This chapter is not nearly as long as I wanted it to be. There was actually a second half that would have doubled the length of this, but I decided it would be better to put that as a second chapter instead. So please don't get frustrated if this isn't as long as you would like. As the plot picks up a little, the length of the chapters will start to grow also.
I also wanted to say briefly: I am fairly new to sailor moon fanfiction, and although I have tried to stay away from what I consider are the worst clichés I have seen thus far, I have no way of knowing every single plot line that has been used. I do know for a fact that one part of this story has potential to be a horrible cliché, but in when all comes out in the end, I don't think it will be. Or at least, that is my hope.
And now, onto the story. Please don't forget to review. I won't lie: I write for myself, but reviews make me write faster.
Chapter One- The Stranger
One Week Earlier
"Can you see anything?" Serenity whispered as she fought to peer out the window that the orange sailor senshi was placed next to. Venus laughed lightly under her breath and patted the impatient princess on her arm. Across from them, on the opposite side of the carriage, sat Queen Serenity with Luna on her lap. Both had twin looks of reproach in their eyes which seemed to be directed at the princess. Raising herself up until her back was completely straight, the Queen addressed the princess who seemed to not even realize she was there.
"You understand, Serenity, that you are accompanying me on this important trip to Earth for a reason, do you not? Serenity?" The princess looked up from the window quickly, the bright in her eyes fading as she turned away from the planet she had admired so much from afar and to her mother who was now looking more than reproachful. "I would like you to use this as a learning experience for when you are Queen."
Serenity nodded, holding her head straight and hoping she looked as regal as her mother. Inside of her, a small rebellious streak burned bright at the way she was acting, so eager to please and so heartbroken when she failed. The voice of this streak was loud and convincing, though it was the voice of a stranger. Serenity loved her people and counted herself lucky to be a princess, but sometimes the pull of being a nobody, a stranger in a crowd of strangers, was so overpowering that she thought she might scream. She found herself biting her tongue as her mother looked at her, a woman that had once been so warm and understanding but was now only so damn regal, and was relieved when her mother turned away.
"Besides, this is a great time of celebration," the queen continued, her gaze to the window and yet somehow farther away. "With the signing of this treaty, we will finally be that much closer to ending the period of distrust and fear between the Earth and Silver Alliance. At last we will bring peace to the galaxy. This is an exciting moment in our history Serenity, and you should not miss it."
"Yes mother."
"Mercury?" The blue haired senshi looked up from her computer quickly, blushing when she saw that both the queen and Luna had turned away from the window to see what she was doing. Serenity looked at her also, almost surprised at the presence of her smart friend. She had been so quiet that she had almost forgotten she was there.
"I'm sorry, Queen Serenity. I was trying to do a scan of the palace to see how safe it was. Mars mentioned some premonition about danger before we left, and I fear someone may try to sabotage the signing of the treaty."
The queen closed her eyes and instantly began to emit a soft white glow. All of the passengers including the princess... especially the princess... looked on in wonder.
"Yes, I feel it." Queen Serenity said, opening her eyes and causing the pulsing white light to fade away into the air like smoke. She was facing Mercury with a slight frown. "We shall have to be careful on the Earth as well as the moon. Inform Mars and Jupiter to stay on alert for any attacks that could be directed there while we are away. And you Serenity…" her gaze moved to the princess who, despite herself, began to fidget beneath it. "You need to be especially careful. No sneaking off."
"Yes mother."
"I mean it, Serenity. There are people who would love to end our happiness. Please don't doubt the nature of this threat."
"Yes mother." Serenity's voice was neutral; unreadable. The queen looked at her for a long moment before sighing and turning her gaze to Sailor Venus. A glance passed between them, brief but speaking volumes in its intensity, and the senshi nodded in reply. She would watch the princess closely.
Serenity regarded this out of the corner of her eye, sighing internally. She knew so many things and the closest people in her life had no idea of her knowledge.
Turning back to the window, she let her eyes drift over the landscape of Earth, taking in it's beautiful contrasts and unfamiliar spaces. She had a feeling that before this trip was over, she would know one more thing also: the secret behind the prophecy she had heard whispered about at the palace. The prophecy that she was supposed to know nothing of.
"Did you see how green everything was?" Serenity squealed, spinning around the room with her arms stretched out, her hair and robe flying out behind her. "Oh and their rose garden, Venus! Did you see that?"
