Unwanted Betrothal

By: RoxyBunny

I do not own Sailor Moon or any of its characters (sadly…but true) and I never will…

Chapter Three – Midday Meetings

Serena, a little shocked from what had just happened, stared gawkily at the handsome young man who saved her. She had always dreamed of being saved by a gorgeous prince. Who was she kidding; this guy couldn't be a prince, just look at what he was wearing. No armor, no undershirt, no nothing! Serena became aware that her rescuer was half naked. She quickly glanced downward and shut her eyes. What was she thinking; of course he was wearing pants. What was she expecting to be down there anyways?

Darien's horse came to a slow; he gently placed the angel down on the ground. Finally aware of the state of his garments a furious blush came across his face. A woman of her importance must be appalled at his bare chest. She was important, wasn't she? Her attire told him that there was some importance in her. Darien had just been swimming, he had always found peace in his swims, and the creeks in the Earth's forests just seemed to sooth his mind. Some mud was splashed across his face that made him look almost like a savage.

"I…uhm. Well, thank you for saving me sir… but I best be on my way now," stated the angel.

Darien quickly grabbed her hand with a grin smeared across his handsome face, "You know, not many women can walk away from me like you are trying to right now…"

Serena snatched her hand back away from his grasp and replied coolly, "Well…I'm not an average woman…"

Darien saw she had confidence in herself; he liked that. All the women he had bedded before were just your typical village girl; out to look for love in all the wrong places. He liked this one though…

"Besides, you are but a common man, are you not…?" questioned Serena. She really wished that he might be her host to this planet that she had heard so many good things about, but what was the chanced of running into him here?

Darien thought for a half-second then decided his words carefully, "I am but your common man…any man would be a common man to your beauty angel…" he would play the fool's card.

Serena sighed, of course, what was she thinking? She wasn't going to meet Prince Charming any time soon. Just as she was about to walk away Darien took Serena in his arms. He placed his hands on her hips and took her lips in his. Serena sighed into the kiss as she finally gained her senses back. Serena quickly pulled away from the strange man. She couldn't be seen with the likes of him, no matter how attracted she was. She was told from a very young age that she would wed a prince, a powerful prince. She just never knew when that prince would come to sweep her off her feet.

"Something the matter?" questioned the handsome young man.

"No… I mean, yes. I must be headed back to my stay. My mother must be worried sick." Serena looked down at the ground. She couldn't look at the disappointed look on the man's face.

"Meet me here, tomorrow, around lunch time…" he almost said in a commanding way.

Serena didn't even pause a moment, her reply came quickly after the man had finished his statement, "YES! I mean, of course. I would love to. See you tomorrow then." Serena mounted her now calm horse and galloped back towards the castle.

Darien watched as his angel-goddess headed back towards his home. It wasn't unusual for people to stay in his castle. His parents hosted many guests from many different planets every month. You could just say that he was extremely pleased to see this certain woman was going to be one of his guests. Reality once again hit him. He was engaged. Okay, well he wasn't engaged just yet, he would be by the end of this week; the masquerade ball was this upcoming weekend. With a sigh Darien mounted his horse and rode his way back to the castle.

Serena ran into the castle of the Earth meeting her mother in the hall. "Mama! I have such news to tell you!" she giggled with delight.

Serenity was always happy to see her daughter so enthusiastic about something. Serena was really a bright girl, she just didn't think many things through before saying them, and it made her image into a sort of well, dumb blonde. "Yes my dear?"

"I met the cutest boy ever!" Serena exclaimed to her mother. "Oh, and I'm going to meet him tom…" Serena trailed off into a whisper. She noticed the way her mother was looking at her, she looked as if she were about to apologize or something; but that was silly, Serena's mother didn't have anything to say sorry for. "What's wrong mama?"

"Serena, I think we should go take a walk…" Serena didn't like the start of this conversation, not one bit. Her mother always wanted to take 'walks' when she had something serious on her mind. Either way, Serena willfully followed her mother through the corridors to the rose garden. "Serena, I know you've learned many things from your schooling. I realize that you know all the history of our Kingdom, including this most recent war with the earthen peoples that came to an end."

"Yes, I know mama," Serena smiled brightly, "it came to an end with the 'Crystal Treaty' if I recall correctly," Serena gave her mother a small wink. She knew every little bit of history of the Moon Kingdom.

"Well, yes you're correct," Queen Serenity let out a small sigh. "There's one little bit all those text books you've read left out." Serena tilted her head to one side a little bit. This was truly confusing, what was her mother getting at? "Well, Serena… The 'Crystal Treaty' includes you…"

"What?" Serena was beyond confused by now; she had no clue what her mother was talking about. She must have gone crazy!

"Serena," Serenity stated calmly before continuing, "to end the war your father and I promised you to the Earth Prince, Darien."

Shock overcame Serena. She couldn't breathe. The garden area suddenly felt a lot smaller than it was a few seconds ago. Serena began to take a few steps backwards, she was woozy, and all her blood felt like it was rushing to her head. Suddenly all she saw was black.

Darien rushed in through the palace doors. He had just been given word that his father wanted to speak to him in his study, probably something to do with the Moon princess or something. Darien quickly walked towards the study. Opening the doors in a rush he noticed a woman sitting across from his father. She had long silver hair and beautiful blue-silver eyes. Something about her looked familiar but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

"Darien," King Xerlock stated snapping Darien out of his stare at he unfamiliar woman. He glanced over to see his father sitting down with his mother Adrianna at his side. The woman sitting across from them seemed to be of some importance. "Please sit my boy…" Darien's father asked him. Darien quickly took a seat near his father still looking at the woman.

