I do not own Sailor Moon, and never will. For the new people who have yet to read this enjoy. For the ones who have read this already, I hope you like my changes. Here is chapter 2! ;)

Chapter 2

Looming Darkness

I was saved from Kaden's kiss by Freckles, who had suddenly whinnied in frustration. My foot was still trapped in the foothold of her saddle, hindering her from grazing. Silently cursing, he let me go, to tend to Freckles. Silently I thanked her for the distraction. It was a close call and I didn't want to be kissed by anyone other than Helios.

By the time Kaden finished helping me, his mood had been killed but we continued to talk for a good long while. I was happy to know that we could finally be friends with no hard feelings between us. Holding negative feelings wasn't hard to do, especially when most of all of the memories were bad and not so memorable. I often wondered how my mother can be so forgiving sometimes.

Soon, as it got closer to the evening, we went back to the palace, to attend supper with our parents. Neither one of us talked on the ride back. I was thinking about Helios, wondering what he might be doing. I seem to think of him too much these days. I doubt he even thinks about me, I'm not even sure if he knows me in this era. I remember Pluto telling me that sometimes people going from one timeline and then back creates a whole new one. Kind of like an alternate reality. I'm not sure how that works, nor do I truly understand it, but it seemed to make sense.

"I wonder what we will be having for supper," Kaden said eventually, breaking the silence. "I'm told that Miss Mako is a very good cook. Any man eating her cooking would immediately marry her," he said with a laughter in his voice. "Mom was telling me that your chef is by far a better cook than our chef. He almost over cooked our roast on Christmas Eve. Mother was nearly furious!"

"You must not be very good with conversation topics are you?" I remarked.

He scratched his head. "Not really. Not many people talk to me. Most tell me that I come off rude and mean but that just really isn't the case, and it makes me feel a bit…." he paused, thinking about the word, "bit misunderstood."

"And you wonder why," I thought. "Well some of the most reserved people can be misunderstood. I think just about everyone can misunderstand someone, or perhaps be misunderstood too." I replied.

"You almost sound like King Endymion, so diplomatic," he mused. "You may look a lot like your mother, Neo Queen Serenity, but underneath that beautiful exterior hides a smart woman who is so much like King Endymion. I am not the only one who seems to think so."

"Others really think that about me too?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"Yup, I was talking to your friend, Cere, about it. She says you have grown so much more mature as well,' Kaden answered. "I would love to hear about your adventures someday."

I couldn't reply. To tell him about my adventures would mean that I would speak about Helios. Although, I didn't have to talk about him, at least not the two kisses we shared, and how he aided us in the time of need. Although I knew there would be a time Kaden would want to know all about it, but that would be when I feel we are close enough to share a secret such as that. "Maybe tomorrow," I lied as calmly as I could, without looking at him, after a few moments.

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*

Back at the palace, I got down off of Freckles, not bothering to wait for him to help me, and left the courtyard in haste, I had to get dressed for the evening, and I didn't want to be late. Having been drilled by Rei, I wanted to be punctual, although for some reason no matter how hard I seemed to try, I somehow wind up being late a majority of the time like my mother. My father is very punctual compared to mom. Sometimes I wished that I was more like him.

When I arrived to my room Cere and Mina was there. Mina was telling Cere of the plans for tonight and who was to stay where during dinner. My guardians were to be there with me, Mina and Mako would be near mom, and Ami and Rei would be elsewhere.

Minako, sometimes called Mina, is the Senshi of Love and Beauty, and Sailor Venus. She is also the leader of Neo-Queen Serenity's inner guardians. Mina always wore her trademark red bow in the back of her strait long bright blonde hair that went down to her waist. Most people said that she could pass as Neo-Queen Serenity if she put her hair up in the similar hairstyle, her eyes were just as blue as Neo-Queen Serenity and was even of the same height as her too. Of all the senshi, she is known to be the least serious, unless she is in senshi form and was giving out orders to the others. Also known as the biggest gossiper and is always in the know with just about anyone who is famous. She had always wanted to be a star, but loves volleyball more than anything and tends to get quiet competitive when playing her favorite sport. Most of her time went towards guarding my mom, and on her off days she would go out of town to see her favorite idol of the time.

