First Time Around
It was a beautiful day in the Moon Kingdom, as usual.
The princess and her protectors, Ami, Rei, Lita, Mina,
Michiru, Haruka, Setsuna, and Hotaru were in class.
The teacher was in the middle of a lesson and Ami and
Setsuna were the only ones paying any attention. Mina
was playing with Princess Serenity's hair, while
Serenity was daydreaming. Haruka was arm wrestling
with Lita while Michiru watched, and Rei and Hotaru
were looking through a book of incantations.
"So what's the answer Serenity?" The teacher caught
her off guard. "Uh..." She was blank. "Just as I
thought," Minerva, the teacher, said. "Serenity, if
you ever want to rule this kingdom, you must take your
lessons seriously! Look at you all! Ami and Setsuna
are the only girls paying attention! Out of nine
girls, only two pay attention! I know that all of your
minds are set on tonight's ball, but today is no
different than any other day!" Minerva sat down on her
desk. *Teaching nine princesses is not easy at all! I
wish we could just get this class over with!* she
thought to herself. "Ms. Minerva?" "Yes, Mina, what is
it?" "Well, if your mind is on the ball also, why
don't you just dismiss class?" Minerva firmly stood
against it. Normally. But he nerves were so wracked
that she'd do anything just to get home and relax,
even if it was only for a little bit. "Okay," she said
reluctantly.
Outside, the girls found their way to the royal
gardens. "I wish Minerva would settle down," Serenity
said. "Everyone in the entire kingdom knows that I
don't want to be the Moon Princess." Mina shook her
head. "Serenity, don't talk like that! You are a great
princess! You're caring and graceful and you have a
huge heart! Everybody loves you!" Serenity sighed. "Oh
well... I'm going to pick flowers for the ball
tonight." "It's too bad the Terrans can't come," Ami
said quietly. "Why?!" Rei asked. "All they do fight
and quarrel, why should they come? They'd just ruin
the party." Serenity sighed. "Rei," she said. "What?"
The other girls shook their heads at Rei's fiery
attitude. "Rei, you shouldn't be so negative.
Besides... You just described yourself," Serenity told
her. Rei narrowed her eyes. Serenity turned around to
the flowers. "You can give me mean looks all you want,
Rei, but it's true. You have the most terrible temper
I've ever seen in my life! And everyone knows it. You
really should learn to control it because you're
alienating the whole kingdom. Not to mention how
spoiled you are. I even heard some people from your
planet say so. Your own planet, Rei. If you keep this
up, your kingdom will throw you out." Rei said
nothing. Finally, "Really? Guys? Do you think that
too?" None of them said anything. Rei flipped her
hair. "Fine. Be like that." She stomped off.
"Serenity!" Hotaru exclaimed when Rei was out of
sight. "You've never gotten angry like that before.
What's the matter?" Serenity turned back to them.
"She's always bad mouthing someone, even she doesn't
know them. I just got tired of it. Besides..." She
didn't finish. "Besides what?" Setsuna asked. "I
always see someone in my dreams. He's from Earth, I
know he is. I don't know why I have them, but I do.
I've never seen him before in real life, but I know
he's real. You guys wouldn't understand." She was
right, they didn't understand. "Serenity," Lita said.
"You can't go around searching for a guy in your
dreams. People will think you're nuts! We can't have a
crazy princess." Serenity nodded her head. "Not to
mention that we haven't made peace with the Earth,"
Michiru said. "I knew you guys wouldn't understand!"
She ran off and dropped the flowers she was holding.
Serenity was alone in her private gazebo. She heard
footsteps coming towards her. "Go away! I don't want
to hear it!" A stranger came out. "Oh I'm sorry, Your
Highness. I did not mean to disturb you." A woman with
long, red hair stepped into view. Serenity looked up.
"Oh sorry, I thought you were someone else. Who are
you?" "I am Queen Melina Beryl. I was invited to
tonight's ball." "Oh? Pleased to meet you. Where are
you from?" "Uh..." Melina paused. "From Galaxia," she
lied. "It's much like the planet Earth," she added,
lying again. "Oh wow! You've been to Earth? I'd love
to go. It looks so beautiful from here." She had a
starry look in her eyes. "Oh," Melina said. "I can
send you!" "Really? How?" A map of Earth and an
inkless pen materialized in her hand. "How about
here?" Serenity pointed out. "Okay," Melina said. She
touched the map with the pen and in a flash, Serenity
was gone. "Good, now she should fall to her death. The
universe will be mine! Ha ha!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Serenity was falling from the sky. She landed in a
deep lake. Meanwhile, Prince Endymion and his sister,
Princess Terra was walking their horse along the
shore.
