Chapter 10—Journey to the Mountain
The mood in the Fellowship was tense as they traveled along. Aragorn and Serenity stayed far apart, with most of the members between them. Aragorn spent most of his time watching the trail and taking turns with Legolas to scout ahead. Serenity immersed herself with talking to the hobbits pushing away the darker feelings of pain and sorrow, and placed a smile on her face. Merry and Pippin were taking turns telling stories about the shire, and Sam interrupted every now and then to correct a small detail. Frodo was quiet, but Serenity could feel that he was also enjoying the stories.
They crossed through the forest and into hills and plains. The trees that had surrounded them gave way to green hills and rock cropping. Serenity looked up at the scenery, her eyes drifting to the east. She sighed and kept going. Gandalf looked around and talked to Aragorn. Serenity looked at the hobbits, seeing the fatigue and hunger on their face. Again she looked to the front of the group and wondered why they hadn't stopped yet. Judging the position of the sun to be about around mid afternoon, Serenity smiled at the hobbits and picked up her pace. She passed them and came up along side Gandalf. She completely ignored Aragorn, who was looking at her from Gandalf's other side.
"When are we going to stop? We've been going all day, and the hobbits can't go much longer. Not unless you wish them to collapse from hunger."
The wizard smiled a bit and looked at the members. "Now is good time as any. Aragorn?"
Aragorn nodded and motioned for the rest to stop. They set up camp, eating what food they could without a fire. Serenity finished first and was staring off toward the east again. She fingered her locket absentmindedly. Pippin nudged Merry and motioned toward the lunar girl. They grinned to eachother and whispered to the remaining two hobbits. Pippin got to his feet and ran over, grabbing Serenity's hand. She looked at him with curious eyes and frowned as he pulled her to her feet and over to the other hobbits. The frown on her face turned to a curious one. Merry started signing the song he had done in the pub in the shire not a few weeks before. Pippin started dancing pulling Serenity with him. Her face went from confused to laughing as she realized that the hobbits were trying to cheer her up. Her laughter and voice joined the hobbits'. Gimli was laughing at the five's antics and soon was dragged into it by adding his own voice. Boromir was dragged in, along with Legolas, to the dancing. Serenity's laughter rang out above the rest as she was twirled by Boromir and passed to another set of arms. Laughing, she looked up into the eyes of her partner and the laughter died in her throat. The hobbits grinned at eachother and watched the ranger and lunar elf.
Aragorn kept her dancing, though the singing was faintly heard by the two. Serenity kept her face turn away, her face set in a neutral appearance. They danced like this for a few minutes before the ranger sighed.
"I wanted to say sorry for my actions."
Serenity looked at him, her face filled with shock. She then looked down. "I also need to apologize. I should have never lost it last night. And you were right; I should have told you guys who I really was. It's just that I didn't want the enemy to know."
"Because of the fact that they would try to take you out first?"
Serenity nodded, "I'm a threat, though lately I can't even stand up to evil without getting sick."
"Perhaps it is because you are pure light. At least that is was Gandalf explained to me."
Serenity frowned in thought, "That shouldn't effect me. Though, now that I think about it, the last time I was ill was when Diamond infused me with some of the energy of the Dark Crystal. I was sick for a while after that. Ami said that it was probably the dark energy fighting against the light."
"Ami, who is she?" Aragorn asked regretting asking it as he watched her face fall.
"One of my best friends."
They continued to dance and Aragorn suddenly wished that out of all things he could have, he only wanted to see Serenity's smile again. But, before he could do anything, she pulled out of his arms and went over to where Sam had begun to put together the meal. He watched her for a bit before going and sitting, taking out his pipe. He paused and put the pipe away. Looking at the Fellowship, he saw the effects of just her presence. Gimli was talking with Legolas, a feat that would have normally taken weeks, had happened in only days. Boromir was teaching the hobbits sword slowly, they teaching him to not underestimate the will of a determined Halfling. But, the most drastic effect was on Frodo. Aragorn could see the power of the ring wearing on the hobbit, but he also saw that Serenity would once in a while talk to Frodo and the darkness would fade a bit. He intended to talk to the others, about which way they should head, but that could wait. The group needed rest.
Serenity heard a strange beeping in her head. Frowning while she slept she wondered what was causing the noise in the area surrounding her. Faintly she heard someone yelling at her to wake up. She opened one bleary eye and then shot up….in bed. She looked around, her blonde hair streaming around her. Looking up, she saw her mother standing there.
"Get up! You'll be late for school Usagi."
Serenity sat in bed for a minute before getting up. Getting dressed, she couldn't help feeling that something somewhere had gone wrong. That she wasn't supposed to be here. She walked to school and saw Ami talking with Makoto. She stopped dead in her tracks.
'How?! They…are dead."
