Chapter 4 Beauty and the Beast…all disclaimers apply, I do not own Sailor Moon et al.

Five years pass and still no sign of the missing princess. As for King Darien, there has been no further sighting of the wizard Melvin and he has decided to allow his subjects to return to their island home if they so desire. The only condition is that if Melvin returns, they will leave the island at once, and for all time.

For her part, Selune is grateful the king is allowing his subjects to return. She knows that he has missed his tenants and especially his advisory team. She still hasn't given up hope of finding her granddaughter. It took almost two weeks to heal the warrior princesses Neptune and Uranus. She has taken it upon herself to relieve the time princess Pluto on occasion, so that Pluto too can search for Serena.

They did find Beryl and she was prosecuted to the full extent of Lunarian Law. Beryl was found guilty of trying to murder King Darien and Princess Serenity. According to Lunarian Law, she was encased in crystal and placed in a holding cell on the planet Saturn. Should she ever escape, then Saturn's own princess has been given full permission to call down the sentence of Death.

Back on Earth, King Darien's advisors have arrived and made certain that the island is still habitable for the tenants. King Darien had patrolled the island every evening, so even though things were a little overgrown in some areas, most were ready for the tenants to take up residency once again.

Amy puts the last of her medicinal herbs on the shelf, and turns to look at her husband. "Well, we're here and still no closer to finding the answer to helping Darien. How are we supposed to change him back?"

Jason shrugs and says, "Find someone that will love him for him. That's how most of the Beauty and the Beast fairytales stories go."

Amy looks at him in disbelief. "How can we get anyone to even look at him? He won't come out of hiding for anyone except us, and even then he's become such a recluse that we're not allowed to visit him that often."

Jason just shrugs again, "It's the only idea I can come up with. Maybe the others will have come up with a solution."

Amy continues putting things away waiting for the time to pass so that they can go meet the other advisors and find out what they've discovered over the past five years.

Kaleb and Mina have taken over their normal suite in the castle itself. Once there, they proceed to set up a new defensive grid that Kaleb had found while on the mainland. It will take some time, but none of the islanders have returned just yet, so they know that they can accomplish it with little hassle.

Mina groans as she sets the last of the power converters in place and looks at her husband who is just as tired. "Are we going to be able to prevent another incident? This isn't just a smoke and mirrors gig is it?"

Kaleb smiles at her frustration and shakes his head no. Their people have a particular gene in their body chemistry and the grid will alert ALL the advisors if anyone without the gene arrives. He no sooner finishes explaining and the alarm goes off. They immediately teleport to where the disruption is located, only to find Lita and Ned looking drastically confused. The two had just entered the gates when the alarm went off.

"Kaleb, what's going on here? I heard an alarm…Ned, Lita…you're back. Great I need to ask you about some things regarding a new astronomy tower for the school kids." Darien is in human form. It only lasts for a few hours and then only from noon until five in the afternoon. It was the only respite that Selune and Serenity could give him, but it has helped him live these past five years.

"Kaleb, turn that damn alarm off would you please?" The noise is deafening to even the hardest of hearing. To Darien's sensitive ears, it is nothing short of irritating.

"I'm sorry my liege, but there is an intruder at the castle." Kaleb has been searching the surrounding area and found nothing to make the alarm go off.

"Intr-- Ned he means Bunny." Lita's explanation draws some confused looks and she motions to an almost lifeless figure at her feet. "This is Bunny. We found her on the side of the road shortly after we left here. She's been badly hurt and hasn't spoken since she woke up."

Amy hurries over to look at the young woman. Jason isn't too far behind her. If someone has been beaten, they want to make sure she's okay. As they approach, the small figure seems to shrink into itself. Lita kneels down and whispers something into her ear. The young woman relaxes.

"She's extremely skittish. Will she be okay? Is there anything I can do? Kaleb shut that damn thing off already!" Darien almost snarls the last sentence. Kaleb hits a button on his belt and the alarm shuts off.

"We need to get her injected with the same gene that the rest of us have. Otherwise the alarm will go off every time she moves."

*******

Queen Serenity looks at the scene unfolding below her. King Darien is finally allowing his subjects to return to the island. She is relieved to find him still alive yet she wonders how much longer he can live. They managed to prevent his death five years ago, but now, the only that can prevent it is the complete transformation back to human and she knows that she cannot help him with that.

Deciding to help him however she can, she summons her faithful sailor senshi, Uranus, Pluto, Saturn and Neptune.

"I have decided to reopen negotiations with the earth. It was my daughter's dearest wish and I will honor it as best I can. I would like you four to help me arrange things. Uranus, will you and Neptune please go and talk to King Darien. Ask him if he would allow peace talks between our two peoples."

A/N -- as soon as I finish transcribing the rest of my notes, I'll have the rest of the story..