Hello again, this is probably my fourth (or is it fifth) story, I hope I've improved.
Anyway, you know the drill, any comments or suggestions, feel free to email me here.
Sailor Moon and all others are property of Naoko Takeuchi, but the character Victoria,
Charon, and the storyline belong to me.
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This story happened during the Silver Millennium and I used the Japanese names, with
Japanese suffixes.
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"Is there something wrong with the promises made by children?
Are they any less sacred?"
-Azusa Shiga
in "The Laughing Target" by: Rumiko Takahashi
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A Broken Promise
By: CSMars
8/15/2000
"Puu!" She stiffened; there is only one person who calls her by that nickname.
"Endy-chan?" She whispered to herself while trying to turn her body around, still
stunned.
"Endy-chan!" She cried out excitingly as a black-haired boy, well, man, came
into her view, she ran to him.
"After the two old friends embraced, which seemed like an eternity, Pluto asked
her childhood friend, "Endy-chan, what are you doing here?"
"Well, nice to see you, too, Set-chan, you look beautiful." Endymion grinned.
Setsuna blushed slightly, almost like a girl out on her first date, "Why, thank
you. And you, Endymion, the high prince of Earth, also look dashing and handsome as ever,"
She teased him, but it didn't last long, "anyway, so why are you here?"
"What? I can't visit my best friend anytime I want."
"You can visit me on Pluto, unless you still can't teleport after 12 years, you
would know that you are now on the Moon."
"Okay, you got me there, Queen Serenity want to meet with me to discuss the alliance
between Earth and Moon, so here I am, with my four generals who are falling madly in
love with Princess Serenity's senshi. But what are you doing here? As long as I can
remember, you were always spending time on Pluto or on one of the other outer planets."
Endymion asked his senshi friend.
"Actually, I'm not sure, Queen Serenity said she need to see me, but she didn't
say why, and since I just arrived and haven't got a chance to meet with her yet." She
changed the subject, she was never comfortable talking about her self, "So, old Kunzite
finally fell for someone, who's the girl who can melt her heart of stone?"
"Minako, Princess Minako of Venus, Kunzite couldn't take his eyes off her.
Sometimes I wonder if she did a love spell on him, you know her mother has tons of
them."
"Minako... I think I know who that is, she's the leader of the inner senshi,
right? You can stop worry, anybody would fall for her, without a spell, I mean, she
is pretty, nice, outgoing, and energetic. You can't shut her up once you greeted her,
at least, that's what I heard." Pluto blushed, thinking she's becoming a blubber
mouth, too.
"So, how's life treating you? How many guys have already fought for your hand?"
"I lost count after the first 300, just kidding." She quickly added after
seeing the impression on Endymion's face, "I don't know, really, father always arranged
the meeting, he wanted me to hurry up and get married so I don't have to take care of
him anymore, but I told him that I don't mind. And the suitors, I tried to like them,
but the only thing they know or ever wanted to know about me is that I'm beautiful and
I will become one of the most powerful senshi in Serenity's court, even though I have
no idea what my power is. But there is a Prince Orion from the Star Kingdom, I'm
growing rather fond of him."
"And what makes him better than the rest of them?"
"Do I sense a ting of jealousy in the great Endymion's voice?" Pluto teased
playfully.
"No..." Endymion answered quickly, too quick," I- it's just than... I don't
wanttoseemybestfriendhurt, I...umm...I have to go... to- find Jadeite for Kunzite.
I'll talk to you after dinner." Endymion hurried away, not wanting to look at his
best friend in the eyes.
* * *
"Why do I have to sacrifice myself? Why does it have to be me? Why do I have
to spend 30 years at that time gate alone?" Pluto murmured to herself while standing
over to fountain, stroking the calm surface of the water gently with her long, slender
fingers. The image and voice of Queen Serenity appeared again in her mind.
* Flashback *
"My queen?" Pluto asked in a small voice.
