Author's Note: Wow!!! Thanks for the quick reviews, guys!!! I actually
hadn't intended on ending it there (opps!!)--so this is the second half
that (for some reason) did not upload. So it looks like this will just be
an extra chapter (short, short, short chapter). I'm soooo sorry! I didn't
mean to make it a 'cliffie;' I hope that no one is disappointed. . . Onto
the story!!!!!
Oh, and just a *quick* reminder regarding how I own Sailor Moon and everything related to it. . . . No, wait, that's not right! I DON'T own Sailor Moon or anything of the sort!! *breaks into sobs* But I'm going to try, darn it!! I'm going to try!!
Then again. . . I think not.
:) Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Serenity's face was more pale than the white pillow that she clutched close to her face. Ami sat, suppressing her own pain, and waited for Serenity to speak to her, to tell her anything. The silvery-blonde haired woman had not flinched when Ami had told her what Shingo could not. Ami had wanted to shake some emotion from her, some sign of life-filled feeling, but Serenity had just sat as though slapped into silence. The blue-haired woman did not know what upset Serenity more: the fact that her father was currently in the lower levels of the expansive manor making arrangements (not even a day after Shingo's passing!) for her and Columbia to be married and or--
"He. . .he wasn't really my brother than, was he?"
Ami jumped when Serenity's quiet voice broke through her internal thoughts. She was not quite sure how to respond to the question without bringing her friend more harm. "I--I think he was, Serenity. I don't think that it ever mattered to him."
"But I'm not his real sister. . . . I'm not like Columbia. . . . I couldn't ever really be. . . ," Serenity's shoulders sagged. "I guess it kind of makes sense, though. I mean, Columbia's always been a little mean to me; maybe she's had a reason all this time. I haven't exactly made father happy. If he never wanted me to begin with--"
"No!" Ami cried out quietly; she knew that the last thing Serenity needed right now was to feel as though she had been nothing more than a burden throughout the duration of her sixteen years of life. "It's not like that, Serenity. They just didn't know what to make of you--that's all. I mean, how would you feel if you found a baby in the middle of a rosebush? I bet that you'd be scared too!"
Serenity shook her head. "I wouldn't be scared of a baby in a rosebush, Ami-chan. They weren't scared of a baby a rosebush. They were scared because there was a small infant in the middle of a thorny, prickly rosebush--a type of plant that cannot possibly exist in the north in the first place!--without a scratch on her body. They were scared because that child didn't scream or cry when pulled out--pulled out by someone whose hands and arms were shredded by the plant! They were scared because the child didn't flinch or cry or have a wound on her body. They were scared because the one mark the baby did have was a faintly glowing crescent moon. And they were scared because the rosebush that had so effectively protected the infant from harm disappeared the following day as though it had never existed in the first place! And this was all according to you! This is what you have told me! Did I misunderstand you somewhere? No?" the woman dropped her eyes to the bedsheets and began to pick at the fuzz covering its rough surface, clutching the pillow in her other arm. "Maybe they've been right. . . . Maybe I am a witch. . . . What else could have done that?"
"Serenity, you can't--"
"Can't what?!" Serenity cried out in exasperation. "I can't believe that even you didn't tell me until now. And you knew, Ami! You knew! How could you keep something like this from me?! I mean, it's not the end-of- the-world, but I still think that finding out the family you've always had isn't actually your blood-family is a pretty important topic to horde from the one it concerns! Why did you know?! What was wrong with telling me? Was it intentional to wait until I felt so hollow and empty inside that I would break at the slightest push?!"
"Serenity, no!" Ami's eyes were filling with tears as the other woman threw the white pillow she had been clutching at the bleak, cream wall. Ami grabbed onto one of Serenity's quivering hands and held fast, forcing her friend to look at her. "No, Serenity. No. It wasn't intentional. . . . Lady Tsuniko ordered no one to tell you. . . . She wanted you to have a normal life. . .or at least have the chance at one. Most orphans end up on the streets--I know! I've seen and tended to them! Lady Tsuniko loved you as she did Columbia and Shin--"
"I don't have a family. . . ," Serenity's voice was hushed and drenched in sadness. "I don't understand any of this. . . . I don't know how I'm supposed to be feeling."