The girls turned and waved to Serenity and she blinked before waving back. She joined them and listened to their conversation, but didn't participate in it. They entered the classroom and Serenity blinked seeing everyone that she had known in her younger days. The day went by as if it was normal. Serenity sighed to herself as she sat in a Senshi meeting at the temple. Something didn't feel right, and deep in her soul, she knew that someone needed her more then the people before her. She watched her friends, a yearning in her heart that she could join them. Haruka looked at her.
"Hime, why are you still here?"
Serenity looked at the wind senshi, "Nani? What do you mean?"
The Senshi looked at her, all smiling.
"You should be with your new friends, right?" Haruka repeated.
"Ya, you're traveling with a bunch of hot guys, why are you sitting with us?" Makoto asked with a grin and wink.
"Get back and claim that hunk of a man that's your soul mate." Minako winked and had stars in her eyes.
Michiru put a hand on the grumbling wind senshi, "Don't worry about us, hime. Perhaps we'll meet again. Ruka and I wish you the best."
"As do all of us, Serenity-hime." Ami said smiling.
"Ami-chan is right; now get back to them Meatball head." Rei said laughing.
Serenity stared at each of the girls, her eyes filling with tears. Dimly, she realized that Sestuna and Hotaru were not there. She felt her body falling and the scene in front of her turned blurry and fell away. She screamed out her friends names until blackness claimed her. She moaned and stirred and sat up. Her eyes took in the fields of Elysion and a sob escaped her throat. She covered her face with her hands. The only sounds in the field for a while were the sobs being muffled by her hands. Arms encircled her and she pulled her eyes away. Looking over her shoulder and up a bit, she saw Mamoru's face. Her eyes widened considerably.
"Endy?"
"Sere, you can't be here; you can't drown in your sorrows."
"I miss them! I miss you."
Mamoru chuckled, "You miss me as a friend. I know that you have someone that you should be caring about."
Serenity blushed, "I am afraid of losing him, like I lost everyone."
Mamoru stood and pulled her to her feet. The lunar child looked at him confused before he held a rose out. She took it and it instantly turned black and then to ash. Serenity's eyes widened in shock and she looked up at Mamoru. He had a sad smile on his face.
"I knew that you never truly loved me, not from the soul. But I cherished the time I had with you, the smiles that you gave me. But, I swore that when it came to it, I would make you choose your soul mate. Serenity, please, allow me to rest, go to the one who will be with you till the end of time."
"Endymion….Mamoru…go…be free." Serenity smiled sadly, her eyes tearing up, "Thank you for everything that you've done for me, and Chibi-usa. I will always remember you."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Serenity watched as Endymion faded from existence.
Serenity opened her eyes. In the pre-dawn hours, her eyes could see the sleeping forms of the fellowship. She sat up, wrapping her cloak around her. Looking out, she saw the beginning of a new day burst into colors. A sense of peace was over her and she smiled. Getting up, she went over to Gandalf who was on watch. Sitting next to the Istari, she looked out at the rising sun. A slight breeze blew bits of her hair past her face.
"Gandalf, why didn't the ring get discovered before Bilbo? If Sauron could feel the power of the ring, why now is he after the ring? Why not earlier?"
"No one knows. Perhaps he was still too weak. He also could have been waiting for the perfect moment."
Serenity's face was grave. Something was nagging at her. "Or, he was blocked from sensing it."
The wizard looked at the figure next to him. "What would have the power to block Sauron from sensing the ring?"
"He started sensing it recently, I'm guessing. About the time that Frodo gained the ring….the same time that I gave up my position to my daughter. I took up the position of Cosmos that day, yet the power hasn't worked right at all."
"You used your powers against the Wargs."
Serenity glanced at him, "True, but that was the power of Mars, one of my inner sailors. Their powers seem to be easier to control, but even so, I felt my body being pulled apart. When I became Cosmos, I should have had complete control over the others powers. Something is off."
Gandalf thought for a few moments. "So you are thinking that something was messed up when you became Cosmos, and that it relates to Sauron's ability to sense the ring?"
Serenity nodded. Hearing someone stir, she turned and saw that Legolas and Aragorn were up, getting the others awake and going. She watched and smiled to herself. Standing, she went over and gathered her stuff. She put the pack on her back and turned to go help someone else when she heard the first rip. Her eyes widened and then she felt the bag lighten considerably and she turned. Eyeing the pile of her belongings on the ground, she cursed and sat down, looking at the bag. Aragorn came over and took the torn bag. She looked at him as he sat next to her.
"It's only the seam. Would you like me to fix it?"
Serenity smiled, "It would probably be better then having me do it. I have a sewing set that Makoto gave me, I never used it."
She rummaged through the belongings on the ground and pulled it out. Handing it to Aragorn, she smiled as he started fixing her bag. He fixed it quickly and handed it to her, helping her pack the rest. He caught her hand for a moment and she looked at him. His eyes pleaded to her for her to not be angry. She smiled and stood, squeezing his hand and she went over to the hobbits. The fellowship set out as soon as they were ready, heading to the foreboding mountains.
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