PLEASE READ

A/N: First off I would like to address an issue raised by two of my reviewers (both on One of them put it nicely, the other not so nicely, and it was the second anonymous reviewer that prompted me to give this argument. Anonymous Reviewer (AR) was upset at how Serenity was acting. I'm not completely sure if they were upset with Serenity or upset with me for portraying her the way I did. At first they said they were ticked off at her, then said things were taken too far.

I would like to point out that the fear of being touched, otherwise known as Haphephobia (found between Hamartophobia, fear of sinning, and Harpaxophobia, fear of being robbed) is a real mental condition. In various medical dictionaries, it is defined as "a morbid fear of being touched." The symptoms of Haphephobia are "breathlessness, dizziness, excessive sweating, nausea, dry mouth, feeling sick, shaking, heart palpitations, inability to speak or think clearly, a fear of dying, becoming mad or losing control, a sensation of detachment from reality or a full blown anxiety attack." Therefore, I don't feel that I am being unrealistic in Serenity's character, since the level of intensity of symptoms varies from person to person who are affected by Haphephobia. So in conclusion, please do a little research before you rant at an author about what they are writing, or politely ask them to explain thier own reasoning or research. Thank you to person number one who was polite, and hopefully AR came back for chapter 4 and the situation was explained to him/her.

Thank you for your patience, and now I give you chapter 4.

Anja.

Chapter 4

The Chess Game II

The clock on my mantle ticked mercilessly, filling the quiet of my room with an echoing, monotonous clamor. All right, that was perhaps an exaggeration, but it didn't feel like one. It was nearly 9 p.m., and I had not yet gathered the courage to go and see Serenity. Granted, I had told Luna to inform Serenity to expect me at about quarter after nine, but I should have gone sooner.

I sat in front of the fire place in the padded chair, staring at the ornate chess table in front of me. The glow of the fire was the only thing illuminating the pieces. I fingered my king and picked him up, running my thumb up the smooth back of black onyx. I turned the figure over so it was facing me and studied the battle-worn features. This King had survived and lost many battles, warred against the same nation over and over again. He had watched the army of alabaster stone advancing towards him, sometimes with an intimidating ferocity, sometimes with a laughable determination.

A knock on the door made me jump in my chair, and I nearly dropped the playing piece. I placed him back on the board and went to open the door. I ran my fingers through my hair to smooth out the black locks and quickly tugged at my shirt to take out any rumples. I hoped that it was only Luna or Motoki, since my loose white shirt and black pants were no way to greet anyone else.

Of course, when I opened the door, there was no Luna or Motoki, but rather my wife. Serenity stood there, toying with her wedding band once again, looking rather uncomfortable and scared. She had a plain dress on, with a shawl wrapped around her shoulders. I smiled at her. "I was going to come to you," I said.

She nodded sullenly. "I know, but I thought that it was me who should be apologizing, so I came to you." She glanced into the room behind me. Taking the subtle hint, I stepped aside and held the door open for her, gesturing for her to come in. She hesitated, but then entered the room. I closed the door and offered her a chair next to the fire, in front of the chess table, and then I took my seat again.

"Would you like anything to drink? Some wine, or water?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No thank you, I'm fine right now." She chewed on her bottom lip and stared at the chess board.

"Did dinner get delivered to your room?" I inquired.

"Yes, it was good, although I wasn't sure what it was again."

I smiled. "You're going to be introduced to a lot of new food here."

"Yes," she agreed, then paused. "Endymion, I am really very sorry."

I tilted my head to the side a bit. "You don't need to apologize." Even though she didn't need to, it still felt nice hearing those words from her lips.

"Yes I do, I should not have reacted the way I did earlier today." Her gaze fell to her ever fidgeting hands.

"Serenity," I said gently. "You really don't need to apologize. You didn't know what was going on."

"I overreacted though," she replied. "I-I should learn to trust you enough to know you would not intentionally try to betray my trust."

I couldn't help but smile "You threw a pillow at me," I pointed out cheerfully. "You're not going to do much damage with a pillow, no matter how hard you try and no matter what Motoki might tell you in the future."

