that she would have liked to guard her. But, in all honesty, the Moon Princess had to admit that her friends' new titles and duties to protect her were going to be very strange for her and definitely something that would take her a long time to get used to. They had always been her best friends, after all. She had never thought of them as members of her court.
But, maybe that was because they weren't officially members, not until today.
Sighing, she looked at the beautiful planet again. She wondered if Earth's Princess, if it even had one, had to go through as much drama and reluctant change as she did. But, she didn't have time to wonder very long, because soon a very proper voice rang out from behind her.
"Princess!" the voice of Luna, one of Queen Serenity's two cat advisers from the planet Mau, drifted like an army drill sergeant's toward her.
Serena let out another sigh. "Yes, Luna?" she asked irritably, turning her head around to face the cat, who, predictably, had a very frustrated look on her furry black face.
"Her Majesty is furious with you!" the cat rebuked. "The ceremony is happening in less than twenty minutes and you haven't even begun to get dressed!"
"What's wrong with the way I'm dressed?" Serena asked, looking at her outfit. While she was not wearing her usual white Princess garbs, she didn't see anything amiss with her attire. "They're my friends, Luna! They don't care how I look!"
"No, but their parents and your mother certainly do! And they are expecting you to dress properly for this event!" Luna shouted in anger. "Now, you go to your bedchambers and change into your formal wear, or your mother will unleash her wrath on you!" The cat looked sideways for a moment before adding, "Those were her words, not mine."
The Princess rolled her eyes and cleared her throat. "Alright, I'm going. But, I still don't see what the big deal is!"
"You won't see anything until you start taking your duties seriously," the cat said underhandedly.
Serena ignored the comment and trudged off to her room. She would not deny that she loved her mother with all her heart, and she understood that the Queen meant well, but sometimes, the woman's antics were too much for her daughter to handle.
After about ten minutes, or so she thought, Serena descended the luxurious staircase, almost tripping over her dress in the process, and made her way to the throne room, where she knew her mother—and quite possibly, the other planetary royal families—would be waiting.
Once she had opened the heavy ornate doors, she found her half-assumption to be correct, and her stomach knotted itself in embarrassment. She had obviously been in her room a few minutes longer than ten, it seemed, because Queen Serenity, along with Luna, the Queen's other cat adviser Artemis, and the Inner Planet royal families, including the four Senshi inductees, were indeed already standing in the room, waiting for Serena to arrive. The Moon Princess avoided her mother's eyes as she entered, but she could still feel the woman's irate gaze on her as she came to stand beside her.
However, Queen Serenity had evidently chosen to say nothing, probably to save both her daughter and herself from any more humiliation than Serena had already caused, and went on with the start of the ceremony as if everything were going as planned. She stepped into the center of the room, holding several wand-like objects in her hand.
She looked out at the four young Princesses standing before her and she smiled, much more to them than to her daughter, and Serena knew it. The girl felt her face grow hot in shame.
"I gather all of you here today to bestow upon you the tremendous honor and rewarding responsibility of becoming the next generation of Sailor Senshi." The Queen eyed the four girls with respect.
"With this honor and responsibility, each of you must swear to protect the Moon Princess Serenity at all costs. You are to undergo tests of physical, mental, and emotional endurance, strength, and capability, and you are to defend the Moon Kingdom whenever the need may arise. Do you understand this responsibility?"
The four Princesses smiled and nodded. "Yes," they said in unison.
"Do you accept this responsibility?" the Queen asked.
"Yes," they chorused absolutely.
"Then, I shall give each of you your Sailor pen, which will allow you to transform into your Senshi forms whenever needed," the Queen informed the girls. "One by one, you may approach me to receive your pen, when I call you by name."
She cleared her throat. "Princess Amy."
Amy, the Princess of Mercury, was by far the most bookish, if not the most intelligent, of the five Princesses present. She had short blue hair like her mother, Queen Akila, and a small, thin frame, just like Serena herself. She smiled and curtsied at the Moon Queen.
"You are to be known as Sailor Mercury," Queen Serenity stated as the girl approached her. The Queen held out one of the slender golden objects, this one with the symbol of Mercury at the top of it. It was indeed the size of a writing pen. Amy took it and curtsied again, before moving off to the side. When she turned around to face Serena and the other girls, she mouthed "Happy birthday!" excitedly to the Moon Princess.
Next, it was Mina's, the Princess of Venus, turn. She was blonde-haired and blue-eyed like Serena was, and although hers was the planet the second-closet to the Sun, she was to be leader of this new group of Senshi. (For whatever reason, Queen Serenity had obviously decided to give each girl her pen in planetary order. Serena didn't understand why, but she was not one to question her mother's choices. At least, not these kinds of choices.) Mina being the leader made Serena quite happy, for the two of them got along very well. When they were younger, from the ages of about five to twelve, or at least until they hit puberty and their planetary markings began to appear on their foreheads, they would dress up in each other's clothes and hairstyles in an attempt to fool their mothers about which girl was which. Of course, neither Queen Serenity nor Queen Aiko was actually fooled, but they had laughs at their daughters' attempts at trickery all the same. They had even taken a picture once, much to the surprise of their daughters. Like Amy, upon receiving her Sailor pen, Mina curtsied for Queen Serenity and had given Serena a heart-felt "Happy birthday" when catching her eye.
