"Your majesty..."The advisor called cautiously. He watched as Darien's grip became tighter on his forms. "I need to you to sign these forms so I can go get them processed as quickly as possible. The princess..."
"How long, has she knows about this missed signature?" Darien gritted his teeth.
"Uh...Ummmm..." The advisor looked cup to see Darien's guards looking at him.
"Did you guys know?" He quickly turned to him.
The four looked at him surprised.
"I am no fool, I know you still talk to Mina, Malachite, and don't think I am not aware of your fire dates with Rei, Jadeite."
"Fire date?" Zoisite blurted out confused. "The hell are fire dates?!"
The other guards turned their attention to him, shaking their head.
"Sorry." Zoisite looked down.
"Did either of you know!?" He slammed his hand down.
"Sire we had no idea." Nephrite confirmed.
"And sire, I... I got h..here as soon as I could." The advisor trembled.
"When did you find out?" Darien looked straight at him.
"A few hours after the signing, I rushed back." He explained.
"When did you tell the princess?"
"Shortly after you took off."
"Why didn't anyone call the shuttle back? Why didn't anyone try to reach me?" Darien's breathing became labored.
"You see... sire..." The advisor's hand started to perspire. He wiped them on his pants.
"Did she tell you not to!?"
The advisor wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Sire, maybe we should give the advisor a break. He is only doing what he was ordered to do."
"I should have been called!" Darien yelled, throwing the forms across the floor. Everyone watched as they slowly landed.
The advisor quickly rushed to pick up the form.
"Leave them there."
The advisor looked at him confused. Then looked at the forms.
"That is an order. I will not be signing them."
"S...sire..." The advisor took a small step towards Darien, then abruptly stopped as he saw the guards stand behind him.
"You can leave." Darien gave him a long glare.
The advisor just shrugged and nodded. Forehead still glistening, he packed his things, went back and forth in his head on whether or not he should pick up the forms. When he was done. He stood there, using his briefcase as a shield.
"I will be paying my wife a visit, and as she ordered you too, don't say anything to anyone." He turned and stormed out the room.
"Thank you so much advisor." Jadeite sighed. "I guess we will be seeing you soon on the moon."
The advisor nodded once and scurried out, as the guards looked at each other amused by how terrified the advisor was of them.
Malachite turned to Jadeite, "Did Rei say anything...?"
Jadeite simply shook his head no.
"So you two are an item!" Zoisite clapped in excitement. "I knew it!"
Jadeite and Malachite shot Zoisite a glare, and the excitement faded.
"Did Mina?" Jadeite asked knowing the answer.
Malachite shook his head no.
"How could they not tell you guys these things? Shouldn't you couple communicate?" Nephrite asked.
"First of all Mina and I are not a couple." Malachite clarified.
"Note yet anyways." Zoisite chimed in.
"Regardless." Jadeite cut everyone off. "The scouts loyalty will always be to the Princess above all else. Their bond is something different. We cannot be mad that this was kept from us. They, like us, have their duties. Now, our duty, to deal with our prince."
"Yeah, make sure he doesn't do something stupid." Zoisite sighed.
A few hours had passed, the guards decided to give Darien some time to cool off before approaching him in his office. They stood outside his door, all took one deep breath and slowly opened it.
"We are going to hold a ball." Darien announced before they could all actually enter.
"What are we going to be celebrating?" Malachite asked reluctantly.
"Why...me being newly divorced of course, but not really divorced, but you know what I mean. I might as well find my next conquest right?" Darien forced a smile. "And once i do, we will take her to the moon, and I will have her by my side as I sign the final signature on my form. Showing that moon princess I do not need her. If anything she needs me."
"And there goes his something stupid." Zoisite whispered under his breath to Jadeite.
"You have something to say Zoi?" Darien crossed his arms.
Terror washed over his body. "N...no sire."
Darien just stared on.
"Well," Zoisite looked at the other guards. Took a step forward. "Sire, speaking not just as your general, but as a friend. Please think this through."
