Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Decided Bride ❯ Something's Strange ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Luna was walking along the hallway on her way to the girl's rooms, smiling to herself at the thought of them all lying in bed asleep, oblivious to the fact that their dreams would soon be interrupted by their stern governess.
She chuckled as she opened the door to Lady Mina's room, and immediately upon stepping inside, she found herself enveloped in a world of orange, yellow and golden hues. She could hear Mina's soft breathing coming from the bed. She walked over to the window and pulled back the curtains with a tug upon one of two massive ropes that hung either side of the window. The sunlight poured into the room, warming it up almost immediately.
Mina rolled over to keep the light from her eyes. Luna moved towards the bed and gently shook her by the shoulder, "Princess, it's time to get up," she said, none-too gently. Mina whimpered as her eyes slowly fluttered open.
"Mmmm, not time yet, Luna. It's still too early," she murmured. Luna grinned a little. Just like Serenity in all but name, she thought to herself.
"Oh, but it is time. Come on, don't make me come back in here to get you," she warned as she moved towards the door and disappeared back into the hall.
She next opened Ami's bedroom door and entered her aquatic world, where everything swam in blue. Ami was lying with one hand tucked under her pillow, the other draped over her chest. Luna opened the curtains, and gently prodded Ami.
Ami's eyes opened and her face lit up in a broad smile as she stretched her arms over her head, "Good morning, Luna, how did you sleep?" she asked sweetly. Luna smiled, indicating that she had indeed slept soundly and after chatting for a few minutes, she excused herself and left Ami to it.
Soon she stepped into Rei's glowing chamber. She always felt warm in there, since the Martian Princess liked to have her room well heated, and it was emphasized by the warm reds within her bedchamber. As soon as Luna opened the door, Rei stirred, "Morning already?" she muttered under her breath as she swung her long legs from under her cover as she sat up.
Luna gave her customary greeting, and as with her other charges, opened the curtains. She asked how Rai felt, and she could have sworn she had heard something that sounded like a "fine" coming from Rei's general direction as the raven-haired young woman strode towards her closet. Luna rolled her eyes as she left the room, closing the door behind her as she went.
She crossed the threshold into what she called -- Lita's inner forest -- that's how she had always thought of the room bathed in emerald-green. She opened the door slowly to find Lita already awake, doing sit-ups in front of her open window.
Noticing the elegant woman enter her room, she stopped and looked up, "Hey Luna, how are you?" she asked cheerfully.
"Just fine, thank you," replied Luna with a smile, "I can see I'm not needed here." Lita laughed and resumed her exercise as Luna exited the room and continued on her rounds.
Luna sighed to herself as she approached her final destination. She always left Serenity till last, since it always took her so long to wake the sleeping princess. This way the other girls would not be woken up too late.
She sighed upon opening the door, and nearly fell over at the sight of light streaming into the room from the balcony. Serenity was sitting at her writing table, scribbling away with a quill, already dressed for training. Luna meant to say her name, but it came out more like a squeak. Serenity turned in her chair and gazed at Luna with a gentle smile, "Good morning, Luna, are the girls up yet?" Serenity asked.
Luna tried to regain her composure, but failed miserably, "What are you doing out of bed so early?" she asked, a little shrilly.
Serenity's smile broadened, "I'm working," she stated simply.
Luna walked over to the Princess and felt her forehead, "Are you all right?"
Serenity giggled a little at her 'nurses' shocked expression, "I'm fine Luna. I just woke up early, that's all. Is that wrong?"
Luna stared down at her gentle face. Serenity seemed too calm, Luna told herself, her curiosity piqued.
"No… No… it's not wrong…just unusual. Are you sure you're feeling all right?" Luna asked, still rather puzzled.
Serenity nodded slowly, "Yes, I'm fine," she responded, turning her attention back to what she had been doing, "I'll be in the dining hall soon. Just let me finish this," she told her governess, and with that she returned to her writing. Luna walked slowly back towards the entrance to Serenity's room and paused for a moment, looking back over her shoulder at Serenity. Something is wrong with that girl, I just know it. She never gets up early, Luna thought to herself as she closed the door, maybe the Senshi can shed some light on it for me, and resolved to ask them about it later. Luna's thoughts soon turned to her other duties that still needed to be done.
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Serenity let out a sigh of relief as the door closed behind Luna. She had just finished throwing on her training uniform and sitting down when Luna opened the door. Fortunately, the letter she had been composing to Haruka the previous afternoon was still there. So she quickly grabbed the quill and started to write. Now as she gazed down at her words, she realized she would have to re-write the whole letter, since what she had scribbled down upon Luna's arrival made no sense.
She sighed as she got up from the table and went to put her -- boy's clothes -- into a safer hiding place. She was glad that they had training that morning, otherwise Luna would have stayed to help her do up her hair once she had finished dressing, and would have surely noticed the clothing in the closet when she went to get her dress. After finishing the letter, she walked out onto her balcony and leaned against the railing. After a few minutes, she straitened, and headed towards the door to her room before making her way into the hallway. She knew the girls would be already up and hopefully dressed by now.
Lita was coming out of her room and she smiled as soon as she saw her, "Usagi, good morning, are you feeling less tired than usual?"
Serenity could see that Lita had already been exercising by the light sheen of sweat that graced the girl's face, "Yes Lita, thank you, I feel more awake and refreshed," the princess replied.
Lita smiled as she pounded on Rei's door. "Come on Rei, time to go eat!" she called through the door. Serenity could hear Rei yell something from the other side, but didn't catch what she said. Lita just laughed.
Soon, all the girls were sitting in the dining hall eating breakfast.
Queen Selenity walked in just as they were finishing, "Good morning girls," she said, a gentle smile gracing her pale face. The Senshi offered their good morning's as a few maids entered the dining hall to whisk away the now empty plates.
Everyone was getting up to leave when Selenity gently placed her hand on her daughter's shoulder, "A moment, Serenity please," she said quietly. Serenity asked the girls to go on without her and turned to her mother who sat down in the chair next to her.
"What is it?" Serenity asked.
The Queen looked tired, as though she had stayed up much of the night, "Sit down, my dear," she began and Serenity obeyed. Her mother gazed at her with a worried expression, "Are you feeling all right Usagi? I heard you were late last night for your meeting with the girls, and Luna says you were…different this morning. Is anything wrong?"
Serenity tensed, "It's not the first time I've been late, mother. And as for this morning, I simply couldn't sleep, so I was up before Luna came in. Is there something wrong about that?" she asked defensively.
The Queen sighed, "No, of course not, my dear…I was just seeing if you felt all right. You're right, you have been late, but not by three hours. Where were you?"
How on the moon did she know everything? Serenity wondered and shrugged as she started on her reply, "I lost track of time in the garden," she stood up slowly and spoke once again, "I really should go to training…." She let the sentence drift and her mother nodded. Serenity quickly planted a kiss on her mothers head before leaving the room.
Selenity sighed again as she stared at the doorframe where seconds before, her daughter had exited. Luna's right, she thought to herself, there is something strange about her today. Selenity looked down at her graceful hands folded in her lap. She sighed again, knowing that the Earth prince's visit would be in vain.