Chapter 8
Moon Castle, MoonPrincess Serenity waited anxiously on the docks where the spaceships would dock, carrying her friends. The year had been long and hard and in her opinion, it was a miracle that she was alive. For some reason, the enemy was always attacking her, as if she was the piece to the puzzle.
She saw the sign of Jupiter, an elaborate four, on an incoming ship and she knew Tiaret was back. When the door opened, she barely had time to register the body moving toward her when she felt herself twirled in a bear hug.
"I've missed you Serene!" Tiaret exclaimed, setting her down. "It was hell being away from you and the Moon! Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. I'm just waiting for all the Senshi to arrive."
Jupiter turned to her ship and waved. The princess of the Moon saw a beautiful, short woman waving back. "I hope everything turns out all right," she called and then the door closed and the ship took off.
"Who was that?"
"My aunt Asney. She arranged for me to go back home. My parents thought I was dead," she whispered quietly.
Serene touched her friend's arm. "What's wrong?"
"Remember when I told you how I came to be here?" She nodded. "Well, when they tried to call the Senshi of Jupiter, they were told she was dead. They thought whatever had killed our predecessors had killed me as well. My mother was glad to see me, but my father was not."
"But his opinion means so much to you!"
"The year was hard on me. He didn't like what I had done and he will never forgive me. We hardly spoke during the year. Aunt Asney and mother insist he's coming around, but I don't think so."
Their hair blew in the wind as another ship docked. The sign on the side of the hull proclaimed it to be from Mercury. The door opened and bickering flowed out. They both recognized one of the voices as that of Dalit's.
"I've had enough of this conversation! I've told you over and over and I won't tell you again! Leave me alone! I won't give up being a Senshi! You berated me throughout the year and my entire trip here and you wonder why I don't want to visit!"
There was the sound of heels hitting the metal floor and in a moment, Dalit came bursting from the ship. At once, her arms wrapped around Tiaret and Serene's necks. She buried her face into the tall Jovian's shoulder. Her own shoulders shook.
Tiaret, who was very close to Dalit no matter how much she teased her, asked in worry, "What's wrong?"
Dalit quietly explained. "I spent the entire year fighting with my mother over being a Senshi. It was just plain excruciating! She never let up and never tried to see my point of view!"
Serene and Tiaret looked up at the ship long enough to see a wisp of dark blue hair and blue eyes disappear as the door closed. They did not ask who it was at that moment, seeing as Dalit was so upset about her mother.
After a moment, Mercury pulled away and wiped her eyes. She tried to smile. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."
They spent an hour talking, waiting for the next spaceship to arrive, and catching up on one another's lives. There was a roar of an engine and they looked up. There was no symbol on the side.
The ship didn't even land. The loading door opened and after a wave into the ship, Kitenis jumped down onto the wooden dock. The ship took off.
"What's going on?" asked Dalit.
"Well my folks, though they liked my visit, tended to ignore me. So when it came time to leave, they didn't remember that I actually had to have a ship to leave on. So I found a merchant ship leaving and booked a ride with him. We made damn good time, if you ask me," replied the Soldier of Uranus.
"What happened at your home?" asked Serene.
Kitenis shrugged. "The usual since the last time I visited and lived there nine years ago. For about day, I was the center of my parents' attentions and the next day and for the rest of the year, I was ignored. The one good thing is I met one of my brother's daughters. She would be a perfect candidate for Senshi. You should see the girl's strength! She's got to be five and her strength equaled mine in Senshi form! Her name is Haruka."
The other three whistled in shock. "Come to think of it," Dalit said, "I found a very good candidate myself." She explained about Ami and the others agreed with her; she would be a good choice.
The roar of a ship caught their attention. The symbol on the side was a little difficult to make out, but when it got closer, it was obviously from Pluto. The color of the symbol was so close to the black of the hull that it blended in well.
Jalae stepped out sedately. Spotting her friends, she walked up to them. Giving each a hug, she sighed. "It sure is good to be back."
"You know, Dalit and Kitenis found good candidates to be a successor. Did you?" asked Tiaret.
Jalae hesitated. "No," she said finally.
"Jalae," Kitenis said warningly, with a smile on her face. "If you don't tell us what you don't want to say, I'll just have to…" She paused for dramatic emphasis. "TICKLE you to death!" She raised her hands warningly.