Venus laughed at her lightly and stood in the middle of the room watching her, her hands on her hips. Her long bangs were in her eyes and she had to push them back to see Serenity spin. Finally she cleared her throat and the princess slowed her spinning, clutching her hands in at her sides and fighting for her balance like a top about to fall on its side. Venus' hand came out to help steady her and Serenity clutched it gratefully, still laughing.
Reaching for a hair brush, Venus pulled Serenity over to a padded seat in front of the dresser. This was their nightly routine; had been ever since Serenity could remember, although she knew that the senshi was only a few years older than her and hadn't been a warrior all her life. Every night she would pull the buns out of her hair and brush through all the tangles as they talked about their days with each other, sometimes giggling, sometimes crying, sometimes keeping secrets from each other that they could never share. They had become friends somehow, she was friends with all of her senshi, but she knew that they kept things from her as she did them. A part of her realized this and accepted it as a fact of life. Another part of her, that part of her that tended to cause all of the trouble, was angry with this fact.
"Yes, Serenity. I saw all of those things. But I know what I didn't see!" Venus said, chuckling as she looked at their reflections together in the mirror. Serenity's eyes sparkled. She knew her friend was referring to Prince Endymion, who had been noticeably missing when they had arrived at the royal palace of Earth. The prince of Earth's reputation was well-known. He was supposed to be the best warrior and most handsome man and in whole galaxy.
"I swear Venus, you and men."
Venus did not blush; she glowed.
"Well, I am the warrior of love, after all!" she said, then with her eyes gleaming mischievously, she picked up the two buns on the top of Serenity's head and wiggled them. "Look at the little bunny. Little royal Usagi. Hip-hop. Little rabbit of the moon."
Serenity swatted her hands away and tried to feign annoyance, but smiled despite herself at the nickname. Her father had called her that because of her hair-do and the nickname had stuck among her closest friends and relatives. Only, her mother had stopped calling her that after her father had died. Had, in fact, stopped calling her anything except for Serenity in that damn serious voice.
Serenity caught Venus' smile in the mirror and tried her best to copy it. She felt a tug as the pins were released from her buns and her hair took the chance to cascade down her back. She stared for a moment into her reflection, seeing how different wearing her hair down made her look. Though it was still silver and soft, and nothing else about her had changed, for one brief moment the face in the mirror looked like a stranger.
But then the brush was sliding into her hair and she was seeing her friend in the mirror, looking so serious as she started at the top and made her way down with a silky slip of the brush, and suddenly she was back to being Princess Serenity, only now her smile from earlier was gone.
"Minako?"
Venus jumped at the word, the name that, up until taking on the responsibility of a senshi, had been her own. Now it was her secret, one she shared with the princess and the other senshi. It was their special names for each other, but in everyday conversation it was often hard to adjust to. It made her, however briefly, long for that name, that simpler way of life, but she could never tell anyone that because she would seem ungrateful, something she had never wanted to be. Had the two girls talked, had they been honest with each other, both might have seen how very close they were to thinking the same thoughts. One girl, a princess, reflecting on a stranger inside of herself that she longed to know, and one girl, a warrior, reflecting on a stranger she had been forced to leave behind.
She smiled into the mirror at her friend.
"Yes?"
Serenity opened her mouth, closed it, and opened it again. The question that left her lips made Minako's heart jump.
"The princess wasn't there either," she said quietly, her head moving down. The movement of the brush stopped suddenly on top of Serenity's head, then drifted down until Minako's arm was at her side. Serenity heard her take a deep breath and forced her gaze back up to her friend, fighting to look like she deserved control over this situation. That part of her inside flared up in sudden anger, surprisingly welcoming. Her eyes bit into her friends, asking, no... demanding, that she be told the truth. Stop lying to me Minako. Tell me about the secrets, the prophecy I hear whispers about that no one will explain. Tell me why some people of the Earth fear me so.
But Minako must not have heard the plea of her gaze, and if she did she ignored it well, for all she did was set the brush down on the table and shrug her arms weakly.
"No, she wasn't. Perhaps she was with her brother and his general. I heard the King mention that they had traveled to a village for..."
"Minako."
But Minako's eyes were down and she would not look up at Serenity. Instead she smiled weakly and pushed her bangs from her eyes once more, turning from the princess and moving towards the bed to pull the covers back.
