On a Wing and a Prayer
Giniro no Interlude
(Silver Interlude)
By Antigone 2000
Morning was relentlessly tugging on Serenity's
conciseness and pulling her out of the sweet escape of
dreams. She resisted with all of her might, struggling
against the sad, sinking feeling that filled her chest during
her waking hours.
Reality, however, was relentless, and slowly
eating away at the crystallized memories and dreamy
love-sick feelings. Sighing awake, the princess opened
eyes as flat and gray as the sea in winter, and tried with
all the strength of years of royal lineage to pull her sickly
feeling body out of bed.
Pulling a fine linen dress from the huge closet,
quietly as to not awake her handmaids, Serenity couldn't
help feeling self concern flow through her joltingly as she
noted how terribly pale the thin hand pulling at the fabric
was as she dressed herself. The strings pulled tight about
her thin waist and for a moment the girl realized she may
have stumbled on one of the reasons the others had been
treating her so differently lately, as if she was something
of delicate glass, that even their words could break if
spoken too harshly.
That, and the constant activity and surveillance
that overflowed in the communications room allowed no
cracks for her to slip through anymore, to freedom to visit
her beloved one more time.
She managed only glimpses of his face, snatches
of his smooth voice over the monitors, until Venus or
another senshi quietly pressed her away from the room
with soft chiding.
It had been too long since Serenity could
remember being at peace, her mind was muddled and
confused, filling with something strange she couldn't
place. It was foreign, sitting at the edge of her mind and
not touching her purity or light, and the princess sighed
over it as she pressed cool hands to the glass windows.
Drowsily, she remembered the senshi forcing her
to eat, to sleep, to rest, to do anything but study or visit
the communications room. The latter two things used to
make up most of her waking time, and Serenity felt as if
her life had taken a dizzying spin upside down, colors and
light twisting around her while she stood all alone, miles
and miles away from the one person whose hand she
wanted to hold while she screamed.
Shaking her head of such unsettling thoughts, the
beautiful, albeit pale, girl twisted glittering silver strands
of hair into the two familiar twists, while pale eyes
considered their reflection in a gold carved mirror.
~~
"I need sleep," a voice rang with conviction
through the communications room, receiving murmurs of
agreement among the staff working there.
Her follow senshi gave Mars a bouquet of dry
looks, Jupiter even going so far as to roll deep green eyes
to the ceiling for a moment, raising one perfect brunette
eyebrow at her comrade.
"Well by all means, your highness, go and rest
whilst we, who although having been awake as long as
you have, will massage your feet." The biting reply from
Mercury received shocked stares from all the senshi, even
as the usually soft-spoken warrior apologized with a pink-
flushed face.
"Sleep depravation will do strange things to
everyone," Venus said with a soft half-smile, "and I think
perhaps it be best only one of us kept vigil tomorrow
night."
"Bu-"
By raising her slim hand in one graceful
movement, the leader of the Princess's Guard not only
stopped any senshi argument, but also most of the
conversation of the others working in the
communications room.
"May I explain my reasoning? The Queen's orders
only stated that one of us be present at all times. We
have been trying to offer more aid and protection by
having three or more of us watching at a time, but that
really is not as necessary has we have thought, and
actually very wasteful of our own health and energy.
Besides, the Queen herself might enough to warrant
three of us, at least, getting a good night's rest."
~~~
The night air was just beginning to turn cooler as
it snaked around the palace, and through the open
windows to Serenity's room, brushing the princess's
flushed cheeks from where she sat at her ebony desk.
A white piece of parchment sat in front of her, blank but
for two thick, silver lines, metallic ink drying slowly in
the thick paper. Twisting her heavy golden pen slowly
between her fingers, the white-clad girl considered what
she had drawn absent-mindedly as the Earth rose above
the crystal dome of her kingdom's sky.
The lines twisted and danced along the paper,
swirling into loops and curves over and into each other,
in designs so dramatic and beautiful that it seemed
impossible for their to be fewer then a dozen separate
lines, instead of two interconnecting silver pen strokes,
by themselves changing a small space of blank paper into
pure beauty.
Shaking a little, the hand holding the pen let it
drop with a muted thump on the thick carpet, and
Serenity leaned her head down upon her desk like a little
child and began to cry.
~~
Mercury leaned lazily against the cool marble of
the communications room, arms crossed and expression
schooled to observant and in-control, although inside she
felt just too tired and helpless to do anything.
The darkness had become just too threatening for
any one to ignore it anymore, keeping the knowledge
from Princess Serenity was harder than any senshi had
suspected it to be. The Queen kept a cool, poised
position on the happenings on Earth, although all the
senshi knew she worried more than she would ever let on.
