Day One

Peace. Slumber. Vacation.

They had been to America before, but never while trying to enjoy themselves. That's right, over one thousand years, and every trip they've ever taken to America was on one diplomatic mission or another.

They decided to take a vacation for the first time in years, and America had been the destination: Maryland, to be more specific. One of the visits to Washington had a small jaunt to Ocean City, and the queen loved it so much, she had wanted to come back. She was only sorry that it had taken her so long to finally get there.

They had gotten to their cottage by the seaside late, and the princess had gone straight to bed. Neither parent thought she took the time to unpack any of her belongings. As the queen stood in her daughter's doorway, she wondered if she even changed into her pajamas.

Small Lady smiled as she turned over in her sleep, completely unaware that someone was watching her from the doorway.

Neo Queen Serenity, or Usako as she was going to be called on this vacation (no one was to know they were royals), watched her daughter sleep, half-wondering what her fourteen-year-old was dreaming about.

She remembered back a couple hundred years – back to when Small Lady was exactly that – small. Her daughter would toss and turn in her sleep, but a smile hardly ever left her face. In the morning, they would sit around the kitchen table, and her little princess would recount every little detail of her dream the night before.

Often times, it included a certain winged horse that captured her little pink-haired offspring's heart years ago.

Two arms wrapped their way around her waist. She smiled as she leaned against the hard chest behind her.

"It's been a while," came her husband's soft voice into her ear. "You haven't watched her sleep in years."

"She hasn't changed much," Usako answered. "She still dreams like she's three."

"I know she does." After another moment, the couple exited their daughter's doorway and headed for their own bed.

"Mamo-chan?" Usako asked as she placed herself into her husband's arms.

"Hmm?" he said softly.

"What do you think she dreams about?"

Endymion smiled. "Well, Usako, what did you dream about when you were fourteen?"

"I was different," Usako smiled as she rubbed her finger around his chest. "I had someone to dream about."

"Well," Endymion mused as he held her closer, "perhaps she dreams about the boy she's going to meet some day."

"Do you think we'll approve?"

"I honestly think she's smart enough to know that we must before she goes anywhere with him."

Usako smiled as she settled in her husband's arms and closed her eyes.

***

The next morning, the sun found Usako out on the front porch of the little bungalow they were staying in for the next two weeks. She was curled up on one of the wicker chairs adorning the small outcropping from the front door. She had a cup of tea in her hands, warming them against the chill coming off of the Atlantic.

She took a deep breath, just taking in all that was around her. Or moreover, what wasn't. It was rare that the family could get away, but even rarer when they weren't away on business, and this trip, they get to play civilian – one thing they hadn't done in too many years.

The waves crashed against the shore, creating a peaceful undertone to the seagulls' constant squawking. She closed her eyes and just imagined her body floating in and out with each ebb and flow of the tide.

The seagulls' squawking had turned into a melody, though she didn't know when, nor really, did she care. She was just drifting…drifting…

"Ahhh!" came a shrill scream that brought the queen back to the shore. Her heart pounding, she got up and ran inside.

"What?" she called frantically as she hurried to put her mug down on the table and rush to her daughter. "What's wrong?"

Usagi slowly pointed to a figure standing across the room seconds before bursting into laughter.

Usako looked where she was pointing. Standing there, with his hands on his hips, was a figure clad in some sort of get-up, clearly the reason her daughter was seized by fits of laughter. Come to think of it, the queen had a hard time keeping a straight face.

"Mamo-chan?" she started softly, hoping her voice was steady, "Darling, what are you wearing?"

He was clad in what seemed to be nylon tights with a pair of boots on the bottom half – not that she minded…she was his wife, after all.

Over his upper body, it seemed like he jumped inside a multi-colored marshmallow – the shirt was so loose, it made him puffy. And the hat – complete with feather! The hat was just what completed the Musketeer® ensemble.

