Author Notes: I want to thanks you for all the nice comments, and all the suggestions. Oh! A note to Sailor Pisces; yes, I am a fan of Lioness Rampant. That's where I got the setting! But don't worry, I have something much different planned for our Serena. Tell me what you think of the fight scene; it was a very new thing for me to write about and describe. Did you understand what was going on? Did you understand nothing? E-mail me if you have any questions or concerns.
Disclaimer: I am not Naoko, and hence, do not own Sailor Moon or its affiliates. I did write this story though, so… yah - don't blatantly copy it or anything.

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            In the dinner hall of Andreas Castle, a lone figure was hunched over on his hands and knees, scrubbing at its floors with a merciless vengeance. The raven-haired prince was all the while cursing in rapid Spanish, the name Lord Leander frequently being spoken in an unflattering tone. The Lord Leander had been furious at Endymion's outburst during supper, and had instructed him to "wash the floors clean of his filthy words". He was then ordered to apologize to Page Serena. Outraged, the Spanish prince stormed off, but not before hearing the Lord Leander threats to remove his privilege of riding his horse, Leila. Horrified, he agreed.
             At the entrance of the hall where our prince continued scrubbing, another figure was quietly musing at the obviously disgruntled Endymion. Finally, she decided to reveal herself, and sauntered towards the prince.
            "I don't speak Spanish, but I don't think you were describing the Lord as the virtuous, courageous man that he is," Serena said, eyes twinkling.
            Endymion looked up, glaring at the unwelcome visitor. For a moment, he was startled at the girl's radiance, but quickly dismissed such notions. "What are you doing here, girl? Haven't you gotten me into enough trouble already?"
            Serena merely smiled, "Me? Get you in trouble? You men, must you always blame the women for what is obviously your fault? I'm here because the Lord said you had something to say to me." She looked at him expectantly.
            The Spaniard sighed, and after a long pause, muttered, "I'm sorry,"
            Smiling, Serena turned to walk away, but angrily spun around when she heard him add, "I'm sorry for women everywhere, its girls like you who give them a bad name".
            "Excuse me?"
            "You heard me – you really think you can take the harsh training of a knight's life? Look – I'm not some jerk who thinks a woman's duty is to simply bear children and bring about alliances through marriage. And though you look fit enough, there's no way you can survive the physical demands at this school. You're going to quit, and when you do – you're going to disappoint plenty of little girls who aspire to be something greater. If you disappear from the scene now, no one will be the wiser." he finished, unaware he had been promoted from "Jerk" to "Smart Jerk" in Serena's mind. She wasn't going to tell him that though.
            "Listen – thanks for the advice, but I'm not backing down now. I know I can be a knight - and unless I'm locked in the dungeons of this castle, I will not surrender to your chauvinistic ideals that men are stronger than women are. And those little girls you just mentioned – that's partly why I'm doing this. Someone's got to break the tradition, and that's going to be me. Nice try, but I'm not going to quit that easily." With that, she stalked off.


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            The following morning, Endymion raced through the now empty halls. Empty they were, because classes had started fifteen minutes ago and he was late. Thankfully, he had a pretty laid-back first class teacher who often didn't punish the tardy. And yet – when he did, the man got downright devious.

            "Sorry… I'm… Late… Duke Keith…" Endymion huffed, as he took a seat beside Andrew against the wall, where the rest of the students had taken a seat.
            Duke Keith simply smiled, and it was that moment the prince knew that their staff instructor had decided to punish him for his lateness.
            "No need for apologies Page Endymion – I was in the process of partnering up your classmates for some drill practices today. And you're just in time too – our new arrival, Page Serena, doesn't seem to have any willing partners. Perhaps someone who doesn't feel the need to attend all his classes could brave Serena."
            Endymion groaned, assuming that Serena had no willing partners because she was a girl, and therefore, unfit to battle with. Resignedly, he rose and searched for Serena, spotting her in the corner, eyeing the wooden staffs.
            "So, I suppose you're my partner for today."
            Glancing up, Serena met Endymion's challenging eyes.
            "Yes, I suppose so. Atleast I have someone to practice with. After the initial drill practices, no one wanted to be my partner any longer. I was worried I wouldn't be able to practice." Getting up, she handed Endymion a staff and assumed ready position, as the other students had done.

            Great, so she must be horrible as well. Endymion thought to himself, positioning his feet sideways and turning to face his opponent. Just because she was a girl didn't mean he would treat her any differently. Actually, I believe I'll let her have the first move, Endy thought to himself rather cockily, who would soon pay for his carelessness.