"Did you hear that?" Endymion asked. "Yeah." Terra
turned toward the lake. "There. Look over there, in
the lake!" There was a girl struggling to stay above
water. Endymion took off his shirt and ran into the
water. When he found the girl, she was unconscious. He
picked her up and waded back to shore. He laid her on
the warm, golden sand and waited for her to regain
consciousness with Terra... Finally, she woke up.
"Miss? Are you alright?" Endymion asked. "Ugh. Where
am I?" "You're in our kingdom," Terra said. "No, no.
What planet am I on?" *This girl must have hit her
head pretty hard,* thought Terra. "You're on Earth,"
Terra said, playing along. "Oh wow. I've never been to
Earth before! It's so beautiful!" She said looking
around. Now Terra and Endymion were really puzzled.
"Um.. I think that you need to get some rest, Miss,"
Endymion said. "Oh excuse my impoliteness. I am the
Princess of the Moon." *Really hard,* Terra thought.
"Excuse me? Are you okay? You're talking pure
nonsense," Endymion said. Serenity looked up at him
from her position on the sand. *Oh my,* she thought.
*He looks exactly like him!* Endymion stood up and
stretched out his hand to her. She took his hand and
he pulled her up. She looked up to thank him but their
eyes locked to each other and she could say nothing.
"Excuse me," Serenity said looking down. "I must get
back to my home, I only came to visit." "Where are you
from?" Endymion asked. "I already told you. I'm from
the Moon." Endymion looked back at his sister. She
just shrugged. "I should have know that you would
think I was crazy. You Earth people are so oblivious
to the universe around you. Do you think that Earth is
the only planet with life on it? Mercury, Mars,
Jupiter, Venus, Neptune, Uranus, Pluto, Saturn. They
all have life, all part of the Silver Millenium. My
mother, Queen Serenity, was going to come here with
peace negotiations to see if you wanted to join our
alliance. Then the whole universe would be united. But
you'd probably think she was crazy too." Serenity
started to walk away. She stopped for a moment. "Thank
you for saving me." Then she resumed walking. "Wait!"
Endymion said. *I can't let her get away, she might be
that girl in my dreams.* "Are there really people on
the other planets?" Serenity turned around. Terra was
just looking at the scene with interest. "Yes. We're
even holding a ball tonight. You can come, and see for
yourself if you still don't believe me. Both of you."
"Uh yea, of course," Endymion said, still trying to
decide whether to believe her or not. "No one else can
come." "But our guardians. They follow us everywhere."
"I know the feeling, I also have guardians... Well, I
guess it'd be okay. I never did ask your name."
Serenity's unusual beauty hit Endymion when she looked
up at him. "Uh... um... I'm Prince... Dymion and
this... is my... sister Princess Lerra." Terra shook
her head. "Please excuse my big brother's stupidity,"
she said. "I'm Princess Terra and this is Prince
Endymion." "Thank you," Serenity giggled at the sight
of an almost grown man making a fool out of himself
over a fourteen year old girl. "I'm Princess--" She
was interrupted by eight girls that appeared out of
nowhere in the sky.
"Serenity! What do you think you're doing?!" scolded
Sailor Venus. "You know perfectly well that you are
not allowed out of the boundaries of the Silver
Millenium." She was the center of the eight girls
floating in the air. "As the leader of your guardians,
I suggest that you get back to the palace before your
mother finds out that you're missing." Serenity turned
around to face them. "Leave me alone! I hate being
confined to the borders of the Millenium! And Mars,
you were completely wrong. Terrans are nice. At least
Prince Endymion and his sister, Princess Terra, are. I
even invited them to the ball tonight." Serenity
crossed her arms over her chest as she said that.
"WHAT???" all the girls cried in unison. "Well, fine
Serenity, but you're going to be in trouble with your
mother if she finds out," Sailor Jupiter said. "Yeah,
yeah. I don't care anymore. Earth is the planet that
keeps us where we are and I should be allowed to see
what it looks like." "Okay, okay. Let's go Princess,"
Sailor Uranus said. Serenity turned her back to them
and started talk to Endymion and Terra. "You can be in
this spot at Luna19 tonight. I'll provide a transport.
And wear your best." "Excuse me, but what is a
Luna19?" Terra asked.
