I don't own Sailor Moon.

Let's Start at the Very Beginning

-CHAPTER 19-

Endymion walked gracefully down to the ballroom. He wore an
outfit that looked similar to the one he wore when he had snuck
into Judis's room. It was hard to imagine that Judis was dead.
It was even harder for him to imagine that he had been the one
to kill him. Even though Judis had been evil, Endymion did not
like having anyone's blood on his hands.

A man stood at the entrance of the ballroom announcing the
presence of the royalty. He stopped Endymion to announce his
presence.

"Prince Endymion of Terra and Atlantis, winner of the
tournament." The announcer said to all the guests. Endymion
stood straight. He would no longer be able to hide in the
shadows pretending to be a servant. It was time to take his
position and responsibilities that he was born to have. All eyes
in the room turned towards him in acknowledgement. The crowd
clapped politely, glad that he had won the tournament, and glad
to have gotten rid of Judis. Everyone seemed to accept him,
Endymion noted. Maybe it was just the fact that they no longer
had to worry about Judis being the heir of Terra.

Scanning the room, Endymion's eyes finally fell on Princess
Serenity. She was talking with Queen Serenity and his mother. He
strode over towards them.

Endymion drank in the sight of Serenity. She was wearing a
beautiful, simple dress of silver. 'She looks like an angel
wearing that dress of silver, but anything would look good on
her.' He thought like any normal male would of his girlfriend.

"May I have the next dance with you, your highness?"
Endymion asked Serenity as he took her hand in his.

"As long as I get an explanation as to why you never told
me that you were the one beating everyone in the tournament."
Serenity said hotly.

"I promise." He said, kissing her hand.

"How can I refuse then?" Serenity asked. The next song
started as Endymion led Serenity out onto the dance floor. He
held her close. Serenity laid her head onto his shoulder.

"Forgive me. If I would have known that you would be upset
I would have told you." Endymion murmured.

"Anything you keep from me hurts." Serenity said. Endymion
kissed the top of head.

"Would you like to go outside and talk?" Endymion asked.

"Yes, but later. Just dance with me for now." The two were
content in each other's presence...until Beryl showed up.

People watched as she came into the ballroom. King Terrance
got up to go and talk to her. Queen Serenity did the same.
However, Queen Gaia got to her first.

"How dare you show your face here again. Not only did you
try and end my life and those of my friends, you helped wreck it
long before. You were part of the plan that kept me in fear of
my son's life, and forced me to stay away from my husband."
Queen Gaia vented her rage on the red head who stood defiantly
before her. Guards arrived to take Beryl to the dungeons. She
didn't struggle as they searched her or put her arms behind her
back.

"Endymion," Beryl called over the noise, "I am very proud
of you. You got rid of that brat Judis. I couldn't thank you
enough for that." Endymion went rigid. His eyes became a dark
cold blue that would have frozen rapids. "Join me, and have
ultimate power." Beryl smirked. Endymion looked at her.

"Never." He spat. Endymion would have liked to said more,
but he controlled his temper and held his tongue.

"Reconsider." Beryl looked around at the group. "I had
planned tonight to go slightly different. No matter. You'll all
get your due in time." She turned her stare towards Princess
Serenity. "And I have something special planned for you little
girl." Beryl hissed. Endymion pulled Serenity closer to him and
glared.

"Take her away to the dungeons." King Terrance ordered.

"You cannot get rid of me this easily!" Beryl snarled as a
flash of light engulfed her body. The guards who had been
holding her were thrown backwards by the impact of Beryl's
disappearance. She had vanished. Gasps spread throughout the
room. Serenity clung to Endymion. He stroked her hair
soothingly. He had expected her to do something like that. He
should have tried to stop her himself.

"I want to go outside now." Serenity whispered. Endymion
nodded his head. He unwound from their embrace but held her hand
as he led her through the crowd of disturbed people into the
gardens. The moon peeked through the trees, giving the garden a
silver glow. Serenity looked up at her home.

"I thought everything was going to be alright. What ever
force Beryl has on her side, it scares me." Serenity let go of
Endymion's hand and walked further along on the path. She picked
a solitary white rose from a bush. "How come your flowers always
look so beautiful?" Serenity wondered, trying to get her mind
off of the night's events.

"Because I'm so closely connected with the earth. And I
cherish the meaning of roses, red roses especially. Red roses
mean never ending love." Coming up behind Serenity, Endymion
wrapped his arms around her front and placed one hand over the
white rose. When he took his hand away, it had turned red.
Serenity smiled. She held the rose in her hand.

