A/N: I do not own Sailor Moon it belongs to Takeuchi Naoko. All OC's belong to me; any similarity to other fan-made characters is purely coincidental.

Thanks again to my beta: ObsessiveJemima, I owe her my life.


Reaping Cherries
Book 1 Chapter 1: Meetings

I stood on the balcony that overlooked the gardens. It had only been a few days since my return to the Dream Moon Palace; but those who had stayed had taken good care of it.

I sighed and gripped the railing, even though I was a Sailor Soldier, Queen Serenity insisted that I have a Guardian. Sparing one more glance at the stars, I walked back inside and changed into proper royal attire to meet him.

~dream~

I sat upon the throne and waited. I had been told the man's name was Zenas Talya from the Martian Royal Army and I wasn't sure what to expect.

Then, the doors opened and in walked a man wearing the red and gold armor of the Martian Royal Army, his dark hair was cut into the simple military style, nothing really stood out about him. I wondered if he could really protect me; he only looked a couple of years older than my sixteen solar years.

He walked toward me and stopped about ten foot from the throne and bowed deeply at the waist, "Princess Nehellenia Sakura Tsukiyume, I am Zenas Talya. Queen Serenity of the White Moon Kingdom has asked me to be your Guardian."

"Do you believe you are fit for such a job?" I asked.

"I will do as I am asked. It is my duty, and I will do it to the best of my ability." He said, looking up at me.

"Then do you pledge your loyalty to me, and swear to protect me from harm, no matter the consequences?" I asked.

"I do, Your Majesty. I am but your humble servant. I hereby pledge myself to you, to guard and protect you from any and all dangers, with my life, if necessary." He dropped to one knee as was tradition and rested his hands on his knee then bowed his head in submission.

"I accept your pledge. Rise, Guardian Talya, and take your place at my side." I said and he got up and stood to my left and slightly behind.

I turned to a servant, "Send word to Queen Serenity that it is done. Zenas Talya is now my Guardian." The servant nodded and hurried off.

I walked back to my personal chambers, Talya following me. I sighed and turned to him.

"I am only going to say this once, so listen well. I am a Sailor Soldier and I do not need your protection. I am only doing this for Queen Serenity; she has done much for me after my mother's deception. So, you play the part of the good Guardian and I will take care of myself, understood?" I said, staring him in the eyes.

"With all due respect Your Majesty, just because you are a Sailor Soldier does not mean that you do not need protection. So forgive me for saying that I will not follow those orders, and I will do my job as I have pledged to do." His stare was hard, determined.

I quirked and eyebrow, "Defiance on your first day? Are you sure you are a member of the Martian Royal Army?" My tone was playful as I continued down the hallway, then up a set of stairs.

"I can assure you that I am, or was rather, Your Highness." He said. I couldn't see his face, but I'm good at reading people and I could hear the smile in his voice.

I sighed a bit as I stood outside my chamber doors, "Alright, I will let you do your job, but only as I see fit. Your chambers are right next to mine, just in case anything happens, and I doubt anything will. I will be having lunch in a few hours. I am sure you'll figure out my schedule quickly enough. Enjoy your day Guardian Talya." I went into my room after that. Not caring what Talya did or did not do.

~dream~

I changed into more simple clothes and headed down to the practice area. Just because I had a Guardian now did not mean I was going to neglect my workout.

As I practiced my Sailor attack I heard boot-steps on the wood floor of the practice area. I stopped and turned to see Talya walking in.

He stopped, crossed his arms, and arched an eyebrow at me.

I mimicked him.

"You should have told me where you were going, Princess." He said.

"You are my Guardian, not my keeper." I relaxed and went back to my practice, this time I practiced hand-to-hand maneuvers.

"I cannot do my job if I do not know where you are."

"Oh yes, I suppose some random assassin is going to jump from a dark crevice the moment I disappear from your sight?" I stopped and turned to look at him.

"Princess, with all due respect..."

I cut him off, "I was perfectly safe when I lived with Queen Serenity, what is so different now that I am home?"

"You know what, fine. Remain here and practice your little magic tricks. I am going back to the palace, so if someone discovers your mutilated body later, it is not my fault." He said calmly, and then left.

"If you are trying to scare me into letting you follow me around like a lost animal you are sorely mistaken Guardian Talya." I called after him, and then continued to practice until it was time for lunch.

~dream~

I returned to the castle and changed my clothes after bathing, then headed to lunch. To my surprise King Umbriel and Queen Desdemona of Uranus were waiting for me.

The King was a rather imposing man. He was tall with broad shoulders, and his deep reddish hair was long and pulled back out of his face. His light blue eyes were a contrast to his intimidating features as they seemed to be filled with kindness.

