Here's another chapter for all of you. I hope you all enjoy it.
Chapter 17
Not to long after Quatre sent his message to Duo, Quatre continued to work on the consol in the control room of the disposal satellite for a bit longer. Once Quatre was done, they didn't leave the room, figuring that all the two could do now was wait. Waiting for either Duo to reply back or wait until they got close enough to Earth to be able to do something. The two of them were silent for some time, neither of them speaking to fill the void. After awhile of silence, a small beeping sound broke the silence. Quatre quickly went back to the consol he was previously working at, to see what the beeping was about, and noticed he had a message from Duo.
"It's a reply from Duo." Quatre informed his sister.
"That didn't seem to take long." Serena commented, though, at some point, she did lose track of time for a bit, so who knows if it really was as quick as she thought it was.
Quatre didn't say anything to his sister's comment as he played back Duo's message, and realized that it was audio only. "This is Duo. We have prevented the colony from dropping on Earth." Duo's message began to announce. "But, that's the only thing we have stopped so far." Then there was a pause for a second, before Duo continued, making it sound like it was an afterthought, "Oh, and Quatre, Heero would like you to send Wing Zero in the HES-88 direction, he's planning on picking it up in space. He said something about it saving time that way." And that was the end of the message.
"That's good news, right?" Serena asked. "They saved the colony."
"Yes." Quatre answered, turning from the consol, to look at his sister. "And now, we should go and get Heero's Gundam ready."
"Right." Serena agreed, as she followed her brother out of the room, as they headed for the Gundams.
It took them awhile to get Heero's Gundam ready and prepped for launch, in the direction Heero requested. Serena stood there next to her brother in the launch control room, as the Gundam was moved into place, so it could be launched. Serena stood there, looking at the Gundam. To Serena, it looked like the Gundam was wrapped in wings. Angel-like wings. The Gundam was also attached to a booster, so it can get to Heero faster. Serena watched as it reached its launch position, as the head of the Gundam was finally covered up. Once that was done, Quatre pushed the button that launched the Gundam in the requested direction. Serena watched it as it took off, as it sped away. Once it was out of sight, which didn't take too long, Serena turned to look at her brother, and saw a rather determined look on his face. Serena didn't say anything, she didn't know if that look was from him placing the blame of all of this on his own shoulders, or if it was from the seriousness of the situation. And Serena wasn't too sure she wanted to find out which one it was, or if it was because of both. She figured all she could do was be there for her brother and help out when she could.
Once again, all they could do now was wait; wait until they got back to Earth, where they would then meet up with Trowa and Duo. They decided to wait back in the main control room, just in case Duo had to send another message at some point. And if they waited in the main control room, they would be notified when they were near Earth, as well as when Duo and Trowa got there, once they reached Earth.
So, once they got back to the control room, they just sat there, silence between them for awhile. That is, until Quatre broke that silence and spoke up, with a question that he had been wondering about for awhile now, ever since his sister told him her secret.
"So, why didn't you tell me?" Quatre asked, referring to her being Sailor Moon.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Serena shot back, knowing exactly what her brother was referring to. When Quatre didn't answer, she continued. "Did everyone else know? Did the rest of our sisters know?" Serena paused for a bit, looking at her brother, trying to get some kind of reaction out of him from all of these questions. "Did father know?"
"Yes, father knew." Quatre finally answered. "And, it wouldn't surprise me if all of our sisters knew."
"All, except me." Serena said, sounding sad by the fact that she was left out.
"I don't know how they found out." Quatre admitted. "I didn't tell them anything."
"I see." Serena said, not at all reassured.
"Father was against it from the beginning." Quatre started to explain.
"That doesn't surprise me." Serena admitted. "Father was a pacifist. He was hoping you would follow in his footsteps. After all, you are the heir to the family."
"I disinherited myself to be a Gundam Pilot and fight." Quatre admitted.
"But…why?" Serena said, shocked by what Quatre said.
"It was the only way I could do so." Quatre answered. "And, I don't think father would've agreed with you fighting, either."
"Probably not." Serena agreed.
"He probably wouldn't have sent you there if he knew that was going to happen." Quatre commented.
"It's something he probably wouldn't be able to stop, no matter where I was." Serena pointed out.
Silence seemed to descend between them again. Until, Quatre broke the silence again.
"So, why didn't you tell me?" Quatre asked again.
"I made a promise that I wouldn't tell anyone." Serena answered, after a moment or two.
"A promise?" Quatre questioned, wondering what kind of promise she made, and to whom.
"Luna will probably chew me out once she finds out I told you." Serena admitted.
"Not even to family?" Quatre asked. He was now wonder who this 'Luna' person was.
"No." Serena answered, with a shake of her head. "And besides, none of them even know we're related. As far as they know, my last name is Tsukino not Winner. And the Tsukino's don't even know I'm Sailor Moon."
"Right, I almost forgot." Quatre said, just now being reminded of how her two friends were when they first met. "Your two friends didn't know either, until we told them."
"That's right." Serena said, nodding, seeing that Quatre got it.
"So, are the two of them Sailor Scouts, as well?" Quatre asked.