Soon, Mina left and Cere stayed. Cere turned to me. "I don't know why, but Rei seems to think something sinister is going to happen. I've been feeling uneasy as well but I'm not as intuitive as Rei, Ami, and Setsuna. Mina wants to make sure that we are all on high alert."

Cere, is my guardian Sailor Ceres, and also leader of the Sailor Quartet. Cere kept her light pink hair in a crazy hair-style, I could never figure out how she kept it the way she did; and people thought my hair was a challenge! She kept it up in two braids that came down mid-thigh. She had two more braids that looped up to be caught in a bun at the top of her head. Had her eyes been red, like mine, instead of light pink, she could pass for me, which was often a joke shared by my mom and Minako.

She was the first to be found of the Sailor Quartet. Minako found her in an orphanage a few years ago, recognizing her planarity powers immediately, and adopted her. At the time of Minako's discovery, I hadn't known about my guardians, as I hadn't traveled back into the past, so Minako left her in the care of her own parents until the time was right for her to come to the palace. Cere was actually fifteen years old unlike me, and the oldest of my four guardians.

I looked at her sideways, a little confused. "You feel it too? Hmm… I wonder if it is the family that is here for the week. Kaden is being a little strange this time."

Cere laughed, as if I had said the most hilarious thing ever. "Have you really looked at yourself? If that prince is acting strange, it certainly isn't because he is acting sinister; I think he finds you attractive."

I couldn't help but blush. I didn't want to think her right, but she did remind me of Kaden and my close encounter. He had been very close to kissing me. Way too close for comfort.

Cere noticed my blush and grinned. "Are you getting close to the prince, Usagi?"

"No!" I retorted disdainfully. "He may be good looking, but his personality stinks. Besides I have no time for boys."

"Usagi, you are over nine-hundred years old! I think it's time for you to find that one and become queen. Have you not noticed that the Queen and King are slowly starting to age again?" she inquired.

Now that she mentioned it, I had notice that dad did appear a bit more tired lately. What if I never did find the one, as much as I wanted the one to be Helios I couldn't be sure if he knew me in this timeline. At the same time, I didn't want Cere to be right, and I really trust my light pink haired friend and comrade.

"I'm sure I will find the one to help me rule, but for now I still need to study up. I also really don't want to think about losing my mom and dad just yet…" I trailed off.

Cere sighed. "I know your parents want you happy, and they are hoping you will find that one for you soon. I think you should look for your parents at least, so they don't think that you will never want to be with someone."

The thing was, I had found the one, and I was still waiting, and I would wait till I knew for sure that he didn't feel the same for me. I wasn't about to tell that to Cere though. I wasn't sure about my mom and dad either. They didn't even know that I like Helios, but sometimes I wish they did.

"So… Are you and the others going to be dressing up? Or are you going to go in uniform?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Mina says that we don't want to arouse suspicion from our visitors, so she wants us to dress in our best. I don't think Visa and June will like that idea they prefer the tough senshi warrior look. Palla wouldn't mind, she is the most girlish of the four of us," she replied, then sighed. "I actually wanted to go on that date I promised Tory a few days ago, it has been nearly a month since our last date, but with all this recent trouble, I'm not sure if it's a good idea."

Tory was one of the palace hands, he usually helped Mako tend to the gardens, and was very strong; I suppose that's one of the reasons why Cere took to him. We only talked a few times when I saw him, usually when I happened to waking in the garden, but I didn't see him often enough to actually get to know him.

"Why don't you go ahead and go see him?" I asked. "At least for a couple of hours, I can ask my mom for your special permission to leave. I'm sure it's not that big of a deal, and I would like for my friends to have their own time as well. It's not fair to you guys to always have to tend to me every minute of every day."

