Sisters Forever
By Bashfulglowfly
Four-year-old Serenity dashed across the hall and into the Great Dining Hall. She cast a quick look around. No servants were in sight, especially the Chief Butler who was always grouchy.
"SERENITY!"
She gasped and quickly crawled underneath the nearest table, carefully lifting the floor length tablecloth then putting it back down. The Chief Butler always noticed if something was out of place.
"SERENITY!"
Luna was close. Probably just outside the doors.
"Have you seen Princess Serenity?"
"No, My Lady."
Serenity's lower lip trembled. She wasn't supposed to be in here but she was tired of those meanies making fun of her 'cause she didn't have a mother AND a father like they did.
"SERENITY!"
Luna's voice was farther away.
Luna hadn't found her.
A tear trickled down Serenity's cheek…Luna didn't find her.
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Luna entered the Queen's office. She nodded to the Queen's latest visitors and addressed Queen Serenity. "I can't find her, your Majesty."
Queen Serenity kept a smile on her face, but sighed inwardly. She rose and indicated to her guests that they could remain seated. "You must excuse me for a moment. I'm going to find my daughter and bring her here to meet you."
Nodding to Luna indicating that the Mauan needed to entertain the visitors, Queen Serenity swept out of the room and down the hall. She stopped for a moment and cast a small spell. She smiled as the spell delivered its results.
As she walked towards her destination, Queen Serenity reflected on the disappointing fact that the Outers could not be there for Serenity. Pluto could not leave the Gates of Time for long periods of time. Uranus and Neptune were already adults, ten years older than Serenity and had already assumed their posts at the outer reaches of the Galaxy.
There was no Sailor Saturn…as far as anyone knew. The devastating plague that ravaged the planet less than two years ago had killed thousands. The only survivor of the Royal Family of Saturn was barely over the age of two and it would be another two years before it was known if she was Sailor Saturn or not. But the People of Saturn had made it very clear that their Princess and future Queen would not be allowed to leave even if she was Sailor Saturn.
Quietly Queen Serenity entered the Grand Dining Hall. The Chief Butler would be polite to her but upset that she was in the room before it was ready. He didn't like anyone, other than servants, in the room until it was utterly perfect.
She walked down the length of one table and stopped midway. Carefully minding her skirt and heels, she crouched down. "Sweetheart, you need to come out from under the table."
Silence.
Queen Serenity continued. "You need to come out because there are some people you need to meet."
"Don' wanna meet no people. They gonna be mean."
Queen Serenity clenched her teeth to keep from cursing. There had been several new arrivals at Court who came with their children. Those children began immediately began teasing Serenity about the fact that she didn't have a father. She had heard about the teasing and had Artemis warn the parents to speak to their children.
Obviously they didn't.
She smiled at the pleasant thought of how she was going to take care of things. She was going to squash those parents like Terran bugs and feed the remains to Martian Sand Spiders!
"No, darling, these people won't be mean to you. She added coaxingly. "And after you meet them, you can have cookies…"
"Chocolate cookies?"
"Yes."
A tiny hand lifted the edge of the tablecloth and her precious daughter peered out. Her golden hair was slightly disheveled and her eyes were pink from crying. "Luna din't find me."
"I know." Queen Serenity said softly. "But I will always, always find you."
Her baby crawled out the rest of the way and Queen Serenity scooped her up and walked quickly out of the room. She held Serenity close as she walked back to her office. I won't be able to hold her like this for much longer. Just outside the door, she put Serenity down and with a quick spell, neatened Serenity's hair and clothing. When her baby was presentable, Queen Serenity smiled down at her. "Ready, darling?"
Serenity nodded hesitantly and Queen Serenity pushed open the door to her office. As they entered, four little girls jumped off their chairs and stood in front of them. Serenity bit her lip at the sight of the four girls, clamped a hand to her mother's skirt and hid her face.
Queen Serenity gently pried Serenity's hand loose and knelt next to her daughter, pulling her close. Serenity hid her face against her mother's shoulder. "Serenity, my darling, these are the princesses of Venus, Mars, Mercury and Jupiter. They are your aunties' daughters. They are here to become your Senshi and to be your friends."
One huge blue eye peeked cautiously at the four girls standing before her. "Are they gonna be mean to me?" She had whispered but the four girls heard her.
Jupiter put her hands on her hips, auburn ponytail bobbing. "Who was mean to you? I'll show 'em! I'll show 'em that they can't be mean to you!"
"I'll make them sorry too!" The violet eyes of Mars flashed.
Mercury's blue eyes were wide as she looked from the other girls to the Queen.
Venus stepped forward. She smiled charmingly to the Queen. "Of course, we would never dream of committing violence to those weaker than us." She glanced at the other three. "We shall merely inform them about the rules of politeness and courtesy."
Mars and Jupiter were young but they were not dumb. Instantly they turned big eyes to the Queen and nodded. "She's right, we would never dream hurting those who try to hurt the Princess." Said Mars with an innocent flutter of eyelashes.
Queen Serenity raised an eyebrow. She didn't believe them; after all, she had been raised with their mothers.
"Darling, why don't you and your Senshi go play. I think you'll have fun together."
Venus bounced over and held out her hand to Serenity. "Yes, let's go play! We'll have lots of fun!" To Queen Serenity's amazement, Venus actually held very still and waited patiently – as if she was trying to coax a Venusian butterfly to her hand. Slowly Serenity placed her hand in Venus' and allowed herself to be led over to the others who gathered around their princess.
The next thing Queen Serenity knew, the five girls made a mad dash out of the office and down the hall. Serenity's hands being held by Venus and Mars with Jupiter in front of them and Mercury close behind. Luna smiled at her and nodded.
Serenity and her Senshi would get along just fine.
Over the next few weeks, Queen Serenity pretended not to notice that some of the other children in the Castle sported minor burns, mild frostbite, black eyes and other small injuries. After all, if their parents weren't going to complain…but she did drop a quiet word in Sailor Metris' ear to not let the girls' get too carried away with their retaliations.
Ten years later, Queen Serenity looked out her window and watched as Serenity and her Senshi played in the garden below. Luna waited patiently as her Queen smiled.
"It was a good idea to bring the Senshi to Serenity early, Luna. Look at them! They're more like sisters than anything else."
"Yes, Your Majesty. They will be sisters forever!"