The princess's laughing was getting a bit over zealous, so the queen tried to calm her, but tiny fits of giggles also escaped her lips. However, she knew exactly how to get her daughter to calm down.

"What? Too much?" the king asked as he modeled a bit more for the women.

The incognito queen let out a giggle as she approached him. "Yeah, I think just a little bit. At least for right now." She placed a kiss on her husband's lips.

"Oh, puh-lease!" commented the princess as she sat up, calming her fit.

The queen giggled once more. "Works every time," she said as she turned and walked back towards her daughter.

"Do you guys have to do that all the time?" she asked, her mood drastically changing from giggly to disgust.

"Well," Usako said as she pulled her daughter to her feet, "if you'd stop the first time we ask you to, we wouldn't have to."

"Anyway," Mamoru interjected before one of their famous arguments started, "what do you say we go into the rooms and change so we can get going?"

"Get going where?" Usagi asked.

"A Renaissance Faire." At the princess's confused look, both parents laughed. "Look in your closet. There's something in there for you to wear."

"And you?"

"Yes, will change into something else."

Five minutes later found Usako also searching through the closet, looking for something to wear, when yet another shrill screech echoed throughout the bungalow.

"A belly-dancer?! Dad, for real?"

That caught Usako's attention. She raised her eyebrows at her husband. "Yeah, dad, for real?"

Mamoru caught the look from his wife. Yes, he was in trouble, but the look in his daughter's eyes was too priceless.

"Yes, dear," he said to his pink-haired imp. "A belly-dancer."

"You are the best dad ever!" She ran to him and gave him a hug – well, as best as she could without suffocating in his shirt.

"Mamo-chan, really!" the queen said, turning a disapproving glance towards him. "She's only fourteen!"

He took a breath as he took off the monster shirt he was wearing. "It's also the time period, hon."

"She's going to be walking around half-naked…"

"Did you even look at it? It's a dance uniform – one I picked up at a dance store in Tokyo. It covers more than you think. Don't worry; no big bad boy is going to take her from us."

Usako stopped and thought. "She's not leaving our side."

He put on his normal peasant shirt. "What made you think she was anyway?"

***

A few hours later, the poor peasant, multi-colored gypsy, and hot-pink belly dancer jingled through the gate of Maryland's Renaissance Faire. They stopped just inside to look at the map and upcoming events of the day.

"Papa," came the dancer's plaintive cry, "I'm hungry!"

"It is nearly lunch, isn't it?" the gypsied queen asked. "What's say we go find something to eat?"

They found a place near enough to the entrance that the family didn't have to listen to the bellyaching of the princess for long. They sat down at a table and looked over the menu.

"Mamoru Chiba!" came a new voice to the table. The family looked up and saw a man standing there looking very similar to the oldest monarch. "I never thought I'd see you here again!"

"Derek Masters!" the king stood and shook his hand. "Still running with the faires?"

"Of course! But as a spectator. I don't act in them anymore. I scored on Broadway, so as much as I loved Renaissance Faires, I don't have the time. I wouldn't give that up for anything!"

"Derek!" someone called from the other side of the tent. They all looked over and saw a strikingly beautiful woman waving her hand in the air. When she recognized whom Derek was talking to, she came over with a teenage boy in tow. "Mamoru! How are you?" She embraced him.

"I'm doing wonderfully! Derek, Melinda, I'd like you to meet my wife and daughter, Usako and Usagi."

Derek bowed slightly to the two women, taking the youngest's hand and kissing the back of it. When he stood back up, he looked Mamoru directly in the eye. "And I'd like for you to meet Brad, our son."

"Why don't you join us?" Usako offered as Usagi stood to give more room on the bench.

Brad turned to his parents and whispered, "Can we? I want to talk to their daughter."

Derek smiled. "I guess so. Thanks, Mamoru."

"So," Brad started once everyone was seated, "You guys are from Tokyo, right?"

Mamoru nodded. "That's right."

"Have you ever met the king and queen?"

Small Lady nearly choked. "Yeah," she recovered, "on occasion."