My pink haired friend eyes seem to light up. "Would you really ask? I've wanted to go on this date for some time now; it's as if there is never enough time in the day. I think Troy wants to get more serious about our relationship, we've been together for nearly a year now, and he has been dropping hints about things."

"But you're only fifteen!" I told her in utter disbelief.

"You know Minako," Cere said with a laugh. "As the Senshi of Love, she would totally consent to a marriage between lovers that are under the age of eighteen."

"True," nodding. I couldn't help but grin then as I thought more about it. "Tell you what, if I can get you to be able to go, will you tell me all the juicy details?"

Cere blushed, a rare for her, and nodded. "I promise that I will," she confirmed.

After that topic was over, Cere's mood seemed to be lighter. She helped me get into one of my formal dresses which nearly felt silk-like. The dress we had picked out was similar to my less formal dress I had been wearing. It was a darker pink color, and the skirt part of it was long, nearly touching the floor, with a golden like sash around my waist that was loosely tied in the back that was nearly as long as the dress itself. The trim of my dress had pale pink, nearly white, frills. The sleeves came just above my elbows with a wavy trim. It showed my chest but didn't reveal too much, for modesty, but just enough to show my feminine side.

After redressing, I picked out some jewelry to wear, wanting to look my best. I decided upon my simple golden tiara that held a single dark pink rare gem and two smaller diamonds next to it to wear, to show my royalty. I decided to wear my gold plated necklace that mom gave me two or three years ago. The necklace held a pink heart shaped gem, with the yellow moon symbol on one side and golden Earth's symbol on the other side. She told me that it represented that I was both heir to the Moon Kingdom and the Golden Kingdom of Earth. I chose to wear my silver charm bracelet that had all the colors of my closest friends and family on it: light pink for Cere, light blue for Palla, jade for June, ruby for Visa, gold for dad, violet for Hotaru, grey for Diana, crimson for Setsuna, and white crystal for Mom.

She also helped me braid my pigtails and put gold circlets around my buns, they almost looked like beaded bracelets. After I was finished I went to my closets' body mirror. I looked absolutely stunning. I felt I was looking at another version of my mother, only with pink hair and red eyes.

"You look beautiful Lady Serenity," Cere complimented. "It was a good thing that you chose the long dress, your legs are enough to drive the men insane. Men like a girl with curves in all the right places."

I blushed. "I was told to dress nice; I wanted to dress like a lady," I looked down at myself. "I don't look way older than I should?" I asked nervously.

At this Cere laughed. "For a nearly nine-hundred year old you still are so innocent-like; I don't know if it is funny or strange," she shook her head. "You look the part though, so I guess that is what counts, even if the girl that is behind the part isn't so sure of herself."

"Cere, why do you have to be so blunt?" I asked, shaking my head, but I smiled anyway. "Shall we go to my mom and ask about you going on that date of yours?"

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*

We went down the hall from my room, at least nine or ten doors from my room, to go to my mom and dad's chambers. Mom would occasionally stay there when she had no meetings, and read, mostly manga, another thing that hadn't changed about her.

Before we could walk in, we heard her and dad having a rather loud discussion. Cere and I looked at each other in astonishment; it was rare for them to argue. We pressed closer to the door to hear what they were saying. I hoped that nothing was seriously wrong.

"I just think you should stay here," Mom was saying, her voice lowering. "Rei senses something, and until she's sure it would be best."

"Usako, I have to attend this meeting. Besides, you and Usagi are safe, you have your guardians and the new guardians, and our daughter still has the powers of the Pink Moon Crystal. I will be fine, I have the Golden Crystal, and Artemis will be accompanying me."

"What if it is Chaos again? I don't want her to take you like she did last time…"

Cere and I moved away from the door. "I think we should ask again in a little bit," I told her, and she nodded in agreement.

