"What was daddy like?" Serena asked. Queen Serenity looked at her daughter's face in the mirror as she continued to brush her hair. "Well," she said. "Your daddy was a very brave man, and he was very handsome. You know who reminds me of him?" Serena thought for a second, and then just shrugged. "Endymion is a lot like your father was." Serena opened her mouth to make a snide remark, but Queen Serenity tugged on her hair slightly and said, "Don't you dare." Serena immediately closed her mouth.

Queen Serenity closed Serena's door behind her to come face to face with General Tinugio. "Serenity," he said. "I spoke with Toneil like you requested. He wasn't happy with me at all." "What happened?" she asked. "He denied everything, of course. But seven children wouldn't all have the same story. Serenity, I don't trust that man, I suggest you make him disappear before he gets to the children." Tinugio walked away leaving Queen Serenity only with his words and the heavy decision she had to make.

In her mind, Serenity had two choices, she could either request his leave and suffer the criticism from the Senate, or she could let him stay and risk the safety of her child and the other children. The logical answer was clear, she would have to let him stay. But what about the children? Could he really be a danger to them? She walked to her bedroom and went to sleep.

The next day, an emergency meeting was called in the Imperial Moon Senate. When all of the senators had gathered, General Tinugio said, "Queen Serenity, I ask permission to speak." "Permission granted General Tinugio." she replied. General Tinugio walked out on to the speaking platform and said, "We've had several complaints from the Prince's and Princess' mothers since yesterday about Senator Toniel, claiming that he threatened their children and acted very violently towards Princess Serenity." A sudden chattering began in the chambers and Senator Toneil continued to stare at Queen Serenity. This bothered General Tinugio quite a bit, but he held his tongue.

"Order! This room will come to order!" Queen Serenity shouted. "This is an outrage!" cried Senator Toneil. "I'd never hurt innocent children." He began to twitch violently, and the whole Senate could tell he was lying through this reaction and past events. "Senator, take your seat, now!" commanded Queen Serentiy. Toniel sat down still staring at her.

When the room had calmed slightly, Queen Serenity said, "All of the children have the exact same testimony of what happened." "How many children testified?" asked one of the older senators. "A good question Senator Reikop. Seven children in total testified." said Queen Serenity. "Well," replied Senator Reikop. "How old were the children?" "The children were all ten years of age and under." said Queen Serenity. "They speak truth." declared Senator Reikop. "No children of that age are smart enough to come up with such a lie. But your highness, what do you propose we do?" "I regretfully propose that we have Senator Toniel removed from the Senate as soon as possible."

The Senate burst into half argument and half rampage. "Order, please, I will have order!" shouted Queen Serenity. All of the senators seemed to ignore her, so General Tinugio shouted, "SILENCE!" The room went completely silent. "Thank you. Now, please listen to Queen Serenity." Queen Serenity's jaw almost hit the floor, but she pulled it back up and continued. "What's the matter with my proposal gentlemen?" Senator Guyipos stood.

"You cannot throw a man out of the Imperial Moon Senate because a bunch of children claim that he's being cruel. You have no grounds for such a punishment." "Though you make a wonderful point Senator Guyipos, it's not the children that are causing such commotion. The kings and queens who are the parents of these children are the problem. The biggest complaint came from King Endymion. He said that Queen Regala had a fit when her sons told her what happened. I only propose such a large course of action because we cannot jeopardize my daughter's marriage to Prince James. If the betrothal is broken, several problems will arise."

"Oh please!" shouted Senator Toneil. "If the marriage bond is broken then we simply find her another husband. For God's sake your highness, how hard is that?" "Excuse me senator," said Queen Serenity, her eyes growing wide. "You are completely out of place. Show some respect. You are not a child and I will except none other than adult behavior in this room. Understood?" Senator Toniel stared at her with his eyes squinted. "Absolutely your highness," he said. "As you wish." He sat down slowly not breaking eye contact with Queen Serenity. Then he said, "Please enlighten us. What sort of problems would the end of the betrothal bring?"

"Allow me to point out that my daughter would be quite distraught at the loss of Prince James. Also, there are no other princes in the galaxy. She would have to marry a man below her station, and I will not allow that. It was a rule that my husband set for her, and I will not break it now. And one more thing you must remember is that Earth is a very strong alliance to the Moon Kingdom. Loosing that kind of an ally could cause trouble with Nemesis." Chattering once again began in the chambers.

