Chapter Two: Hallway Memories "The Lord and Lady Solar, and their children, Aurora and Auriel," an impressive voice droned out to crowded silver ballroom full of the Galaxy's royalty. The footman gestured for them to enter the ball with an elaborate sweeping bow. Aurora curtsied as she had been taught to do, but Auriel shook his hand with a six year old's innocent authority. "Why thank you my good man," she parroted, trying to drop her high sweet voice to her father's low bass. The serious footman couldn't contain the surprised grin that flitted across his lips, as he returned her "manly" shake and bowed low a second time for her alone. Young Auriel eagerly surveyed her elegant surroundings, as she anxiously twisted the satin golden ribbons on the sleeves of her dainty little dress. Her first older person party! There were multi-colored swirling couples floating on the tips of their toes around the ballroom floor, as the high enchanting music spun its seductive web through the heady air. Glancing over at Aurora, she grimaced. Her twin was cowering behind their mother now, hanging on to her elaborate silk dress for dear life. "Aurora," she hissed under her breath. "Aurora, get over here goofy! Mommy needs to talk to the other Kings and Queens and stuff! She can't have you hanging on her like that, it won't look nice, and the other Kings and Queens and stuff will make fun of her! You don't want Mommy sad do ya?" Aurora shook her head, her carroty curls flying. "But Auriel, what're we suppos't ta do then? We can't dance, we'd get step'd on!" Just then Auriel heard high childish laughter from the hall. She peered around the corner, Aurora gripping her hand tightly in her sweaty palms. At the end of the hall there were a group of children skidding along the slippery waxed floors. Most of the girls appeared at about five or so, the boys maybe a little older. As she watched, a boy of about nine with shaggy brown hair and a black tuxedo with a red sash got a running start from the far end of the hallway; when he passed the large grandfather clock, he purposely leaned back, his feet sliding out from beneath him, sending him skidding in to the clustered group of giggling children. They shrieked with joy, and helped him up. * * * * * * * * * * * . "So Lita, have you and Ken 'talked' yet?" Mina teased from around a mouthful of chicken. The Sailor of Beauty and Love grinned and pointed over to the boys across the complex. "I really think you should at least acknowledge that as well as being your best friend he's a total hunk!" Lita gulped, and then glanced over at Ken. She had to admit he wasn't bad to look at. His pale green eyes flashed emerald with thunder when he was mad, or in the heat of battle. He could move like poetry in motion when he was trying to be debonair, and no one she had ever met could equal his wit and charm. She blushed watching him climb the tree Mina had been perched in earlier, as Chad waited below. He certainly was agile. Why hadn't she noticed all these things when they were just Lita and Ken, not Sailor Jupiter and Jupiter Knight? Once Ken was settled, he nodded to Mars, who began wrapping his knuckles with white tape. Ken looked over at the girls and saluted them with a jaunty wave. His long legs dangled on either side of the low branch he perched on and his cape stirred in the breeze on a nearby branch. His green boots, about eye level with Chad standing below, thumped the tree in time with the techno music blaring from Raye's stereo in the corner of the yard. "Are ya all warmed up Chad, Raye's grandpa will be back soon right?" "No dude, Grandpa won't be back for about a week. He has some important priest meeting in the States and it'll take him a few more days. He wanted me to go with him to show the importance of a temple's apprentice, but I had to do this," he jabbed, "so I told him I couldn't." Chad began punching the tree with all his might, jabbing right-left-right-left in quick succession. "Man, this sucks," he grunted, "tell me again why I need to do this to be a better fighter?" Ken's encouraging voice drifted down from his seat, "I don't know why, just that Darien had me do it when he discovered I was Jupiter Knight. You think training with me is hard, Darien is impossible. He's so anal about even small stuff like this. You know how he is about hand-to-hand combat." He shook his head, his brown hair shining in the sun, "You can punch harder than that! Come on Chad, imagine some guy