We started walking back to my room. "It looks like Mom feels it too. I think this is bigger than we know, it's just too strange that we all have this uneasy feeling."

"Do you think your mother is right though? Could it be Chaos again?" Cere asked. "Questions always lead to more questions. For once I wish questions would answer themselves."

"The day that happens, will be the day that Sailor Guardians throughout the galaxy will no longer be needed, and if that were to ever happen I think it would be very disastrous for us all," I said, "and I for one am not looking for disasters."

"But, what the queen said about Rei, do you think that means that our peace is slowly coming to an end again?"

"I want to talk to Pluto," I said suddenly. "She doesn't know everything, but she does have a second sense for approaching dangers. If anyone can figure out this encryption, it's her."

I led Cere to Setsuna's room, which Mom had requested be built right from the Time-Space Door so that she could rest and protect it at the same time when needed. Since then there have been less invaders form other people, except for the few that somehow stumble upon other doors spread out across the galaxy. Not even Setsuna knows of all the doors spread out across time and space.

My favorite thing about her room was all the ancient looking artifacts that she seemed to keep form other eras. She has all kinds of interesting things; my favorite was the two paintings from the Silver Millennium era. She told me that of all the things that had happened to the kingdom, one of the two paintings seems be to all that remained in good condition. The other painting was one she found from her old home on her castle, Charon Castle from her planet Pluto.

One of them was a picture of my mom as Princess Serenity from nearly two thousand years ago, and her mother Queen Serenity, or known as Selene to the people of Earth. Selene was beautiful, and slender, with a smooth face, and had near snow white hair, also put up in two buns with pigtails that trailed the ground. The strapless dress she wore was white as well and hugged her body, with a silk white sash tied with a bow in the front on the chest, which seemed to sparkle with silver-like color to it. The bow held a yellow-golden crescent moon broach pined to the bow. Her dress had some kind of see through white-like material attached to it on the back, which made her seem as if she had wings; they made her seem like a beautiful elegant fairy queen. Selene had the symbol that my mother too has on her forehead only hers was made from a small beaded pearl crown that seemed to circle around her head. I wish I could have met her.

The other was of Selene setting in a crystal chair with Luna, a black cat and blue eyes, on her lap and child version of Setsuna setting in a chair next to her. Setsuna looked like a princess. Her forehead had her Pluto symbol and she wore a simple black dress with a black choker and also wore a golden chain necklace with a dark crimson gem hanging from it. She looked very beautiful.

Setsuna sat by her desk writing on some papers and searching around in some books when we walked in, she seemed to be doing something very important. Her Garnet Rod was leaning against her desk not far from her. When she heard the door open, she looked up, and smiled.

Setsuna, also Sailor Pluto, was the senshi of space and time, although she often referred to herself as the Soldier of Revolution. Her duties included watching the Time-Space Door, making sure that no one dared changed the ebb and flow of time, a job that I, shamefully, had made harder for the eldest senshi of the senior guardians. She mostly spent her free time in sciences and theories. She almost could pass as a college professor, her knowledge was so vast in those subjects alone. Her eyes were a deeper shade of red than mine, but the wisdom of all her years alive were there. Her hair was a dark green and went down to her knees, she kept it down but had a single bun in the center of it. Other than her age separating her from the rest of the senshi, she was also tanned.

"I had been wondering what had happened to you," she said, "I was informed by Mako that she had seen you talking to Prince Kaden in the palace Gardens."

"We went for a ride on the horses; he brought me a horse to call my own as well. Her name is Freckles. She is a well-tempered horse," I told her. "We had a decent conversation for once."

"I'm glad you are able to spend time with others," Setsuna said with a smile.

I took a deep breath. "The main reason why I am here, Setsuna, is because I wanted to ask you if you know any more than we do of this… strange feeling we all seem to have."

Setsuna sighed, and leaned back into her chair. "As I told your mother, I have been closely watching over things from here, as I always do. Michiru and Haruka have not seen anything odd from their homes. Hotaru is also keen and insightful, as well as very aware of many things, if she sensed danger I'm positive that she would alert us."

Cere didn't look so sure, but what the older Guardian said made sense, with intuitive people like Rei, Setsuna, and Hotaru, we could be sure that we would be forewarned. At the same time though we couldn't be sure that being forewarned would be enough. No matter the challenge though, I would stand bravely as my mother once did and face the odds together, and overcome the evil that would surely try to pursue my crystal for their own purpose.

"Thank you," I told her. "I hope that we are all wrong about things." As I said the words I couldn't believe them.

"You are going to be late for supper if we don't get going soon," Cere reminded me, "and we also have to ask your mom about that one problem."

"Oh yeah," I exclaimed, looking at her, "I completely forgot about that!" I turned back to Setsuna. "I don't know when I will have time for my lesson, but I will come as soon as I can."

The older senshi smiled. "I look forward to it, Lady Serenity. Take your time though, my lessons can wait. Queen Serenity has already informed me that your lessons were on hold for the week."

Cere and I left her room in haste, going back to my mom's room hoping to catch her there before she headed down to the dining hall. We were lucky, she was walking out of her room, Mina was with her and they were laughing about something. Mom stopped as soon as she noticed me. "There is my princess, you look like a well-dressed lady," she remarked, all smiles.

"Mom, Cere and I wanted to ask if you, and Mina, would let Cere have a couple hours off so that she could go on a date and have some time to herself," I asked diving strait into the situation instead of beating around the bush, another trait I share with my father.

Mina seemed to ponder the request. "We do have the other three," she said slowly "Tell you what; you can go, if you help me with late evening's duties."

Cere smiled really big. "I will! Thank you, Mom!" She gave Mina a hug and took off, Mom, Mina, and I laughed.

Mom turned to me. "I was getting ready to come find you," she said, her smile fading. "Your father will not be joining us tonight; he had a last minute meeting and had to take a flight out to America, something medical related."

I could hear the disappointment and worry in her voice. "That's ok mom, I'm sure Dad with be ok. Artemis is with him."

"How did you know that Artemis was going with him?"

I thought quickly. "I overheard someone saying 'it is a shame that King Endymion had to leave the queen to go on an errand.' I am assuming that Artemis was going with Dad, he usually does go with him."

That seemed like a reasonable answer to mom. "I have requested that Prince Kaden escort you down to dinner tonight," she said, changing the subject. "Claire will also be joining us, but I'm afraid that King Edwin had to go back home."

"Also, Lady Serenity," Mina said speaking up, in low tones sounding serious. "I want you to make sure to keep the Crystal close to you tonight, we will all be on the lookout for anything strange, but we need to keep the Crystal safe."

I nodded. I knew how important it was to have my Pink Moon Crystal close, I had it taken from me once by the evil that had been planted within Hotaru when she was young, and Pharaoh 90 had wanted it for his own greed. Having it taken from me had nearly killed me. Mamoru, my father's past self, had kept me alive by holding my hand and using his body as a life support system. If not for Hotaru's strong soul within the evil holding her, I would not have gotten it back.

"Prince Kaden will be waiting for you near your room," mom informed me, with a small wink. "Mina and I are going to go ahead and go to dinner."

After that she and Mina headed down the hall, continuing their conversation from earlier. I wasn't eager to see Kaden again, but I was willing to let him escort me for this one time. When I arrived near my room he was there messing with a small black rectangular box with a golden colored ribbon tied around it, he appeared to be really nervous; it was almost laughable. He was even dressed in a nice dark grey buttoned up shirt with dark grey dress up pants and his hair all combed neatly back. It was the most handsome I had ever seen him.

"Well Kaden," I called to him, "my mother says you are taking me down to dinner tonight."

