A.N: Minna-san, I wrote this interlude so I could practice my pathetic 
attempts at romance.  I don?t know...  W.Bymeeh pointed out it wasn?t
*technically* an interlude, but I still called it one.
::shrugs:: Oh well.
How did I do, btw, on the romance thing?  Okay?  Kinda sucky?
Please let me know!  Antigone@lunap.com

Disclaimer: Sailormoon is not, and never was, mine.


On a Wing and a Prayer 
Giniro no Interlude
 (Silver Interlude)

By Antigone 2000

	Morning was relentlessly tugging on Serenity's consciousness 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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