so hey guys
i know it's been awhile since i posted but i know you guys know how burdening school can be so ill just skip the excuses
ANYWAYY...now that it's summer break, ill try to post more frequently because i aim to finish this fanfic by the end of summer...SO STAY TUNED!
and THANK YOU ALL for sticking with this fanfic for SO LONG and always giving support through your comments and suggestions
it's knowing how much you all love this fanfic that's kept me going and driving right through that brick wall we all call writer's block
so here it is, Chapter 14
Disclaimer: this is the 14th time i've said this (ugh): I DO NO OWN SAILOR MOON
"Ready to go?" Seiya pop his head through the same French doors as he had the other night.
Sierra, seeming to have grown a habit of staring down at the garden, spun around and greeted Seiya with a beaming smile. "As ready as I'll ever be."
Sierra felt relieved to be back in regular civilian clothing and to be returning back to the city where everything was normal and everything made sense.
Seiya swept into an exaggerated bow and offered his hand like a gentleman. "My I have the honour of escorting this lovely lady to town?"
Sierra rolled her eyes. "Quit fooling around," she said but took his arm anyway.
They strolled through the sun drenched corridors, laughing as they did at Seiya's goofy imitations of Margaret and Sierra herself.
"I do not talk like that."
"Sure you do," he said. "Just ask Mimi."
"Fine. We will soon enough."
Seiya chuckled and shook his head. But, his bellowing voice was not enough to drown out the curious yet accusing voice of a little girl.
"Where are you guys going?"
Sierra turned around and saw Rini several paces down the hall outside a doorway and felt herself smile. She remembered when she first met Rini, she felt a magnetic pull toward the girl. Rini always made her happy, despite how irritating the girl can sometimes be.
"We're heading to town."
"Does Daddy know?"
Sierra bit her lip and felt Seiya's eyes fall on her. "No."
Rini's arms crossed and arched her brow—it was clear the girl was assessing the situation. "Can I come?"
This time, Sierra's own brow arched and Seiya had to stifle a laugh. "Do you want to come?"
"Well, since you're asking…fine, I'll go." Rini began skipping toward Sierra and Seiya and took up the lead.
"Where are we going?" she asked as they walked.
"We're going to see Mimi, a friend of mine. I was thinking of taking her back to the palace."
"Mimi?"
"Would you like that?"
"If that means that I get another person to annoy, then yes, I would like that."
They were rounding a corner when they saw that a cluster of members from the royal court—sailor scouts and mortals alike.
Among them was Endymion, listening intently to what the people around had to say.
"Maybe we should take the long way," murmured Rini.
"I second that," Sierra said.
But before they could make a dash in the other direction, Sierra had somehow managed to catch Endymion's eye and he began to weave through the assembly of people to get to them.
"Great," Sierra moaned.
Seiya squeezed her hand and shot her a devilish wink. "Don't worry, I got this."
"Morning, Endymion," he said cheerfully when Endymion met them.
"Seiya."
"I see that you have a busy morning ahead of you with the—"
Endymion cut him off, completely forgetting his existence. "Sierra, you're…uh…are you going somewhere this morning?"
"What business is it of yours to know where I'm going?"
The gathering of people began to hush and eavesdrop onto the conversation.
"Sierra, we should talk about this somewhere—"
"No." Sierra shook off the hand he laid on her arm. "I'm tired of you taking advantage as your position of king. You're keeping me here like a prisoner and I didn't do anything wrong! So as your reluctant captive, I reserve the right to do what I please, without having to confirm with your majesty."
She stormed off back where they came, leaving Rini and Seiya to fend for themselves. But after a few moments, the two had managed to wriggle out of the suffocating crowd and caught up with her. Rini, eager to ask Sierra about what had happened, exchanged a confirming glance with Seiya. But he shook his head, dismissing the thought.
But eventually, once they were outside, Rini forgot about all that happened in the palace and resumed her carefree skipping down the sidewalk.
"What was that all about?" Seiya finally asked when Rini was far enough.
"What?"
"You know: your snapping at Endymion. No one snaps at His Majesty like that."
"There's a first for everything. You told me that once, remember? Besides, I know you do your fair share of talking back to the king. You've never stricken me as a person to follow orders."
He let out a laugh which made her smile. "Endymion may be the king of Crystal Tokyo but he's not the king of me."
"Seiya, do you think I'll ever be able to leave the palace and do what I like ever again? You know, be free?"
A sudden hardness crossed his eyes before he said anything. "With Endymion around, I don't think you'll ever be free."
Sierra glanced down and saw his hands clench and unclench. She could almost fell his agitation steaming from him. Carefully, Sierra took both of her hands and wrapped them around the hand that was nearest to her to comfort him. Her liberty was seemingly more important to him than it was to her. But when she started to pull away, he caught her and held her hand there. "I promise you, you will be free one day from all the rules and whispers from the palace." By now, they had stopped walking and were facing each other and from the corner of her eye, she could tell Rini was far, far ahead.