He looked up and he opened his mouth but no words came out. I put my hand on my mouth to stifle a giggle; he actually looked kind of cute all flustered. I guessed that Cere was right; I was beautiful enough to make men look at me twice. It was a nice change to be beautiful and have respect than to be called names and for people to think that I wasn't even mom's child. That had hurt more than anything.

"Lady Serenity," he finally said after he had gotten over the shock of my presence, "sorry for my rudeness, I just did not expect… Well I… Err… this is for you." He held the box out toward me that he had in his hand. "I had it personally made for you when I was still home. When I had heard that you had, uh, grown I thought I would get you a gift for that reason, to celebrate."

I carefully took the box from him and opened it. It was a beautiful silver colored choker with a small golden crescent moon locket on it. It had small dark pink diamonds on the choker too, as if to give it a bit of sparkle. It was really pretty and reminded me of Eternal Sailor Moon's choker.

"Thank you," I said looking at it. "No one, other than the guardians and my parents, had ever given me a gift before. It is really beautiful."

"Do you like it," he asked.

I nodded. "It's pretty," I replied looking up at Kaden to smile.

"I know you probably have lots of necklaces, and more jewelry besides," he began, "but I just wanted to get this for you. It makes me happy you like it," Kaden said, looking slightly embarrassed.

I could tell by his expression that he really meant that too. I blushed and looked away. "May I put it on?" I asked in a near whisper, unsure of what else to say.

"Certainly!" he replied, I could hear the grin in his voice.

He took the choker from my hands, before I could refuse, his fingers brushing up against mine, sending a strange tingle up my spine. Then he brought the choker up to my neck to put it on; his face once again became close to mine. His eyes were on mine, watching me, as if searching my soul. I wanted to move but I couldn't bring myself to do so. I never noticed how his dark brown eyes reminded me of chocolate but they did now. I felt his fingers on my neck as he put his gift on me. As he finished, he dropped his hands to my waist, and looked down at me. "You are very beautiful Usagi," he said gently, using my informal name. It sounded like a personal name. "My gift seems to sparkle on you. Most people don't have red eyes, but on you it shows all the more special you are." His expression turned serious. "What makes me the saddest about them? It is how much burden you have reflected in them. It must be hard to have to be the protector of the Earth."

I didn't know what to really say to that. "I have my friend's and my father helps me too."

He gave me a small fleeting kiss on my forehead. Then let me go and held his arm out to me. "Shall we head down to dinner?" He asked.

I smiled, glad that he had changed the subject, and took his arm. "Yes we shall. I cannot wait to eat my mother's friend's cooking."

As we headed down to dinner I started thinking about what Kaden had said about my burden and then what I told him about my dad being able to help me. A few thoughts had just occurred to me. If I was inheritor of the Silver Crystal, then who was to be the inheritor of the Golden Crystal? Did this mean I was to have to power of the Golden Crystal too? Was that even possible?

Whatever the answers were to these questions, I knew I wasn't going to get them answered, at least not tonight. I needed to have a clear head and concentrate on the dinner ahead. I had a feeling that it would be long night, especially if I was going to be needed. I was not looking forward to it but I decided it would be best to try to have fun if I could.

As we entered the hall together I could see my mom dressed in her best, she even wore her beautiful golden crown for the occasion as well as her usual white evening dress that she wore to special dinners. Seeing her wear that made me wonder how people could compare me to her, she is by far more beautiful than anyone else I know, although Mina could give mom a run for her money.

Kaden led me to a chair just across from my mother and he took a seat just across from his mother. I noticed that June was next to Palla talking. Palla had a serious expression on her face, which was rare for her. As I observed the room I noticed that there were guards by every possible escape and entrance, as well as some new cameras aimed at each one. Everyone seemed on edge and I could sense the tension in the air. The only ones that seemed oblivious to the tension were Kaden and his mother.

"Lady Serenity," Kaden said, his voice bringing me back to our conversation, "I was asking about your friend Diana. I haven't seen her since I arrived here."

"Now that you mention it," I said, pausing to think, "I have not seen her since yesterday evening."

