Chapter 3: Adoption
If the hospital had been in a frenzy when Pluto and Saturn had visited, it was absolutely getting turned upside-down today. Word had leaked out, as it often does, that Neo Queen Serenity herself, along with an unknown number of the Sailor Soldiers and, the rumors stressed this part, King Darien too, with her. And, the rumors furthered, she was here to see the boy now known as Evan. After all, the common mind deduced immediately, and correctly, what else would she be coming for? The boy had been the highlight of the hospital since his arrival, and many people had correctly guessed, days or hours it mattered not, in advance that a face-to-face meeting between the esteemed queen and the enigmatic patient was inevitable. But there was still a surprised hush that fell when, with King Darien, Sailors Pluto and Saturn, and Princess Rini, Neo Queen Serenity entered the hospital. Of course, a detachment of the royal guard was present, but in slim numbers, perhaps two or three soldiers at most. It was as if, and in many cases it was the case, that the moment a human ear heard her footsteps that person froze where they stood or quickly moved to the sides and watched with awestruck silence as she passed by, as if they were hardly breathing. Guards, positioned at different intervals in the hallways, straightened up and saluted nobly as the royal entourage passed. At one point, while passing a nurse who looked like she'd seen a ghost, Neo Queen Serenity calmly made inquiry as to the whereabouts of a Dr. Jason Matthews, and the nurse, after recovering from her initial paleness and surprise, anxiously agreed to locate Dr. Matthews and have him meet her at Evan's room. After a short distance more of hallway and several more surprised people, they at last came to a room with two guards on each side of the door, doubtless Evan's room. The guards saluted and quickly opened the door for their queen and her group, who nodded and stepped inside.
The boy was as she'd read of him: short neon-blue hair that seemed strangely natural yet doubtlessly abnormal for the common breed of humanity, deep gentle sea-green eyes, a well-defined but not overdone build, and a confused look about him that spoke volumes of but doubtless only a fraction about the shapeless disorientation that was going on inside his mind. He looked up, sitting upright in his bed, at these new visitors with a strangely sincere confusion, almost as if his eyes were saying 'can you make sense of it all'?
"So, you must be Evan." Neo Queen Serenity began, then introduced herself and her group. "I am Neo Queen Serenity. I know you've already met my friends Sailor Saturn and Sailor Pluto. This is my husband King Darien and our daughter Princess Rini."
The boy nodded, recognizing Saturn and Pluto with a gentle smile and then extending it to the others.
"It's nice to meet you. I've heard much about you. Is it true you made this city?"
She smiled. Saturn and Pluto had been right; the boy had a depth of sincerity, almost like a little child, but different. Unafraid to ask questions that, to anyone else, might have seemed silly, yet had a definite ring of truth to them, and it was almost as if he somehow conveyed an echo of his innocent spirit with each word. It seemed he knew nothing of malice, or greed, or of titles or positions except that he held a simple respect for everyone he came across, playing no favorites and somehow vastly aware that he was a visitor in a world he did not know.
"Not on my own, but yes. How do you feel?"
"A lot better than before, when I first woke up here. Dr. Matthews tells me my injuries are healing quickly."
"And your memory?" Darien inquired, trying not to sound invasive but not doing a very good job. Evan didn't even seem to notice; perhaps the concept of invasiveness was totally foreign in the midst of his simplicity and innocence of mind. It was as if he had no regard for self, not that he had no concept of himself as a person, but that ego and it's sensitivities were totally devoid in him.
"Dr. Matthews tells me that I'll remember things about myself eventually, but..." He looked aside, a strange look in his eye, perhaps an even deeper confusion. "... But I can't remember anything. Maybe I just don't know how. It's... strange."
"Really? You don't know anything?" Rini piped in, her childlike curiosity getting the better of her. Serena leveled a stern look at her child, but her attention was diverted almost that same moment by Evan's kindhearted smile.
"It's ok, I don't mind her question." He paused for a minute, putting together his thoughts. "Well, I know some things, like what a window is and what blue and red and other colors are, but some of the things I don't know yet are where I was before this hospital or what brought me here. Or why I can't remember."
"I heard you fell from outer space." Rini stated, giggling in a silly manner. Evan tilted his head slightly, not quite understanding what she meant.
"What's outer space?"
"It's where the stars are; well, actually, it's the blackness in-between the stars."
For the first time that day, a profoundly amazed look came over the boy called Evan, and he glanced out his window up towards the sky.
"The stars? The ones I saw last night? I'm from there?"
