Chapter 32: Forbidden Fruit
Serenity glared hard down at the patterns of her bed quilt, eyes tracing the soft pink lines running down the fabric. Within a matter of a few beats, she could feel her eyeballs getting pulled over to her right, down on top of the quilt right next to her. The documents were sitting there, laying flat atop her bed, still refusing to change no matter how many times she examined them.
She felt like she was changing her mind a hundred times a day, and having nobody she could discuss this issue with was making it drag out even longer. Every time she got close to putting pen to paper, the gravity of the effects the document would have would bore down on her, forcing her to put it off yet again. And the further she would get from it, the more she thought about all the lies and deception, not to mention the criminal activity, that her husband had been involved in lately, and how good it would feel to be separated from all of that forever.
She gave a soft little grunt, putting her hands back behind her to prop herself up a bit as she leaned back. It was amazing how tense she felt given that her surroundings were so benign and peaceful. Her large, luxurious bedroom was silent and mostly empty, the barely-audible breathing of the sleeping Chibiusa in the crib towards the back right corner of the room providing the only thing even approaching a disturbance.
She threw a side glance over towards the door to her right, and then scooted off the bed towards it. Scrambling over, as if in a hurry, she went over to the locking mechanism along the right side of the door and engaged it, hearing the faint tap of the bolts clicking into place. With the room now secured, she turned around and found the walk-in closet door over towards the right.
"
Running the pad of her right thumb over the black sensor housed in the rightmost wall, Serenity threw a glance to her right, out towards the primary chamber of her bedroom. A panel on the wall slid to the left, revealing a little numeric keypad. Absentmindedly, she pressed her index finger lightly into the keypad a few times. To her left, a large rectangular-shaped segment of the wall recessed a finger-length or so, then slid to the left. A massive door made of shiny steel was revealed, a white round wheel right in the middle of it. She went over to it and grabbed the wheel, spinning it to the left as hard as she could, getting it to complete several rotations. The giant silver door unlocked and swung open on it's hinges, revealing a cold, dark chamber with a couple heavily-jeweled dresses hanging on a hook on the left wall, some small brown boxes against the back, and a luggage container on the floor right in front of her.
She stared down at this particular item for some time, ignoring the musty air that flooded out of the safe room, washing over her with a mildly pungent scent. She stepped forward, then dropped to her knees right before the case.
Pressing her thumbs into the top of the edge of the container, the lid popped up. She tossed it up, setting her sights down on the valuable contents.
An ocean of gemstones, filling almost the entire interior of the case. A single handful would be enough to forever change the life of over ninety-nine percent of the galaxy's populace. Even to someone like her, the billions of creds in jewels before her carried some weight.
She propped her right palm up underneath her chin, looking down at the gemstones with her large, round eyes. Slowly, her left hand reached out towards the diamonds, sticking her pale, slender fingers into the riches and gently sifting through.
Her lip curled downward a bit as she felt the slightly cool and prickly sensation on her fingers, the precious stones shifting around her digits.
As if suddenly scalded by the contents of the bag, she whipped her hand out suddenly, withdrawing it back into her lap and pressing it down between the folds of her clothing. A tiny grunt bubbled out of her throat. She slowly closed her eyes, taking in a massive breath, then slowly letting it out.
Before long, the intoxicating twinkle of the thousands of pink diamonds drew her back in, forcing her to look back down and get lost in the overwhelming majesty of it all.
She probably would have knelt there for quite some time, if not for the squishing sound she was just barely able to detect from her bedroom. Twisting herself around so she was looking out of the safe door, she held her breath for a moment and focused intently on listening. Soon, she heard the same sound. She had heard that noise more than enough times over the last several cycles to recognize it as the mattress in Chibiusa's crib being compressed, no doubt thanks to the energetic toddler having woken up and moving about on top of it.