Jalae and the others giggled. "All right, I did. I will go back in a year or two and make her the Time Guardian."
"Already?" asked Dalit in shock.
"I saw my successor in the Time Gate and we all know that Time Guardians have to be inducted before the others in a private ceremony."
The conversation was so intriguing that they did not notice another ship dock until a form hurtled from it at top speed. It slammed into Jalae so hard that the Soldier of Pluto fell face first into the wooden boards of the deck.
They pulled the Senshi to her feet. Jalae turned around and saw Neptune. She had tears on her face and her silver eyes were blood red from extensive crying. Her hair was disarranged and she looked absolutely depressed. She hugged her knees to her body.
The other Senshi knelt down next to her and pulled her to a sitting position. "What's the matter?" asked Serene in anxiety.
"I'm just so happy to be back!" she sobbed. "You all have no idea what it was like there!"
"I bet I can understand," Dalit muttered, thinking of the constant fighting.
"No you can't!" she cried. "I was completely ostracized by my own family! The only one who would talk to me was a little girl of five. Her name was Michiru. She's my brother's daughter. Whenever he caught her near me, much less talking to me, he would drag her away! I have no idea why she kept coming back. Every time I suggested leaving, they threatened to pull the alliance. The only reason I'm here is that they couldn't threaten to pull the alliance because the year was up and the agreement was only for a year. It was horrible!"
Caden broke down into quiet sobs again and the other Senshi hugged her and attempted to make her feel better. But the only one the Senshi of Neptune wanted to have their arms around her was Stella's.
The Soldiers got her on her feet and calmed down so she no longer cried. Her eyes were still red and her hair was still a mess. Serene smiled gently and pulled out a brush from a bag at her feet that no one had seen or noticed. She softly brushed her friend's hair into place. Caden smiled a thank you.
When Neptune saw the next ship bearing the sign of Venus, she almost broke down again. During the year, she had been plagued by worry that Stella would break away from her. Love someone else. It had been their relationship that had gotten her through the torturous twelve months captive of her home planet.
As soon as Stella stepped from the ship, her eyes roamed for Caden. Seeing Caden's distraught condition, she broke into a run to her lover.
"What's the matter?" she asked in concern.
Caden wrapped her arms around Stella and sobbed the story and her worries into her shoulder. Stella, more than a little shocked at how badly her family had overreacted to their relationship, could only say over and over, "It's all right, Caden."
Caden pulled away and looked into Venus' calm, hazel eyes that held such love for her. "You didn't—" she faltered.
"No. I will always love you, no matter what."
They kissed and hugged one more time. The other Senshi smiled, seeing that Caden was more relaxed. It was her relationship with Stella that allowed her to get through anything.
"How did your visit with your family go, Stella?" asked Tiaret.
"It was wonderful, thank you. I met up with a small girl named Minako, a great candidate for Venus. However, I don't think I convinced my cousin to let her be tested."
"Who are we missing?" Kitenis asked.
"Tacy and Taila," Serene said quietly.
"And Ares?" asked Tiaret slyly.
Serene blushed and nodded. "I need to talk to you all about something when Tacy and Taila get here."
Concerned, they agreed. Silence reigned as another ship approached the dock. It was obvious they all were anxious to be back on the Moon for the ships were coming with minutes of each other. The symbol on the hull announced it to be from Saturn.
Tacy jumped onto the deck in excitement. "Great, I'm glad you all are here. I didn't want to be here all by myself." Her hair bounced side to side as she ran up to meet her friends, giving indiscriminant hugs. She twirled around. "I love it here. Look at the sky, it's so beautiful. Everything looks greater now that I've been away from it for a year!"
"Did something happen on Saturn?" asked Serene. Tacy had never shown that much excitement in anything that they could remember.
Saturn sobered instantly. "Well, a week into the visit, my parents were assassinated. My thirteen year old brother is taking over the throne," she said quietly. "I spent my entire visit protecting him from assassins and usurpers than I did actually enjoying myself."
The ship from Mars landed and Taila walked slowly from the ship. Her face was concerned and as soon as she saw Princess Serenity she broke into a stumbling run and grabbed her around the neck, hugging her. "I'm so glad you're all right," she whispered.
"What do you mean, Taila?" Kitenis asked suspiciously.
Taila pulled away and looked sadly at her friends. "We have to talk."
"How was your visit?" asked Serene as they walked to the princess's room.
