Chapter 2
Crown Princess Serenity
"Come on Sere! We're going to be late!" moaned Rei, Serenity sighed as Ami's, Makoto's, and Minako's own whining followed soon after.
"I'm going, I'm going!" she retorted, brushing at invisible lint on her dress one last time before standing up, the silky material of her dress flowing around her. The silk dress fit around her bust snugly and then flowed down her body to touch the floor, a shining silver with golden moons engraved at the top and little pearls lining beneath the bust, the dress was simple yet extravagant at the same time.
"Hmmm…," murmured Minako, a small smile on her face as she gave her cousin a crucial look-over ", Guys, remind me not to invite Sere to my wedding!"
"What!" Serenity squeaked, confused at Mina's odd comment, but when she looked around the rest of the girls were nodding silently.
"Yeah, remind me too Mina. After all we wouldn't want her to outshine us on our own wedding nights!" joked Rei, bursting into a fit of laughter as Serenity's face changed from an indignant pink to an emberassed red.
"Oh thanks guys," drawled Serenity, crossing her arms over her chest, "I just looove how you guys give compliments!"
"Aww, don't be like that Sere, you know we're just playing," chuckled Makoto, patting her blushing face on the shoulder. A throat clearing cut off Serenity's retort.
"What are you all still doing here!" exclaimed Luna, hands on her hips, as she stared down at the princesses before her. "Shoo! All of you, before you can get any later to the ballroom!" Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako laughed, hiking the skirts of their dresses and shuffling out of the room and down the hall, and Luna turned back to face Serenity, noting the glazed look in the young woman's eyes as she absent mindedly fingered the small star locket hanging on the chain around her neck..
"Serenity ?" Luna whispered, waking the blond princess from her trance.
"Hmm?" murmured, quickly letting go of the small locket and turning to face the older woman before her. She smiled slightly at Luna's worried gaze, her light blue eyes looking away sadly. "I miss him."
Luna nodded, instantly knowing who the young woman was talking about. Almost everyone knew about the sad events that had happened no more than four years ago, the sad event that had changed the young princess in more ways then one. Luna herself had had the pleasure of meeting the earth's prince Endymion before that, back when him and her charge, the young lunarian princess, had been inseparable.
"I know you miss him Serenity, we all do," Luna whispered, a sad little smile adorning her beautiful face as she placed a comforting hand on Serenity's shoulder, images of a laughing, raven haired, blue-eyed young man playing through her mind. "It wasn't an easy decision for your parents either, you know, they loved him like a son…." She sighed. "If only he were here to see the beautiful young woman you've become…"
Serenity laughed softly, surprising Luna, and brushed away a stray tear that had slipped down her cheek. "I think he'd panic, demanding to know what you guys had done with the scrawny tomboy of a princess he used to know." Luna laughed too, nodding in agreement. Silence fell over them again and both just stood there, lost in their thoughts, until Luna suddenly rose, the royal purple layers of her dress shifting softly.
"Well, I should probably be leaving," she started, smiling softly. "Who knows how long Artemis can keep those crazy princesses in order."
"Luna-" called Serenity and the wavy haired woman turned back from her leave. Serenity smiled brightly, something rarely seen sometimes, and uttered a small "thank you." Smiling back, Luna nodded, wishing the princess luck then turned and closed the door behind her.
Sitting there, the Crown Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom sighed, staring back at the reflection that gazed at her from her mirror. Hoping, praying, that her people would like her and accept her as their next queen and that she could become the great ruler her parents wished for.
Minako glanced around the crowded ballroom, looking for the rest of the girls. She had already found, and greeted, her family and her mother and father had soon scurried away, looking forward to having a long talk with their old friends. The grand ballroom was almost bursting with people from all over the galaxy, making it hard for the venusian princess to find her friends.
Minako rolled her eyes, of course the ballroom would be more than full, it was, after all, Serenity's coronation ball. Turning back to the task at hand, blue eyes once again scouring the room for the rest of the scouts, Mina jumped up at the sight of Makoto heading towards her.
"Hey Mina," greeted the taller girl, green eyes peering curiously at her blond friend before she placed a comforting hand on Minako's shoulder. "She'll be fine, you know. Now calm down, we can't have TWO crazy blonds acting like nervous wrecks!"
Minako pressed her lips together to keep from bursting into gales of laughter, nervousness completely forgotten. Makoto grinned in triumph.
"Don't let Sere hear you say that," Minako giggled. "She'll skin you!"
"What she doesn't know can't hurt her," replied Makoto, grinning slyly.