But his eyes bore into hers with such intensity that it made everything around her—the noise of the city, the other pedestrians on the sidewalk—all ebb away. With only centimetres between them, still, she felt him leaning in closer and she felt herself giving in…falling…
The kiss started out tender, just as a peck, a soft touch as their lips met because she was reluctant—she knew she shouldn't be kissing him.
She knew it was wrong.
And he felt it. He felt her reluctance and began to pull away, slowly.
But then she heard his voice. She heard him calling for her from the back of her mind. A soft murmur with each time he called her name, his voice became more and more urgent.
Sierra…Sierra…
But she wouldn't let him in. She would no longer let Endymion dictate her life. She slammed the door to the back of her mind and wrapped her arms around Seiya's neck and pulled him closer to her. She began kissing him hungrily and violently, her hands raking through his hair. It didn't take long for Seiya to understand. He responded with just as much wanting and slid his hands down to the small of her back. He pushed her so they fumbled into the alley by them, away from the crowded and pressed her against the wall.
But suddenly, she felt him rip away from her and she saw a shadow before she heard a cringing crunch of bone.
Sierra looked up and saw Seiya with a hand over his mouth and blood trickling down his chin. At the mouth of the alley, she saw Endymion standing smug in his civilian attire—a light blue chemise with the top few buttons undone and dark jeans—with his arms crossed.
So the voice she heard was real and not just some hallucination.
"Ah, Darien, I see you followed us," Seiya said with a smirk as he wiped away the blood from his mouth.
"Don't you ever touch her again."
"Or what? Or you'll beat me up? I can take you any day, pretty boy.
Endymion raised an eyebrow and began rolling up his sleeves.
Seeing that this was going nowhere good, Sierra panted herself in front of Seiya in a protective manner, "Or what?" Sierra repeated, "Oh I know. Or you'll banish him from the kingdom, or you'll ruin him. Or maybe, you'll lock me up in a tower in the palace because you always have to have your way. You're always right and deserving while others are always wrong. What else is new in the land of Endymion?"
She held her chin up high before turning away to tend to Seiya's broken jaw, assessing the severity.
Endymion was silent for awhile, silently watching Sierra as she poured all her concern, attention, and care to Seiya.
"Is that what you really think of me?" he decided to say at last.
She looked over her shoulder and met his eyes. "Yes," she said her voice wavering slightly.
She then immediately returned to nursing Seiya, helping him up. As they walked past Endymion toward the opening of the alley, he spoke again and it made Sierra stop. She was not looking at him though.
"Say it again," he said slowly. The hurt in his voice was heavy and it pained Sierra to hear it. "Say how much you hate me, how much of a jerk I am and how much you want me out of your life and I promise you, I won't ever bother you again."
She hesitated. In truth, she didn't hate him. She never did and probably never will. But she didn't know why she persistently goes out of her way to clash heads with him. She still remembered the time when he actually frightened her with his air of superiority but maybe that's the reason why the reason why he annoyed her so much. It was his very obnoxiousness that drew her in and it's also the very thing that's going to drive her away. Well, that and the fact he's already a married man. He was impossible. And perhaps the easiest way for her to cope was to fight and avoid him. It was probably the easiest way to keep her sanity.
Plus, she'd promise Mars that she'd leave and leave everyone alone.
She turned and marched up to him. "Yes," she said firmly. "Yes, I hate you and yes, I want you out of my life and to do want I want and go where I want to go. I'm tired of saying 'your majesty' this and 'you majesty' that. I'm tired of trying to please you. I'm tired of people giving me the special treatment just because I look their dead queen."
She let out a sob. Until then, she didn't even know she was crying.
"But most of all, I'm tired of guessing. I'm tired of guessing what you're thinking and what you're feeling. I can tell you love Mars, you really do but then I see the way you still think about Serenity and then the way you can lash out at Mars at times. And then there's the way you look at me, talk to me, touch me…I don't know what to think anymore. I don't know what you're thinking anymore. Endymion…I'm tired of waiting."
"Sierra…I'm—" He reached out to her. He wanted to touch her, comfort her.
But she backed away, cupping her mouth with her hand to smother the violent sobs and shook her head. "No—don't say you're sorry. Just…just…don't."
She felt Seiya's arm fall across her shoulders and she felt his breath against her ear as he whispered comforting words to her. But she couldn't hear anything. She couldn't feel anything but the vibrations from Endymion's aggravated kicks behind them against the brick wall lining the alley.
But as she and Seiya left the alley, there stood Rini and Mimi on the sidewalk, just outside the alley's entrance.
"Rini," Sierra began in the grand chamber of the palace. "How did you manage to find Mimi?"
She, Seiya, Rini, and Mimi had all walked back to the palace sans Endymion but once they got back, Seiya was due elsewhere in the palace, leaving the three ladies alone in what is now considered Sierra's room.
