"A White Rose, A Red Rose" - Chapter 5

So peoples, here is the next part!  I can see that you are all 
druling in anticipation.  Actually you are more likely thinking 
'Is this the end, I hope it is this is a long boring story!'  
Well, to all you thinking that, I am sorry to disappoint you, but, 
this is just the beginning of the end or the middle, it is just a 
major part in the story.  So read and enjoy!  

Disclaimers:
Ditto

Acknowledgments:
I  want to thank everyone who has encouraged me on this project!  
Surprise!  I bet you were wondering why this did not come out 
sooner, well, I don't know.  First off is my very sweet twin 
sister (almost) Chichiri.  
Chichiri - "Hey!  What "almost"?  We were seperated at birth for 
our protection from teh Negaverse!  It's only a matter of time 
till we're awakened as teh twin Senshi of the wind . . . But 
thanks for mentioning me!"   So ladies and Genlemen, there you 
have it!
Anyhow, she is soooooo supportive, and you all have to read her 
work some time as well.  In fact you have to read the work of 
everyone I am going to mention.  These are some great authors that 
not only encouraged me through talking to me but through their 
writing as well.  These are some really cool people here, and 
Chichiri thinks so as well.  Anyhow they are Melinda, Alicia 
Blade, Sailor Starra, Lady Athenacles, Tif, and lots and lots of 
other wonderful people out there who took the time to write 
fanfics.  You know who you are, you are all those people that I 
have sent e-mail to!  Well THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR YOUR 
INSPIRATION!  God bless you all!


"A White Rose, A Red Rose" - Chapter 5
     Usagi slipped out of her bedroom and climbed down the 
terrace.  All she wanted to do 
was to get out of the palace and relax for a little bit.  The 
Terran were to arrive tomorrow 
morning and complicate her life further.  Oh, how she wished that 
she could go back to 
just a couple years previous when everything was simple, or at 
least understandable.  
     Usagi reached out to Mamoru but found him to be sleeping.  
She smiled.  Usagi  had leaned a lot on him the last few days and 
had found comfort in talking to him, as she always had.  
     Deciding to let him sleep the young woman ran down to the 
lake that was in the midst of  the garden. On her way she stopped 
to smell the roses.  (Pun intended) She still loved them above all 
the flowers in the garden, especially since Mamoru had given her 
one.  Just the thought of the gift made her shiver with delight.  
It still stood tall by her bed, blooming without fail and never 
even starting to wilt.  Usagi fingered the locket, another gift 
from him and her smile widened.
     Upon reaching the lake Usagi stopped and sighed.  A leaf 
dropped from a near by tree and fell gently to the water.  Slowly 
she leaned over and blew on the water. The lake shimmered a soft 
silver for a split second and then turned to ice.  If it had not 
been for the frost covering the lake no one would have even been 
able to tell the difference, the leaf was still sticking out of 
the water and ripples still seemed to be spreading away from it.  
As the Princess stepped out onto the ice delicate skates appeared 
on her small feet.     
     Slowly Usagi began to fly around and then to twirl and jump.  
The star locket slipped open and she danced to the music that 
flowed from it.  She had never told anyone about her love of 
skating, not even Mamoru.  She kept it a secret and it allowed her 
to do what she willed with it. 

-Flashback-

      The Princess sat in the stands next to her mother and 
watched the figure skaters from 
Mercury perform their dance.  "Mother, how can they fly around the 
ice like that?  Why 
don't they slip and fall?"  asked the Princess curiously.  
     The Queen smiled at her daughter enthusiasm,  "Serenity, they 
have been dancing on the ice since they were little children and 
also they have special shoes to help them."  
     The Princess had watched the remainder of the show with wide-
eyed amazement.  
      After the show was over, the small girl slipped down to the 
ice where a couple of the 
performers were still dancing and talking on the ice.  A young 
woman noticed the girl 
standing on the bank and came over to her.  
     "Are you lost, little one?"  she asked kindly.  
     Princess Serenity shy smile warmed and broadened, "No, I am 
not lost at all, I just wanted to watch the skating up close.  Is 
it hard to fly on the ice like that?"  
     The young woman laughed a silvery laugh and smiled, "Little 
one, would you like to try and skate?  I can teach you."  
     Squealing, Serenity replied happily, "I would love that!  You 
will teach me how to glide and soar?  I would love to learn that!"  
     Quickly the woman hunted out a pair of small skates out for 
Serenity and 
had led her onto the ice.  At first, the small Princess fell down 
over and over but eventually began to be able to move without 
falling.  
     "Little one, you have the makings of a great skater.  No 
matter how many times you fall, you always get back up and try 
again.  As long as you keep that spirit and keep practicing, I 
promise that one day you will be a fine skater." 
      After that lesson with the woman Serenity never saw her 
again, the lady had gone back to Mercury with her troupe.  But she 
had taken the Lady's words and lesson to heart and had kept trying 
until she could almost fly.  

