Healer
Chapter 5
Author: Patch
E-mail: patchkhan1@hotmail.com
	kittiekat90@yahoo.com
Editor: Rei Kinneas
Rated: PG-13

Insert Standard Disclaimer

	A cool mist surrounded the space travelers
as they transported themselves from the Moon to the
Earth. It was an interesting transporter, Serenity
noticed. It seemed as though they were in some sort of
cylindrical tube with nothing but blackness in every
direction and swirling mists that could cool a hot
face.
	But Serenity was not feeling warm at all,
far from it. She felt nothing but cold terror and did her
best not to show her fear to her captors. Correction,
she thought sardonically, they were her protectors. As
soon as they had disappeared from Naru's cottage, she
had become still, realizing that she was a Princess and
situations like these had to be handled in certain
decorum. She had been taught to be cool and aloof, it
was after all a part of her demeanor. The dandies and
fops of the Court did not call her a snob for nothing.
	So doing her best to put a halt to her
trembling, she stood straight and looked ahead, not
glancing once at the men who stood on either side of
her. She was not sure if they looked at her. They made
no move to talk, they had not spoken a word at all
throughout this whole escapade, she realized. She had
the basic idea that they needed her help, her
*services* but what would happen afterwards? Would
they return her home safely? Abandon her? Kill her?
	Breathing deeply, she stopped that train of
thought. There was no need to think like that, it would
only lead to her losing control and that was the last
thing she wanted. The only option was to trust these
men and believe that they would protect her as Naru
had said. Her friend wouldn't just hand her over to
these people if they had intentions to hurt her, she
knew that much. Or would she? Gods of the Moon,
she just didn't know anymore!
	Before she could go on any further, the
blackness disappeared, the mists evaporated and she
found herself in a very warm environment. She felt
a sudden pull and began to fall but before she could
collapse in an ungraceful heap onto the ground, the
two men caught her and helped her stand and held
onto her until she regained her balance.
	"Thank you," she said quietly.
	"It's the Earth's gravitational pull. It is
stronger here than on the Moon and it might take
some getting used to. Don't be worried if you feel
dizzy in the beginning, it's natural."
	She turned her head to look at the man
who had spoken. He was really quite good looking,
she thought. Short blond hair fell around his face
giving him a boyish air and sky blue eyes just like
her own, held a mischievous look. She turned to
look at the other man and found that he was just as
handsome. He, in contrast to the first, had long
auburn hair, almost like Makoto's but without the
many streaks of brown that her friend had, and his
face was composed in a serious, yet calm
expression.
	They had begun to walk slowly and
Serenity marveled at how this planet seemed to
hold her to its ground. She felt as though heavy
objects had been placed on her feet and she was
now being made to walk with them. It would
definitely take getting used to but she prayed
that would not be the outcome. She did not want
to get used to anything here, she wanted to go
home!
	Finally deciding her fears would not
be tamped down unless she had answers, she
spoke. "Where are we?"
	This time it was the auburn one who
spoke. "We are at the Earth's Palace. We were
transported here first and it is from here that
we can go to the camp site."
	"Earth? Camp site? What about the
rulers of this planet? Will I not meet them?
Surely they need to see me and-"
	"They do not know you are here."
Serenity stared in disbelief at the blonde one
who had spoken.
	"You cannot be serious! You must
be committing some sort of crime and you will be
punished for your secretive actions! Send me
back now before you are found out and
punished, I swear I will tell no one about
this."
	     The blonde one completely
ignored her words and as they came to a stop
in front of a room, spoke over her head to his
partner. "Fancy that, Nephrite. She thinks we'll
be thrown into the dungeons for our 'secretive
actions'." He chuckled and shook his head,
leading the way to the inside of the room.
	Serenity was insulted to say the least.
She knew when she was being made fun of, had
experienced it enough at balls held at the Palace.
The people there were at least civilized to talk
about her and mock her when they thought she
wasn't there but this stranger had the audacity to
mock her outright! She pursed her lips and came
to a halt.
	Nephrite, the auburn one, she
figured, and the blonde one turned around and
looked at her, with raised eyebrows.
	"You cannot force me to do anything.
I will not move from this place until I have
answers to my questions." Her voice softened a
bit and a tremor crept into her voice. "I
understand I cannot escape easily from this
planet, I do not know how to. At least lay my
fears to rest by giving me some sort of
nformation." The two looked at each other for a
moment and then the blonde one stepped
forward to speak.
	"Didn't your friend tell you to trust us?
We swear to protect you as we realize to have
harm come to you would mean a war, which
we would like to avoid. But we will satisfy
your curiosity. My name is Jaedite and my
partner is Nephrite. We are two of four Generals
to the Earth Prince who was recently critically
injured in battle. Our best medical expert cannot
help him and we believe you can. Now please
come with us because we have little time left."
