Seeking Love

Chapter 19

The cold night blanket covered the sky, and everyone made it back to the palace. Both guardian's and soldier's feet were sore, Endymion could feel a rock pressing against his heel. The Earth generals were grateful for the teleporting technology within the palace, and used it to freshen up in their rooms before super. The finest food was set ontop of the mahogany dining table. The atmosphere had made a complete 180 from previous dinners. Nobody wanted to say a word, and Mina tried her best as a host to keep a continuous flow of conversation. Courses came and went, readily to be slurped, chewed, and swallowed. It wasn't that the food was bland or laking creativity, but Serenity could tell the day was far from being saved by food filling empty stomaches.

"Excuse me, Princess. I have a letter from the Queen," a servant stood beside Mina. He held a white envelope with the red royal seal pressed at the closure. Pulling at the opening, her hand whisked out an ivory card with delicate black ink...

The Moon Kingdom requests the pleasure of your company at

The Moon Ball

held in the honor of

Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom

and

Prince Endymion of the Earth Kingdom

for their celebration of engagement

Saturday, July 10th at

eight o'clock in the evening

The White Cherry Gardens

Black Tie Event

Serenity had her eyes pinned to the parchment in Mina's hand. What was it? Soon enough, Mina read the script out loud for all to hear. Serenity's eyebrows couldn't have gone any higher. For one, how did her mom get these ball invitations past Ami? Those letters were now making their way to numerous guests from all across the Galaxy. No way to intercept them now! She could hear her mother's excuse, "It is for the U.G.C," but she knew it was more due to the official sealment of her engagement to the Prince. No way was she going to fall in line for this. If her mom wanted to force her hand, then Serenity would have to use something hidden up her sleeve. Of course, it would all involve keeping her cover for the next week until the date. Her mother, sometimes she had to wonder if they truly shared royal blood.

Earth Year: 22nd Century 57th Earth Cycle

Etsu had emerged from the sewers a few hours after Takeshi. They were back to surviving on their own, it had been a year since their rebirth. Life was different now, they no longer had to live below the walkers, now they joined them. Sir not only trained them in combat and fighting, but taught them the necessary grammar and etiquette to pass as one of them. A total of 5 kids, ages 12 to 16, came from the hole in the wall. Two before Takeshi, Etsu, and then two followed. Takeshi thought he heard at least ten kids training in those small rooms, but when he saw Sir come out, he questioned whether they were the only ones, and stopped his minds from imagining what could have happened to the other five.

Sir cut a fine figure in the evening sun. His hair was a chestnut brown, and looked to have been combed back into a neat fashion with a dollop of gel. He looked nothing like Takeshi imagined him. From the times he felt the man's hands, he thought Sir would be a buff man – his muscles always trying to escape from his clothing type. Now, standing in the light, he was tall, but not built. His body looked like it was defined for agility and speed; Less brute force and power. Sir's face was like a stone. His teeth were clenched, showing off his strong jawline. Nothing else about his face was too prominent, all except his eyes. The man's eyes sparked with gold.

Pacing in front of the new borns, Sir began his orders, "I am going to hand each of you a piece of paper. Upon it is a map of the streets, and the red dot is where you will be living. Each of the families have agreed to take you in. They will not ask questions, blend as I have taught you. Until we meet again my children." His voice still carried the force of a God.

Once Takeshi held his paper, he quickly looked over Etsu's shoulder. They were only two blocks away from each other. The children dispersed, the two friends walked in the same direction, only silence filled their conversation. Neither was ready to talk, their shared experience in the dark was all that kept them from letting their fears of the future escape. Takeshi striding along reached his hand over his pocket, his watch was still there. The wheels had long stopped working, but the picture hadn't faded a day.

It only took a few days for the children to assimilate to their families. Takeshi had a younger sister, Yoko, and they were looked after by Kyo and Maki. Etsu only had Mei-Mei to answer to, an elderly woman. The boys were able to see each other daily. The ice was able to break when school started, and it seemed like their lives were like the other 'walkers' they lived with. Then one fall evening, Sir came knocking at their door within the second year.

