Two days passed and there was still no sign of Serenity. The bedroom was fixed and the halls surrounding it. Though the rooms were fixed, the mood wasn't. Endymion hadn't uttered a word since the disappearance of his beloved wife, the inner scouts often burst into a batch of fresh tears over silly things like running out of milk.
While that went on, the outer senshi focused on not crying and taking care of Small Rabbit. They cleaned the whole castle, putting the servants on long breaks, taking a weak Usa-chan with them. Fake-happy faces were put on to cheer the small girl. But the sober mood remained throughout the whole castle.
Many people came to the castle with gifts of sorrow for the king and his subjects but they were left unnoticed by everyone but Uranus, Pluto and Neptune, who made the most of the kitties, balloons, puppy dogs, food baskets, cards and toys to console the young princess, by showing them to Chibi Usa, but she didn't care for any of it. She wanted her mother back but she knew that was impossible.
The weather was as horrible as the atmosphere inside the castle. Rain and sleet, often snow covered the silent king's kingdom. Nothing changed for days.
"He's still in front of the fire." Setsuna reported back to the other senshi in a hushed whisper. She was referring to their king who still sat in his large chair in front of the crackling fire he had set up in the large Study.
"We have to do something!" A rather hysterical Venus cried softly. Jupiter moved to her and comforted her quietly while she sniffled.
"There's nothing we can do, Mina-chan." Uranus said sadly. "Our Queen is gone, our King is in depression and we have nothing left for this Kingdom to carry on."
The other girls were silent, and they knew what Haruka-san had just said was, unfortunately, true. "And we have tried everything we can. We showed him the finest foods in the entire kingdom. The gifts were presented to him. Nothing works. I honestly do not know what to do." She gave a shaky sigh.
"What about Small Rabbit?" Mercury suggested.
"What about her?" Neptune spoke up.
"Well she is his daughter, and they haven't seen each other in days. She has similarities to her mother and he sees that. Maybe that's the only thing that will cheer him up. Nothing else is working, what have we got to lose?" Mercury reasoned, wisely.
A few girls nodded in agreement.
"Yeah that could work." Pluto agreed.
"Uh huh."
"Great one!"
"Let's give it a shot!"
An excited murmur went through the group.
"Let's not excite Chibi Usa. Only a couple of us should go and one stay in the room with them. Leave them be and see if it works. What do you say?" Uranus said to them all.
"Yeah, that's a good idea. But who should go?" Makoto asked.
"Well, she's close to Setsuna. And Mina-san." Neptune said.
"I'm in no state to face the Princess, Neptune." Minako sniffed.
"She's right, if she saw her crying, it definitely won't make matters any better."
"I'll go." Mercury volunteered.
"Okay so it's settled."
"I'll come back and leave you in the room, Setsuna. You see if they get on and report back to us." Pluto nodded.
The girls wished Mercury and Pluto good luck as they headed out of the room and down the cold, dark hallways. There seemed to be no light anywhere except for that which the outer senshi were trying to keep up. They reached the Princesses room in a matter of minutes and opened the door slowly.
"Small Bunny?" Pluto called softly into the pink room. She glanced around in the large room at the pink walls with bunny wallpaper. The bed was unmade and clothes were strewn all over the light pink carpeted floor. It was a mess! But the Small Princess sat coloring at her desk. A wad of paper was spread out on the massive desk (which was of course, also pink) and crayons and coloring items surrounded it. The two senshi walked across the room to the table. They gasped at what she was drawing. The background was blood red and a picture of a elegant woman with wings and a crown was in the middle. The woman was dead. They knew this because there was a dagger stuck right in the woman's heart. And on in her stomach. And one in her head. They were all over. Mercury and Pluto were at a loss at how such a tiny girl could think up such horror.
"Usa-chan?" Mercury asked, to make sure the Princess knew that they were even in the room.
"What?" A sharp reply from the little girl.
"Um, what are you drawing?"
"It's Serenity."
"Serenity?"
"That's right."
"Don't you mean 'Mommy'?"
"No, I've disowned her. For all I know, I don't have a Mommy. She left us so why should I dwell on it?"
Pluto gave a small cough and a 'Oh My' look to Mercury. She took a deep breath.
"Small Bunny, sweetie? Want to go see your Daddy?"
For a moment, Chibi Usa was about to say no, she didn't want anything to do with these girls who were on her mothers side. Why should she agree to anything they say? They'd just go away like her Momm- Serenity.
With a big sigh she forced out, implying she didn't want to go, she led the way out of the room with two upset scouts behind her. The walked down the hall, normally she would have skipped but there was no reason to.
They reached the Study and Small Lady opened the door. She walked over to her father who sat staring at the fire intently, deep in his own thoughts. Pluto and Mercury lagged behind. Mercury then whispered something to Setsuna and left the room, while Pluto slipped to the back, far from the small child and her Daddy.
"Hi, Daddy."
He remained silent, but glanced at her. Was that a small smile? She couldn't tell, he looked back at the fire, brows furrowed.
"I've come to cheer you up." She said cautiously. Nothing. No reply. No glance.
Suddenly, the door to the study whooshed open and a frantic out of breath Makoto appeared in the doorway.
"Your majesty! We have some news for you!" She gasped out of breath. The door banging caused Endymion to look up, and with the news of something "important" a glimmer of hope shined in his eyes.