Quickly, she got to her feet, the thought of tending to her child enough to make her momentarily forget about the ten figure treasure in front of her. In a matter of beats she was back out into her room, striding to the crib. Sure enough, the young child was quickly growing restless within the small enclosure, scrambling around on all fours like a caged lion atop the mattress. She bent down over the side of the crib, grabbing her by the sides and gently picking her up.
Cradling her in her slender arms, Serenity looked down at her daughter. Of course, with half of her coming from her estranged husband, Serenity couldn't help but think about him when looking at her. And just like that, she was back in the hole, thoughts fixated on Prince Endymion, the pink diamonds in her closet safe, the restraining order documents on her bed, the mountain of illegal activity her husband had been involved in under her nose in recent cycles, the Kingdom merger…
She slowly bent down, setting Chibiusa down on the carpeted floor, keeping the minimal amount of focus on her quickly scurrying off.
"
Prince Endymion stirred underneath his bed sheets as the sound of his bedroom door swinging open broke his slumber. Knowing that only a handful of people had authorization to unlock his door from the outside, he made a narrow range of assumptions of who it could be.
"O-oh, you're still asleep?"
That question, coupled with that high-pitched feminine voice, smashed Endymion's assumptions into pieces. His wakeup procedure, initially planned to be a slow and gentle one, shifted into gear, and he reflexively tried to untangle himself from his sheets at record speed. His frantic movements, however, served only to cause him to smash the top of his head into the headboard with a loud smack.
"AHH!" he yelped, pain immediately occupying all of his senses, tears filling his eyes. He rolled over just enough to make out Princess Serenity, standing in the threshold of his bedroom door. Even through his blurry vision, her distinctive hairstyle was unmistakable. He was also able to ascertain that she had Chibiusa strapped to a harness on her chest. He saw Serenity plug her fingers into Chibiusa's ears, and then the pain in his head blossomed to the point where he couldn't even keep his eyes open. He rolled back over, buried his face into his pillow, and let loose with a string of muffled profanities.
Serenity stared at her husband with wide eyes for a beat, mouth dropping open in shock and concern. "Oh my God, are you okay?!" she gasped.
With a groan, Endymion rotated his head slightly over towards her. "No!" he moaned, before again shoving his face into the cushion to continue the cathartic swearing.
"H-hold on!" Serenity said, speeding over towards the liquor cabinet and bar over on the left side of the room, moving as fast as she could without jostling Chibiusa. As Endymion gradually shifted from obscenities to mournful moans and groans, she quickly laid out a cloth napkin and placed several square ice cubes on it, before bundling it into a little ball.
"Ahhhhh..." Endymion grunted, the pain still overruling the shock of seeing his wife show up in his room out of nowhere, although the dual emotions were quickly pulling even. Serenity quickly went up to his prone figure and gently placed the bundle of ice against the top of his head. He gave a little hiss at the cold sensation initially, but after a moment, was able to slowly relax, and could feel the agony cascading through his nerves from the top of his head start to subside.
"Be careful!" Serenity chided, pressing the ice down through his thick black hair. "I'm surprised you didn't crack your head open!"
"Uh-huh," he groaned aimlessly, face flushed red and eyes still blurry. Slowly, he rotated his head to his right, looking up towards his wife, who looked oddly concerned and sympathetic to his pain, despite supposedly hating him.
"Should I call the doctor? You might have...uh, uh, a concussion," she asked. "I think I should call Dennis."
He wanted to dismiss and decline the offer, and reflexively started to put his right hand out towards her, but the bubbling pain still emanating from the point of contact with his headboard, plus the foggy dullness of his mind right now, convinced him to listlessly nod his head.
"
"I think you'll be fine, Your Highness," Dennis said, placing the square scanner back into his inside jacket pocket, giving Serenity a suspicious look out of the corner of his eyes. "Those pills should help with any possible symptoms. I'm still just a little confused on the how of it."
"N-night terrors," Endymion muttered. "I don't want to talk about it. I was...I was thrashing around in my sleep, bad dream, you know. Just...jerked my head into the board, that's all."
