Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon. It was made by a genius and I'm not that smart, though I might wish otherwise.
Chapter Eight: Before The Ball
August 17, 7:00 pm
Hikawa Shrine, Manetheron, Earth
Meanwhile, in Hikawa Shrine that same night at around the same time, the girls gathered in the Shrine once more, this time with the two cats in attendance.
Lord Artemis had been changed into a white cat while Lady Luna had been transformed into a blue-gray, almost black, cat. They had both wanted to choose certain breeds but the Queen decided that they would attract less attention if they were your average, alley-variety cats. Though no one was brave enough to admit it, it was actually a pretty good idea and the two could scour the city without anyone giving them a second glance.
Artemis shook his head at Minako's questioning look. "Only the prince was in his rooms this afternoon. We tried a couple of windows until we found the right one, one that looked into the prince's bedrooms. Unfortunately, it was closed, so even though we could see the entirety of his bedroom, we couldn't hear anything."
Luna continued, "Nothing much happened, anyway. The prince was just pacing his room when we arrived, looking very irritated, then he left his room and I suppose that meant someone entered. We tried to open the windows but to no avail." She critically lifted a blue-gray paw. "These weren't meant to manage window mechanisms."
Artemis took up the report, "After a while, the prince came back with the silver-haired general – General Kunzite, right? – then the prince began gesturing a lot; I gather he was complaining about something."
"We noticed something puzzling, though: his bed wasn't fixed and was obviously slept-in but so was a couch at the other end of the room. If it's his room and he's supposedly alone, then why does it seem that two people are sleeping in separate beds?"
"Are you sure of what you saw, Lady Luna?" Rei intently stared at the cats.
"Of course." It was quite something to see Luna's long-suffering look on the face of a cat.
"This is it," Rei said with a great deal of relief. "I'm getting a strong vibe about this. I can't tell for certain, mind you, because I can't use my powers fully, but – "
"Oh, stop that," Makoto impatiently interrupted. "Stop moaning about the loss of your powers, we're all stripped of powers here. You're lucky you can even use some of your powers, so stop complaining and just tell us what you Feel."
Rei sniffed in annoyance. "Well, if you really must know, I'm getting a Feeling that this could be important. I can't be certain if it's because of the Princess or it has something to do with the Silver Alliance, though."
"That's good enough for me," Minako said with relief. "At least, we're getting somewhere. Our goal now is to find what the prince is hiding in his room. Rei, when's the next time you'll Contact the Queen?"
"Tomorrow night. She asked for weekly reports because it might be too dangerous if it were daily."
"Good. Let's all meet up here again. I'd like to ask the Queen permission to change plans."
"What have you got in mind?"
"It's simple, Makoto. If the Prince is hiding something, we won't be able to figure it out as we are now, right? We'd have to change our disguises into something else – most likely, we'll have to be debutantes. We can then talk to the prince himself and get a feel of what he's hiding."
"There's only one problem there, Minako," Ami pointed out, surfacing from her reading, this time a different and thinner book from what she had been reading before. "Isn't he hiding in seclusion lately? What good is becoming a debutante when we won't be able to talk or see the prince anyway? And I doubt we'd be able to sneak into the palace. I've heard some girls say that those who sneak in are very firmly turned away and the prince tends to avoid them afterwards."
Minako deflated with disappointment.
"Hey, no problem," Makoto assured their leader. "His generals will still be in attendance, right? We can try to get some answers from them."
"Aren't they ferociously loyal to their prince?" Rei wondered.
"They probably are. But we'll just have to find a way around that, won't we, girls?" Minako said, determination stamped on her features.
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August 17, 10:03 pm
Endymion's Rooms, Gaia Palace, Earth
Back at the palace, later that same evening, two people, one a blond woman and the other a dark-haired man, were lying on opposite sides of the same room, talking about the events that happened to them that day. Both were lying down with their eyes closed and talking in the quiet voices of people who were kind of sleepy but who still wanted to talk right before they dozed off. It was almost a ritual for them, this pre-sleep conversation.
"So you really enjoyed yourself today?" Endymion asked softly.
"Oh, yes." Usagi hugged a big, white, incredibly soft stuffed teddy bear closer to her. "Jade's really fun to be with and – don't tell him I told you this – but I was kind of surprised that he asked me to call him Jade today. Surprised and flattered. I always thought 'Jade' was something that only few can call him since everyone we met today called him 'General Jadeite' or 'my lord General' or simply, 'my lord'. Is he really a general? He seems kind of young."
Slightly guarded, Endymion answered, "Yeah, he's a general. One of the youngest and best, actually. You know, I still can't believe Jade survived shopping for one whole day. With a girl." He shook his head. "I mean, one whole day. If he has to, he can usually manage a few hours, but almost a whole day? Unbelievable."
