Disclaimer: Sailormoon does not belong to me, but is the property to TOEI Entertainment and Takeuchi Naoko. Cdgal: Sorry for the long wait. Here I present to all of you, Cinderella Style: Chapter 1. Thank you. -- Chapter 1 -- -- Next morning -- Rays of sunlight penetrated the chamber, causing Prince Endymion to wake involuntarily from his slumber. He turned away from the window, while at the same time trying to make his headache go away. In his opinion, stopping the pain was more important than remembering what happened the night before. It did not matter anyway, since last night he already heard the worst. To discover he was betrothed resulted in a sour expression distorting his handsome features. Hearing it for the first time from his father that he was to wed at the age of twenty, the Earth Prince wished he was not of royal blood. How he wished to strangle the person responsible for making such a ridiculous law. Who would be marrying at such a young age? Definitely not him, that was for sure. 'No one would like that idea either,' he thought. Prince Endymion was utterly bewildered how calm and collected he was at the fact he had been kept in the dark concerning his betrothal to the Moon Princess for so many years. He did not roar in anger, neither was he furious with his parents' decision. While shifting to a more comfortable position, the prince sank deeper into his thoughts. There must have been something, anything, he could do, but what was that something was, he had yet to find out. There were so many wishful thoughts, but he would not indulge in any of those. If this was his fate, his challenge, then he would not back down. He would instead embrace them. After all, a man still needs his pride, and only a coward would attempt to escape the problems he faced. Oh, he was satisfied with his decision,. Nevertheless, on the other hand, he was not. Not with the position he was trying to get comfortable with for the past five minutes. Exasperated, he sat up, irritated by the constant sensation of something pricking his back, hindering his thoughts... only to be freaked out by his discovery. "What the?!" it was indeed one of the "what the" moments as the prince picked up a piece of an earring. Now, how had THAT gotten onto his bed, and why was blood on his bed sheet? Yes, that was another "what the" moment. When he said blood, he did not mean just a teeny weenie tiny drop, but a pool of it. Another "what the" moment was... why was he naked? Now that got him thinking: 'what exactly had happened last night?'. This was the only clue he had: an earring with a dangling crescent moon, and nothing more. ---------- "Has anyone seen Serenity?" it was past noon, yet there was still no sight of her daughter, who was supposed to be having lunch with her. She thought it was odd enough that Serenity would miss her lunch. Breakfast, maybe, but definitely not lunch. The answer she received, however, was a disappointment as none of the asked staff, advisors, or anyone in fact had seen the young princess. 'Where is that daughter of mine?' she wondered. Her daughter was not at her favorite garden, neither was she with her four guardians. Now, where would she be? Then there came a thought. Masaka (1)... She decided to follow that masaka thought. Queen Selene peeked inside her daughter's chamber, and what she saw was not what she had expected. The Queen got the first part of ‘masaka’ right: the princess was still on her bed. However, she was wrong concerning the second part; the princess had already awakened. "What is going on?" 'Was that really a chamber at all?' the queen doubted that. She had never ever seen such a mess before. It looked as if there were more than three tornadoes intruding into the poor excuse for a bed chamber. Before the princess could stop herself, she spoke, "Nothing!" She never understood why people spoke too soon and regretted it, but now she sure did. Her mother's raised eyebrows told the princess her mother did not believe her. Who would believe that when the moon princess was crouching on her bed searching for something? If the Queen was her usual self, she would sigh and criticize the ungraceful display. However, the queen was not herself. No, not today. Somehow, she seemed more distressed. Of what exactly Serenity did not know. "Mother?" The concerned call zapped Queen Selene back to reality. She had been deep in thought, deciding how to break the news to her one and only daughter. It was the news of her betrothal to the Earth prince. Knowing her child, the princess would not welcome such tidings, neither would she derive any joy from it. Yet the Queen would not abandon such matters as the ruler of the Moon for the sake of her daughter's happiness. She decided she needed more time to reconsider what she was supposed to do. The Queen then spoke, "Serenity, meet me in the study once you have had your lunch," she said, with authority before walking away. With that said, Selene realized she had lost her appetite. ---------- "You are late, dear." Queen Gaia of Earth, Prince Endymion's mother said, She did not need to turn around to see who the newcomer was. For she, along with her husband, King Solaris, were at the dining room waiting for their son's arrival. But he was due approximately an hour earlier. The prince, exhausted, dragged himself exhaustedly to one of the unoccupied seat before slumping into it. It told his parents, the rulers of the Earth that their son had not gotten over his slumber from the previous night. That, however, was one of the assumptions they had already made. If his parents had any idea how he felt it did not show. His parents loved to complicate his life even more, ESPECIALLY his father, WHO just had to bring up last night's bombshell. "I heard the princess is a beauty, just like her mother." It was not an everyday thing to see the King praise someone, young ladies especially. If the public were alerted to the king's statement, they would eager to witness the truth for themselves since they believed their King to be a good judge of character. The whole family knew the king would not stop talking once he had started a topic of conversation, so the prince turned to his mother, pleading for her not to make his day any worse than it already was. He knew his mother had heard his silent prayer for she was sipping her glass gracefully, a sign of "all right". "I wonder how well she is taking it..." was the last sentence he heard before rubbing his temple as he felt another trobbing headache coming in. ---------- Princess Serenity slumped onto her bed. What had she done to deserve this? Whateverit was, this punishment was too much. She thought her mother, the Queen, understood her well enough to know she desired to marry for love, not responsibility alone. -- Flashback -- "But, Mother!" "No more buts, Serenity. My decision is final. You will be betrothed to Prince Endymion of Earth on your birthday. No more arguments." if the Moon Princess had not left so soon, she would have seen the look of sorrow on the Queen's face. Princess Serenity had not had a choice to make because she would turn sixteen soon, and that was the exact age for a princess to be married as it had been a tradition for the Moon Kingdom. (2) "I am sorry, Serenity." the Queen sympathized with her daughter as she watched the girl's retreating form. She hated the tradition of arranged marriage as well, only the difference was that her husband soon to be was her childhood friend and was a prince, of course. Taking one frame off her table, Queen Selene asked the smiling man in the photo, "Tranquility, have I made the right choice by marrying off our daughter to Gaia's son?", she sighed, a solitary tear threatening to break free from her eyes. -- End of Flashback -- The more the princess gave into her thoughts, the more her tears were threatening to flow. Her arranged marriage was not the only thing on her mind, but also the little 'accident' from last night. What would her mother think if she found out her own daughter was not as pure as she thought was? Would her friends detest her for her stupidity? Would this Kingdom now look upon her in disgrace her because she had lost her virginity to someone other than her soon to be husband? Serenity gazed far beyond her window, absently rubbing her bear earlobe. The dawn now coming into view reminding her of the events of the previous night. It was about the same time she then realized she had lost one of her earrings. Those earrings with crescent moons suspended on each were her first set, and the only earrings she owned. She had no desire to replace the missing piece. She had always treasured them. Even if she had a collection of that particular piece of jewelry, it would not be the same as the original. She did not know which was worse: the loss of her innocence, of her most treasured earrings, or the acknowledgment of having been betrothed much later on that same day. -- End of Chapter 1 -- Glossary: (1) Literally mean “Could it be?” (2) The tradition on the Moon Kingdom is that the Lunarian princess is to be wed to a prince on any Solar System, except for the Earth. For the Queen Selene’s case, she was married to a prince from Pluto; but in Princess Serenity’s case, however, was to an Earth prince.