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: A Special Friendship
             By Eric "Greywolf" den Biesen <greywolf@eagle.ca>

Elder Venus and Elder Mars watched silently as the sleek courier vessel
from the Crystal Kingdom made its landing approach. They had been
summoned, in haste, from the training field where the Elder Senshi
instructed the younger Senshi.

"Do you have any idea what this is all about, Mars?" Elder Venus asked,
turning to her counterpart from Mars. "None. Just a vague feeling of
dread," she answered worriedly. They watched as the ship landed gently
and a loading ramp descended from the side of the vessel. Both elder
Senshi recognized the gray haired man as he exited the ship.

"Ambassador Norkon! What are you doing here?" Elder Venus exclaimed,
"Your vacation still has two weeks to go!" Elder Mars nudged her comrade
to silence her. Then Elder Venus noticed what Mars had noticed earlier.
Norkon's face was white and lined with weariness and grief.  "Not now,
my Ladies," he whispered hoarsely, his face working with some strong
emotion, "I must see the Queen at ONCE. The news I have can't wait!"

Elder Mars' feeling of dread increased by several notches and she took
charge immediately. "This way, My Lord Norkon!" she said hurriedly as
she and Elder Venus accompanied him to the Moon Palace where Serenity
was holding Court.

When they reached the Throne Room, Serenity was waiting for them. She
was a beautiful elegant woman with long silver hair in the odango and
ponytail arrangement which was the traditional hair style for women of
the Royal Family. She was also four months pregnant and dressed in a
long white maternity gown. Elder Mars stepped forward. "My Queen!" she
announced, "I present Ambassador Norkon with an urgent message from the
Crystal Kingdom!" Serenity smiled, hiding her disquiet. The message from
Earth, telling her to expect the Ambassador had been disjointed and
non-informative. To top it off, whatever the message was, it was so
important that they had sent the Ronin, a prototype of the new StarShark
class couriers, to bring him as fast as possible.

"Welcome back, My Lord Norkon!" she said warmly, "What is this important
message that interrupts your well deserved vacation?" Norkon stepped
forward and knelt before the throne. "My Queen, I don't wish to offend
but I ask that everyone except your Dragonkin Guard and the two Elder
Senshi be dismissed," he requested urgently, "This news is for your ears
only!" His head was bowed and he was obviously under stress.  Serenity's
heart began to pound as she gave orders to clear the Throne Room.

"Now, My Lord, what is your message?" she asked with apprehension when
her orders had been carried out. "My Queen, two hours ago, the Prince
Consort was killed in a skirmish with creatures from what we call `The
Dark Kingdom'," he whispered hoarsely without raising his head, "These
creatures appear out of nowhere and raid outlying settlements. The
Prince was nearby during the latest such raid and led his Guard against
them."

It took all Serenity's willpower to prevent the wail she felt rising to
her lips from escaping. Her face had paled and her lips silently formed
her husband's name as she shook her head in denial. "Are you certain?"
she asked tonelessly, "It was Prince Orion?" Norkon wept openly now.
"Yes, My Queen," he replied, tears streaming down his face, "His Guard
was decimated before our soldiers could arrive. We killed some of them,
but most escaped using some kind of dark gate. The dead ones turned to
dust and vanished, so we have nothing to study!"

"I see," she whispered. It took everything she had to hold her
composure. The terrible grief inside was gnawing away at her will and
she knew she couldn't hold it in much longer. "Mars," she said, turning
to the two Elder Senshi, "Please see Lord Norkon to his quarters and see
to his needs. Venus, spread the news throughout the Kingdom, today is a
day of mourning!" The two Senshi nodded and left with the weeping Norkon
between them. Serenity stepped down from the dais and approached Vordin,
her Guard Commander. Vordin was also Eldar of the Dragonkin and he had
been a close friend of Orion's. "Vordin, I'm going to the Inner
Gardens," she told him as she felt her composure starting to crack,
"Place your Dragonkin by the doors. I am NOT to be disturbed for ANY
reason!" "Yes, My Queen," he whispered as he fought his own grief.

