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Chapter 5: Drowning in Sorrow

Queen Serenity sat at the table with her daughter beside her and the royals of the earth stationed across from them. They were busy writing their signature across the prenuptial agreement that they had jointly drawn up. The princess did her best to not show how bored she was during this process; especially since there was a photographer jumping around either side of the table to get a perfect picture. After Endymion signed the thick document, he tossed it over to her with a cold gaze. She didn't notice it though as she quickly scribbled her signature at an alarmingly fast rate through the pages. She wanted to get out of that stuffy room and go horseback riding with her fellow scouts. She could feel their anticipation creeping up her back as she signed and initialed each page. When she made it through the fifty page document, she slid it over to her mother gently with a small smile that was captured by the click of a camera. The queen of the moon elegantly went through every piece of paper thoroughly and even found a spot where he daughter had missed placing ink on the dotted line.

"Darling sign here," she ordered quietly, pointing to the large X.

Serenity did as she asked and scrawled her pen across it. The queen beamed at her daughter and then continued to get through the black stained white pages. The minutes ticked away slowly, making Serenity stare at Endymion with curiosity; what was inside that thick skull of his? Clearly it wasn't a brain. She was marrying a man who did whatever his parents said to and seemed like he would jump off of a bridge if they told him it would give him eternal life.

"Finished," the queen announced as she closed up the documents and stood to her feet. The rest of the group followed suit and she extended her hand out to the king, "It's been a pleasure. I look forward to our meeting again at the wedding."

"You'll be returning to the moon, I assume?" The king asked, his voice overpowering the queen's.

"Yes, but Serenity will stay here."

She kept her mouth shut, but her shock was clearly swimming in her face. The queen noticed and nodded to the opposing female royal and to the prince before guiding her daughter away from them. They hadn't detected that Princess Serenity didn't have any knowledge of this arrangement. Once they were out of earshot and away from the pesky photographer, she was allowed to relieve herself of her royal façade and felt like screaming at her mother, but she decided it was best to keep her voice down.

"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?!" she asked in a hushed tone.

"I told you this morning as you were getting dressed," her mother answered. "Weren't you listening?"

"It was six a.m. Mother. I'm not fully functional at that time," she retorted.

"Well, I'll be back in two months for the wedding. Your scouts will be around," she said, keeping her composure. "And I can even leave Luna with you if you'd like. I'm sure if you want larger quarters, the prince would be more than willing to accommodate you since the ones he provided were meant for a temporary stay."

"When are you leaving?" Serenity asked.

"In an hour."

"Will you wait for when I get back from my horseback riding?" she begged. "Please?!"

"Alright, alright."

The princess sprinted down the hallway to her bedchamber and burst in on her scouts waiting around impatiently for her in their riding attire. She turned around and snapped for Mina to undress her quickly out of her royal dress. The queen approached the open door slowly and closed it behind herself, her eyes glittering with wisdom.

"You don't have to rush dear," she said.

"Yes I do!"

"Your majesty when she gets in a state like this, you can't tell her what to do," Mina sighed as Serenity breezed out of her grasp and rushed off to her closet.

In record time, she came hopping out of the walk-in, trying to push her foot into her boot. She finally zipped it up, tied a silk scarf around her neck and asked for Mina to help close up the last button on her crisp, starched shirt. She was handed a pair of tan colored suede riding gloves and her black riding hat by Ami. Once she was fully dressed, they all strolled out of the room quickly with her mother watching after them. Rei led the way to through the palace, down to the side gate and quickly walking down a cement path that lead to the stables. Much to their surprise, there were already some people there; the men.

"What are you doing here?" Rei asked as they approached the hay covered barn.

"We're not about to let you ride on your own," Kunzite declared.

"Oh heaven forbid ladies go off alone," Lita scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Give me a break. We can take care of ourselves, thank you very much."

"We're not arguing that, but maybe this will give us a better chance to bond," Jadeite suggested.

