Disclaimer: The plot, Tranquility, Gaia and Solaris are mine; the rest is belonging to Takeuchi Naoko and other associations.

-- Chapter 9 --

Running footsteps could be heard echoing along the corridor at quarter to twelve noon. An hours ago, the runner did not realized she had slept through the morning, and when she did, she quickly took a bath, pulled a dress from her wardrobe and applied some make up for a natural look before rushing out with a loud slam. She was in luck that her locks did not get caught during the process, but what she did not know was that bad luck usually came after it. By the time she noticed, the damage was already done.

Bam!

"Ouch!" cried Serenity. Her collision with the wall of a body was the best demonstration of a circumstantial luck, which inevitable led her having her bottom kissing the floor.

"My apology," said a voice from overhead. However, the princess was not in mood to hear a word for she was already late for her appointment with the girls along with the prince and his generals.

"You..." she left her word uncompleted as she looked up. To her, the person leaning over her was a new face, yet somehow there was a sense of familiarity. She was very convinced that it was only recently she had seen that face, but could not place exactly where she had seen it.

"Are you all right?" the same voice asked.

Serenity, who had been drooling for the diva, quickly recomposed herself by accepting his outstretching hand to allow him to pull her on her feet. Feeling his gaze on her, the princess did what she could: she averted away and suddenly became all nervous.

"I believe we have not meet," he began to say after Serenity mumbled her thanks. He could not help but to flash his smile at her shyness. He could not ignore the feeling of having something about her that attracted him very so.

"May I know your name, my beautiful lady?" he did no such thing as flattery. He was merely telling the truth. Never had he seen such a beauty before, it was as if she was emerged from a paint. Her pink blush reflected how innocent she was. The only flaw he found in her was her grace, but that did not matter to him. In his eyes, such imperfect only made her even more human.

"I," she was spluttering at first, but soon such misconduct was replaced with she introduced herself with a courtesy. "I am Serenity."

"And I am Seiya at your service," he did not bow; instead he took her hand and kissed it. His gentleness made the princess blushed furiously. He gave her a smile that would make her tremble on her feet. It was moments later did the pair found themselves engaging in a conversation like they were old friends.

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"Where is she?" Rei crossed her arms, tapping her feet impatiently. She could not believe that princess of hers was late again. How could she trust her princess to wake up on her own when she had not once woke up on time? If only she was not late herself, she would have knocked the door down; and not even the super strength Makoto could pull her away if that did happened.

None of the other three planetary princesses volunteered to be the fiery princess's punching bag, so they forged to be temporarily mute. At the same time behind the group of four girls and five boys, the late comers decided to reveal themselves from the corner. The couple did not hasten, rather they continued their way with a slow pace.

Endymion was the first to spot them from the corner of his eyes, but he did not warn the group. It was not until one of his closest friend and general, Kunzite, took noticed of his lack of attention. Following suite, he turned around.

"My Lord?" his uncertainty had succeeded stopping the group from their doings.

"Princess," Rei, who could not linger any longer, said warningly. Much to her dismay, her princess paid no heed to her lectures. Before one of their immature bickering could arise, she heard her princess exclaimed with amusement.

"You did not say you are a lord."

The distraction caused the Martian princess to frown, which was then quickly dissolved into a puff of relief. If the interruption could lighten up her princess, then she would not crush that wish. She really hated to admit this, but laughter suited the princess more. She was their spring of life, their sun and their strength. Without the core, all she lived in was an empty life and what she had was all loneliness. She also believed that her planetary princess friends felt the same way as she did.

"Neither have you said you are a princess."

"Fair enough," Serenity and Seiya shared a laugh at their similarities. Both of them did not aware they were being circled by their friends, which the Prince of Earth did not participate in.

"I see that you two have met," Endymion gritted his teeth unknowingly. He did not like to poke around on people's business, but if his fianc e was involved, that was another story. He was very bothered as to why she affected him so much. Whatever she did, it should not be a matter to him, and yet he did not like male species getting close to her, his cousin included. Although he was not content at their closeness, he let the trip continued according to plan, while he, on the other hand, kept his cool by sending hard glares to Seiya, who constantly received a cold shiver.

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In a general concept, a triangle symbolized a strong bonding; however, it conveyed a different perspective in term of a relationship. The message did not occur to Serenity, Endymion and Seiya as their bond continued to grow stronger. None of them realized a chemistry was about to change in this group of three when days turned into weeks and weeks turned into a month.

For Endymion, he had more cons than pros in the equilibrium of friendship and duty calls. He himself was the most appropriate example to prove his points. He had an intensive duty schedules from traveling across half the globe to attend congress with head leaders to make an appearance in charities and other organizations. He did not mind not able with them because he trusted his cousin would keep the princess accompany in his place. He did feel sorry though, not because of feeling being outcast, but to Seiya when he was supposed to be the host; but it all altered the following night. He became passive all of the sudden. He went rushing spending time with them as soon as he finished his royal duties, regardless how fatigue he felt. He either interrupted the conversation or sat down and listened. There was one thing he would not allow, however, was to leave them alone, and what changed him was all because of a dream.

In his dream, Seiya invited Serenity to visit his planet and she agreed without a second thought. Jealous consumed him as the result, but what burnt him in flame was they did it right in front of him. He neglected the assurance from his conscious saying that it was merely a dream. He even went too far by having an argument with his inner mind.

'You are jealous.'

'There is nothing I am jealous of.'

'Then why are you against it?'

'I am not in disagreement, but she is my guest, and therefore her safety is my responsibility.'

'And Seiya IS your cousin.'

Since that night, he stopped listening to his conscious. Serenity and Seiya were not blind to notice the sudden change in Endymion, but neither of them brought the subject up. The kept the pattern going on until two months before Christmas.

Seiya, who grown fond of the princess over the period, was in labyrinth. He had not known his feeling had shifted to a romantically one even under the hard glares from his cousin. It was only days later did he felt a butterfly in his stomach when he watched Serenity sparked under the cold water. The sight bewitched him almost immediately as he watched the princess danced along the sprinkles, along with her friends after hearing a commotion while patrolling. He found himself rooted on the ground, staring at no one but her solely. She looked like an angel descending from heaven, and a deity whose beauty could not compare with Aphrodite. Reality struck him hard as he realized he was in love. His cousin's unusual behavior was difficult to ignore when the signs were unmistakably the sign of one being in love. He could read the strange way in Endymion on how the prince did not want them to be alone, and yet the way his cousin acted like she was not his matter puzzled him the most.

The next morning he went to confront with Endymion, only to meet with an empty room. The plan to ask how his cousin felt towards the princess had failed, but he was the type of person who was not easily giving up. Just as he was about to leave, a flash of glint reflected at him making him halt at the door. He turned to stare before walking towards the table, where it sat an item he had not expected. He picked it up with curious eyes but quickly placed it back as he heard a rushing footstep closing in.

From his hiding place, Seiya could see Endymion entered the room, looking around as if he was searching for something.

'How strange,' he thought. It was indeed how strange Endymion could forget things when he had a strong memory. He continued to peek on the prince, who stopped at the table to grab his forgotten item, and waited until the door had closed did he come out. He had aware of the lingering look on Endymion's face before putting the item into his pocket, and what confused him was the cause of his cousin wearing such look.

The answer did not reveal until another week passed.

-- End of Chapter 9 --

Cdgal: Sorry, I have the urge to stop there. I'm not going to reveal it, but what I can give you is a hint, and that hint is somewhere on the next chapter of "Cinderella Style".