just stole Raye from under your nose. He's using her, and she doesn't even notice. Imagine what you'd do to him if you ever got your hands on such a sleaze. That's right, you got it! Punch harder, faster! Whoa, dude!" The last punch went high and knocked Ken's left boot. He lost his equilibrium and toppled off the branch, rolling as he hit the ground, skidding to a halt a few yards away from the tree. "Nice shot, Chad" * * * * * * * * * * * In her sleep, Auriel moaned, and turned, pressing her face to the chill of the tile floor. Her towel slipped lower down her back, exposing her creamy flesh to the steamy eddies of air in the bathroom. She shivered, lost deep in memories, she tightened the terry-cloth around her body. A small smile flitted across her lips... * * * * * * * * * * * "My turn," announced a sturdy sandy haired boy of about ten with authority. He turned to the thin little girl beside him and removed his green sash. "Would you please hold this Princess? I would like it to stay neat so Da won't get mad." The little girl smiled and held out her hand to receive the treasure. Watching her, Auriel had a sudden desire to join the children. "Come on Aurora, let's go have fun!" She began to drag her protesting twin towards the gathering, abruptly stopping when she noticed five older boys at the top of the staircase, four dressed in the Galaxy's Guardian Academy-training suits of matching gray fabric, the other one in a tidy tuxedo. They appeared to be watching the young children as well, leaning over the top railing as far as they could, their eyes shone with excitement as the small towheaded boy began his run. "Go Ken!" one of the boys shouted. She looked up and saw one of the big boys, the one in the tuxedo, leaning almost halfway over the railing as he craned to get a better view. His thick black hair brushed his cheeks as Ken neared the grandfather clock. With a cry of triumph, Ken shifted his weight backwards and his feet slid out from under him. He went in to a devilish spin, skidding to an ungainly halt at the foot of the stairs. All the children laughed and patted him on the back as he slowly regained his footing. "Wow, Ken, that was the furthest slide yet!" A dark haired little girl shook her head approvingly, her waist length raven strands tangling in the crimson ribbons trailing from the back of her dress. "Who's next?" queried a tall thin blond girl of about eight. "We all need at least one slide before we go in." She looked to the delicate aqua-haired girl holding her hand for dear life, and said, "What about you Nerissa?" Auriel stepped out from behind the tall screen she had been hiding behind. "May we have a try?" she asked her heart in her eyes. Please let them say yes, I just want to try once. They parted and all looked at a little blond girl of about five Auriel hadn't noticed sitting on the bottom step. She fingered the flowers circling the two buns perched on the top of her head, and tilted her chin, staring at the twins with an impish glint in her cerulean eyes. "Sure," she smiled a gap-toothed smile, "but on one condition." Her small court all turned and looked at the little princess, astonished. Auriel looked around the hall, and the realization hit her that this home was probably the little girl's. There were portraits of women with exactly the same hair all over the walls of the hallway. She gulped, then nodded, "Okay Princess, what do you want?" * * * * * * * * * * * "Okay Mina, what do you want for the last piece of cake? Riches, slaves, the last piece of chicken?" Lita grinned widely as she offered the tempting morsel to Venus, her eyes sparkling. "Oh no, girlfriend. I want you to go shopping with me tomorrow. I think we've all been working too hard and we need to relax. A makeover is just the thing! We can go to that new salon and they can do something with your ponytail, maybe I'll get highlights, I don't know. Sound like a deal?" Mina waved the cake under Lita's nose, as she tugged lightly on the end of the long chestnut ponytail Lita treasured. "I'm sure it'll knock Ken's socks off!" "I like him with his socks on, thank you very much," Lita grumbled inaudibly. She looked towards the temple, "Maybe I'd better go in and trade place with Serena and Darien. She's gotten better about school work recently, at least now she does it, but I'm sure she'd rather be training then doing algebra right now. Besides, even a comatose Ami has got to be better company then Makeover