Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Decided Bride ❯ One and the Same ( Chapter 27 )

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

When dawn broke, all of the Senshi and Serenity were on edge. A messenger had come from the Queen around midnight telling them to be on high alert all night and to guard the Princess, since Beryl still had not been found. The girls had taken turns staying up and keeping watch, after they had changed into their battling uniforms.

Serenity tried to sleep under the orders of her Senshi, but her sleep was broken and restless. She paced the room relentlessly as soon as the first rays of dawn broke through the sky. Breakfast was brought to the room and the girls, just as with the night watches, took turns eating. When breakfast was finished, the girls took their positions. Lita stood on the balcony, Ami and Mina by the windows, and Rei by the door.

Serenity paced. "I don't understand what is going on," she muttered every so often.

At noon, just after lunch, the next messenger arrived. All of the girls were to follow him.

He led them to the Queen's War Hall, the place where all planning for wars was done. Selenity, Paris, Helen, Malachite, Nephrite, and all the Senshi's parents stood and sat around a large table, papers scattered all over it. They all looked up as they saw the girls approaching. To Serenity, it looked like none of them had slept all night.

"Beryl is no longer on the moon," Selenity announced. The girls nodded, still not quite sure how good that news was, but they did feel a sense of relief. They came and joined the adults around the table. Selenity looked back down to the papers. "I did a scan with the crystal. She has left, and I don't know where she could be. There is no sign of any of her people here either." She sighed as she rubbed her temple. "However, until we are sure she will not return, I don't want you anywhere without at least one of the Senshi or Generals of earth. Is that clear?"

Serenity nodded her head. "I'm still not clear on what is going on," she said quietly.

Mars slammed his fist on the table, making everyone jump a little. "Beryl is an evil, vile woman, one who is our greatest enemy," he said in his deep voice.

Jupiter laid a hand on his shoulder. "Calm yourself Mars," he said in a clam voice. "Beryl is gone now. When she returns you may bring back your anger." Mars still looked angry, but his posture calmed.

Selenity looked to her daughter. "I will explain everything to you my dear, but not right now. Just make sure that if you see the woman you saw last night again you alert everyone and do not go anywhere near her." Serenity nodded. "I think that we can all relax a little, but I will have strict patrols put in place. If Beryl so much as breaths the air of the moon, we'll know about it." There was a moment of silence.

Then Helen looked at everyone brightly. "Well, let's get on to a more cheerful topic. Serenity my dear," she said and hugged the Princess. "Endymion gave us the wonderful news yesterday." The whole room seemed to brighten up and relax, except for Serenity who tensed a little.

When Helen pulled back she saw a beaming smile on the Queen's face. She glanced at her own mother who was smiling, although a little uncertainly.

"Yes, congratulations. Endymion is a fine man," said Mercury. There was a round of congratulations, although the Senshi were standing there a little quiet. Serenity had told them that morning that she had already told Endymion she accepted him, and that he was to announce it to his parents and her mother. Needless to say she got a god tongue-lashing form her girls.

"I thank you all," she said, smiling weakly at them.

Helen was still beaming. "You should go see him. He's in your training building, he said he wanted to go and 'blow off some frustration,' as he put it, once he knew that Beryl was gone."

Serenity didn't want to go find him, but she didn't know how to turn down Helen. She nodded. "Thank you. I need to get some training done as well."

Malachite looked at the girls. "Could I be so bold as to come along, as well as Genereal Nephrite?" he asked.

Serenity nodded. She curtsied to the King's and Queens with the Senshi, and all the girls headed out, followed by Malachite and Nephrite.

As soon as they were out the door, Selenity looked at her companions. "You should all go and get some sleep. It's been a long night. I will alert you if anything shows up." Everyone nodded and they all started to get up and stretch.

Selenity sighed as she sank down into a chair. Why did she have to come back? She thought to herself. She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and looked up into the gentle blue eyes of Mercury.

"Don’t worry. Things will be alright," he said. Selenity smiled at him, and looked to all the others. They were all standing around her, Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Mercury, Helen, and Paris, nodding in agreement to Mercury's comment. She felt a little reassured.

"We'll fight her and defeat her if we get the opportunity," added Mars.

"This time she will not escape," Paris said. The words stung Selenity a little, but she knew he did not mean them in a harsh way. Everyone chuckled. Selenity felt an odd contentment in her heart. They were all together again.


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The girls reached the training hall. Lita broke off from the group right away with Rei so that they could go and battle together, both feeling too high strung to do anything else. Nephrite went with them. Ami and Mina both agreed that there were enough people in the hall that if there was any trouble, Serenity would be protected, and went to train as well.

