"How Strong is Love?" chapter three: Sere Hiya peoples! How's it goin'? I'd like ta thank those of you who have e-mailed me. it means a lot and I hope that I've gotten back ta all of you! (Well, so far it's only a few, but I don't wanna come back and type this note later thinking the people who will *hopefully* e-mail me in the future.) Disclaimer: Sailor Moon. Tuxedo Mask. Sailor Mercury. Sailor Mars. Sailor Venus. Sailor Jupiter. Sailor Saturn. Sailor Neptune. Sailor Uranus. Sailor Pluto. and all of those peeps do not belong ta me, got it? If anything I only own, now who is it?, um Nellie, Callista, Millie, and that bro. of Beryl's. Oh, no! I just gave something away! Too bad. On with the story..... *****************************^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^*************** Rini slept and dreamt of a woman with long golden hair, "Rini, Rini!" The woman called, "Dear child, help me! You can help me! Let me free of this, this realm! I'm so alone, please, my daughter. Help me!" A woman with long hair stood in the shadows of Crystal Palace. Quickly she rubbed her silver ring that she wore on her left hand, "Transformation Power! Change me into......." her last words were muttered as she morphed. She stood there, still the same sapphire blue eyes. But different hair, different clothes. Different face. Her hair was now turquoise with hot-pink streaks in it. The woman's hair that was once ground-length now was now waist-length when worn in a high ponytail (which is how she wore her hair right then). Her outfit was stunning. It was black and shiny. She wore a halter-top and a knee-length skirt which was tight fitting. Slowly she walked out of the shadows and got a better grip on the black bag that she carried. She walked up to the guards at the gate, "Excuse me," she said while flashing her best smile, "can I go in to apply for a job?" The first, a blonde, told her, "Lady, we're not supposed to let people in. But, you say that ya wanna job? I guess I can get someone to escort you to the person in charge of that field." With that, the blonde guard turned to the other, "Jake, could you please show her in?" "Of course, I'll be back soon," was the response, "This way miss." The woman followed him in. She laughed inside, Jake led her through the gardens and then into the palace. The woman had to admit that she was impressed at how lovely the design of the hallway that they stood in was. The guard coughed, "Uh, what's your name?" Jake seemed to be trying to get a conversation going. "Oh, I'm know as... as...." she had never thought about coming up with an alias name, "Sere." Jake looked a little startled, "Sere?" The woman didn't seem to notice. "Okay, please wait here, miss. I'll go find the person in job of hiring," Jake walked off. At first he headed for the head-maid's office where the hiring *used* to be done. Then he remembered that the king had decided a while back to do all hiring himself. Jake shrugged and headed to the royal family's rooms. Finally he heard King Endymion's voice coming from the stairwell, "Rini , come on dear! We're going to go on a picnic, remember?" he called up the stairs to his daughter. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!" Jake went up to the king, "My king, there is a woman requesting a job...." "Not today, Jake. Just tell her she can work for the day, but I'll give her the interview tomorrow. All right? Oh, don't let her be another cook, we have tons of them," Endymion told the guard. Just then Rini came running down the stairs in a pink tank top and jean shorts. She wore clear sandals and had sunglasses on the top of her head. "All set!" She called, "Oh, hiya Jake!" She greeted the guard. he bowed. "Small Lady. I will tell her that sire," the guard turned back to the king and bowed before walking away. "Tell who what?" Rini asked as she descended the last two steps. Endy sighed, "Well it seems there's someone who wants a job here. And I'm the one who's now hiring everyone, so today I told Jake just to tell her to work for the day. Then tomorrow I'll give her the job interview and the other stuff." "Oh, okay. Let's get going!" They headed off to the kitchen where they picked up their picnic basket. Then the two headed outside to the gardens. In the middle of the garden area was a hill covered in grass. At the top was a gazebo and some benches. To that hill is where they went to eat. From there you could see all of the gardens. It had been another of Serenity's favorite spots to sit. Remembering that, Endy took in a breath. Serena, Serenity. Was she, could she still be alive? he thought, Rini gave him a confused look so he put on a smile, "I'll race ya!" He cried, at that they