She smiled and finally looked up at me. She smiled! That made the whole getting attacked with the pillow episode worth it. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, when we were really young he and I got into a pillow fight. I was beating him and he was starting to get to the point where he was about to cry. I felt kind of bad since earlier that day he had given me one of his strawberries that we found in the gardens. So to make him feel better, I started losing on purpose and saying 'ow' whenever he hit me. He was thrilled, but for a long time he claimed pillows could hurt you. He is older and wiser now though, so I would hope that he would not still believe that."

Serenity laughed. "I could see the two of you in a pillow fight."

I grinned. "We had lots of fun as children. There was one time we snuck into the pantry in search of a midnight snack, and the cook came down so we hid behind some sacks of flower. When she left we gathered our 'loot' in the dark, and then we went to retreat to Motoki's room. However, when the cook had left the pantry, she had also locked the door." At this point Serenity started to laugh. I grinned and continued, trying not to laugh myself. "We spent half the night trying to get out and in the end we gave up. We ate the snacks we came down to get and then fell asleep leaning against the sacks of flower we had hidden behind earlier. Unfortunately, we didn't notice that one of them was open, so during the night as we slept, our combined weight on it tipped it enough to dump flour onto us." Serenity was clutching her stomach with laughter and I was laughing as well now. "In the morning when the cook opened the door we were still asleep, and she screamed when she saw two figures sleeping there. The scream of course woke us, and we both jumped up, sending a cloud of white flower everywhere."

"T-the poor cook," Serenity said in between laughs. "She must have though she was seeing two ghosts."

"Maybe," I said with a grin. "Either way she grabbed us each by an ear and dragged us out of the pantry, strait to my father. When he saw her dragging us towards him he started to laugh, and that didn't serve much to the cooks liking since she wanted us punished for scaring her so much."

"Did he?" Serenity asked.

"Well, yes and no. The embarrassment of the whole situation was punishing enough, so he just made us go and clean up the mess, then we could go and clean ourselves off. It was a rather humbling experience cleaning up flour in the pantry, still covered in it ourselves, with the kitchen staff walking around, snickering." Our laughter slowly subsided, and I motioned to the chess table. "Shall we have a game?"

Serenity looked hesitantly to the board, and then nodded. "All right."

We started setting up the pieces. I picked up my king first and set him in his place. I was suddenly transported onto the board, the inhabiting the onyx king's body. I stared out over the chess board as the troops assembled before me. Across from me what an army of alabaster, all protecting what seemed like one piece; their queen. She stood there in her full glory, her ivory skin and platinum hair radiating with a surreal glow. I could feel a gentle breeze pick up and her hair started to sway around her. The skirt of her gown fluttered as she stood there, watching me, seeing how I would move. She was Serenity.

"You begin," I heard her say, even though the figures lips didn't move. I closed my eyes and willed a pawn forward two spaces. I opened my eyes again and watched as she scrutinized my move. The pawns standing before her quivered in anticipation, and finally she closed her eyes, and one of them moved. I nodded ever so slightly and moved another pawn out. A smile tugged at her lips as she closed her eyes and her knight moved out.

This was a battle I did not wish to lose. I was determined to win. Watching the ethereal beauty before me, though, I found it difficult to concentrate. I wanted to show her I was strong though, strong enough to conquer any army for her. It was something I had to do. Her gaze on me was steady with an almost lifeless quality to it. I shivered involuntarily as I willed my pawn to move.

The breeze on the battlefield shifted and my Lady's hair began to blow around her face. She made no move to push it back though. She lifted her hand and waved it forward. Her second knight heeded her call and moved forward, his eyes glinting with a desire to fulfill his mistresses every command. I smiled and moved my tower, a plan formulating in my mind.

"That won't work," she whispered with a hint of laughter in her voice, her lips not moving again. With those words said her bishop strode forward, taking his stance to block my next move.

The battle wore on. She stood across from me, her serene aura radiating to all the other pieces on the board. The delicate creature looked almost translucent as she commanded her army, feeling pain when one of her own fell and feeling triumph when she managed to gain a victory over me. I managed to glance at my own queen, and I wasn't even surprised to see that the queen was a faceless figure, as was the Alabaster King. That didn't matter.