	"But-"
	"Any other questions you have will
have to be answered later," Nephrite said,
coming up to hold her elbow. "But right now,
we do not have time for this small talk. Come."
And the two brutes grabbed her once more
and 'escorted' her to a platform that they
stepped onto. Immediately, a clear tube came
down on them and Jaedite pressed buttons from
a panel that had seemingly appeared out of
nowhere. A red light began to flash and Jaedite
turned to her.
	"Cover yourself and keep your head
bent, no one must know of your identity except
us." Serenity stared at him in confusion until
she remembered she still wore her cape and
quickly pulled the hood up. The tube filled
with mist and before Serenity could say a word,
the mist had cleared and they now stood in open
space, the bare ground underneath their feet.
	The air was much warmer here and
immediately she began to feel her own
temperature rise. The air was filled with a stench
that was almost familiar to her. It was the stench
of death she realized, but a hundred times worse.
At home, there had been some very few times
when a villager had died before she could heal
them. The smell that hung in the air afterwards
was always something she recoiled away from.
Here though, it was just so much worse. It was
as though a thousand people had died and her
eyes quickly stung with tears she did not dare
shed. She would just bear it for now. She
would be out of here soon and then she could
forget that this had ever happened. At least, she
hoped it would be that easy.
	They walked through the camp and
although the hood covered most of her view,
she was still able to see many things that had
her trembling from a wide range of emotions.
Anger that these people had to live like this.
From what she could tell, this was a horrible
place to live, even if it was temporary. Not
only was the stench overpowering, everything
was in such an appalling condition. She felt
sympathy for the soldiers here. This place
wasn't fit for animals, yet here they were,
making the best of it. They looked haggard and
spent, exhausted and ready to fall. Whatever
attacks had happened recently had certainly
taken their toll. Many lay propped up against
things like tents and trees wailing in pain. And
lastly she felt fear. Would this be her fate? She
had no idea as to how long she would be
staying here and she wondered if she would
survive this living nightmare.
	"How could you have let this
happen?" she mumbled, after passing a man
who looked to be on the brink of passing
away from this life.
	"We did not let this happen," came
the curt reply.
	"Do you really expect me to believe
that?"
	"We had no idea that the situation was
like this. We had believed that everything was
under control and our operations were running
smoothly. Unfortunately we received news too
late that we had been mislead and we came to
this place as you see it now."
	"Why haven't improvements been
made? And who are the 'we' you keep talking
about?"
	"We have not had any time to make
any progress here for the reason that we were attacked
on the very day we came. Our losses were
great and among the critically injured is the
Prince. Your second question, concerning us will
be answered very shortly."
	Serenity wanted to ask more about
this Prince but they had stopped in front of a
large tent, larger than all the others and Nephrite
held the flap open as Serenity walked in,
followed closely behind by Jaedite. Two men,
dressed in the same manner as Jaedite and
Nephrite stood up to greet them, a cot with
someone lying on it behind them. She figured
that was the Prince, the person who was in
need of her help. The taller one out of the twos
had silver hair that gleamed in the low light
of the tent and it was his piercing yet suspicious
metallic gray eyes that had first captured her
gaze. The other had the same color hair as
Jaedite but his was longer, going past his
shoulders and she could immediately tell that
he and Ami would have gotten along very well.
His stance emanated intelligence of all aspects.
She stopped her musings when Jaedite spoke.
	"May I present the Healer, otherwise
known as Her Highness, Princess Serenity, Heir
of the Moon Throne. You may remove your
hood, Princess." Jaedite said, a slightly amused
smile now on his face, the first she had seen
from him. She did as she was told and the
sharply inhaled breaths she heard were not the
reaction she was expecting.
	"Princess? Nephrite, you never
mentioned this," the silver haired one growled.
He had gone from suspicious to furious in an
instant and Serenity unconsciously took a step
back. "And a young woman, no less," he
continued. "Do you have any idea what the
consequences of her being here are? This can
cause nothing but more problems for us, much
more serious than the ones we already have
now!"
	"More serious than the well-being
of our Prince?" Nephrite shot back. "As far as
I am concerned, there should be no regrets if it
means the full recovery of Endymion."
	"He is right, Kunzite," the blonde
one said. He turned his gaze to her and with
surprise she noted it was kind and warm. Maybe
this would be the man she could trust, he
seemed civilized enough. However, his next
words shot those hopes down. "But we do have
a problem. She is a woman and a beautiful one
at that. If any of the soldiers see her, they'll not
only be curious, they might want to ravish her."