Serenity herself headed to find Sword Master. She reached the sword rings, most of which were filled with trainers. She saw Sword Master right away in one of the rings with a man who's back was to her, who was tall and had dark hair. Endymion, she thought.

He turned at that moment, switching places with Sword Master. It wasn't Endymion, but Serenity's heart still skipped a beat when she saw that it was Darien. She watched for a few moments from the sidelines.

She sensed someone walk up to her and turned her head to see who it was. Malachite stood next to her. "My Lady, I trust that you slept well," he said to her.

She nodded. "As well as I could," she replied. She turned her attention back to Darien and Sword Master. She could tell Sword Master was tiring and Darien was too, both having sweat running down their faces. Sword Master's sword fell with a clatter, and the battle was over. He picked it up right away though, and the battle continued.

"Do you duel, General?" she asked Malachite.

She heard him chuckle. "Yes. I trained Endymion, even though his skill has already far surpassed my own. I battled against your Master of the Sword, and I had a hard time keeping up with him. He beat me twice before I started getting the upper hand. He still managed to defeat me a few times after." He chuckled as he said this.

Serenity looked up at the silver haired General and smiled. "Would you consider giving me a workout?" she asked.

He looked down at her, not really sure whether or not Endymion would kill him for posing a threat to the girl in any way, even if it was only in training. Finally, curiosity won, he wanted to see how good she was, especially since he had seen her that one morning battle with Sword Master.

So, he smiled. "It would be a delight," he answered.

She went and got her blade from the wall, Malachite already having his with him. They stepped into one of the rings and took their stance. The battle started slowly enough, but soon the moves became more rapid and intricate. She could understand why Master had a hard time keeping up with him. He moved very quickly, and within moments she was at his mercy.

He smiled kindly at her as she bent over to retrieve her fallen sword. She still felt antsy and stressed, so she looked at him. "Again?" she asked.

He gave a mock bow in good humour, one that she smiled at. "It would be an honour my Lady," he said.

They took their stance and started. As they made their way around the ring, Serenity noticed that the man she had been introduced to the night before, Jedite, was standing and watching them. The momentary lapse of attention nearly cost her, but she managed to regain her footing and the battle continued.

She ducked a wide swing from Malachite, and brought her sword up to block the next blow which was already coming down to meet her. She spun to get a little further away from him and then renewed her attacks on him. She was breathing heavily and feared he would defeat her again. She fell backward to avoid his blade, and brought the tip of her sword up to where his heart was. He stopped, not daring to move. The match was over.

"Well done Princess," the Earthe General said in-between gasps for air.

"Likewise," she said.

He held his hand out and helped her get up. She glanced over to where Jedite had been, and was surprised to see Darien and Sword Master standing with him, both having watched the finale of the battle. Darien walked over to them, seemingly a little more relaxed than when he had been battling Sword Master.

She smiled at him, although her heart was racing. "Who won?" she asked.

Sword Master looked at her sheepishly. "I fear I will never be able to beat him," he said.

Darien smiled. "I wouldn't say never," he replied.

Sword Master laughed. "Perhaps when both your legs and wrists are broken and you can scarce hold a sword up," he replied.

All of the men laughed, and Serenity smiled. "Well Darien, would you go up against me?" she asked. "I beat your teacher."

Darien had a shocked look on his face. "I would really rather not," he said.

She smiled sweetly. "What, afraid that I might beat you?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No, afraid that I would hurt you when I defeat you," he said. Had it not been for that smirk that she had come to know so well, she would have thought his words were sincere.

She lifted her chin. "Prepeare yourself, sir," she warned. She prepared her stance, and all the other men cleared the ring.

Darien shrugged his shoulders and got ready. He lunged first, a strike which Serenity parried easily. She swung for him but he jumped back gracefully, as though he had been expecting her move. At the same time he brought his sword down on hers and twisted, trying to wrench it from her hand. Serenity had seen him use the trick before, so it didn't surprise her too much and she was able to keep her sword in hand, even though her wrist got a little twisted. Both jumped back from one another and started to circle each other. This time Serenity made the first move. Unfortunately, Darien had been waiting for that, and with a quick movement, her back was pressed to his chest, his sword was across her throat, and her sword arm was held by her opponent out beside her. She dropped her sword. He had won.

He let her go and smiled at her. "I hope your wrist doesn't hurt too badly," he said.

She smiled. "It only hurt a little. I was expecting you to try that."

He leaned over and picked up her sword, holding its handle toward her. "I noticed," he replied. "Usually people don't and it works beautifully."

