"Rini, pay attention!" Neo-Queen Serenity shook her daughter's shoulder gently.
"Huh? Oh, sorry Mama. What were you saying?" Rini focused on the petite blond woman sitting on the throne beside her.
"I was explaining the protocol of greeting ambassadors from other galaxies, but I don't believe you heard me. Is something on your mind? You seem so preoccupied these days," Neo-Queen Serenity asked, concern showing in her cerulean eyes.
"It's nothing Mama. I just didn't get enough sleep last night." That was certainly true, though Rini was often kept awake by Helios, even when he wasn't actually there.
"Well, that's enough for today. Why don't you go get some rest?" Serenity suggested. "After all, you need your beauty sleep for the ball next week."
Rini winced in recollection. A ball was the last thing she wanted to think about. She despised having to put up with arrogant princes. She always felt like she was putting on an act, because Helios could never come and everyone thought she was available, including her parents. She smiled wanly at her mother and left the throne room, her footsteps echoing on the high ceiling.
Once she heard her daughter's footfalls fading on the staircase, Queen Serenity rose as well. Rini had been removed and depressed for months now. She had always been a private person, but lately she hadn't shared anything personal with her family whatsoever. Serenity knew something was going on with her only child, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out what it was. She headed for the east side of the palace, determined to find the cause of her daughter's troubles.
The temple of the Crystal Palace was located in the east wing, because Priestess Rei preferred to pray with the sunrise. Serenity entered the temple silently, not wanting to disturb the priestess if she was praying. Sure enough, Serenity spied a familiar figure in front of the Sacred Fire, the wind of the flames blowing her waist length black hair off of her face. Knowing all too well the consequences of disturbing the fire maiden, Serenity sat on a low bench. Queen or no, Rei would not be above screaming at her about what a meatball head she was for disturbing her while she was meditating. Fortunately, a few moments later Rei rose from the fireside and noticed her queen's presence. "Good morning, Your Majesty. What brings you here?" the Senshi of Fire bowed.
"Rei, how many times must I tell you, my best friend doesn't need to call me by my title? Serenity is fine."
"As you wish, Serenity, now, what is the problem? I can tell something is troubling you." Knowing dark eyes met distressed blue ones.
"I'm worried about Rini. Have you noticed a change in her lately?"
"Yes, she has kept to herself more then usual these past months. It seems as if she is constantly waiting for something. I've tried to read her mind, but she has it locked up. I can't penetrate it."
"I'm convinced something major is going on with her. Is there anything you can do to find out what it is?" She looked at her friend pleadingly.
The raven haired woman rubbed her chin in thought. "I suppose I can do a fire reading to see if anything important is going to happen to her in the future that we don't know about." She glided back to the flame, took a drawstring patch from around her neck and poured some of its contents, a red powder, onto the fire. It burst to life, red and orange dancing with smoke. Rei knelt and folded her hands together. "I call on the power of the planet Mars. Please guide me in my quest. Reveal to me the future of the Princess!"
The fire swelled and glowed ferociously. The priestess, as if she was in a trance, said:
A princess must choose between her duty and her dream, her choice will either unite two worlds divided or destroy them both.
The fire died down as Rei came out of her trance. She glanced up at Serenity, whose cobalt eyes were wide with shock. "What was that?"
"A prophecy of some kind, about Rini. I'm afraid I can't tell you anymore about it, the fire only reveals so much. It has something to do with her future; perhaps Setsuna will be able to shed more light on it." Sailor Mars advised.
Serenity thanked her friend and departed for the Time Gates.
The Gates of Time were cold and deserted. Sailor Pluto had guarded them faithfully since the death of her father, Coronus, when Queen Selenity assigned the garnet eyed beauty the monumental task of forever holding a vigil over time and space. Serenity sometimes questioned her mother's decision; it did not seem fair that one person must sacrifice so much for duty. Pluto never complained, though, and the queen held her in too high esteem to pity her. As she approached the archway to the space time continuum, Serenity saw the long green hair of the Senshi of Time, her staff erect, in the same spot she had been at for countless millennia. "Good day, my queen. I've been expecting you," a knowing smile appeared on the time guardian's exquisite countenance.
"Is there anything you don't know, Setsuna? Sometimes I wonder why I'm ruling instead of you," Serenity threw her hands up in mock defeat.
"Because those who know all cannot lead, or the world would plunge into chaos. I am meant to be the world's witness, you its leader. Those are our destinies. But you did not come here to talk about that. You came to seek information about someone else's future, Small Lady's, if I'm not mistaken." Pluto murmured in a tone that conveyed she wasn't.
"So you know about the prophecy Mars made?"
"Yes, it was originally made at the end of the Silver Millennium, right before the Moon Kingdom was destroyed."
"So the two worlds the prophecy refers to are the Earth and the Moon?" Serenity's eyes widened.
"Perhaps, perhaps not."
"Oh, Setsuna, you know! Why won't you tell me?"
"You know the answer to that, my queen."
"I know, I know, it's dangerous to know too much about the future. Can you at least explain how this applies to Rini, if it was made thousands of years before she was born?" Serenity asked, perplexed.
