Chapter Two - Tealight

Serenity lay on her enormous draped bed, fully clothed, swathed in an airy white gown. She gazed out her window across the silver expanse of the moon, glittering and shining in the meager light of the Sun they received. It wasn't warm, like on Earth. On Earth the Sun was radiant, encapsulating. Here it was... distant, despite being no further away than the Earth was. She fiddles with the lace on a pillow. Guess it couldn't be helped.

She reached for the notebook that sat upon her covers. It was leather bound, with thick paper. Like all things in the palace, it was pale, and had a satin ribbon marking where she last was. The paper was unlined, and filled until this point. Her mother intended to be a diary, but it was mostly scribbles of her friends or thoughts she had in the middle of the night and she couldn't wake Luna. She wasn't all that great at words, and she struggled to find the right ones to describe Earth, but they still flowed out of her in unfinished, disconnected thoughts.

Sunny. Warm. Grass. Bright. Dirt. Her silver pen raced across the page in her sloppy handwriting. Ground. Trees. Green. Sun. Did she say that already?

"Well, never thought I'd see the day where you wrote in that thing." said a voice from the doorway. There stood a dark haired cat looking up at her in fond disbelief.

"Luna!" she cried, running over to scoop the cat in her arms. Luna mewed, her voice betraying her age.

"What were you writing?"

"I was writing about Earth." she carried her across the room and gently laid her in the center of the bed. "It's the most wonderful place." she held up her notebook, showing her the page of writing. "See!"

Luna scanned the page with mild interest. "Dirt? Really?"

"It was brown Luna!" her face split into a giant grin. "Nothing was white or silver, except for the palace. Everything was brown or green or blue. It was so bright!" Luna smiled at her fondly, blinking slowly. "Lunch will be served soon."

"Why didn't you say so earlier!" Luna lightly leapt off the bed and pattered out the door. Serenity followed her into the corridor, her delicate silver shoes less than quiet on the endless expanse of white marble.

It was a fair walk to the dining hall, past countless airy, silvery white rooms. Bedrooms, closets, drawing rooms, halls. The palace was always busy, but it always felt empty. It was easy to lose someone in this cavernous palace.

She was nearly at the dining hall doors when she stopped. She walked by this display every day, but today she found herself halted, taking it in as though it was the first time she'd seen it.

Near the entrance to the dining hall hung an enormous portrait. It was far bigger than a person, big enough to be an entire wall by itself. There was a long, low table underneath made of a dark wood, one of few such pieces on the entire Moon. Atop it sat a small tea candle, milky white and dainty, the small flame unmoving in the draftless corridor.

The painting showed a tan man, tall and of sturdy build. He had fiery dark auburn hair, so unlike her mother's. He had a grand moustache and beard that featured patches of bright red. He wore shining golden armour and held an imposing helmet by his hip, a tall lance standing in his other hand. His stern face stared down at her, his glinting eyes finding her from under his bushy eyebrows. She cast her eyes down to the floor.

"Serenity?" came a voice. Luna had padded to her side and was looking up at her, the concern in her eyes very slightly crinkling the pale crescent moon on her forehead that matched her own.

"Let's go Luna." she said quietly.

She whined through her classes more than usual, earning her several scorns from her tutors. While not known for being focused or studious, she couldn't pay attention at all. Her eyes kept finding the window, searching for a glimpse of bright blue amoungst the inky black and pearlescent white outside.

It was all her mind could think of. Earth. The way the sky lit up the ground, instead of the other way round. The sun shining and filling her body with warmth, rather than merely reflecting off the ground. How warm everything was, how warm the grass was between her fingers. Oh how she loved that, skirts bunched around her on the ground, skin hot, hands dusty with dirt. Until that prince came along he tormented her until she was collected by Venus. He perfectly ruined her trip to Earth. Because of him her time was wasted, she was discovered, and her mood thoroughly soured. Her hands were clenching at the mere thought of his condescending smirk.

All day she flittered between dreaming of warm skies and annoyance at the boy who ruined her day, and she was doing just this when her mother called her down from her room. She stomped her feet the whole way there, fed up with the quirk of his eyebrow as he mocked her, his skin that bore evidence of exposure to the sun. She stomped as loud as she could in her dainty shoes, skirts held up in her hands so she wouldn't get caught and fall, again.

She pushed open the tall doors, and found her mother sitting on a grey couch. One would expect her to blend into the background, but she seemed to emit her own light, gentle and white, that cast no shadows. Her face broke into a smile as she saw her entering.

Next to her sat a young man. He stood up instantly as she entered, and she recognised him immediately. It was the Earth prince. He looked entirely out of place in the white palace, surrounded by pale furniture. He was still wearing silver armor over a dark uniform, but his hand rested on an ornate sword hilt at his hip, and a black cape hung behind him. That chunk of hair still hung in front of his face.

"Prince Endymion came here from Earth to speak with you." her mother said brightly.

His face held no evidence of smarminess or mocking. He simply looked at her with an odd look on his face. When he realised she wouldn't move from the door, he approached and bent down on one knee at her feet. She was frozen in place, speechless. She could only stare as he lifted his head, looking up at her with his sparkling, deep blue eyes, much larger and more doe like than she remembers.

"I must apologise for my previous behaviour, Princess. It was untoward and unbefitting of me." She searched his face for any sign of smugness, or upturn on his mouth, but there was only open sincerity. Lost, she looked to her mother, but she had disappeared.

"Um, thank you." she stammered. "You can rise." He did, and he stood about a head taller than her, with an athletic build and broad shoulders that were exaggerated by his silver shoulder armor plates. She felt so small under his gaze. "Why did you come here?"

"I came here," he said firmly. "Because I thought it would be less than ideal to be on bad terms with the Moon Princess." he absently waved a gloved hand. "And now that's resolved."

"Oh." she felt a little stupid. "Well it is much appreciated."

"Very well."

A tall man she had barely noticed strode over and stopped behind the prince. He was deeply tanned and had long white hair, and wore a dark red uniform. "We should be going now my Prince."

"Yes of course." he said. "Farewell Princess." He took her hand gently raised it to his lips, smirking and purposefully looking at her as he did so. He turned, and in the movement she saw the rich dark red lining his cloak. He left, the man following behind him, their boots making firm thuds against the marble floors. She absently rubbed her knuckles with her other hand.

behold, an update. thank you everyone for reading my story, cheers dudes

- lee