Title: PEACE AND WAR

Disclaimer: I don't own anything about Sailor Moon

Authors Notes: Sorry, this chapter isn't as long as the others. I'll update again soon. Enjoy!

Serenity sat as comfortable as possible, but her back didn't seem to want to cooperate. She felt rigid. For the first time in her whole life she couldn't seem to relax. Even the presence of the sun shining beautiful rays through her open window couldn't ease her anxiety. This waiting game they were being forced to play was not at all to her liking.

She took an uneasy deep breath while listening to the singing of the birds all around her. Their happy carefree singing sounded oddly out of place.

For the moment, she was alone. Her friends and guardian were sitting in the little sitting room playing the cards Jedeite had brought them. But she didn't have it in her heart to play. She couldn't seem to focus on anything except her own painful anxieties.

What was happening out there over the hills and through the forest? What devastation was occurring past the horizon? She simply couldn't imagine it. She couldn't imagine men killing one another by the hundreds, and she didn't want to. But she was forced to consider it.

She could see Prince Diamond walking by himself in the garden and she shuddered when he looked up at her. His light hair almost glinting in the sunlight. His words from the day before still caused her to tremble. She was afraid of being in the empty castle, even with Jedeite close to her.

Their things were still in the front hall awaiting their hasty departure.

She sighed to herself knowing only a moment had gone by although it had seemed like an hour. She simply couldn't wait any longer for something to happen. This was not the way she wanted to learn the ways of anxiety.

She had also heard nothing more from her mother.

She could almost feel the day getting darker. Clouds in this country seemed to form from almost nothing and scourge the land before you might even notice. The sharp rays of sun coming almost violently through her window were suddenly severed and the shadows sank in again.

She could smell rain suddenly in the wind, and shivered as the breeze picked up. She felt the cold coming from inside her.

She got up and pulled an a day overcoat to keep herself warm and she pulled her hair down so it drifted behind her as she walked. There was no need to keep up with formalities when they were they only people there.

The oddness of the day seemed to settle in her until it was all around her. Something in the back of her mind told her that she was going against her very nature to be this way. The worry folded within her. Worry for her friends, worry for her mother, worry over Prince Diamond and worry about Darien.

She rolled his name around in her mind. Darien. In these last few days she had come to start referring to him by his name in the confines of her own mind. It seemed to humanize him. He was not the King, he was a man with a soul that was dark and mysterious. He was a man to be feared and respected as well as........loved.

She heard a sudden noise coming from the adjoining sitting room and walked over to see what had happened. Before she could open the door, it burst open, nearly hitting her.

"Serenity," Mina said surprised to be so close to her.

She just looked at her friend in shock and perceived her nearly desperate expression.

"What has happened?" She asked softly noticing the lack of other people in the room.

"It's the King," Mina said hurriedly. "They're bringing him here now but the messenger said that someone should be sent for the doctor to meet us."

Serenity couldn't move.

"He's really hurt Serenity," Mina said softly taking her hand.

Serenity straightened her back and took a deep breath. She could feel her heart beating nervously in her and her stomach felt all in knocks. When Mina guided her out of the room, she followed slowly.

The castle seemed so much bigger suddenly, and they walked for what seemed like miles through the long hallways. Half of her was fighting to push forward faster, and the other half was battling to stay back. She was afraid of what she might see.

Mina nearly had to pull her all the way there, and Serenity couldn't control her will to fight her. She could feel the emotions swell within her. She worried until her mind seemed to tremble.

"Well Well," Prince Diamond said appearing from around a corner.

The two girls stopped in their tracks and Serenity suddenly wished that she had let the other side of her take over.

"I am sorry to say that your knight in shinning armor seems to have fallen."

Serenity was simply aghast the he would say something so vulgar at a time like this, especially being a guest in the King's home.

"He will be fine," she said assuredly.

Prince Diamond walked closer to them, a smile on his face.

