A|N: After this chapter, I will begin to explore the "sleeping beauty" aspects of the story. Please review! =]
Endymion is on the ground, appearing almost dead. The other two Senshi are looking at me like I am the one who has to kill the monster. Why do I have to? I don't even have the heart for that. My mother claims it is because of my duty that I need to kill the monster or there will be others who have the same fate. If that's true, then why do I feel like there is something else I can do? "How am I to do this?" I ask my mother. I am finally giving in to what she thinks I should do. She stares at me with coldness in her eyes… even though she is a hologram at the moment; I can't help but feel her frozen heart… My hands freeze a little, too as if her heart is actually in them.
Rei won't be able to hold out any more. She is trying to distract the monster as I speak with my mother. "Minako, do you have the wand I gave to you?" she asks.
Minako nods and gives me a strange wand. The wand is crescent shaped with a pink handle attached to it.
"I was going to give this to you for your sixteenth birthday but seeing as this is an emergency, you'll need it now," my mother says. "With this, you can defeat the monster and set the soul trapped inside free."
"Can I ask for a favor first?"
"What is it?"
"Heal Endymion," I say. "He won't be able to deal with this after - "
"I can only heal him physically," she says. "If you mean mentally, then no, I cannot. He has to learn how to heal on his own terms."
"Thanks," I whisper. I'm happy to know he won't die at least. Rei is beginning to slow down with her attacks. "Rei! I'm taking over now." She stops, allowing me to handle the situation. Before I do anything, I stare at the monster, who isn't attacking at the moment, and wonder if there is any bit of Wynne inside. "Please! Wynne! If you're in there, please respond!"
"Usagi…" I hear my mother growl. "What are you doing?"
I ignore her. The monster isn't making any movements that will indicate if Wynne is still there. "Wynne, please!" I shout. I fall to my knees. Is this what I have to do when I become Queen? I think, and I cover my mouth to avoid any sounds of sobs come out. "Don't do it for me… do it for your son!"
The monster stands still. It grabs its head and starts shaking and screaming. "No! Number Seven won't let you come out!" it shrieks. It falls on all fours, breathing very heavily. "Bunny… help me."
"Wynne! Are you okay?!"
"No… I can't seem to fight this thing off," she says. While still in the body of a monster, it is still Wynne. I am sure of it. "It's too powerful… please help me."
"I can help you! All I have to do is -"
"Bunny, you have to kill this monster first and then let me go," Wynne tells me.
"No! What about Endymion?"
"He'll understand. It pains me too much to see him upset like this. And besides, I believe it is time for me to go anyway."
This isn't right! I think. "But… I really wanted to save you."
"I know you do, dear. I have already done enough damage to my son. If I do anymore, I don't think I'll ever be the same."
"If it's what she wants," I hear my mother say, "then you should obey her wishes."
I nod, even though I hate to admit it, because she is right ultimately. I study the crescent wand and at the moment, I hate it. I want to throw it to the ground and break it into pieces. Looks like I have no choice. "What do I do?" I ask my mother.
"Use the chant, 'Moon Healing Escalation' and aim it at the monster."
"Okay."
I'm sorry, Endymion… I'm not able to save her physically but at least her soul will be okay. I raise the crescent wand up in the air. Without hesitation, I call out, "Moon Healing Escalation!"
"Look at the crybaby princess."
"Yeah, look at her. She's supposed to be the Queen someday but she cries all the time!"
"What are we going to do with her?"
"She's way too soft. Maybe we should try and harden her."
"L-Leave me alone," I cried, covering my head.
"She's trembling! What a loser."
"You don't deserve to be princess!"
I felt rocks thrown at my back, arms and legs. I sat there, covering my head for protection and I did not even run. I still remember their smirks… their terrible smirks that scarred my whole childhood. By the time they were done, I had bruises all over my body. The children of the moon did not like me too much because I wasn't 'cool enough'. I was crying all the time, I was lazy and too much of a goody-goody according to them. I ran to my mother after and told her about what happened. She said the problem was that I never stuck up for myself and that was the reason why I was made fun of constantly. But as time went by, that was not much of a problem anymore because I did have friends. Minako, Rei, Ami, Makoto and of course, Luna, Diana and Artemis (my guardians).
Still, I was alone sometimes. My mother was not around much to show me how to deal with the insults and that hurt the most. When I was old enough, she began showing me a little too much attention as I was close to that age. Eighteen was the age where I'd become Queen but sixteen was where I really would start training. She taught me earlier, or at least tried. Not that it worked out or anything. Alas, I ended up being trained by Luna and Artemis with the other Senshi. I never did well. I was always at the bottom while watching the others becoming stronger. All I wanted to do was explore the moon and get out of the castle. None of the training stuff interested me at all.
I wish I had been stronger to realize that Wynne could not be saved. How naive am I? Am I that weak? I guess so.
"She's awake!" I hear a voice exclaim.
I clutch my forehead at the dreaded sunlight in my face. My eyesight begins returning clearly. I see Minako and Rei beside me. "What happened? Is Endymion okay?"
"He's fine," Minako replies. "He is just resting. Listen, your mother says that something bad is happening on Earth and wants the three of us to investigate it. So, we're staying here for the time being."
"Sounds good." No. It sounds horrible. I want to hurl. Staying here is going to suck especially because I'm still in Endymion's house! "What happened after I used the wand?"