Mina." * * * * * * * * * * * Ami slowed her breathing, and flicked her eyes to the left and right of the bed. She could see nothing, but her Sailor senses were screaming danger. The room was freezing, she could see the cold begin to creep its way up the walls, coating Raye's posters in thin shiny layer of ice. Mercury, help your princess, I can't move. Where are the scouts? A swift brush of air along her left leg, frosty fingers running along her inner thigh, leaving in its wake a trail of goosebumps, an icy coating of tingly air. Ami whimpered, fingers of fear closing around her heart, tears leaking their way out of the corners of her eyes. Normally, she wasn't one who cried easily, unlike Serena, but for the first time in her life her logical mind was shutting down, leaving a huddled mass of raw emotions in it's place. She felt the touch along her jaw, running nimbly over her lips, brushing her short hair out of her eyes. A low gravely voice hissed in her ear, "Merrrcury, where are your friends now, little princess?" * * * * * * * * * * * The kitchen lights flickered and Serena pulled away from Darien's loose embrace, smiling impishly, "Oh no, I don't think so. You are always on my case about studying and being responsible, so you need a taste of your own medicine. I actually came in here to study this time, and we need to watch Ami." She flipped her right ponytail over her shoulder, "Now, Tuxedo Mask, which would you rather have, the broiled or the baked chicken?" Darien sighed, Serena was growing up so fast, and she was actually being responsible for once. Why did it have to come at the worst time, like when he was feeling childish? "The baked please," he handed her his plate. Serena pouted, then she grinned slyly, "You can have the baked chicken on one condition." Darien shook his head, amused and interested, "Okay Princess, what do you want?" * * * * * * * * * * * Pluto raised her head as the Gong of Time intoned hollowly. What is this? She checked her dream mirror, Ami's sleep was disturbed by nightmares not memories, but Auriel's dream was going well. An echo along the halls of time, the young princess remembers her past, how the bond between she and Serena was formed... * * * * * * * * * * * Auriel gulped, then nodded, "Okay Princess, what do you want?" The little girl flashed a quicksilver smile, "That you make your slide a really good one! The boys have been hogging the hall all night, and since we're going in soon, the girls need at least one good slide!" Auriel breathed a sigh of relief, and grinned back at the little girl. "Okay!" She jogged to the far end of the hall, and all was silent, as they watched her to prepare to start her sprint. Auriel could see Aurora at the end of the hall, nervous as usual. "Be careful Auriel," she suddenly yelled. "Ma and Daddy'll have a fit if you mess up your dress! Hike it up!" Auriel looked up and saw the bigger boys still perched on the upper railing, and caught the eye of the dark haired one. "Why don't you quit spying and come slide too?" she yelled. They looked taken aback, they hadn't realized that anyone knew they watched from above. The little blond girl looked up, and the other kids began to yell for the bigger boys to come down. The dark haired leader looked to his comrades for assistance. They all shook their heads, then the one with spiky white hair started laughing. He leaned over and punched the shoulder of one with curly dark hair, who in turn poked the boy nearest him, a boy with short cropped blond hair. The other blond boy, his long hair pulled in to a ponytail made a decision and bowed low to the company. The others followed suit, gentlemanly as the matching Guardian uniforms allowed. The small Moon Princess was not amused. "Prince Darien," she shrieked, her tiny hands balled on her hips, her pigtails bobbing, "get down here right now, you know you're not allowed upstairs! We'll all get in to trouble if they catch you!" Four of the girls lined up behind her, an angry, shining rainbow, "Yeah, get down!" they yelled. "Come on Zoisite," yelled the impish girl with a short dress to match her short blue-tinged hair, "be nice for once!" The boy who had bowed first laughed and bowed again, "Not even for you, my Princess Ami, would I 'be nice'. What about you Jadeite?" The little raven-haired girl in the crimson dress shook her fist at the short blond boy fiercely, "Jadeite, you think you're so hot cause you're nine! Well you'll still get your butt whipped