Princess Lita of Jupiter was by far the most rambunctious and energetic of the group, in addition to being the tallest. Like her mother, Queen Tama, she had long brown hair and green eyes, and like Serena, she was a very talented ice skater, one of the best. About a year prior, she had won a medal on Jupiter for the sport in a children's competition, much to the envy of all the "civilian" girls of the planet. She gave a long curtsy to the Moon Queen, so long in fact that her father King Bernard cleared his throat loudly to tell her that she was taking too long with her formalities. Upon hearing his impatient vocal gesture, Lita instantly straightened up and approached the Queen to receive her pen. She gave Serena a childish little wave when turning around to face her.
Finally, Raye, the Martian Princess, was a curious case indeed. She and Serena were friends, no doubt about it, but somehow, they always managed to find something to bicker about on a daily basis. Raye had her mother Queen Edana's long raven-black hair and, apparently, from what Queen Serenity had told Serena, her fiery personality, as well. This meant, among other things, that the Princess of Mars could not stand to lose an argument against anyone, no matter how wrong she actually was. After receiving her pen, she gave Serena an odd excuse for a wink and skipped off to stand next to Lita.
After each Princess had received her pen, Queen Serenity closed the ceremony and permitted the girls to give Serena her birthday presents for her to open, but not before pulling her daughter aside and scolding her in front of everyone in the room.
So much for sparing me any more humiliation, Serena thought.
"There are no words to express how disappointed I am in you, Serena." Serenity looked at her daughter with a glare that would have killed anyone else. Serena was sure of it.
"I know, Mother," the Princess stammered in a small voice, now far more embarrassed than she had been upon entering the room. She was afraid to look her mother in the eye, and she didn't, until the Queen put her hands on her daughter's shoulders and forced her to do so. "I'm sorry…" After who knew how many mistakes she had made, Serena had finally apologized for all of her actions, and she meant her words, but that was all she could say, because she didn't know if she would ever mess up like this again. Therefore, she could not have said, "It won't ever happen again," even if she had wanted to. She didn't want to make a promise that she couldn't keep. Not doing so was the least she could do for her mother, especially after all this.
Furthermore, there was no way of knowing by her mother's look alone if she truly believed her daughter to be sincere in her apology or not. There was silence for a moment or so before Serenity let go of her daughter's shoulders and looked over to where the other four girls were waiting for their friend.
"Go open your presents," the Queen instructed shortly, anger still very present in her eyes. "We'll talk more about this later."
Serena nodded mutely at her mother's command and stumbled guiltily toward her friends, her stomach still in a giant knot.
She had to stop being so foolish, if not for her own sake, then for her mother's. But, that didn't mean that she wanted to be a Queen.
Serenity watched with the parents of the new Senshi as her daughter opened her birthday presents. The Moon Queen and the other leaders of the Inner Planets were far enough away to talk without the young girls being able to hear them, which prompted Queen Aiko to ask this question:
"She's not interested in being Queen, is she?"
Serenity felt her gut twist, knowing that Aiko was asking about Serena. "No," she responded, looking intently at her happy, giggling daughter, her inappropriate actions clearly forgotten. "Not at all."
"But, just because she doesn't want to do something, doesn't mean that she has the right to blow off her responsibilities in such disrespectful ways," the King of Mercury, Mikalos, commented. "It's unacceptable and highly inappropriate."
Serenity nodded in agreement, her eyes still on her daughter. "It is," she said.
Queen Edana, who had been the leader of Serenity's Senshi generation, let out a long sigh and, after a few moments, said something that was very painful for Serenity to hear, but at the same time, very true. "I hate to say this, Serenity, but...you know Luain would be quite displeased with her."
The Moon Queen's stomach twisted even more at the thought of her deceased husband, who had always been so diligent and dedicated to everything he had ever done. No, he would most certainly not have approved of his daughter's uncaring antics or her sloppiness.
Tears began to fill Serenity's eyes as she remembered her long-buried love. "I know."
She remembered her daughter's birth quite vividly. What mother could forget such an experience? Yes, it had been the most miraculous occurrence that she could have ever experienced in her life. Once Serena had been born, it was as if nothing else mattered but her, and to hold Serena in her arms was the most rewarding thing in her life. The love that the Queen felt for her daughter was nothing short of unconditional. At that moment, she vowed in her heart that she would do everything in her power to protect her little Princess at all costs, just as she knew her own parents had vowed to do for her.
But, the birthing process itself had not come without consequences. After about five hours of intense pain brought on by many contractions, Queen Serenity was finally able to bring forth her daughter into the world. Her beloved consort, King Luain, had been by her side throughout it all, constantly holding her hand, kissing her forehead, stroking her loose silver-lavender hair, and whispering strong words of encouragement to her, as any husband who truly loved his wife with all his heart would do. By the time the Princess was born, however, the Queen had suffered some vaginal tearing, which, while very painful, was not uncommon, the physicians had assured her, especially for a first-time birth, regardless of how much the child weighed. And Serena had weighed no more than five pounds, at that! Hers was smaller than the birth weight of the average baby, which was normally seven pounds at full term. The doctors had been forced to stitch up the Queen's wounds, much to her dismay, as she had hoped that they would be able to heal on their own. Shortly after the physicians had completed their task, exhaustion finally consumed her and she fell asleep.