"Is that common?" Dennis asked, standing back up at the side of the bed. "We could look into getting the headboard cushioned if this is something that happens a lot."
"No, no! It's fine," Endymion protested. "Uh, thank you, you're dismissed," he said, gesturing over towards his bedroom door. "I'll...if it happens again, you'll be...be the first to know."
Dennis took a little longer than necessary to give the Prince an odd stare, but eventually nodded back. "Just try to take it easy for today. And maybe make sure to stay awake for awhile, just in case."
He departed the room with that final recommendation, leaving the couple alone with their young child. The moment the door shut behind him, Endymion slowly rotated his head about to look at Serenity. She was unlatching Chibiusa off the chest harness, setting her down on top of the bed.
"U-uh, Serenity...what are you doing here?" Endymion asked, watching as Chibiusa used her newfound freedom to crawl up towards him. "What's going on?"
"Oh, well…" Serenity thought for a moment. "I thought about what you said, and I think you're right."
Endymion's gaze narrowed ever-so-slightly. "W-what did I say? What am I right about?"
"Well, s-she's your daughter too!" Serenity pointed up towards Chibiusa, which prompted Endymion to reach forward and scoop her up into his hands. She gave an energetic squeal on being swept up into the air. "You were right, maybe...maybe there are things going on between you and me, but whatever might be going on there...you should be allowed to see your daughter too. You should be a part of her life."
Endymion still didn't look particularly less confused.
"Remember? You asked me to let you see her sometimes," Serenity said. "Did you really hit your head that hard?"
"No, no, I remember saying that," Endymion replied. "I...I just…I didn't think that...I mean…I wasn't expecting…"
With some effort, he managed to swallow the second half of that statement, turning his focus towards the toddler in his hands.
"...well, nevermind, then," he muttered.
"So, I thought I'd bring her by, um...maybe we can work out some sort of schedule for recurring visits." She got up on the bed, sitting down near the bottom corner with her legs crossed underneath her. "She's rested, so she's got plenty of energy right now. Um, she'll be ready to eat in like two minutas." She leaned over and pointed down at the floor by the door. "I brought some toys, over there. I'll just sit here and read."
"...okay…" he said uneasily, afraid to press any further no matter how confused he was. His wife seemed rather cheerful and at-ease, being around him, and he was afraid reminding her of the way things were when they left off would somehow ruin everything. While that mindset wasn't giving her intelligence level very much credit, it was enough to get him to hold his tongue.
He lifted Chibiusa up high into the air above her head, getting her to squeal in delight and throw her arms and legs about. He managed to summon up an awkward smile at his child, but quickly had his gaze drawn back towards Serenity, who was now holding a tablet up in front of her face.
"
"It's a little out of balance, it's too acidic," Kunzite said, staring at a tiny strip of paper pinched between his fingers, the tip of it turning a bright yellow. "Rebalance it, we need more powder."
Endymion picked up a green can from the counter in front of him, then walked it over to the long, narrow trough filled with a clear liquid that extended across a good part of the room. He twisted the top of the can, then began to sprinkle a white powder into the liquid.
"Not a lot, it's only a little off," Kunzite said. After a couple of emphatic shakes of the can, Endymion flipped a switch on the outside lip of the trough. The liquid within began to gentle froth around, stirring around to even the contents out across the entire trough.
The Earth Prince pushed the breathing mask up to his forehead, uncovering his face, turning to look over at Kunzite. "So, what do I do?"
"Give it a couple secundas and let me retest it," Kunzite said absentmindedly, reaching into a drawer underneath the trough and pulling out another small strip of paper.
"No, no, I mean, Serenity," Endymion said. "I didn't want to...you know, ruin it by saying something, so I just kind of kept quiet. But she actually seemed pretty happy! I definitely haven't said anything to her since I dropped her off on the Moon, and...I made one little comment about maybe wanting to get to see Chibiusa every now and then, but I certainly wasn't expecting her to come along." He shrugged. "I would have been happy with one of the midwives passing her along, would have been thrilled if Serenity just stopped by to drop her off, but she sat there the whole time reading!"
