As I write this, I have just successfully put my hair in odangos. Goodness, that was hard. I'm starting to think Chibiusa's hair style was come across by mistake because I ended up with something close to it. But honestly, I love this hairstyle and so does my mom. It's my new lounge around hairstyle.

I won't bore you any longer. You can see how Serenity is faring.

"Neptune invited me?" murmured Serenity as she signed yet another paper. She shuffled for another one through the mess that she knew would be better if she only organized it into signed and unsigned piles could not be bothered to. She had trouble deciphering between the desk and the papers. White marble was troublesome, but so was anything from Earth (i.e. Endymion, Serenity added to herself). Now that she thought about it, a lot of things on the Moon were Earth-made. What did the Moon make? Serenity didn't even know. "When is it for?" she asked, remembering the current conversation.

"Tomorrow. She wishes to catch up, I believe," replied Luna.

Serenity nodded. "I see. I suppose I might as well speak to her now. Convince her that Venus meant no harm, all in jest—that reminds me, Luna, perhaps she could have truly been speaking in jest? Mercury mentioned that they—Jupiter, Venus, and herself—thought of me as a sister. Venus wouldn't do something like that to a sister, right?"

The queen beamed as if her point had been proved and continued with her paperwork.

"Perhaps," Luna agreed. "Serenity, Neptune is very far away. We should start traveling right now."

"Aw, but I'd prefer to relax a little, fix my hair—I have some awful fly-aways right now and the buns aren't completely round—and maybe I should get a little snack." Serenity paused at Luna's harsh look. "But, Lu-na! I'm hungry! Being a queen is hard work! I deserve at least a sugar cookie. Maybe even chocolate chip."

Luna shook her head. "While discussing the value of cookies to interplanetary currency is always an entertaining topic, this is not a joke, my queen. You must understand that you don't have playtime anymore. Even though you are only fifteen, you must act like a grown woman. There are many things you must consider—alliances with planets in other systems, wars, marriage—"

"Marriage!" exclaimed the queen. "Luna, I'm fifteen!"

"Exactly. You are expected to wed soon."

". . . None of the other rulers have wed," Serenity pointed out.

Luna sighed. "Marriage is one of the last things you consider on Mercury, it's not required for the birth of an heir on Venus, it's too sacred to marry except for love on Mars, Jovians rarely marry and usually adopt children whose parents have passed, Saturn is still fairly young, I'm not entirely sure what Uranus and Neptune are doing, and Pluto can't marry."

"What about Endymion?" added Serenity smugly.

"On Earth, males usually wed late."

Serenity cocked her head and chewed on her pen. "Weird. All right, Luna, I'll leave soon. Give me an hour to gather anything necessary and you can fetch Artemis."

Luna agreed and the two excited the Royal Office.


"Artemis, I received word from Mau," whispered Luna as they boarded the ship. Artemis inquired back in his own hushed tone about the state of being. "Mewla thinks Chaos will be wreaking havoc soon. We need to watch and see if Cosmos levels rise to even it out. If so, we are to become Star advisors again."

The white-haired man looked indignant. "Just when we thought we got rid of that job . . . . Luna, do you think it will really happen?"

"I'm not sure," Luna replied. "We just have to wait like anyone else would."

"Have you considered telling Serenity?"

She hesitated. "Selene wanted to—when she was older. Serenity doesn't need to find out yet. Besides, whatever is happening on Mau may reach us after Serenity has grandchildren! Perhaps we could put it off just a bit."

"We need to be prepared. I say we tell her," said Artemis firmly.

"Later," pleaded Luna. "Let the Silver Alliance come together and then we'll lead Serenity to—"

"Lead me to what—or whom, as cases may be," Serenity spoke suddenly. She took a seat next to Luna and laid her head down on her shoulder. She intended to sleep through the majority of the ride.

Luna shifted to make it easier for her queen. "Some minor issues on the Moon. It is nothing you need to think about now."

"Like getting married?" queried Serenity. "I want to spread Earth's later life marriage thing to the Moon. I'll get married when I'm twenty-five. It will be much easier to find someone then, you know. I won't have to look through countless people because so many will have already wed. It's a very good idea, if you ask me."

"Just marry who you want," reminded Artemis.

Serenity nodded. "Oh, I know. I want more than anything to be in love when I marry. In fact, I'd support any marriage for love, regardless of status."

Serenity waited for a reaction from the two. There was nothing. In fact, nobody said anything for quite some time; there was no sound but the engine and breathing until Mars came into view. Serenity had stared out the window mesmerized by the stars and Luna and Artemis has pondered the fate of their home planet.

"Sleep, dear. It's a long way to Neptune and I'm sure you want to greet her properly," Luna replied eventually. It took Serenity a minute to remember that she had been the last to speak. She nodded and let herself drift away into her fairy tale land with a faceless prince—or king, she thought sleepily, now that she was a queen—and pure bliss.


The whirr of a Lunarian engine was a pleasant sound, but it did not fit in with the soft jingles in the nature of Neptune. The Neptunian queen pulled her wavy locks back and let them fall once more as to get a better view of her arriving guests. She curtsied as custom and stepped back to wait for the exit. The Lunarian queen left no disappointments as she chattered about the beauty of singing birds and the tranquility of the wind as it pushed the limbs of the trees around. Neptune noticed that she carried an extra pair of shoes, a wise choice as she was currently walking through the marshes.

"Good day, Serenity," interjected the blonde queen.

