Subject: [FFML] [FANFIC][SM]Tales of the Moon Kingdom: Heart's Ease
From: Greywolf Starkiller
Date: 12/11/1998, 9:58 PM
To: ffml@fanfic.com

Hmmm. Normally, I would have sent this one tomorrow, but I want to catch up
with my other ML. :)

This story expands on references made to the Moon Kingdom in my fanfic
"Guardians of the Star." This story explores the relationship between
Princess Serenity and Princess Rei during the Silver Millennium.

Ja ne,
Greywolf

Rating: G


Special Thanks: "Tuxedo" Will Wolfshohl for editing, good ideas and
                comments, and providing me with Sailor Moon stories to
                enjoy! Thanks Will!

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon, Sailor Senshi and all terms, names etc
            associated with the series are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi
            and Kodansha.  The Guardians and everything pertaining to
            the Star Kingdoms are MINE!


                        Tales of the Moon Kingdom
                        Sailor Moon: Heart's Ease
             By Eric "Greywolf" den Biesen <greywolf@eagle.ca>

Maeribeth awakened slowly. <I wonder what woke me up,> she thought
sleepily. She extended her senses and sensed a presence, one that she
had been hoping would come for several days. She kept her eyes closed
and her wings limp. She wanted this person to make the first move. If
SHE did, the other might change her mind about confiding in her.

"Auntie Maeribeth?" Princess Serenity cried softly in a voice full of
tears. Maeribeth opened her eyes and regarded her young visitor. At the
sorrowful look on the twevle year old Serenity's face, Maeribeth leapt
to her feet, shimmered into her human form and held out her arms.

Serenity ran into them and began to cry. Maeribeth moved over to a bench
in the far corner of her chamber and sat down with Serenity on her lap.
She rocked the weeping Princess and waited for her to calm down. After a
time, Serenity's weeping began to diminish and Maeribeth spoke. "I've
been waiting for you to come to me, my little Hatchling," she said with
calm affection, "I know that something's been worrying you badly for the
last few days. Why didn't you come sooner?"

"Well, you're usually so busy," she explained with a downcast
expression. Maeribeth took her by the chin and silver eyes met blue.  "I
am NEVER too busy for YOU, Hatchling," she returned firmly.  Serenity
gave a tremulous smile. She loved it when Maeribeth called her
"Hatchling". It was a term of endearment which let her know in no
uncertain terms just how much Maeribeth loved the child of her dearest
friend.

"Now that you've calmed down, why don't you tell be what's been causing
you so much worry over the past few weeks, hmmmm," Maeribeth requested.
"Well.....Rei and I had a little fight a few weeks ago," Serenity
admitted shamefaced, "She said I wasn't concentrating enough on my
studies and that I wasn't serious enough about my duties as a Princess!"
"There IS some truth in those claims, you know," Maeribeth pointed out
gently, "Although you're ONLY twelve, there's no need to overburden you 
at that age."

"I KNOW that!" Serenity agreed tearfully, "That's not the problem! I WANT
Rei to be proud of me. My marks are improving and Mother's letting me do
things that she thinks I'm old enough to do. For awhile, it did cut
terribly into the free time I had, but I didn't mind. Well...not TOO
much anyway."

"It's Rei," she continued softly, "A few days after our argument, she
began to change." Maeribeth frowned thoughtfully. "Change?" she
questioned. Serenity nodded without lifting her head from Maeribeth's
shoulder. "Change," she confirmed, "You know what her temper's like.
Well, now it's worse! She avoids me AND the other Younger Senshi and she
looks like she hasn't slept for ages. I just don't know what to do!"

"Does she still lose her temper with you?" Maeribeth queried intently.
"Well...no," Serenity answered looking surprised, "I hardly ever see her
anymore, but now that you mention it, the few times I did see her, I
tried my best to make her angry. I wanted the OLD Rei back, but it
didn't work!" She sniffed forlornly.

Maeribeth asked her charge a few more questions and the answers only
confirmed her suspicion. Rei was suffering from a serious case of guilt.
She thought carefully over everything she had learned.

