E- mail: sailor_dafne@hotmail.com Rating: PG By: Dafne Disclaimer: Do I really have to repeat this?! Don't you see my heart breaks every time I say it? I don't own these characters *sniff*, they belong to Naoko Takeuchi, so please don't sue me. Unlike the revised version of chapter 1 this one does have several improvements to it. If you have already read this you can go directly to the part where Queen Serenity talks with the goddess Selene. I hope you enjoy it! A real princess Chapter six: The prophecy Moon Palace's throne room "What's this flood of energy I'm feeling?" wondered Queen Serenity "It's strange, I only perceive this kind of power when..." a bright light coming from the royal gardens caught Serenity by surprise and made her stop in mid - sentence, her eyes widened and realization hit her "Oh my God!" she exclaimed and then ran to her balcony. The Queen arrived just in time to see her daughter disappear in a sphere of dazzling whiteness. She sighed and then shook her head "That naughty girl will never learn" she said. The Queen headed back to the throne room and stood in front of a big mirror. Its frame was made of pure gold with diamonds and pearls embedded all over it. A silver crescent moon decorated the top, and as Serenity made a movement with her hand it shone brightly. When the gleam subsided the mirror no longer revealed the Queen's reflection, but the Princess standing in the middle of an unfamiliar place surrounded by tall trees. The Queen watched as her daughter used her powers to transform into a country woman and noticed that a handsome young man was doing so too. She recognized the look on his eyes as one of love at first sight, he seemed captivated by her daughter's exquisite and innocent beauty. With her mirror's help she witnessed everything that happened between the young couple down on Earth. As she stared at them kissing her eyes almost went out of its sockets, her mouth went wide - open, and she nearly fainted. *Oh my God!!!! She's NEVER kissed ANYONE before, besides, she has just met him. God dammit, what is she thinking about?! He's nothing more than an ordinary HUMAN for God's sake!!!!* thought Serenity, even though she was exasperated she never lost her coolness. *If breaking the rules by going to Earth without MY permission wasn't enough, now she has made a lot worse fault by having a close relationship with an earthling before the arrangement is completed...* the Queen sighed in defeat and then turned around as she walked over to her throne. She sat down and then added: "Oh well, I should be used to it, she never obeys the rules. However, I never thought she could do such a thing" All of a sudden the Queen remembered a dream she had had when she was expecting Usagi, 17 years ago... ***Flashback*** Serenity was standing in the middle of a large temple. The floor was made of the finest white marble and tall columns of the same material supported a colossal crystal dome. The Queen lifted her gaze and was mesmerized by the beauty displayed before her: stars, planets, and comets exhibited its almighty magnificence. Serenity was admiring her surroundings in amazement when suddenly the whole room was brightened by a dazzling white light. As soon as it subsided a beautiful young woman was revealed. She was the Moon goddess, Selene. She was wearing a white robe that fell from her right shoulder to the floor. It was embedded all over with silver thread and a golden crescent moon insignia fastened the silken fabric at her left side. She had pale ivory skin and her face was framed with long white hair pinned up in the traditional meatball style. Just by looking at her marvelous gray eyes you could tell she possessed an extraordinary wisdom, due to her immortal nature. "Why am I here?" asked Serenity "What do you want from me?" "My dear child," said Selene "you already know that our lineage has never had an ever lasting love, the Gods prohibited us that privilege so we could look after Earth and all the planets belonging to the Silver Alliance without any kind of distraction. They only allow a short relationship in order to preserve our race. That's the big price we must pay for being the rulers of the Solar System." At the goddess' words, Serenity's eyes filled up with tears. She remembered her mother telling her how her father was killed by a strange disease just after she knew she was pregnant, it had been the same disease that took her husband's life a month ago. Serenity was still mourning for her beloved and she couldn't stand the idea that her daughter and future son-in-law were going to suffer the same destiny. "But that's going to change from now on," as soon as Selene said that, Serenity's eyes lightened up with a renewed hope "because I'm here to inform you that your daughter's soul-mate was born 3 years ago, and he just happens to be the heir to the Earth Kingdom's throne. You see, for millions of years the Gods have been waiting for a prophecy