"Should we go look for her?" he asked me.

I shook my head. "That's not necessary, I'm sure she's on an errand for her mother. Luna tries to keep her decently busy."

"Serenity," Claire called to me. "I see that my son gave you your gift from him. It looks rather remarkable on you. I almost talked him into getting a pink glass replica of your Legendary Crystal when it is in its lotus form, but he joked that you wouldn't be able to tell the real from the replica."

Mom laughed. "I would hope that she could tell the difference. It turns into a regular crystalline jewel when not in use," she explained. ""it looks like no more than a jewel that you would by at a jewelry store."

For some strange reason, the topic of the Pink Moon Crystal made me feel a little edgy. I could tell that Mina had also given Claire a look of suspicion when she had mentioned making a replica. I also didn't get why mom had told her about the Crystal's appearance when it was used and not used. I especially didn't want Kaden knowing things about it, although there was no secret about it and its unlimited power.

"I'm sure it's a very remarkable jewel," Claire stated. "I was wondering about the King's crystal, Serenity," she said addressing my mom. "Who will be the one to inherit the King's Golden Crystal?"

"My husband's crystal is usually handed down to the male heir of the king," mom answered. "Although it stands to question who it should go to, since my daughter has already inherited my crystal, I would assume in this case it would go to the man my daughter choses to be her husband. It may not work that way."

This seemed to spark Kaden's interest. I know it had sparked mine. It brought out the next question in my head; if I could marry Helios would that mean that he could inherit the Golden Crystal from my father? He understands the crystal just as much as dad does, it made sense to me.

Before mom could say any more about it, Mina was whispering in mom's ear. A look of horror came across her face. Suddenly she stood. "Excuse me, I must take my leave I will be back as soon as I can," she said in a hurry and then took off without another word. Then Mina looked at me and left too, closely followed by Mako. My first thought was dad, but I could tell from the look on Mina's face told me to stay, and if they needed me they would call for me.

"Sorry for my mother's abruptness, it must have been something important," I said apologetically, "She hardly ever misses a meal, if she can help it," I added with a laugh.

Kaden laughed too. "Men do not like missing their meals either, we get far too grumpy," he commented. "It almost feels like I'm being eaten inside out when I miss out on dinnertime."

Claire nodded. "I remember a time when Edwin was in such a foul mood because a meeting had made him miss out on dinner that he almost took it out on everybody. It wasn't really funny but I couldn't help but laugh when he ate so much so fast that afterword he winded up getting a stomachache."

"I remember that," Kaden replied, laughing again, "The next day he was groaning and holding his stomach for nearly the whole day and didn't eat much breakfast."

"Wow, almost sounds painful," I remarked. "I can almost eat as much as I want. I haven't had a stomachache in a long time."

"I have never been a big eater, myself," Claire said.

We sat in silence, eating for a while. I was never really good at keeping a conversation going; my parents were usually the one to do that. It was my job to be there and just attend. I never stayed long either, after a half hour into dinnertime I would usually excuse myself and retire to my room for the rest of the evening.

"Princess Serenity," Claire said, after sometime, her voice concerned "Do you think something happened to make your mother leave in a hurry like that?"

I shook my head. "I do not know, if it was something serious I would think my mother would have told me," I replied, although I didn't really believe my own words, I wanted to reassure them that there was no danger. "I do know, however, that we still have yet to have desert," I added, trying to lighten the mood, as I signaled one of the hired hands to bring us our deserts, "We cannot let the chief down, and she would love nothing more than for us to enjoy her cooking."

"Ah, yes," Carlie agreed, "I love your cook's food. It is simply divine."

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After dinner and desert, I took Kaden down the hall to the guest living room so that he could relax and get comfortable. Claire decided that she wanted to go retire to the room that had been prepared for her and called it a day. June and Visa told me that Ami needed them to help her after dinner. I had asked Palla to go find out if mom was ok, and to see if she needed me. Kaden kept taking my hand in his occasionally, it wasn't unpleasant but it was very strange.