"What are they like? I hear they're awesome."

Ooh, this was too good! "Yeah, they can be when they want to be. They can be quite tough, too."

"How so?"

Usako turned a glance on her daughter. This may not be a good thing – asking her to describe their family in the third person. "Yes, dear. Tell us about your encounters with the Royal Family."

Usagi chose her words carefully. "Well, they're nice enough, but always so just about everything. Like they hardly let up on some things."

"Such as?" Brad inquired.

Okay, niceness be damned. "Letting the princess have a social life outside of the court. She's snuck out a few nights without them knowing just to come to the festivals in town and such. She knows they'd never let her do anything like that."

"So, what about her personality? Is she as nice as she is hot?"

Both Mamoru and Usako burst out laughing as the parents went to get in line, leaving the two teenagers alone at the table. "She is, but she wouldn't go for you, if that's what you're really asking."

"Why not?"

"She's not available, and she's extremely loyal."

Brad got a smug look on his face. "I bet I can change her mind. I can be really good when it counts."

Yeah, she thought just as smugly, I bet you'd try, too.

***

Musicians, peddlers, lords, and ladies abounds! Everywhere the princess turned, there was another shop, dancer, royal, or peasant. Colors became so numerous, she began having a hard time taking it all in. There was just so much!

The Royal family walked down one street after another with their friends, taking in the architecture, the smells, and the shops where trinkets from the Renaissance time period were being sold. Every so often, the princess would find some trinket that she was interested in, and her father would buy it for her.

"Mamo-chan," the queen would admonish softly, "you're going to spoil her."

"I'm her father, and we're on vacation," he answered her as he laughed back at her. "You're supposed to be spoiled on vacation. Besides, it's not like we do something like this every year."

He had her there. The family certainly didn't take many vacations, if really any at all. After the first hundred years or so, they had given up trying, after always being called back home for one diplomatic dispute or another.

But this trip was different. They didn't stay in Japan. This year, they were in America, and enjoying the sites and sounds of a Renaissance Faire – something that made the queen think they needed to have one or two of these in Japan – they were too much fun!

"Mamo-chan, this is amazing!" the queen remarked as they began walking once again. "I'd only heard your stories and seen your pictures, but you were right; this is much better up close."

"More like something out of the twilight zone," the princess remarked.

"Says the girl in the hot pink belly-dancer outfit who just spent a good eighty dollars of her father's money," her mother jokingly admonished.

Usagi glanced at her mother. "Not that I'm not grateful for the gifts, Papa, but look at us! We're dressed up like it's Hallowe'en!"

"Usa," her father sighed, "the dressing up is part of the experience. You can dress normal, but I thought you'd like being different." Just then, one of the actors covered in material all over walked by the family and bow ever so slightly. "Look at it this way, Usa. I could've bought you a dress like that." And he motioned to the passing court member.

"Are you serious?" she said, completely awestruck. "I'd die from heat exhaustion!"

"I know a spot she may enjoy," Brad chimed in as he and his parents caught up to the Royal Family. "There's a spot on the other side of the compound with games and such…"

"A Kiddie Area? Seriously?"

"Usagi, it's not that bad. They don't only have the kids' games; they also have some massive adult ones, too, like archery, axe throwing…no five-year-old can do those." He stopped in front of everyone. "Why don't I take her down there? If she doesn't like it, I can always bring her back to find you."

Mamoru looked at his watch. "It's about three o'clock now, so why don't you do that…"

"Mamo-chan," came the queen's worried tone.

"Don't worry, Usako. She's a big girl; she can handle herself." To the teenagers, he continued, "Meet us at the jousting field by six for the final joust, okay?"

The two teens smiled and soon found themselves walking together towards the other side of the property.

***

Author's Note: Okay, so that's day one! At least what you get to know about it for now...LOL. Review, please!

Oh, and as I said in the first: I do not own Sailor Moon. I just borrow her and her family from time to time.