"Why would you think that?" Serena asked, telling Quatre that she, herself, was a Sailor Scout was one thing, because it was her secret, but telling him about who the others were, that wasn't exactly her secret to tell.
"I just thought that they could be, mainly because of how protective they are of you." Quatre explained his reasoning. "After all, you have said that Amara tends to act a bit like Rashid at times."
Serena sighed as her brother explained his reasoning. She probably shouldn't have been to surprised that he had figured it out. "You're right, they are." Serena admitted.
"It explains why they're so protective of you." Quatre stated, as if it made perfect sense.
"Actually, when we first met, we didn't get along at all." Serena explained. "They were a couple of loners. The only people they trusted were each other; they didn't want anyone else getting close to them." Serena was silent for a moment, obviously caught in the memory. "That is, until I practically saved their lives."
"Saved their lives?" Quatre questioned, he wasn't so sure he liked the sound of that.
"It's a long story." Serena answered, not really wanting to tell Quatre all about it at the moment. And it would seem that Quatre got the hint that his sister didn't want to talk about it at that point in time. But, unfortunately, the silence seemed to grow between the two again. And this silence lasted for quite some time.
After some time of silence, Quatre got an idea as to what to ask his sister about, something that had been bothering him ever since she came looking for him, among other things. "Serena?" Quatre said, trying to get his sister's attention.
"Hmm?" Serena absently replied, not giving her brother much of her attention.
"What was with that white dress?" Quatre asked, this gaining Serena's attention, as she instantly looked at her brother. "And the fact you didn't have a spacesuit on out in space, while you were wearing that dress."
Two seconds after registering what her brother had just said, she looked away from him, with a bit of an unknown look on her face. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to tell you about that yet." Serena admitted, still not looking at her brother. "I figured knowing I was Sailor Moon was enough for now."
"There's more than you just being a Sailor Scout?" Quatre asked, a bit surprised by this bit of news.
"Yes." Serena hesitantly answered, after a moment or two.
"There's a significance to this, isn't there?" Quatre asked, getting the impression that there was more to it.
Serena glanced over at her brother for a moment, then looked away again. "Yeah." Serena admitted as she looked away.
"And that significance is?" Quatre asked, pushing a bit to get some answers. He really didn't want to push her like this, but they had the time to talk things over, and to talk about whatever, and he really felt that this was the time to talk about it, regardless of the fact they actually had the time to do so.
Serena glanced at her brother again, before looked away again. "When I was wearing that dress…" Serena started to explain, while lifting her hand up to touch the middle of her forehead. "…did you see anything here?"
That question made Quatre pause for a moment. Did he see anything on her forehead when she was like that? It took him awhile to think about it, trying to remember any of the details of what he saw of that point in time. And he did remember, after awhile of thinking about it. He faintly remembered, mainly because so much was happening at once at the time. He really didn't have the time to take in every detail.
"It was a crescent moon shape, right?" Quatre said, making sure he remembered correctly.
Serena nodded, that being her answer to her brother's question. "I didn't want to tell you before, because it can be a lot to take in, most of the time." Serena admitted. "But, I'm not just Sailor Moon, the Warrior of the Moon, but I'm also the Princess of the Moon. The princess all the Sailor Scout's have promised and required to protect."
Now it made more sense as to why his sister's two friends were so protective of her. But one thing still bothered him about that explanation. "A princess?" Quatre voice his confusion. "I know that we could probably be seen in that kind of light, since the Winner family is pretty much the main financial backing of L4. But, to actually be called royalty because of it…" Quatre trailed off, realizing he was getting a bit off track. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, how can you be considered a princess when our family isn't royalty, and how does the moon play into all of this?"
"It's something that was last known a thousand years ago." Serena started to explain. "The moon had life on it back then, actually, all the planets did."
"How is something like that possible?" Quatre asked, a bit confused by what his sister had just said.
"Please, don't ask me how it's scientifically possible, because I don't know." Serena admitted. "All I know is that it was." She wouldn't be surprised if it was possible because of magic. After all, she didn't remember much from that time, so she couldn't remember specifics.
Quatre really wanted to know how it was scientifically possible, especially a thousand years ago, were people shouldn't have been as scientifically advanced as they were today. But, he was willing to let that matter go, at least for now. After all, his sister said it would be a lot to take in. "So, there once was life on the moon and all the other planets?" Quatre said, trying to get his sister to continue with what she was explaining before.
"Yeah." Serena simply answered, but didn't continue.
"And?" Quatre prompted, hoping that would get her to continue, and it would seem to have worked.
"Well…" Serena started to continue, hesitating a bit, trying to figure out what to tell him next. "…Back then, a thousand years ago, it was an extremely peaceful era. I guess you could almost call it a carefree era." It seemed as if that last bit was added as a last minute thought.
"It was peaceful?" Quatre questioned, wondering how peaceful it would have been, compared to what they had today.
"Yes." Serena answered. "The reason I said 'carefree', was because there were parties and dancing every night back then. Everyone was always happy."
"Why do I sense a 'but' to all of this?" Quatre asked, getting the feeling that something ended up going terribly wrong at some point.
