Disclaimer: SailorMoon and its characters do not belong to me. SailorMoon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, and any original characters that are similar to people in real life is purely coincidental.

Note: Some of the character names may vary. I also purposely altered some names. If I am wrong anywhere, please feel free to correct my mistake by leaving a comment in the review section, or sending me a personal message. If you also do not understand something, don't be afraid to contact me for clarification. It is much appreciated...

-Toki

Chapter 2:

Red Rose Dreams

Serena woke up the same way she did everyday. The sun streamed through her window, and despite the aftermath of last night's attempted escape, everything seemed as peaceful as it usually was. It was probably half past 8, the same time she woke up every single day.

The servant girl who was assigned to wake her up still hadn't arrived, as usual. Serena thought it really unnecessary since she woke up on her own, half an hour before she was expected to wake up. She had tried to dissuade the girl from going to her room to wake her up every morning but the girl had refused, saying that it was part of her job and that if she didn't, Lord Dius would have her punished. It was as if he was making an excuse to check up on her, just to make sure that she was still there every morning.

While trying to pass the time, Serena took the time to water the plants she had newly planted in the pots on her window sill. She had wanted to plant roses but since it was impossible, she had tried to plant sunflowers and instead plucked a red rose from the garden every so often, and placed it in a beautiful vase on her table. After that morning ritual, she proceeded to the water basin placed on her vanity table and carefully washed her face as she did so every morning. It was then that she noticed the dark circles under her eyes.

She hadn't had them in a long time. She remembered, it was only when the nightmares came. She didn't know why, but they haunted her for a few nights, then they'd go away, only to return months later. The weird thing is that she never actually remembered what the dreams were about, only that she would toss and turn in the night and that at times, she'd wake up out of breath as if she had been running.

Most of the time, the only thing that she'd remember were red roses. Then it struck her, her nightmares started when Diamond's mother had asked her husband to plant red roses in the garden. Diamond's mother had seen them flourishing in the royal palace and had asked if she could have some of her own. Diamond hated them with all his heart, he detested the color, but his mother had prodded and his father finally agreed. Of course, that was before Diamond's mother had died. When she died, his father decided to keep them to make it seem like he wanted something to remember her by, despite Diamond's arguments.

It was when the roses had grown that Serena started having the nightmares. She couldn't recall why, but she had loved the roses almost instantaneously. It was if they reminded her of something she had long forgotten. She never remembered seeing them when she was younger, but she could slightly recall being given roses when she was younger. Odd, wasn't it?

It was then that a knock on the door jolted Serena back into reality.

"Lady Serena?" a quiet voice meekly called out from the door.

"Come in." Serena took note that it was another new servant girl. Her old one probably got transferred because Lord Dius thought she had aided Serena in escaping. She took pity on the new girl who looked so frightened and nervous around her. She was probably new at the estate and hadn't gotten used to working in such an atmosphere.

"I was assigned to wake you up mi'lady, but is seems you have already awoken."

"It seems that I have." Serena chuckled. She wanted to explain to this new girl that it was unnecessary to wake her up, but sheer fatigue willed her not to do so.

"Would you be needing anything else Lady Serena? Breakfast will be served in 30 minutes." The small girl piped up again, wanting to do something lest she be punished.

"Oh." Serena replied, cured from her dazed state. "I'm quite fine really. You need not tend to me. I'm sure I can make my way downstairs when the smell of delicious food starts wafting into the room."

The servant girl gave a small giggle, but soon realized her mistake and hurriedly ran for the door, bowing out a small farewell to Serena before quickly shutting the door behind her.

Serena then returned to her vanity table and took out a brush, sat herself squarely on the chair and proceeded to comb her hair before arranging it into small buns atop both sides of her head. She made sure they were securely knotted before adorning them with small red ribbons. Afterwards, she proceeded to the closet and took out a plain white dress which she quickly changed into.

She then smoothed out the ruffles and headed for the door, ready to face whatever disaster awaited her downstairs.

Walking slowly towards the dining hall, Serena readied herself for whatever situation she might have to deal with, especially after last night's attempted escape. She stood straight and with a confident air, entered the room.