to come true, you probably don't know what this is all about, so I'll explain it to you. You must know that when the Earth and Moon are together they can create the most powerful energy in the Universe, when it is used in the right way it brings eternal harmony and peace. However, if there's no one to control it, this power may be able to destroy everything that crosses its path, that's why it's been impossible to have an alliance between the Earth and Moon Kingdom's. The prophecy says that if the Earth Kingdom's Prince and the Moon Kingdom's Princess are soul - bounded the union of the two kingdoms can be made, because soul-mates that belong to the royal families are the only ones that can manage this mighty force. So, as you have probably figured it out, your daughter and the next king of Earth are the ones that will fulfill the prophecy." The Queen was speechless because she never thought her daughter would be the next Queen of the Cosmos, but she was also happy that she wouldn't have to suffer her family's curse. "Nevertheless," continued the Moon goddess "you have to make sure she doesn't fall in love with someone other than the Prince of Earth, because since it's her duty and fate to be the ruler of the Universe, it would be a pity to force her into a marriage without love." Queen Serenity was bewildered by the goddess's warning "But you said my daughter was the prince's soul-mate, so how come she can love someone else?" she finally asked. "You have all the right to be confused Queen Serenity, but there is something you haven't considered..." said Selene. "And that would be..." "You have probably heard that soul-mates are meant to be together for all eternity, and that is true; however most people believe that they cannot fall in love with someone else, and that is not true." Selene saw that Serenity wanted to say something so she lifted her right hand to indicate she hadn't finished with her explanation yet "I know this may be hard for you to understand, but you must believe in me. Are you going to listen carefully?" the goddess asked kindly. Since Queen Serenity was speechless she just nodded her head. "Well then... you most likely know that soul-mates are one of the strangest mysteries of Life. However, everyone in this galaxy has his or her own, and that includes you Serenity..." Selene said softly. The Queen gasped, not bothering to hide her amazement at this revelation. The goddess merely smiled kindly at her while nodding her head in understanding. Then, she went on "...but they're not always born on the same time and space, and sometimes even if they are they never have the chance to meet each other. Since Life is eternal, everyone will sooner or later find their own soul-mate, then again this usually takes hundreds of lifetimes. Can you imagine how cruel it would be if you could not fall in love with someone unless he was your soul-mate? Most people would be deprived of the privilege of knowing what real love is for thousands of years. No my dear, Nature is not this ruthless. Believe it or not, two people can experience true love even if they're not meant to be together." Serenity was utterly confused by Selene's words. "But if we can fall in love with whomever we want, what makes soul-mates so special? The way I see it, it doesn't make any difference" In spite of herself, the goddess began to laugh. The Queen stared at her in bewilderment; her raised eyebrows clearly showed that she was waiting for an explanation, and a good one at that. "Ah my child" Selene began, still trying to catch her breath from her previous outburst. She then stated matter-of-factly with a smirk plastered on her face "I knew you were going to ask me that". "Well?" Serenity prompted eagerly. "Didn't I tell you that soul-mates were meant to be together for all eternity once they found each other?" "Well yes, but if you said you can find true love in the arms of someone else, what is the purpose of falling in love with the same person over and over again for the rest of your lifetimes? It doesn't make any sense" The goddess tried her best not to express her amusement at the Queen's puzzlement, even so she couldn't hold back in time her faint giggling. "I understand perfectly well the turmoil you're having within your heart and mind, dear Serenity, but it shall not last. There are certain things about the issue you know not; it'll be my pleasure to make them clear to you." Selene straightened up and after taking a deep breath she fixed her eyes on Serenity's; her face had immediately become solemn. "When two soul-mates meet for the first time their hearts, minds, and souls merge. This is what allows them to get together over and over again throughout eternity: they beckon each other unconsciously for they need their other half to survive. However, what really makes them unique is that the love they share never stops growing, it gets stronger and stronger as time goes by. It is indeed true that