III

His piqued curiosity about what had suddenly happened below, the eerie calm after yelling and panic, was suddenly overcome by a change within him. It was something powerful, a sensation of warmth and…light burning in his chest. It almost made him fall to his knees, as if he just suffered a terrible blow. His hand gripped the doorframe to remain steadfast and his blue eyes stared down at his chest; he truly expected to see a glow through his dress shirt.

All around him, the other nobles and elite were gasping and pressing their palms over their hearts as well. Their eyes were wide as they stared at one another, surprised at what they were feeling and unsure of what to do. The swell of panic in their voices, the fear of not knowing what was happening to them, spurred him to move. And he did so, venturing where from he had chosen to stay visible yet ignored, and half-running through them and towards the balcony of the Mezzanine. He gripped the railing and looked out into the chaos of the crowd.

And it was then that he saw her.

Serenity.

She was levitating high in the air, the train of her dress billowing about her. Head thrown back, hair the color of gold and in those pigtails she loved to wear, skin kissed by the sun, and long and slender fingers… Different and yet unchanged; the way he always remembered her. She was brightness; she was…color…

His world came to a halt.

His heart beat in a way he had not felt it do so for over 100 years.

Maybe he was dreaming again. Another dream of her that he would have to abandon come daylight.

Maybe…maybe he was dead. After a century of longing and a secret desire to be freed, he was truly dead and finally able to be with her.

And then he realized it was neither death nor his imagination.

It was her. Alive.

There was not a sound as she came down and her feet touched the stage. From his faraway perch, he gaped as she turned to face the crowd and opened her eyes. The wide, pale-blue eyes he had expected to see were instead orbs of pure silver light.

"I am Moon Princess Serenity, heiress of the Moon Kingdom of the Silver Millennium and the namesake of Queen Serenity, and I have returned for you and the glory of our future."

She fainted.

The feeling in his chest abated as sounds from the gathering rose.

He watched as Diamond approached her and scooped her up in his arms…

The guard placed a fist over his heart and bowed his head slightly. "With all due respect, Your Royal Highness, this meeting of the elders is barred from…outside dignitaries. Only a select few have been allowed entry."

Of course. Prince Endymion had expected denied entry from where it was obviously known to all the elders of the Moon were talking among themselves, per usual. He knew that because of who he was, he was expected to turn around and swallow his pride. Suffer the stares from the row of guards that barred the perimeter from outsiders, and the scrutiny of the Moon's elite that were only brave enough to idle from a distance and crane their necks in hopes of hearing something from the air warehouse-turned-"bomb shelter." He was expected to walk back to his quarters, in plain view of the ones that passively stood at the palace's windows and speculated about him, sweating in his black suit in the late morning sun all the while. As if their opinions about you would have changed overnight. You forget; after all these years, who are you to them but an outsider?

But for once, he drew in a deep breath and changed his approach. "In lieu of last night's occurrence and what it means between Earth-Moon relations, I humbly seek the approval of…three attendees for entry." It was a pretty good excuse, reminiscent of when he had first arrived in days long gone. He could hope that the one he expected was inside would agree to entry, and that fortune would look down on him and make two more not mind his presence.

The guard blinked at him and then turned toward the other eavesdropping soldiers in confusion; they had expected him to retreat as well. He could see the guard turning over the words in his mind, and actually relenting under its reasoning. "…I will voice your request. Please wait here." The guard opened the heavy wooden doors and slid through the gap. Endymion could hear him as he shouted his request, but not the replies given.

The guard appeared as quickly as he had left. "Three attendees have allowed for your entry. You may enter, Your Royal Highness."

He did so, feeling the cool air touch his skin and the scrape of concrete underfoot.

The "bomb shelter" had never actually been used as such in the decades following the attack on the Moon, and its momentarily conversion was, if being polite, laughable: there was a long table set up in the center of the room covered in a white cloth and laden with bowls of fruit, bread and muffins, jars of honey and jams and jellies, and chilled glass pitchers of water and wine. The elders, a dozen in all, sat in chairs also covered in white cloths. Their clothing was different from the night before, and the large lamps above exaggerated their grizzled appearances and the pale skin of all Moon royalty. While he felt comfort from the generated cool air, a few of the women who had been in the space longer wore their thickest frocks.