Queen Desdemona was the perfect contrast to her husband. She had delicate features with dirty blonde hair she kept pulled back in an ornate style. Her eyes were also blue, but darker.

With them were their two children, Princess Amara and Prince Thaddeus. I had met them a couple of times while living with Queen Serenity, but did not know them very well.

Princess Amara had a boyish look to her, even though she had her mother's hair and eyes. She kept her hair cut short in a boyish look and seemed to be rather uncomfortable in her deep navy dress.

Princess Thaddeus seemed to be completely at ease. His hair wasn't as dark as his father's but it still had a reddish hue. His eyes were light and bright like his fathers and he seemed to have a blend of both of his parents' features.

Both Princess Amara and Prince Thaddeus were older than me by a few years.

"King Umbriel, Queen Desdemona, what a surprise." I could not stop the surprise from my voice. I had only been back about a solar day and I was not expecting any visitors.

"We apologize for arriving unannounced Princess, but we decided that now would be a good time to set a date for your wedding." King Umbriel said.

"Wedding, what wedding?" I looked confused.

"Your wedding to our son Thaddeus of course," Queen Desdemona explained.

"I was not told that I was to marry the Prince," I said. I had no idea what was going on.

"No one ever told you?" King Umbriel asked.

"No. I am afraid not," I shook my head. "Is this why you insist I spend time with Prince Thaddeus whenever you visited the White Moon Palace?"

"I am afraid so, Princess, but Thaddeus tells us that you somehow managed to avoid spending much time with him, is this true?" Queen Desdemona said.

"I was more interested in studying history than young men Your Majesties." I explained.

"Well perhaps now that you are older you will take some time to get to know Thaddeus." The Uranian Queen said with a kind smile on her face.

"Perhaps, shall we sit down for lunch?" I asked, gesturing to the table where the cooks had lain out a wonderful looking lunch.

"Of course Princess," King Umbriel said and we sat down to lunch.

We had just begun eating when Talya entered the room.

"I apologize for my lateness Princess; I was not informed you were taking lunch. Or that we had guests." He scanned the table with a wary eye.

"Who is this, Princess?" King Umbriel asked.

"My Guardian, Zenas Talya, Queen Serenity assigned him to me. I personally do not feel the need to have a Guardian when I am I Sailor Soldier and can very well take care of myself." I explained as Talya sat two paces down from me, a respectable distance seeing as Prince Thaddeus sat to my right. The King, Queen, and Princess Amara sat across from me and the Prince.

"There is a Martian idiom that many of us live by Princess: It is better to be safe, than sorry." He stared down the table at me.

"If you say so Guardian," I said, not looking at him as I concentrated on my food.

There was silence for a few moments before Queen Desdemona spoke, "I think we should at least postpone the wedding until after your twenty-first birthday, Princess. Does that sound reasonable?"

"Yes, it will give me time to get comfortable in my position as ruler of the Dream Moon, and also give me time to get to know Prince Thaddeus a little better," I said, nodding and faking a pleased smile. "One thought plagues me, why I am to marry Prince Thaddeus? I was unaware of the arrangement."

The Queen smiled, "Well, many years ago Umbriel wanted to marry your mother, but she refused vehemently. Umbriel was persistent though, and so your mother made him an offer. If he would stop asking her to marry him she would allow her first born daughter to marry his first born son, and that my dear, is why you are to marry Thaddeus."

"I see," I frowned.

"So you have to marry Thaddeus at some point young lady. Your mother and I had a deal, and just because she was corrupted by an evil mirror does not mean the deal is off," King Umbriel said sternly.

I took a deep breath to calm myself, "Of course, Your Highness. The marriage would be a benefit to both of our worlds, easing relations between the Dream Moon and Uranus."

"Precisely, now this was a very nice lunch. Give my compliments to your chefs, but we must be going." King Umbriel stood.

"Thaddeus, would you like to stay and spend some time with Princess Nehellenia?" The King asked his son.

"Perhaps tomorrow, Father, I made a promise to a friend earlier today. I shall return tomorrow Princess." He stood, then bowed and kissed my hand.

The other Uranian royals left as well.

Once they were gone I sighed and sagged in my chair.

"Am I to understand that you do not wish to marry Prince Thaddeus?" Talya asked. He had been so quiet that I had nearly forgotten he was here.

"What gave you that idea?" I responded sarcastically.

"Simply a lucky guess," he shrugged. "We must all do things we do not wish to Princess; it is a simple fact of life. But know that if you do marry him, I shall not neglect my duty as your Guardian." He then got up and left the dining hall, leaving me alone.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, even now, after being sealed away for so long, my mother was having an influence on my life and I did not like it.


A/N: When a character refers to time as solar years/days/months/weeks/etc, they are going by Earth's timetables, so a 24 hour day and so on, just to clarify.