Dear minna, Hi! I hope you enjoyed Love Revealed. I've got a
ton of other great ideas, but no time to write. I want to
thank Lianne, Pandora, Will Wolfshohl, Sailor November, 
Jen Wand, Sue Riley, Valerie Chow, Amelia, Razzzberi,
Fushigi Kismet, Sailor Dolphin, Crystal Heart, Tim Nolan, 
Sailor Mercurio, Laurel Anne, Michelle Isom, Sailor Xena,
Ninx, Kimmi Widhalm and everybody else who I write to, you
know who you are! 
This effort is about Serenity and Endymion's engagement, 
written in first person, which will jump back and forth, and 
it will be a series. Note, I named Endymion's parents in 
accordance with Greek mythology, which says that Uranus,god of 
the air and heavens, and Gaia, goddess of the Earth, created 
heaven.
King Ouranus does not have any relation to Uranus, the Sailor
or the planet.Enjoy, minna! Write to me at 
ts_cheah@pacific.net.sg ^_^

                     MATTERS OF THE HEART
___________________________________________________________

        I stood demurely, head bowed, eyes fixed on the
 white marble floor. All around me, I could hear the murmurs
 of the court of the Golden Kingdom, the united country on
 Earth. Their eyes looked at me sharply, assessing me,
 pinning me as a needle would a helpless butterfly. 
 
        Around me, the senshi fidgeted nervously, tugging at
 their diplomatic dresses. All except the Queen and the
 Royal Advisors, of course.

        *They* weren't about to meet the people they were
 supposed to spend the rest of their lives with. And much
 more than any natural life at that.

        I looked at my reflection in the polished marble
 floor. My hair was satin-smooth, gleaming like a waterfall
 of honey-gold in the pure morning sun as they fell
 gracefully from my two odangos. My eyes were bright,
 sparkling and flashing angrily, that I was even *here*,
 eyes that a suitor had once told me could drown a man in   
 their blue depths. My cheeks were flushed an even deeper
 hue of rose-blush than usual from anger and slight
 apprehension. All in all, I decided that it should go
 unnoticed. My clothing too was specially sewn from Venus'
 royal tailors for this special meeting. The dress was
 flowing, clinging possessively to my figure, made of satin,
 the skirt ending in layers of floating, slightly
 transparent gossamer that flared around me. The dress was
 held by two delicate link-chains on each shoulder and two
 more drooping elegantly over my upper arms.

        *This* should meet with Prince Endymion's approval.
 He was certainly taking his sweet time getting here. Not
 that I was in any hurry for him to get here...but I was
 curious to see what he looked like. Not like I was actually
 going to let mother *force* me into anything, I had a
 certain amount of stubborness which came from the Serenity
 blood. He probably looked like all the *other* princes, my
 philosophy was that if you've seen one, you've seen them
 all. I remembered all the other suitors, all princes, only
 a fraction of which were actually handsome.
 
        And I was supposed to marry Endymion.

        I remembered the huge argument mother and I had had
 when she had told me of her decision. Queen Gaia was a good
 friend of hers, and they had apparently been plotting to
 get Endymion and I to fall in love.

        Which was not going to happen, not if I have any say
 about it.

        I had never met Endymion before in my life. I
 couldn't marry someone I didn't love. I could still hear
 Mother's voice echoing in my head, "You are a princess and
 will someday be Queen. You do not live for yourself, you
 live to serve your people. It does not truly matter if you
 do not love Endymion. Only very rarely does a royal
 marriage have any real love in it. But you may be lucky
 yet, Serenity. We have always been blessed and we shall in
 turn repay our subjects by wise ruling and your marriage to
 Endymion will help to solidify ties and relationship to
 Earth. It is not a question of love. It is a question of
 duty."

        Just then, a fanfare of trumpets blared and a page
 announced the arrival of King Ouranus and Queen Gaia of
 Earth.
 
        They regally took their place at their throne and
 the prince and his generals took up their places by their
 side. I could sense that none of us looked up except for
 the Queen and Luna and Artemis. 

        "Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom, as sovereigns
 of the Golden Kingdom, we welcome you and your court to
 Earth."

