Those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it.

******

"Whaaaat?"

Queen Serenity sighed.  "It's a long tradition in our family.  The
reigning princess always becomes the lifemate of one of the protectors
of the inner planets.  It's ohe of the ways we keep the peace."

"But...but...how can I become queen and have an heir if I'm married to
another girl?"

"Oh, don't worry, we'll find you some cute male from Earth to breed
with."  She smiled and licked her lips, remembering her own suitors in
her day.

"Oh.  Well, I suppose that's ok, then, but why does it have to be
*her*?  She's mean, mama!"

"Am not."  Sailor Mars stuck her tongue out at the princess.

"Are too!"  The princess returned the gesture.

"Now, now.  It's Mars's turn this generation."

******

Even if there is no historical record to remember from.

******

"Now, what exactly is the nature of your complaint?"

Sailor Mercury looked up at her lord's lord, the monarch who could have
her entire planet destroyed with a few words should it be necessary for
peace in the rest of the system, and who was rumored to have personal
power exceeding even that which she commanded, and tried not to blink.
"I believe you have made a mistake, your highness."

"Explain."  The queen's poker face was both expected and irritating.
If Mercury had ticked her off...but this was not the time to worry
about that, even if there would never be a better time.

"With regard to your engagement of your daughter.  If you look at the
official record, I believe you promised her to us...to me...some five
years ago, when you negotiated with my mother over solar collector
rights."

"Oh, right, now I remember.  Hmm...this is a problem, isn't it?  Mars's
claim dates back to shortly after my own engagement...but I'm sure
you'd cite the statue of limitations."

"Yes, your majesty."

"I'll have to take it under advisement.  In the mean time, I suggest
you discuss this matter with the princess directly."

If Mercury had known that meant, "Charm her yourself; I'm tired of
jerking her heart around," she might have reacted differently.

******

Technology changes.  Society changes.  Life changes.

Human nature stays constant.

******

Target located.  The one who had so much power...and she really was the
princess of the moon.  Not that it mattered.  Everything beyond the
asteroid belt was but loosely affiliated with the Moon Kingdom,
getting resources in exchange for shielding it from what lay beyond.
Some said that if the Moon Kingdom fell, the outer planets would die
just as if they were part of it, but Sailor Jupiter refused to believe
it.  What mattered was that that princess had diplomatic immunity from
the laws of Jupiter...but Sailor Jupiter did not have the same here.

Which was a mere annoyance in the face of her mission, delivered
personally by the elders, to retrieve this strong warrior and bind her
to the people of Jupiter by any means necessary.  Seeing as the
princess had easily bested Sailor Jupiter, the senshi's punishment was
that she must first try betrothing herself to the princess.  That she
would rather throttle the princess and shake her like a rag doll until
every carefree joy spilled from the torn seams was of no consequence.

Catering this party had gotten her into the palace easily.  It helped
that, unlike many of her fellow warriors, she could actually cook; she
was not merely pretending to serve the party-goers.  Assembling a
competent crew from the locals had been no small task, but she was
fairly confident this team could keep going without her constant
supervision for a few minutes while she mingled with the crowd.

There.  Target located.  No point in being subtle, just hug and kiss
and then introduce.

"Excuse me."  Two voices...Sailors Mars and Mercury, if she was right,
pausing just long enough to acknowledge to each other that they were
thinking the same thought.  "What are you doing with our fiancee?"

*******

In a future life, two shards of the same person would grow up to lead
very different lives.  Only one would get the skills of fighting, and
only one would get the skills of love.

*******

"HEEEY!"

Sailor Venus barely had time to recognize her assailant before being
swept up in the princess's arms.

"You'rethatsupercoolsenshiwho'sbeeninallthosemoviesaren'tyou?"

She recognized enough of it to recognize another fan.  A high-status
fan, to be sure...

"CanIhaveyourautographpleasepleaseplease?"

"Sure."  Autographs were almost a reflex; she kept a special pen-sized
replica of her transformation wand to sign with.  "Where do you want me
to sign?"

"Umm..."

"How about your hand?"

"REALLY?  Coolthankyouthankyouthankyou..."  This continued even as the
senshi picked up the back of the princess's hand and signed away.

"Say, could you do me a little favor?  My, ah, production company kinda
screwed up its logistics, and I don't have a place to stay."  A white
lie: she ran away from the stuffy managers.  Knowing them, they
wouldn't notice she was gone for a week, even though they always
insisted on knowing where she was at every minute.  It would take at
least a month for them to consider she might no longer be on Venus.
"Do you know any good hotels around here?"

"You..."  She blinked, a glimmer of logical thought taking over and
thankfully slowing her speech.  "Hey, why don't you stay at my place
for a while?"

"You mean it?"

"Sure!  I mean, I've got a spare bedroom for my personal guests.  Even
Mom doesn't get to say who gets access to it."

"Hmm..."  This sounded like a mother who was desperate for her daughter
to gain some friends.  Possibly a classic case of cooped-up royalty.
She could relate.  This could be the start of a good friendship...or
more, if the princess swung that way.  Given the princess's wealth, the
senshi was definitely willing to give it a try.

******

In fact, many of the shards would seem like someone put them in a
blender set on puree.

******

Prince of Earth.  Yeah, right.  Creeps like Beryl ran the whole show;
the closest thing he had to power was managing that brat senshi.  It
had been his idea to tap her powers for dramatic special effects, with
them going to waste "defending" a planet that had known peace longer
than either of them had been alive.  At least this way, the people of
the Moon Kingdom would still look up to their senshi as heros.

So, of course, she just had to run away.

She probably thought he had no idea where she had run off too, but she
forgot whose credit cards she had paid for her passage tickets with.
And now records of the cards being used by merchants that only the
royal family had access to.  One of the royals held his "little
sister", as he sometimes called her, and he would get her back.  Fight
or charm - each was effective in its own situations, and he was skilled
at both.

******

Princess Ranko Serenity, last of the Moon Kingdom.

Not coming soon to a fanfic list near you.
	     .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'