Yay! I finally start posting! Lessee.... Thanks go to Mikazuki for
her great plot idea, to my sister and to Dragon Knight Slade for helping me
edit, and to Takeuchi Naoko for letting us play in her stories. Various
major and minor characters (which I'm sure you'll recognize on sight) are
my own creation, but I don't think you guys are near as interested in them
as in Serenity and Endymion, so let the show begin!
~Lurker 7/19/03
"Forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty! Ready or not, here I come!" The Princess Serenity leaned back from the tree that had been supporting her and uncovered her eyes. She peered around at the garden and shrugged. Just because she couldn't see Endy right away didn't mean he wasn't hiding behind that fountain, or over there in the bushes. "Here I come!" she shouted again, and ran off between the trees, dragging her toy cat behind her. Mama said she was getting too big for stuffed animals, but Sere and Kitty had been together since Sere was born, and she wasn't giving her best friend up just because she had had her fourth birthday last month.
The garden was big enough that Endy could be almost anywhere, with lots of overhanging branches and tall bushes - perfect places to hide - but Sere didn't mind the time spent looking. She was glad to play with her new friend. She'd been nervous to meet him, especially for that first minute when he'd glared at her and she'd thought he didn't like her, but when the moment had passed, he'd suggested they play hide-and-seek outside. Sere had happily agreed.
~~
Part of Sere recognized this dream. She'd hoped her nights of remembering were over.
~~
Sere felt like she'd been running forever. Endy couldn't really have gone that far, could he? She stopped to catch her breath and quickly looked around. Not here behind the bushes, not under the stone bench by the path.... Where could he be? She was getting tired of looking, and the sky was growing darker. She could see blackened clouds gathering overhead and hear a rumble of thunder in the distance.
"Endy? I'm tired of playing!" she called. "Ally-ally-in-come-free!" She took a few steps and swung open the door to a small shed. "Endy? Are you in here?"
The shed held nothing but gardening supplies, gathering cobwebs in dark corners. Sere shuddered, a little afraid of the shadows, especially with the sunlight from outside fast disappearing. She was about to turn and leave, when she felt a rough push to her back. As she sprawled in the dirt, tears coming to her eyes, she could see Endy standing over her. "That hurt! My knee hurts...." and she looked down at the offending limb. "It's bleeding! You skinned it!" Sere cried harder now, glancing up to see a look of disdain in his cold eyes.
"You stupid crybaby." He reached down and snatched Kitty away from her grasp. "Maybe I'll leave you in here a while."
As she struggled to her feet, Endy slammed the door shut, leaving her in stark blackness. Even as Sere ran to the door, hitting it with her fist in anger, she could hear him slamming home the outside latch, meant to keep out animals and the weather. She fell against the door screaming. "Let me out! Let me out!"
After a few moments, her cries became more plaintive. "Please, let me out! Is anyone there? Mama? Kitty?"
Rain began to fall against the metal roof, the sounds echoing through the small enclosure, while the rolls of thunder grew louder. Sere wondered if anyone could even hear her above the noise, and whether anyone would ever come to save her. She finally sank to her knees, ignoring the shoot of pain through her injury, and cried.
~~
Sere sat straight up in bed, sweat dripping through her hair. The thunder outside her room drew her attention and she lept to shut the window before more rain could blow in. That task accomplished, she shakily sat back down on the edge of her bed and reached for a pillow, hugging it close to her.
The thunder had brought back memories she'd thought long gone. She'd been much younger, then, and easily frightened, and had convinced herself in the years past that she'd read too much into his expressions, his actions. Children were children after all, often cruel without meaning to be.... Surely he'd changed since then, just as she too had grown up.
It was only nights like this, when the thunder wrapped around her and filled her ears, when the rain poured down in torrents, that she found herself reliving that day in her dreams. Only recently, in the last few months. She could see him still in her mind, with those cold, blue eyes of a cruel boy.... The eyes of the man she was now engaged to.
