Beyond the Facade

Chapter Seven, Powers and Training:

The five girls were training with Queen Serenity. Luna had
remembered something that was long ago told to her by her mother
when she was just an infant. Well, not so much remembered, as been
reminded through a dream. She jumped up and did a somersault in the
air as a transformation appeared for Princess Serena, and she did
that four more times for each of the other princesses. They were
all learning about controlling their powers as well as how to
harness their powers with love rather than anger, pain, or anxiety.

Luna told them the phrases to say as they transformed that
cool day.

\"Moon Prism Power!\" the Moon Princess\' entire outfit of
white with a blue skirt and color, a red bow in the front, a tiara
with a red jewel in the middle, a red choker, red circles with
white bands around them on her golden hair up in buns, and dangling
moon crescent shaped earrings were all put on at high speed. She
ended the transformation with her left arm up and her left hand on
her forehead.

\"Venus Power!\" Princess Venus shouted as golden light
surrounded her and a white outfit with an orange skirt and collar,
dark blue bow in front, an orange choker, a tiara with a yellow
jewel in the middle, orange dot earrings, and a red bow all
appeared upon herself. She also had orange high heeled shoes with
a strap that crossed over her foot and long white gloves with
orange rings around them.

\"Jupiter Power!\" Princess Lita shouted as an electric
circle formed around her and formed a white outfit with a dark
green skirt and collar, a pink bow in front, a green choker, a
tiara with a green jewel in the middle, pink rose earrings, and her
hair held up in a ponytail by two green balls, on her self. Sailor
Jupiter also had on green high heeled boots that went up past her
ankles and long white gloves that went past her elbow with green
rings around them.

\"Mars Power!\" Princess Raye shouted. She was surrounded
by a circle of fire and a white outfit with a red skirt and collar,
purple bow in front, a tiara with a red jewel in the middle, red
dot earrings, a red choker, and her long black hair completely
down all appeared on her self. She also had red high heeled shoes
on as well as the long white gloves that went past her elbow with
rings of red around them.

\"Mercury Power!\" Princess Amy shouted as she became Sailor
Mercury, adorned in a white outfit with a blue skirt and collar, a
light blue bow in the front, a tiara with a blue jewel in the
middle, blue dot earrings, a blue choker, and her short blue hair
curling around her ears. She also had blue boots that went up past
her knees with a white band around them and long white gloves past
her elbow with rings of blue around them.

They all enjoyed training with Queen Serenity when they met
at the Moon Palace as well as on their own whenever they got the
chance. It was a break from the everyday drone of princess life,
and it gave them all something to do outside of tradition that at
least one royal figurehead approved of.

Prince Darien and Princess Serena had gotten very close in
a short period of time. Both admitting their own pain to one
another and confiding in each other as their love grew stronger in
their hearts. Serena finally had someone she could talk to about
the empty hole in her heart from missing her late father, and
Darien could finally tell of the mask of apathy he wore and his
wish to be a guard and his secret of training with swords in the
guards\' training room.

Princess Serena snuggled in her love\'s warm embrace.
\"Darien, when can we announce to others that we are a couple? I am
sure your parents would approve of it since we are both royalty,
and I know I always have my mother\'s support for whomever I want to
date. The others will be thrilled to. Mina has known we belonged
together for a long time in her heart. It is hard keeping this a
secret from my closest friends,\" she admitted.

Darien sighed and gently ran his hand down the length of
her arm and kissed her cheek lovingly. \"All right Serena, you are
right. We have been hiding this long enough, and there is really
no reason to keep it hidden any longer.\"

Thus they announced being a couple at Amara\'s 16th
birthday celebration. Everyone congratulated them. \"I always knew
you two would get together,\" Mina said cheerfully, winking at them.
Serena blushed and Darien thanked her.

\"I am so excited,\" Lita said. \"It is about time you two
became a couple!\"

\"Thank you,\" Darien said again as Serena smiled.

\"We have actually been a couple longer, but Darien did not
want to come out with it until now,\" Serena confessed to her
friends.

Amara and Michelle looked at one another for a brief
second that did not go unnoticed by several of the people present:
Hotaru, Trista, Amy, and Lita all noticed. Mina\'s attention was
fixed on the couple who were fixed on each other, and Raye was
saying something.

\"I am so glad for you two. You make an unusual yet
wonderful match,\" she said sincerely.

\"Thank you,\" Darien said again as Serena got a huge grin
on her face and hugged Raye tight.

\"Love you best friend,\" Serena said.

\"Love you too best friend,\" Raye said, happy for one of
her best friends.

That night Michelle was restless. She could not sleep. The
image of a smiling Serena leaning against a happier Darien would
not leave her mind. She wished she could lean against Amara like
that, hold Amara\'s hand in public, and tell the world that she was
the luckiest girl alive to have Amara as her soulmate. But alas,
she knew that would never come to be. *At least not in this
lifetime,* she thought ironically.