        "We thank you for your warm welcome, Queen Gaia.
 Allow me to present my court to you. This is the Princess
 Mercury, Princess Mars, Princess Jupiter and Princess
 Venus. They are the guardians and warriors of the Moon
 descendants."

        One by one, the senshi stepped forward and curtsied
 deeply to the King and Queen. I could sense their
 nervousness. It was almost palpable in the air.

        "These are the guardians of my son, generals and
 princes of the lands of the Golden Kingdom. Kunzite,
 Zoicite, Nephryte and Jadeite."

        One by one, they stepped forward and bowed to us.
 Oh, gods, I hated these political rules and formal
 ceremonies. I wished myself on Pluto at that moment.

        Slightly in front of me, I heard the Senshi sigh 
 softly, dreamily. They MUST be cute, I thought wryly.

        "And may I present to you, Prince Endymion, my
 daughter, Princess Serenity."

        "And to you I present my son, Prince Endymion."

        Fear shot through me like an arrow. But I was a
 princess, with a duty to perform and perform it I would. I
 stepped forward, my soft skirts whispering gently against
 my legs, and curtsied deeply to Prince Endymion, not
 looking at him. All I could ascertain was that he wore
 black boots.
 
        As I came back up, however, destiny and fate
 conspired together and ran through me. They forced me,
 almost unconsciously, to look up.

        And the world fell away from beneath my feet as I 
 stared into the deepest blue eyes that I had ever seen.

*********************************************************

        I could see nothing but her, eyes locked onto hers,
of the blue stolen from a summer sky, of lapis lazuli, of
a sapphire. Her hair, spun from satin and honey-gold, 
framed her face like an aura, or the halo of an angel. 
        
        THIS goddess was the Moon Princess, Serenity? 

        Serenity, such a beautiful name. I dimly regretted
ever laughing at it with my Generals. It is beautiful, 
because it is her name. "A rose by any other name would 
smell as sweet." She is a rose, I wondered in amazement.
A perfect rose. Pure, perfect and sweet. The image of a 
white rose appeared in my mind, transforming into the dewy
rosy-pink of her lips, into her satin dress that flowed over
her body and long shapely legs. 

        Suddenly, an image appeared, unbidden, in my mind.
It was of me, in my rooms, complaining to my Generals.

        "I'll never love her! Never! She's probably a witch!
I'll hate her on sight and she'll probably be a spoiled 
brat!"
        
        I stiffened slightly. She probably WAS a spoiled 
brat, I told myself firmly. It was very very hard to 
convince myself while I was looking into the face of an 
angel, but, by tearing my gaze away from her, I managed to
get a grip on my racing heart. NO ONE that gorgeous could be
nice and sweet. No one. I would not love her, but I would 
marry her, to serve my people, even if I hated the idea.

        *But you don't* my laughing heart told me. *Admit
it, you've fallen in love with her at first sight, 
literally* 
        
        Shut up, I told myself sternly. I DO NOT love her.

        *But you think she's the most beautiful girl you've ever seen.*

        So? What does THAT prove? I hate her! 

        *You'll see. There is a very thin line between love
and hate, Endymion. And you wouldn't be denying it so 
forcefully if you really DID hate her.*

        Laughter seems to echo in my ears.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

        Get a grip, Serenity! No matter HOW handsome he is, 
he's probably just like all the other princes! Arrogant, 
rude, boorish, annoying, fawning. This one is NO different.

        *Yeah, right. This one is NO different, but you're 
already in love with him. You want to run your hand through 
his hair, to kiss him and feel his arms around you and this
is EXACTLY the way you felt about all the other princes.*

        I DO NOT!! I HAVEN'T BEEN THINKING ABOUT ALL THOSE 
THINGS AT ALL!

        *Oh? Then why are your knees going weak, you are 
starting to tremble and why, oh why are you blushing, girl?*

        OH, JUST SHUT UP!!!!
        
        Laughter.
___________________________________________________________

So, what do you think (I keep saying that)? WRITE TO ME, I 
don't bite, y'know. I'm Sue Mei at ts_cheah@pacific.net.sg