"You must be tired from the traveling. You should sleep..."
"Minako!" Serenity said louder, standing and clutching fists at her side as the orange warrior pretended like she didn't even exist. But then she looked up at her finally and the look on her face made Serenity stop. Her fists unclenched and tears filled her eyes. Their was a wound there, a deep gash as old as time, hiding in her best friend's eyes and she had never known it. Her breath caught, and Minako quickly glanced back down.
"Goodnight...Usagi," she whispered, walking to the door and slipping out of it before another word could be said. Serenity sat down on the bed and stayed there for a long moment after Minako had left, a million thoughts swirling in her head, a million questions left unanswered. She knew there was a reason for these secrets, she had heard the servants whisper about a prophecy, and she had seen the hard glares of the people from Earth. What was this prophecy, that they hated her so? And why in the name of all the stars in the heavens, couldn't they tell her about it?
Standing, she walked to the balcony and opened the glass doors to step out into the cool, evening air. The smell of roses here was so thick and lovely that, combined with the conversation from a moment ago, she felt momentarily overwhelmed. Clutching the edge tightly, she stared down into the gardens and found herself searching for a way down into them. She finally found a sturdy terrace that covered the wall on the right of the balcony, which stopped about two feet from the ground. She instantly began to wonder if it would hold her weight.
No, Serenity. This is no time to cause trouble. Go back into your room and sleep. She looked out into the gardens once more, where the full moon illuminated the countless roses. They already think you're irresponsible. Prove them wrong. But it was too late. She was already reaching into the pocket of her robe.
She held the Luna Pen in her hand for a long moment, testing the weight and feel of it, thinking one million thoughts. The pen had been a gift from her father before he had passed away, the year she was eight. She could remember now that he had smiled as he had given it to her, smiled and said, "This is how Moon Princesses play dress up, Serenity," with that deep, booming laugh of his. She had treasured the gift, taken care of it, and it in turn had brought many days of happiness and excitement to her life. Days of cowboys and Indians, tea parties, and puffy pink ballroom dresses. Days of dreaming, giggling, pretending... fearing only the thing that lived under the bed at night or perhaps in the deepest, darkest corner of her closet. But now, standing on the threshold of adulthood much in the same way as she stood on the threshold of her balcony, it seemed that she had feared all of the wrong things.
She had never feared death, or at least had not concerned herself with the thought of it, and yet she still felt the ache inside of her from her father's passing and didn't think she would ever fully recover. She had never feared her future, as a princess or otherwise, and yet now she found the idea of all of it constraining and somehow odd, as if it was not meant to be her own though she had prepared for it her whole life. She had not feared insanity, or loss of freedom, or marriage, or simple adulthood but now... now each of these things held a weighty terror of their own as they pushed down upon her, stifling her beneath a wet blanket of doubts and insecurities.
Images wafted through her mind like photographs: Minako's face soft with secrets and undeniable betrayal. The hurt and fear in her eyes. The tremble in her voice. Luna on Queen Serenity's lap, both looking reproachful and unamused. Their true thoughts hard, unreadable, distant. Emotions filled the small princess swiftly, too strong to define or contain. She cast a quick glance out into the rose garden with it's dark corners and relieving moonlight, and bit her lip. Thrusting the Luna Pen into the air before she could change her mind, she whispered, "Luna Pen, turn me into an ordinary girl from Earth!"
Soft pink light filled the room, and a warm, tingling sensation began at her toes. She closed her eyes against the magic (she always had to because for one brief moment it was simply too intense) and then... then it was over and she was opening her eyes to look into the mirror at her new reflection.
Her hair was the first thing she noticed. It was back up in it's familiar hairstyle of buns but now it was a golden blonde that was surprising to say the least. Reaching up, she quickly pulled the pins out and let it fall natural around her face, amazed at the color and the difference something so simple could make in her. Then she began to notice other things also.
The moon mark on her forehead was gone and her white robe had been replaced with a long brown skirt and matching top. Over this was a long, black cape and hood. Her shoes were dark also.
'Rather drab,' Serenity thought, and an almost hysterical giggle bubbled out of her mouth. She clasped a hand over her lips to hold it in and stood there for a moment, trying to calm her nerves.
'This is insane! You cannot do this!' something in her, the part of her that loved to please, tried to scream. But it did no good.
She smiled at the stranger in the mirror, and made her decision.