- End of Flashback-

    Usagi danced and glided on the ice, twirling and moving to the 
gentle music of the star 
locket.  No one had ever seen her dance, but if they had they 
would have been so enwrapt 
by the gentle beauty that they would never have been able to tear 
their eyes away. If anyone could ever boast of having the pleasure 
of escorting her on her dance they would not have had the power to 
stop until she deemed it time, so powerful and beautiful were her 
movements. The flick of her wrist could send a person into an 
eternal dream if she deemed it good.  The feel of her breath could 
paralyze a person for life, and to stare into her eyes could make 
a person drown in the depths of them.  
     That was why no one had ever seen her true form but her 
mother.  It was so for her mother as well.  From just a small 
child she had had to dull her natural beauty and hide beneath a 
garb of magic.  In truth the Queen and Princess of the Moon where 
made of light, pure and light.  
     Each of the Princesses from the other kingdoms had some of 
the light blood in them, but none was pure like that of the Queen 
and Princess.  Only the one that was to rule next received the 
pure blood.  
     It was during her dance that Usagi would drop all disguise 
and let her true self shine 
forth.  Golden hair, that was gradually turning silver as she 
grew,  would tumble down her back like a waterfall tied up loosely 
in the two balls on either side of her head.  Her eyes would gain 
depth and change from an enchanting sky blue to a blue bluer and 
vaster than the sky.  Pure white skin shone with a pale silver 
light that healed anything it touched.  Lips turned redder than 
the reddest rose.  But perhaps the most miraculous of all were her 
wings.  Exquisite gossamer wings graced her back giving the 
finishing touch to her unearthly beauty.  She was truly radiant.   
      The power she held just in the tip of her pinky was more 
than anything imaginable.
But all this power held a catch, it could only be used when 
nothing else could be done.  
True, it could be used on a minor scale.  Healing wounds, causing 
the sun to rise early, 
freezing the entire planet was never a problem.  But to use power 
the user had to know that they held the power, and the 
consequences.  To look at it one way, it was a safe guard, it 
would be rather devastating if the user accidentally used it, but 
then if the user was not aware of the gift, or curse as you will, 
then she may let people die and be hurt needlessly.  The last 
catch of all was that the power could only be fully reached when 
the person was complete, meaning when they were with their soul-
mate.  
      But finding your soulmate was becoming a near impossible 
thing.   Centuries previously no one would marry unless they found 
their soulmates, but that was no longer.  Some where along the 
line people had become impatient and had started marrying without 
ever finding their soulmate and the concept had become more of a 
legend than a reality.  
      Despite all this, Princess Serenity's mother had never told 
her of her power, so she 
could not use it.  She could do some things and picked up on even 
more.  She could 
change her clothes with just a half a thought, she could turn the 
lake to ice when she 
wanted to skate, and other minor things.  
     Usagi did not even know the full affects of her beauty, all 
she could see was that it was a curse, a curse to be so beautiful 
that all men saw was that.  So she chose to hide her form beneath 
loose clothes and her eyes behind glasses.  The magic that held 
the majority of her true form in check was not enough for her, she 
wanted to be plain.  She wanted to be one of the people and have 
them love her as she loved them, and because of her large caring 
heart she had succeeded.  No one in the universe looked at her 
with disdain or malaise.  The very mention of her name would calm 
people's hearts.  
      All that was needed to calm fighting children was to say 
"Would the Princess look on that with pleasure?"  and all would be 
right again.  Some said that the reason there was discord on earth 
was that they did not accept the Princess's love. 