"I think we'll have enough bonding in the future," Serenity quipped as she walked toward the white horse at the very end. She patted its nose as she said, "I'd like to be on my own with my scouts."

"I wouldn't ride that one, if I was you," Endymion's voice stated, cutting through the air. She turned around and found him sauntering towards her in his own riding attire, "This one is rather finicky and pesky. She doesn't like to do what she's told."

"Sounds like someone else we know," Nephrite mumbled under his breath.

Serenity ignored the comment, knowing that Lita was probably slapping him on the shoulder, "I'll take my chances."

"Okay. Don't say I didn't warn you."

The ten of them retrieved their horses, donned on the required gear, and mounted their grand beasts. They started to trot out of the stables to a trail that led down to the beach. When they got to the sandy shore, they all started to ride along the slapping, salty waves. Serenity kicked the horse's sides and made her go into a quick paced gallop in order to get away from the group. The scouts merely sighed and let her run off once they noticed that the prince was doing the same thing.

"So I take it Serenity does this just as much as Endymion?" Zoisite asked as he strolled alongside Ami.

She nodded, "Yup. Any chance she gets to run off and explore on her own, she'll take it and literally run."

"Endymion can take care of himself and that woman," Kunzite commented.

"What makes you think she needs taking care of?" Mina asked, arching an eyebrow at him. "She is just as capable, if not more so, at keeping her ground."

"That's not what we saw last night," Nephrite chuckled.

"What did you see?" Lita asked.

"Oh you wouldn't find it interesting," he shrugged.

"Just like you wouldn't find another punch in the arm interesting," she remarked.

"Aren't women supposed to be non-violent?" Jadeite asked.

"Aren't men supposed to be sex-crazed?" Rei responded.

"Touché."

"Well, last night we saw the two of them talking and flipping a coin at the fountain in the garden," Nephrite explained. "They were playing around a bit, Endymion catching Serenity as she fell, you know that sort of thing. Then as they walked back to the castle, she stopped, whispered in his ear and then next thing we knew, they were kissing!"

"Oh dear goddess of the moon!" Ami exclaimed.

"She's totally going to get him wrapped around her finger," Lita beamed.

"I knew it was a game!" Jadeite shouted as he punched his fist into the air.

The sudden movement made his horse freak a bit and start to run off down the shore. Rei went after him and swung the dark brown horse she was on around in front of his own. The palomino stopped in its tracks and started to back up slowly. Jadeite tossed her an expression of gratitude which she only returned with a heightened eyebrow.

"Do you not know how to ride?" she asked.

"I don't ride often," he said shyly. "When I do, it's for training."

She merely nodded and trotted back to the group who were leading their horses to a metal bar that was meant for tying up reigns.

Down the shoreline…

Serenity slowly came to a halt at the very end of the beach, her eyes squinting off toward the large group that she had run away from. She hadn't heard Endymion galloping after her and was slightly amazed that he kept up after her. She swung her leg around, jumped off her horse and walked up the sandy bank to tie her up on a metal railing. Endymion followed her movement and strapped his own horse next to the white one.

"She listened to you," he said breathlessly. Sweat beads were forming at his brow.

"I think she just needed someone who understood her," she replied as she plopped herself on the ground and started to remove her shoes. She strutted out toward the edge of the shore barefoot as she said with her arms up in the air above her head, "We don't have beaches on the moon. This feels nice."

"It a lovely place," Endymion agreed.

"I'm surprised you're living so close to the water though."

"Why?"

"Battleships can come at any moment and attack your castle," she said. "Didn't you think of this?"

"Yes," he replied with a furrowed brow. "We have lookouts posted all around this beach. If you think I haven't taken precautions, you're wrong."

"Mhmm … well I still find it stupid," she shrugged as she stepped closer into the icy salt water.

"Would you have preferred we live in a desert?"

"No. I just feel like you're too exposed here is all."

"Who are you to make such strategic comments?!" he snapped.

"Your future wife," she replied, still walking into the water. It was now lapping up against her pants right below her knee.