"How are you feeling, Serenity?" Ami ventured cautiously.
"Tired, emotionally drained, exhausted," Serenity brought her crystalline eyes up to see Ami, remembering that her friend--no matter what Serenity was feeling--was probably in a worse state. "I'm sorry, Ami-chan. I-I think I might go down and see my father. I don't want to be married. Maybe he will just let me go if I. . . if I remind him that I'm not his daughter."
"Sere--"
"It's okay, Ami-chan. Maybe this will work out in my favour," she offered before withdrawing from the bed. Before she left the room entirely, she turned back to Ami. "Ami-chan? If-if it's not too much to ask, when is Shingo funeral pyre and ceremony?"
Ami's face dropped, but she answered the question. "It will be held tomorrow evening. Your father--Lord Tsuniko wanted it to be done quickly so he could begin to. . . to make arrangements for you and Columbia. . . . I'm sorry, Serenity. I should have done something more."
Serenity returned to the bed and gave her friend a hug. Ami wrapped on arm over Serenity's shoulder in acceptance of her unspoken friend's empathy. "You should sleep, Ami-chan. Take my bed, alright?"
Ami nodded meekly and curled into a huddled ball on the bed, closing her aqua eyes to shut out the world. Serenity stole herself from the room and made her way down the stairs at the far end of the candle-lit hallway. Days as dark and tempestuous as these made it equally dark and depressing inside of the manor. Her face felt hot and blotchy beneath her fingers as she swiped away the remains of salty moisture.
' Shingo should not have died on a day like today. . . . He always liked the sun. . . .' Serenity thought, her bare feet padding along the carpeted steps with dull, quiet thuds.
The hallways were empty and silent. Serenity poked her head inside of the kitchen doorway to see if she could grab a snack before she spoke with Lord Tsuniko, but even the kitchen staff had abandoned their post. Serenity continued down the hallway, her feet wanting to run in the opposite direction.
'. . .I shouldn't do this. . . . He's suffered enough for one day-- enough for one lifetime. . . .'
Her feet began to slow as the thoughts continued to wrap around her mind. She had stopped infront of her father's study. Through the thick door, Serenity could hear the muffled sounds of a pen's rough scratch across the surface of paper. He would be writing to a select group of nobles, offering them his daughters--or perhaps more influentially, their dowry. He would be selling them. . .promising the nobles that they were untouched and innocent (something that Serenity could easily claim having not yet even been kissed--Columbia, on the other hand, was not the slightest bit as virtuous, on any scale!). Lord Tsuniko would be writing away to these strange men, old men, rough and arrogant men, without a thought as to their desires, hopes, wishes. . . fears. His mind would be excusing his actions; they were only women after all. Women, children, one was his own blood, one was--
'A bastard child.' Serenity's mind hissed. 'I have the right to my own life. . . . I have the right to choose my path. . . . I am not his. . . . I do not belong to anyone. . . . I can bind fate to a leash, right? I can control my destiny. . . .'
Her hesitation died with the final, absolute thought. Her delicate hand rested on the surface of the door and began to push it inwards.
"Serenity?"
The young woman leapt back from the door and turned to face the unfamiliar voice. "I-I am sorry, I do not know your name," she apologized as her eyes met the man's dark orbs. The copper-haired man dipped his head, but did not move forward to take her hand as other men had done in the past. It took Serenity a moment to register where she had seen him before. "Jedeite. . . . I do know you. I am sorry that I did not recognize you."
"Think nothing of it, milady."
"Oh, I am not a lady," Serenity murmured.