"Oh, c'mon, Endymion, shopping with a girl's not that bad, is it? We're not hard to get along with, are we?" Usagi teased.
"You know I'm not going to answer that. I have a feeling an honest answer will be hazardous to my health."
Usagi laughed softly, then propped her head up and looked across the room at Endymion's lying form. "Don't you think it's unfair for guys to be generalizing about women?"
"Well, I can't really say, Usagi. I've never shopped with a woman."
"Like ever?" Usagi sounded incredulous.
"Nope."
"Why not?"
"Well, why yes?" Endymion chuckled. "I mean, who'd I go with? Who'd I accompany?"
"Oh, I don't know." Usagi's voice took on a teasing sing-song quality. "Maybe one of the five hundred thousand girls who asked about you today?"
"Just five hundred thousand, eh? Last I checked, I was up to my first million," Endymion joked, which surprised him since he rarely joked about how popular he was with women, but with Usagi it seemed natural that he could joke about the one thing that irritated him the most.
"Well, I'm hoping the other half finally came to their senses."
Endymion chuckled. "You and me both."
Usagi snorted. "Yeah, right, I'll bet you say that all the time. Don't guys like being God's gift to women?"
Endymion smiled. "Not all."
"Yeah, right. I still think a lot of people would find it nice to be universally loved. You're really weird, you know that?" Usagi teased, earning her another chuckle.
Comfortable silence.
"Endymion?" Usagi called tentatively.
"Hm?" He opened his eyes and looked at Usagi's shadowy form on his bed.
"I was really happy today."
A heart beat of silence. "I know. I'm glad."
Silence.
"Endymion?"
Endymion chuckled slightly. "What now?"
"Thank you. For the stuffed toy, I mean."
"I never said it was from me."
"Are you blushing?"
"No!"
"Well you sure sound like it!"
"I am not!" Endymion was glad for the darkness so Usagi couldn't refute his lie.
Usagi giggled. "All right, I'll let you off the hook. Well, I knew it was from you 'cause no one else goes inside your room without you allowing it. Besides, who else would put such a big stuffed toy on the left side of the bed? You're the only one who knows how I like to sleep on the right side of the bed, away from the window. I imagine that if someone other than you would give me something like this, they'd put it in the middle of the bed."
"Looks like you got it all figured out." Endymion was not entirely unhappy that his anonymous gift wasn't so anonymous after all. "It's no big deal. Looks like we had the same idea today, since I got you that just as you were getting me this. Although how you could think this silly little thing reminded you of me is beyond me." He reached out a hand to nudge the little figurine and watched its shadowy form swing its hips from side to side. It really was the most ridiculous thing Endymion has ever seen and yet, somehow, it was funny and cute. As promised, Usagi had prominently placed the figurine on the window sill above the couch Endymion slept in; it being the first thing he'll see when he wakes up and the last thing he'll see before sleeping. She knew he had a habit of automatically looking out the window whenever he woke up and right before sleeping – it was one of the reasons why both his bed and couches were placed beside windows.
"Well, great minds think alike." Usagi grinned.
"Hah! I refuse to believe that your mind can ever be as great as mine."
"Endymion!" Usagi laughingly threw a pillow at him. Like always, he caught it.
"How do you do that? Why do you always catch it? Couldn't you just let one pass, even just once?" Usagi complained.
"And have it hit my face? You've got to be joking, right?" Endymion laughingly threw the pillow back.
"Hmph," Usagi sniffed, returning the pillow beside her. She hugged the stuffed toy once more and, now serious, said again, "But, still, Endymion, thanks…"
"No big deal. And thank you too for this little figurine thing."
"His name's Tuxedo Mask and you'd best remember that. No, wait, his name's Lord Tuxedo Mask."
"You named him? You named my gift?"
"Would you have named him?"
"Of course not!"
"I rest my case."
"I'm a man, Usagi. I can't be going around saying I have a little dancing figurine named Tuxedo Mask."
"That's Lord Tuxedo Mask to you."
"Is there a difference?"
"Well, once a lord and the other's not."
Endymion chuckled. "Have you ever seen a lord shake his hips like this one does?" He nudged the figurine again. "If he were a real lord, he wouldn't be able to hold his head up with the other lords."
Usagi laughed. "True, I guess. All right, let's stick with Tuxedo Mask, how's that?"
"How about we don't name him at all? Let's just call him the Little Hippy Guy."
"And you question my taste?" Usagi shook her head. "We have to name him and yours doesn't count. I mean, how's he going to hold his head up with the other Tuxedo Masks when he doesn't have a name?"
"Although this figurine is extremely bizarre-looking but strangely endearing, I'm somehow certain that there's no other quite like this."