There was too much, Mercury reflected,
happening at once throughout the kingdom, or even just
the palace itself. The Princess, although the senshi saw
she was well-rested and eating heartily, seemed to be
listless and depressed, thin and pale. And there was
something so strange about Endymion-
"Mercury-chan!" cool fingers wrapped themselves
tightening around Mercury's elbow and the senshi
instantly jumped and stood on guard, turning franticly to
look into startled gray-blue eyes.
"Princess!" she breathed, relieved, "You took
about five years off my life, methinks."
Smiling a little, in a shallow suggestion of the
childlike laughs that would have lighted her eyes just a
short time ago, Serenity's eyes warmed at the sight of her
friend.
"I didn't mean to scare you, Mercury," she said,
suddenly serious, her hand not leaving the senshi's arm,
"but I had to tell you I'm sorry."
Paling for a moment, Mercury stared into the tear-
filled eyes of her princess and friend. "For what?"
Not answering, Serenity shook her head once, sharply,
guilt-filled eyes turning away to leave Mercury staring
only at gold-glinted silver hair and the side of Serenity's
face. "I'm just... sorry."
It was that instant the room went black, and the cool
fingers disappeared from around Mercury's arm amidst
the shouts of panic that ensued from the unexpected loss
of electricity to the Moon Palace's main communications
room.
~~
"Please, Kunzite, tell me you are joking,"
Endymion said as he entered his chambers, one hand
pressed to his forehead as his cold-eyed general followed
him through the arched doorway.
"Yes, my Prince," the taller man answered dryly,
"because you know just what a kidder I am when it
comes to matters like this."
Groaning a little, Endymion struggled to control
the urge to pound his fist into the wall. 'Of all things,
why now?'
"May I suggest you take her up on her offer, my
liege?" Kunzite said for the second time during their very
heated conversation.
The constant use of the honorific when addressing him
made Endymion a little uncomfortable, to say the least.
His generals used to be his close friends, they had been
bond by the feudal system at an early age, and grew up
hardly noticing the slight differences in nobility unless in
public. Now suddenly, the four men he had once trusted
with his life seemed stiff and very ceremonial when
talking to him. Endymion could only guess what they
were like when they met together without him; something
they had been doing much more lately, and that would
have been unheard of just a few short years ago.
Turning on his general again, Endymion raised his
eyes with as much pride and anger as he possessed
reflecting in dark blue eyes that glinted like stone. "Tell
Lady Beryl," Endymion growled, "that... that... *witch*
would never be my Queen, not if she lived to be the last
woman on Earth. If she does seek to marry into power,
she had better find someone less aware of her extraneous
motives!"
As cold as Kunzite had become, the intensity in his
prince's eyes was so startling that he backed up a little, to
stand framed in the doorway.
"So that is your answer?" The white-haired man
stood as cold and calm as glacier, "You are making a
mistake."
So angry he nearly saw red, Endymion slammed
the heavy door so it echoed throughout the hall, and shut
his eyes against his friend's continuing lauding of Beryl.
Beryl.
The woman had somehow transformed from an
annoyance into a real threat in such a short amount of
time. The generals and nobles seemed to love her,
suddenly, and also suddenly she seemed to be peppered
with political notions and ideas that before had hardly
interested the promiscuous little Lady of the Court that
Beryl used to be. Her cold, snake-like eyes seemed to
seek out Endymion, and chill him the inside out
whenever their eyes met. She slithered like a snake, too,
the young man thought, shivering, and she teased and
taunted him with the power she was slowly stealing from
his throne. Endymion was not a man prone to hatred, but
what he felt for that detestable woman had to be the
closest thing to pure hate he had ever felt. Or else it was
fear, or a strange mix of both emotions that pried his eyes
wide open in the middle of the night.
When the dark-haired prince was certain that the
leader of his guard had vacated the area outside his
chambers, he slowly stood and walked to the doors
leading to his balcony.
Opening the glass and stepping out onto the
marble balcony, Endymion shut his eyes and tricked
himself into believing he could feel the moonlight fall
across his face, although the white light carried no
warmth for him.
'Please, Serenity, if I ever needed you, I need you
now.' He thought, heart aching.
Then, like a prayer, some glorious twist of fate, or the
generous will of heaven, she was in his arms.
~~
Stumbling back, Endymion allowed a corner of his mind
to take the time to gauge the reality of the situation and
come to terms with the surprise, before turning full
attention to steadying her in his arms, smoothing tangled
silver hair, and frantically kissing every inch of her face
and arms that he could reach while regaining his own
balance.
Within the lessening vertigo she always felt when flying
down to Earth, Serenity could only succumb to the one
panicky, anxious feeling that forced her arms to tighten
around Endymion so much that her shoulders ached in
protest. But she couldn't let him go... she felt she would
die if he moved so much as an inch away from her, after
so long being separated.