Present Day

Three days passed on the Moon. Public speeches by Moon representatives were given about the engagement, the reporters were gobbling it up. The royals came to the conclusion that it was best if they all stayed indoors to prevent photos being taken. Each side came up with their own excuse to cover up their true reasonings. Fortunately, there was no planning to be done for the engagement party, but that left Serenity, Endymion, and the guardians as restless as ever in the palace. With the technology to create rooms, it was easy to be entertained the first few days, but it lasted only as long as their imagination could crank out ideas. Endymion was itching to leave the palace walls. He was here on the Moon to see the planet, not sit in a cushioned chair. That was when he resorted to desperate measures; he called Natsumi.

"Hello?" said a quiet voice. He must of woken her up.

"Natsumi? It's Mamoru." He was pacing across his room. Whenever he was on the phone he couldn't stand to sit still.

"Mamoru! How are you? Are you still on the Moon?"

"Ya, I'm still here." He went on to tell her the endless minutes of boredom, taking out his royal priorities.

"How can you be bored?!" she asked. Her voice clear and awake now.

"I think I need some company."

"Are you asking what I think you're asking?"

"Well.. if you'd want to visit me, I can pay for you to come up."

No sound came over the line. Was the line dead? Did she hang up?

"YYEESSSSS!" Her voice came in and out of the phone as if she was jumping up and down in the excitement of his invitation.

The conversation continued with further plans to get her up to the Moon. He knew that Kunzite would yell at him, but he wasn't going to show her to anyone. If it was anyone's business - he was Mamoru.. a man out on an adventure. He would meet Natsumi when she landed the next day, take her to a hotel. All undercover of course, and he would get out of this wretched palace.

Serenity was left to her own devices, and that was Takeshi. His court date had been moved up to the next day, and she still hadn't spoken to him. What was she suppose to say? Having discussed the problem with Ami and Makoto, they both thought it would be best if she didn't discuss things with him while locked up in a cell. 'The vibe is all wrong in there' Rei had mentioned.

The reality was that he tried to slip by her with feelings, and in the end attacked her. But there was the message he slipped to her. There was something he needed to tell her, and she decided it was time she gave him a chance; now that she was all stitched up again. For a second, she thought about asking the Prince to join her - but thought it would be too risky if the subject of her identity came up.

"Princess..." Mina poked her head around the bedroom door.

"Mina! Done entertaining the Prince?" Serenity asked. Her eyes crinkled with mischief.

"As if! Those men have an endless amount of energy. We keep up though, but I can only play tennis to love a maximum of ten times. Now if it was volleyball, that's a whole different situation."

"Then why don't you play that?"

"Eh.. I don't feel the need to show up our guests too soon." Mina laid down opposite the cushioned bed next to Serenity. Their blond hair mixing into a grove of one. "Princess, how much do you remember of your childhood?"

"Childhood?!" That question was unexpected. "I remember the Queen, meeting all of you, and of course playing in the gardens. Do you remember when we played gypsies and indians?" Serenity flipped onto her front with her hands supporting her head. Those were the days. The times when all that mattered in the world was if your best friend was playing with the 'correct' rules.

"That's all?"

"Of course that's not all, but do you really want me to list every detail? We would be here all night. I have to ponder, why do you ask?"

"Well, Ami hooked me up to that memory thing," Mina began her explanation.

Serenity already had a bad feeling about what was going to come up. She never once let Ami use that device on her. There was a reason why memories were forgotten. "So.. what? You saw one of my memories? Don't be surprised that I know. It was inevitable with those boys poking their noses where they don't belong. The nerve of Kunzite, he couldn't stop asking questions about our water system."

"Back to the memory ordeal." Mina didn't need another earful of how 'annoying' Kunzite was. "The record Ami showed us, it had this raven haired boy in it giving you a rose," Mina told her all that she had witnessed. It didn't seem like any of it clicked in Serenity's brain. A look of clear confusion was all that she could cipher.

"Ya, I don't know anything about that. It couldn't have been anything too important."

"You're probably right. He did look pretty enamored with you though." Mina also flipped onto her stomach, she always had a weakness for 'girl talk.'

"Sure he did, with his little child heart. Enough with this 'memory.' I have bigger fish to fry! Namely, one sitting in a cell." Serenity tried her best to picture what Mina was describing to her, but her mind came up blank. She could picture roses, and the smell - oddly. No boy though.

Serenity was about to press the button on the wall to send her body meters below the surface. There was no need to really plan when she was going to see Takeshi. She could warp there in seconds, that is what made her hesitant. There was no walkway to his cell for her to think and gather herself; she was going to a place where the sun didn't shine.

"Serena, it is good to see you." A voice in the darkness called out to her.

He couldn't see her, no matter how hard he tried Serenity figured. Takeshi had gone from a blinding prison of light, to this hell hole. "Nice to hear your voice Takeshi, are you ready to talk?"

"That depends on a few things Princess." He drew the 'S's out like a slithering snake. "One, I want to know that I'm going to be safe. You have no clue. No clue, what you are dealing with. Second, we can't talk here. Somewhere – more secluded. Without your guards trying to peep in on every word. How about it? Just you and me. Those are some simple requests."

Serenity could imagine his face. Those features sliding from one expression to the next, a mixture of suave and truth, mixed with the danger of risk. "I can't truly promise the first one, but the second – I can work with that."

With a snap of her fingers the two were transported to a room filled with clutter. Hat boxes in one corner, clothes from a long ago age thrown in pile in the other. A mirror attached to a cosmetics station was across a window looking out over the gardens. There were no doors to the room, it must be an attic – a storage room for cheap keepsakes.

"Will this do?" Serenity asked. Where to lead this conversation to now?

"This looks all fine and dandy. All except for the inch layer of dust on everything." Takeshi shaded his eyes from the light coming in from the window, and walked over to the clothes pile to grab a cloak. Moving to the other wall, he covered the mirror. "Need to be a little bit safer then the plain obvious." His master could easily pry into their conversation through reflective surfaces.

No seats were in the room. Serenity hadn't thought about that when she came up with the 'attic' idea. So she sat down where she stood. Hoping that Takeshi would follow suit. She never liked having a man standing over her. Plus, if they were both sitting, there was less chance of any unnecessary combat.

"I'll start from the beginning." Takeshi pulled out a gold chain from his pocket. How he kept it from the guards left Serenity to question her security, but let it slip by. At the end of the chain was a dull circular object. The metal cover had been scratched so much that the engravings on the surface were indiscernible. Her prisoner started from the beginning, when he was a child. His fights in the streets, his training with Sir, and now his life's mission; all which included her.

Endymion looked at his own watch, a time piece given to him by his father; a heirloom of sorts. He was meeting Natsumi at a tea house a few blocks from his 'prison.' He snuck out of the palace under the guise of a servant, but had no luck finding a way to the port to meet his date. Calling her, he gave her an address. A dark blue cab pulled around the corner, and was put into park. Car exhaust filled the air from the pipes, and Endymion covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief. Out stepped the one and only, Natsumi. As striking as ever, she wore a black summer dress. It was made out of slinky fabric, so it clung to her form. The hem was high in the front around her knees, and the back dropped to her ankles. Striding over to him, she put her arms around Endymion's lean torso.

"It's so good to see you," she said while she pulled back to look at Endymion's face.

He knew he must look like a disaster. He ran his fingers through his hair trying to straighten it out, missing the one strand that wanted to objectify his commands. "Let's go in. I've been dying for some company since I got here."

"Glad I could come save you."

Walking into the restaurant, a waiter showed them to a table. Endymion did take note of the tea house's unique qualities. Unlike the traditional ones at home where birds hung in cages, the whole restaurant was a bird cage. Glass filled the gaps between the bars to keep the weather out, but made sure all the sing-song birds stayed in. One yellow bird with black spots around the beady eyes landed on their table. Hoping around, it looked up at Endymion in question for food. On the table was a jar filled with bird seed. Grabbing some in his hands, he let the little bird eat out of his palm.