two people who do not have a connection between them can make their love flourish, but how can you compare it to the strength of a passion that has been woven during centuries?" Serenity became quiet for she was trying to assimilate what she had just heard. After a while of meditating she finally said "But there's one thing I still don't understand" The goddess tilted her head to the side as if encouraging her to continue "Everything you've said sounds perfectly logical, but you're not taking into account that my daughter IS going to meet her soul-mate, there's no doubt about it, and if by any chance she falls in love with someone else, wouldn't she just change her opinion once she meets him? Didn't you just say that when two soul-mates encounter their bodies, souls, and hearts become one?" "You're quite right about that, but you're forgetting something: love is blind my dear child. If by the time the Prince and Princess see each other for the first time your daughter already loves someone else, even after the bond between them is made she will not be able to feel it for part of her heart is with someone else. Since she won't be allowed to be with her original lover her love for him will only become deeper and it'll be more difficult to let her realize who her real soul-mate is. I'm not sure what would happen then, but I sense she could go as far as to commit infidelity, and we certainly do not want that, now do we?" Serenity could only shook her head pensively, she had never thought about this. Seeing the Queen's faraway look, Selene sighed "Anyway, I'm certain that sooner or later she will find out the truth, but if we can spare her all this pain, why not do it?" The Queen turned her back to the goddess so as to think things over by herself. She stood like that for a while and then murmured in a soft voice. "Now I understand. Don't worry Selene, I'll make sure that my daughter never suffers from a broken heart as long as I live" Serenity's eyes were brimmed with tears, nonetheless she was smiling brightly at the thought that her daughter wouldn't need to suffer what she had, if she had anything to do about it; her little bunny would be able to love and be loved for the rest of eternity, a chance she hadn't had... or at least not yet. "That's good. Now, talking about the alliance, when your daughter reaches the age of 17 you have to take her to Earth to meet the Prince, but before that you have to introduce yourself to his mother in order to discuss all the necessary arrangements that have to be done for the betrothal. Don't worry about explaining everything to her though. Gea [AN: she's the goddess of Earth] has already done that for you." "Why do I have to take her until she is 17? Can't I introduce her to the Prince earlier? That way they will probably become good friends and it'll be easier to keep her from falling in love with someone else. Don't you think?" "NO!" the goddess practically yelled, startling Serenity. Noting this, Selene lowered and softened her tone of voice "No, we can't do that. It'd be catastrophic" "Why?" asked Serenity, now more confused than ever. "Because if the link between them is made before her 17th birthday they won't be able to control the energy that will be released from both, the Moon and the Earth. It'd be the end." This last statement was said with such gravity that the Queen couldn't help but feel somewhat scared. After a long silence, Selene finally recovered her usual cheerfulness and gentleness "Anyhow, the wedding will take place a year later and with it the connection of the two kingdoms' energy will be done... successfully." The goddess' figure was starting to fade... "Don't forget what I told you tonight" she whispered and disappeared entirely, leaving behind her a mist of silver dust and a young Queen deep in thought. "I won't" Serenity declared determinedly before she woke up. ***End of Flashback*** "I never told Usagi about this, and now she's fallen in love. How is she going to react when I tell her that she can't marry that man because she has had an arranged marriage since before she was born? It will break her heart, that's for sure. Oh Gods, why do you punish her that way? She doesn't deserve so much pain, she's so sweet and caring, what has she done to you?!" the Queen yelled to no one in particular and then burst into tears "Oh, Selene!, how wrong you were, our ancestors' misfortune is not going to end that easily." She said in between sobs. Serenity stood up from her throne and headed back to the magical mirror where she saw her daughter running away from the young man "What's going on?" To be continued... AUTHOR'S NOTES: So, what did ya think? I added quite a bit and let me tell you I'm proud of myself ^_~ Anyhow, e-mail me your comments. BTW, have I told you that chapter 9 is going to be out within the week? Stay tuned for it. Saturday April 22nd, 2000. 12:55 AM. Visit my webpage at http://www.geocities.com/sailor_dafne