None looked at him, and he could feel the air of superiority from their seated figures.

He spied Luna and Artemis' standing and was pleased about their being allowed entry. After all, no one handled the ins and outs of the palace better than the couple. Their all-white clothing from the night before, so different from Luna's usual yellow dresses and the colorful vests and ties Artemis was known for, was wrinkled. Judging from the half-circles underneath their eyes, neither of them in their duty to accommodate to the elders' whims, had been able to sleep yet. In fact, they had likely been given the task of preparing for this meeting and then waiting for the elders to stop speaking long enough to acknowledge them.

And Diamond was standing as well. Endymion's smile widened and he directed a bow towards his century-long friend.

The Moon prince's own smile and bow was brief in return. "…Now that Prince Endymion has entered, please continue, Luna."

Luna gave a deep curtsy and picked up a sheet of paper. "Your Royal Highness, the topic is now of the young girl. …Upon your instruction, she was placed in one of the far-off guest suites in the sub-eastern wing. The suite is now under heavy guard, and the soldiers stationed there have been told to notify their superiors should anything change."

"And her parents?" An elder named Aglecta, a severe-looking woman with a large nose and a bunch of white feathers in her French twist asked.

"Madame. Her father is in the same suite and we sent for her mother—"

"That is not what I meant, Luna." The woman snapped, upset that the raven-haired woman had dared to actually believe that she would ask so simple a question. Endymion's felt his long-standing ire for the woman thicken in his mouth. "There was a significant gap of time between the removal of the girl and her father from the ballroom and into the suites, and the call for this meeting. What do we now know of the parents? What do we know of her, the girl?!"

"My apologies…" Luna swallowed nervously before continuing. "All that is known for now is what her father told us during our interviews: her name is Serena Tsukino. She is sixteen and a student at the high school located in the third suburb outside of Neo-Tokyo, Juuban. She is Moon-born…and according to him, she has never done anything like this before…"

Artemis stood and bowed before addressing the group. His hand briefly brushed his wife's arm in comfort. "We have contacted the officials at the Office of Public Records to trace the genealogy of her parents as instructed by you, Madam Aglecta. They are making the investigation for any possible royal bloodlines a high priority, and the results of their search will be sent with the utmost confidentiality."

This seemed to please most of the elders. But just as quickly as they fell to silence, another, a man with a thick brown mustache streaked with gray, spoke up: "…To think Serenity's spirit has always been here on the Moon. And we failed in finding her."

His words brought discontented grumbling and shifting from the others.

"We had to give up searching for the princess generations ago…!" Aglecta snapped. "There was no trace of her body or power to be found! We knew that! so spare us the feeling of guilt!"

Her words brought on chaos:

"I do not believe anyone is disputing that. We have known our limits for the greater part of this era."…"And how would we had been able to find her? We have no power of our own. The Moon's power has always derived from the royal family!"…"Surely she is of royal blood somewhere! Do we not know more?! Why would a search take so long?"…"Her name must be of some indication…but 'Tsukino' is not a familiar last name to me…what is it?"

"We all know we could not find her before now," Aglecta slammed her hand down on the table, effectively silencing them all with a sharp, beady eye. "But the fact that she did not appear until last night proves that she was hiding! She was willing to let us fall into disarray!"

Prince Endymion felt a sweep of anger and stepped further towards their table. "That is not true!"

The room fell into an altogether different silence. A few of the elders turned to face him with glares he imagined were akin to actual daggers. He was again the outsider, the literal speck of black in the room. Luna's face turned red out of embarrassment for him, but he continued. "She loved the Moon and its people; she sacrificed herself for us all. For what reason would she choose to hide from us?"

Suddenly, he heard his words and the gaffe he had made. The past and things he had reminded them of. "…F-from you?"

Too late.

"…We have all forgotten ourselves in the heat of this revelation. And because of that, we have spoken too freely about matters that should always be treated with the utmost confidentiality," someone said. Endymion did not look over to see which one; he knew they all felt the same. "I move for this meeting to be adjourned."