She entered the Royal Gardens as Vordin watched and shut the doors with
finality.  He dispatched Dragonkin to ward the other three doors leading
into the Gardens and he took the door Serenity had entered. "The Queen
must NOT be alone at this time of grief, WHATEVER she says!" he told
Avalon, the Dragonkin who had remained with him, "She needs a shoulder
to cry on and I know the perfect person. Fetch my mate, Maeribeth, from
the Kin Caverns.  Tell her everything and tell her she must find her OWN
way into the Gardens since we cannot let her through the doors. She'll
know what I mean." Avalon bowed and departed for the Dragonkin Caverns
on the outskirts of the Capital.

Serenity wandered aimlessly through the Gardens, its beauty utterly lost
on her as her mind wandered in circles. When she reached a stone bench
under a Lunar Fringe tree, her composure finally shattered. With tears
streaming down her cheeks, she reached out a trembling hand to touch the
bench. <He proposed to me here,> she thought in pain. She placed a hand
on her rounded stomach. "Little One," she whispered, "You will never
know your father!" She collapsed to her knees and lowering her head onto
the bench, wept in great heaving sobs at her terrible loss.

Maeribeth laid her head down wearily. As the only Soul Healer in the
Silver Millennium, she was always on call to heal minds and souls. She
had just returned from the Mercury Kingdom where one of the Court had
been suffering from such guilt over something she had done that she was
damaging her psyche. That had been a long session and she was exhausted.

"Lady Maeribeth! Lady Maeribeth, please come at once!" a voice cried
out. Maeribeth looked up sharply. She rustled her wings in irritation.
<Don't I get any rest at all?!"> she thought irritably. She exited the
large room that was her resting place and entered the vast Meeting Hall.
Her crest rose as she was overcome with curiosity at seeing Avalon
waiting for her, obviously in the grip of some strong emotion. She
opened her senses and was staggered at the waves of grief and loss
coming not only from Avalon, but from all over the Kingdom! "Avalon,
what's happened?" she demanded, "Why do I sense such terrible grief?"

As the story poured out, Maeribeth's crest slowly flattened and her head
hung until it almost touched the floor. Dragonkin could not weep in
their natural forms, but with her flattened crest and hanging head,
Maeribeth was the picture of mindnumbing grief. Suddenly she gasped and
her head flew up. "The Queen!" she cried in concern, "The poor child
shouldn't be left alone! Is there no one with her?!" Avalon shook his
head silently.  "She gave orders that she wasn't to be disturbed," he
explained, "She's in the Inner Gardens, and My Lady, the Eldar WANTS you
to disturb her!" "Of COURSE, I'll disturb her!" she returned, "The silly
child! She NEEDS someone right now! I'll fly in, that way, Vordin won't
have disobeyed her!"

She left the Kin Caverns at a run and thrust herself into the air,
ignoring her weariness as she headed for the Royal Palace and a soul in
need. On reaching her destination, she scanned the Inner Gardens and
locating the Queen under a Lunar Fringe tree, she landed on the far side
so the Queen wouldn't hear. She shimmered as she assumed her human form.

Maeribeth stood at the edge of the little clearing, watching Serenity as
she grieved. <A child bearing child,> Maeribeth thought sadly, <Oh the
Fates are so unkind! To have this happen now!> She slowly and carefully
approached the weeping Queen. She sat silently on the stone bench
Serenity was weeping over and gently touched the Queen's silver gilt
head.

Serenity looked up with a gasp of surprise. She saw a silver haired
young woman seated on the bench. The silver dragon symbol on her
forehead marked her as Dragonkin. <I know her now,> Serenity thought
distracted, <It's the Soul Healer Maeribeth, Vordin's Lifemate.> The
Soul Healer spoke.  "Your heart is heavy with grief, child!" she said
gently, "I am here to ease its pain." <Child!> Serenity thought
indignantly. She was about to state that she wished to be left alone
when she looked into the Dragonkin's eyes. Silvery eyes. Ancient eyes.
Eyes so full of compassion and understanding, that before she knew what
she was doing, she was weeping wildly in Maeribeth's lap.