by your papa if he catches you up there!" "Yeah," chimed in a tiny blond princess, her orange dress tripping her up as she strode to the foot of the stairs, "ten-year olds aren't so hot either, Malachite. Get down!" She glared at the white haired one with fury in her snapping blue eyes. "What you're not going to yell at me too, are you Lita?" yelled the remaining boy to the green princess. She stuck out her tongue at him, then returned the green sash to Ken, who had been quietly grinning with the shaggy haired boy, and a dark haired boy about Auriel's age at the back of the crowd. "Get down Nephrite," she said coldly, "or I won't dance with you later." Her threat didn't have its desired effect though, for the boys began to whoop and dance around. "Yeah," Malachite triumphed, "No girl cooties!" * * * * * * * * * * * "Oomph!" Chad flew across the complex, landing with a dull thud on the hard packed earth at the far end of the clearing. His scimitar dropped from his hand as he wheezed and gasped for breath. Lita smiled mysteriously at Ken as she passed the skirmish on her way to the temple steps. Ken watched her sashay away, his mind on her rather than the fight at hand. "Oomph!" He dropped to the ground and looked up to see Chad twirling Ken's lightening staff in his right hand, slowly swirling it from left to right, right to left. "Come on, cape boy, watch your weapon!" Chad grinned and raced away at high speed, whooping childishly the whole way. Ken surged to his feet, and took off after him, sparing an over-the-shoulder glance at Lita's retreating form before adding speed to his already long stride. * * * * * * * * * * * Young Auriel suddenly launched in to a sprint, running full speed down the hall, pumping her arms as fast as she could, remembering her mother's nighttime stories of the Solar Soldier who moved so quickly he stopped time. He had always been her hero, her favorite bedtime story. She gathered speed and looked ahead to the small crowd at he foot of the stairs. The green princess' (Lita?) face was shiny with tears from the boys' taunts. Her friend, Ken, had an arm around her and was glaring at the boys still whooping at the top of the stairs. Auriel grimaced, her small legs burning from the effort of going faster, faster, faster.... She hit the waxy slick spot in front of the grandfather clock and began her slide, gathering speed as she tightened her little body in to a tiny little dart. She pulled her arms closer in to her body, remembering the way the boys had slowed and spun by sprawling their legs out near the curtains. The world whipped by at light speed and time slowed for a moment. Auriel felt a light golden feeling spiral out of her chest and she closed her eyes to savor the moment as she shot down the hallway. The next thing she knew she crashed in to a small form and they two of them collided in to the wall far, upsetting a crystal vase, raining shards of glass down on them. All was silent, and black, then Auriel heard a loud wail from above her, where the little Moon princess was currently deposited. Auriel sat up, and touched her face, nothing hurt except for a small cut on her forehead. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the little princess. She had received the brunt of the vase, and there were still several small slivers of glass peeping out of the numerous cuts across her arms and face. Blood was everywhere, running brightly on to the white tile. Oh my goddess, is she going to be okay!? * * * * * * * * * * * "Uh, guys, Guys, GUYS!" Serena and Darien broke apart, blushing, as Lita walked over to the sink and began the dishes. "Raye and the others want to train some more. The heat is making me sick, so I'll stay in here and listen for Ami. You might want to watch the Knights Darien, they're not practicing, they're playing." "They want to train, you said?" Darien raised his eyebrows incredulously. He glanced down at Serena, tugging lightly on one of her pigtails, "What do you think, Meatball-head? Think we should go practice some more?" He grinned obnoxiously at Lita, and handed her his dirty plate. "I'm kinda hot, maybe we should stay in and rest." Lita merely rolled her eyes at him, and once Serena's back was turned, flipped him the bird. "Leave her alone, Darien. She doesn't need you on her case too. Come on, let's go show Raye and Chad what battling evil is really about!" Serena grabbed his hand and dragged him out the kitchen door, passing by Raye's room with