"And what if he's not?" He asked as if he were amused. "Who will protect you then?"

"You will not speak to Serenity this way," Mina said standing in front of her princess. "Or at all for that matter. I think it's best that you leave."

He just stood there, smiling down at her.

"Your princess will soon be my queen."

Mina looked up at him in surprise.

"The only thing that needs to be moved from my way is the King, and it looks like I won't even have to try to achieve that as he's going to die for me." He looked at Serenity. "I always get what I desire."

Mina quickly pulled Serenity down the hall at almost a run, and Serenity was to afraid not to follow her. She could feel his eyes boring into her and she wanted nothing more than to run until he legs would no longer carry her.

The look in his eyes had been frightening. But more than that, she believed him. Why would he have said such a thing if he was not serious? It was hardly a good joke if he was in fact kidding.

All of a sudden she was afraid of marrying him, and she could feel her heart ache at the thought. She didn't want to marry him. She didn't want to marry a man she didn't know. She wanted to marry for love.

And then they were at his door.

Serenity could hear them move around in the room with an urgency that told her how bad his injury was. They would not be rushing so much if it was a minor scratch. She heard Raye crying and her heart seemed to break. She couldn't go in.

"What's wrong?" Mina asked her when she came to a halt and refused to move.

"I can't go in there," she said wide eyed.

Mina looked at her confused. "Serenity, he might die."

"I cannot watch him die," she said trying not to choke on her words. "I cannot see him like that."

Mina just nodded with concern on her face.

"I need to go in and help," Mina said slowly. "There are no servants in the castle and therefore nobody to help the doctor. Raye sounds hysterical so that leaves only Lita, Amy and myself."

Serenity nodded. "I will wait in the sitting room," she said.

"Serenity, I do not like the idea of you walking through the castle alone, especially with Prince Diamond here."

"Where would you like me to go?"

Mina thought about it.

"There is a room through that door there," she said pointing. "Jedeite said that it's where he and the other guardians of the King sometimes go to play at cards. Stay in there until either I or one of the girls comes to get you."

Serenity nodded at her friend.

Mina was clearly concerned. Serenity's eyes had never been so wide and afraid. She looked deathly pale, as if it were herself that was sick. It scared Mina, but she had to go in and help the doctor or the King might die.

A loud cry came out from the room startling them both, and they knew it was the King.

"Do not lose hope," Mina said. "He is still alive."

"If he dies I will lose everything," Serenity said.

"What do you mean?"

Serenity was silent a few moments.

"Mina, I think that I could feel very greatly for him."

Mina was shocked. "But Serenity, you hardly know him. And what of your hope for a bright future with a husband you have not met? To give your heart to someone know would mean it will break when you're forced to marry another."

Serenity looked close to tears. "I cannot help it. The thought of him dying sends harsh and unwanted emotions through my entire body that I can only decide that I do in fact care for him. I have suspected I might for awhile, and now I am all but sure of it."

Mina was at a loss for words. There was another cry from the room.

"Go into that room and do not move," she ordered softly. "Think about what you've told me and realize that it is not a smart move on your way back to happiness. It can only end badly, these feelings you have."

Mina squeezed her hands again before hurrying quickly into the room.

Serenity stood where she was for a few minutes listening to the sounds coming from the room, and then she moved quietly into the small room Mina had instructed her to sit in.

The room held a small table with a few chairs and a wall of books. She wished she could light the fireplace, but there was no coal and no servant to find some. She wrapped her arms around herself and looked out the window. The rain had just started and she watched the world turn gray. Soon enough it started pelting against the windows.

The first roll of thunder startled her enough that she stepped back in alarm. The bright and beautiful day had become a wild and untamed storm. She cried.

Serenity cried for all the things that had happened. She cried for all the men who had died and for the people around her that had been affection. She cried for her mother and friends at home this moment fighting for their right at freedom. She cried for peace, and she cried for war.

End of chapter Eleven!

Please Review!