"Nemesis?" said Senator Toneil. He turned to the other senators and said in a loud voice, "Senators, Nemesis is long gone. Their ruler has just died. They have no one." "One moment Senator Toneil," said Queen Serenity standing up. "How would come across such information? We had no such report." Toneil began to stutter, trying to come up with an answer, when one of the senators shouted, "He's a spy! He can't even say a sentence without twitching. He's a liar, and I'm right behind Queen Serenity's decision to get him out of the Senate and out of the Moon Kingdom for good!" A large amount of cheering sounded out.

The decision was made, it was a unanimous vote. Frank Toneil was stripped of his title. He was, however, allowed to stay in the Moon Kingdom on probation.

Years had passed without any problems, when that day came. This day was the total cause of the Moon Kingdom's demise and the cause of many lost lives. (AN: If you didn't know that the Moon Kingdom was destroyed by now, then shame on you!)

Princess Serenity was now thirteen years old, and everybody could see that she was aging gracefully and becoming more of a woman every day. She walked beside the water and sat down on one of the benches near the lake. Earth was shinning brightly, and she began to dream of what it would be like when she and James were on top of it, unless that is, she got the strength to tell him. Just then, Serena felt a cold shiver go up her back.

"Princess Serenity," said Toneil as the young princess slowly turned around. "How wonderful it is to see you." Serena looked at him as he began to twitch slightly. "I am in no mood to deal with you today Mr. Toneil. Please find something better to do with your time." Toneil suddenly felt something. He felt the urge to kill the young girl just for making a snide remark. He knew, however, that the two princes of the Earth were still on the Moon for their monthly visit. Even though he knew she was just a child, he couldn't help this feeling, he'd felt it before, but not for her.

Suddenly, before he knew what he was doing, he was strangling the princess. He couldn't control his anger. He dragged her to the side of the lake by her neck as she attempted to fight him. Due to the difference in body mass, she was no match for the forty-six year old man.

Endymion was in his room studying for his oral exam which was the next day, when he fell off of his chair in pain. He gripped his side as James ran to him. "Endymion, what is it? What's wrong with you? Should I get you to the hospital?" "No," replied Endymion. "Just fetch me my sword." James looked at him bewildered, but did as his brother asked. James was coming to trust his younger brother's instincts. James followed Endymion out to the lake. They hid behind one of the palace walls and watched as Serena's hand let go of Toneil's which was gripping her neck and fell to the ground beside her. He then threw her lifeless body in the lake for dead.

James was ready and willing to go after Toneil at any second, but he patiently snuck behind him and held a sword to his neck. "Endymion," James shouted. "Go in and rescue Serena, quickly before it's too late!" With that, Endymion jumped into the lake.

It was dark and he couldn't see very well. He looked for her, but found nothing. He couldn't see well enough to make her out. He needed air, but he suddenly saw a mass of blonde locks flow up. He would have to wait to go to the surface, otherwise he knew she wouldn't make it. When he reached her, she appeared to be unconscious. He desperately needed to breathe, but would do all he could to save her. With his last amount of strength, he began to swim up with Serena in his arms, only to find that her foot was caught. He knew that she was going to die, she needed air. He used up all of his courage and pressed his mouth against hers. He parted her cold lips with his tongue, and blew all that was left of his air into her body. She opened her eyes and put her hands on her neck, signaling that she needed to breathe. He nodded his head and pulled out his pocket knife. He cut through the seaweed her foot was tangled in, and swam her up to the surface.

Both Endymion and Serena gasped for air when they reached the surface of the water. As soon as they reached the top, Endymion sank back down and because he was holding Serena, she went down with him. When Endymion finally got to the top, he looked down at Serena who was once again unconscious and he saw that she was bleeding heavily from her head. Endymion quickly ripped a piece of his shirt off and pressed it against Serena's injury. He swam out of the lake and carried her to the bench. Endymion looked up and saw two members of the Imperial Moon Army taking Toneil away in hand cuffs. James ran over to Serena and Endymion and said, "Endymion, go get a doctor, now! Do you know where the hospital is?" Endymion shook his head. "Fine, I'll go get the doctor. Stay with her and make sure nothing happens to her." James stood up. "She's my life." He then ran off to the hospital as fast as his feet would allow. Endymion had lied, he knew where the hospital was, he wanted to stay with her. Something had happened in the lake, she touched him.