Another person was restless that night, and her name was
Amara. She tossed and turned in bed, wishing so badly that she
could proclaim her love for her other half, Michelle, to the world
but knowing that was impossible. She sighed sadly.

Trista and Amy were also restless that night, trying to
figure out what that look between Amara and Michelle meant. Amy
eventually concluded that it was some inside information, story,
or joke that was shared between those two close friends. Trista
got nearer to the mark, wondering if they were more than friends
after all. The thought of two women together made her feel sick
inside because it made her think of her and her mother, but she
also was wise enough to see that as one of her own issues and not
actually something that made two women being a couple wrong.

Darien was restless too, thinking of his love and how
scared he was to lose her.

Mina was restless from her usual nightmares filled with
older men touching and using her body in dirty ways.

Lita was restless listening to the sound of her mother
being thrown against a wall. She weeped silently.

Hotaru was also restless, seeing the image of Darien and
Serena imprinted on her mind and feeling a horrible sense of doom
to come for those two. She had long ago seen Amara and Michelle as
a couple. She and Mina had talked about it once because Mina felt
their love for one another too. She and Mina had decided long ago
not to interfere or tell anyone else about it.

Raye\'s night was also restless because she could not sleep
with such a sore body from all the beatings.

Serena missed Darien greatly, thus her night was also
restless.

\"Happy 16th birthday Michelle!\" everyone exclaimed. It was
a beautiful March day as Michelle smiled and unwrapped her gifts.
When she unwrapped Amara\'s gift it was a silver ring. She gasped.
It was only last month at the outer sailor soldiers\' meeting that
they had discussed what a silver and gold ring would symbolize.
The silver ring would symbolize engagement and the gold one
marriage. Not legally of course because that was not possible,
but in each other\'s hearts that was what they would mean. She
gazed in adoration at Amara. \"Yes,\" she said softly.

Amara grinned. \"I am so glad you like it,\" she said,
making everyone think that whether or not she liked it was the
silent question Michelle had answered on purpose. She smiled when
they all seemed to fall for it, including both sets of parents.
Michelle\'s father was frowning though. Amara dismissed it as being
about something else.

That night as they all stayed over, Amara snuck into
Michelle\'s bedroom to sleep with her again.

\"Love,\" she said as she entered.

\"Yes darling?\" Michelle asked.

Amara said no more and neither did Michelle as they lay
together to keep one another safe, happy, and warm all night
long.

The door opened just as they were almost asleep.
Michelle\'s eyes slowly opened as Amara\'s quickly shot open.
Michelle\'s father was standing in the doorway. \"What is the
meaning of this?\" he asked in astonishment. \"I thought there
was something strange about you giving her a ring,\" he said to
Amara as he ran and pulled her out of the bed.

Queen Melody, King Alan, and Queen Anita had all run
into the room.

\"What are you doing to my daughter?\" King Alan asked
angrily.

\"Getting her away from my daughter,\" King Matthew
said simply.

\"I do not understand,\" Queen Anita said.

\"What is going on?\" Queen Melody asked.

\"Our daughters were sleeping together,\" King Matthew
said to Queen Anita. \"I knew there was something strange
about Amara giving my daughter a ring. Your child is a
horrible influence on our daughter, and I do not want her
anywhere near this palace ever again.\"

King Alan\'s mouth gaped open. \"I cannot believe this,\"
Queen Anita said.

\"Me neither,\" King Alan said as the reality set in. \"This
is sick. Come on Amara, and by the way King Matthew, it is your
daughter who is the bad influence on ours. So we will gladly stay
away from this palace. I do not want your daughter near our palace
either.\"

And with that Amara was dressed and off the planet in mere
minutes. Both had remained composed throughout the ordeal though
they were slowly dying inside.

\"I cannot believe this!\" King Alan shouted. \"My lovely
pride and joy...in bed...with a woman.\"

\"Yes that is right,\" Amara said shortly.

\"Do not test my temper right now Amara,\" King Alan warned.

Amara looked down in shame.

\"What in the world could possess you to be with her like
that? It just sickens me.\"

Amara said nothing as she silently stared out the window.

\"That is not all. I regret not telling you before,\" Queen
Anita began. \"I found her training with a sword in the guards\'
room, combine that with her not liking to wear dresses and being
with that Neptune princess and I think we get the picture,\" she
finished.