"What who doesn't know can't hurt them?" called a smooth voice behind them. Minako squealed, whirling around and hugging the handsome short haired woman behind her. "Haruka! Hotaru! Michiru! Setsuna!" She squealed- hugging the outer senshi in turn and then the great time keeper Sailor Pluto.
"Hey guys! Fashionably late as always, huh?" grinned Makoto, Michiru grinned back and answered her.
"Well we cant go around breaking tradition now can we?"
"Well, it's good to know you guys haven't changed!" called a new voice, the group turned to face Rei and Ami.
"No but you guys sure have been growing," teased Haruka, a satisfied smirk on her face as she noted each younger senshi's red face. Well they couldn't really blame her, now could they? After all, the last time the Outer senshi had visited the Moon Kingdom had been a good 4 years back, and Haruka was having a bit of a hard time replacing the twelve year old girls in her mind with these mature sixteen year olds.
"Well, you're still your 'oh so charming' self, that's for sure!" giggled Mina teasingly, and then turned to look at the older woman's attire. Haruka was clearly the only woman in the ballroom that didn't don a gown or dress but was instead dressed in some stylish- yet comfortable- pants and intricate tunic. Somehow she still managed to look sharper than ever.
"Did you guys have any trouble getting here?" questioned Ami, curious as to their tardiness. Hotaru giggled and Michiru sighed.
"Oh no," she started, arms crossed over her chest as she sent Haruka a look. "Not much unless you consider that we almost- no, we had to DRAG Haruka in here to keep her from just watching the whole ceremony atop a tree!"
The whole group of younger girls burst into laughter and Haruka sighed guiltily- something that the younger senshi weren't used to seeing often- and shrugged, grumbling that she didn't like to be around so many fancy, stuck up, royals. This drew even more laughter- mostly considering that they were all royalty too.
The sounding of a trumpet cut through their laughter and the girls raced up towards the small rise of the three ivory thrones were, the rest of the guests turning to face the grand staircase and the figure that stood atop it.
"Annoucing, her royal highness and heir to the Lunarian throne Princess Serenity!"
Time seemed to slow down as Serenity made her way down the flight of steps gracefully, her head held up proudly and a small smile adorning her gentle face. The crowd stared, mesmerized by the sight of the beautiful and proud princess. As she finally stepped down off the last step, a series of bows and courtesies swept through the ballroom as they showed their respect to the young woman before them.
Serenity gave a small nod to those gathered then made her way over to the small rise where three ivory thrones sat, smiling brightly as she sat in the middle one, her father to her left and her mother to her right. King Ryo took a moment to squeeze his daughter's hand, eyes shining with pride, and then stood.
"First of all I would like to thank all of those gathered here today for coming to watch the coronation of our lovely daughter, princess Serenity. She is the pride and joy of her mother and I, and we know she will grow to be a wonderful queen someday. Now, If there are no objections from anyone here," The great king's eyes secretly gleamed, daring anyone to question his daughter's right to the throne, but no one made a noise. "We will continue."
The ballroom went deathly still and silent as the lunarian king sat down, and Minako walked towards them, a small, silken pillow adorning a beautiful diamond tiara in her clutch. She stopped in front of Serenity, and –giving her friend, and dear cousin, a warm smile- spoke.
"Princess Serenity, daughter of King Ryo and Queen Selenity, a descendant of the great goddess Selene, you are the rightful heir to the lunarian throne and with it the responsibilities of one day being queen of the Moon. Do you acknowledge and accept this?" Mina felt the words flow smoothly through her mouth and bit back the urge to sigh in relief, not wanting to break the still silence.
"I do," Serenity answered voice, strong, eyes bright.
"And do you, as the future queen of the Moon, promise to do everything within your power to protect and rule your kingdom with a benevolent hand?"
"I do."
"Then I, Minako Aphrodite, princess of Venus, daughter of Hina, queen of Venus, Officially pronounce you Crown Princess Serenity," And as the last words left her lips Mina gingerly placed the shining tiara atop Serenity's golden head. Applause thundered throughout the ballroom, seeming to shake the walls, and cheers and whistles sounded from here and there. Serenity smiled in relief and laughed as the girls rushed up and grabbed her in a group hug.
She glanced at her parent's faces, noticing the way their eyes shone with an emotion she couldn't quite recognize, and made an oath then and there.
I swear on the great goddess Selene…I will make you proud
Little did she know, her parents already felt more pride than they had their entire lives.
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Sooooo? What do you guys think? I have to say it took me quite a few tries to finally get this chapter the way I wanted it! ( it felt way too stiff before) So, leave me a review telling me what you think! All comments are welcomed!
Kiki