both began to run. Sere had been told by Jake that she could work for the day and that the next (day) she would be interviewed by the king. She sighed. Now she was outside in the gardens, she could work as many things for she was capable at most. Sere had found garden tools so she went outside to find out what needed to be done. As she walked over to the rose gardens she heard laughing, she looked over and slightly up to see a man and a young girl running up a hill in the middle of the gardens. Sere couldn't help it, she smiled. But then that smile turned upside down, she had used to have a daughter. She had loved her daughter dearly, except around seven years ago she had died under mysterious causes. Well, she hadn't died, it was just that she had never returned. No one had seen her for seven years, Sere thought as looked longingly at the two people on the hill. She shook her head and headed to the rose gardens. She was astounded by how many colors of roses this palace had. Blues, whites, pinks, reds, yellows, oranges, black, purples, and so many more. "Wow!" Sere said aloud. Then she began the search for weeds, they were pretty well kept, only a few weeds here and there. But as she neared the hill she spotted many, many weeds. "So what's with this? Weed everything else except these here at the end?" Sere put a hand on her hip and shook her head, "Better get working," she muttered. Rini and Endymion enjoyed their sandwich lunch. Soon they talked about things that had been going on the past few days (excluding the battle and everything about the Sailor Scouts). But Rini soon changed the conversation as she asked, "Daddy, is that tale really true that you told me last night?" "Huh?" That had surprised the king, "Yes dear. It is very, very true. There's only one thing-" She broke off as he heard movement, "What's that?" He wasn't really worried, he was just curious. Rini had already crawled to the edge of the hill and was looking down at a lovely lady with turquoise hair with hot pink streaks in it. She watched as the woman worked on pulling out a weed. King E went by his daughter. He called, "You, are you new?" The woman looked up, startled. "Yes, why?" Endy gasped as he saw her eyes. He hadn't seen those types of eyes for years. Now he walked down the hill as the woman stood up. The woman saw a flash of something in her mind, but it was too quick to figure out what it was. Endy looked into her eyes. Yes, they were just like hers..... just like Serena's. "What is your name?" He asked after getting himself under control. "I am known as Sere," was the simply reply. "Sere?!" King E. cried. He took a step back. He hadn't heard a name so close to his love for a long time. "Yes, what's the matter?" The woman looked at the king a little worried. Rini then came down and it was time for Sere to be a little shocked, "It's- it's. No, it's not you. No, that's not right." The pink haired girl's eyes went wide, "What? Why is everyone acting so strange lately?" "You're from my dream!" Exclaimed Rini. Endy had gotten over the shock of Sere's name when Rini said this, "What? You've been having more dreams again?" "Ahem..." A cough came to the side of them and they turned to find Amy, Greg, and Callista standing there, "Excuse me," Amy started, "we don't mean to intrude, but what exactly is going on here? Something isn't quite right." Endymion turned to his friend, "Amy, meet *Sere*. She's a new worker here." "Sere!?" Greg and Amy and Rini cried, for Rini hadn't heard the woman's name before. The new worker rolled her eyes, "Yes, and what has that to do with anything?" She asked, exasperated. "Well-" Greg looked to the king, who nodded, "You see the queen here used to be Serenity. And it hasn't been a long time since any name close to that of hers was used." "Oh, well if you don't mind I'd like to keep my name," Sere stated. "Yes, that's fine. But if people are shocked, at least you know why," Endymion looked down at where she had been working, "You're weeding over here? Why, here? Why not in another garden?" "Now what's the matter?!" Sere asked, "I'm weeding over here because it's weedy, and if it isn't weeded soon all of these roses will have lovely weeds with them. And I'm weeding here first because roses are my favs so that's my answer to your questions!" She finished nearly at a shout. Endymion thought. He shook himself out of it, He took on the role of a true king, introducing the others to Sere, "Meet Amy, Greg, and their daughter Callista." "How-do-you-do?" Sere did a slight bow. Then Endymion introduced his daughter, "This is my daughter, Small Lady. Though her name that we (friends and family) call her is: Rini." "Oh my God!" Sere took a step back and looked at the girl. Was it really her? No, it couldn't be. She hadn't survived, she had disappeared, "Now what?!" Rini asked, eyes wide as the strange new woman stared at her. "yes, what is it?" Endy demanded. Sere knelt down in front of Rini, keeping their eyes locked she whispered, "But you disappeared... you were gone... battle... lost... death... he told me you were dead..." Tears filled her eyes as images flashed by. The images were changed now, they weren't the same as they had been, or how she had been told. These images of the battle were different than the ones that *he* had told her, had put in her head. 