hardly a second glance. * * * * * * * * * * * Suddenly the weight was lifted off Auriel's small body. The older boy in the tuxedo, Darien, had the little princess in his arms and was rocking her, whispering quietly in her ear the entire time. He didn't seem to care about the blood dripping onto his fancy shirt, or about the screaming wails in his ear. He just rocked her and murmured soothingly as her wails dimmed to wet hiccups and snotty sniffles. The room was cavernously empty. He hurried down the hall, cradling her in his arms, murmuring the whole way. "Is Princess Serena going to be okay?" Auriel looked over at Aurora and hugged her shaking twin. She still hadn't said a word, and her face was parchment white. Aurora had always been afraid of blood, scrapes sent her in to a frenzy, one mere splinter could rouse the entire household. Auriel heard a step behind her, and looked up in a daze, tears running down her pale face. She hiccuped and began to cry even harder. Nerissa sat down beside her, and handed her a towel. They began to mop up the blood and bits of broken glass as Aurora huddled on the foot of the steps, stone-faced. "Shhh...They are gonna take care of her. Calm down everything's fine. Hear that, she's stopped crying already. "Corinne went to get some bandages, Lita went to the kitchen to steal her some of her favorite cookies so she won't cry after they take out the glass; and Mina, Raye and Chad are going to cover for all of us kids in the ballroom. They won't notice all of us gone if they see one or two of us being polite and dancing. She continued on, taking a swipe at the small pile of shattered glass they'd already collected. "The boys, Adam, Greg, and Ken are out hunting the garden for a bunny so she'll concentrate on it, rather than the tweezers, and Ami and Celia are combing the garden for some healing herbs. The other boys, "The Four Generals"," Nerissa chuckled at that, "well, they're fanning out, covering the area. I think they wanted to get Little Purple Dove. She's only a toddler, but she's really sweet, and she can heal people. She's the princess of Saturn." Aurora looked over, "Little Purple Dove?" Nerissa laugher, "Yeah, that's what we call her. She's more birdlike and delicate than any of us. She is so tiny! Her hairs all purple and black and she's got the biggest eyes you've ever seen. "Anyway, Darien's taking care of Serena, keeping her calm, and that leaves us with cleanup duty. I have no idea where the other kids are...they disappear pretty often, so you haven't had a chance to meet them yet. I guess it's a good thing, they are so uptight about everything they would have probably told on us to someone. But that's about everyone I think, just us and the mess now. She shook her wavy aqua hair out of her sea-green eyes, and looked impishly at Auriel, "Which, of course, leaves us with cleanup duty. I'm glad you're not squeamish." Aurora closed her eyes, and picked up the other towel from beside Nerissa. She began to help them mop up the remaining mess, studiously not looking at the towel, as it went from snow white, to garish red. Auriel suddenly jerked up, "OW!" Nerissa took her clenched fist in her hands and quietly said, "Let me see Auriel." She smoothed out the hand, and looked at the wound. There was a deep gash with a particularly ugly piece of glass embedded in it. "Come on, let's go and get this cleaned up." * * * * * * * * * * * Lita bustled around the small kitchen beside Raye's room. No sound was coming from inside. Wow, Ami must really be out cold. * * * * * * * * * * * Nerissa left Aurora temporarily to continue the cleanup, and guided Auriel down the hall. "First door on your left," she whispered, then rushed down the hall to help Aurora. Auriel stepped in to the room, cradling her sliced palm, and was pinned to the wall by nine pairs of eyes. It seemed an entire ant colony was clustered around the little princess with cookies or goodies, all trying to keep her quiet as Ami, the blue-haired girl, wielded silver tweezers with precision over her left arm. "Hi," she whispered in the uncomfortable silence. She didn't want to meet the tiny princess' gaze, but after a few moments of pregnant silence, she could not stand any more and looked up. Serena smiled her gap-toothed smile at her from across the room, swinging her legs to the tune that Raye was singing in a low alto. "Hi! That was a great slide, you sure kept your part of the deal we made! I don't think I've ever