Chapter 1
The café looked out on a busy street. She was surprised by the amount of people who were out on a day like today; a day when the clouds were so very dark, so very low, and so very threatening. She didn't really mind the clouds, but she knew that other people surely did. Sunny days, unlike most people, annoyed her. There was such a pressure to be cheery and thankful, which sometimes it just wasn't the time for, whatever the weather. Today, though, her mood did match the weather. So many questions filled her head, dark, looming questions, just like the clouds above her head.
Mother, she thought, seems to know something about it, and so does Chibiusa. She was their favorite, after all. She even got a real name. What is my name, she thought. Why my name is Chibichibi. Not even a real name. Smallsmall, just like they think of me.
Maybe the girl was small fifteen years ago, but she was no longer. Despite her mother's and sister's small stature, she was quite tall. Her hair was long and red, a color which she had inherited from neither of her parents. She wore it in cute hearts on her head, with long, curly ponytails coming down from them.
She stirred her coffee; was there anything that warmed the soul like a cup of the good stuff? She sighed; where did she come from? That's what she really wanted to know. She didn't look like her mother, or her father, or even Chibiusa. Sometimes she felt so alone. Mother was queen, father was king, Usa was to be queen someday, but what was her destiny? To be an envoy, an ambassador?
Usa knows, she thought. Knows what? she asked herself. She wasn't sure. Why weren't their baby pictures of her? Did any one know that? Mother always talked about Usa as a baby; why not Chibichibi? Every story she was in seemed to be after she was three or so. She wanted to know what she was like as a newborn. Did she wail? Did she smile? Was she cute? Did she hate carrots? She shook her head; maybe she's just forgotten. She's my mother; she wouldn't lie.
Another sigh escaped her as she remembered yet another forgotten appointment. She hurriedly took a bill from her pocket, and left it on the table. She stood; maybe there was still time.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"CHIBICHIBI," Father thundered. She quivered; she hadn't seen him this mad since she got her nose pierced.
"Yes, Daddy?" He had gotten quite red in the face, and tranquil Serenity was trying to calm him.
"You missed the palace ceremony AGAIN. This was important, we were dedicating the new Mercurian fountain!!"
"Oh Ami-sama has enough stuff dedicated to her," Chibichibi said. She loved Ami, no doubt, but it was quite true that she had her share of accomplishments. Besides, she had nothing else to say, and she had to have some retort!
"That is not the point!" said her father. "You are grounded into the next CENTURY young lady!"
Chibichibi sighed; she wanted to say something. She wanted to fight, but lately, she just hadn't had the energy. These questions had been going through her mind at warp speed, and draining everything she had in her. "Yes, Daddy. I'll escort myself to my room."
She walked up the seemingly endless flights of stairs to her room. It was the most remote part in the entire palace. She had chosen to be exiled from the rest of the family, who slept in the west wing, some time ago.
She sat on my bed, and pulled a box out from under it. Since she was a child, she had kept a keepsake box. She pulled out the most special thing, and also the most secret thing. It was the picture that brought up all the questions. It was she and her mother. Her mother gay and smiling, Chibichibi a mere child. But Serenity was over thirty years older than her daughter, and in this picture, she couldn't have been more than sixteen.
Chibichibi hadn't told her yet. She hadn't asked all the questions, or any for that matter. Maybe. maybe. maybe she didn't want the answers.
The café looked out on a busy street. She was surprised by the amount of people who were out on a day like today; a day when the clouds were so very dark, so very low, and so very threatening. She didn't really mind the clouds, but she knew that other people surely did. Sunny days, unlike most people, annoyed her. There was such a pressure to be cheery and thankful, which sometimes it just wasn't the time for, whatever the weather. Today, though, her mood did match the weather. So many questions filled her head, dark, looming questions, just like the clouds above her head.
Mother, she thought, seems to know something about it, and so does Chibiusa. She was their favorite, after all. She even got a real name. What is my name, she thought. Why my name is Chibichibi. Not even a real name. Smallsmall, just like they think of me.
Maybe the girl was small fifteen years ago, but she was no longer. Despite her mother's and sister's small stature, she was quite tall. Her hair was long and red, a color which she had inherited from neither of her parents. She wore it in cute hearts on her head, with long, curly ponytails coming down from them.
She stirred her coffee; was there anything that warmed the soul like a cup of the good stuff? She sighed; where did she come from? That's what she really wanted to know. She didn't look like her mother, or her father, or even Chibiusa. Sometimes she felt so alone. Mother was queen, father was king, Usa was to be queen someday, but what was her destiny? To be an envoy, an ambassador?
Usa knows, she thought. Knows what? she asked herself. She wasn't sure. Why weren't their baby pictures of her? Did any one know that? Mother always talked about Usa as a baby; why not Chibichibi? Every story she was in seemed to be after she was three or so. She wanted to know what she was like as a newborn. Did she wail? Did she smile? Was she cute? Did she hate carrots? She shook her head; maybe she's just forgotten. She's my mother; she wouldn't lie.
Another sigh escaped her as she remembered yet another forgotten appointment. She hurriedly took a bill from her pocket, and left it on the table. She stood; maybe there was still time.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"CHIBICHIBI," Father thundered. She quivered; she hadn't seen him this mad since she got her nose pierced.
"Yes, Daddy?" He had gotten quite red in the face, and tranquil Serenity was trying to calm him.
"You missed the palace ceremony AGAIN. This was important, we were dedicating the new Mercurian fountain!!"
"Oh Ami-sama has enough stuff dedicated to her," Chibichibi said. She loved Ami, no doubt, but it was quite true that she had her share of accomplishments. Besides, she had nothing else to say, and she had to have some retort!
"That is not the point!" said her father. "You are grounded into the next CENTURY young lady!"
Chibichibi sighed; she wanted to say something. She wanted to fight, but lately, she just hadn't had the energy. These questions had been going through her mind at warp speed, and draining everything she had in her. "Yes, Daddy. I'll escort myself to my room."
She walked up the seemingly endless flights of stairs to her room. It was the most remote part in the entire palace. She had chosen to be exiled from the rest of the family, who slept in the west wing, some time ago.
She sat on my bed, and pulled a box out from under it. Since she was a child, she had kept a keepsake box. She pulled out the most special thing, and also the most secret thing. It was the picture that brought up all the questions. It was she and her mother. Her mother gay and smiling, Chibichibi a mere child. But Serenity was over thirty years older than her daughter, and in this picture, she couldn't have been more than sixteen.
Chibichibi hadn't told her yet. She hadn't asked all the questions, or any for that matter. Maybe. maybe. maybe she didn't want the answers.