Lord Dius and Diamond were seated at the breakfast table. While Diamond's plate was still with food, indicating that he had arrived not long before she had, his father's plate was about empty which meant that he probably had another meeting to rush off to soon.

"Good morning Serena." Lord Dius gave his usual greeting, motioning for Serena to seat at her usual place across from Diamond and beside him. She gave a short bow, replying to his greeting.

"I will expect you to stay within the grounds today, even after your lessons, especially after last night's escapade. You will have your usual morning lessons with your tutor today, then you will have the afternoon to do as you wish, as long as you do not leave here."

Serena gave a curt nod but tried to show that she was not sorry for what she had done last night.

"Today", Lord Dius continued, "I will be in town to discuss some important matters with the councilors. We will be preparing for a festival next week, in honor of the arrival of a prince from the neighboring country. He is on his way to the Capital to visit the Queen and will be staying for a week to tend to some things. I expect good behavior from you. Do well and I will allow you to visit the festival grounds."

Serena gave another curt nod as servants came to serve her breakfast.

"Father, shall I accompany you to town then?" Diamond asked from across the table, his sudden involvement in their conversation surprising Serena who knew that Diamond would never offer to help anyone.

"No need Diamond" replied Lord Dius, not the least bit surprised by his offer. "Tend to your lessons and keep watch over Serena and the mansion today." And with that, he stood up and left, leaving Diamond and Serena alone in the hall.

"I think we shall have a pleasant morning Serena." Diamond said to Serena, pertaining to their shared morning tutorial for the week.

She loathed the shared tutorials they had together. Diamond's leering eyes stared at her throughout the morning. Even when they were taking down notes and doing other things, she could feel his eyes on her, her back constantly feeling chilly. It seemed as if the morning would go on forever.

Their tutor lectured on about literature and history, art and languages, among other things. He dictated the lesson while going about the study, never paying heed to how the 'young master' spent his time, as long as Diamond produced good results for his father to appreciate and paid him – the tutor, well.

As soon as the Church in the distance rang the noon bell, Serena excused herself and with a book she had borrowed from the study early on in the morning, she ran to the safe confines of her room and locked the door behind her.

Finally, she was safe from Diamond's prying eyes.

Serena ran to the window and threw it open, welcoming in the fresh air that removed all stuffy feelings she had built up in those last few hours with Diamond. She could smell the wind and the flowers around her. It was such a comfortable feeling. After a while, she remembered the book in her hand and went to her bed to begin glancing it over.

It was an old book, but Serena's new discovery. She had found it hidden between old, boring and stuffy books, as if someone was trying to hide it but hadn't done a really good job of doing so. She had noticed the title, "Wonderful Landscapes and Lands". It was a book about the various lands in their country, and how some large estates (like Lord Dius's) were divided into their existing positions. There were small paintings about the layout of the land, like where rivers and mountains existed. It included detailed descriptions about the beautiful things one can find on certain estates.

Serena had gotten to the part about the castle in the Capital. It was, without a doubt, the most beautiful place in all the land. The book described it as being a very happy place, always busy and bright with the smiles of the people. Even though it was a bit off topic, the author decided to include how the Queen helped the people to grow wonderful vegetation on their land. The happy Queen also loved having the smell of nature around her and grew wonderful flowers on the land.

Where there were suppose to be small paintings of the Capital and the castle, as if trying to put on paper the beauty the book described, there was only evidence of a few pages being torn off. Serena did not notice this at all though, as she had fallen asleep to the sweet smell off whatever it was flowing into her room from the outside.

As she slept and dreamt, Serena could vaguely hear someone's laughter, and smell the strong scent of a hundred roses surrounding her. And then, she smiled.

Finally, after around 4 years of not updating this fanfiction, I've finally updated with one chapter. Probably, a lot of you want to kill me now for taking so long to update. Haha, I'd probably want to kill myself too for taking so long. I'd had a lot of things going on for the past 4 years – mainly 'cause of university. But now that I'm well, a graduate and am currently unemployed, I will hopefully find the time and the inspiration to write more.

Thanks for your continuing support and I hope to hear your comments/reviews in regard to this new chapter.

-Toki