"Luna19 is the equivalent to the periodical unit of
the quotidian rotation of the cosmic entity, Earth,
around the galaxy's star called on your planet as
seven o'clock, post meridian hour," Sailor Mercury
said from the sky. "What?" they all asked. Sailor
Mercury blushed. "Luna19 is the same time as seven
PM," she said. Serenity turned around, back to
Endymion and Terra. "Thank you so much for your
hospitality. And thank you for saving me Prince
Endymion." She hugged Terra then kissed Endymion on
the cheek. Then she floated up towards her guardians.
"See you later on!" she called. In an instant, they
were gone.
"You like her, Endy. Don't you?" Endymion broke his
gaze from the area where Serenity was floating. "Huh?
Did you say something?" "Yes, I did. I said that you
like her." "No I don't! We didn't even talk for an
hour, and you're telling me that I'm in love with
her?" "Endy, I said nothing about being in love with
her. I only said that you liked her." "Oh..." Endymion
picked up his shirt and walked back towards his
castle. *Maybe I shouldn't go to the ball tonight. I'd
really love to see the Moon, but I think that Endy and
Princess Serenity should try to hit it off.* Terra
chuckled at the thought of herself playing matchmaker
and walked back to the castle after her brother.
Back on the Moon, the royal terrace was fully
decorated. The tables were sparkling silver, the air
smelled of delicious food. Beautiful music filled the
air. Everything was gorgeous. Queen Serenity and her
daughter were inside the palace having a discussion.
The scouts had gone to prepare for the night's
occasion.
Queen Serenity was very upset. "Serenity, how many
times have you been told that traveling beyond our
kingdom is dangerous? I don't know what I'm going to
do with you. You never listen to me, even if it's for
your own safety. See what I mean? You're not even
listening now!" Serenity wasn't listening at all.
"Ah... I just met the most handsome guy. He's so nice.
I love his black hair...and his deep voice...and his
dark blue eyes. Mmm..." Queen Serenity walked away,
giving up on trying to reprimand her daughter. *I
don't know what I'm going to do with that child!*
Serenity, in remembrance of the time, rushed to the
Millenium controls. She pressed a shimmering, silver
button and a transport was sent down to the lake.
"Hello?" she said into a microphone. "Prince Endymion?
Princess Terra? Are you two there?"
Down on Earth, Endymion was waiting for whatever
Serenity was supposed to be bringing to take him to
the Moon. What he got was a gentle voice echoing in
the air. *Ah darling Serena,* he thought to himself.
He already made up a nickname for her. "Prince
Endymion? Princess Terra? Are you two down there?" he
heard her ask. "I'm afraid that is only one of us,
Princess Serenity," he said into the sky. "Oh Prince
Endymion," she said happily. "Where's your sister?"
"I'm afraid she can't come. She said that she had a
terrible head ache." "Okay then. Well, just wait there
and you'll be up in a few seconds." "Okay." Endymion
waited with a bouquet of blood red roses.
Seconds later, Endymion was in the Moon Palace with
Serenity. "Good evening, Prince Endymion." He walked
forward, his right hand behind his back. "What's
that?" Serenity asked, motioning towards his hidden
hand. He pulled the roses into her view. "These are
for you, Princess Serena." *Oh no. I hope I didn't
just..* "Serena? Hmm... I like that name." *Thank the
gods,* Endymion thought. "Wow, I've never seen red
roses before. We only have white ones here." "White?
I've never seen white." "Maybe I'll show you my garden
later on," Serenity said. She took the roses from his
hand. "I'll go put these on the balcony. I'll be right
back." A moment later, Serenity was back in the room
with an elaborate silver necklace with crystal
crescent moon charms dangling from it. "Endymion. Oh
I'm so sorry. I meant Prince--" Endymion interrupted
her. "You can call me Endymion. Or better yet, call me
Darien." "Oh. Then you can call me Serena. Anyway,
Darien, could you please help me with this?" She
handed the necklace to him. "Of course." Serenity held
up the ponytails hanging from the two buns on top of
her head. Endymion swung the necklace over her head
then closed the clasp. "Thank you Darien." She let go
of her hair. "Shall we?" Darien held out his arm.
Serenity giggled and swung her arm around his. They
walked out of the palace.
Outside, they met up with the eight girls. Each girl
was wearing the color of her respective planet.