@--<--<---

     Mamoru woke suddenly to find himself in an unfamiliar place.  
'Where am I?' he thought startled.  'Oh, the Moon Kingdom.  We 
arrived early and were let in by a palace guard.  They showed us 
to our rooms with barely a word claiming that the Queen and 
Princess were already in bed and not to be disturbed, we would be 
introduced in the morning.  Strangely enough, as rude as it 
sounds, they were very polite through the whole thing.  And none 
of us objected to the rest, we were all tired from the journey.  I 
still don't see why we couldn't just teleport, but no would they 
listen to me?  Of course not!  We just HAD to take the space 
shuttle and take our time.  I mean talk about a long time!  A 
whole two days of travel!  I could have gotten us here in two 
minutes flat.'  he thought to himself.  
     Soft light was spilling in through the window allowing him to 
see about his room.  It was comfortable, and simple, just the way 
he liked it.   The whole ambiance of the room was filled with 
shadows but there were plenty of light sources to rid himself of 
them.  Not that he cared.  He enjoyed living in the shadows and 
often thought of himself like one, the only thing that could bring 
out the light in him was Usagi, her light kindled his for his 
light was her.  The mere thought of her always made him smile.  
But then there was the whole business with the Moon Princess.  
Suddenly the room was not so comfortable and he walked out onto 
his balcony for air.  
      Once outside he found himself three floors up overlooking an 
exquisite garden.  He 
had heard about the Moon gardens, but had never thought they would 
be like this.  He 
looked up into the sky and found the earth staring back at him.  
He could feel the power 
emanating out of it, all for his taking.  A smile back on his 
face, he looked back at the 
gardens.  They seemed to be calling to him, telling him that they 
had a secret for him.  Leaping off the balcony with a swift and 
fluid movement, he hit the ground gently. (I KNOW that it was 
three floors up)  
      Slowly the Prince began to wander through the gardens 
enjoying the sights and smells 
of the different flowers.  As he walked he noticed that 
occasionally he would pass over 
certain paths that seemed a little more worn than the others and 
gave signs that someone, 
or something, ran down them almost daily.  Curiosity aroused he 
decided to follow one of them.  The path he chose twisted and 
turned as if whoever it was liked to just wander the same path 
over and over, almost like they had been chased by something. 
(Know who it is yet?)  
     After a while of walking Mamoru came to the end of the path. 
'Why, it ends at a 
rose garden! but why?'  he wondered as he bent down to look at the 
roses.  He bent down 
to smell them and noticed a silver kind he had never seen before.  
After a while, drowsiness began to overtake him and he turned to 
go back down the path to his room.  

@--<--<---

     Usagi finished her skating and stepped off the pond.  Just as 
she did so the ice instantly turned back into water and her skates 
disappeared.  Smiling, and momentarily forgetting the Terrans she 
decided to take one last look at the roses to finish off this 
perfect night.  Immediately she took off in a dead run in the 
direction of the rose gardens.
      Wind blew her hair away from her face and her nightgown 
slapped against her legs as she ran.  Even though she wore pants 
around all day she still wore a gown to sleep in claiming it to be 
more comfortable.  Her glasses began to slip down her nose and she 
pushed them back into place.  Her smile grew as she practically 
flew down the path.  
      Years of running everywhere had paid off and she had 
excellent stamina and speed.  Glancing ahead she saw the last 
corner before the rose garden and smiled, 'Almost there! I bet 
this is a record for me, I don't think I have ever run this fast,'  
she thought happily.    
      But just as the Princess Serenity turned the corner, someone 
else did as well, only from the other direction and she ran 
straight into the person.  Immediately she heard a small "ooff" 
from above her and she began to bow and apologize profusely.  
     "Gomen nasai!  I did not know you were there, I am usually 
the only one running about at this hour.  I am sooo sorry!  I hope 
that you are not hurt, how can I apologize enough?"  
     As she said the last words she glanced up at the person she 
was apologizing to for the first time.  Although her speech did 
not falter, (years of training had taken care of that), in her 
mind she gasped.  
      The man that stood before Serenity was nothing short of 
gorgeous.  He had blue eyes, 
like the sea after a storm on Jupiter.  His hair was blacker than 
the blackest night, blacker 
that a raven's wing.  He was tall to say the least, at least a 
foot taller than she.   The man 
wore no armor and she could see firm muscles beneath his shirt.  
Something about his 
air struck her as cold and dark, but at the same time she could 
sense some tenderness in 
him and she felt herself drawn to him, like to no other man she 
had ever met.  She had the distinct feeling that she should know 
who he was and she felt a strong urge to run into his arms and 
kiss him. 