Queen Serenity raised her head from the desk, "Oh, Setsuna-san, I thought you
weren't coming."
"I'm sorry, my queen, I was lost in the magnificent palace." Setsuna apologized,
carefully not mention the run-in with Endymion.
"Now that you are here, let's get down to business." Queen Serenity said
and went to her throne to get her scepter, "Meioh Setsuna, princess of Pluto, you're
here today with me to discuss your power as a Sailor Senshi."
Setsuna's head perked up when she heard those words.
Queen Serenity continued, "As you know, for generations and generations,
the princess of Saturn had always received her duty as the Guardian of the Time Gate
on their 16th birthday, since Saturn is the planet of Time, therefore the princesses
are the daughters of Cronus. But this generation is different; Princess Hotaru is too
weak to become the Guardian because of her illness when she was a baby. And I have
been told by Victoria, Hotaru's mother, the Guardian of the Time Stream through dreams
that this generation of Senshi are the Chosen Ones, and during the Chosen generation,
a great war will be fought, so the duty can not be avoided. With the 16th birthday of
Princess Hotaru rapidly approaching, Victoria will soon retire, and I need to find a
substitute for Hotaru as soon as possible. Since your mother is Victoria's little
sister, you have the blood of Cronus running through your veins, so you're the most
suitable substitute. So, Princess of Pluto, would you accept the duty to become the
next Guardian of the time Gate."
It was all too sudden for Setsuna, she had always wanted to have a power,
any power so she could train along with the other senshi. But now the power was right
in front of her and she was frightened, she wanted to walk away, to run... She was
speechless, well, she wanted to say no to the lonely duty, to the 30 years of solitude,
to... But she couldn't, no one ever refuse Queen Serenity that easily. She steadied
herself and spoke softly, "I'll think about it, my queen, but if I decide to take the
duty, what are the rules, which will bide me?"
"There are only three taboos, dear princess: 1. Never alter the time stream.
2. Never foretell the future..." Her voice trailed off.
"And?" Setsuna urged her to go on.
"And never stop time, with your garnet rod, you have the power to move time
and space. But no matter what happens, you mustn't stop time. If you break this taboo,
you would destroy yourself."
Setsuna, the princess of the Dead, shuddered, for the first time in her 18
years, what she heard sent shivers up her spine.
And Queen Serenity saw it, but she did not blame her. "That is all, Setsuna-san.
You can go now if you have other places to be."
Without a word, Setsuna bowed deeply and walked out of the throne room.
Serenity looked at the disappearing figures and for the first tome ever since
she had become the queen, shame fell on her and her remembered what her mother told
her when she asked why she's crying after Victoria left, "Telling people that they
should become nothing more than a shadow or a mere ghost for the good of the Kingdom
is the most shameful thing a queen could do, you'll only understand it when you've
experienced it."
"I understand now, mother, I understand now..." Queen Serenity whispered to the
empty room as the tears fell on her beautiful gown.
* End of Flashback *
"Why do I have to be a daughter of Cronus? Why do I have to be Hotaru's cousin?"
She asked no one in particular.
"Never be ashamed of who you are, child, never. Always be proud." A voice
answered her.
Setsuna turned sharply and saw a beautiful woman, perhaps not even 20, in a
senshi uniform holding a large key. "Who are you?" she wondered.
"I am Senshi Saturn, Guardian of the Time Gate." The dark-haired lady announced.
"Victoria? You are the time senshi? Hotaru's mother? My... my aunt?" She nodded
and Setsuna kept on talking, "You look so young, _too_ young to be a mother of a 16 years
old."
"Time Guardian do not age at the time gate, since I've all my 30 years, except
the day I was pregnant with Hotaru, at the gate, I am still the 16 years old who accept
the duty of guarding the gate 30 years ago."
"Okay, so let me get this straight, you are still 16," Setsuna repeated what
she had just heard, not really believing in the woman, "and you were only pregnant for
1 day and then Hotaru was born."