"Actually, we aren't entirely sure." Serena interjected, getting Evan's attention again. "The only way we can truly answer the question of where you're from is if your memory returns. I'd like to help you do that." She glanced at Darien, who was giving her a semi-confused look, and she returned it with a subtle 'trust-me, I-know-what-I'm-doing' look, then turned her attention back towards Evan. "Once doctor Matthews says you're well enough, I'd like you to come and stay with us at the Crystal Palace. I think, given enough time, perhaps we can help your memory to return. Would you like that?"
He nodded almost completely without hesitation, jumping at the chance to understand these mysteries about himself, and then made certain to amply thank Neo Queen Serenity for her generosity. A few moments later, Dr. Matthews entered the room, immediately apologizing for being so late to such an important meeting. Neo Queen Serenity interrupted him with the proposal of her idea that Evan come stay at the palace, and for a long moment the doctor was absolutely baffled silent and stunned by the request.
"... Well actually, he's recovering so fast that, if you wanted, your majesty, he could leave the hospital immediately. It's been quite amazing, seeing his body heal itself at a rate unthinkable by conventional biological concepts. By my estimate, your majesty, he should be fully healed within a few days, five at most."
"Five days, then. Make certain to take good care of him, and continue to monitor his recovery and keep me informed." She turned her attention to Evan. "We'll prepare a room for you in the meantime. Any specific requests?"
"... no, not really." Evan replied, as if the idea of personalizing his living space was truly a concept too weighty for him. Neo Queen Serenity smiled; just being around this boy was like a breath of fresh air, and not just because of his selflessness and innocence; there was something about him,... something she couldn't quite put her finger on...
"Perhaps you might have told me ahead of time what you had planned, then I could have offered some suggestions." Darien stated as the group exited the building. He was not just surprised and feeling left out of the loop, but also confused by his wife's decision to house the boy in the palace. It wasn't so much that he was angry that she hadn't told him; she had done far worse than this without giving him the slightest foreshadowing, and he also tried to make an effort not to entangle himself with everything she was doing and let her have some select projects completely under her direction. In Serena was an odd paradox:. She deeply and lovingly clung to friendships and, specifically, the romance that the two of them shared, but she also often had a desire to operate as a free agent and do something to catch her friends and loved ones, more often than not, totally by surprise. One of her more enterprising endeavors had been the design of a large youth-based complex in the center of the city, with shops and stores and everything she had, as a teenager, always dreamed about having in 'the perfect mall'. Then there had been the time when she redesigned the palace courtyard on a whim, removing grand crystal and stone and metal statues and having the entire locale filled with rare and beautiful plants and flowers, mazes off to the sides constructed of massive hedges and leading to raised gazebos or other such constructs, to give her places of privacy and beauty where she could sit and reflect and think or do whatever came to her mind. The list went on of things she had done or made or planned or organized that she'd begun totally of her own whim or inspiration,...
... But Darien was inclined to think that inviting a certain mysterious young boy who had no idea who he was to come and live with them, he was inclined to think that was a little too important for her to just go ahead without consulting him.
"If you'll recall," Serena stated, half teasing him and half serious. "I did try to bring it to your attention last night at dinner, but you thought I was making a joke."
"I apologize for not taking you seriously, but you didn't exactly tell me you were actually setting your heart to do this. You said 'wouldn't it be interesting if...'. I honestly, truthfully thought that meant you were just thinking how strange it would be."
"Strange, maybe,... but a valuable opportunity. Perhaps I should have brought it more plainly to your attention..." A devious smirk came over her. "But the expression on your face was absolutely priceless, you must admit."
He blushed slightly, having not even thought that she might have been playing this up as a practical joke. Saturn vainly tried to suppress a giggle, as did Rini, and Pluto fought to keep from smirking. As they made their way down the steps of the hospital leading towards the street curb, Darien whispered something about 'I suppose it was pretty funny', and Serena smiled warmly and gave him a reassuring hug.
"My queen, are you certain this is a good idea?"
The question was being put forth by Uranus, and a concerned look on her features clearly exposed that she had her doubts as to the safety of a move like this. Serena could read similar expressions of questioning in the eyes of most of the Sailor Scouts, whom she'd gathered together in the castle's grand meeting room for the purpose of conveying her plans concerning Evan. The Sailors sat around a large crystalline circular table that stretched almost the length and breath of the room, and each Sailor's symbol was engraved in silver on the table in front of them and on the backs of the chairs. Truth be told, everyone except Darien, Saturn, Pluto, and Rini seemed to, by their very expressions on their faces, have some confusion or doubt as to the nature of this idea. Uranus had only stated the silent opinion of the group.