Maeribeth sat stroking Serenity's hair as she grieved over her beloved's
death. Her tender heart smote her as she realized that Serenity no
longer had anyone to confide in. Someone to whom she need not be Queen,
but merely a young woman in need of comforting from time to time.

"I'm sorry!" Serenity said after her weeping finally subsided. She tried
to regain her composure and be Queen again. Maeribeth took her firmly by
the chin and looked down into her startled eyes. "Stop it, child!" she
scolded, "You need someone to whom you can just be Serenity, and not
Queen. I am here for you, ALWAYS!" <Here is someone I can trust,>
Serenity thought, wanting desperately to accept her offer.  She nodded
shakily.

"I...don't know if I can go on without Orion," Serenity confessed
painfully, "He was my companion, confident AND love. Without him, I'm a
little lost!" Maeribeth put her arm comfortingly around her shoulders
"You can!" she soothed, "You're stronger than you think and you'll have
me, the Dragonkin Guard AND the Elder Senshi to help. In time, your
child will be there for you to love and the Younger Senshi will also
enter the equation at some point!" Serenity looked so miserable that
Maeribeth made a decision that her kind had made only a handful of times
in their long history. And all those times had been in the Star
Kingdoms.

She got to her feet with a decisive motion and regarded the startled
Serenity. "You need a distraction!" she claimed, "A moment of peace."
She shimmered and assumed her Dragonkin form. She glanced at her back,
concentrated and an ornate saddle appeared. She turned back to Serenity
and her jaw dropped in a Dragonkin grin. Serenity was looking at her in
awe. She knew what was coming. In all the centuries the Dragonkin had
been in the Moon Kingdom, they had never permitted a human rider, until
now. "You..you mean you'll let me....?" Serenity stuttered
unbelievingly. She felt a fierce joy well up amidst the grief as the
Dragonkin nodded her great head in confirmation. She was being given a
gift like NO other! The chance to ride the winds on Dragonkin wings!

Suddenly, she was a young girl again with a chance to attain her
childhood dream. She eagerly, with Maeribeth's amused and understanding
assistance, climbed into the saddle. She strapped herself into the
special side saddle and gripped the bar at the front. When she was
ready, Maeribeth leapt skyward. Serenity reveled in the feeling of power
beneath her as her great companion climbed rapidly. She looked down at
the Moon Kingdom's capital, dwindling as they climbed. <How beautiful it
all looks from up here!> she thought, <And how I wish Orion could see it
with me!> She heaved a sigh that was almost a sob, but not quite.  When
Maeribeth had attained a comfortable altitude, she turned towards the
Crystal Mountains, north of the Capital city.

Serenity enjoyed the wind whistling past her and her view of the
landscape from above. Soon, they reached their goal and spotting a wide
ledge, high up the side of a mountain, Maeribeth landed. Serenity
unstrapped herself and dismounted. She stood next to Maeribeth, her hand
resting gently on Maeribeth's neck. They listened as the wind picked up.
There was a sound almost like wind chimes as the wind whipped through
the mountains and Serenity felt a sense of peace come over her. She
looked at her Capital city in the distance and then turned to her
companion.

"You have given me two gifts beyond price!" she began hesitantly,
"Giving me my childhood dream AND your friendship. What can I possibly
give you to equal that?" Maeribeth snorted. "You already have!" she
returned, "You gave me your trust and you gave me YOUR friendship! I'd
say that's a fair trade!" Serenity smiled painfully, her eyes full of
tears. "I hope you know that I'll probably cry all over you several
times a day until I come to terms with Orion's death!" Maeribeth
shimmered into her human form. "I have plenty of handkerchiefs so I
think I can handle it!" she grinned, "After all, what are friends for,
right?" She extended her hand and Serenity clasped it warmly. "You know,
you're right!" she agreed softly, "This may indeed turn out to be a
SPECIAL friendship!"


The End (For now.)