Okay…I know what you all are going to say…Where the heck has she been these past 4 months??? Did she die? Move? Morph into an animal of some kind? The answer to the last question is yes. I have morphed into a college student; a completely different form of mammal than a human. We rarely venture into the sunlight and we live primarily off of caffeine and nicotine. Seriously I have been swamped with five…FIVE…papers. Not little papers either, long ones. I have finals next week but the schedule's pretty lenient and I've got all weekend to work on this story before Christmas break. Hope you all don't completely hate me for disappearing…*sad face*

I do not own Sailor Moon, but I do own this story line, don't be a thief.

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The Pirate King

Chapter 8: A Declaration and a Proposition

The storm had passed and the night sky was filled with bright stars. A luminescent moon glowed happily down on the group of women crowded in a corner of the deck, speaking in hushed tones.

"Were you scared when you fell overboard?" Mina asked in wide-eyed curiosity.

"Of course I was scared!" she exclaimed.

"Until her boyfriend saved her that is," Raye smiled mischievously.

"He is not my boyfriend!" Serenity felt her face heat up in embarrassment. The girls all giggled in secrecy. Serena couldn't help but laugh along. After feeling so alone, this new camaraderie was…nice.

"What is so amusing ladies?" Endymion asked, appearing out of the dark shadows of the ship's deck. The girls all gasped in shock, hoping he hadn't overheard them.

"Oh, it's nothing…just idle chatter, you know?" Serena replied anxiously. The girls giggled again and she shot them a warning look.

"Well, then you girls won't mind if I borrow Serenity for a while."

"Oh no, she's all yours," Raye laughed. Serena stuck her tongue out at her before turning to follow Endymion.

He led her to the steering wheel platform and stopped, looking up at the stars. Serenity fidgeted, wondering what he wanted to speak to her about and was about to ask when he turned back to her, a desperateness in his eyes.

"Serenity," he began, catching her small, pale hand in his large, tan one. "When I first brought you here I thought you would be the same as all the other hostages. You know, scared and gullible. But you surprised me. You never once stood down from me. After the accident at the Mysterious Isles I admired you for your fortitude."

"But when I saw you fall overboard I knew I didn't just admire you. I was so terrified of loosing you that I put my life at risk to help you. According to the Pirate Code a Captain never abandons his men to save a hostage. But, for once in my life, I didn't care about the Code. All I cared about…was saving you."

Endymion stared down into Serenity's pale blue eyes and placed her hand over his heart. "You see Serenity…I'm in love with you…deeply."

Serenity gazed at him, dumbstruck. He loved her?

"This is the part where you tell me how you feel." Endymion whispered, chuckling slightly.

She lowered her eyes from his to hide her tears. Tears of joy that he loved her. Tears of sadness that his love was doomed. Because she was Princess Serenity, sole heir to the throne of Japan. And he was a pirate. Land and sea. As different as the two sides of a coin. The tears she tried so hard to repress surfaced and slid down her face quietly.

"Endymion…I…we…can't." she whispered hopelessly. "We can't be together, you know we can't. This," she gestured around. "Has been fun but we both know it has to end someday."

"Why does it have to end?"

"Because my father will pay the ransom and I will have to return to him."

"But what if you didn't go back? What if I told him to keep his money? Couldn't this work then?"

"I have to go back to my home. I am going to be Queen one day and I have responsibilities. I can't just drop it all to roam the seas!" Endymion stood with his head bowed, eyes closed. He let go of her hand slowly, letting his fall listlessly to his side. "Please understand…" she whispered in a pleading voice before turning to run back to her cabin.

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Serenity did not leave her room the remaining days before they reached America. Everyday the girls would check on her but they never got any satisfying response. They didn't know what had transpired between the captain and their princess.

Likewise, Endymion was unresponsive. When he spoke it was only to shout an order. Malachite, Zoicite, Jadeite, and Nephlite, who had become close friends, tried to pull him from his shell but to no success.

"I just don't understand what could be wrong with him!" Malachite exclaimed as they sat on the deck.