He ignored Serenity's outraged gasp and went
on. "We must find ways to keep her a secret.
We only have one use of her and they we can
return her."
	"Well, that much is obvious, Zoicite.
I'm glad to see the recent explosions haven't
knocked your brain around. I was hoping you'd
be able to provide us with ways in which we
could keep her presence unknown," Jaedite
said, receiving a glare from the blonde-haired
one, Zoicite.
	Serenity once again began to feel
her temper rise. For the second time she was
being ignored, her existence similar to that of a
piece of property, or so it seemed. If these were
the Prince's men, she could not begin to imagine
his own personality. If he as was insulting as any
of them she had every intention of leaving. "If you
must know, I am a living, breathing being just like
yourselves," she said, finally catching their
attention. "Now, will you be so kind as to tell
me who you all are and what your relationship
is to this Prince? I would also like to know how
badly injured he is and why none of you could
help him and if all possible I would like to at
least see him so that this business can be over
quickly!" she ended, her voice loud.
	"We cannot ignore your commands,
Princess. I am Kunzite, second-in-command
General to Prince Endymion," the silver-haired
one said, half bending at the waist in a mock
bow.
	"And I am Zoicite," the other one
said. "We are all Endymion's Generals and
close friends as well as advisors of his.
Endymion was injured recently and
unfortunately nothing can be done medically
to help him."
	Serenity nodded, feeling as though
she was finally getting somewhere. "May I
see him now?"
	"But of course," Kunzite said,
moving aside. Serenity walked forward to the
cot and peered down at the man who lay in the
cot. Her eyes fell to his bandaged chest that
was showing signs of leaking blood and then
traveled upwards. It was her turn to gasp
when she saw his face and she desperately
wished she had something to hold onto. The
world began to spin and white spots
appeared in front of her eyes. She closed her
eyes, swallowed and opened them again.
When Zoicite spoke, she nearly jumped a
foot.
	"Ah, so you've already been
charmed by his good looks. It is of no
surprise."
	"No! No... it is not that at all," she
gasped. Charmed? She had been charmed a
long time ago. She quickly thought up of a lie
that would cover for her shock. "It is just that
I feel a -a sensation that whatever caused this
wound is not something... physical." What a
lie! She really could not feel anything, was
too astounded to even think. She saw Zoicite
nod as if in understanding from the corner of
her eye and wanted to laugh. How could she
tell them that this man was *her* Prince, the
one whom she harbored such a strong emotion for,
an emotion that she could not even define?
The irony of it all was almost too much. She
now not only had the chance to meet the man
whose image she had looked at almost
everyday for over a year, but she had now
been given the opportunity to take care of
him!
	Never in a million years would she
have guessed that the Generals would want her
to heal the same person whose picture she had
looked upon so many times. Maybe she should
have made some connection when they had come
for her but she had been so confused and
frightened at the time. Besides, there were
so many Princes in this galaxy, she never
once thought that her Prince was actually
from the planet Earth, a planet that was
shrouded in much mystery.
	Her heart began to beat faster and
beads of perspiration gathered on the back of
her neck as she began to feel faint. Could this
possibly mean something? Was it meant to be
like this? she thought wildly. It was too
unusual of a coincidence that this happen to
her. Was this her... destiny?
	She looked at him again and let
her fingertips travel from his bandage to his
face, where she placed the flat of her palm
against the side of her face. Pale and cold to
the touch even near death he looked better in
real life than the image she had in the
computer. She made a quick decision then and
there that no matter how bad it got here, she
would stay with him until she had cured him of
whatever troubled his body. And then after
that, maybe, just maybe her life here would
end much better than it had begun.
	Closing her eyes, she pressed her
hand more firmly to his cheek, letting herself
explore the inner workings of his body. So,
she had not lied to Zoicite after all.
Something was occupying the Prince's body
and it was nothing physical or material. It
was no disease either. How odd, she thought.
Well, now she knew why the Generals had a
somewhat legitimate reason for kidnapping
her.
	Turning around, she faced the four
of them. "I will do my best to help him."
	"No," Kunzite said, "we need your
promise that you will not help him, but cure
him. We have no need of you if all you can do
is help. We must know if, by your hands he
will recover completely and fully."
	"I cannot promise such a thing,"
Serenity protested, "but, I can-"
	"No buts," Kunzite interrupted.
"Can you heal him?"
	He was so harsh! How could she
give her promise when she had no idea if her
powers could help the man lying prone behind
her? But she had to do something, she thought,
turning slightly to look down at him. She could
not let him die; to do so would be one of her
greatest failures. One she would not allow
herself.
	"I will heal him," she said firmly,
looking at the tall General straight in the eyes.