"I second the motion."

"Same."

Prince Diamond bowed, realizing what a lost cause the meeting had become. "Then I bid you all farewell. …Guards, please open the entryway!"

And like that, the large doors opened wide enough to let the Elders of the Moon exit the shelter. Many spared the Earth-born prince no more than a glance. His face burned in anger even as Luna came to him and touched his arm, a smile on her face and light shining in her eyes. He may have mumbled something kind and honest in response to her quiet word of thanks. But then it was only he and the man he considered to be a friend.

Diamond sighed, breaking his calm mien. "Thank the gods! We have been here for the entire night."

"The entire night?" The dark-haired prince asked mockingly to detract from his ire.

"They convened a few hours before sunrise, and I saw it break through those windows up there. So yes, the entire night." He flopped into his chair and threw his head back. "…I suspected you would learn of our meeting, but not for you to demand entry or speak out of turn." He straightened up and motioned for the Earth-born royal to venture further, to be seated. "You were brash, my friend…" he lifted his head and flashed a brief smile, "but I agree with you."

Endymion sunk into a still-warm chair. He did not offer an apology or acknowledge the reprimand. "…For what reason would she hide herself?" He asked again.

The Moon-born prince began to search for a clean cup and upon finding one, began to pour himself some wine. "I do not think there is one… Serenity would not hide herself from us of her own will…"

"So…what then? What am I not understanding."

He took a sip of his wine. "I have always believed that was the work of the Silver Millennium Crystal, Endymion. That Serenity's disappearance was wholly dependent on the crystal. Last night just proves it." His next sip became a longer draught.

The Silver Millennium Crystal. Endymion had not heard those words pieced together in so long. The ancient power that was whispered about during his true youth on Earth…the ancient power that had piqued his curiosity enough to bring him to the Moon…the ancient power that had given him back his life and extended it… "Now that last night happened, what does this mean?"

"…It can mean so many things—even they," he made a sweeping gesture over the once-occupied chairs, "are not entirely sure of the ramifications. We have no idea if this means we are truly free from danger…or even if we are still correct in assuming the reincarnation of her senshi actually occurred on their respective planets." Diamond suddenly smiled again. "But, however it transpired, our princess is back now. The Moon can be strong as it once was before."

Endymion sat silently for a few moments, thinking of the previous night and the way the sight of the girl made his heart beat inside of his chest. He knew how he had felt hours ago, that feeling of…hope. But now in the light of day, his expression hardened. "That girl is not Serenity."

Diamond's response was cut off with noise. Endymion looked over to see the same guardsman who had tried to bar his entry standing in the doorway. "I apologize for not announcing myself, Your Royal Highness…Prince Endymion."

Diamond waived off the apology. "What is it?"

"We just received word from the palace. The girl has awakened."

Serena still felt like herself, which was…kind of a weird thought.

…She knew everything she was supposed to know about herself: how things sounded to her, how the food she liked tasted, and the types of manga she liked reading. Things that she knew, but she felt like it was…necessary to go over them.

She had no idea when she had fallen asleep, let alone when she had been placed in this bedroom with pale yellow walls and gold-trim, and a grand bed with its frame of gold and matching silk sheets and canopy. Her mouth felt dry; her stomach growled.

She stepped off the bed and then off its raised platform. No problem. She made sure to avoid the leg of a small table beside the window. She glanced out the window, and a thought occurred to her: this view of the palace grounds was her least favorite; her own bedroom had the best view because it faced the front.

She found where the bathroom door was, opened the door with no problem and her finger deftly flipped the light switch on.

And there she was in the bathroom. Serena Tsukino: same hairstyle, same perfect dress, with smudges of the pink lipstick and makeup she had used from the night before.

But smack-dab in the middle of her forehead, between her bangs, was now a crescent moon-shaped mark a few shades darker than her skin.

She blinked. Her face neared the mirror.

Her finger pressed against it, feeling the smooth skin. She rubbed at it like it was a smudge.

It didn't go away. If anything, the skin, in the shape of an upturned "U," just turned a bit red.

She drew back suddenly, mortified and confused. "Oh…oh…oh…"

She bolted from the bathroom, and in her familiar clumsiness, her ankle caught the leg of the same nightstand. She toppled down and picked herself again. "Ow!" It wasn't hard to find where the bedroom door was, but still the teen wrestled with the door handle. Her hand slammed against the wood. "Someone, please! Let me out! Let me OUT!" She was trying very hard not to cry.

The door on the other side rattled and she stepped back as it gave.

It took her a moment to recognize the people on the other side: "Dad? …Mom?"

Her mother was dressed in her best outfit, a dark-blue dress with a pattern of red roses. She wrapped her arms around the teenager. "Oh, Serena…Serena…"

"Serena"…that's my name. My actual name…right? Right. "What's going on?" She stared at the space, a kind of lobby arranged with stuff that probably cost more than her entire house. "…Where are we…?"

Her mother relented in her hug and pulled back. There were tears in her eyes and her face looked puffy; she had been crying for a long time. Her father's hair was disheveled and his tuxedo jacket had been discarded. There were sweat patches in his dress shirt's underarms. He stared at her forehead with red-rimmed eyes. Like he wasn't completely sure who she was. Like he was in awe of her.

"…Do you feel any different, Serena?"

Do I feel different? She stared into the faces of her parents at a complete loss of words.

"…No…" And yet…

"Do you…remember what you did?"

Panic rose within her. "…No!" And yet… "What did I do?!"

Her parents exchanged a look between them. "Honey," her mother whispered, "I saw you on TV. You, you floated in the air!" Her mother's eyebrows rose and her fingertips flexed to the ceiling. "And your eyes! And the things you said…"

It all came rushing back to her: the announcement; her reaction in the middle of all those people…rising from the ground.

Her promise to the voice.

She gasped.

"They're saying…they're telling us that you are…the princess. The princess of the kingdom."

Her eyes widened. "What?! That's…that's…"

Cuckoo bananas.

And yet!

Of course I am. Who else would I be?

The doors of the suite opened and in came two guards telling her mother to please let her go. And in walked the man from last night. The man they called Prince Diamond. And behind him were much older men and women she had never seen up close before but knew: the Elders of the Moon Kingdom, the family's advisers. They filed into the room and stood in a row.

Her parents bowed deeply in their presence. She didn't because she knew she wasn't supposed to…if anything, they were to bow to her.

Prince Diamond fell to his knees before her. "I, for my own self and on the behalf of our elders, the keepers of the Moon Kingdom in your absence, bow in respect to you. We have long awaited your return."

Silence fell. And in a voice that sounded like hers and yet wasn't, she replied. "I was away for much too long."

"Yes. One hundred years…"

Her brow furrowed. "…Things have changed."

"Yes. But as I did when your mother was alive, I promise my allegiance to you. And I promise to act as your guide as you assume your role as ruler of us all. Your Royal Highness, Moon Princess Serenity." He lifted his head to stare at her with those purple eyes of his.

Serena's eyes widened. She blinked and shook her head slightly, as if trying to shake away a haze in her head. She wanted to say that this was crazy-nuts. That a mistake had been made because she couldn't be who they all were saying she was. And yet: "Yes. Thank you." She looked up at the faces of her parents and the Elders of the Moon, safe and sound as she had been wished for them to be. She smiled. "I thank you all for your loyalty. Please guide me well."

A/N: Endymion's debut. So while his part introduced other characters and some AU people I've created, it's missing one thing: the senshi! Where are they? Um, well: not here. I feel like it would be hard to put the senshi in and have their personalities shape to fit the plot. It would just be a lot of people to juggle, so they're not going to be here. AU

I've always imagined Princess Serenity's conscious(?) awaking inside Serena and how difficult that would be. There's something interesting in the idea of Serena/Usagi's early immaturity "battling" with Serenity's royal upbringing and slightly more mature personality. So I'm going to play with that idea.

Thanks for reading so far. Please give me reviews and add me to your Alerts!