"Sweet heart," cooed Queen Adrianna to her son, "this is Queen Serenity, of the Moon Kingdom."

Darien glanced at the woman once more and took one of her hands in his own, "It's a pleasure to meet you Queen Serenity," he said with charm as he placed a kiss on her hand. A small blush crept to Serenity's cheeks as she smiled and gave Darien a nod. He let go of her hand and she placed it neatly back in her lap.

"Son, I talked to you earlier about your betrothal. Well, Queen Serenity's daughter, Serena, is your future bride." Xerlock explained to his son. Darien gave a little huff. "Well, based on your reaction earlier today, we all thought it better for the two of you to get to know each other a little better before the ball and announcement of your engagement…"

"…But unfortunately," Queen Serenity cut King Xerlock off, "my daughter has gotten a little ill. She wasn't feeling well after our walk today so she's in her room sleeping and won't be moving around to much until the ball…"

"Oh…" was all Darien could say.

"You may leave now Darien, we just wanted to keep you updated on what's going on…" smiled Queen Adrianna. With that Darien stood up, bowed to his father, mother, and Queen Serenity, and left the room.

"Darling boy you have there…" stated Queen Serenity to the Earth royalty.

Dinner was served and to many of the other guest's disappointments, the princess from the Moon Kingdom was not there to entertain them. Darien, however, could care less. He was disappointed to see that his angel was not there to entertain him. He could have sworn he saw the blonde beauty make her way to the castle earlier that day. Perhaps she was staying somewhere else.

"Darien…" he heard his mother call from across the table, "you look horrible sweetheart, I think you should go get some rest.

"Just what I was thinking," he replied coolly. Darien stood up from the table, bowed to his respectable guests and turned to leave to his quarters.

Darien lay on his bed wondering about the events that were to take place the next few days. Tomorrow, Thursday, was his engagement brunch with the Princess Serenity. He didn't know if she would be attending that though, her mother did say that she was feeling quite ill. Friday would be the day of the masquerade ball. He wasn't looking forward to that one bit. The announcement of their engagement would be made public. Uhg, if only he could afford a few more days to himself. His whole life was being decided for him. His thoughts quickly turned to the blonde angel, he had a date with her tomorrow, and she promised to go see him. With these last few thoughts of the angel Darien quickly drifted off into his sleep.

The following day, just as Darien had expected, Serena was unable to make the engagement brunch due to her recent illness. He was a little bummed however; he heard the girl was quite a looker, not a beautiful as the angel though. He started to think that he was becoming obsessed with the woman, he hardly knew her, didn't even know her name, but he wanted to be with her every waking moment.

As soon as Darien was able to escape the engagement brunch he did. He ran to his stables, mounted one of his horses and sped down to where he first saw the blonde haired angel. To his disappointment, he didn't find her there… yet. He would wait for her, she would come, and he knew she would. Darien lie down in the grass and found sleep coming to him.

Serena woke with a sudden start. She was panting like mad, the sheets on top of her made her uncomfortably hot. She quickly threw the sheets on the floor and made her way to the room's door. Opening it slowly she was surprised to find a guard at the entrance of the room. "Uh…" she stated dumbly.

The guard jumped a little clearly from shock. He hadn't heard the princess open the door, "I'm sorry miss, but I have been given strict orders not to let you out of your quarters. You are ill and your mother is very concerned for your health."

"Pft…" Serena hissed, "well, I would like it if you would please go fetch my mother for me…"

"Yes ma'am," the guard replied. Without another thought he left the doorway clear to go and give word to Serena's mother.

"Wow… that was a little too easy…" Serena said to herself. She was feeling just fine, now. The unpleasant news from her mother yesterday caused this little 'illness' of hers. Quickly the princess ran out of the room and into the hallway. She didn't remember going to her room; they must have brought her up to her room.

Still dressed in her night garments Serena made her way down the hallway at a fast pace. She didn't want to be anywhere near this place right now, she felt like she couldn't breathe here, she need her space. Every time Serena came to an ending in the hallway she took whichever way her instinct told her to. Obviously it was a good thing considering it wasn't long until she found herself just outside the horse stables. Thinking back to her previous day's promise to the strange common man, Serena mounted a horse and made her way to the forest where she first met him.

Serena quickly came upon the place where the man was. He was laying on the grass in a light sleep. Wow, did he ever look handsome. Serena couldn't pass this chance up; she couldn't resist the beauty of this man… the way his ebony hair just fell gracefully over his eyelids, truly beautiful.

Serena kneeled down on her knees and leaned over the man. She bent her head over his and placed a light kiss upon his lips. The man's eyes opened slowly and a smile graced his features…his angel had come at last…

BAH! SOOO SORRY! Almost a friggin half a year later I decide to update this story, sooooo sorry! LOL... Yeah, I had like half of it written on my computer but honestly, I totally forgot about it. I've been a little busy and a little pre-occupied with my other story, I promise I won't let it get in the way again though haha!

Special thanks to - PinkGrenade, shortie630, Becx, snow-pheonix, EnuNR-zero, magicstaro, kochokwalo, Mysterious Writah, Forever Tranquility, janice, Megan Consoer, Red-Rose 18, artemis366, Serenathy, ulove, flower520, and Serenity84 for reviewing my last chapter!

Hope you all liked this chapter, I'll try to update soon!