Sere leaned carefully toward the small dressing table by her bed, reaching out for the battered, threadbare lump laying there. She cradled the raggedy stuffed cat against her chest.
"Oh, Kitty...." she mumbled. "How will I do this? How can I?"
~Lurker 7/19/03
"Forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty! Ready or not, here I come!" The Princess Serenity leaned back from the tree that had been supporting her and uncovered her eyes. She peered around at the garden and shrugged. Just because she couldn't see Endy right away didn't mean he wasn't hiding behind that fountain, or over there in the bushes. "Here I come!" she shouted again, and ran off between the trees, dragging her toy cat behind her. Mama said she was getting too big for stuffed animals, but Sere and Kitty had been together since Sere was born, and she wasn't giving her best friend up just because she had had her fourth birthday last month.
The garden was big enough that Endy could be almost anywhere, with lots of overhanging branches and tall bushes - perfect places to hide - but Sere didn't mind the time spent looking. She was glad to play with her new friend. She'd been nervous to meet him, especially for that first minute when he'd glared at her and she'd thought he didn't like her, but when the moment had passed, he'd suggested they play hide-and-seek outside. Sere had happily agreed.
~~
Part of Sere recognized this dream. She'd hoped her nights of remembering were over.
~~
Sere felt like she'd been running forever. Endy couldn't really have gone that far, could he? She stopped to catch her breath and quickly looked around. Not here behind the bushes, not under the stone bench by the path.... Where could he be? She was getting tired of looking, and the sky was growing darker. She could see blackened clouds gathering overhead and hear a rumble of thunder in the distance.
"Endy? I'm tired of playing!" she called. "Ally-ally-in-come-free!" She took a few steps and swung open the door to a small shed. "Endy? Are you in here?"
The shed held nothing but gardening supplies, gathering cobwebs in dark corners. Sere shuddered, a little afraid of the shadows, especially with the sunlight from outside fast disappearing. She was about to turn and leave, when she felt a rough push to her back. As she sprawled in the dirt, tears coming to her eyes, she could see Endy standing over her. "That hurt! My knee hurts...." and she looked down at the offending limb. "It's bleeding! You skinned it!" Sere cried harder now, glancing up to see a look of disdain in his cold eyes.
"You stupid crybaby." He reached down and snatched Kitty away from her grasp. "Maybe I'll leave you in here a while."
As she struggled to her feet, Endy slammed the door shut, leaving her in stark blackness. Even as Sere ran to the door, hitting it with her fist in anger, she could hear him slamming home the outside latch, meant to keep out animals and the weather. She fell against the door screaming. "Let me out! Let me out!"
After a few moments, her cries became more plaintive. "Please, let me out! Is anyone there? Mama? Kitty?"
Rain began to fall against the metal roof, the sounds echoing through the small enclosure, while the rolls of thunder grew louder. Sere wondered if anyone could even hear her above the noise, and whether anyone would ever come to save her. She finally sank to her knees, ignoring the shoot of pain through her injury, and cried.
~~
Sere sat straight up in bed, sweat dripping through her hair. The thunder outside her room drew her attention and she lept to shut the window before more rain could blow in. That task accomplished, she shakily sat back down on the edge of her bed and reached for a pillow, hugging it close to her.
The thunder had brought back memories she'd thought long gone. She'd been much younger, then, and easily frightened, and had convinced herself in the years past that she'd read too much into his expressions, his actions. Children were children after all, often cruel without meaning to be.... Surely he'd changed since then, just as she too had grown up.
It was only nights like this, when the thunder wrapped around her and filled her ears, when the rain poured down in torrents, that she found herself reliving that day in her dreams. Only recently, in the last few months. She could see him still in her mind, with those cold, blue eyes of a cruel boy.... The eyes of the man she was now engaged to.
Sere leaned carefully toward the small dressing table by her bed, reaching out for the battered, threadbare lump laying there. She cradled the raggedy stuffed cat against her chest.
"Oh, Kitty...." she mumbled. "How will I do this? How can I?"