For a moment it was as if she was floating, flying on the
wings that sprouted from her soul to adorn her back,
watching herself wrapped so safely in her true love's
arms, desperately returning his kisses, allowing every fear
and sick feeling to dissipate like smoke after fireworks.
And she was finally free.
It was a few moments later that Serenity slammed back
into reality, remembering her narrow escape and all she
had risked to come here tonight, and how short a time it
would take for them to fix the broken link in the electric
supply. Breaking away from his lips, she looked fretfully
up to the moon before imploring the startled blue eyes in
front of her for help.
It had been months since they had stared so deeply into
one another, since her fingers had pressed into his arms,
since he had heard her breathy, silver voice. For a
moment they both contemplated that fact before Serenity
broke the intense moment with two supplicating words,
the first spoken to her true love in a heartbreakingly long
time, "Hide me!"
Allowing himself a quick intake of breath, Endymion
nodded slowly. Saving questions until later, he pulled
Serenity through the glass doors and she instantly darted
to the darkest corner of the room, reluctantly hiding from
the moon's comforting light. In the darkness she was
barely visible, a wisp of gossamer white and pale skin,
wings and silver, and, losing himself for a few moments,
Endymion remembered the first time he had ever seen
her, barely visible on a dark, rainy night. Tenshi, he
thought, is this really only the third time I've held you? It
seemed he had been waiting for her much longer than
that, much longer than imaginable.
Serenity lifted luminous eyes to his, biting her lip.
"I'm scared," she whispered.
He answered in an equally quiet voice, afraid to scare her
more, or ruin the blanket of silence that seemed to wrap
protectively around them, "Why?"
Sheepishly, she raised her head to look up at him, as he
leaned on a nearby door, half hidden in the dark
sanctuary she had sought, half illuminated by the soft
glow of her home. "I stole away," her perfect voice was
marred by childlike shame and mature realization of
guilt.
Comfortingly he reached down and she grabbed his warm
hand in both of her own, shaking slightly, and brought it
to her lips, "I had to..."
It was seconds before he was by her side, pulling her
gently to him and the small princess angel instantly
burrowed into his embrace, weaving slim arms around his
waist. Dimly, he could only wonder how he had possibly
even left her side even for the short time it took to get
inside.
"It's been... difficult" she admitted, "there is something I
can't explain happening to me." Shaking still, Serenity
felt no peace at all, instead some strange snakelike
feeling was slithering along her soul, and all she could do
was bury herself in Endymion's warmth until her head
stopped spinning. Unable to stop her mouth, she
mumbled incessantly, worried about her kingdom, her
mother, her friends, and his safety. Doing all he could to
calm her, Endymion smoothed her hair, kissed her hand,
her cheeks, brushed her tears away with warm finger tips
and warmer lips. All the while, he felt a slight brushing
of almost liquid guilt across his chest; beside his concern
for her, he hadn't felt so much as peace since the last time
she was so close to him.
She calmed down quickly, content to hold him as they
talked quietly. Endymion was frightened about the Earth,
about the hidden darkness they just couldn't seem to fight.
"You don't know who to trust anymore," Serenity
observed, her head on his shoulder as they sat in the
shadow, watching the moonlight drift across the floor,
shimmering further down the floor.
Nodding at her perception, Endymion could only pull her
closer to warm the chill now settling over him. "It's true,
but..."
She looked up at him, and for a moment Endymion felt
peace was only as far as she was from him; shugotenshi,
angel, answer to every wish he had ever hung on bright
stars as an idealistic little boy.
"I trust you." He murmured honestly.
The darkness was profound, yet for a moment he felt he
could see every detail of her face: the perfect arched
brows lifted in sympathy, eyes of soft gray surrounded by
tears clinging thick lashes like the raindrops that had so
delighted her not long ago. Gently he traced the lines of
her face, finding her lips and kissing her until he felt her
sigh, felt the tears again come unbidden to her eyes at his
statement. She was infused with light, so much it he
dreamily thought he could see it dancing behind his
eyelids when he pressed his lips to hers. If light had a
flavor...
Seeking truth, she met his eyes again, deep blue like the
planet that hung so jewel-like in the sky. The blue jewel
that sent soft light over her bed at night, the same round
orb she would try to reach as a child, stretching young
hands up to pretend to grasp the rare treasure which hung
so far out of her reach. So blue...
Like a sigh, the truth came only after conscious thought.
"I've always wanted to see you," she started, "It was our
duty to watch you, the first order Prince of the Kingdom
of Earth. A wonderful man, stronger than anyone.
Wanting to see you, I went down and stood on Earth..."
The moon continued it's slow drifting across the star-
strung sky.
"...this darkness, it is spreading so alarmingly, but I am
blind to where it is coming from, who I have to be wary
of," he found himself saying, as much as he hated to
even breech the topic of the one thing he did not want to
think about, not while she was in his arms, their breathing
and heart-beats in perfect time.
