Wishing You Were Here

 	It was nighttime in Crystal Tokyo, the midnight blue sky filled with 
what seemed like a limitless number of stars that appeared like tiny diamonds 
against the darkness. A cool mid-February breeze brushed against her bared 
shoulders as she stood out on her bedroom balcony, causing tiny bumps of 
gooseflesh to dance up her arms, and in the distance, she could hear the 
sound of a violin softly playing, most likely a midnight serenade for Sailor 
Uranus from her long-time partner.

	It was the type of night that was so beautiful that it practically 
begged for romance, appropriate considering that just a little over ten 
minutes ago, Valentine’s Day had officially begun. Unfortunately for Princess 
Lady Serenity, her Valentine’s would be a lonely one, as she didn’t have 
anyone with whom to share it.

	Of course, it was by choice, so she knew she really had no right to 
complain about her lack of a sweetheart. If she so wanted, Serenity was well 
aware that she could have practically any man in the kingdom she desired. 
However, her heart already belonged to one man, and she had no intention of 
betraying him with pointless flings, even if most of the time they could only 
be together in her dreams.

	Sighing, Serenity gave herself a big bear hug in an unsuccessful 
attempt to ward off the cold. She was beginning to regret not having slipped 
a robe on over her long satin nightgown before coming outside, but she was 
far too entranced by the night sky above her and the music of Neptune’s 
violin to even consider heading indoors and going back to bed. 

	Was he thinking about her right now? 

	“Small Lady, what are you doing out of bed?”

	Serenity involuntarily jumped at the unexpected voice and turned to 
find her guardian cat perched precariously on the rail of balcony. “Diana!” 
she exclaimed, hand clutched to her heart. “You nearly scared me to death! 
What‘s the big idea? And how many times do I have to tell you that I‘m not a 
Small Lady any longer?”

	“Forgive me, Your Highness,” the gray feline apologized. “I keep 
forgetting. However, I was worried when I woke up and found you missing. What 
are you doing out here? And why aren‘t you wearing a coat or at least a robe? 
It must be freezing in that flimsy nightgown.”

	“Maybe a tad,” Serenity admitted. She began rubbing her arms, the 
friction providing a little heat. “I really didn’t mean to stay out here so 
long. I heard Neptune playing the violin down in the garden, so I came out 
here to listen to a couple of songs. I guess I lost track of time.”

	“Well, you should go back in before you catch a cold. You don‘t want 
to be sick for the Valentine‘s festivities, do you?”

	Serenity shrugged. “What does it matter if I am? It’s not like Helios 
will be able to come,” she said, sounding more bitter than she had meant to 
let on.

	“Serenity, you know the priest of Elysion is busy with his duties. I 
know how much you miss him, but you just can’t expect him to be able to cross 
over to the Earth realm anytime you want, especially on a holiday as 
important as Valentine’s.”

	The princess rolled her eyes. “Yes, I know, I know.” Serenity had 
heard the lecture so many times over the years, she practically knew it by 
heart. Diana rarely strayed from the script. “But is it so wrong for me to 
wish that we could spend at least one Valentine’s Day together? Is that 
really too much to ask?”

	Instead of answering, the cat hopped down from the rail and started 
toward the open balcony doors leading back to Serenity’s bedroom. “Come on, 
back to bed.”  

	Sighing, Serenity followed Diana inside and crawled back into her 
warm, cozy bed, the guardian cat snuggled against her for warmth. It didn’t 
take long for her to fall back to sleep, and soon her mind unconsciously 
drifted to the world she considered her second home.

	She was standing in the middle of a beautiful forest. Large boulders 
of crystal shot out of the ground, reflecting off a spectrum of colors as the 
sunlight hit their naturally faceted surfaces, and the lake, as clear as the 
sky on a cloudless day, looked inviting, the water beckoning her to jump in 
for a swim. 

	“Helios,” she called out, “are you here? It’s me, Serenity.”

	Her voice echoed throughout the forest, but though she strained to 
hear, there was no reply. Serenity frowned, wondering where he could be. 
Helios usually waited for her in the Crystal Forest, and even when he wasn’t 
there, he always appeared when she called. She shouted his name again to no 
avail.

	Serenity was beginning to worry, but just when she was about to leave 
the forest and head to the temple, she heard the unmistakable sound of 
hooves. She turned around to see a winged unicorn walking toward her.

	“Pegasus!” Happy to see finally see someone, Serenity ran over and 
threw her arms around the horse’s neck. “Where’s Helios?” she asked once she 
pulled away. “Is he coming?”

	Pegasus shook his head, then turned to the side to show her the red 
envelope that had been tied around his midsection. Serenity knew by the 
temple’s golden seal that it was from Helios. Maybe he had planned a romantic 
rendezvous for them and the letter would tell her where to meet him. Sliding 
the envelope from underneath the ribbon holding it in place, Serenity tore it 
open with her fingernail and anxiously read the short note inside.