Mercury was wearing blue, Mars red, Jupiter green,
Venus yellow, Neptune aqua, Uranus navy, Pluto black,
and Saturn violet. "Endymion," Serenity said. "These
are my friends and protectors, Ami, Rei, Lita, Mina,
Michiru, Haruka, Setsuna, and Hotaru. Also known as
Sailors Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Neptune,
Uranus, Pluto, and Saturn. They're the crazy girls you
saw earlier today." Darien stifled laughter as he
said, "I'm pleased to meet you, ladies." He bowed
slightly to them. "Pleased to meet you Prince
Endymion," they replied. All of the inner Scouts,
except, of course, Ami, were drooling over Prince
Endymion's handsome face and great body. When Endymion
and Serenity left, Rei, Lita, and Mina were still
dazed. "Get a grip," Haruka said, obviously
embarrassed and annoyed. She left with the other outer
scouts.
Across the room, Princess Serenity and Prince
Endymion were conversing with Queen Serenity.
"Mother, I'd like to introduce you to Prince Endymion
of the planet Earth. Dar-- Endymion, this is Queen
Serenity, my mother and supreme highness of the Silver
Millenium." Endymion bowed his head and Serenity
nodded her head. "I'm pleased to meet you Prince
Endymion." Queen Serenity noticed Queen Aphrodite of
Venus signaling for her to join her in a conversation.
"Oh I'm sorry, my children, but I'm afraid I must
leave you two to be better aquatinted. I have some
business to care of." Serenity smiled at her mother as
she left.
A song played by piano and a string quartet began to
sound in the air. "May I have this dance, fair
princess?" Endymion asked bowing to Serenity. She
blushed as he took her hand and kissed it gently. The
contact sent shivers up and down her spine. "Of
course... handsome prince." As Endymion rose, he took
her right hand with his left and put his right arm
around her waist. Serenity rested her left hand on his
shoulder. They glided across the floor, staring into
the other's eyes as the beautiful waltz continued to
play. After several minutes of dancing, they became
lost in their own visions of previous dreams. Still
thinking in her dream, Serenity freed her hand from
Endymion's grasp and wrapped it around his neck as she
laid her head down on his chest. Endymion was drawn
from his own dream by this action but he gingerly
placed his hand around her slim waist and drew her
closer to him. *Mmm.. this feels just like my dreams.
I don't want this night to ever end,* Serenity thought
to herself. At the same time, Endymion was thinking,
*She's too good to be true. The girl from my dreams. I
hope this is reality and not another dream.*
Just then, the music stopped. The couple stopped
dancing, but didn't let go of each other. Then Rei
waltzed by. "Geeze, Serenity, you haven't even know
him for a day yet," she whispered. Serenity didn't
hear her. The Rei's jealously took over. "SERENITY!
THE SONG IS OVER!!!" Serenity and Endymion pulled away
from each other. They were red in the face. "Oh..
Darien, why not go to the balcony? We can talk in
PRIVATE there. We'll still be able to hear the music."
Endymion nodded his head. "Sure, Serena."
After the left, Rei scowled. They've only known each
other for a few hours and they already have nicknames
for each other. What s flirt. Serena. Darien." The
girls were gathered around her now. "Hey Rei, what's
wrong?" Setsuna asked. "Nothing! Why don't you just
butt out!" They all shook their heads at her. "I guess
Princess was right about your bad temper, Rei," Haruka
said. "Shut up, Your Anus. You really are anal
sometimes. Just because you're older, you think you're
better than I am. Well back off, okay?" Haruka just
shook her head. "Hey guys look over there!" Mina said
pointing at the refreshment table. Four guys were
staring at them from across the room. "I'm spoken
for," Michiru said looking up at Haruka. Haruka smiled
down at her and put her arm around her shoulders. "Oh.
It's only a bunch of guys. I'm not really looking for
a boyfriend," Hotaru said. "And I don't have time. I
am the guardian of the Gate, you know," Setsuna said,
emphasizing the word time. Rei, Mina, and Lita ignored
them and put on their most flirtatious faces. Ami
simply blushed and lowered her head.
The guys walked over and introduced themselves. One
with long, white hair spoke first. "Hello, ladies. I'm
Malachite, leader of Prince Endymion's Royal Guard.
These are Nephrite, Jadeite, and Zoicite. They are
also Prince Endymion's protectors." Mina stepped
forward. "I'm Mina and these are my friends, Ami, Rei,
Lita, Michiru, Haruka, Setsuna, and Hotaru. We're
Princess Serenity's guardians. I'm the leader of them
all." While she was saying this, The outer sailors
slipped away to avoid being asked to dance. They all
noticed, but said nothing. "Well," said Jadeite, the
one with short, blonde hair, "would you like to dance
with us?" Malachite held his hand out to Mina,
Nephrite to Lita, Jadeite to Rei, and Zoicite to Ami.
The girls eagerly accepted.
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