FACT: In trying to answer Rei's complaints and make Rei proud of her,
Serenity had thrown herself whole heartedly into both her duties and her
studies.

<Nothing unusual about that!> Maeribeth thought, smiling to herself,
<Serenity does everything whole heartedly.>

FACT: Because of this, the laughing, fun loving and yes, ditzy Serenity
was rarely in evidence.

<Not because of unhappiness,> She continued her analysis, <Merely
because, for awhile, the child had little time to herself!> Rei,
however, did not know this. It was Maeribeth's belief that Rei thought
the change in Serenity was her fault, that she had hurt her friend badly
with the things she had said. <She likely wanted to give Serenity a
little push, but now felt she had pushed much too hard!> she mused to
herself.

"Auntie Maeribeth!" Serenity said anxiously. Maeribeth came to herself
with a start. "What is it, Hatchling?" she asked curiously.  "Well,
Mother helped me sk....se.." "Schedule?" Maeribeth supplied helpfully.
"Yes! That's the word!" Serenity said gratefully, "Mother helped me do
that with all my work so that I'd have more time to spend with my
friends." She didn't look all that happy about it, so Maeribeth knew
there was more. "And?" she prodded gently. Serenity gave a watery sniff.
"Rei is never there!" she replied mournfully.

"I think it's high time I had a talk with the Princess of Mars!"
Maeribeth stated grimly, "I believe she's wallowed in self pity long
enough!" Serenity looked shocked. "You're not going to tell her THAT,
are you?" she exclaimed. Maeribeth burst out laughing. "Not QUITE in
those exact words," she chuckled, "But, yes, I am. Now come. We must go
to the Training Field to talk to the Younger Senshi." Taking Serenity by
the hand, she exited the Kin Caverns and headed for the Moon Palace.

When Maeribeth entered the Training Grounds with Serenity in tow, the
Younger Senshi noticed her at once and hastened to meet her with
expressions of relief on their young faces. "Aunt Maeribeth!" Princess
Minako exclaimed, "Oh I'm so glad to see you!" "Ditto for me!" Princess
Makoto seconded, "Did Serenity tell you?" Maeribeth nodded gravely.
"She did indeed!" she confirmed, "And I must have a serious talk with
Princess Rei!" She turned to the one Senshi who had remained silent.
"Ami, do you know where she is right now?" Maeribeth asked. "She's in
the Inner Gardens at the moment," Ami replied softly, "Do you think you
can help her?" "I'm certainly going to try!" Maeribeth returned, "You
three, guard the three outer doors into the Gardens to see I'm not
disturbed. Serenity can take the door in the Throne Room. Now, let's get
to it." With Maeribeth in the lead, they all left the Grounds.

Maeribeth studied Rei carefully from the bushes. <Serenity was right to
be so worried!> she thought, <The poor Hatchling looks like she hasn't
had a decent night's sleep in weeks!> She stepped from the bushes and
walked up to the bench Rei was sitting on. She sat next to Rei, who
didn't even look up. They sat in silence for a moment before Maeribeth
decided to break it.

"Would you like to talk about it?" she asked softly. When Rei finally
looked up, her haunted eyes were filled with tears. "Do you know what
I've done?" she answered with a sob, "I've hurt her. Because of me, she
doesn't smile or laugh anymore! I've crushed the joy out of her!" The
floodgates opened and tears streamed down her cheeks as she heaped abuse 
on herself for what she had done to a friend she loved more than her own
life.

<How could I have missed this?!> Maeribeth thought as she listened with
horror to Rei pouring out her self-hatred, <How could I possibly have
missed one of my Hatchlings suffering in THIS manner? I'll need to say
something drastic to get her attention. hmmm...AH!>

"I'd like to join you in the flogging you're giving to yourself," she
said harshly, "But I left my whip back in the Kin Caverns!" Rei stopped
in the middle of her ranting and turned slowly to look at Maeribeth in
disbelief. She was so distracted by the feigned contempt in Maeribeth's
silver eyes, that she never noticed the love and sorrow behind it.