Natsumi was not so easily entertained with the show. She was just waiting for one of the little twerps to send a present flying down on them. "Tell me about the Moon Mamoru."

Endymion didn't know where to start. Most of it was good. He went over the water system, which Natsumi took a real interest in. Then he went on about Mina. He didn't use her real name, and went with 'this girl.' That really got his side of the conversation going. Mina drove him crazy! No matter how hard he tried, wherever their conversation lead to - it turned right back around to that girl.

Earth Year: 22nd Century 57th Earth Cycle

The loud knocking on the wooden door shattered the illusion of Takeshi's and Etsu's 'walking' lives. A training session was called to beat back into them their purpose for living.

"Now you know how well they live. Those who have been soiled with false ambitions fail to see the jewels they throw out as waste. Do you remember where you came from? That time in your life when 'they' ran you out of your homes, your family?" asked Sir. He was pacing in front of them. They bowed at his feet, their heads to the ground. "Training must begin again. A task has been assigned, however, you will not know of it until I think you are ready. I regret to say, my decision to let you live upon the scum has weakened you. We shall start with some sparring." He clapped his hands together, the resounding sound planting a seed of fire in the children's hearts.

Etsu had been paired with Takeshi. Unfortunately for the odd one out, they were paired with Sir. Their commander pushed them to the brink of death for what he called a 'warm up.' He wanted them out for blood. Stances were changed repeatedly, followed by a smack to the head. Takeshi fought hard, he moved as swiftly as an eagle. Etsu, however, moved like a snake; preparing each move, and attacking at just the right moments. During one match, Takeshi felt like he was going to pass out. He had to finish it. Running towards his opponent, he flipped over a blow marked for his stomach, landed on his hands, and made a pinwheel motion with his legs knocking his friend to the clay ground. He heard the boy's body land hard, and went to go help him up. A streamline of blood was running down the inside of Etsu's leg. Had he been wounded? He couldn't have hit him that badly!

Etsu noticed his stare."Get over it brother." He pushed away Takeshi's hand. "It's part of being a girl!"

Takeshi's eyes reflected the confusion in his heart. What was his friend saying? Etsu must have hit his head! "What?!" he asked while bending over to catch his breath.

"That's right. I'm a G-I-R-L! You know, no berries and stick down there."

This 'boy' who had gotten him through his childhood, given him food, shelter, and the only person he could call family was a girl? How could this be?! Takeshi ran through his mind looking for the signs. Now that he thought about it, he did notice that Etsu's figure had changed slowly over the past months. He passed the 'plumping' for the lack of training with Sir.

"I didn't want to hide it from you, but it was the only way to survive in those sewers. How was I suppose to lead a gang of boys if I came out I was a girl. I was the strongest, bravest, and smartest of you all. You know not for one second would you have trusted me if I told you what I really am." Etsu was looking at her feet, her hands balled into fists. Tears ready to burn there way down her cheeks.

"I don't know if I trust you now!" Takeshi threw his hands up into the air. She was right, he wouldn't have handed over his life to a girl. Not then at least. It was hard enough to put your life in another's protection. "Does Sir know?"

"Of course he knows, that's why he kept me. I had to persuade him."

"Persuade him?"

A dark shadow spread over her face. She was ashamed of what she had to do in the darkness. It wasn't like she trained like the other boys. Her powers were far beyond what they could control. She had the skills far above their highest achievements. "Forget it. Think of me how you want, either way – we are still going to beat those walker's heads in."

Takeshi was speechless. He walked off the circle they were practicing in, and sat on the side. She followed a few feet behind.

"Takeshi.. I'm sorry." She laid her hand on his shoulder warily. "If it helps, we can start anew. As if you never knew me. My new name.. I never told you. It's Natsumi," she confessed. "New name, new life," she chanted. As if the stupid saying would make her situation any better.

Only two chapters for the current update as of now. Thanks again for continuing this journey with me!