"Yes, all senshi always have a shorter pregnancy than normal people. But time
guardians are known for their one day pregnancy term, because the time stream could not
afford a longer absence of its guardian." Victoria explained, "now back to the original
question, do you accept the duty or not?"
"I don't know, I guess I don't want to because of certain things, plus the fact
I don't want to spend 30 years along," Pluto stopped and glanced quickly at the woman
before continue on, "but I don't know how I'll be able to tell Queen Serenity that I
don't want to accept the duty."
"You don't have to worry about Serenity, I'm sure she'll find another distant
relative of a Saturn princess. But when you said certain things, did that include a
promise you made a long time ago?" Victoria asked in a whisper, unsure of the response
she may get.
Setsuna gasped and took another closer look at the woman before her, surprised
at her knowledge.
* Flashback *
"Look, Set-chan, I have finally learned how to teleport." A seven-years-old
Endymion yelled ecstatically.
"Really, show me, Endy-chan, show me. Teleport from here to the garden of
Pluto, please." A six-years-old Setsuna begged.
"No problem, I'll teleport to the garden and wait for you there." Endymion
said proudly.
"Earth Planet, Teleportation!"
In a flash of light, the prince of Earth was gone and the princess of Pluto
ran to the garden and waited to rejoin her friend.
She waited for 30 minutes while admiring the red rose bushes, a special plant
from Earth. Then she looked around and still didn't see her friend, a scary thought
popped into her mind: What if he teleported to somewhere else? Oh no, I have to tell King
Endymion, and father, of course, he'll just kill me for losing the high prince of Earth.
* 3 days later *
"I'm sorry, your Majesty, but we still haven't hound his Highness yet, would
you like us to keep on searching?" The young general asked King Endymion of Earth.
"Of course! You are going to find him even if you have to look through the whole
planet of Pluto," Setsuna yelled an answer before the King could even open his mouth,
"Oh, let me rephrase that, you are going to find him even of you have to look through
the entire Solar System, or better yet, the entire universe."
"Pluto!" her father said that name in a tone that was usually followed by,
"apologize at once, young lady, and then go to your room and think about what you have
done."
"Gomen, King Endymion, gomen, Kunzite, gomen ne." Pluto said and looked down at
her shoes.
"It's all right, princess." Kunzite smiled warmly at her, "I know you are worried
about the prince as any of us." He turned to face his king again, "I will continue the
search, my king, we will find your son, this I vow." And then he left the room.
"It's all my fault... it's all my fault..." Setsuna murmured.
"Listen, princess, it's not your fault, you have to believe that." The King of
Earth turned around and started to comfort her, "that son of mine had been bragging
about knowing how to teleport ever since he was born, don't you worry about him, general
Kunzite and the others will kind him."
"King Endymion, may I join the next search party, or maybe I could even go on
my own, please, King Endymion, please." Setsuna pleaded.
"Dear child, no matter how much I treat you like a daughter, I cannot decide
that, why don't you go over to your father and ask him."
Setsuna walked over to her father and asked softly, "Father, may I do search
for Endy-chan, I miss him and I want to find him as soon as possible."
The King of Pluto looked at his daughter sadly and spoke, "If you really want
to go, there is nothing I can do to stop you, so I give you my permission, but you must
take 20 men with you."
20 men? It would be so boring, Setsuna thought to herself. "What if I took
Charon, you know he'll always protect me if it's my safety you're worried about."
Charon, the 17 years old man has been protecting Setsuna ever since she was born,
he's like an older brother to her.
The elderly man hesitated before giving in, "Okay, you can take Charon, but
if anything happens to you..."
"Don't worry, father, I'll be just fine. I'll go get Charon and then we'll
be on our way. Thank you father, I love you." She kissed her father on the check and
left to find her guardian.
"I love you, too, my daughter. May Kami-sama be with you." The King said softly.
* 1 day later *
"Princess, I think we have already looked here." A tall man, with short black
wavy hair and black eyes, said behind Setsuna.
"I know, I know, but I just want to check again. I mean, just in case he came
here after we checked, I have to make sure, please, Charon, just one more time."
Setsuna said and her eyes went on searching through the forest.
"But there's a lot more places we haven't checked yet. And I doubt that he'll
come back here, I mean, if he knows where he is, he would go back to the palace, won't
he?" Charon reasoned.
"You're right, and I know just where he is, come on."
* A while later *
"Endy-chan, are you here, yell my name if you can hear me, Endy-chan?" Setsuna
yelled, but all she got if an echo.
"Why would you think he'll be here, Set-chan." Charon was following her closely.
If Setsuna was not so busy looking for Endymion, she would have blushed from
be called with such affections.
"Well, you had a good point about Endy-chan not knowing where he is, and this
is the only place I didn't show him."
"Set-chan? Setsuna?" A small voice came out of the building.
"Endy-chan? Come on, Charon, let's go." Setsuna started to run, but realized
that Charon was not following her. She turn and saw that her guardian had not moved at
all, she gave him a puzzling look.
"I can't go in there, princess." Charon answered.
"What do you mean?" Setsuna asked innocently.
"Only the Royal families are allowed to go inside the temple."
"But you are royal, you are the prince of the Kingdom on Charon, Pluto's moon."
"Okay, maybe I wasn't clear enough. Only the Royal Families of the Planets
are allowed inside the temple."
Setsuna thought about the situation, and then said, "So, can I go inside alone?"
"Go ahead, princess, I'll wait for you here."
* * 8
"Endy-chan? Where are you?"
"I'm in here."
Setsuna followed the voice, Endymion's voice and walked down another corridor.
She saw him in front of the altar.
"Setsuna, thank god you're here, I was so scared, what is this place?" Endymion
hugged his friend once he saw her.
Setsuna comforted the boy who always tried to act tough in front of her,
"Endy-chan, you scared us half to death, I don't think your father will ever let you
teleport by yourself again. And this place is the Great Temple of Pluto."
"A... temple?"
"Yep, this is where my parents and their parents got married, or so was I told.
And this is the altar, where they made their promise to each other." The little girl
pointed at the steps.
"A promise?"
"Yeah, I heard from the Elders that when two people make a promise at the
Great Temple, one can never break it, or else the other one can break his/her promise,
too. Come on, Charon is waiting for us." Setsuna pulled her friend's arm.
"But, don't you want to make a promise here?" Endymion asked, refusing to move.
I never thought about it, I mean, why not, it'll be fun, Setsuna considered.
"Okay, but we have to make it quick."
Both kids knelt in front of the dark flame, and Setsuna went first. "Endymion,
the High Prince of Earth, I promise to you today, that I'll always be there for you no
matter what."
"Setsuna, the Princess of Pluto, I promise to you today, that I'll always take
care of you until the end of the world."
Setsuna looked at her Endy-chan with affection, "Really?"
"Yes, I'll always take care of you."
The two children got up and look at each other deeply in the eye and then ended
the promise, a promise sealed with a kiss.
* End of Flashback *
"How do you know about that promise, Victoria." Setsuna asked.
"I know a lot of thing. You are my niece and I believe in you, I believe you
will make the right choice." The wise senshi told her.
"Thanks you, Victoria, my aunt, for helping me to find the answer." Setsuna
hugged her Aunt. "I just needs a little longer time to find what to say to Queen Serenity."
"Don't thank me, child, I promise your mother to take care of you, and I also
made that promise in the Temple of Pluto." Victoria said and then disappeared.
* A Week Later *
She was looking for Endymion, well, she was planning to go to Queen Serenity
first and tell her that she had decided not to take the duty as the Guardian of the
Time Gate, but she sort of hoped to see Endymion first.
And she got her wish. "Gomen, gomen ne, I was looking, it's all my fault..." Her
voice trailed off when she saw who she had crashed into, "Oh, Endy-chan, just the man I
want to see."
"I was looking for you, too, Set-chan. There's something I have to tell you."
Endymion looked so happy.
"Yes? And get that goofy grin off your face, you look like your face is going
burst." Setsuna giggled, which is rare for a serious girl like her.
"That's because I'm in love."
"Oh?" Her smile faded.
"Yeah, since you are my best friend, I wanted you to know first. I'm in love
with Princess Serenity, she's so beautiful, so innocent." He hadn't noticed the look
on Setsuna's face.
"Good for you, Endy-chan, I'm so glad." She whispered. That one minute, no,
second, all her hopes, all her dreams, all her future came crashing down, and she know
what she had to do.
"I have to go and tell Kunzite and the others, bye, Set-chan." He gave Setsuna
a quick peck on the check and run down the hall.
"Why? Endymion, why have you broken your promise. Why?" The princess asked the
empty hall in a small voice.
* Flashback *
Both kids knelt in front of the dark flame, and Setsuna went first. "Endymion,
the High Prince of Earth, I promise to you today, that I'll always be there for you no
matter what."
"Setsuna, the Princess of Pluto, I promise to you today, that I'll always take
care of you until the end of the world."
Setsuna looked at her Endy-chan with affection, "Really?"
"Yes, I'll always take care of you."
The two children got up and look at each other deeply in the eye and then ended
the promise, a promise sealed with a kiss.
* End of Flashback *
* * *
"My queen, I have decided to take the duty as the next Guardian of the Time
Gate." She said in a determined voice.
Almost everybody in the room was shocked, Endymion's generals and the Outer
Senshi, Setsuna' best friends besides Endymion, knew she was in love with him and the
Inner Senshi had got the same idea from their lovers. "Set-chan..." Endymion just whispered
that name. Victoria shook her head slightly and sighed, but also admiring the strength of
the child of her sister, the woman standing before her just single-handed changed the course
of Destiny. Queen Serenity were also surprised, but it was quickly covered by the proud
feeling of a queen when her subject decided to give up their happiness to exchange for the
happiness of the others. Only Princess Serenity were not shocked, she only wondered what
was so important of that sentence, but a smile crept unto her face nevertheless, a child
who was hid from the dark, ugly facts of life ever since she was born by her mother and
her protectors.
"Thank you, Princess Setsuna, from me and every single other citizens of this
Solar System, of this universe. You shall began your duty next week." Queen Serenity said
sincerely.
* * *
"I wonder what's so special about this gate." Setsuna asked, "How do you open it,
anyway."
She turned the knob, but the gate didn't open. Maybe the key will work, she thought,
and tapped the huge key against the wooden door. The gate opened and image flooded out in
front of her, one by one: The generals asking their love to marry them; Endymion proposing
to Serenity; the battle on Earth; Endymion and his generals going back to Earth, promising
their love that they'll return; the generals captured and brainwashed by Beryl; Beryl
conquer Earth; Beryl conquer Pluto and Charon; Beryl conquer all the other planets.
And there it is the image and Endymion fight Beryl, trying to protect his love. And
she saw him die. No... Setsuna's heart cried out, no, he can't die, he can't leave Serenity,
he can't leave me, he promised, he promised... That's when the tears fell, Setsuna didn't
try to stop them, nobody would see her there, she had finally know how her father felt
when her mother died. I have to be strong, she said to herself, I am a Sailor Senshi now,
I have a duty and I'll fulfill it. She stood up, wiped away her tears and said to the image,
coldly, no longer a little girl in love, "Endymion, the High Prince of Earth, you have
broken your sacred promise to me, and now it's time that I break mine."
* * * * * * * * *
Like it, hate it, let me know, email me at Cosmos_sailor_mars@hotmail.com
Ja, love, CSMars