The room was nearly as big as a small ball room, with dark colored wooden floors and forest green walls to give it a calm homey feeling as one read, and three windows Some comfy chairs lined the walls on one side, and there were also a few love seats for couples or parents with children who wanted to read together. There were some lamps by the seats too. As I got older, I had made the request for there to be some tables and wooden chairs for the ones that wanted to study in the library. On the other side was several isles of bookshelves, at least four shelves high, at the end of each book self, there was a three step step-stool.

Upon arriving there, Kaden went to a large window to look out of it. You could see most of the courtyard and the Tokyo Tower if you were to look into the distance. The room also held a small library for, if our guest wanted to, they could read if they sought some quiet time. The books were written in Japanese, English, and Spanish, the most common languages in Crystal Tokyo, which had become very diverse since my mother's ascension to the throne. There were also three comfortable couches near the book shelves.

"You have quiet the selection of books here," Kaden commented, leaving the window to gaze around, "I have a small collection of books too, in my room."

"My father used to bring me in here to read to me every night," I said as I went the small collection of children's books that were on a small bookshelf, separated from the other bigger bookshelves. "Dad had built it just for me so that I could reach my favorite books. "Dad used to read me about Cinderella, Snow White and other fairy tale stories. Mom used to tell me stories too. Hers were more of her favorite fiction stories; one of them winded up being true."

"Which story would that be," Kaden asked curiously.

"One about a mirror that held another, darker, world within it depths; it made me terrified for a while. As it turned out, my grandmother had sealed a monstrous woman within a mirror. She was of evil, and she was trying to turn dreams into nightmares. With Helios's help, Sailor Moon was able to defeat her."

"Helios, isn't he the priest of Endymion's Golden Realm?"

"Yes, he had been held captive by that evil tyrant," I answered, "Helios had almost been killed by her too. He would have died too if it weren't for my," I paused, trying to think of what to say, not wanting to reveal too much about that time, "powers that healed him."

If Kaden noticed my pause, he didn't say anything about it. "It seems like you will be forever fated to clash with evil forces," he said, taking my hand.

"I was told, I cannot remember who told me; 'where there is light there is darkness. Darkness calls to light and light also calls to darkness.' I'm not entirely sure I believe it, but there is a lot of truth to it," I told him. "I also believe that there is no true darkness and that within everyone there is some bit of light, its only weakness that gives into the darker nature of things. But thus stands the question; Can one person think that their way is right and the other is wrong, while the other person see it as reverse, which one is correct?"

"That's a deep way of thinking," Kaden replied thoughtfully. "It really does make one think differently upon one's original way of thinking."

I nodded. "It had me rethinking lots of things too," I agreed. "Hotaru also made me realize that there is not only black or white in the world, that there is grey, and the grey is the uncertainty that we may come across that may hinder our final decision."

"Interesting," he said, "I never really thought about the grey."

Right then, I really wanted to see Helios. I missed him so much, even just thinking about him made my heart ache. It didn't make sense for me to miss him so much when I hadn't even seen him but a few times, or even really got to know him, and yet I do. I put my head in my hands trying to hold back tears that had started forming. I didn't want Kaden to see them and ask why I was crying; I wasn't ready to talk to anyone about Helios, least of all to him.

Unfortunately, he noticed that I was crying and put his arms around me, cradling my head to his chest. "Are you ok, Serenity?"

"I'm ok," I told him wiping away my tears. "I was just thinking about a friend that I miss. It's been a long time since I last saw this person too."

"Maybe you will see them again someday," Kaden said.

Just then Palla burst through the door. She looked a little stressed out about something and I knew right away that something was wrong. "Usagi, you need to come with me quickly!"

"What's going on?" I demanded pulling away from Kaden, wiping away my tears.

"It's your father, King Endymion, I just heard he collapsed just before he was to get on the plane to go to America," she answered.