"Possibly," Usagi admitted. "I found that in a store that had really unique stuff. I didn't ask if they had others like that. Come to think of it, from the merchandise I saw in that shop, all of them seem to be one of a kind."
"One of a kind, eh? All right, I'll give in. This little hip swayin' manly figurine is hereby named 'Tuxedo Mask'."
"Thank you." Usagi smiled, grinning at Endymion's slightly disgusted tone.
"So what about the bear? Will you name him?"
"Yeah."
"That's such a girly thing to do."
"Well, I am a girl."
"Really? I hadn't noticed." Endymion laughed. "So, what's his name?"
A beat of silence, then in a quiet voice, Usagi answered, "Endy."
Endymion smiled in the silence that followed.
"Good night Endymion."
"G'night, Usagi, sweet dreams."
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August 19, 1:23pm
Prince Endymion's Rooms, Gaia Palace, Earth
"I suppose it is time for her to start going out. She's physically healed already and she really enjoyed herself the other day, with Jade. It's not like there's anything stopping her."
"Huh? Who?" The generals all exchanged looks. They were in Endymion's study and had been discussing kingdom-related policies when Endymion, who had been brooding in silence throughout the discussion, suddenly spoke up.
"Usagi," Endymion answered, still staring out his window.
It took a while for the generals to shift their thoughts.
"Er… would it really be so bad if she finds out you're the prince?" Kunzite finally asked.
"Well, I kind of like that she doesn't know. She looks at me and knows me for who I am. She isn't intimidated by me or anything. She insults me. Imagine that. She insults me. I insult her right back, of course, and she gives as good as she gets. I've never enjoyed myself so much with a female before."
Jadeite stared at him. "You're ecstatic because a beautiful woman constantly insults you? You are a man, right?"
"I'm as normal a man as anyone."
Zoisite choked on his drink.
Endymion shot him an irritated look. "Stop that. I really am, but it gets very tiring when every woman I meet does everything she can to catch my attention, and not even for myself. Usagi's the only one who doesn't care that she does have my undivided attention. She's the only one who doesn't do everything she can to bait me. We were eating once and she chewed with her mouth open, can you imagine that? She said she's trying to disgust me enough so that I'll either leave her in peace or kick her out."
"So, basically, what you're trying to tell us is that you like her because she's a bad mannered chit?" Jadeite was mystified.
"I like her because she's so normal! And she treats me like a normal human being."
"What did you say?" Zoisite asked.
"I said I like her because – "
"Well, finally!" Nephrite exclaimed in relief. "Took you long enough to admit you like her!"
Endymion was embarrassed. "Was I really that obvious?"
"Only to anyone with eyes and ears," Zoisite dryly remarked.
"I mean, you do talk a lot about her," Kunzite allowed, with a small grin. "And you've managed to spend an inordinate amount of time with her and yet never once did you entertain the idea of having her moved out or you yourself moving out. I mean, this palace does have two hundred and five rooms, right?"
Jadeite chuckled. "And even if half the words out of your mouth are complaints, it's all said in an appropriately affectionate manner. And we refuse to believe that the only interactions you two have are arguments. I mean, for two people to fight as well and as often as you two do, you guys would have to be good enough friends to be comfortable with each other."
"Ah," was all Endymion said.
"So when are you going to tell her you love her?"
Endymion stared at Nephrite in horror. "I don't love her!"
"What? What did you just say? I mean, what were we just talking about? I'm lost." Nephrite looked thoroughly confused.
"I said I liked her! I liked spending time with her! Who said anything about loving her?"
"Loving who?" Usagi suddenly spoke up from the door, which she had just entered.
"Usagi!" they all exclaimed in surprise, staring at each other in horror as they wondered just how much she heard.
"So, Usagi, guess what, all your dreams are about to come true," Jadeite said quickly, changing the subject when nobody seemed inclined to do so.
"And what would you know about my dreams, General Jadeite?" Usagi asked with a teasing twinkle in her eye.
Jadeite just grinned back, refusing to rise to the bait. "There's a ball tonight and your jailer said you're free to go."
"Really?" Usagi's entire face lit up as she turned to look at Endymion.
"Yeah…" He was still staring at Nephrite.
Zoisite leaned towards Jadeite and whispered, "There's a ball tonight?"
Jadeite whispered back, "Isn't there always?"
"So whose ball are we going to?" Kunzite leaned towards the blonds.
Jadeite shrugged. "We'll just close our eyes and pick. The pile of invitations is near the front door, like always."
"Are you serious?" Usagi, who hadn't heard a word of the generals' exchange, asked Endymion again.
Endymion turned to look at her and laughed at her expression. "Yes. I've already said yes."
"You swear?"
"Cross my heart."
"Oh my, wow! That's going to be so great!" Usagi squealed, rushing towards Endymion and throwing her arms around him in an exuberant hug. Four pairs of eyebrows rose as high as they would go, watching the pair while, conversely, four jaws dropped as low as they could go.