Kunzite, eyes still trained down on the frothing trough, took a moment to digest Endymion's frantic diatribe. "Well, it was two cycles ago that you let her move back to the Moon. That's a lot of time for someone to calm down and look at the bigger picture. Maybe it's just that simple."
"We...we're not supposed to be in the same room as each other," Endymion continued. "And she knows that, she has to know that."
"Well. You did say you wanted to be able to see your daughter sometimes and be part of her life, right?" Kunzite dipped the tip of the little scrap of paper into the trough of liquid. "Just appreciate the fact that you're getting that and don't ask too many questions for now."
Endymion gave a listless little nod as Kunzite held the slip of paper up in front of his eyes.
"
"So, obviously, everything got cleared out," Kasios said, stepping into the entirely plain and almost bare office room, little more than a decently-sized chamber of white walls and a tanned tile floor. "You'll have complete freedom to set it up and organize it however you want, of course. I doubt you and Solomon have much overlap in tastes, so I imagine it'll be quite unrecognizable."
Princess Venus casually strolled in, wearing her very best dress gown, looking around the plain room. "I'll get right on that, Your Highness."
"Oh, don't even start with that. It's taken me this long to get the other council members to stop calling me that when I'm up here, I'm certainly not taking it from a fellow royal," Kasios said, turning to look at the young woman behind him. "I'm just another council member when I'm on The Savery."
"You're the most powerful person in the galaxy, I think a little bit of respect is mandatory no matter who I am," Venus protested.
"That's debatable," he countered. "And not a debate I care to have right now. But my name is Kasios, and I want to be called that when I'm up here." He put his hands on his hips. "So, you're the junior council member, which means you don't have to feel too pressured to start contributing right away. It'll take a couple cycles for you to get up to speed. And I can tell you from personal experience, it's understood that you have other things going on in your life that preclude your ability to invest all of your time on agency work."
"Sounds like it doesn't stop you," Venus pointed out. "Everything I've ever heard indicates you're one of the most active members of the council."
"Maybe, but my point is...we understand." He glanced over towards her. "Oh, and, not that I have the willpower to tell you to stop, but I should point that if you make a habit of wearing things like that when you're here, nobody is going to be able to get any work done."
Venus gave a playful little grin, absentmindedly tugging at the collar of her gown. "Well, I don't exactly have any clothes that don't make me look like the most beautiful woman in the galaxy, so I don't know what to tell you."
Kasios, with a smirk, nodded. "That's a good point. Maybe just wear a lot of layers? You can turn the heat all the way down in your office."
"Oooh, I don't know if that's me," Venus said, stretching her arms up above her head.
"I have to say, I never expected you to actually want to do something like this. I don't know if you really noticed or not, but you don't really have very much in common with anyone else on the council." He slipped his hands into the pockets on the sides of his tunic. "I understand you had to go over this a lot during the interviews, I don't want to keep pestering you with the same line of questioning, but it's definitely not what anyone expected."
"Well, there's a lot about me that people don't know about," Venus said. "Same goes for most Venusians. That's just...how we live."
He nodded. "Right, then. So anyway, this room is yours to arrange however you want. We'll get you an official agency communicator, it's going to be filled with contacts. I'd recommend getting familiar with those contacts. They're businessmen, governors, philanthropists, all sorts of people who have money or power and have supported our efforts across the galaxy. What we do here is expensive, and even with the money we making selling imperium, we still need help from as many outside people as possible."
"So just get them to like me?" Venus asked, going over towards the back of the room, where she imagined a desk might be. "I'm pretty good at that sort of thing."
"That'd be a good start," Kasios replied. "Also, you're probably aware, but you are sort of coming in right when we're in the middle of the most dangerous imperium smuggling operation in recorded history. So right now, everyone has a little less downtime than usual, so if people seem to be a little short with you, or aren't giving you very much time for questions, it's not because they don't like you."