"The monster was destroyed and Wynne was set free," Rei says. "I could finally feel like something went right at that moment. She felt so at peace with herself and said thank you for helping her."
"I'm so glad," I reply, wiping my tears away.
"Aw, don't cry, Usagi," Minako says and puts her arms around me.
"It's just… what is Endymion going to do with his mother dead? He must feel awful!"
"He doesn't know yet."
"What?" That means I have to be the one who breaks it to him. He won't listen to anyone else.
I get out of the bed. "Wait - are you going to tell him now?" Minako asks.
"Relax. I'm not going to tell him right away. I just want to wake him up."
"I guess I will make breakfast," Rei says sighing and leaves the room.
I go see Endymion, who is actually already awake. I expect him to throw a tantrum and get angry at me but he doesn't. He just stares at me and then looks away. I don't know what to say to him. Nothing I can say will ever make him feel better. "She's dead?" he asks me. Maybe he doesn't even know.
"I'm sorry…"
Endymion slams his hands on the bed. "I couldn't even save her!" he shouts.
"She is saved," I say. "Her spirit was set free."
"But she's not here…"
"She doesn't have to be."
He raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Listen to me, if I had not killed the monster, then she would have been trapped inside forever," I say. "We would be letting the enemy win by letting that monster to live."
"So it was you who killed her."
"It," I say, now a little mad. "I killed it, not her."
"How do you know that she wanted this?" Endymion raises an eyebrow. "I know she wanted to live but you - no your mother took that option away from her! I could hear her from that hologram. No wonder my father hates you moon people!
"Because she told me, you idiot!" I snap. I know he has lost his mother and I am sorry about that but his rudeness has to end here. "And my mother? She is a great! You wouldn't know the first damn thing about us because you are so damn caught up in your own father's schemes! Let me tell you something, Endymion, I - no we will - find a way to bring his plans to an end." The feeling of finally standing up to him is amazing! It's like I have a backbone now.
"Oh are you really so sure about that?"
"Dead serious," I reply. "She did want me to kill the monster because she said she would never be able to live if you were hurt anymore! And another thing! My mother healed you but you wouldn't care… now would you? You hate moon people." I leave the room without a care in the world.
Minako peeks from the other room. "What was that all about?"
"He's being a complete idiot… He blames me for his mother's death and doesn't understand anything," I say. "Honestly, I don't know what to do right now."
"Leave him," she says, "He'll realize sooner or later what he said was really stupid."
"Guys are so dumb," I mutter and cross my arms.
"Indeed."
"Ugh, that witch," Minako says, after I tell her all about Beryl.
"She was his ex-fiance?" Rei asks in disgust. "This is why I stay away from men. They always take the woman who is not for them."
"Endymion knows I'm a Senshi… but he doesn't know I'm the princess."
"So how does Beryl know?" Rei wonders.
"She figured it out… I don't know how."
"A fine mess you have gotten yourself into, Usagi," Minako says, and rolls her eyes. "We should start the investigation shortly."
Rei sits down at the table and sighs. "The problem is where do we start?"
"We could ask Endymion for some questions," I say. "He might answer me but not to you guys."
"Good, then you can spend time with him," Minako says. "Rei and I will go shopping!"
Rei rolls her eyes. "More like a bag holder you mean for all the crap you buy. I suppose it'll work but I mean, be careful. He's the prince and may catch onto what you're trying to do." She and Minako then leave, which pisses me off because they are supposed to help, too! Minako is just using this as an opportunity to go shopping on a new planet. I don't think they have any shopping centers around anyway.
I wait for a while about what I am going to say to Endymion later on. I don't know if he's in the mood to talk because of how rude I was. I could try though. As I am about to go into his room, I bump into him because he is leaving. "Oh - Usagi. I'm sorry."
"It's okay…"
Silence.
He scratches his head. "I wanted to say sorry for being rude," he says. "Obviously it wasn't nice of me to take my anger out on you. I am glad you helped my mother, though."
"It's fine," I say. "Look, if you need to talk about it, then I am all ears."
"I… was wondering if you wanted to hang out or something. Like, take a walk somewhere."
My face feels hot, very hot. "S-Sure! Right now?"
"If that isn't a problem, then sure."
He shows me an isolated pond just north of the town. He explains that the pond was a part of his childhood and he would go there quite often alone since he hardly had any friends. "The other children thought I was snobby and would bully me a lot." That reminds me of how I was bullied as a child, too. "After coming here, I'd feel at ease and the worries would go away."
"So, why did you take me here?"
Endymion shrugs. "To calm myself down, I guess."
"I don't mean to bring your mother up but when I was taking care of her… she told me she had not been feeling well for a long time."
He raises an eyebrow in surprise, as he steps a barefoot into the pond water. "Really? She never told me anything."
"I think she didn't want you to worry… you with your father and all," I say. I take off my shoes, too. The water is nice and cool against my skin for a hot day. I could almost swim in it.
"Yeah, she was really upset after that divorce."
"She said it felt like your father was taking you away and she didn't get to see you as often."
"I didn't. Not until you came along. I knew you weren't able to stay at the castle but you would be welcome at my mother's house," he says, "besides I couldn't leave you around for bandits."
"I could have fought them!" I defend myself.
"Oh sure…" he says, sarcastically. "I just really miss her."
I feel awful about this, I think. "I understand." I want more than anything to see a smile on Endymion's face. But how will I do this? I wish I could bring his mother back… but that's not possible. What's done is done.
