Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Decided Bride ❯ Stable Boy ( Chapter 12 )

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

"You girls will never believe the new stable boy!" Rei exclaimed as she closed the door behind her. She was met with four curious pairs of eyes. "He is gorgeous!" The curiosity in the eyes disappeared and was replaced with laughter.

"Trust Rei to find every handsome man on the planet!" Mina said teasingly. All the girls giggled as Rei sat down on one of the chairs around the table. They were doing some research that Artemis had recommended to them.

"This one is different though," Rei said dreamily, "He is beyond handsome. He's…he's…mmmm." The Senshi burst out laughing at their friend's love struck face.

"We'll have to go and inspect this new stable boy then!" Lita purred, giving Rei a sly grin.

Rei jumped up. "Alright, follow me! But remember, I saw him first!" Everyone looked at her.

"What, now?" Lita asked, a little surprised at Rei's enthusiasm. Rei nodded her head and started to head to the door. Ami and Lita got up too and followed her.

"Are you two coming?" Ami asked over her shoulder.

"No, I think I'll stay here," replied Serenity.

Mina nodded her head. "Me too. You can tell us all about him when you get back." Ami and Lita shrugged their shoulders as they followed Rei out of the room, shutting the door behind them.

Mina looked over at Serenity, allowing her book to rest on her lap. "I have a feeling Rei isn't going to be able to concentrate on studying today," she said. Serenity nodded her head, a small smile on her lips. Mina tilted her head a little to the side. "Usagi, are you alright? You've been looking a little down for the past few days."

Serenity looked Mina in the eyes. "I'm alright Mina, really." She knew that Mina would not give up that easily.

Mina looked at her sceptically. "Usagi, we can tell when there is something wrong with you. You know you can't hide anything from us."

Serenity felt herself blush a little. "I'm just a little nervous about the upcoming visit of the earthlings," she finally replied.

Mina raised an eyebrow. "Nervous? Why? You always look forward to these visits, since you get to have your fun."

Serenity looked down at her hands that were clasped in her lap. "It-it's going to be a little different this time Mina. I'm not going to have my fun," she said in a meek voice. She brought her gaze to be in line with Mina's, and could tell that he Venetian was confused.

Mina brought her chair closer to Serenity's and took the Princesses hands in her own. "What’s going on Usagi?" she asked gently.

Serenity gave her a small unsure smile. "I'm not going to embarrass myself in front of my soon-to-be husband," she said simply.

Mina's eyes went wide. "What do you mean? You're not thinking of accepting him, are you?" Mina looked so shocked that it almost made Serenity laugh. Almost.

Serenity sighed. "I'm not thinking about it Mina. I've already decided that I am going to accept him," she said quietly.

Mina let out a small gasp and brought her hand to her mouth. "But you haven't even met him yet!" he managed to get out.

Serenity nodded sadly. "I know Mina, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is my people, and they need peace."

Mina shook her head. "What if he doesn't love you? Or you him?" The concern in her voice stung Serenity a little.

"Then I will have to deal with it, won't I?" she replied calmly.

Mina shook her head. She understood the matters of the heart more than any of the girls, and she hated to see her friend disregarding the issue of love. "I just don't think that it's a wise idea to decide on this without meeting him first," she said gently.

Serenity sighed. "Mina, I'm not saying that I'm not going to try to love him. I will try. Just, please keep an eye on him. You can tell when love is blossoming."

Mina frowned a little. "You know I can't talk about matters of the heart of other with you, only of your own heart or those who allow me to," she said.

Serenity nodded knowingly. "I know. Just keep an eye on him, ok?"

Mina nodded her head. "I will, don't worry about that. Just please keep your mind open to the thought of refusing him still." Mina said. Serenity inclined her head slightly, more of an acknowledgment of the statement, rather than an agreement.

"We'll see," she said. Both girls lapsed into silence for a few moments.

Mina was the one to break the silence. "So, where were you last night?" she asked.

Serenity shot her a look. "What do you mean? I was in bed," she said, a little shakily.

Mina giggled. "You went to see Motoki, didn't you? I came to talk to you about eleven to see if you were still up and you weren't in your room," she said with a grin on her face.