"I understand," Venus said. "Truth be told, I'm actually really excited to try to get involved in that investigation. I mean, something like that, that's the kind of thing you join the agency for, to stop things like that."
"Well, you'll have full access to all the files from the case," Kasios said. "Do as much as you can on your own, and the other council members will do their best to assist. Just try to understand that we're in the middle of a particularly sensitive time right now."
She nodded. "Of course. Thank you so much for introducing me to my office."
"Given we're both royalty, Grandmaster Galen thought we might have more of a connection than you with anyone else on the council, so he wanted me to be the one showing you around," Kasios said. "Alright, hopefully that's enough to get you started. I have to get back. There's a lot going on right now."
She bowed her head slightly towards Kasios. "See you around, High King Kasios. I'm looking forward to finding ways to contribute to the agency's cause."
Kasios smiled over at the young woman, and then quickly swept around to depart the room.
"
Princess Serenity slowly turned the thick cardboard page of the book, allowing the complex, fancy diorama within to extend and expand out. Chibiusa watched as the three-dimensional palace took form in front of her, and as the book was splayed out flat on the bed, it became more and more clear that the diorama was meant to depict the Moon Palace.
"Ten thousand workers spend two years building the palace, every single day asking the Queen about her vision. They wanted it to match her vision exactly, and be exactly the way the Queen wanted it. Although they could have used Carnelian Crystal to build it in a few days, the Queen's vision included dozens of different materials, and so it had to be built manually."
Serenity couldn't help but feel a little silly, knowing that despite her fast development, Chibiusa was still not cognizant enough to really absorb anything she was saying. But she knew that her mother had done the same with her, and her mother's mother with her mother, and on into infinity, and who was she to break tradition?
Chibiusa reached forward towards the cardboard palace, stubby fingers grabbing at the dome on the top.
"After the palace was completed, there was a great celebration that lasted two cycles. Every single member of the other royal families of the galaxy came to see it. It was immediately recognized as the most impressive structure in the entire galaxy by all. In the face of such a wonder, the Moon's status was solidified. No Kingdom was more respected or revered than that of the Moon. Over the next decade, the Moon Palace became the host to countless priceless pieces of art and ancient, rare artifacts. Every sculptor and painter dreamed of having one of their works displayed within the palace. It was over a thousand years before a more respected palace was built."
She reached forward and rubbed Chibusa's back as the child continued to run her tiny hands over the palace depiction.
"That palace still stands today. We're inside it right now, in fact," Serenity continued. "Even thousands of years later, unchanged and unaltered. And it will stand for thousands of years more." Serenity watched Chibiusa grab at the base of the book, pushing it around, clearly intrigued by the sight of a massive complex structure seemingly popping up from the pages.
Serenity sighed, looking down at the diorama.
"And that's the story of the Moon Palace." She gently stroked her fingers on top of Chibiusa's head. "One day, it'll be mine. And then, one day after that, it'll be yours. Just, um...just one of the amazing wonders that is your birthright."
She reached forward, turning the page in the simple picture book, over to another diorama of a tall, thin tower. While not nearly as complex or stylised as the palace, it was still clearly meant to depict an elaborate and weighty monument.
"Like, uh...well, this...this one isn't around anymore," she mumbled to herself. "Mm. I don't think I inherited my mother's storytelling skills." She watched Chibiusa lunge forward to wrap her tiny hands around the tower. She bent it over a bit towards her. "But, um...The Vingian Crystal Tower stood for nearly fifteen hundred years, and people from all across the galaxy came to it to feel closer to the Goddess Luna. Back then, the Moon was so well-respected by the populace of the galaxy, that Luna was one of the most worshipped Goddesses despite being considered the Goddess of the Moon." She paused for a bit. "Now, uh...today, that's not...really the case. And the tower, um…" She winced down hard. "They disassembled it for materials since...well, it wasn't being used very much anymore."