"The captain is usually much more cheerful when there is treasure in sight." Zoicite commented.

"Maybe he's feeling ill?" Nephlite pondered. A chuckle from Jadeite turned all their attention to him.

"You guys have obviously never been in love." He laughed.

"Love?" they echoed.

"Yeah, you know…You meet a pretty woman and your heart starts beating irregularly…"

"Sounds dangerous, I suppose the Captain is ill." Zoicite said, receiving a smack from Jadeite.

"No!" he sighed. "A girl must have turned him down recently. He's heartbroken…" All their eyes lit up in realization and they frowned.

"If it was recently," Malachite said slowly.

"He was fine when we left Port Mamoru…" Zoicite added.

"There are only 5 women aboard the Fool's Gold." Nephlite said.

"And the one he spends the most time with is…" Jadeite encouraged.

"The Princess!" they all exclaimed at once.

"Yeah, what about her?" The men turned stunned eyes on the group of young women. They sauntered up to them haughtily.

"Oh…we were…just talking." Malachite stammered. Mina's blue eyes bore angrily into his, causing him to blush. But…he never blushed!

"Why were you talking about our Princess?!" Raye flamed, turning violent purple eyes on Jadeite.

"We were just saying how lovely she is," he lied smoothly, flashing a grin to try to impress her. However his charm had no effect on her. Raye's eyes continued to glare at him.

"I can tell when people are lying and it makes me angry!" Lita growled, cracking her knuckles. Nephlite threw up his hands to ward her off.

"Hey calm down. It's really no big deal!" Lita turned to him, her hand forming a fist.

"Then why won't you tell us?" Mina exclaimed. The men looked at each other hopelessly. They knew they had been beaten. And they didn't entirely dislike it.

"Okay, okay…" Malachite began. "But if we tell you what we know, will you tell us what you know?" The girls exchanged brief glances before nodding in unison. They gathered in a large huddle and whispered secretly, occasionally experiencing an outburst from Raye or Mina.

"This is just awful!" Lita cried. "Why did this have to happen? If only he hadn't kidnapped her…"

"Wait a minute," Nephlite interrupted. "If she had acted like a real hostage than maybe the captain wouldn't have been so inclined…"

"So now it's Serenity's fault?" Mina exclaimed.

"Well, of course it is!" Malachite replied.

"I say it's the captain's fault!" Raye shouted.

"That's mutiny!" Jadeite responded.

Ami and Zoicite watched in silence as the six men and women argued heatedly. "Should we end this?" Ami asked Zoicite serenely. He looked at her and smiled.

"Probably but I doubt they would see reason if we tried." Ami nodded her agreement and continued to watch them argue. Zoicite continued to stare at her. "So, are you the Princess's maid or…"

"I'm a lady-in-waiting."

"Which is…?"

"A maid." Ami laughed, Zoicite joining in her laughter. "So what are you?"

"I'm the ship's navigator. I chart our destinations and routes, keep track of our direction…"

"It sounds fascinating." Ami said. "Much more interesting than my job."

"Oh I don't know…If your ward is the Princess, I doubt it is so boring."

Ami giggled. "Yes, she has her moments."

"Okay!" Mina exclaimed, silencing all the arguments. "So it was both of their faults. That doesn't matter. What really matters is that they are both heartbroken. Now what are we going to do about that?"

"What can we do?" Malachite asked. "We can't change the law."

"Logically, the best thing would be for both of them to forget about each other." Ami stated bluntly.

"Logical, but hardly plausible at this point." Zoicite replied.

"If I were Serenity I would just run away with him!" Raye declared passionately.

"Jadeite laughed. "If love could be so simple…"

"But most of the time it is!" Lita murmured.

"It seems our Captain and Serenity are an exception to that rule." Nephlite laughed bitterly.

"So it seems we've reached a stalemate." Ami said flatly. They all stared broodingly at the horizon.

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Chapter 9 will be up before you know it along with all the other chapters. I fully plan on having this story completed before next Friday. Lots of love everybody! Hope you enjoyed it.