"Think what through? She didn't even have the courtesy to call me back to sign the forms."
"Sire this is Serena we are talking about." Nephrite corrected. "It was hard enough for her to sign it the first time."
"And what? It was so easy for me? For god sake I love her... well loved her. And I have never said that about anyone."
"What she did must have been out of anger and hurt." Malachite enforced. "And it does not make it right, but two wrongs don't make a right. We know you are hurting. And we know you want this marriage. But throwing this ball is not going to fix anything, if anything it will cause a rift between the moon and earth."
"Why should I care? Earth will be fine." Darien disputed.
"BECAUSE YOU LOVE HER! And if anything happened to her, you would never forgive yourself." Malachite yelled. "And if you throw this damn ball and follow through with your plan, any chance you had with her will be out the door, and you two will be miserable. Call me insane but as your friend, above all else, and as someone who has grown fond of the princess, I cannot stand to see that. You love her."
"And does she love me?!" Darien screamed in frustration. "Because from what I see, she wants nothing to do with me. She didn't want me to turn back around. So, she obviously does not want to see me." His eyes started to sting.
"Darien, your papers are not signed. Meaning you are still married, this could be your last chance." Jadeite calmly explained.
The days passed by so slowly. Back on the moon, Serena felt like there were moments when time just stopped. She went through the motions of what was her life before being married. She moved and booked meetings back to back, so she could avoid the scouts as much as possible. And if she was not in a meeting, she trained on her own. She not sure if she was mad at the scouts or too embarrassed to face them.
The fatigue on her face, and fact that she had spent her nights crying herself to sleep did not go unnoticed. Molly would find any reason to check on her, but each time, Serena just dismiss her.
"Serena..." Mina whispered, as she slowly approached. Serena turned her head to her direction. Breaking one of her random trances.
"Why haven't we received the final copies of the signed divorce papers?" She nervously bit her nails.
"I am not sure." Mina whispered putting her hand on her back, to calm her down. "Please stop biting your nails, your mom will bit be happy to see that."
Serena just rolled her eyes. "Have you heard anything from the advisor?"
"No honey, I have not." She rubbed her back, to calm her nerves. "We have tried to reach his office too."
"What is taking so long?" Serena stopped biting her nails and scratched her forehead.
"I am not sure." Mina answered putting a comforting hand on her back.
"We should have received a copy by now." She started to bite on her thumb nail. "Do you think something happened? Why haven't I haven't heard from the advisor?"
"Calm down Serena."
"Calm down?!" She turned her attention to Mina. "I want this weight off my shoulder! I just want to be free! I am tired of being made a fool of!"
"You don't mean that."
"The hell I don't!" Serena snapped.
"Serena, please, I am not trying to make you upset." Mina's voice pleaded.
"Then stop talking about this. Go locate the advisor, and get me a copy of that divorce paperwork." She ordered.
Mina curtseyed, and walked out with her head looking down. She walked through the cracked door she came in. Closed the door behind her to see the scouts waiting didn't need to ask. Her face said it all. And together the four dragged their feet down the hall.
More days passed between the interaction between Mina and Serena. The girls grew more concerned as Molly would report the princess not eating and her clothes needing to be taken in. She continued to avoid them. Pretending to be in some important discussion or reading as they pass each other in the halls. The dark circles under her eyes did not go unnoticed by anyone. The servants whispered amongst themselves.
The halls of her palace often seemed a mile long whenever she had to walk them. It was like no matter how fast she walked the doors were so far apart, and the risk she would bump into someone.
She passed the dining room, to hear the sound of laughter. It had been some time since she heard genuine laughter. All the laughter she hears are in her meetings and they all sounded forced. She placed her hand on the door. Part of her tempted to see what the laughter was all about, but she was in no mood to laugh.