Rei's face crumpled and she lowered her head to her hands. "How could
y-you, of all people, b-be so c-cruel to m-me?" she sobbed in despair.
Maeribeth sighed in relief. NOW Rei was ready to listen to her. She
reached over and took Rei's unresisting form in gentle arms. She stroked
her long black hair soothingly as Rei sobbed into her shoulder.

"I'm NOT being cruel to you, Hatchling," Maeribeth crooned in a voice
filled with love, "YOU are being cruel to yourself. Have you ever
considered that you are doing all this damage to yourself for NOTHING?"
"You call my best friend hating me NOTHING?!" Rei choked.  Maeribeth
sighed in exasperation. "How do you KNOW she hates you?" she demanded,
"Is she avoiding you?" Rei shook her head without lifting it from
Maeribeth's comforting shoulder. "No," she whispered, "It's all I can do
to avoid HER!"

"Why?" Maeribeth asked in surprise. "Because I didn't want to see the
results of my harsh words to her," Rei whispered with a choked sob, "I
didn't want to see my friend with the joy crushed out of her. The few
times I did see her, she was harsh and insulting." Maeribeth laid her
cheek against Rei's dark head and sighed. "Oh Hatchling," she said
gently, "She was only being THAT way in order to make you lose your
temper. She loves you VERY much and that was simply her way to try and
get the OLD Rei back."

"Are....are you sure?" Rei questioned hopefully as she lifted her head
from Maeribeth's shoulder. "Very," she replied firmly, "You are the
second one today to get my shoulder wet. Serenity needed comforting only
a short time ago. She cried all over me because of her worry about you!"
Rei shook her head in disbelief. "She was worried about ME?!" Maeribeth
gave a firm nod. "Desperately so!" she confirmed.

<<Galen!>> she mindsent. <<Mother?>> he replied startled. <<If you're in
the Throne Room, could you tell Princess Serenity that I need her now?>>
<<I am and she's coming, Mother.>>

Rei looked up when she heard a light step on the path. It was Serenity.
Rei gasped but before she could bolt, those beloved blue eyes met hers.
Instead of the hate Rei expected to see, her large blue eyes were filled
with love for a dear friend and worry because of what that beloved
friend was doing to herself.

At seeing this, something inside Rei shattered and she rushed to
Serenity with her arms outstretched. Their arms went around each other as
they cried on each other's shoulders. Maeribeth walked over to the two
weeping Princesses and placed an affectionate hand on each head.
"Hatchlings," she said with gentle affection, "Heated words should NEVER
be allowed to stand unapologized for. And Rei, remember from this, that
NOTHING can dampen Serenity's joy in life BUT the pain of a friend.
Remember THAT, and this will never happen again."

Rei looked up at her and nodded. "I'm sorry, Serenity!" Rei apologized
softly, "I'm sorry for what I said, and more, the way I said it."
Serenity hugged her again. Though she was five years younger than the
Senshi, she loved them all dearly. They were her Court, and her dearest
friends. "I'm sorry too," Serenity returned, "I should never have said
what I did 'cause I didn't mean it. I know my faults and I know I need a
push sometimes. You love me enough to provide it when I need it. Don't
change, please!"

Rei smiled for the first time since that terrible argument and took her
friend by the hand. "C'mon," she suggested, "Let's go to the Training
Ground. I haven't used my powers for weeks, and they're getting rusty!"
"Oh! Goody!" Serenity laughed joyfully, "I love watching you use your
fire!" <THAT'S my Serenity!> Rei thought as the last of her guilt left
her at Serenity's joyful laugh. She laughed as well and led her friend
from the Garden.

Maeribeth watched silently as the two laughing girls left hand in hand
and smiled. <That is a friendship that will always endure,> she thought
in relief, <As will those of the other Senshi.> She looked up at the
stars with a tear in her eye. "You would be proud of them, Beloved," she
said sadly, "I know I am!"

The End (for now)