"It was pleasant enough, I guess," the Soldier of Mars said, thinking about Cirocco.
They closed the door and stood in silence for a moment. "Who goes first?" asked Serene.
"You," was the unanimous reply from the eight women.
Serene started by telling of the assassination attempts. "Mother called me into the room that holds the Ginzuishou more than once over the past year. She had me commune with it. She seems to think that if I do, I can see who's doing this. I didn't."
Caden sat on the bed with her arms wrapped around Stella's waist. Jalae and Tacy made themselves comfortable on the floor. Kitenis, Tiaret, Taila, and Dalit plopped down into chairs. Serene sat on the bed.
"I think this war is more than we had anticipated," Taila said. "This war could be just the beginning of something. Why would you attack Princess Serenity unless there was some thing she might do in the future when she has the Ginzuishou? Obviously someone has gotten themselves a sage and saw Serene doing something that they didn't like. What better way of stopping it than killing her before it starts?"
"Did you see something in the fire, Taila?" asked Kitenis.
Mars hesitated. "When I went home, my mother told me they had appointed a new general at this most crucial time. Just before the war would start. I was suspicious of him from the start and still am. However, I love him. We started a relationship. The day I went home, that night I did a fire reading after meeting him and…making love. I saw him, half in darkness, and half in light. His face was sad and cruel. Behind him was the Moon, looking like someone had painted it red. I love him, and I not sure how I feel when I say that I'm pregnant with his child."
There was silence in the room. Taila met the eyes of all her friends. "I don't know if he is a spy or not. I have done a number of fire readings and all I ever see is that scene. The first night I called Luna and told her. She told me not to jump to conclusions. His past is as normal as can be, I guess." She quickly outlined what he had told her.
"You're right, it is as normal as can be, and uninteresting," Tacy muttered, tipping her head back to look at the ceiling. "He could be. We'll just have to watch what we say around him."
Kitenis turned to Serene. "Why did you blush when I mentioned Ares?"
Princess Serenity blushed again. "Well, you see, over the course of the year, Ares visited from Mars, even though Taila could not. Well…I'm kind of…this is embarrassing…pregnant as well with Ares' child."
"Anybody else pregnant that we should know about?" asked Dalit flippantly.
Tiaret and Kitenis blushed. Dalit stared at them. "I didn't mean that for real! Don't tell me you both are!"
Tiaret stood up abruptly and then sat down just as quickly. "No, I'm not."
Dalit, skeptical, scanned her with her computer. The others looked at her. "No, she isn't."
"Hey," Jalae exclaimed. "It works!"
"Huh?" Dalit looked down at the computer. "Oh, yeah." She quickly explained how Ami had fixed it.
"Now, why did you blush when Dalit asked that question, Tiaret?" asked Stella.
Tiaret blushed again. "Well, I'm not pregnant, but I found a really nice guy and I wasn't sure if I was pregnant or not."
"Ah. Now, Kitenis," said Caden, turning to the Soldier of Uranus.
"What?"
"Are you?"
"Am I what?"
"Pregnant."
A pause.
"Would you believe me if I said no?"
"No."
"Thought not. It was worth a try, though. Yes, I am."
Dalit stood up. "Kitenis, Taila, detransform. I want to know how far along you are. The fuku disrupts my readings for this kind of thing and it will give the illusion you aren't anyway to protect against that kind of attack."
Kitenis and Taila detransformed. It turned out that Kitenis was about a two months pregnant and Taila two weeks. Dalit then turned to Serene. "Up, you. I want to scan."
"But I don't wear a fuku. You should be able to tell."
Dalit rolled her eyes. "Just humor me here, okay?"
Serene shrugged and stood up. Dalit punched in a few numbers and pronounced, "Serene you are one month pregnant. Be careful. We don't want to lose you or the baby."
"Okay."
"I wonder when the war will start," Tacy murmured, looking at the sky through one of the windows.
Jalae and Taila locked eyes. "It will start in three weeks," Jalae whispered.
The Soldiers whirled around and stared at her. "Why couldn't you have told us that earlier? Who is the enemy? Why are they attacking?"
Pluto held up her hands. "I can only tell you when and I'm not even supposed to say that. I'm bending a lot of rules to tell you that, so don't press me, please?" she begged.
Tiaret looked out the window. "Three weeks. We'll be ready."