I took a hard blow when Serenity's knight took down my queen. She fell to the ground with a sickening thud, her lifeless body vanishing from sight. I didn't mourn her, I couldn't bring myself to do so. My heart was already having an affair with the exotic woman who was still standing across the battle field from me. I could see her triumphant smile, but what she didn't know was that I felt the same triumph. She had taken away a part of me I did not need. Her smile faded as I began to advance my two towers, guarding them with a legion of paws. Her attempts to ward them off became frantic as one after another her soldiers fell. So focused was she on the two towers that she didn't even see me advancing towards her, my feet determined to reach her. She would not escape me, no, she would be mine.

Suddenly I was there, beside her, blocking her last route of escape. She turned and faced me, here eyes filled with fear and despair, although the rest of her face still calm and emotionless. I could see her pleading with me silently, although she would not admit it. Now I could show her my strength, my determination, my will to do all I could to obtain her.

Something stopped me though.

She reached out, slowly with her hand, and brought it to mold to my cheek. Our skin never made contact, and I took in a sharp breath as she stared at me, her eyes filled with such deep emotion that it caused my lungs to constrict and not allow me to breath. She told me, without a voice, she didn't need me to conquer her with my strength and she said to me, without words, I didn't need to use my determination to win and she explained to me, without sound, that I didn't need to obtain her.

My muscles quivered with the raw emotion she stared at me with, and I could do nothing else but step back. In another swift motion, it was all done. I was brought to my knees, and my power was taken from me. I was no longer King. I was the captive.

Yet, somehow, I knew I had won.

"Endymion?" The sound of my name being called brought me from my trance. I was no longer on the battle field with an enchanting demi-goddess, but I was in my room, staring at a chess board in the flickering fire light, staring at my toppled king.

I snapped my head up and my eyes met with two crystal clear blue oceans. Her gaze was questioning and curios, prodding me to answer her unasked question of what I had been thinking about. I smiled and shook my head. "Wow, I guess I really got into that game. I'm sorry if I was ignoring you."

Serenity smiled and picked up my king, placing him back at his starting position. "It was an intense game," she said gently, her fingers sliding from he smooth figure slowly, caressing the black stone. I felt myself shudder at the motion, and suddenly I light turned on in my head. It was an idea that had to work, it just had to, and I would employ it immediately.

"That was a wonderful game, Endymion, but I should really get to bed now," Serenity said as she started to stand from her seat. The fire in my mind flickered and sputtered, and I knew my plan would have to wait. I stood too and led my wife to the door.

"Very well. I would prefer if you stayed, but if you're tired then you should go. I will see you in the morning, Usagi."

She stopped mid-step and looked at me, a curious light in her gaze. "Usagi?" she inquired.

I smiled. "You're scared like a little bunny, yet your fast and clever. I need a nickname for you, and that one seems fitting."

Serenity considered this for a moment and then rewarded me with another one of her enchanting smiles. "Usagi, I like it. I will have to think of something for you too though, Endy."

I gave her a lopsided grin. "That works. No one has called me that before."

She nodded happily, then glanced back to the door. I opened it for her and she stepped out into the dim hallway. Everything was illuminated by the moonlight coming in through the glass wall, the silvered beams giving her a glow. I sucked in my breath as she turned around once more and looked at me. Her radiating beauty was the same as in my vision, and I was powerless to say anything.

"Good night, Endy," she said softly. "I'll see you tomorrow. And thank you, for earlier. Thank you for taking me to my room and saving me some embarrassment."

I managed to regain my strength and smiled. "You're welcome. Sleep well, Usagi."

"I will," she replied, and with that she walked to her room. I closed the door gently and walked over to my bed, allowing myself to fall into the soft sheets. I stared up at my ceiling, the light from the dying flames causing shadows to flicker across the ceiling. I sighed deeply as I though of my battle with the Alabaster Queen, and I knew I could find a way to her now. My plan would work.