Chapter Two As Ami's transport touched down on the Moon, she looked out the small circular window by her seat to see Princess Serenity already running to meet her. 'Very un-princesslike...' thought Ami with a smile. She was folowed closely behind by Makoto, Minako, and Rei, though they preferred to laugh at Serenity making a spectacle of herself rather than join her. The transport came to a stop and Ami jumped from her seat, intending to run to her friends and be just as "un-princesslike" as Serenity. This would be the first time in months that the five of them had been together. The peace talks had begun days ago, but for one reason or another at least one of them had always been missing. Only Ami and Serenity had been there every day. But now they were a group again, and she intended to make the very best of it. "Amiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" yelled Serenity as she stepped out of the transport and onto the kingdom of the moon. Ami met her with a hug, and laughed into her hair. "Serenity, I just saw you yesterday!" she laughed, detaching herself from Serenity's arms and waving at her other friends, greeting them with hugs as well. "I know, but I'm just so excited to have all of you here together again." replied Serenity, gracing all of them with a wide smile. Ami looked at her friends standing together, and felt happier than she had been in months. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed them. Now, even though she was away from her kingdom, she felt like she was home. The five friends linked arms and walked happily back to the palace, chatting and catching up on each other's lives. They all had so much to talk about, Ami almost forgot about why she was there. That is, until Queen Serenity walked out of the palace to greet them. "Welcome again to our home, Princess Ami of Mercury" she said regally, extending a finely boned hand. Ami took it and curtseyed, lightly touching her lips to her hand. "Thank you my Queen, I am grateful for your hospitality." she replied as she straightened. The two stood looking at each other for a moment in silence, then Queen Serenity's mouth broke into a smile, and the two began laughing like old friends. They had always gotten along, Ami being far more intelligent than her years. The Queen took her arm and led her into the palace, her four friends following closely, smiling knowingly at Ami's intelligence and joining in the conversation. As they reached the conference chamber, they were greeted by the twin sisters Faith and Hope, the Queen's diplomatic officials. They seemed very excited by something, and Ami wasn't the only one who noticed; next to her Queen Serenity visibly tensed, preparing herself for the possible bad news. "Ah, ladies, what is it?" she asked, keeping her curiousity out of her voice. "My lady, the rebels have accepted your plea for peace!" replied Faith, excitement creeping into her normally calm voice. "While you were gone a messenger arrived with the signed treaty from the rebel planet. Its over!" Princess Serenity squealed and hugged her friends, jumping up and down. "This is great, now we can spend our time together having fun instead of going to those boring peace talks!" she said, grabbing her friends by the arms and dragging them behind her down the hall to her room. "Queen Serenity," said Ami after tearing herself away from Serenity's grip and promising to join them momentarily "did the rebels really surrender to your conditions?" The Queen smiled, holding a rolled up peace of parchment in her hand. "Well this signed treaty that Hope has showed me seems to verify it. Everything seems in order, I can see no reason to doubt its authenticity." She unrolled the parchment to show Ami the signatures at the bottom. They seemed legitimate. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to seem doubtful, but that just seemed too easy. I had expected the debates to continue for at least another week before we would be able to resolve this." said Ami, bowing slightly. "I know, I thought the same" replied the Queen. "As did we," added Hope, who seemed to have her emotions more in check than Faith. "But we can see no reason to think that the treaty is false. The rebels must have simply had a change of heart and realized the error of their ways." "Yes I suppose you are right......" said Ami distantly, then shook her head as if clearing her mind of some unpleasant thought. "I guess I'm just being paranoid." She smiled. "Well if you would excuse me, I'd like to join my friends now. Ladies, Queen," she said, curtseying then running to catch up with the others. The Queen watched her leave, then turned to the sisters. "She's so conscious of our situation and the way things work. She will make a wonderful queen when she comes of age." The sisters nodded and followed their queen as she walked into the study, intending to follow her daughter's example by enjoying a cup of tea and some snacks with her two dear friends and enjoy the first real peace any of them had experienced in months. It felt good to have no worries for once in her life. Elsewhere in the galaxy, a dark mass was slowly growing, encompassing the rebel planet and ridding it of light and good. It was here that the darkness gained a voice, and here that it found the seeds of its evil already planted in the hearts of many. Now it rested, slowly increasing its hold on the people of the small planet, gathering the power it needed to attack. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .:Chapter Three:. .:FanFiction Home:.