	Audible sighs of relief escaped from
the other three and Jaedite stepped forward,
with a hopeful look. "So when can you start up
your healing powers? Do we need to leave the
tent for that or can we stay?"
	"I will not be using the crystal first.
Rather, I would like to see if my herbal drinks
can help him in any way. Some of my mixtures
purge the bodily systems of anything that
shouldn't be there in the first place. This
purging also sets the body for the use of the
crystal. I cannot use it if the body is impure
and infected with physical contaminants. I
will need to go back to the Moon to receive
these things before I can do anything." She
hoped this would allow her to explain the
situation to her mother and the Senshi. She
did not want them to worry and panic
anymore than they probably were at this
moment.
	"Very well. Jaedite, Nephrite go
back and get her things," Kunzite ordered.
He stopped Serenity when she took a step
forward to follow the two. "You are not
going anywhere, Princess. We cannot take
any chances on you going back on your
word."
	She gasped in anger. "Going
back on my word? I am not a liar!"
	"You will stay here."
	"But my mother! The Senshi!
They must be frantically looking for me, I
have to explain to them why I am here."
	"I will send a letter to the
Queen, your mother. If she is benevolent
enough to understand our plight, she will
allow you to stay here."
	She was beginning to greatly
dislike the silver haired General. "And how
will Jaedite and Nephrite know what I will
need? I have to go with them, only I know
what needs to be brought back."
	"The old woman will help us,"
Jaedite said. "She seemed to have the same
knowledge as you. She already knows about
Endymion and she'll know what you'll need."
With that Nephrite and Jaedite left the tent,
taking any hopes Serenity had of seeing her
loved ones with them. Wanting to cry, she
turned around, ignoring Kunzite and Zoicite,
and sat down on the cot beside the Prince.
	She badly needed something to
distract her from thoughts about home and
Endymion would have to do. She opened one
of his eyes, looking at it. She heard the two
men talking quietly, his name coming up
several times. Endymion. Already she liked
his name, mentally repeating it in her mind.
It sounded unique and mysterious. She saw
Kunzite leave the tent as she leaned down
and placed her head sideways on Endymion's
chest to listen to his heartbeat. He gave her a
backward glance before he stepped outside
and Serenity did not bother to interpret it. He
could stay as far away as possible for all she
cared. She heard him speak to a soldier who
stood outside and pulled up her hood, in case
the soldier came in.
	Zoicite came to stand in front of
her and began to speak. "You must ignore
Kunzite and not take to heart what he says.
He is as close to Endymion as a brother and
blames himself for what happened at the
battle."
	Serenity sat up straight and
looked up at him. "Tell me about this war.
Who are you fighting?"
	In response, Zoicite sighed, and
grabbing a chair, sat down. "It is complicated
but I'll give you the basic details. Queen
Beryl once was a noble of the Earth Court.
She was not liked very much but she was
respected and tolerated. However it was
discovered that she practiced the black
arts and had used her knowledge to take from
others and deceive them. Later at her trial we
found that she had committed more serious
crimes than we originally knew, including
treason and murder. For example, ambassadors
from other planets, who had supposedly died
'accidental' deaths had actually been
assassinated by the orders of Beryl. As a
result she was banished not only from the
Court, but also from this planet. She was
exiled to the Black Moon and we thought that
would be the last of her. But she has returned,
spreading treacherous lies and rumors about
the Earth Court to the civilians. In turn,
these civilians are now rebelling, believing
they have been wronged and used by the royal
family. So here we are now, fighting these
rebels. There has been unnecessary carnage
and countless casualties which we wish we
could have avoided. We can only hope that
Endymion does not become another victim."
	Serenity nodded, turning once
more to look at the Prince before speaking
in a determined voice. "I swear to you I will
see to it that Endymion will be as he was
before, in good health." She trailed her
fingers across Endymion's face, from his
forehead, to his closed eyelids, his nose, and
his lips and felt a heavy burden settle upon
her shoulders. She would not rest easy until
he was well, she knew it even now. She
smiled shakily and looked at Zoicite about
to ask him a question.
	Suddenly, Endymion's hand came
up and grabbed her wrist and his eyes shot
open. Serenity gasped and tried to take her
hand away but he held onto to it with a
surprising strong grip, his dark blue eyes
looking into hers and then even further. And
then he spoke.
	"I saw a warm smile for just an
instant, but cold fingers touched my face
in the next. An angel in Death's garb. Who
are you?"

^*^End^*^
MUHAHAHAHAHAHA. And that's all I have to say
on the subject.

Oh and please do visit my site... I highly
recommend it ^_~
http://www.geocities.com/patch_kana/
Patch:-)(-: