~~This is Chapter 5 now...this is *still* Setsuna's retelling of her past. Yes i know it's long but oh well Sailor Moon and all the other people are copyright to Naoko takeuchi, except for Zodos and Orion. I think. Email me at tuxamy@aol.com if u have comments or suggestions. The Guardian of Time and her Secrets Chapter 5 by Fairychan It was two weeks later, and all the princesses had been invited to a ball at the Moon Palace. Queen Serenity, the ruler of the moon and Princess Serenity's mother, was greeting people as they came by to say hello. Setsuna stood shyly by herself, until she was joined by Princess Uranus and Neptune. Those two had always made her feel a little uncomfortable...They were always together, and it seemed like they had some special thing between them that no one knew about. Haruka, the princess Uranus, was wearing a tuxedo. A tuxedo! And Michiru, Princess Neptune, was chatting with Uranus about how lovely she looked in the tuxedo. Setsuna felt out of place. Maybe she should go back to Pluto... "Setsuna!" Princess Neptune called. "Where's Zodos??" "He couldn't come...he's at home." Princess Neptune's eyes narrowed. "Rei told me what happened...how he almost lost his temper..." "Yes, he did." Michiru shuddered. "if I were you, Setsuna, I'd cancel the engagement. *Now*." Setsuna looked down at the shiny dance floor. "But our fathers..." Haruka joined in. "Doesn't matter, Pluto. I disobey *my* father, and I don't care." "But..." Michiru folded her arms. "Zodos is an evil man. Everyone knows it. He tried FIVE times to kill Chronos." "Yes, I know...but I can't just cancel it, just like that." "Of course you can," Haruka said. "Do it, the next time you see him." "Well..." Haruka and Michiru left Setsuna alone, and walked out to the dance floor. They were laughing together and having a good time. She sat down on a velvet chair by the wall. She could see Minako and Phoebus; Haruka and Michiru; and Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion. They were all going to marry. So was she, but the difference was that they married for love. Even Serenity and Endymion, though he was an Earthling. "What's troubling you, my child?" Pluto looked up. Queen Serenity was standing in front of her with a worried look on her face. "It's nothing, your highness..." "Oh, it is something. I can tell. Please tell me your problems...anything that is hurting a princess of my court is worth discussing." "Queen Serenity...it's..." "Your engagement." "How'd you guess?" Setsuna asked, surprised. "I knew that it was what was troubling you," the queen explained. "Yes, that is my problem... Zodos is not a...nice man." Queen Serenity frowned. "I've had to deal with him before in my court..." "My father arranged the stupid marraige." The usually calm and polite queen began muttering under her breath. "What in the name of holy hell made him arrange a marriage between the evil of Satan and his daughter...?" "I really don't want to marry him, not after what I've seen of him." "I don't blame you, my dear." Queen Serenity stood up. "I wish I could help, but it is your father who has authority over you." "Thank you anyway, Queen Serenity..." Setsuna sighed. The queen looked out on the dance floor to see her daughter and Prince Endymion dancing closely together. Then she turned back to Pluto. "Princess Pluto...you'll know when you've found the one you want to spend the rest of your life with...and if it's not Zodos, it's all right. Forcing yourself to marry someone you could never love will only make you unhappy." The queen smiled gently at Setsuna. "Love is a powerful thing...someone like as Zodos could never posess it." Queen Serenity waved good-bye and walked away, to talk to other people. Setsuna still sat there, thinking about what the queen had said. The musicians stopped playing their instruments. She looked up, and saw Princess Neptune take a violin and began playing a beautiful classical piece. She could see Haruka applauding for Michiru as she played the difficult and complicated music. Then Haruka got on the stage and began playing the piano. The musicians joined in, playing their instruments again to make the song more lively. People started dancing again. Why did she have to be so alone...? "Pr-princess Pluto?" A male voice asked for her. She cringed, thinking it was Zodos, but she realized the voice was different. Softer, and more gentle. She faced the direction the voice was coming from, and in front of her stood a smiling Princess Venus and a young man who was blushing furiously. Princess Venus grinned. "Come on, do it..." she was urging him to do something. Setsuna looked closely at the guy Minako was pushing around. He was pale, except that he was blushing very red now, and he had black hair that fell around his face in wispy strands. He had black eyes but they seemed alive instead of dead. He had on a black prince's uniform with a long navy blue cape, held together at his neck with a garnet stone, the symbol of Hades, lord of the Underworld. The young man was obviously very shy. "Princess... Pluto..." "Yes?" "W-would you care to dance?" Minako smiled at Setsuna, as if to say, go for it! Setsuna stood up. "Well...I guess so..." Princess Venus clapped. "There you go, Orion! It isn't that hard to ask a girl you like to dance, now is it!" Setsuna's eyes widened. Orion blushed even harder. "Princess Venus!" he hissed angrily. She put her hands on her hips. "Hey, Orion, I'll do whatever I can in the name of love, since I am the princess of Venus, the planet of love!" Minako skipped off, leaving the two alone. "I'm the princess of Pluto, Setsuna," she introduced herself. Orion smiled. "Yes, I know. I've been...admiring you from afar for a while." He bowed to her. "And I am Prince Orion, son of Hades." "No wonder you were wearing a Garnet badge." "Um...princess, shall we dance?" "Of course." He took her hand, and they began dancing to Michiru's violin solo. Orion's pale face turned pink again, when he put his hand on Setsuna's waist. "Sorry...I'm not used to being around girls..." "It's all right, Orion. But how come?" He sighed. "Most girls are scared of me becuase my father is lord of the dead. They're scared of being around me." "How awful," Setsuna said. "I was afraid to approach you," he laughed. "But Princess Venus convinced me to." "This is my first time at one of Queen Serenity's balls. I'm usually not allowed up on the moon or any other planet." "Why not?" she asked, surprised. "My father doesn't want me meeting humans or interacting with them...he doesn't want me getting hurt." "Then what made him let you come up here?" "I begged him to let me go, because I found out you were going...my father said that it was time for me to have more freedom...and he knew I liked you." She smiled at him, and she leaned closer to him as the song continued. She could see Michiru and Haruka smiling at her and Michiru mouthed, You like him, don't you? Pluto nodded. Michiru grinned and whispered to Haruka. "Setsuna, I-I always thought you were the most elegant and beautiful princess in the solar system..." Now it was her turn to blush. "Oh, um, thank you." She put her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her back. They stood in that warm embrace for several moments after the song ended. "Ooooohh!" Venus sighed. She walked closer to the dance floor and winked at Orion. Princess Jupiter joined Venus. "Minako, this is the first time I've ever seen Setsuna truly happy." She turned around to find Mars and tell her about it and she came face to face with Zodos. "Oh! Z-zodos!" Makoto flushed. Did he already see Setsuna and Orion dancing?! From the look on his face, he obviously had. TO BE CONTINUED