"Take the rose." Serenity said still smiling. Endymion took
hold of the rose and pulled. It seemed to split. He held a rose
in his hand, but Serenity held an identical rose in hers.

"You've been practicing with your magic, haven't you?" He
asked smiling.

"Endymion, I've been practicing for years. That was a very
simple trick." She told him. He raised an eyebrow.

"Now who's the one that has been keeping secrets?" Endymion
asked. She blushed.

"No matter what, we will always have secrets." Serenity
realized sadly.

"I'd love to spend forever trying to figure them out." Endy
said innocently. Serenity looked up at his eyes.

"You're hiding something from me." Serenity sensed.

"You're right." Endymion turned Serenity around so that
they were face to face. He held her hand as he knelt down to one
knee. He pulled a small box from a pocket. Serenity's mouth
opened slightly as she realized what he was about to do.

"Serenity, I could never imagine a minute without you."
Serenity's eyes started to form tears. "Ever since-"

"Just ask me before I start to cry!" Serenity exclaimed.

"I know our mother's had made that pact for our betrothal,
but forget what they want. Will you marry me without having to
be bound by some pact?" He asked as he put the ring onto her
finger. She launched herself into him full force, knocking the
both of them over, kissing him on the way down.

"What do you think?" Serenity said looking down towards
Endymion. He wiped a stray tear from her eye.

"Yes?" He asked sarcastically. She hugged him fiercely.
After the couple finally got up from the ground, they started to
walk back to the ballroom. Serenity looked at her ring and
gasped.

"What is it?" Endymion wondered.

"The ring: it's beautiful." The ring had a crescent moon
made out of diamonds. A red rose was entwined over it; the red
of the rose was made of a single crafted ruby, and the green
stem and leaves made from emeralds. The band of the ring was of
course gold, but a silver strand of silver had been melted into
the ring. "I've never seen anything like it." Serenity hugged
Endymion.

'She looks beautiful in the moonlight.' Endymion thought to
himself.

"Thank you." Serenity smiled.

"For the ring? Of course." Endymion smiled back.

"For the ring too, but for the compliment." Serenity hit
him lightly on the shoulder. Endymion stilled.

"I didn't say anything though." Endymion said.

"Yes you did. It sounded weird because you said she instead
of you look beautiful in the moonlight." Serenity said.

'Serenity?' Endymion thought.

"Yes?" Serenity responded confused. 'You're reading my
thoughts.' Endymion thought. It was odd because when he and the
generals had had their link, they could block off thoughts.

'We have to share every thought with each other?' Serenity
wondered to herself after hearing Endymion's thought. For some
reason, it didn't seem all that bad to her.

'No, it doesn't seem bad at all. We won't share every
thought in our minds, just the ones that are most prominent.'
Endy told her. However, one thought he'd been thinking about a
lot recently popped into his mind. It dealt with himself and
Serenity on their honeymoon.

'Endymion!' Serenity blushed at his thought.

"Sorry." He said, likewise blushing.

"We should go back to the ballroom now. You are more or
less the guest of honor since you won the tournament." Serenity
smiled up at him. "Besides, I want to tell everyone." She
giggled as she looked down at her ring.

"Let's go then." Endymion agreed. They walked back into the
ballroom. Most of the people still looked upset because of what
had happened with Beryl. Terrance, Gaia, Serenity, the older and
younger Senshi, and the older and younger Generals stood in a
small group.

"Let's tell them first. Hopefully we can end this night
with some happier news." Serenity suggested. The two walked over
to where their friends and family stood.

"Everyone," Serenity cleared her throat, "I want to show
you something." Serenity said. "It's very important and it will
change our lives." She sounded almost grave. Everyone looked at her
with wary glances, all expecting the worst.

"We're getting married!" Serenity exclaimed happily as she
held out her engagement ring. The girls squealed in delight.

"Why didn't you tell me you were going to propose?!" Gaia
asked her son.

"Well, wasn't it obvious?" Terrance asked her.

"Did he tell you?" Gaia turned to her husband.

"No." But Terrance smiled knowingly.

"You saw the ring in my pocket last night when I took out
the papers to prove Judis's involvement, didn't you?" Endymion
asked his father. Terrance nodded.

"Well, at least now the betrothal will be fulfilled, and we
didn't have to work anything out!" Queen Serenity said to Gaia
who nodded in agreement.

"When's the date?" Queen Venus and Mina asked anxiously.
Everyone laughed at the mother and daughter pair.

"We're not sure yet." Serenity and Endymion answered in
unison. "Probably after we're both seventeen." They said again
in unison.

"I really hate when people talk in sync. It's rather creepy
in my opinion." Queen Gaia said.