Jedeite smiled playfully. The objection was familiar to him; he knew another person seemed to deny their nobility--though he was confused as to why Serenity would deny hers. "If you are not a lady, Serenity, than I am not a general. Now, seeing as I AM a general, I can only further deduce that you would be a lady," he paused and finally moved closer, brushing the woman's silver-blond hair from her forehead to reveal a bump. "Although who would dare harm a lady like this is entirely beyond my comprehension."
Serenity blushed and covered the goose-egg-sized bump on her forehead. "Oh, I ran into a door."
"A door?"
"Well, yes," she was blushing even more furiously, hoping that Jedeite would not further question her. She would never live the night down as it was; the last thing she wanted was for another person to know of the situation. "I-I wasn't watching."
Jedeite looked over her shoulder to see Endymion heading in their direction. He was in a heated conversation with Zoicite. Serenity followed his line of sight with her own eyes to see the two people. Her eyebrows knitted together in a glare that faded when she looked back at Jedeite. Her expression let the general know that she was quite desperate to avoid another run-in with the younger man. Jedeite bowed towards her. "I am sorry to hear of the loss of your brother, Serenity. My sympathies and support are with you in this trying time."
Serenity's face fell back into a muffled sadness when Jedeite mentioned Shingo's death. She dipped her head, the graceful arc of her neck conveying an unspoken sadness. "Thank you, Jedeite. I--If you will excuse me, I need to see my father."
"Oh course, milady."
Serenity disappeared into the room just as Endymion and Zoicite reached Jedeite. The older general cast a wary eye towards Endymion. "She has a goose-egg on her head. You wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you Endymion? I noticed that she was wearing your shirt."
"My shirt?! She's still wearing it?!" Endymion cast an angry glare towards the now-closed door leading to her father's office. "I cannot believe her!"
"How did she end up with his shirt, Zoicite?" Jedeite asked the other general after he realized that Endymion would be too wrapped in his anger to reply.
Zoicite raised a single blond eyebrow in amusement. "She stole it from him after she apparently 'barged' into the washing room when he was in the bath," she smirked. "I'm afraid that Endymion cannot claim to have caused the goose-egg; however, Kunzite and I will take responsibility for that. We were going to bathe and ran the door into her head."
Jedeite just stood and watched Endymion as he glared--seemingly through--the door and Zoicite as she continued to smirk. Then finally, turning on his heel, he walked back to the den where he had been spending the majority of his morning.
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Serenity stared at Lord Tsuniko as though he was some alien-being speaking another language.
She had found the courage--probably out of the anger she felt from seeing Endymion--and tried to put an end to Lord Tsuniko's marriage plans. It was to no avail.
Everything had seemed so easy and clear when she had first began speaking. She had brought up her reasons for not wishing to be wed--among them the adoption issue and her hate of the 'mere thought of enslavement'-- but it was as though her father did not hear her voice in any form. He had plowed away her arguments with angry, authoritative words that would shift to a concerned and 'this-is-for-your-own-good' tone when he felt he needed to belittle her spirit. Now Serenity sat on one of the leather chairs in front of his desk and listened bleakly to his words, letting them wash over her without impact. She wasn't sure as to how she could avoid this wedded- fate. He had made her feel as though she was a child--a child that needs to be coddled, protected, and governed--only she didn't believe it.
Lord Tsuniko sat back in his chair and looked out the window. The day was dead, bleak--emotionless and colourless. "Why don't you go back upstairs, Serenity. It's been a long day for all of us, and tomorrow you must be ready to go to Shingo's pyre. You should get some rest."
"I just woke up. I don't need to sleep again," Serenity muttered.
Lord Tsuniko's eyes pierced Serenity's crystalline orbs. She felt like a small child as he continued. "You will go upstairs, Serenity. I will have a servant sent to retrieve you when it is supper. If you remove yourself from your quarters--quarters that I have afforded you--before you are sent for, I will see that you are lashed for your misconduct. I do not know what has come over you, but by that time I fully expect you to be over whatever it is that has disrupted your behaviour in this manner. Am I understood?"
