Disclaimer: Sailormoon doesn't belong to me, not this moment, not in this life time either. 

--	Chapter 7	--

"No," the Terran Prince moaned in his sleep. The restless prince was dreaming, trying to reach for a certain figure, which was gradually slipping
out of reach. 

"Do not leave," he called out. But the figure could not hear him. Instead the silhouette continued to disparate in the mist. At his final shout, which
was a 'no', he was startled from his sleep panting heavily. Although he could not see clearly the face of the unknown figure, deep down in his
heart, he was well acquainted with the mysterious person. 

"Gods, why are you doing this to me?" the prince was infuriated. He wished he could waive away the enchantment that struck hard on him two
days ago. Much to his irritation, his memory would not let him. He knew it was a lie if he denied not receiving a nudge from within when he caught
a glimpse of her on the balcony. 

As far as he was concerned, love was a cruel thing: it hurt people and could even ruin a sane person's life. He did not believe in love as he had
witnessed far too many failing relationships. He had watched how the participants were wounded in the game of love, and he refused to be one 
of the victims. Numerous times, he had been advised by those wounded soldiers on the battlefield of love that he should listen to his head
instead of his heart, which was something he strongly agreed with. So when the said enigma came to someone who disregarded love at first
sight, such as himself, the one that had to pay the price and that was his once peaceful life.

"Could it be that I have fallen for the princess?" he asked himself in the darkness. The great silence made no movement to answer him, but a
gentle night breeze brushed over his face as if responding to him with a 'yes'. If he were not lied to before, then this would be the first time he
would go into denial - something he was getting better at doing.

"No, that could not be it." Prince Endymion stood his ground with a determination he did not realize he possessed when a ghostly whispering
sound began to manipulate him even more.  "I do NOT have feelings for her. There is no way that I am falling for her. No, I can not, and I will not."

Nevertheless, the question was: did he have any choice? Not at all.

----------

Endymion was up before the sun. Normally he would brighten his day by welcoming the dawn's fresh air, but today, he felt this would be very
much the opposite to his usual mornings. At this moment, all he could feel was blue and grumpy, nothing else. He could not get back to sleep
after numerous attempts. This was one of the reasons for his change of mood. But this was only a minor thing compared to the image of the
princess that stupefied him. The worst part was, this scared him most of all. For some unknown reason, he could not forget her ghostly smile as
she watched them from her balcony. He could not look away. The sight of her shimmering hair dancing gracefully in the breeze as it brushed past
her face. Even the slightest movement of her hand when pushing her hair back behind her left ear would haunt him for eternity. He imagined how
exotic she would be if he saw the way her bodice clung to her delicate skin with his own eyes, and her long slender legs...

'I had better stop this,' the prince, standing all of 6'2 thought. 'Yes, I had better stop replaying the image over and over again before I get carried
away, because I will suffer more restless nights.' After getting out of bed, he moved to the bathroom and decided to freshen up his day by
having a very cold shower. An hour and a half later, he was done with his morning chores - he had showered, dressed in his riding attire and
finished up his breakfast - and now he was on his way to the stable. That was where Helios was.

Helios was a horse. He was handsome, but very short-tempered. No one could get near him nor tame him, save for his master. Endymion, the
future King of the Elysian Realm. Helios was very proud of his thick white fur, which many horses envied. Although he was not a pure breed, with
his speed, many people assumed him one. He had once lived a harsh life. Back then, the abuse inflicted upon the horse by his previous owners
led Helios to distrust everyone, including his current master. But no matter how deep the wound, it would heal over time. Prince Endymion had
shown him a different side of mankind with great patience, and his life was forever changed.

Unlike those young spirited ones, Helios waited obediently as his master came into view. If he were a human being, his facial expression right
now would be one of somebody waiting for the victim to fall into a booby trap; the true nature of a sadist.

While the prince took his precious time getting to his destination, someone was already there before him. She, the subject of his thought; a 
certain princess now stood beside Helios brushing his mane expertly.

"He is beautiful." she commented while continuing her brushing. She then turned to the prince, who was currently immobile, and asked, "or is it a
she?"   