"Well, I'm ready for bed." Serenity said yawning.

"I am too. We shall see you all later." Endymion said as he
escorted his fiancé from the ballroom.

-The Next Morning-

Endymion had woken up about half an hour ago, but Serenity
still slept in his arms. He worried about what Beryl had said.
It scared him to think that she would try and hurt his Serenity.
Endy carefully got out of Serenity's arms, stood up, and
stretched. He felt somewhat odd, now that he was in his regular
form, he was noticeably taller. Serenity had said that she
didn't mind his "new" look at all because he looked even more
handsome and, (she had said blushing) he had a cuter butt.

As long as Serenity was happy, Endymion was too. He looked
down at her as she slept. Getting dressed into workout clothes,
he went to the training room to workout before Serenity woke up.

Serenity felt warmth leave her. She opened her eyes a few
minutes later to see Endymion close the door behind him. She
rolled over to the spot he had slept in. Inhaling, she smelled
roses. He must have had the smell embedded into him because he
had worked in the gardens for so long. Serenity got up from the
bed and got out of her nightgown into a light blue dress. She
went to go find where Endymion had gone to. She had a feeling
she knew.

Her hunch was right as Serenity found Endymion training. It
was a little odd to get used to his appearance being different,
but somehow, it suited him better. Serenity watched Endymion as
he did sit ups. He had taken off his shirt which now hung on a
fencing pole. She had seen Endymion with his shirt off, but he
had never been in his "natural" form, as he called it.

Endymion felt like he was being watched closely. He looked
up to see Serenity staring at him. She noticed that he had
finally seen her looking in at him from the doorway of the
training room and blushed becomingly. Serenity looked at her
hands as she folded and unfolded them over and over again
embarrassed.

"Why are you blushing?" Endymion asked her.

"Because...you're not dressed." Endymion rolled his eyes.

"It's not like I'm naked." He said. "Besides," Endymion got
up from his sitting position, "will you blush on our honeymoon?"
He asked as he walked over to where she stood. He placed his
arms around her.

"You're not sweaty." Serenity noticed, trying to change the
subject. Endymion could see a faint tint of pink on her cheeks.

"I just started working out about five minutes ago. Are you
trying to avoid my question?" Endymion asked, smiling down at
her.

'Duh!' She thought.

"You do remember I can hear most of your thoughts, don't
you?" He said to her jokingly. Serenity didn't look up at him.

'I don't want what happened to your parents...' Her
thoughts were too strong for him to avoid from hearing, even
when she tried to block them out.

"What happened between my parents won't happen to us. I
won't let it happen. I couldn't think of anyone who would come
in between us. I will never get tired of you." Endymion said.

"Beryl could come between us." Serenity countered. Endymion
leaned his forehead against hers.

"Not even Beryl. I'll go get my shirt on, and I'm going to
take you for a walk. Then we're getting breakfast." Endymion
reassured her.

"Okay." The two walked together and ended up in the rose
gardens. "It's so quiet here." No sooner had the words left her
mouth than there was a yell.

"Serenity, Endymion!" Several voices yelled around the
garden.

"Over here!" Endymion called, recognizing his Generals and
the younger Senshi's voices. "What's wrong?" The eight ran up to
them.

"We just got word from Luna and Artemis. Apparently there
is an evil force gathering at the end of our Solar System. It is
growing very fast, very big, and very strong." Amy said in a
panic.

"Serenity, we need to go to the moon right away." Mina
said.

"I'm surprised you two are awake. We tried your room but
you weren't there." Malachite explained. "Have you had anything to
eat?"

"Not yet." Serenity replied as she let this news sink it.

"When do you need to leave?" Endymion asked.

"As soon as possible." Raye replied.

"I'm coming with you." Endymion said hastily. Jedite shook
his head.

"Your parents need you to stay here. Some weird creatures
have suddenly shown up in Terra and Atlantis. We need to get
troops together to fight them off." Jedite explained. Endymion
nodded gravely. He turned to Serenity and kissed her with as
much passion as he could. Serenity choked back a sob. 'We're
going to have to be separated. Things are happening so fast.
Where did all of these problems come from?' Serenity wondered.

'Beryl most likely.' The two communicated telepathically so
their friends couldn't hear. 'We need to go. I'll come and see
you as soon as I can.' They broke apart the kiss. Serenity
didn't want to leave Endymion.

"Good-bye Sere."

"Bye Endy." They parted quickly, hoping the sooner they
took care of these sudden problems, the sooner they could stay
together permanently.

I hope that you all liked this chapter. Just to let you know,
the story might start getting a bit darker, not much mind you.
Please review below. Ja ne! - Jelp