"You're wondering why it didn't apply to you. That was my thought when I first heard it. Queen Selenity told me that your fate was to unite Earth; this premonition concerned another princess who was not yet in existence. This princess would have an even greater struggle then you, and a larger destiny to fulfill. Selenity said I would know whom the prophecy referred to when I met her. Rini is the one, Mars's reading confirms it. Since I already know what your next question will be I will answer it as best I can: Small Lady's future is uncertain. There is a disturbance in the fabric of time. The future of our world depends on Small Lady and the decisions she makes, as the prophecy states. We must all put our trust in her. That is all I can tell you, your Majesty. Have faith in the Princess." She bowed her head, kindly dismissing her ruler.
Serenity returned to the palace, still mulling over what Setsuna had told her. She couldn't have faith in her daughter if something was troubling her heart. She decided to pay a visit to Mina to see if she could determine the cause of Rini's anguish. Serenity entered the Love Senshi's office, which was a sort of monument to that emotion. The walls were covered with all sorts of paintings depicting it, from Klimt's "The Kiss" to the slightly less famous works of Sailor Neptune and her own daughter. She saw a beautiful blond woman behind a desk, piled high with cosmetics and hair products instead of papers. Mina had created the Sailor V Cosmetics Company, and her lines sold rather well. She squirted some perfume in the air that reminded Serenity of her husband's red roses. "I like it," she said as she moved to the desk.
"Serenity! What brings you here? Please don't say you need love advice, you and Endymion are half the reason my stuff sells!" Mina laughed.
"No, it's about Rini actually. She seems so down lately and I was wondering if it might be a matter of the heart."
"That's my specialty! Now that you mention it, Rini has been acting weird recently. I think her heart is conflicted somehow. She is in love, madly, deeply, passionately in love. But this love is causing her torment for some reason."
"In love? Rini? My little girl?" Serenity collapsed in a chair in disbelief.
"She is almost two thousand years old, Mom; it was bound to happen sometime." Mina patted her on the arm reassuringly.
"But, with who? And why is it making my little girl sad?" the queen demanded.
"I can't say. It could be for any number of reasons: it's unrequited, though I think that's unlikely, given the depth of her feelings; maybe he is doing something to cause her pain, girls can fall in love with jerks; or perhaps they can't be together for some reason. Knowing Rini and considering her position as Princess of Crystal Tokyo, I would guess it's the last one. As for who the lucky guy is, I don't know." Mina smiled apologetically.
"That's alright; at least we know what is bothering her now. Thanks for your help, Mina!" Serenity went in search of her husband to tell him of all she had learned.
The gardens of the Crystal Palace were world-renowned, especially for the rose garden the King of Earth was now strolling through. He bent down to smell a particularly magnificent looking red bloom when he felt a soft touch on his shoulder. It was a touch he would know anywhere, one that still made his skin tingle after all these years. Endymion glanced up to see his wife's striking blue orbs. He kissed the hand that had just blessed his shoulder, "For you, my love," he murmured as he placed the rose he had been admiring in it.
"It's lovely Endymion, thank you," Serenity smiled as her husband rose. The royal couple walked arm-in-arm as Serenity informed her husband of the prophecy Rei made, and what Setsuna had told her.
"Well, it looks like the fate of our planet is in the hands of our little girl. Do you think she can handle it, Mom?" Endymion joked.
"Actually, darling, that brings me to the last thing. Brace yourself, Dad: your daughter is, to quote Mina, madly, deeply, passionately in love." Serenity watched with glee as her spouse's expression changed from smugness to utter bewilderment. "It is why she has been acting so strange lately. Apparently, there is a problem that is causing Rini distress. Mina isn't sure what it is, though she has a few theories."
"Who is the jerk whose ass I need to kick?!" Endymion roared.
"Now, now, there is no need to get physical, dear. Remember who you are," his wife admonished gently,
"You are absolutely right, Serenity. I'm the king; I can just order him killed," he rubbed his hands together giddily.
Rini watched her parents pass below her balcony, engrossed in conversation. And each other, Rini thought. She had seen the look of awe on her father's face when he saw her mother. She saw him kiss her hand reverently, and then present her with what must have been her millionth red rose. From the pleasure on Serenity's face you'd think that was the first one she'd seen in her life. She observed as they sauntered leisurely through the flowers, not worried about having enough time together, because they were able to be together always. Rini brushed away a tear as she thought of when she saw Helios. They got so little time to be with each other that they were barley able to make love, much less talk about how their day was. There was so much desperation just to be together that they never got around to the little things. Like roses and garden strolls. Rini felt another tear slide down her cheek as she realized that she couldn't remember the last time they had laughed together. She looked down at her parents once more, so in love, so blissfully happy. Rini's hands gripping the railing became wet as she decided that while she was the former, she was most defiantly not the latter.
"Well, you can't because we don't know who he is."
"How can we find out?"
"I'm not sure; neither Rei nor Mina was able to tell me. If there was only some way we could access her mind and her soul at once," Serenity mused.
"What about her dreams. Surely if Rini is in love with someone she dreams about him."
"Endy, that is an absolutely brilliant idea!" Serenity wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him fervently.
"Remind me to come up with those more often," he grinned.
"Why don't you ask Helios if he has seen anything in Rini's dreams?" she asked.
"Alright, I'll go to Elysion right now!" he turned to go, but a small hand on his arm stopped him.
"Oh Endymion, if you find out anything in Elysion, you'll get a lot more then a kiss," Serenity coyly whispered in his ear, sending shivers down to his toes.
"Consider it done, my queen," the king saluted and left for the land of dreams.
AN: Ooh, I wonder how Helios will react...review if you want to find out!