She was starting to be glad that Chibiusa wasn't going to understand or remember much of anything she said to her right now. She wanted to be a little more colorful and positive, but given her current situation, reality kept intruding on the exaggerated historical she wanted to be giving her daughter.
"But, obviously, it's a huge part of our history," she said hurriedly. Just then, a dull little rip sounded off as Chibiusa tore the tower right out of the book, reducing it to a little stub. Chibiusa took the cardboard piece and pulled it over towards her mouth. Soon enough, she had inserted the top of the tower in, biting down on it with a set of baby teeth that weren't quite able to do much damage yet.
Serenity reached forward, gently grabbing on the tower and pulling it from her mouth and hands. She held the destroyed piece of cardboard art up in front of her, gaze flickering back and forth between it and the remaining base still in the book.
"Pretty much," she admitted, tossing the ruined tower over her shoulder absentmindedly.
"
"A Whole New World is now the fourth-largest bookstore chain on Earth," Zoisite explained. "Thirty-eight locations, with forty by the end of the cycle. Four locations are of the deluxe variety, much larger than the others, and—"
"Zoisite, you...I know you're proud, and it's definitely amazing what you've managed to do in such a short period of time, but you don't have to give the official summary every time," Endymion said, waving his hand over towards his youngest general. "Just bottom line it for me."
"Sorry, Your Highness," Zoisite said. "In any case, two million creds were washed through the business in the last cycle. I think that number could go up to about two and a half for the next cycle."
Endymion, seated in a high-backed chair against the left wall of Zoisite's chambers, wrinkled his face a bit. "It's really fantastic work, of course, Zoisite. But, I just can't help but think, with the amount of money we're making every cycle. We're just not getting anywhere."
"I'm certainly aware of that," Zoisite agreed. "We may want to consider expanding our business operations. Not just vertically, either."
"You mean, acquire another business," Kunzite chimed in from the couch in the center of the room. "Are you sure you can handle that?"
"Oh, business is easy," Zoisite said quickly. "Truthfully, I never really understood why people had so much trouble with it, but now that I'm actually running a company first-hand, I really don't understand why there are so many failures. Easiest thing in the world as long as you have enough capital backing you up."
"And a bottomless supply of money to launder to bolster profits with," Nephrite added, drawing a quick glance from Zoisite. "Maybe don't forget that."
"Had I not been offered a position in the palace as Endymion's general, I think I could have taken over the Earth through business," Zoisite said lightly. Nephrite just rolled his eyes.
"In any case, Zoisite, given that A Whole New World is now firmly rooted as an overwhelming success, perhaps we should start looking into that now," Kunzite suggested.
"With your permission, Your Highness, I'd like to put together some proposals on purchasing other small businesses with the profits from the bookshop chain," Zoisite suggested. "Until such a time as you take the crown and I gain control over the treasury, this is all we can do. I know it seems like a drop in the ocean."
"No, no, you're doing wonderful, and yes, feel free to look into other opportunities—" Endymion paused, looking down towards his left hip. Quickly, he ripped the communicator off his belt and held it up in front of his face. "Oh, sorry, I actually have to run!" He jumped to his feet, quickly taking a couple steps over towards Zoisite and giving him a shoulder pat that straddled the line between affectionate and condescending. "Serenity just got here!"
Without adding any context, he spun around and ran off, not giving Zoisite time to ask for some sort of context. He raced from the chamber, speeding out the door, Zoisite shocked into silence until after he was out of sight.
"Hm," he muttered, looking over to Kunzite for some form of guidance. "Um, Kunzite, which...which Serenity is he talking about?"
Kunzite pursed his lips, giving a knowing nod and shrug. "Well, not to overstate things, but...it's possible that these problems are going to work themselves out."
"
Endymion, bent over at the waist, was holding Chibiusa's tiny wrists in his hands, up above her head. She was standing, helped tremendously in this endeavor by her father holding her up.