"It wasn't hard," Mimi said, answering for Rini. "I found her on the sidewalk and I recognized her as the princess so I decided to come over to ask if she happened to know who you are in the palace. But I never thought so many things had happened since you last visited me, Sierra. You could've written to me or something."
"I'm sorry. I've just been so busy that I didn't have the time to write. Besides, the reason I wanted to take you into the palace was so I can talk to you all the time and to cure you."
"Cure Mimi of what?" Rini then asked.
Sierra was about to say something but Mimi smiled and answered instead. "Since the day I was born, I have a heart disease that's completely foreign to doctors. No one's seen it before and after my parents both passed away, it's only been me and my grandma and so, we don't have enough money to keep supporting me."
"And," Sierra added solemnly, "her condition gets worse with each day."
The girls fell into silence until Mimi spoke again. "Sierra, are you sure it's alright for me to be here?"
Sierra bit her lip while Rini chirped up. "Of course it's alright if you stay here!"
"But considering what happened between you and the king…"
"I—I'll talk to him."
Mimi laid a hand on top of Sierra's. "Are you sure?"
"Sure I'm sure. In fact, I'll go talk to him right now. Get things over with."
Sierra sprang up and walked to the door, giving Mimi a reassuring smile. But it was when she closed the door behind her that she felt her hands begin to shake and her pulse beginning to sprint.
Sierra had purposely made the walk to Endymion's office unbelievably slow, almost dragging her feet there. She even stopped a few times by the ceiling high windows that panelled the side of corridor to admire the view of the palace's garden. And when she found herself in front of his closed door, she couldn't bring herself to knock on it. She swallowed a few deep breaths, counted to ten, and repeated the procedure a couple more times.
It was silly to be nervous but she couldn't help it. She had made a daring speech about hating him and not wanting to be associated with him and now she's come crawling back to beg for his hospitality. It was downright embarrassing. What would he think of her?
A good for nothing hypocrite who wants charity, that's what.
She didn't want him feeling smug and she especially did not want to fuel his unbearable ego.
So the more she thought about it, the more she hated him and decided to give up and walk back to the chamber and lie to Mimi and say that the mighty king wouldn't allow their stay. But then, she turned back again and found herself once again confronted by his embellished office door, thinking that whatever she had against Endymion, she shouldn't let it interfere with Mimi's wellbeing.
She knocked on the door three times and hearing no reply for admittance, she happily and hastily concluded that he had not yet returned and began making a retreat down the sunlight drenched hall. But to her disappointment, he was indeed in his office and had called for her to come in.
With a sigh, Sierra turned the doorknob and let herself in.
It was quite a large room, as all the rooms in the palace are. Tall bookcases met the domed ceiling and at the far end, Endymion was seated behind a large porcelain desk, studiously writing. Piles of books and papers towered on the desk but other than that, the room was stupendously clean and organized. He didn't even look up when she came in.
Sierra marvelled at him for a minute. He was like a dark angel furiously at work.
His dark wavy hair fell into the way of his eyes. He still hadn't changed out of his civilian clothing and so, she could see his muscles taut against the fabric of his shirt. And with the sunlight that streamed into the room from the oversized window behind him, it looked as though he was giving off a golden glow.
"Lydia," he then said, reeling her back to the present, "Just leave the notes from Mercury on the desk by the shelf. I'll have a look at them later. Oh, and if you don't mind, would you please bring in a cup of coffee? Thank you."
So he had thought she was one of the maids. But it seemed as though nothing had happened just an hour ago. He didn't look shaken at all by what she had said and the thought made Sierra a little uneasy and frustrated.
"It's me," she said.
That was when his pen stopped mid-sentence.
Several seconds passed before his pen was gliding across the paper again and he spoke to her while he wrote. He still refused to look at her. "I apologize, Sierra for whatever I've done to upset in the past you but I don't have time now to discuss it. By all means, you can stay in the palace for as long as you wish, do whatever you like, and you can leave whenever you choose. You're our guest here. And just as I promised, I will try my best to ensure we will not cross paths and keep our meetings to a minimum."
He had said it all so calmly, so coolly, so formally.
Sierra felt a tightness blossoming in her chest. This was after all, what she wanted, wasn't it? But why did she feel tears pooling against the back of her eyes? Why did she have the urge to yell at him again and make him look at her? Make him hurt so that he'll take her into his arms and stroke her hair and tell her that everything will be fine.
She had hoped that he would still fight for her.
Foolish.
She can't expect that after barking at Endymion time and time again that he'll still be silly enough to chase after her. To want her.
Sierra had promised Mars and herself that she'll break things off with Endymion and leave.
She did it.
Seiya had promised her that she'll be free.
He did it.
And Endymion had promised her that he'll stop bothering her.
He did it.
Everyone was keeping their promises. Everything was going according to plan so why did it all still hurt so bad?