"Battle me again," she commanded.

He looked at her for a moment, before taking his stance, knowing that she would not allow him to say no. The battle began, and it lasted a little longer than the last, although not much longer. Serenity's sword clattered to the ground again. They kept battling, one match after another. Serenity lost each match.

Both of them had sweat streaming down their faces, their clothing plastered to their bodies, before they finally stopped. Darien held up his hand. "If I promise to lose the next one on purpose, can we stop?" he asked in-between breaths.

Serenity stared at him for a moment, but finally she sheathed her sword. "That would not be fair. We can stop if you want." She knew that he had battled long and hard with Sword Master before her, so his request didn't seem out of place.

They walked over to the sidelines where they were each handed a water flask. They both drank as they watched Jedite and Malachite step into the ring. Their attention was on the duel only for a few moments.

Darien looked at Serenity, and leaned over so that only she could hear him. "Usagi, I need to talk to you . Alone," he murmured.

Her heart froze. She wanted to, but her mind was telling her not to, that it would only cause more damage to her heart. She shook her head. "It would not look right Darien. Endymion has already announced our engagement to our families. I can't go off alone with a man now." She said, that being the best excuse she could think of at the moment. She had also forgotten that she had come to find Endymion, but now she assumed he had left since she recognized everyone who was training in the hall.

Darien kept his gaze fixed on her. She turned her head to meet with his eyes. "Please Usagi. Meet me at Jasmines stall," he pleaded.

She shook her head again. "I can't. The Generals and Senshi are watching me like hawks right now. I can't go anywhere alone."

He looked at her, a look that was begging her to agree. "Then tonight. Sneak out to Jasmine's stall tonight, please!"

She sighed. She could not refuse him. She slowly nodded her head. "I don't know when I'll be able to get out though," she whispered.

He nodded his head slowly. "That's alright. I'll wait all night if I have to." She smiled a little, a sad smile. It will be the last time I see him, she reasoned.

They said no more on the subject, and soon Serenity and her Senshi left.


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It wasn't until midnight when Serenity finally made her escape from her room down into the gardens. She was trying to be careful, since the area was swarming with guards. She only hoped that Ami wouldn't get the bright idea to check in on her, since it was her turn to keep watch.

Serenity climbed down the tree and hid in the shadows for a few moments, listening for any approaching guards. She heard nothing, so she started to head to the stables. Twice along the way she had to duck into the shadows to avoid being seen, but finally she made it to the stables unseen. She slipped in and headed to Jasmines stall.

A single torch was burning, and she saw a figure leaning sitting against the stall door, reading a book. Her footsteps were almost soundless as she approached him. He heard her though and looked up.

He smiled and rose to his feet, placing his book on the stall door behind him. "I thought that you wouldn't come," he said, only half-joking.

Serenity smiled a little. "Of course I came. I had a few close calls, but I made it."

He nodded. He motioned for her to follow him and they started to walk. He took the torch from the holder so that they would have some light along the way. They were silent, neither of them wanting to initiate conversation. They reached a ladder and Darien motioned for her to climb up, himself following after he had placed the torch in holder at the bottom of the ladder.

It was one of the storage rooms, and bales of hay were stacked all over the place. The doors on each end of the storage were opened, allowing the illumination of the night sky to come in. He could see her face clearly, and what he saw hurt him to the core. The pain, anticipation, love, passion…he wanted to end the pain. He came over to her and placed his hands on her arms just above her elbows.

She gasped, and then unexpectedly flung herself into his arms, wrapping her hands around his waist. He was taken back a little, but nevertheless wrapped his arms around her shoulders. He held her for a few moments before he pulled back a little, sliding his hands back to her arms. She gazed up at him, a glossy look in her eyes.

"Usagi…." he murmured, wondering if she would be angry or happy. "There is something I really need to tell you, but I don’t know how," he said.

She looked up at him with complete trust in her eyes, and it hurt him to know he was about to betray that trust. "I don't care what it is Darien, you can't say anything that could hurt me any more. I'm already too numb to fell any more pain."

Darien hated himself at that moment. So what did he do? He knew he had to get it over and done with. So, with almost no hesitation, he flicked his wrist and held the new rose in his hand out to Serenity. He watched her eyes grow wide as she stared at the flower.

She stared at the red rose, and suddenly everything clicked. She though back to the second time Darien had been teaching her to dance.

Then she remembered the circumstances under which she had first met Endymion.

She stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Endymion?" she whispered.

He gave her a shy, bashful smile. "Surprise," was all he said.

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.