Serenity did not allow him a response. Instead, she rose from the chair and walked out of the room without a sign that she had just heard him- -no bow, no comment, no response. It would be an insult to her father, but a much-needed one, in her mind. No one was in the hallway when she closed the door to Lord Tsuniko's office, and Serenity made her way up the stairs to her room in silence.
Oh, and just a *quick* reminder regarding how I own Sailor Moon and everything related to it. . . . No, wait, that's not right! I DON'T own Sailor Moon or anything of the sort!! *breaks into sobs* But I'm going to try, darn it!! I'm going to try!!
Then again. . . I think not.
:) Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
Serenity's face was more pale than the white pillow that she clutched close to her face. Ami sat, suppressing her own pain, and waited for Serenity to speak to her, to tell her anything. The silvery-blonde haired woman had not flinched when Ami had told her what Shingo could not. Ami had wanted to shake some emotion from her, some sign of life-filled feeling, but Serenity had just sat as though slapped into silence. The blue-haired woman did not know what upset Serenity more: the fact that her father was currently in the lower levels of the expansive manor making arrangements (not even a day after Shingo's passing!) for her and Columbia to be married and or--
"He. . .he wasn't really my brother than, was he?"
Ami jumped when Serenity's quiet voice broke through her internal thoughts. She was not quite sure how to respond to the question without bringing her friend more harm. "I--I think he was, Serenity. I don't think that it ever mattered to him."
"But I'm not his real sister. . . . I'm not like Columbia. . . . I couldn't ever really be. . . ," Serenity's shoulders sagged. "I guess it kind of makes sense, though. I mean, Columbia's always been a little mean to me; maybe she's had a reason all this time. I haven't exactly made father happy. If he never wanted me to begin with--"
"No!" Ami cried out quietly; she knew that the last thing Serenity needed right now was to feel as though she had been nothing more than a burden throughout the duration of her sixteen years of life. "It's not like that, Serenity. They just didn't know what to make of you--that's all. I mean, how would you feel if you found a baby in the middle of a rosebush? I bet that you'd be scared too!"
Serenity shook her head. "I wouldn't be scared of a baby in a rosebush, Ami-chan. They weren't scared of a baby a rosebush. They were scared because there was a small infant in the middle of a thorny, prickly rosebush--a type of plant that cannot possibly exist in the north in the first place!--without a scratch on her body. They were scared because that child didn't scream or cry when pulled out--pulled out by someone whose hands and arms were shredded by the plant! They were scared because the child didn't flinch or cry or have a wound on her body. They were scared because the one mark the baby did have was a faintly glowing crescent moon. And they were scared because the rosebush that had so effectively protected the infant from harm disappeared the following day as though it had never existed in the first place! And this was all according to you! This is what you have told me! Did I misunderstand you somewhere? No?" the woman dropped her eyes to the bedsheets and began to pick at the fuzz covering its rough surface, clutching the pillow in her other arm. "Maybe they've been right. . . . Maybe I am a witch. . . . What else could have done that?"
"Serenity, you can't--"
"Can't what?!" Serenity cried out in exasperation. "I can't believe that even you didn't tell me until now. And you knew, Ami! You knew! How could you keep something like this from me?! I mean, it's not the end-of- the-world, but I still think that finding out the family you've always had isn't actually your blood-family is a pretty important topic to horde from the one it concerns! Why did you know?! What was wrong with telling me? Was it intentional to wait until I felt so hollow and empty inside that I would break at the slightest push?!"
"Serenity, no!" Ami's eyes were filling with tears as the other woman threw the white pillow she had been clutching at the bleak, cream wall. Ami grabbed onto one of Serenity's quivering hands and held fast, forcing her friend to look at her. "No, Serenity. No. It wasn't intentional. . . . Lady Tsuniko ordered no one to tell you. . . . She wanted you to have a normal life. . .or at least have the chance at one. Most orphans end up on the streets--I know! I've seen and tended to them! Lady Tsuniko loved you as she did Columbia and Shin--"
"I don't have a family. . . ," Serenity's voice was hushed and drenched in sadness. "I don't understand any of this. . . . I don't know how I'm supposed to be feeling."