"I know you are still hurting and I know you have a lot of emotions, but is that what you really want to be miserable? To be shut off" She whispered to herself. "You can't be miserable the rest of your life." She put her hand to the door, and pushed so lightly. She did not want to cause whatever moment was going in the dining room to become awkward because the truth was nobody knew what to say to her. Even she didn't really know what to say to her.
She opened the door just enough to see her scouts sitting at the table. They were obviously towards the end of their meal. Crumbled napkin covered their plates. She really did try to sneak in, but she should have known Rei would have sensed her before she could cross the threshold.
"Look who finally broke away from work, to spend time with her friends." She teased. Rei could sense the tension Serena was feeling. She could feel how uneasy she was.
"Please get out of my brain Rei." Serena demanded as she walked towards her scout.
"Can't. It is my job to know everything going on." She shrugged sipping her coffee.
"Come on sit with us, we miss you." Lita said kicking out a chair for her.
"I really should go to work."
"Or! You can sit here and hear the details on Rei's last fire date!" Mina blurted out, only to suddenly feel a blow to her shin under the table. "Oww!" She yelled glaring at Rei.
"Fire date? What the hell is a fire date?" Serena said sitting down.
"She and Jed set up nights where they sit and talk through the fire." Mina explained with a gigantic smile.
"Why they don't just call each other...beyond me." Lita explained rolling her eyes.
"That is too boring." Rei and Mina said at the same time. Mina's voice in a mocking tone.
"I do not sound like that." Rei said crossing her arms.
"Keep telling yourself that." Mina said. "And get this...they stay fully dressed the entire time."
"Not everyone makes it a point to be in a bra and panties while they are on the phone with a specific general." Rei shot back.
"Wait who?" Serena asked just as blown away. She was still processing the idea of Rei with Jadeite.
"Oh come Sere, you know who." Lita answered.
"Malachite?" Serena took a guess.
"Wow! You said that so surprised. Have you never seen how they just undress each other with their eyes?" Lita pretended to gag.
"I mean, I noticed him flirt with her, but..." Serena looked up, trying to remember all their interactions in front of her.
"Unlike him, I know how to keep it professional, above all else I am your scout. And there is nothing going on." Mina looked down at her plate.
She looked at Lita and Ami, who looked back at her. "And...you two?"
"No...no.." Ami immediately answered. "Never mixed business with pleasure, only leads to complications."
"And honestly, the other two are amazing guards and fighters but outside of that...?" Lita just shrugged and leaned over the table.
"That is because you never take time to really get to know them." Rei responded. "Ami is always in her books and analyzing whatever, while all you want to do is train and..."
"Watching over me." Serena finished Rei's sentence.
"It is our duty to make sure you are safe and, that is that." Ami smiled.
"I guess." She cleared her throat. "I never thought about how this would have affected all of you guys." She attempted to flatten the crease in the table cloth in front of her. "We went from just us five to basically ten, eleven if you count Molly." Serena bit her lower lip. "Then I just ended it."
"Sere, it is fine. Really." Rei ensured. "We are not angry, this is life we vowed ourselves too."
"Do you miss them." She asked. Eyes wide open. "Like if you could go be with them now."
"Serena... it is no biggie, really. We still get to talk to them when they aren't busy." Mina forced herself to smile. "We are happy to be here with you."
Serena looked at her four scouts faces looking back at her. And maybe it was in her head, but there was something missing from each of them. They were still the same person, but there was just something different. Her heart pounded so hard she could feel it in her throat. She cleared her throat one more time. Deeply sighed. "I am ordering you guys take a vacation."
All four faces displayed confusion, at the same time.
"Look the new guards are trained, and I am booked back to back with meetings, so it is not like I can really go anywhere."
"Serena."
"No Mina, I know everything has taken a toll on you guys, the back and forth travel to Earth, and back to your planets, along with checking in on me." She tried not to sound ungrateful. "And the training. You all deserve it."
"We can't leave you alone Sere." Lita explained. "I will stay with you. It is not that I have a guard." She tried to lighten the mood.
"You won't know unless you really give it a shot right?"
"No but really, we can't leave you all alone. As your scouts we really can't. One of us has to always be around." Mina explained.
"You guys left me on Earth." Serena refuted.
"Because the guards and your hus-"
"Ex-husband." Serena corrected.
Mina acknowledged Serena's correction. "Either way, it was different situation, and you had protection."
"Ladies I will be fine, you all need the time off. You should take the time off. Go to Earth or where ever you want to go. I promise I will be okay. I won't even leave the castle."
"Sorry, Sere. We really do appreciate your thought, but we can't leave you alone."
"Again, I said I will stay with you, you guys go." Lita said.
"That's not fair to you, Lita."
"Again, it is not like I have some waiting for." She lightly chuckled. "I will stay here with Serena, you guys go down to Earth. Mina your face more than anything says that is where you want to be."
"And I really wonder why? Considering there really isn't anyone she knows down on Earth." The five turned towards the door, to see Molly escorting the 4 guards and all the way in the back prince Darien.
"The Prince and his guards." Molly quickly bowed her head, looked up to Serena, and mouthed 'sorry.'
Serena and the scouts stood up. Mina and Rei taking a stance in front of Serena.
"We are not here to hurt her." Malachite explained.
"Speak for yourself." Serena whispered glaring at Darien.
"You think I would travel all this way to attack you." Darien voice raised. "If I wanted to I would have sent thousand of ships from my throne, with one word."
"Am I supposed to be grateful that one of your little tarts didn't talk you into doing so? Why are you here?"
"Well I would have been here a lot sooner, had you not increased the security." Darien pointed out. "And blocked my attempt."
"He has been trying to come to the moon?" Mina whispered to Serena over her shoulder.
"A few times actually." Darien explained.
"You blocked him?" Mina clarified.
"One. I didn't know it was him. Two I have to protect my people, so I tightened entrance security." Serena crossed her arms.
"Protect your people or avoid me?" Darien's fist clinched.
Serena just shrugged.
"Stop." Ami demanded. "Gentleman, why are you here?"
"Well I figured, I pay my dear wife a visit."
"Ex-wife." Serena made it a point to correct him.
"Actually." He smirked. " We are still married.
Her heart stopped.
"I sent your advisor away, and ordered he not contact you, until I got to tell you the great news. Figured you didn't turn the shuttle around for me to sign the forms right away, maybe...just maybe you still wanted this marriage after all, and that little act you play, is nothing, but an act."
Mina and Rei suddenly held their breath.
"You didn't sign the papers." Serena whispered.
"Nah... I decided I was going to hold off on that."
"Sire..." Nephrite whispered. "This is not why we came here."
"Oh I know." He looked back at Serena, "I figured since I am still Prince of the Moon by marriage I should really get back to being involved with the meetings."
"No wonder I haven't received the copies." Serena's breathing got heavier.
"Serena?" Ami whispered concerned.
"Guys this can't be happening." Her eyes started to tear.
"Serena, calm down." Rei and Mina turned to her. As the guards shot angry glares at their prince. "We will fire this out."
"This can't be happening... hasn't he made a big enough fool of me?" She put her hand over her chest.
"Serena...maybe..."
"Maybe what Mina...?" She finally looked up at her lead scout. "Forgive and forget?" Serena shook. "I cannot do that." The tears started to flow from her eyes. She looked at him. "He embarrassed me so bad, in front of the entire kingdom, he played me for a fool, made me feel things that weren't real. And now this?!"
"Sere calm down." Mina caressed her head. "What he did was wrong."
She wiped her the tears as the flowed from her eyes. Her face red, either from anger, embarrassment, even she didn't know.
"Sire..." Malachite whispered to Darien as he just stood there like a statue. "You need to say something, anything to stop this sire. You came here to fix this."
Darien remained dazed.
Jadeite approached Darien from the opposite side of Malachite. Hands folded in front of him.
"Serena.." Jadeite called.