Endymion, oblivious to his general's sky-high eyebrows and floor-reaching jaws, had his arms wrapped loosely around Usagi's waist and was laughing along with her. "Great. I'm glad you're happy."
"A ball! Oh, wow! Oh, wait, what am I going to wear? I have to find a dress! Where will I get a dress?"
Jadeite shook himself and strove to look and sound normal. "Your purchases arrived early this morning, while you were sleeping in, as usual, so I placed them in Endymion's study."
"Oh, wow, this is really great. My first ball!" Usagi twirled as she pranced out the door. "This is just… wow! I'll wear a dress! A really pretty one! I know just the one I want to wear! But you have to tell me if it's all right, okay? I'm not sure if I remember how to dress for these events. You'll help me, won't you?"
"Of course, I'd be happy to."
The generals, who had just regained their composure, promptly lost it again. Endymion, willing to look at women's fashions?
Endymion smiled at her departing back with an indulgent expression that has never before crossed his face before turning to face his shell-shocked generals. He blinked at them. "Hey, what's with the looks? Are you guys all right? Guys? Guys! Say something!"
But they couldn't even manage that.
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August 19, 7:55 pm
East Wing, Terran Military Garrison, Gaia Palace Compound
Early that evening in the Terran Military Garrison of Gaia Palace Compound…
"Endymion, I can't believe you. Just this morning, you agreed with us that it's something that's needed and it's allowed and then all of a sudden, you're doing an about-face?" Zoisite complained.
They had sneaked into the East Wing of the garrison, the least used part of the garrison, with Usagi in tow (and all the generals loaded with her things) that afternoon. They had all decided that it was high time for Endymion to be 'well' and for Usagi to be introduced (or re-introduced) to society. They prompted Usagi on the story they had all decided upon – that she woke up in a room inside the garrison two weeks ago with amnesia and has been attended to by the in-house physician and the generals. The garrison physician didn't know the truth but has been briefed and will stick to the story; he also did his own check-up to give his medical OK for Usagi to attend the ball. The generals, meanwhile, would tell anyone who asked that they saw an unconscious Usagi nearby when they were walking home on the night of Endymion's birthday bash. Because Usagi still could not remember anything, they had no choice but to leave her situation as mysterious as it currently is, but they endeavored to ensure that everyone understood that even though they did not know Usagi's origins or identity, she was under their care and should be treated as thus. They also called for the services of some of the maids from the palace to be Usagi's lady's maids to help prepare her for the ball for, as Jadeite noted before, Usagi did not know how dress. This, of course, strengthened their belief that she was a lady because majority of debutantes had maids to dress them up.
So that was where they were now, in the sitting room next to Usagi's bedroom; they gave her a suite of rooms at the end of the hall. Although none of the five would admit it, they were all pretty curious as to how she would look. Jadeite was only vaguely aware of what fabrics she picked but, in true male tradition, didn't really pay much attention to the rest of the details. The men were all dressed and ready but Endymion, who was pacing, kept pulling his tuxedo jacket and fiddling with his bow tie that he was worsening what his valet had fixed to perfection. His hair, likewise, was tousled for he kept running his hands through it.
"You did agree to this, didn't you, Endymion?" Kunzite stared at Endymion's wrinkled appearance.
Endymion grunted, his scowl deepening.
"By the way, have you told her the truth?" Jadeite asked. "Women are so weird when they think they've been lied to."
"No," Endymion muttered.
The generals glanced at each other.
"Shouldn't you tell her soon?" Nephrite brought it up delicately, knowing Endymion's present brittle temper. "She's bound to find out during the ball."
"I didn't have the time."
"How hard can it be to say, 'Hey, Usagi, by the way, I'm the crown prince of the Earth'?" Zoisite tried to mimic Endymion's low voice.
"Do you want us to tell her?" Jadeite offered.
"No! I'll do it myself."
"Some time this night, I hope?" Nephrite raised an eyebrow.
"She'll need an escort tonight, won't she?" Endymion asked suddenly.
"Um… yeah…"
"Maybe I should ask her? It's only right, right? I can't believe I haven't. What was I thinking? She can't exactly go stag, not if she's our ward. She'd never get a moments peace that way."
The generals all avoided his looks.
"What? What's with you guys?"
Zoisite cleared his throat. "I kind of… sort of… asked her… this morning… to be her… you know… after we all dispersed from our meeting…"
Endymion stared at him.
"You took too long! And don't give me that look; they also wanted to ask her too," he said defensively. "But I was the first who asked, so she said yes to me. Although, I think they all still asked her too, hoping she'll change her mind." He shot glares at the other three.
Endymion passed a disbelieving stare at the four of them, which they sheepishly returned.