Serenity started. "Uranus! I didn't know that you would be here. Don't take that with a negative connotation, of course, I was merely surprised, but it is nice to see you all the same. It seems like I'll be going everywhere now that I'm queen," joked Serenity.

Neptune gave a soft smile. "Of course. What would you like to do now, Serenity? I am afraid I cannot remember what you liked to do when visiting."

The moon queen explained that she could not either and would be open to anything either of them suggested. Neptune and Uranus shared a look in contemplation over which of them could determine an activity that Serenity would perceive as the lesser of two evils.

"I like listening to nature's song and graphing it down so we can recreate it," confessed Neptune. "We have a special system, and I would be happy to teach you although I must admit that for the length of time I do it, you might find the sound cloying."

Uranus said, "I prefer racing the horses that Endymion sent me for my coronation."

Serenity made an exaggerated sound to let them know of her meditation. "Can I try both?" Serenity asked brightly. "I love learning new things and I want to make the most of my visit here!"

Neptune nodded and led the queens to the area she typically worked in, explaining the way the notes were jotted down and how to use a small instrument to test the sounds once more in case the replication didn't sound quite right. "If something like that happens, Serenity, for any reason, just throw it out. Someone else is bound to hear that tune someday, so it is hardly a loss. It is much better to have no music than bad music," advised Neptune. Serenity gave a brief determined nod with her eyes showing her complete enrapture. She caught on fairly quickly and after a few hours left to work with Uranus.

"Wait!" whined Serenity as she attempted to speed her horse. "I just started! It's not fair! You've trained!"

As she pulled up to the Triton Castle, Neptune was giggling in a ladylike manner and Uranus had just hopped off of her horse. Serenity pouted and declared her dislike for the activity.

"Come now, Serenity, you are a queen," Neptune chided, "so act like it. Don't pout because Uranus is a better equestrian than you. Let's go to dinner."

Serenity flushed. While she assumed that the green-haired queen had been joking, she still felt embarrassed about acting in such a childish manner in front of the elegant lady. She lifted the hem of her skirt and dragged her feet through the thick mud to get inside. She tripped and Uranus helped her up.

"Still as ungraceful as ever, Kitty Cat?" teased Uranus. Serenity beamed. She had always liked Uranus, who could act childish while retaining dignity. "Queen Serenity, Neptune and I would like to have a chat with you."

"Uh-oh," muttered the silver-haired child. "Had it been anyone else, I would be worried if they were inquiring whether it was I who knocked down that shelve of books or broke the arrow or chipped the marble statue of a former ruler or put out part of the Sacred Fire or—"

"If I didn't know better, Serenity, I would say you were listing previous offenses," Neptune said with slight amusement as they sat at the dining table. The moon queen briefly wondered why they were in here. Dinner was far off.

"Of course not!" protested Serenity. "I was but listing a few incidents that I may or may not have been involved in."

Uranus removed her head from the hand it had been resting on a leaned back. "Might I inquire how the Sacred Fire was put out? I thought that was supposed to be invincible to that."

Serenity twisted part of her hair back.

"There were a few children hiding from a Mercurian girl and when the Mercurian found one of them in a temple room, she threw a fit that put the fire in that room out. Both agreed to never tell anyone. I'm assuming only one has broken that agreement."

Neptune forced seriousness into her expression. "Serenity, I am afraid I need to speak of Alliance business. As you know, my kingdom has had great debts and we are unable to pay them off without adding a deficit to our current funds."

"I know, Neptune, and I have decided to forgive all debts to the Moon Kingdom. We are in no need of currency," said Serenity. "We have cookies!"

Uranus ignored her off-base comment. "What has made you decide this so suddenly?"

"My advisors," she stated simply. "Is that all, then?"

The neighboring queens nodded and Serenity thought to turn away to her room where she might cleanse herself after a long day out and rest from the activity when Mercury's plea resonated in her memory. She resumed her seated position to the surprise of Neptune and Uranus.

"If I might say so, I believe you can trust Mercury. I had dinner with her the other day and she still seems to be the same honest person she has always been; in fact, she explained a little bit about senshi to me. I believe I may look into borrowing a book from her. She seems to know a lot about Cosmos and Chaos and I don't seem to remember much at all," said Serenity. As she looked at each of the cold stares, she decided the subject matter was not appropriate and turned to a different monarch. "Might I ask what you think of Saturn, then?"

"I believe that she needs to be sealed away. The Silence Glaive is a weapon that calls to its possessor, and with her interests, I think Saturn should as soon use it for her own amusement as to save our Alliance," Neptune said.

"Her interests?" Serenity exclaimed. "I had her for tea the other day and it seemed to me that her interests are more of the romantic kind than the gothic."

Uranus wanted to saw something, but Neptune stopped her.

"I see," Uranus replied once she was allowed to speak, "but we still believe that she should be sealed away. That power is too great for anyone. It would be better for all."

Serenity frowned. "I disagree. I'm afraid that I feel too tired to stay up much longer. I will retire to my chamber. Good night. Do not wake me for dinner."


It was a surprise to her advisors to find Queen Serenity staring out the window in the ship, bags already put away when they arrived. She did not address them happily as usual but with a curt nod.

"Did someone upset you, my queen?" probed Artemis. Serenity said nothing.

I know this chapter is short too, but it will get better. In fact, I think you will be much happier with me once I post the next chapter. I think it's much more entertaining.