Aware that the princess was waiting for an answer, Endymion shook his head to force certain imaginings from his mind. He did not want to admit
he had once again been captivated by her beauty. Besides, it was the beginning of the winter solstice. He could feel a radiant heat emitting from
within. Something he could not identify, but he was positive it was not of desire.

"It is a he," he found himself answering as he moved closer to where the beauty and the beast were. He was oblivious to his beating heart
thumping louder and louder within his ears as he heard her almost inaudible 'oh'. For the first time he came to the realization that she had a voice
of an angel, but the thought went as soon as it came. Now a pair of young royals stood either side of the creature as an awkward silence
resumed. 

----------

An hour earlier, Princess Serenity, feeling as if her body were made of stone, had trouble going back to sleep. She had a dream about her
witnessing the sunrise at a place she had never been before; it was a paradise. There were fewer brilliant and less intense hues of yellow orange
and red above the horizon in the East. Below the invisible line there lay a hazy image of infrastructure and a stream in the heart of the town. The
feeling of how comforting the warmth of the sun was on her face did not die away even after she had awoken from her slumber. 

Whether there was somebody standing beside her, she could not remember. Even if there was, she could not picture their face, nor her
connection to that person and this was nothing but a puzzle to her.

There was a variety of reasons as to why she did not get a peaceful sleep. It was nothing new to her as this was not the first time she had
experienced sleepless nights. Her mother, the ruler of the Moon Kingdom, was one major cause. Serenity, along with other royals of the Silver 
Millennium was granted special powers. Occasionally, they would contact one another in a unique way, though not all possessed the same
powers. The Lunarian Royals held no Senshi-like abilities, but they were the most powerful compared to the other alliances, such as Mercury and
Jupiter.

Queen Selene held a mystical stone that everyone wished to behold. This was a stone that held unlimited powers. It was also the same stone
that would disrupt the equilibrium of the galaxy if it fell into the wrong hands. That stone was called the Maboroshi Ginzuishou (1). However, there
was an ultimate flaw in the said stone. The beholder had to sacrifice his or her energy when activating its power; and if a wish was to be granted
by using the full potential of the crystal, the life of the user was the price paid.

The daughter, on the other hand, had no other special ability, other than telepathy link and spell incantations. Since the princess was a novice in
respect to her abilities, ancient spell books were her only teacher as spell incantatory was very rare in the Silver Millennium. Even though the
telepathy had been passed down from generation to generation, its instability was the most irritating thing for the young princess. There were
times that she could not use telepathy with her mother, but despite that, the Queen herself had the same limitations placed upon her ability as her
daughter. It was easier and sufficient to write letters, but these usually took months to send and receive. Therefore, both the queen and the
princess had concluded before the trip to Terra that they would use telepathic communication to contact each other monthly. Now one and a half
months had passed, and the princess did try to contact her mother using the telepathic link as they had promised one another, but there was no
news on the other end.

Another reason was her dreams. Recently, she had been dreaming quite a lot until she lost count. Not every sequence in these dreams would be
the same, but two figures would remain. One she took account of, was herself, and the other was unknown to her. Serenity could not determine
the gender of the silhouette. Every time she tried to unveil their identity, she had woken up.

A normal person would regard this as a mere dream, but not Serenity Selene Serena. At first she supposed it all a dream, only in recent years
had she started to have doubts. It all started from one restless night when she was still very young. She had not realized she was watching the
argument that erupted between her two closest friends, Princess Rei of Mars and Princess Makoto of Jupiter, through her dreams. How the fight
had started and what it was about she did not know even if it had been ten years passed. None of them had ever brought the topic up. 

Three days after her dream, a five year old Serenity was at a private garden having a royal picnic with her family and friends. She and Luna, who
was a lady in waiting at that moment as well as her guardian, were the only one surrounded by delicious delicacies enjoying the moment of
peace, when suddenly the little princess heard an argument. Looking up, and very curious, she went investigating the source of the interruption.

Not far off in the distance, Rei and Makoto had a heated conversation that roused them into a fierce fight. They were not aware that the more they
argued, the louder they got. Two princesses from Mars and from Jupiter would have begun their kicking and punching if it was not for a certain
princess who jumped into the pit of fire.