"Please don't say anything... you all knew about this? Did you?!" She looked angrily to her scouts. "Don't lie to me Rei, you already told me about those fire dates."
"Serena, we had no idea they were coming."
"Is that why you were all so hesitant to leave, because they were already on their way here!?"
"No, Serena. We had no idea!" The girls defended themselves.
"Serena..." Malachite started.
"That is Princess Serena." She spat, putting Malachite in his place.
"I apologize your majesty." Malachite bowed. "But nobody other than a few air traffic people knew."
"Until they get paid enough to leak to your disgusting Earthling tabloids." She shook her head. "Again, Princess Serena the idiot."
"Nobody thinks you are an idiot, and please believe us, we had no idea they were coming." Mina pleaded.
She looked around the room. "I need to get out of here."
"Serena where are you going?" Lita walked towards her.
"I have another meeting, and I can't go in looking like this... I need to go. Lita come with me."
Lita nodded.
"And Lita, keep him the hell away from me. That is an order."
"You are to dismiss that order!" Darien demanded.
"Prince Darien, you can pretend all you want that we are married. I don't care." She chuckled. "But as long as you are in my palace, you have no power to order anyone around."
The feeling of being caught between a rock and hard place washed over Lita. She looked at the scouts, Darien's guards, and then Darien.
"Sire, please say anything." Jadeite pleaded.
"There is nothing he can say. He wants to keep playing his games, he can play them, just don't expect me to care."
Serena stormed passed the men, Darien quickly moved to grab her wrist but he was not fast enough. With Lita quickly scurrying behind her.
"I cannot believe he is here!" She yelled. "You swear on everything, you had no idea!" Serena whipped around.
"I swear on everything." Lita answered.
"And Mina and Rei?" Serena emphasized.
Lita's eyes moved from side to side. Then back down. "I am not 100 percent sure." She finally whispered. "But they would never do that to you. You will always be their top priority."
Serena quickly turned around and started walking again.
"Why the hell didn't you tell us you were coming?" Mina scolded as she took a step at the guards, back in the dining hall.
"Hmmm I don't know why that would surprise you. You didn't you tell us about the papers?" Zoisite responded.
"So this is what this is?" Rei questioned. "Revenge?"
"No, we figured you would at least understand where we are coming from, he told us not to tell so we didn't." Jadeite explained. "Our loyalty is to him above all else."
Words she knew she had spoken before, but for some reason these ones cut deeper from him. She just nodded.
"Gentleman, there is a lot of emotion here" Ami speaking up.
"Luckily nobody asked you for an opinion." Darien glared cutting her off.
"Don't you dare talk to her like that."
"Rei calm down." Jadeite trying to calm everyone's emotions.
"Of course take his side." She threw her hands up in the air. "Be miserable as him. Whatever." She exited the room.
"Rei!" Jadeite yelled.
"Why are you all really here?" Mina asked desperately. "And please don't say anything to do with the new soldiers, because he has no reason to be here for that."
"I don't owe you any explanation." Darien responded before another guard could speak.
"Whatever, Darien."
"That is Prince Darien." He corrected.
"Fine, Prince Darien, if that is how you want to play. All we can say is good luck." She looked to Ami, cocked her head towards the door, and headed out.
The men watched. As soon as they were officially gone and they could no longer hear the pounding sound of their foot steps.
"Really Darien, you said you were going to come here to sweep her off her feet remember that?" Malachite shouted. "You did the complete opposite of that!"
"We agreed to sneak your ass through, because you promised you were going to fix this!" Zoisite gritted his teeth.
Darien took a step towards the table. Four plates with food, and four cups was the only thing that caught his eye. He turned to his guards. "She's lost weight."
"Yeah because that is important." Nephrite rolled his eyes. "Not the fact that we just pissed all 5 of them off and if they really wanted to they can blast our asses home."
"They would never do that." Darien replied.
"At this point sire, you keep digging your grave and I wouldn't be surprised."