Part IV



Patience

Quote:
"Patience, n. A minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue." - Ambrose Bierce

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"Here's some coffee, Ames." Makoto looked over at her, "Did you find him yet?"
The blue haired woman shook her head, "No, not yet. He hasn't left through the streets or airport." She breathes out and picks up the coffee in an exhausted manner before sipping the hot liquid. Turning slightly she smiles at Makoto, " Arigato, Mako-chan…"
Makoto nods and looks over Ami's shoulder.
Not minding it, Ami went over the security cameras again. Strange, that she checked for energy signature before she even thought to use every day cameras.
"Hey, Ames…what's that?" The senshi of Jupiter pointed at the screen as a shadow moved by.
"Hm?" Blinking her sapphire eyes, she rewinds it and played it slow so they could see a distinct shape. "I'll be…"
Makoto frowns studying it, "Isn't that the corridor that leads to the Door of Time? " She glances at the woman, "Where Sailor Pluto is now…?"
"Do you think…?"
She shook her head, but her emerald eyes looked worried, "We all know, Pluto moves in mysterious ways."
"Still" Ami says leaning back and glances up at her, "She's brave for going against the Queen's orders…"
"Indeed."
There was a pregnant silence that was filled with unsaid questions. It went on till a full three minutes passed before something was said.
"Are you going to tell her?"
"I have to." She slowly stood up and faced Makoto, "She's the queen after all."
There was a sad look to Makoto's face. That look said it all. Still, Ami gathered what she needed to show the queen of the earth and moon even though she felt guilty about it.

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"Well, it looks like you're doing better, Endymion." Seraphina said as the orphanage's doctor left. " The doctor says you can leave sooner then we thought."
The dark woman sat on the edge of his bed smiling at him, "Doc was surprised though. People with broken ribs don't really heal up in two weeks."
Inwardly grimaces at that but smiles at her, "I'm a fast healthier."
"Good." Seraphina says smirking at him wickedly, "That means you can earn your keep."
Endymion blinked, "Nani?"
Nodding the foreigner still grinned at him. "Hai. You're going to have to watch some kids." She told him. " Hm…they're not allowed on the field trip that's planned today and the other teachers need help to manage the kids. It's a stroke of pure luck that you happened to be in fit condition to help out."
"Who…" He blinked wondered about these….'kids'
Smiling, Seraphina got up. " You'll see."

They were kids all right. Four boys to be exact, the youngest was at least six and the oldest one looked to be nine. Endymion's slivery-blue eyes searched each of the children's faces before he turns to Seraphina. Nodding her approval, Seraphina introduced them, "This boy is Keb. He is the oldest out of the group- he's eleven." She gestures towards the pale haired boy.
The boy looked bored at all this, his pale blue eyes glanced Endymion over a few times before looking off. Keb was dressed like any child- white shirt and blue jeans with a pair of sneakers that had seen better days.
The next boy looked very shy and made next to no eye contact with the man. His honey-blonde hair was curly and slightly long. Endymion was able to catch a glimpse of the boy's eyes- they were the color of spring green leaves.
"This one is Zander," She then leans close to Endymion and whispered, "He's a really good boy but...he kinda needs help you know?" She clears her throat and went on.
"The brown haired boy is Nicholas, and the last one is Jared."
Smiling she slaps him on the back, "Have fun!" And trots off leaving the man with the four boys.

Endymion watches her leave before looking back at the boys, who were slowly going back to what they were doing. Only one of them, the pale haired boy Keb, was staring up at him wrinkling his nose a little. "All you have to do is watch tv. We can take care of ourselves."
No one else seems to dispute this claim as he left to join his friends. Somehow, Endymion felt that there was something familiar about the look he had just received.

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"Mercury, report!"
The blue haired senshi steps forward with a touch of hesitancy. Lately their queen had been acting strangely. Endymion had been gone for only a few days and already the word was slowly leaking out that he might have left her.
There was speculation as to where the king was, but it was too early to tell.
Out of the corner of her eye, Ami spotted the senshi of Pluto standing behind the column. What was she doing?
Her attention snaps back to the pale queen. "Your majesty," She says kneeling, "I've located where the king maybe."
This caught everyone's attention. It was then that Ami also noticed that behind the throne, the curious eyes of Usa and Diana were watching as well. Apparently, Usa wasn't suppose to know about this meeting either. Suddenly, Ami could feel the heaviness of her report had on her. She wondered, once more, if what she was doing was the right thing. What if what Mamoru was doing was a good thing and she was wrong? What if he was wrong…?

"Well?" Serenity was sitting upright and leaning closer to hear the words that the senshi of wisdom was about to speak. She knew she could count on her first friend. Ami was the smartest out of all the senshi and the most reliable- not that the others weren't- but Ami had something and she was relying on it now. "What news do you have of him?"

It was an internal battle that was raging on inside of the princess of Mercury. Her loyalty to her friend and queen was battling against her sense of right and wrong. She felt that she should trust what Endymion was doing but at the same time her old memories of the past haunted her and reminded her who her true allegiance was to the moon princess and the moon kingdom.
'I'm sorry.' Was all she thought as she spoke up. "The last recording shows that Endymion was in the forbidden corridor heading to the Time Gate." She says her sapphire eyes gazed down at the crystalline floor. "It is highly possible, given the readings, that he went into the past."

The news was met with a heavy silence. Ami dared not to look up at the queen, but chose instead, to look at the princess who was hidden behind the throne.
"That can't be possible." Luna stepped forth and gazed at the senshi, "The only way that he would be able to leave is only if Sa-"
"Sailor Pluto allowed it." The monarch stood interrupting the Mauian woman.
Venus shook her head, "That cannot be true, your majesty." She looks around, "I mean, Pluto wouldn't do so without a good reason."
"Perhaps she allowed him to escape into the past because she still holds feelings for him." Neptune glances at the pillar with a small smile.
It was no secret amongst the senshi about Pluto's love for the king.

Serenity thought that might be the case, but she never acknowledged it- never would. "Sailor Pluto, come before me now."

The dark senshi made her appearance, as if she had just arrived, and knelt before Neo Queen Serenity. "You called, my queen?"

"Why did you allow him through the time Gate?" the queen demanded, " Where- no…what time line did he go to?"

Pluto looks up at her, "I have no idea what you speak of, my queen. There are many 'hims' and 'hers' and many, many timelines that are more intricate then the dress you're wearing."

"Oh don't play dumb with me, Princess Persephone." Serenity's eyes narrowed, "I'm not in the mood to be amused."

Pluto stood finally, " And I, Princess Serenity," She stressed out the words and used the woman's former title almost to remind her- if not show her- that she was not afraid of her at all. "Have no time to be play twenty questions with you. Now, if your majesty would be so kind as to tell me who and what has happened?"

"I wish to know if Endymion went to the Time Gate and if so, did he go into the past." Inwardly, she was a tad- ha a tad- angry at the senshi of time but decided not to push her luck. It was true that she could probably defeat Pluto in a fight, but the senshi of Time was not shrinking violet. She could easily mess up time in a way that none of them would be born. Serenity had to tread carefully with her and the other outers then she would with her Inner senshi.

Pluto, for her part, maintained her cool façade while inwardly she worried about this. If she knew her queen, she would know what would happen next. Still, she had to stay like she was. "I saw no one, your majesty, as you can see I have only returned from my own duties to guard the gate while my other-self is out helping you in the past. He may have slipped through then."

That was something the queen hadn't considered. Pausing she thought about it and nods to herself. Still she glances over at the tall woman.
"Can you pin point the exact place he is in?" If he was in the past he could change the course of their future. That was something she didn't want. After all, they worked –hard- for this; for everything to get to this peace.
Why was he trying to ruin it? She pondered this while waiting for a reply.

Pluto knew she was treading dangerously on treason, but she needed this to happen. This future was not a happy one and even though there were many alternate ones- too many to count- she wanted this one to be so. So, her only reply was this:
"It can be done, your majesty." Neutral. That was the tone of it but she felt compelled to soften the tone a bit. "But you know it may take a while before the exact date and time he arrived in."

Shaking her head the pale queen moved back to her throne and settles on it trying to reign in her emotions. "That is something we do not have. We need to get him back here."
She closed her eyes, missing the glances the Sol Senshi were giving each other.
"Pluto, please, find him as quickly as you can." She opens her eyes, gazing down at them, "And once he is pinpointed I wish to send some of you to go and retrieve him."

---

Endymion observed the boys for a while before he got up to make them lunch. There was something so oddly familiar about them. He returned carrying a tray of sandwiches and juice boxes for them. "Lunch time."
The four boys glanced up from their projects- Keb was building some model, Zander was reading, Jared was playing some video game, and Nicholas was drawing- before the other three shot looks towards Keb. Endymion observed this quietly, before setting the food down. There was something too familiar about them, but he didn't know what.
There wasn't much he could do at the moment, so he settles down one the couch sighing softly. After a while he asked, "You guys seem very close, are you brothers?"
"Nope," Jared says as he blasted one of the aliens.
Keb looks up after gluing the last piece in, "We all met here." He turns his gaze back to another piece.
"It was predicted in the stars that we would meet up again." Nicholas adds as he searches for a color pencil. "I've been tellin' them that for years."
"Years?" That caught his attention, "exactly how long have you guys been here?"
For a while none of the boys said anything before Keb spoke up, "Zan has been here since he was four, he's eight now." Glance towards the other two who nodded.
Zander was the youngest of the group and was often the quietest.
"I've been here since I was…six." Nicholas told him casually, "Keb was my first friend here. Jared, he came when he was five then Zan did. We were friends ever since."
Endymion's gaze settled back on the eleven-year-old boy, "And when did you get here?"
"Doesn't matter." Came the reply before he finally gets up and puts the model action figure up on the shelf. "I'm going to my room."
Watching the boy leave, the man turns his head towards the other three. Something must've profoundly left its mark on him- as it did with the others. He had seen it when they played, when they ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner together; hell they shared two rooms between the four of them. They were separate from the others in more ways then just physical ways.
He probably wouldn't be able to get any more out of them now. So, the minutes lapsed into hours before the other returned from the trip, some tired some full of energy still. The small orphanage was once again alive with the sounds of children.