"Rei-chan? Mako-chan?" the chubby princess questioned with her big curious eyes. Thinking it the best way to end the dispute between the two
girls, she did what she thought was for the best - she walked right into the argument. What came next was not what she expected. Instead of
ignoring her, they burst into laughter. Each was facing the innocent princess simultaneously.

Luna had gone to search for the missing princess, she had only turned her head for a moment or so and when she looked back; the princess
was nowhere to be found. Almost hysterical, the young maiden began her search. By the time the missing princesses were discovered, Rei and
Makoto were on the ground laughing so hard that they failed to hear the shriek from the young guardian who fainted on the spot. As for the poor
little Serenity, she was left clueless with a pout on her food-coated face. 

When telling someone as young as a five year old that she had experienced déjà vu (2), it was like explaining how an apple fell from the tree.
She would nod, implying that she understood, but then it flew out of her head completely the moment her head was turned. As the princess grew
older, the incidents of déjà vu increased. Déjà vu, déjà vecu (3) and déjà visité (4), she experienced them all, although they were not as frequent
whenever her friends came to visit her. Even Princess Ami could not find an appropriate explanation to the condition as the Moon Princess did
not have any brain disorder; nor was she being paranoid. For this reason, the princess, with the odango hairstyle, often had a second thought,
wondering whether the events were for real, or were just one of her dreams. Never would she have thought that later that day she would
experience another déjà visité. 

Dragging herself away from these old memories, the princess stood up, her sleepiness now gone. The only thing she could see from the
window was the pitch black of night. Her friends would call her bluff if she were to tell them she was up before the sunrise. For someone who
could not arrive on time for breakfast and morning sessions, they were right about calling her a liar. Since she could no longer get back to sleep,
she decided to go wherever her legs would take her. During her early explorations, she had not made a single mental note except for wrapping
herself more securely into the winter robe. Never had she been this cold back home... Correction: never had she been this freaking cold in her
life before. 

The journey seemed endless to her as the Moon Princess wandered the grand palace carelessly. She had lost count of how many turns she had
to make and the countless rooms there were since leaving her bedchamber. All she knew was the palace was enormous. One could lose his or
her way if unfamiliar with the size of this place; the princess was one very good example. She was lost, and there was no one to help her and
nobody to blame because she had woken up before six in the morning. If she read her shadow correctly, it had only been half an hour since she
woke. Good thing was she was not hungry, and it was all thanks to the thoughts that occupied her mind. Otherwise, she would throw a tantrum at
anyone or anything that came her way, and she did not want that. The thing was she was not that kind of person.

After wandering around for a time, Serenity took one of the exits where the luminous night shone the most. She realized it was a wooden barn the
moment she emerged from the maze. The soft noise from the horses proved how right she was. 

'So, that exit leads to where these beautiful creatures are,' the princess kept the information in mind as she turned her head in the direction from
which she had come. After getting closer to the barn, she then walked passed each stall as discreetly as possible as she did not want to disturb
their peace more than she already had. She was fascinated not only by the numerous horses available here, but also the diverse array of colorful
coats. She had heard from Ami once that Terra, especially Elysian favored them. She too had heard from her friend that Elysian had a wide
variety of horses, but to see them personally was like having angels welcome her with open wings. Many had caught her attention, but she had
not stopped walking until she caught sight of one horse in particular. The horse had the color of an angel, the colour that every bride would like to
have for her wedding that also represented purity, innocence and sacredness; white. (5)

Princess Serenity reached out to the horse with curiosity, yet with a little timidity. She did not want to scare the creature away; neither did she want
to coax it into biting her out-stretched fingers. Her hand stopped mid way, waiting for a rejection, but the horse did not move a muscle.
Courageously, the princess dared to move it a little closer. Finally, her fingers made contact with its mane.

"Your mane is so soft, and beautiful." the princess told the horse, but the latter snorted her compliment away by turning his head to one side. Yet
he allowed her stroking motion to continue. The princess did not notice they had company, but the white horse did through the corner of his eye,
though he made no indication. Not even a warning. Why would he ruin it when he had a show to watch? Only a foolish person would do
something like that, and he, Helios, definitely was not the one.

Unfortunately, the princess did not look so surprised when the person chose to reveal himself, or better yet, the princess who ruined the fun. 