Upon awakening, she found sunlight to be pouring into her bedroom. The position of the said light and degree of its brightness prompted her to conclude that the time of day was shortly after sunrise, perhaps only around eight or nine o'clock in the morning.
She could not yet straighten her legs, and she had the feeling that she would not be able to do so for quite a while, the area between them being so sore and tender. She also doubted that, even if the laws of the universe had permitted the Moon Queen and her King to conceive a second child, she would not have been able to give birth naturally again.
"There you are, my love! How are you feeling?" A deep, smooth voice asked in a soft tone.
Serenity turned her head in the direction of the gentle sound of her husband's question and saw him seated in the rocking chair near the window, holding a tightly swaddled, dark purple bundle securely in his arms.
The Queen sighed. "I've felt better," she said weakly. letting a small smile escape her lips at the precious sight of her husband and daughter. "How long was I asleep?"
Luain glanced over at the grandfather clock on the opposite wall of the bedroom in answer to his wife's question. "A good four hours," he responded.
Serenity grunted and made another attempt at stretching out her legs, which had begun to cramp in their uncomfortable position, but the action was far too painful to carry out. "I must be a weakling," she commented.
She saw Luain shake his head in disagreement with her statement. "No," he said. "A human is what you are. What you're experiencing is no different than what any other woman in the Solar System in your condition experiences, my dear. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, you're lucky, in more ways than one. When I first joined the army, one of my fellow officers sustained some rather intimate injuries, similar to yours. But…" He shrugged. "Let's just say he won't be conceiving any children, unless there's a miraculous advancement in the medical field soon."
He looked down at the tiny bundle in his arms. "You should be proud of yourself, Serenity. I'm certainly proud of you."
She turned her gaze toward their child. "Is she doing all right?"
Luain nodded and kissed little Serena's forehead softly. "Yes. She's fine." He spoke very quietly. "The doctors say she's completely healthy for such a low weight. We've just been having some father-daughter time together. I figured it's only fair for the two of us to bond with you having already known her for nine months longer than I have. I envy you for that, you know. Just because of that, you'll have always known her longer than I ever will." He chuckled and smiled again.
He had meant for his words to be a joke, of course, but neither he nor his wife knew at the time just how ironic and true the statement would turn out to be. "But, she probably is hungry by now," he remarked, looking down at his daughter again. "I suppose it's time for her to nurse. They want us to monitor her eating habits for a while."
Serenity nodded. "Alright." She agreed, and let out another sigh as she slowly began propping herself up on her pillow so that she could sit up straight. "Let's give this a try."
She proceeded to unbutton her nightgown, a dress that she had put on after the start of her first contraction for the very purpose of nursing. But, she had to admit that she was mildly afraid and nervous at having to do this. Not only had she been told by multiple mothers, including all of the Queens of the Solar System, that breastfeeding started out very painfully and uncomfortably, but she also felt that it would be very awkward to know her child in such a way (even though nursing a child was, of course, the very purpose of having breasts). Nevertheless, when the midwife who had delivered the Princess had offered to find a nurse-for-hire for the Queen, Serenity had refused. She did not want another woman caring for her child. Not when she was perfectly capable of doing it herself.
No, she would be the mother to her daughter. She would not allow anyone else to be.
Luain walked over to the bed and placed baby Serena to her mother's bare chest, the child letting out a tiny grunt in protest at having to be moved from the comfortable position in her father's arms that she had become accustomed to after so many hours. After a few seconds or so, with her mother's help, she finally latched onto the Queen's breast and began to suckle it lightly. It wasn't as strange as Serenity would have thought it would be, but it certainly wasn't her favorite activity to do with her newborn daughter.
Luain positioned himself on his side of the bed next to his wife and took her hand.
"She's so beautiful," Serenity said as she looked down at the Princess, a renewed love for the child coursing through her body.
"She is," the King Consort said softly. "Very."
"She has your hair," the Queen remarked. She caressed a golden lock on her daughter's head, just as the baby opened her eyes for a brief moment. They were her husband's blue as well. "And your eyes."
Luain nodded humbly and stroked Serena's tiny head before resting his own head lightly on his wife's shoulder. "That she does," he agreed.
Serenity looked at her King and a sudden surge of pure love for him overtook her. She never thought that she would ever be able to love him any more than she already had, but now, with the child they had created lying in her arms, she knew that she could.
And she knew that he felt the same way.
Within an instant, their fingers had entwined and they were kissing passionately, not knowing or caring at all that they would be unable to have a sexual relationship ever again. They had all the satisfaction that they needed right there.
"I love you." The sentence issued from both of their lips as they broke apart.
At this moment in time, Serenity was the happiest that she had ever been in her life. Again, she did not know that, not even one year later, the happiness she now felt would be ripped away, turning her life upside-down.