"Alright, here we go!" Endymion said, trying to gently urge her forward. With an adorable look of determination on her face, she started to put her right leg out in front of her. Endymion helped lean her forward, and with some effort, she managed to take a little step.
"You should see her trying to do it by herself lately," Serenity said, watching from the foot of the bed. "She's just so tired of going everywhere on all fours, she keeps trying to stand and...it's really amazing. You can tell, she wants to walk.
Chibiusa continued to confirm her mother's statements by taking a series of assisted steps across the room, Endymion shuffling along to keep right behind her and keep her upright.
"Is she talking yet?" Endymion asked.
"No, we're...we're not quite there yet, but I'm sure it's right after she figures out this walking thing," Serenity said, grinning as Endymion bent down to grab Chibiusa by the sides and lift her up into the air.
"I just can't believe how much energy she has," Endymion marveled, bringing her over to Serenity while taking her in closer to his chest so he could kiss the top of her head. "That was amazing, sweetie!"
"She is," Serenity agreed. As Endymion set the toddler down on the bed next to Serenity, she cleared her throat. "I've been, uh...been reading her stories. So when she does start speaking, she might have a lot to say."
The Prince of Earth crouched down a bit to get his face down on the same level as Chibiusa's. Serenity just watched, unable to remove the tiny smile from her face. It wasn't until Endymion glanced up to look directly at her that the moment was cracked a bit, and their eyes meeting suddenly resurfaced the reality of their awkward situation.
"Right," Serenity said uneasily. "So, I should probably get back." She scooted herself off the bed, rolling to her feet, and moving over to grab Chibiusa. Endymion stood up.
"Um...alright," he said, absolutely dying to ask more questions but still unwilling to take the risk. "Good...good seeing you." He awkwardly waved at her.
"Four days?" she asked. "Can I come by again in four days, maybe?"
"Yes, yes, that's...that works fine with me." Endymion nodded. "You're doing an amazing job as a mother, Serenity. Really. I can tell, every time I see her."
She carried Chibiusa over to the baby carrier set by the wall next to the bedroom door, kneeling down before it to carefully place her within the cushioned confines.
"You're...you're a good father, too," she said quietly, turning around to look over at him. "I can definitely tell that." She stood up, the carrier starting to levitate at her side. "See you soon."
"
Serenity held the three-page collection of documents in her right hand in front of her, casting them an impassive look. Sitting at the chair next to her desk against the near wall, just to the left of the bed, she took a brief moment to look over towards the crib in the back right corner. Chibiusa was sleeping in there, recharging her batteries. With that final push, she swallowed down hard, then picked the tube-shaped lighter sitting on the desk up in her left hand.
With a simple flick of her thumb, a tiny little flame jumped from the top of the tube, and she began slowly running it along the bottom edge of the documents. Quickly, the three sheets of paper caught fire, the heated flames expanding up the pages and needing practically no time at all to reduce them to unreadable black chunks of char.
Satisfied, she dropped the collection of documents into the black, round, empty trash can at her feet before the flames could approach her fingers. The fire continued to flail around just above the rim of the can, consuming the papers. She extinguished the lighter in her hand and set it back down just as the fire began to wane, retreating into little more than a few heated embers and tiny flames that lingered. The forms were now nothing but an ugly black clump, shriveled and unsalvageable by even the most cutting-edge of technology. She then picked up a glass of water from next to the lighter and dumped it into the can, the reaction causing a satisfying little hiss as the last of the heat was put out, as well as a bit of steam.
That steam, as well as the smoke, was rapidly being sucked out of the room by the filtration system, leaving minimal evidence that the document had ever existed at all, or been destroyed. Serenity pushed the can back underneath her desk with her foot, stomach in knots after finally making a solid commitment. Despite the weight of her decision certainly pulling down on her, she felt confident and good about her decision.
She got to her feet, preparing herself to tend to her nightly routine, now starting to feel the weight of her decision lessen, having finally made it.