"There is." Serena answered, not really telling him what could have gone wrong. "It happened when that peaceful era came to an end." Quatre got the hint that he would find out at the end of the story, for that's what this explanation had turned into, a story of the past. "It was an era that was ruled by the Kingdom of the Moon. An era that was called the Silver Millennium. The ruler of the moon, Queen Serenity, didn't just rule over the moon, but she was the ruler of the whole Solar System. All of the planets were a part of the Silver Millennium." Then Serena paused for a moment, as she seemed to think about something for that moment. "Well, all but the Earth. The Earth wasn't officially apart of the Silver Millennium, but they were working on making it official."
"Why wasn't the Earth apart of it?" Quatre asked, he was now getting really into this story, as he was finding it interesting.
"Even back then, the Earth was known to be violent." Serena answered. "Even the Princess of the Moon, Princess Serenity, wasn't allowed to visit the Earth, because of how violent it usually was."
"Serenity?" Quatre questioned. "But, I thought that was the name of the Queen."
"It was a name that was handed down from mother to daughter in the royal line of the moon." Serena explained. "For it was always the women of the royal line that ruled. And there would always be only one girl born to the family. There was always only one princess."
"And, what do you mean by 'violent'?" Quatre asked, curious by what she meant by that.
"The Earth, even back then, was always considered violent, mainly because those on Earth were always fighting. Either with each other in the form of small arguments or in full out battles that consumed many countries." Serena answered, looking at the floor in front of her.
To Quatre, that made a bit of sense, there always seemed to be arguments everywhere, and a difference of opinion did lead to fighting at times. History did seem to be full of battles. Just after seeing his sister's logic in what she said, another thought came to him. "Wouldn't it be hard to have both mother and daughter use the same name?" Quatre asked. "Unless, of course, their titles are used to identify which on is being addressed."
"I suppose that is one way to tell the difference." Serena admitted. "But, the princess usually has a nickname that can be used, only in informal situations. The ones that were usually allowed to use it were the friends of the princess, and those that were close to the royal family."
"I see." Quatre said, taking in everything his sister was telling him. "So, how does all of this tie to you, and how is it that you know all of this? It sounds like you were there; you used such detail while describing everything."
"That's because I am Princess Serenity." Serena answered, now she was looking at her brother. "Or, should I say that, actually, I'm her reincarnation."
"Reincarnation?" Quatre questioned, he had heard of the concept before, but he didn't think it was something that happened in real life.
"Yes." Serena answered, confirming that Quatre had heard right. "A thousand years ago, that peaceful era was brought to an end by one jealous woman and her army. They destroyed everything and killed everyone, to the point where Queen Serenity and her two advisors were the only ones left alive. Even the Queen's daughter ended up getting killed. So, the Queen did the only thing she could think of when she saw all of this. She sealed away that woman and her army, and used the last of her strength and sacrificed her life so that everyone that was killed would be reborn on Earth, to have a second chance at life."
It took a moment or two before Quatre could say anything to that. "Who knew that reincarnation was possible." Quatre commented, amazed by the very idea.
"I don't know how often something like that happens." Serena commented, voicing her thoughts aloud.
"So, what do you mean by 'sealed away'?" Quatre asked curious to what she meant by that.
"They were sealed away." Serena repeated, while thinking on how to reword that. "I guess you could say they were imprisoned." Then Serena paused for a moment, seeming to be thinking about something. "You see, back then, the Moon Kingdom didn't believe in killing, they valued all life, didn't matter where it came from. The highest punishment that they had was banishment."
"I'm going to take a guess and say that is why you were reborn into the Winner family, with father being a pacifist and all." Quatre commented, getting the impression that the royal family of the moon were pacifists as well.
"If that's the case, then what about the royal family of the Sanq Kingdom?" Serena pointed out. "They are pacifists too, as well as royalty."
Quatre didn't have anything to say to that, as silence, once again, descended between the two of them. And things stayed silent for quite awhile, until Quatre finally decided to ask the one question he had been wondering about for awhile now.
"Serena?" Quatre said, trying to get his sister's attention again.
"Hmm?" Was all Serena gave for an answer, but Quatre did have her attention.
"I've been wondering for awhile now, but I've been waiting for you to tell me when you were ready to talk about it." Quatre started to ask. "I figured that since we have the time now, that now would be a good time to talk about it." Quatre stopped for a moment, waiting to see if she would say something, but when she didn't, he continued. "I've been wondering what the reason was behind you coming back to L4 seeking me out. I wonder, because you seemed a bit upset when you arrived."
Serena looked from her brother to look back at the floor. Things remained quiet for quite awhile, as Serena sat there thinking to herself. She was trying to figure out if she wanted to tell him now or not, as well as what to actually tell him. She wasn't able to give an answer, even if she had formed an answer to give him, as a beeping noise sounded again. Quatre got up to check what it could be about this time.
"We're here." Quatre announced, so his sister would know what the beeping noise was about. "And it would seem that Duo and Trowa are waiting for us."
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I know it mainly ended up as a question and answer between Serena and Quatre, but they had it coming for awhile now, and what better way than some bonding time as they waited on the way back to Earth.