@--<--<---     

      Mamoru looked down at the girl that had just run into him.  
She was small was the first thing he noted, much shorter than he.  
Her golden head bobbed up and down as she kept bowing and 
apologizing.  Innocence and tenderness emanated from her like 
water rushing down a water fall.  Gold hair poured down around her 
onto the ground from two balls on each side of her head.  
      She glanced up at him and for the first time he caught a 
glimpse of the girl's face.  She had the most incredible blue eyes 
he had ever seen, eyes blue like the sky.  They seemed to pierce 
into his very soul and he had the impression that nothing could 
escape her notice.  It struck him that this was the type of girl 
that all the poets found their inspiration from and the type of 
girl for whom the word beauty was truly defined.  He felt the urge 
to gather her up into his arms and kiss her, something about her 
made him sure that he must know her, but that could not be, he had 
never been off the earth before and she was from the Moon.  Wasn't 
she?
      All of a sudden he realized that she had stopped speaking 
and must be waiting for a reply.  "Is it not dangerous to run 
around at this time of night"  Who knows what might be out here,"   
he said when he could think of nothing else.  
     The girl laughed.  "Dangerous?  Not at all!  This is the Moon 
we are on, and in the palace gardens at that.  We are safe here, I 
have done this night after night for years, why do you think the 
paths are so worn?  Everyone knows that it is safe here, even a 
person from somewhere as far away as Pluto."  
      Mamoru was stunned with her happy manner and her joyfulness.  
He was so enrapt with her beauty and grace that he could not think 
of what to say.  So he let his mouth move on its own and 
immediately regretted his next remark even as it left his lips 
"Well that is if you are part of the Silver Millennium.  And why 
do you keep your hair in that ridiculous manner, it looks like a 
pair of meatballs or odango atama."  He pulled his breath in 
sharply after he said it.  
      Usagi was startled at what he had just said and wondered if 
she had heard right.  "Did you just say what I thought you said?  
My hair looks like odango atama does it?  Well, your hair looks 
like a raven's nest!"  
      Serena's eyes flashed.  Never before had anyone ever 
insulted her hair style before, not even Rei.  Now this, man who 
did not even know her, dared insult her?  
      "Do you even know who I am? I . . . "  Endymion started 
amazed that she had dared insult him, although he had insulted her 
first.
      The Serenity cut him off.  "You are a Terran, it is evident 
from your arrogant manners and ignorance. Only Terrans are as you.  
True some people are arrogant, but none as much as the Terran, 
they are know across the galaxy for it."  
      "It is true I am a Terran.  I came with the Terran party as 
an ambassador for peace, and now the first person I meet is rude 
and insults my whole race, this will not fly well with my Prince."  
He had realized that she did not realize fully who he was and 
decided to play with her a bit.  
      "Hopefully the Prince will be better than you are, after all 
who was it that insulted who first?  What have I ever done to you, 
am I allowed to ask?"  
     Endymion began to open his mouth to answer when she cut him 
off again.  "Never mind that I asked!  I don't want to continue 
speaking to you.  I am tired, and seeing you are part of the 
Terran party I will see you again tomorrow and you will discover 
how great an insult you have laid . . . and why it would be best 
never to mention this meeting to anyone."  
      "You also will discover what mistake you have made, so, till 
tomorrow." He said with a mock bow.  He reached behind his back 
and pulled out a red rose to mock her.  Handing it to her, he 
wondered what her reaction would be.  
      Usagi stared at the rose that the man had just put in her 
hands.  It was to much.  Tears began to well up in her eyes and 
she turned and fled dropping, the rose as she turned.  
     Mamoru stared after her stunned.  He never expected her to 
react like that.  It was like he had stabbed a knife into her 
heart and turned it slowly to cause as much torture as possible.  
In truth he felt like he had done the same to his own heart by 
doing so to her.  
      Something about the girl seemed to call to him.  Slowly he 
walked over to the rose and looked at it.  Something glistened on 
it so he called it up to his hand.  Strangely enough not a single 
not a single petal was marred and on one of the petals was a small 
gem.  It glistened like a drop of water and as he gazed at it hit 
him what it was, it was her tear. 
     'What kind of girl cried tears that became precious gems?' he 
wondered, staring at the rose.  'And what in the name of Earth 
possesed me to give the girl a red rose?'    
     Slowly Mamoru walked back down the path to his bedroom, still 
staring at the rose.  He could not get the girls face out of his 
head.  Her eyes had caught him in their trap and he could see them 
in his minds eye.  Thinking back on it, he realized that she had 
been wearing glasses.  But her eyes were so bright they had shone 
right through them.  She was truly a beautiful girl, like a beam 
of light on a Moonless night.   (Pun intended, she is light, so 
since she's from the moon she's moon light, so there can't be the 
moon w/o her.  hee hee.)

@--<--<---

Sooooooooooooooooo, what do you think?  They met finally, and they 
insulted each other, and they seemed to be enraptured by the 
other, or "drawn" to the other.  hee hee, soooooooooo?  My e-mail 
address is Miaka2001@hotmail.com.  (HINT HINT)  I love e-mail. 
(HINT HINT)  So I really would not mind it if you want to drop a 
line.  (HINT HINT)  OK, I'll say it out right, I would REALLY 
REALLY like you to e-mail me!  I want to know what people think!  
And my web page is http://www2.crosswinds.net/santa-
barbara/~animegals  (and yet another hint)  If you feel up to it, 
sign my guest book.  I would LOVE that as well, and I ALWAYS write 
back!  Well, thanks again!  

God bless you all.