"You may begin," their instructor said.

Serena assumed a defensive position, but realised that the prince was allowing her to make the first move, just as her last five partners had done. Very well, she thought grimly. If you're going to be cocky, I'm going to have to deflate that ego of yours. And with that last determined thought, she feinted to the right, switched her staff to her left hand, and swung the wooden pole at his knees, bringing him crashing to the floor.

What the hell just happened...? I could have sword she was holding the staff with her right hand. Endymion thought to himself as he got up. He set up for an overhead swing, but Serena ducked and swung her right foot for his feet. The prince learned his lesson the first time though, and jumped. As he landed though, Serena had continued to swing around and hit his legs with her pole again. Wincing, Endymion's legs buckled and his arms moved upward to meet Serena's staff. The clack of wood echoed throughout the room and it was then that he noticed the entire class had stopped practicing, and were watching Serena and him.

A fierce fire flooded Endymion's veins as he attacked Serena. Though he was much stronger, she was much quicker and the pair was evenly matched. Serena met every one of his aggressive blows, retaliating with one of her own. This continued for another tense twenty minutes, until with a fancy twist of her arm, Serena managed to confuse her opponent and - grasping the staff with two hands – pivoted to her side and thrust the staff at Endymion's chest, sending him flying. His body slammed against the wall and the room was suddenly filled with a quiet awe and amazement. The sudden movement of Endymion's once lifeless body brought out a simultaneous sigh of relief.

Getting him, he strode toward the victor and bowed to her, but a dark look shadowed his face as he bent forward. Bending down, she bowed as well,

officially ending what had turned out to be a battle.

            "Excellent – excellent work! Very well done, Page Serena - you as well, Endymion. Perhaps you shall not be as hasty to judge your opponents. I hope everyone today has learned something!"

"Yah, that the new page has amazing legs when she does her high kicks!" a voice rang out, and everyone laughed, even Serena.

Duke Keith smiled. "Go, go young pages – learn, live! Overcome new challenges and hopefully you'll survive this place!" Duke Keith rambled, more to himself than the class.

            Endymion's back hurt, and chest ached. That had been the most rigorous fight he had had with anyone his age, and the first time he had lost. He didn't like the feeling. Andrew walked up to him, eyes laughing at the disgruntled look on his friend's face.

"Wow… so how does it feel to get whipped by the doll?" He joked, grinning even wider when Endymion glared a dark look at his friend.
"Shut up Andrew – what's with you anyway? It seems like you've been on her side from the moment she came here? Gods – don't tell me you've fallen in

love with her: along with the rest of the student population." The prince retorted, massaging his neck as well as his aching pride. "No need to worry, I haven't fallen under that girl's spell yet – I'm determined to never let her defeat me again."

            "No, I haven't fallen in love with her. I simply thought it was funny that you got whipped by the doll." Andrew taunted once again, then suddenly breaking into a run as his friend's eyes flashed angrily.

            "Get back here!" Endymion yelled, as he chased Andrew down the halls, towards their next class.


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The years to follow were a fierce competition between Serena and Endymion. While one day, Serena may have beaten him in staff combat, the next revealed Endymion bested her in swordsmanship. She bettered him in archery, but he was superior in skill when it came to jousting. Both were the best of their classes, and it also created a rivalry so intense that none would dare interfere. And yet, for the oddest reason imaginable, they would come together every night and practice together, criticizing each other with the most critical comments, and fueling each other with their insults and forwardness. They pushed each other to the limit, and became enraged when the other wasn't trying – or didn't learn something quickly enough.

When they first began this strange ritual, the boys laughed and teased them, accusing them of courting each other at night. But a pair of murderous glares from the two promptly stopped any notions. They showed no such feelings towards each other, and at times it seemed like they should hate one another. It was one night though, when our readers should question the type of feelings they had for one another…

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Author Notes: Haha… not exactly a cliff hanger, but I definitely got you all intrigued, rite? insert rolling ball of hay here heh… well, for all of you who read this, please review and tell me if this was better in length compared to the others, what you thought – did I rush it too much, or what? Boring? Exciting? Totally wicked cool? Tell me! REVIEW! Oh! By the way, I added anyone who reviewed my story and left their email! If you no longer want to be notified, please e-mail me and tell me! For those who would like to be on the mailing list, email me at sakura_cherry_blossoms@hotmail.com and I'll be sure to add you to my list!