"How are you feeling, Serenity?" Ami ventured cautiously.
"Tired, emotionally drained, exhausted," Serenity brought her crystalline eyes up to see Ami, remembering that her friend--no matter what Serenity was feeling--was probably in a worse state. "I'm sorry, Ami-chan. I-I think I might go down and see my father. I don't want to be married. Maybe he will just let me go if I. . . if I remind him that I'm not his daughter."
"Sere--"
"It's okay, Ami-chan. Maybe this will work out in my favour," she offered before withdrawing from the bed. Before she left the room entirely, she turned back to Ami. "Ami-chan? If-if it's not too much to ask, when is Shingo funeral pyre and ceremony?"
Ami's face dropped, but she answered the question. "It will be held tomorrow evening. Your father--Lord Tsuniko wanted it to be done quickly so he could begin to. . . to make arrangements for you and Columbia. . . . I'm sorry, Serenity. I should have done something more."
Serenity returned to the bed and gave her friend a hug. Ami wrapped on arm over Serenity's shoulder in acceptance of her unspoken friend's empathy. "You should sleep, Ami-chan. Take my bed, alright?"
Ami nodded meekly and curled into a huddled ball on the bed, closing her aqua eyes to shut out the world. Serenity stole herself from the room and made her way down the stairs at the far end of the candle-lit hallway. Days as dark and tempestuous as these made it equally dark and depressing inside of the manor. Her face felt hot and blotchy beneath her fingers as she swiped away the remains of salty moisture.
' Shingo should not have died on a day like today. . . . He always liked the sun. . . .' Serenity thought, her bare feet padding along the carpeted steps with dull, quiet thuds.
The hallways were empty and silent. Serenity poked her head inside of the kitchen doorway to see if she could grab a snack before she spoke with Lord Tsuniko, but even the kitchen staff had abandoned their post. Serenity continued down the hallway, her feet wanting to run in the opposite direction.
'. . .I shouldn't do this. . . . He's suffered enough for one day-- enough for one lifetime. . . .'
Her feet began to slow as the thoughts continued to wrap around her mind. She had stopped infront of her father's study. Through the thick door, Serenity could hear the muffled sounds of a pen's rough scratch across the surface of paper. He would be writing to a select group of nobles, offering them his daughters--or perhaps more influentially, their dowry. He would be selling them. . .promising the nobles that they were untouched and innocent (something that Serenity could easily claim having not yet even been kissed--Columbia, on the other hand, was not the slightest bit as virtuous, on any scale!). Lord Tsuniko would be writing away to these strange men, old men, rough and arrogant men, without a thought as to their desires, hopes, wishes. . . fears. His mind would be excusing his actions; they were only women after all. Women, children, one was his own blood, one was--
'A bastard child.' Serenity's mind hissed. 'I have the right to my own life. . . . I have the right to choose my path. . . . I am not his. . . . I do not belong to anyone. . . . I can bind fate to a leash, right? I can control my destiny. . . .'
Her hesitation died with the final, absolute thought. Her delicate hand rested on the surface of the door and began to push it inwards.
"Serenity?"
The young woman leapt back from the door and turned to face the unfamiliar voice. "I-I am sorry, I do not know your name," she apologized as her eyes met the man's dark orbs. The copper-haired man dipped his head, but did not move forward to take her hand as other men had done in the past. It took Serenity a moment to register where she had seen him before. "Jedeite. . . . I do know you. I am sorry that I did not recognize you."
"Think nothing of it, milady."
"Oh, I am not a lady," Serenity murmured.
Jedeite smiled playfully. The objection was familiar to him; he knew another person seemed to deny their nobility--though he was confused as to why Serenity would deny hers. "If you are not a lady, Serenity, than I am not a general. Now, seeing as I AM a general, I can only further deduce that you would be a lady," he paused and finally moved closer, brushing the woman's silver-blond hair from her forehead to reveal a bump. "Although who would dare harm a lady like this is entirely beyond my comprehension."