Serenity smiled, knowing that the girls knew that she went to the tavern once in a while, and sometimes even joined her. "Yes, I did," she finally replied, not offering any more information than that. Mina was about to continue her barrage of questions, but just then the door opened, admitting three blushing, giggling princesses.

"You two don't know what you missed!" Lita cried out as she bounded over to a chair next to Serenity and Mina. "Rei was right, he is gorgeous."

Ami walked over calmly as if nothing had happened, but nevertheless a bright blush graced her cheeks. She too sat down and giggled slightly. That was all she needed to do to start a round of laughter amongst all the girls. "Well, he was rather…attractive," she finally managed to squeak out. All the girls laughed again.

"You two don't know what you missed. You're going to have to come see him sometime today," Rei exclaimed. The two smiled knowingly at each other.

"So Usagi, what's up with you lately?" Lita asked. Serenity sighed, and explained to them what she had just told Mina. The girls could not have looked more surprised if Mr. Gorgeous-Stable-Boy had walked in naked at that moment.

"You can't be serious!" Rei cried out, a look of horror on her face.

"Yeah, what if he's not good to you?" Lita added in.

Serenity rolled her eyes. "You think I haven't thought of that?" she asked a little sharply.

"Usagi, you say you are doing this for your people, but what if he isn't a good ruler? He will be ruling the moon kingdom too one day, and he could push you aside and cause havoc here," Ami said, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

"The one thing that I have found out, Ami, is that he is a good ruler. He is good with his own people, and will treat the moon the same way too. You think he doesn’t want peace as well?"

Ami looked at Serenity calmly. "Please meet him before you make your choice," she pleaded with her friend.

"Yeah. The least you can do is get to know him at least a little bit before you say yes or no for sure," Lita said.

"Don't be so stubborn Serenity!" Rei snapped.

Serenity sighed. "I promise that I will meet him before I give my mother a definite answer," Serenity finally compromised. The girls seemed to accept this as they all nodded their heads.

After a few moments of silence, Rei perked up. "So, when do you girls want to go see the stable boy?" All the girls rolled their eyes, and the library walls echoed with their laughter.


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Serenit y was ready to go to Motoki's again at quarter to ten. She blew out all the candles in the room and put her cloak over her shoulders. The cool air caused her to shiver a little as she opened the door to her balcony and slipped outside. Carefully she scaled the tree and landed on the ground with a soft thud. The path she took was on that led to the gates that was used for deliveries and servants who did not live within the palace. No one noticed anything unusual about her leaving since she used this way many times, and the guards thought that she was one of the servants.

She exited the gates and headed down the street leading to the city, but paused when she saw Naru coming up the road.

Naru recognized her right away and came over to her. "Usagi! I was just coming to see you," she said cheerfully.

"It's nice to see you Naru. Why were you coming to see me, didn't Motoki tell you I was coming down tonight?" Serenity asked.

Naru nodded her head, her red curls bouncing. "That's why I'm coming to you. Motoki says that he can't help tonight and Darien is unavailable for the next few nights as well. I was supposed to come up and tell you not to come, but I guess I'm a little late," she said as she smiled at the princess.

Serenity let out a low sigh. "Thank you for telling me. I suppose I can head back home then."

Naru nodded. "Great! I'll head back to the tavern. I promised my mom that I would help her with a few things tonight, so I'll see you later." Naru waved as the two women parted.

Serenity made her way back to the gates and went back through the gardens. She enjoyed the gardens at such a late time of night, since they were usually empty. She walked back to the tree next to her window, moving carefully through the shadows as to not be seen by anyone who may have had the idea to take a late night stroll.

She reached the tree and leaned her hand against it for a moment, before putting her hands on the trunk and getting her foot ready to lift herself up. Normally she would have climbed up, gotten changed, and fallen into bed into a deep sleep. However, her plans were slightly changed when two hands gripped her shoulders and pulled her back off the tree. Her scream was stopped by a hand covering her mouth. She would have tried to fight off the person had she not heard the laugh.

I do not own the rights to Sailormoon or any of the characters. That honour belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, and I am simply a lowly author who can use her characters for my plots.