'I'll be on your side, and always will be.....Mommy!.... Nellie and Beryl will be happy....' Sere gasped, could it be possible that he had put something in her head that wasn't true? "Rini... you're alive? You were saved? Then who...?" Sere cut off as a new image came to mind. A woman in white on the ground. A man in a tuxedo holding her, "No, that's not me!" She shouted and held her head as something screamed at her inside, "No! That's not true! I'm, I'm Sere! Not her!" Amy and Greg had stepped back, and Amy picked up her daughter. King E had stepped back too but Rini refused to move. All of the sudden, Rini held out her hand and it started to glow white. Slowly she touched the crying woman who immediately stopped. "You really are her..." Sere's eyes were still filled with tears but now a smile started to make its way onto her face, "You really are-" She was cut off as three women came running towards them. Sere didn't get to finish her sentence, The woman with black hair stopped by Amy, panting, "What's up Raye?" Greg asked. "Lita, you tell 'em," Raye said. "Fine then," the one with brown hair replied, "You see Endy, we were- wait a sec... who's this?" She asked, referring to Sere. Endymion stated, "Do not flip out, okay? Her name is Sere and she's a new worker at the palace. Sere, this is Mina, Lita, and Raye." Sere just nodded, still to confused by everything to do more. The three new people to join the group mouthed, "Sere!?" Rini nodded her head, "Her name is Sere, she loves roses (they're her fav flower), and she knows me... somehow..." "Well Sere, do ya mind if you step away for a minute? We gotta talk ta the king," Lita announced. "Sure, I'll work someplace else," Sere got up slowly and walked away. When she was out of sight she ran behind some bushes next to the group of talking people. "Dar- I mean, Endy, we were in the room with the silver crystal and it started to react, just a few minutes ago! How can it? Only Serenity knew how to work it, unless...." Mina turned to Rini. "Small Lady?" They all chorused. "Huh? I wish that all of you would quit this stupid 'unless' or 'not like last time' or 'the thing'.... It's driving me nuts!" Rini cried. "Sorry dear, but you'll understand tonight." "What have you to report, Sere?" The dark man asked. "My king, I have found out that the only two people that are able to work the crystal are Serenity and, and Rini," Sere looked up, "That's another thing, that girl, Rini, is she? could she?-" The man sighed, "Sere, Sere. My sweet you know that she didn't live. Why don't you accept that?" "Because I know differently, and I've had weird visions of that battle. I do not believe you anymore, Gareath." "Really? Well just you go back and find a way to get the crystal! That's all that you need to do." "Yes, milord," Sere said through gritted teeth. She had been dismissed so she walked to the portal room and went through to the 'real world'. As she stepped out into the gardens she whispered, "I know that Rini *is* my daughter. You can't hide that, Gareath!" She hissed. ******************************* Well That's all I have for part three. I guess that this story isn't that long. Maybe that's good, usually it takes me forever ta finish these stories! Whatcha think 'bout it? Please e-mail me, I know that this title isn't that great for the story, but I had to come up with something before I posted this. Ugh! Well I better be off and finish this so I can work on the other 'fics. Later minna-chan! -Sailor ClearMoon Oh yeah, thanx all of you who e-mailed/ will e-mail me! And a special thanx to Shalom-chan for being a good reader and giving me comments before I post this stuff; Myla, a *very* true SM fan; and I would say Sailor Orbit, except that she's been really annoying by not getting back to me. Orbit-'chan' if you're really on the 'net and reading this, get a clue and mail me!!!! later! P.S. yeah, the stupid thing's short. Sorry, but that's how it is. If ya want a part four, you'll hafta deal with this. See I love ta have people at the edge of their seats at the end of a chapter. ::heh, heh::