Serenity blushed and covered the goose-egg-sized bump on her forehead. "Oh, I ran into a door."
"A door?"
"Well, yes," she was blushing even more furiously, hoping that Jedeite would not further question her. She would never live the night down as it was; the last thing she wanted was for another person to know of the situation. "I-I wasn't watching."
Jedeite looked over her shoulder to see Endymion heading in their direction. He was in a heated conversation with Zoicite. Serenity followed his line of sight with her own eyes to see the two people. Her eyebrows knitted together in a glare that faded when she looked back at Jedeite. Her expression let the general know that she was quite desperate to avoid another run-in with the younger man. Jedeite bowed towards her. "I am sorry to hear of the loss of your brother, Serenity. My sympathies and support are with you in this trying time."
Serenity's face fell back into a muffled sadness when Jedeite mentioned Shingo's death. She dipped her head, the graceful arc of her neck conveying an unspoken sadness. "Thank you, Jedeite. I--If you will excuse me, I need to see my father."
"Oh course, milady."
Serenity disappeared into the room just as Endymion and Zoicite reached Jedeite. The older general cast a wary eye towards Endymion. "She has a goose-egg on her head. You wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you Endymion? I noticed that she was wearing your shirt."
"My shirt?! She's still wearing it?!" Endymion cast an angry glare towards the now-closed door leading to her father's office. "I cannot believe her!"
"How did she end up with his shirt, Zoicite?" Jedeite asked the other general after he realized that Endymion would be too wrapped in his anger to reply.
Zoicite raised a single blond eyebrow in amusement. "She stole it from him after she apparently 'barged' into the washing room when he was in the bath," she smirked. "I'm afraid that Endymion cannot claim to have caused the goose-egg; however, Kunzite and I will take responsibility for that. We were going to bathe and ran the door into her head."
Jedeite just stood and watched Endymion as he glared--seemingly through--the door and Zoicite as she continued to smirk. Then finally, turning on his heel, he walked back to the den where he had been spending the majority of his morning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
Serenity stared at Lord Tsuniko as though he was some alien-being speaking another language.
She had found the courage--probably out of the anger she felt from seeing Endymion--and tried to put an end to Lord Tsuniko's marriage plans. It was to no avail.
Everything had seemed so easy and clear when she had first began speaking. She had brought up her reasons for not wishing to be wed--among them the adoption issue and her hate of the 'mere thought of enslavement'-- but it was as though her father did not hear her voice in any form. He had plowed away her arguments with angry, authoritative words that would shift to a concerned and 'this-is-for-your-own-good' tone when he felt he needed to belittle her spirit. Now Serenity sat on one of the leather chairs in front of his desk and listened bleakly to his words, letting them wash over her without impact. She wasn't sure as to how she could avoid this wedded- fate. He had made her feel as though she was a child--a child that needs to be coddled, protected, and governed--only she didn't believe it.
Lord Tsuniko sat back in his chair and looked out the window. The day was dead, bleak--emotionless and colourless. "Why don't you go back upstairs, Serenity. It's been a long day for all of us, and tomorrow you must be ready to go to Shingo's pyre. You should get some rest."
"I just woke up. I don't need to sleep again," Serenity muttered.
Lord Tsuniko's eyes pierced Serenity's crystalline orbs. She felt like a small child as he continued. "You will go upstairs, Serenity. I will have a servant sent to retrieve you when it is supper. If you remove yourself from your quarters--quarters that I have afforded you--before you are sent for, I will see that you are lashed for your misconduct. I do not know what has come over you, but by that time I fully expect you to be over whatever it is that has disrupted your behaviour in this manner. Am I understood?"
Serenity did not allow him a response. Instead, she rose from the chair and walked out of the room without a sign that she had just heard him- -no bow, no comment, no response. It would be an insult to her father, but a much-needed one, in her mind. No one was in the hallway when she closed the door to Lord Tsuniko's office, and Serenity made her way up the stairs to her room in silence.