King Alan gasped. \"You were using swords? You could get
hurt. Those are for guards.\"

\"I know and that is what I want to be, a guard, father. I
want to be a guard that wears pants. Why can I not do those
things and still be the female princess, and why can I not be
with the one I love? I know it is unorthodox but...\"

Her father interrupted. \"It is more than unorthodox, it
is down right sickening Amara. I cannot believe this,\" he
repeated. \"I am so disappointed in you.\"

She hung her head in shame. The father she once looked up
to in adoration and awe now despised her and her only true love.
*How do I handle this?* she wondered in misery.

\"This is so disgusting,\" King Matthew said. \"I do not
understand how you could go against tradition like this Michelle,
but listen to my words. Never again. Is that clear?\"

\"No. We love each other,\" Michelle said, mustering up
courage and strength to be honest and stand up for her right to
love whomever she pleases.

Queen Melody exited the room. \"I cannot deal with this,\"
she admitted, her hand over her mouth in disgust.

Michelle shook her head as her father glared at her. \"I
do not want to hear about this. Never again. Now is that clear?\"
he demanded.

\"very,\" Michelle said quietly as her father exited the
room. \"It is clear you know nothing about love and thinking
for yourself,\" she mumbled softly.

Princess Raye\'s 14th birthday celebration came next, and
because King Alan and Queen Anita were there with their daughter,
Michelle had to stay at the Neptune palace while King Matthew
and Queen Melody avoided the Uranus royalty who also avoided them.

Princess Amara went off to be by herself out in the
gardens where she secretly transformed and began training alone
with her power. However, what she did not realize is that Princess
Amy had followed her. She quietly walked up behind her and tapped
Uranus on the back.

Sailor Uranus jumped, startled. \"Amy!\" she exclaimed. She
tried to catch her breath.

\"Do not worry. I will not tell anyone. We have powers
too,\" Amy explained quickly. \"Oh and sorry about startling you,\"
she added.

\"Do not worry about it,\" Uranus said, smiling some. \"So
you five princesses all have powers too? You must be the ones
meant to defend from the inside then after all. The four of us
sort of figured that you five would be the ones.\"

Amy\'s head went to one side, a confused look on her face.
\"Guard the inside. What do you mean?\"

\"I mean that Trista is the one who had visions about this,
and the woman in her vision who gave us all transformation pens
said that Michelle, Trista, Hotaru, and I are all meant to guard
the outer part of the solar system from the Pluto Palace, and
others are meant to guard the inner part of the solar system from
the Moon Palace. We all thought those guardians of the inner
solar system would be you five. Now I know it must be.\"

\"It does sound like that does it not?\" Amy agreed. \"But
what are we guarding from, and what about our guards?\"

\"Well, we do not know what we are guarding from. The woman
in Trista\'s vision hinted that things would not remain peaceful.\"

\"Oh no,\" Amy said.

\"Yes, I know,\" Uranus agreed. \"We are all supposed to be
sailor soldiers who do not need guards, but the woman in Trista\'s
vision said our parents are too hung up on tradition to see that.\"

\"Not Queen Serenity. She has been helping train us.\"

\"She has?\" Amara, who had detransformed, said
incredulously.

\"Yes, she is wonderful. She had powers too at our age and
even sooner actually.\"

\"So she must know some things,\" Amara mused.

\"Oh yes, so much that she learned from Lune, Luna\'s mother.
Luna got us our transformation pens. But tell me, who is the woman
in Trista\'s visions?\"

\"That is just it. We do not know. Not even Trista knows I
do not think, but the lady told her that she would be taking the
woman\'s place. Whatever that means.\"

\"Hmm...interesting,\" Amy said.

\"Want to practice together?\" Amara asked her.

\"All right,\" Amy reluctantly agreed. *I do not want to
get in trouble, but I would so much rather be doing this,* she
thought to herself. \"Mercury Power!\" she shouted as she
transformed. Sailor Uranus smiled at Sailor Mercury in approval,
and they both began practicing.

They had not been practicing long now when the rest of
the princesses found them and joined them. Information was
exchanged again, and all eight began training together. \"I will
relay the message to Michelle,\" Trista promised since Amara could
not. No one asked why Michelle was not here. They all could feel
that it was a touchy subject for Amara.

As they were all training together, Queen Serenity
approached them. \"So you three have powers too?\" she asked
softly. \"I suppose Michelle also has powers?\" She also wisely did
not bring up the question of why Michelle was not here. She saw
how close Michelle and Amara were and how the parents of the two
were avoiding one another.

\"Yes she does,\" Hotaru responded. Serenity hugged Hotaru.
Hotaru smiled in surprise at the surprising sign of affection
from an adult. The kind of surprise that only comes from over 10
years of neglect.

Queen Serenity was very receptive to all they had to tell
her, and she promised to get them all together and help train the
other four now as well. Trista chose not to tell about her
visions or the impending wreckage suggested by the woman in her
visions. The others wisely chose not to bring it up since they
deemed bringing up that subject to be Trista\'s decision.

To Be Continued...