Lifting her anxious face with his hand, Endymion
searched her eyes, "You who watch and protect from so
far above, do you have any idea, even of how serious this
could be?"
Sadly she shook her head. "I know nothing of such
darkness, aisuru," not entirely sure what she was doing,
Serenity felt a familiar feeling twist her heart. She had
felt it when the sword had nearly pierced his heart, she
had felt it when Beryl threatened him, and she felt it now.
Running an astonishingly soft hand across his brow,
Serenity answered with wide, calming gray eyes. "But I
remember, the Earth goes through periods of extreme
darkness, and then eras that could seem nearly Utopian.
Times might be hard, but the Earth is strong, she will
survive nearly anything."
For a moment she paused, eyes shimmering at the
knowledge that the person she held in her arms was more
dear to her than anything, her life, her death, her
birthright, the Princess knew she could speak a promise
directly from her heart, bonded forever to his. "You will
survive. I promise." By whatever means necessary. This
blue-eyed wonder holding her so close must never die.
"I desire life only if it means being with you."
Hands twined together like silver swirls on parchment
paper.
"Believe in me," she beseeched him, wings and shimmers
and locks of silver hair falling into him as he struggled to
steady his mind and heartbeat.
"I will always believe in you," Endymion said softly, but
with a conviction that swallowed any fear and any doubt.
She stared in rapture, disbelief, and finally her face
overflowed with joy and she took his face in her hands, as
on that first night, and pressed her lips to his, again and
again, laughing with him as the darkness scattered from
their hearts.
The first light of day was mild, barely illuminating the
two figures; one light enough to shimmer with even the
sparse moonlight available to her, the other entwined so
desperately close to the angel beside him that heaven
would not be able to tell them apart.
Morning announced herself first to Endymion, who
refused to believe the golden light could be dawn, wasn't
it just seconds ago the stars witnessed an angel following
into his arms? But morning it was, although early, the
moon still hung faintly in the sky, sickly pale next to the
harsh brilliance of the sun. Tightening his arm around
Serenity, Endymion allowed himself the rebellious
thought that nighttime should be eternal, soft white light
from the beautiful moon should always triumph over the
glaring sun.
Eyelashes fluttered against his neck, and although it was
heartbreaking to do so, he knew he had to shatter the soft
rose-colored peacefulness that had settled over Serenity's
perfect features as she lay sleeping in his arms.
Waking slowly, with movements slight and clumsy, she
straightened her wings slightly, still limp and tired in
Endymion's embrace. In a voice strangled and heavy
with sleep she murmured, "I don't want to leave you."
Hands tightened stubbornly onto his shirt, and she
snuggled even closer into his arms.
"I have heard this before, angel," he teased gently, "You
do not encourage me to argue," he pointed out as she
giggled against his neck, pressing her lips to his skin, "but
I am afraid I must."
Shaking her head again, she looked up at him, fear
invading the calm in the gray moments before, "I don't
know when I can see you again."
His gaze sobered, too, for a moment before she felt him
gingerly take her right hand. Lowering thick lashes as he
looked down, Endymion took both his hands to gently
open her closed hand and spread her slim, graceful
fingers. Slowly, he brought her hand to his chest, over
his heart, and under the soft material of his shirt she
could feel the soft beating rhythm that she had fallen
asleep to last night, his heart. He kissed her softly, sadly.
"It is not good-bye, Serenity, not as long as my heart is
beating."
She even managed a small, brave smile to briefly alight
on her lips, "I will miss you like air," she admitted as he
guided her to the balcony, the place where just hours ago
she had fallen from the sky into his arms. The cold,
unfeeling marble seemed different in sunlight.
The moon was setting, she had to hurry. Raising her
arms, Serenity shut her eyes and focused on the scarce
moonlight that reached the Earth during day-time hours.
Wrapping her mind around the sinuous silver strand, she
pulled on it to whisk her home. Endymion had his arms
wrapped desperately around her from behind, she could
feel his heart, know he was fighting to urge to open his
mouth and beg her to stay. Regretfully she shut her eyes
over her tears, and filled her heart with moonlight, with
silver, with home.
Shutting azure eyes tightly, Endymion filled his mind and
heart with every feeling of Serenity in his arms. Slight
breathing, warmth, satin fabric and light wings, strands of
sweet-smelling hair like silk on his skin, the way her
small body fit so perfectly next to his. Her warmth, her
light, her peace. Tenshi. Aisuru. Don't leave me.
The air of the day was cool, rushing through Endymion's
arms as he fell on to the balcony, arms empty and alone.
Shivering in the sudden cold that the sunlight did nothing
to alleviate, he opened his eyes to the too bright, sun-
drenched morning that seemed to him devoid of any light.
(
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