"He is beautiful," the princess had said. Serenity had no idea who this person was. She just had this feeling that there was someone behind her,
and this someone was none other than her betrothed and her future husband. 

'This is all you have got?' Helios whinnied in frustration. If the answer was yes, then he wanted to cry out really loud. Royalty or not, he would have
kicked their butts if only he had legs like his master and the girl next to him. The pair had said nothing else other than 'it is a he' and an 'oh'. That
was unbelievable, and he thought humans were the most intellectual of all species. 'Guess I was wrong about these two.'

"I am surprised," the rich dark haired prince found his lips moving. Although he could not see her from the other side of the horse, but he could
sense she was listening earnestly. "Helios is a very sensitive horse. He is very cautious of his surroundings; even I had to spend nearly a year to
gain his trust to get close to him." 

The princess spoke not a word. She was pondering on what he told her. If she had not known, she would have thought that he, the horse, was
friendly enough to let her mould him. 

"He is nice," the princess complimented.

"I can see that," and the prince gave a light smile in response.

A comfortable silence fell upon each of them. This was the change in tension of which the pair took little notice. Their eyes swayed everywhere
from the ground to the horse, neither daring to make eye contact. The princess was scrutinizing Helio's mane. Tangled or not, her focus on
Helios did not stop; the prince, on the other hand, fighting with himself from time to time to stop his fidgeting. Never had both adolescents been
in such close contact before, and what stood between them was Helios, an additional salt to add to their predicament. To say they were anxious
was an understatement. No word could describe their current emotions, but to feel their racing hearts, was as if they had an exam in the next
minute.

"He is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen."

"Likewise," he agreed, only he was not referring to Helios. To his relief, the Moon Princess did not grasp the meaning behind his words. He
confessed that Helios was indeed a beau, but was nothing compared to the creature that stood a horse's length away from him. Besides, he
could not deny the fact that every time they stumbled into each other, she had gotten prettier. If only he could touch the skin underneath that
robe...

The prince of Earth mentally cursed himself for having such an ecchi (6) thought. He wished he could let out his frustration by banging his head
repetitively upon Helios, but resisted the temptation. He did not want to give the horse a fright, or give his betrothed the impression he was having
an epilepsy seizure. With determination, he reminded himself that he needed to figure out why he had not been himself recently.

Meanwhile, Serenity was having an internal battle with herself. She wanted to say something, but her throat seemed to be malfunctioning today.
Even her mind was in off-mode. Filled with curiosity, she stole a sideways glance at Endymion, then turning away, inhaling a quick breath before
he could catch her in action.

The sound of hearts thumping was soon replaced by a frigid silence that fell between the two royals, and they only made a moved when the light
began to diminish within the stable. The reflection from their shadows had told Endymion that it was already past six in the morning. In an instant, 
a sense of alertness hit him hard. He had not noticed that his sudden reaction had caught the attention of the princess.

"Care to ride with me?" he asked while getting his riding gear ready.

The princess wanted to decline, but the young man, her soon-to-be husband gave her no time to refuse. Once Endymion climbed upon Helios'
back, he extended his hand towards her. Having no other option, she reluctantly accepted his offer before letting him pull her up and settling
herself in front of him. Together they rode away.

The pair exchanged nothing more than "where are we going?" and "you will see," along their way. They continued to ride, until the prince pulled
up on the reins, bringing them to a stop. After dismounting, he turned around and, like before, offered a hand to help the princess off the horse.
He then tied Helios to a huge tree where there was a pond for him to drink. He then led her towards to the foliage, walking with slow and cautious
steps. He did not want to be assailed by unnecessary questions, such as why the princess's clothing was all torn up, when they got back. 

By the time they reached the top of the rise, the princess, still intact, followed the prince towards more dense vegetation. Eventually, the trail led
them to a valley.

Everything was blurry due to the morning mist. Then, without warning, he counted down. "Ten," his sudden countdown earned a questioning look
from the silver haired princess.

"This is something else I wanted to show you," and he continued counting down, "eight."

The princess shot him a "What are you planning?" look.

"Seven," he shot back a reassuring look, "You just wait. It will be good, I promise." He whispered between counting the numbers down.