Addressing the manner like a true queen, Serena stood to her feet and looked, one by one, into the eyes of the Sailor Soldiers whom she called her dearest friends. She could understand their apprehension, but she knew they would understand if only she spoke from her heart. Taking a deep breath, she collected her thoughts, then addressed the other fourteen Sailors, plus Luna, Artemis, and Diana, who sat on a raised cushion at the far end of the table across from Serena.
"I know we're taking a risk by inviting Evan to come and stay here with us,... but I personally believe that the potential for good outweighs whatever dangers may be incurred. What I hope to accomplish is not just to help him restore his memory, but also to get him closely tied in with what we represent, to make him feel like family amongst us. He has no memory of who he is, and whether he was a friend or a foe before he came here is not the true issue. The question isn't 'how can we protect ourselves from him just in case', it needs to be 'how can we make him feel welcomed'. Even if he did come here as an enemy, against which there is now substantial evidence, this is a chance to show him what we are really about. Perhaps, if he was an enemy, we can help him choose a different path, or if he indeed is not, we can help him to think of himself as one of us. It's possible that he himself is a Sailor Soldier; it's almost completely confirmed that the energy burst we detected originated with him. We should make every attempt to guide him to the right path, and prove to him that there are people in this world he can trust. I think at least some of those people... should be us."
There was a contemplative silence that fell over the room, then slowly one by one the Sailors nodded in agreement. Serena let out a relieved and grateful sigh; it was always good to know that her friends still believed in her. She sat down with a relieved and hopeful smile beaming on her face, and somehow it seemed to spread to most of the other Sailors.
"Someone will need to keep an eye of him nonetheless." Uranus stated after a few minutes. "There is still an uncertainty about him; we have to take proper precautions. After all, we can't have him 'accidentally' unleashing an energy burst like what we sensed three days ago, especially here in the castle."
"You're absolutely right, Amara. And I think that you are the person best suited for the task." Serena stated, with the straightest face she could muster. All eyes turned to see Uranus' half-desperate but mostly stunned 'but that's not what I meant' look. It seemed almost everyone, even Neptune and Pluto, was barely suppressing a snicker or a giggle or at least a grin. Serena quickly added, "Your job will be to keep an eye on him, and in case an emergency comes up both the royal guard and the other Sailor Scouts are at your disposal."
Anything that even resembled a smirk instantly dropped away, except for Uranus, who had good reason to smirk. Neo Queen Serenity was known for her fairness, but amongst the Sailor Scouts she was also known for her sense of humor. Needless to say, she had planned this out as her latest small prank, although it was far more fact than joke. It had just been employed like one.
"Additionally," She added, turning her gaze towards Pluto. "Pluto will, in a manner of speaking, undertake the role of teacher for Evan. Her task will be to teach him the basic facts about our world and whatever else he wishes to learn, but also to monitor what information he intakes. If possible, we want to delay any understanding about conflict and warfare, especially the implementation. A time will come when we will have to teach him about his own powers and show him how to properly use them, but I want there to be a firm moral fiber in place before we undertake that task."
Pluto nodded; her role as Evan's teacher had been decided between her and Neo Queen Serenity far in advance of this meeting. It was a task she felt up to, and believed that it would enable her a vantage point from which to make key observations about the boy.
"As for everyone else..." A gentle smile came over Neo Queen Serenity's features. "Just try to be his friends, and be ready in case Uranus needs you."
The group at large nodded. This would no doubt turn into an interesting undertaking, one with few certainties and only possible danger.
And for Neo Queen Serenity, it was exactly what she'd been praying for: something to help take her mind off the Galaxy Cauldron.
(Author's notes: Enjoying it sofar? I know I am. In case you're wondering about some certain things in reference to the story sofar, please be merciful of the fact that I'm not the official 'moonhead' in my family. This fanfic is dedicated to my sister Jenn {AKA "Sailor ChibiLove"}, who not only knows more about SM than I do, but is helping me to write this fic through a medley of information gathered from both the TV series and the comics she possesses. As with before, if ya like what ya see, Read and Respond! My e-mail is MysteriousVoiceGuy@juno.com, and I check it often so rest assured your questions, comments, flames {flames will be used to roast marshmallows, so there!} and reviews will be received, read, and responded to in short order. More soon! Later, peoples!)