Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon. All characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi, with the exception of any original characters inserted by myself and others.
Rating: PG
Summary: The Sailor Star Seeds allow the senshi to be reborn again and again. But what happens when that power finally runs dry? It is now the era of Lady Serenity, and the children of the Sailor senshi are longing for answers as to why their parents disappeared...
Author's Notes: More of this story can be found on my website.
Chapter 3
The children walked the barely-worn path back from the shine in almost total silence. Most of the them were either somewhat in awe, others a bit heavy with sadness. And why shouldn't they be, Ceres asked herself, as she started to wonder whether or not she had done the right thing by taking the children to that place. Granted it had given them some new insights, and allowed to visit their mothers, something they hadn't done in a long time, it still left a hard impact on everyone. That and the simple fact that Ceres had never asked permission to go to the shrine in the first place. That was always something they were to run by Lady Serenity first. Of course, the queen had never said they couldn't go there if it was for education, but still...
"Look!" Marie suddenly shouted, breaking the silence. "The others are here!" Everyone looked up to see Sailor Juno walking up a path that intersected with their own, and behind her were six young men and women, dressed in sports uniform. Ceres greeted the group with a wave of her hand and Michi finally let go of the grip on her brother's hand to go running up to them.
"Shiro! Ryou! Mai! Hoshi! Kaiya! Sakura!" she yelled. Kasami had to giggle.
"Well, after all, that is her normal class," she pointed out to Akio. "You just brought here today so she could be with you." Kasami stepped in and picked up Akio's hand where Michi had left. Akio's face turned bright red.
"Aw, look at the love birds!" Reika teased, walking alongside them.
"Don't read into it," Akio muttered. He had given up on trying to break Kasami's crush of him a while ago. Besides, she could be cute in her own way. As they walked, the two groups finally met with each other. Michi was riding on the shoulders of a young man with dark eyes and short rough hair that matched perfectly. He was a bit taller than the others, which Michi asserted as she straightened herself up to look taller.
"Ryou carries me," she bragged. Reika turned her nose up.
"You spoil her rotten, and she's not even your sister," she muttered.
"Come on, Sis, you got too heavy for this ages ago."
"What the heck does that mean!"
While Reika and her brother engaged in their ususal one-sided argument, Anzino and Marie, walked up to the rest of the group. One of them, a young man with sharp eyes and blue hair was also sporting a girl on his shoulders, a redhead with a playful but shy persona, who gripped tightly to her carrier's deep blue hair, just in case he lost his grip.
"Hello Shiro, Sakura," said Marie, speaking to the young man and his passanger respectively.
"Hello Marie," she said.
"Hi, Sis," Shiro chimed in. "How was class?"
"Different," Marie admitted. "How was yours?"
"It was great!" another girl in the group interceded, this one with long blonde hair done up with two little red bows. "We played basketball today, and I totally aced it! Guess I got some skills from my mom, huh?" Anzino looked confused.
"But I thought your mom played volleyball," she pointed out. The girl sweatdropped just a bit.
"Well, it's pretty much the same thing." Everyone giggled.
"I don't think my mama played sports," said Sakura as Shiro set her down on the ground. "She wasn't very strong. But she could heal people."
"Oh, that reminds me!" Anzino said, a bit loudly, which was unusual for her. "We saw Saturn... and the others today."
"What?" Suddenly everyone in the group was silent, even Reika. Everyone turned around to stare at Anzino.
"Was I not supposed to say that?" the child of Jupiter asked quietly.
Juno glared angrily over at Ceres.
"You took them to the shrine?" she asked in disbelief. "Did you ask Lady Serenity?"
"Well, no, it was kind of a spontaneous thing..." Ceres admitted. At that, the conversation started up again furiously, everyone in Juno's class asking tons of questions of those in Ceres class. It was all the same for the children. Visits to the shrine were rare, and if someone had been there more recently than they had, they wanted to know about it. Meanwhile, Ceres was trying desperately to explain herself to Juno, who was still harping on her for doing such a foolish thing without asking permission.
"What if Lady Serenity finds out?" she finally demanded. Ceres was about to answer that she hoped that wouldn't happen, but suddenly an all-too-familiar voice behind her interrupted that thought.
"What if I find out about what?"
Ceres and Juno whirled around to see a lovely young woman with long pink hair down to her ankles, accompanied by her noble husband, a gentle man with flowing white hair just above his shoulders and what appeared to be a gem on his forehead. And alongside the two monarchs stood Sailor Pallas and Sailor Vesta, the remaining two of the Asteroid senshi.
"Your majesties...." Ceres gulped, trying to bow and be polite, even though she knew she was in for it now. Lady Serenity could be harsh even when she was a child. All the more so now that she was an adult.
"What's this about you taking your class into the shrine?" the woman demanded. "Without even asking?"
"I'm sorry, Lady Serenity," Ceres spilled out. "But they were just so anxious, and weren't paying attention to the lesson at all, and they hadn't seen their mothers in a long time, and..."
"And just how do you think the others feel?" Serenity interrupted. "Awakening the senshi takes a lot of energy, and now they may not be able to visit again for months."
"If I may offer..." said a the quiet voice of a young man, stepping.
His demeanor was mature and composed, his deep green hair done up in a small braid, his deep red eyes contrasting to his darker skin and reminding Serenity far too well of the image of his mother.
"Hoshi," she said quietly.
"I may not have been able to visit my mother or the others," he said calmly. "But if I may say, I think it did the others good to see them. There'll be a time where our class can visit on our own, I'm sure. But in the meantime, please don't reprimand Ceres."
Ceres looked shocked; she had not expected Pluto's son to speak up for her. And it seemed he was not the only one. At that moment, a young lady who looked remarkably like Hoshi, walked up and took hold of his arm. This girl had lighter skin, but the same dark green hair and ruby eyes.
"I agree with my brother," she said. "Even though I really did want to go too. I'm sure we'll get a chance."
Serenity rubbed her forehead. "It's not just you, Kaiya," she said. "I know I'm supposed to be the queen, but that doesn't mean I don't miss my parents as much as the rest of you do." She turned and found herself in Helios' embrace. "I won't get angry with you this time, Ceres," she said quietly. "Only, please, ask my permission next time before you do something like that, okay?"
"Yes, ma'am," Ceres said, bowing again. Pallas and Vesta watched in shock, not quite sure what else to do. Without a word, Serenity motioned their dismissal and took hold of Helios' arm. "Let's go," she said and with that, they began to walk the path back towards the palace.
As they walked, the new queen couldn't help but wonder if she had perhaps been too harsh with her friend. She was, after all, only trying to teach the children in the best way she saw fit. That was what her "Lady Serenity" had told her to do, wasn't it? Still, the young monarch's heart still felt the pain of losing those closest to her. And other like the other children, she had to hide it under the guise of being a happy and peaceful ruler. And she hated.
The queen retired to bed early that night, her husband accompanying
her. She had eaten lightly at dinner that night, he hoped he was feeling
all right. Serenity insisted she was fine, and after tending to the two
small cradles on the opposite side of the room, she turned off the light,
rubbed her face into her pillow and fell asleep, slowly drifting off into
a dream.