Serena sat up without opening her eyes. Her pigtails had come loose and her hair flowed like that of an angel's. She winced from the pain in her head, but she passionately kissed her rescuer, whoever he may be. She opened her eyes to see a stunned Endymion looking into her blue eyes. "Thank you," she whispered. "I would've died if you hadn't jumped in there for me." Serena put her hands on Endymion's neck trying to gain strength. As soon as she did, she felt rejuvenated, like nothing had happened. Endymion began to lean into her, keeping his eyes on hers, and when they're lips were about to touch once more, they heard James coming and immediately parted again. When James had reached them, he nearly pushed Endymion over trying to get to Serena's embrace. As soon as Serena's hand left Endymion's body, she collapsed again.

"Serena!" James shouted, holding her head up. "Open your eyes! You can't leave me, open your eyes! Endymion, what did you do to her?" "Nothing," said Endymion. "I've done nothing, I can't control when that little meatball head faints." James slowly looked back at Endymion as if he was suspicious of something.

When the doctors arrived they immediately took Serena into the critical care unit of the palace hospital. The next day, James and Endymion walked into the hospital room to see Queen Serenity praying at her daughter's bedside. When she saw the two boys, Queen Serenity dried her tears and greeted them. "How is she?" asked a terrified James. "The doctors cannot explain it. One minute she was fine and the next she was dying. They told me that she might never wake up." Both James and Queen Serenity began to cry. Endymion looked at Serena, and saw something. He knew she wasn't dying, he couldn't explain how he knew, he just knew. Endymion walked to a chair next to her bed and sat down. He took hold of her hand, and out of no where, Serena's eyes fluttered open.

"Endymion," she whispered. "What's happening to me?" "I don't know." said Endymion. James ran to her and put his head on her chest crying. "Don't scare me like that ever again my darling Serena!" said James. Serena put her other hand on James' head and cried a tear with him. "Don't cry James, of all people I need you to be strong." said Serena. "All right my love," James replied. "I'll do my best. I was so worried about you. The doctors said that you would never wake up."

Serena began to cry again. James took her hand and tried to calm her. "What is it Serena? You're fine now, everything will be all right now." "No James," said Serena. "I almost died. They told me to go back. I wanted to escape the pain and die so I wouldn't have to face you with this." Serena took her head into her hands."Endymion," she said. "Could you give us a minute alone please?" Endymion nodded his head and walked out of the room. Serena took a minute to collect herself and then continued.

"When Toneil was chocking me, the last person I thought of wasn't who I thought it would be. James, you weren't going to be my last thought. The last person I thought of was Endymion. He was the last face that I saw, and the person that I struggled to live for. But, when I was unconscious and I saw that bright light, I knew that if I went back, I would have to tell you this and hurt you. When I reached the light, my father was there. He put his hand on my shoulder and told me turn around and go back. Before I could say anything to him, I was being kissed by Endymion in the lake. He was giving me life, and I knew at that moment that I'm in love with him." James was crying, he'd known that this would be coming.

"So, you're not in love with me. You just played with my feelings for the past thirteen years. I loved you Serena from the moment my eyes saw yours, and now you tell me that I'm not the one?" "Oh come on James! I didn't fall in love with Endymion when I first laid eyes on him, it took me years to figure it out. I love you James, so very much! But I'm not in love with you." "And how long have you known?" "Since I was eleven." James stood up and left the room with nothing in it but the crying Serena. Endymion immediately went after him.

"James, talk to me! What's wrong with you?" asked Endymion. "She's not in love with me Endymion. Serena isn't in love with me anymore. It's the funniest thing really. The wedding is off, that's all." "What do you mean the wedding is off? Why would she do that? Who else could she possibly be in love with?" "You Endymion, she told me that she's in love with you. Look," James said as he stopped walking and came to be face to face with Endymion. "I love Serena despite the fact that she's not in love with me. I love her so much in fact, that I'm not going to force her into marrying me. If she's in love with you, as I know you are with her, than I will not get in the way of your happiness. Talk to her mother, she's all yours." With that, James walked away, leaving Endymion with a heavy heart.

Wow! That chapter was
a little longer than I thought it
would be! Don't forget to e-mail
me at NeoTori7688@aol.com and
tell me what you think. Thanks!

~Neo Queen Tori~