seen anyone slide that fast, ever!" She beamed happily at the pale Darien, who was loosely clasping her other hand. Her right arm had already been attended to, a white bandage was tightly wrapped from her wrist to the middle of her upper arm, barely lighter than her rosy pale skin. There were several shallow scratches on the flesh that had been exposed at the top of her silver little gown, but that area didn't appear too bad off, just very pink. "Thank you Serena," Auriel whispered, her face flaming. She glanced at her hand, and covered her wince by chewing on her lip. Lita reached for her hand, but Auriel jerked away, afraid to let her see it. The Moon princess needed attention first, not her. Lita turned and whispered in the gangly yellow princess' ear, then pointed at Auriel. Ami was occupied, but Corinne was not. The thin eight-year-old shook her short blond hair out of her eyes and strode over. "Hi, I'm Corinne, Princess of Uranus. We've never officially met, but Lita is worried about you so I figured this would be the best way to look at your hand. Hand it over or I'll pin you down and look at it without your permission. I can do it too, so don't test me." Auriel gulped at the blunt threat and meekly opened her hand for Corinne, who took one look and shook her head in disgust. "You should have told me sooner. Come on." Leading Auriel by the shoulder, Corinne sat her down a foot or so away from the princess, and took out her own pair of tweezers. She reached down and brought out a bottle of rubbing alcohol. She opened Auriel's hand as far as possible then lightly stroked her spiky auburn bangs out of her eyes. "This is going to sting. Do you want something to bite down on or something?" Auriel looked at the calm eyes of the strong blond girl and shook her head. She gritted her teeth, moaning softly as the acidic liquid doused her palm in fire. Looking up, Auriel could see the respect shining in Corinne's eyes, and suddenly the pain was almost bearable. Then Corinne picked up the tweezers and attacked the fresh wound with a fury that belied the calm strength in her eyes. Moments later, three large shards of glass lay beside Auriel's left hand on the table. They glittered demonically as the Princess of Uranus wrapped Auriel's hand in a thin stretchy white bandage. * * * * * * * * * * * Ami opened her gritty eyes. Was it a dream? Why am I so cold though? The chill from the room was gone, Ami noticed. Her dream creature had noiselessly disappeared, and with it, the ice coating the walls melted, and frosty breeze swirling around her legs ceased. The room was still and silent, except for her teeth chattering together. She blinked her large blue eyes once, and began to cry. Slowly sitting up, scalding tears dripped their way down her icy cheeks, trails of molten lava couldn't have been hotter, or more painful. Greg, where are you? I need you, why can't you be a Knight so we can be together, so I won't have to be alone? Serena's got a hundred guardians, where's the one destined for me? I need you Greg, I need you now. * * * * * * * * * * * Pluto raised her head as Ami's silent plea vibrated the surface of her dream mirror. "Hold little one," she stroked the mirror lightly, "all in due time. Sleep, Ami, strong painful dreams and remember the past. Remember it all, your guardian, the Mercury Knight, your lover Zoisite, and the choices to be made. Remember Serena and Prince Darien, the Solar Sailor, and the Sun Priestess. Remember them all, for they will soon have need of you. " The mirror wavered slightly, reflecting the sobbing girl in its shadowy depths. Ami began to rock like a scared child on the bed, and in the next room, Lita perked up her ears and rushed in to comfort her. "Ami! Oh, Ami, are you okay? What happened, are you all right?" Lita wrapped her arms tightly around the shaking girl, calming her the best she could. Pluto watched with ancient eyes as the two girls embraced, "Hmm, a blessing. Good, Sailor Jupiter, now you too will remember. Sleep, both of you, and dream well." Touching her hand to the black hole the mirror had become, she blew a handful of purple dream dust in to the vortex. It shimmered a moment, then disappeared. In the mirror, Ami paused in her explanation of the nightmare to yawn hugely. Lita laughed and followed suite. Moments later, both girls were passed out on Raye's large bed, each wrapped in her own memories of the Silver Millennium, and Serena's court. * * * * * * * * * * *