"Five," yet that did not convince her. "Four," he then gave her a look that said "Do not look at me like that". "Three," she looked at him again, even
more confused, but she complied anyway. "Two," and he added softly with a "any moment now... One."

As if on cue, the sun glided skyward to reveal its light for the world to see. It was as if it were saying 'I am finally free.' They witnessed their first
sunrise together. It was so beautiful. The colour of yellow and red mixing had formed the most extraordinary fusion of colours. If the word 'beauty' 
were perfect to describe the atmospheric phenomena, then the word for the following scene would be breathtaking. The pair watched how the 
sunrise did its magic trick. They saw the mist slowly fading away, then the revelation of the village of Elysian. They had gotten to see its people
preparing for work, loading their stuff onto their horses and riding away. The reflection of the nearby stream, that provided the strength and life
force to the people of the kingdom, indicated that the harmonious village was living under an unpolluted environment, and was far from any threat 
to their lifestyle.

The prince had asked her something, but the princess could no longer hear him. The fact that she was stunned, dumbstruck and her jaw had
dropped was not only because of the beauty she could see, but also because of the setting itself. The scene they were looking down on below
clicked inside her mind. She had seen this view before. It was exactly the same as the one in her dream. The same dawn, the same mist, the
busy village and the same crystal clear stream. Despite all that, she had foreseen all of this from her dreams, but it could not compare with the 
real thing. What she was seeing and feeling was beyond any words she could use to describe all this.

Endymion was more than satisfied with the response he received from her. He was feeling grateful that they now had a connection, although it
was not strong, but was enough for him to remember for a lifetime. Nothing was more important than this new born bonding. Nothing.

----------

Destiny is something that cannot be controlled, yet at the same time is undetermined. It can be changed just by one small push, but sometimes it
does not change at all. Time, events, the effort and the number of people involved do play their part in this whirlpool, but not significantly. Yet at
the same time, they are the keys to unlock the door to the untold path that eventually leads to an unknown future.

In the case of the prince and the princess, it seemed Helios had been the one pulling the strings that brought them together. However, if
Endymion had not come across the princess prior to that day and had dreamt of her, he would not have decided to go to the stable to refresh his
mind at such an early hour of the morning. For Serenity's part, if she had not decided to take an early morning walk in the fresh air to clear her
mind, she would not have met Helios nor found her way to the prince.

Previously, the friends of both parties had been trying so hard to get them together, but their efforts did not pay off. As a matter of fact, it failed
miserably and was disastrous. That was the trick the fates were playing. Needless to say, it was a happy beginning for our favourite couple, and
this was how their real story had begun...

--	End of Chapter 7	--

Glossary:
(1) is the Silver Crystal, aka the Illusional Silver Crystal.

(2) "is the experience of feeling sure that one has witnessed or experienced a new situation previously (an individual feels as though an event
has already happened or has happened in the near past)" 

[Wikimedia Foundation. Inc. 2008, Deja Vu, viewed 5 November 2008, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deja_vu>]

(3) simply put is "already lived through"

[Deja Vu Survey, viewed 5 November 2008, <http://silenroc.com/dejavu/>]

(4) in short, it means "already visited"

[Deja Vu Survey, viewed 5 November 2008, <http://silenroc.com/dejavu/>]

(5) according to the research I found in various articles, when a horse is white it means that it has white hair coat but with a pink skin. Since there
is no white horse, and the one that has the pure white look in most cases is a middle-aged or older gray horse.

(6) refers to 'pervert'

----------

Cdgal: and that's the end of Part 1. Took me long enough to update, isn't it? You see, I just almost finished this chapter I had been working for 
the past few weeks, so I thought I could do some update. Besides, it was about time to do so since my last update last December... Last 
December! Oh my, that was seven months ago!! Time does fly really fast...

Right, back to the topic: Thanks for reading, and I'm thankful for having a great patience coming from all of you, thank you for that as well. I would 
not ask for anything else, except for hoping you all have a great time reading this.

So, enjoy the chapter like I enjoy writing this particular piece of story. 

Thank you~ *and lots of kisses*

P/s: a big special thanks to my editor for he did a wonderful job on helping me. A million thanks to you, Loki. ^o^