"Serenity, you might want to be careful," he instructed. "The waves can be temperamental."

She turned around and placed her hands on her hips which were now being splashed by the foamy water, "They seem fine to—"

But her sentence was cut short due to a bigger wave than she had anticipated coming up behind her and pushing her down under the water. The current dragged her out further into the ocean and Endymion went racing after her as fast as the thick sea would allow him to. He screamed out her name, grabbing the attention of the scouts who were suddenly frantic and running toward them. He dove down under the water and tried to find her, but to no avail; when he opened his eyes under the ocean, it burned too much. He tried coming back up and shouting her name, but he saw no sign of her.

"Get out of the water Prince Endymion!" Ami shouted at him.

He did as he was told and watched as she walked in gently, placed her hand on top of the jumping liquid and calmed it down considerably. Her palms emanated some sort of blue glow and gestured with her hands to part the water. It exposed some more sand further down the way and there laid Princess Serenity, passed out only a few feet in front of them. Endymion ran toward her and scooped her slight body in his arms. He quickly took her back to dry land as Ami let go of her control of the water. Serenity was laid out on the beach and the prince was about to perform CPR when Rei pushed him aside. She snapped her finger twice in the air, flicked and tapped Serenity's chest three times and then drew her hand above the princess's mouth as she were dragging out a string from her lips. Steam was puffing out from her mouth and suddenly she began to cough. She sat up, clutching onto her chest spitting up what was left of the water in her system.

"Oh my god that burned!" she choked.

"Sorry. I should have snapped once instead of twice; it would have lessened the heat," the princess of Mars responded.

"I don't understand," Zoisite said, "what just happened?"

"I used my fire powers to eliminate any water in her lungs," Rei answered simply.

"And what sort of witchcraft was it that you did?" Kunzite asked, kneeling beside Ami.

"I have the power to control water," she said simply.

Nephrite waited for her to elaborate more and when she didn't, he pressed the blue-haired girl to go on, "What else can you all do?"

"Can we concentrate on what's important here?" Mina asked, rubbing her friend's back.

"Yeah, let's get you back to the castle, Serenity," Lita said as she stood up to her feet offered her friend a helping hand.

Endymion stood up from the sand and scooped the weakened silver haired girl into his arms. He climbed up onto his horse after untying it with her still in his grasp and had Kunzite undo the white beast beside them. It started to holler and whinny at them, but the moment Serenity lifted her sleepy head and shushed it, it went quiet. They all trotted back to the castle and had extra helping hands from servants who were waiting for their arrival. Endymion approached the castle with Serenity still gripping onto his neck tightly, carrying her along like she was a baby. When they made it to the great a hall, a single servant was walking toward them with a silver platter in hand and a piece of paper placed on it. Serenity's blue eyes widened and she wriggled her way out of his grasp. She limped up to the cowering man and snatched the note into her hand. It read:

"Dear Serenity,

I decided to leave earth sooner than I had expected. I apologize for the hasty retreat. Please don't be upset with me. I'll be back shortly, you'll see. I love you dearly.

Xoxo, Mama

PS: I left Luna and Artemis for you and the scouts. She's waiting in your bedchamber."

Endymion walked up behind her and was about to lay a hand on her shoulder when she slapped it out of the air, "Don't touch me!"

She glared at him and started to storm off to the staircase leading up to her quarters. The scouts were going to follow when she yelled at them not to. She wanted to be left alone.

"How did she know that it was a note from her mother?" Jadeite asked.

"It's Queen Serenity's signature when she leaves unexpectedly," Mina answered solemnly.

"She does this often?" Endymion asked.

"She has to. She's called to all sorts of places," Ami answered.

The large group started to trickle off toward the great hall where they could all get some lunch, but Endymion stayed behind. He was about to ascend the staircase when he felt a tight grip on his shoulder. He turned around to find Mina shaking her head at him.

"Let her be."

He did as she asked and followed the group to lunch where all he could possibly do was pick at his vegetables and think about the princess. He was starting to care for her more than he would like to admit.

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