	Her face fell as soon as she read the first couple of lines.

	Dearest Serenity,

		Happy Valentine’s Day, my maiden. I’m sorry I cannot see you 
tonight, but I am needed here at the temple to pray for the beautiful dreams 
of lovers on this most romantic day of the year. Please do not come find me 
as I will not be able to see you. I hope you understand. I’ll see you soon.

								Forever 
yours,

								Helios

	When she finished reading, Serenity crumpled the letter into a ball 
and threw it in the lake, fighting the urge to cry. It just wasn’t fair! She 
knew Helios wouldn’t be able to cross into the Earth realm for the Valentine 
festivities, but she had thought they would at least be able to spend a 
couple of hours together in Elysion like they did every year. Now it looked 
like she wouldn’t even get that.

	Almost as if he sensed her disappointment, Pegasus came up behind her 
and nuzzled her cheek. Serenity forced herself to give him a small smile of 
appreciation.

	“Thanks, Pegasus. I needed that.”

	Since she didn’t have any other plans, Serenity decided to ride 
around Elysion on Pegasus, who was only too happy to oblige. High above the 
world of dreams, Serenity could almost forget her feelings of disappointment, 
the beauty of the land bringing a smile to her lips. Not even the sight of 
the temple as they flew over could bring her down for long, although she did 
briefly entertain the idea of ignoring Helios’ orders to stay away and 
surprising him. 

	However, morning in the Earth realm soon approached, and Serenity was 
forced to say good-bye to Pegasus. Using the ribbon which Helios had used to 
secure his letter to the winged unicorn’s back, Serenity tied her Valentine’s 
gift to him -- a fancy gold pocket watch which she had wrapped in a pink and 
red heart-printed handkerchief -- around Pegasus’ neck and instructed him to 
give it to Helios when he had a break from his prayers. Pegasus neighed his 
understanding, and as she watched the magnificent beast fly back to the 
temple, Serenity felt herself fading back to the world of the waking.

	“Small Lady! Small Lady! Wake up!”

	Serenity moaned as she struggled to open her eyes. Why was Diana 
waking her so early on a weekend? Muttering “I’m not a Small Lady anymore,” 
under her breath, she rolled over on her side and hid her head underneath one 
of her pillows. 

	Diana refused to give up, though, continuing to call out her name. 
After five minutes of the feline’s attempt to wake her up, Serenity finally 
relented and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

	“Diana, this had better be good,” she groused, glaring at the 
guardian cat.

	“It is!” Diana insisted, her magenta eyes practically twinkling. 
“Hurry up and get dressed, Your Highness. You don’t want to keep your guest 
waiting.”

	“Keep who waiting?” She didn’t remember expecting any guests for 
Valentine‘s Day.

	“It’s a surprise.”

	That was all the cat would say about the matter before running out to 
her sitting room, causing Serenity to roll her eyes in mild exasperation. 
Though tempted to go back to sleep, Serenity tossed off her blankets and 
walked over to her closet to get dressed. Fifteen minutes later, she had 
changed into her usual white iridescent gown with gold trimming and styled 
her long hair into the traditional odango.   

	She then entered her sitting room, not knowing who to expect waiting 
for her. She thought it might be Perle, who occasionally came to visit her, 
but though her visitor had the fairy’s white hair, that was the only 
similarity they shared.

	As cliché as it sounded, her heart literally did skip a beat when the 
young man sitting with his back turned to her on the couch stood up and 
turned around to reveal his identity. Thinking that she must still be 
dreaming, Serenity pinched herself hard on her left arm, her eyes watering 
from the pain to confirm that she was indeed very much awake.

	“H-Helios?” she stuttered. “B-But, how? You’re supposed to be in 
Elysion, praying. Pegasus gave me your letter...”

	Stepping forward, her lover smiled and pulled her into a warm 
embrace. “I wanted it to be a surprise,” he confessed. “I received special 
permission from your father to cross over for the day.”

	“The entire day? But what about the dreamers? If you‘re not there--”

	“Everything will be fine. I spent all last night at the temple, 
praying for the beautiful dreams of lovers. That’s why I didn’t meet you in 
the forest last night and sent Pegasus instead. That prayer session should be 
enough to last for the rest of the day.”

	“Then we can really spend Valentine’s Day together?” Serenity asked, 
her face breaking into a huge smile when Helios nodded. “Oh, Helios!”

	“Happy Valentine’s Day, my maiden. I love you.”

	“I love you, too.”	





DISCLAIMER: “Sailor Moon” is the property of Takeuchi Naoko.

AUTHOR’S NOTES: Happy Belated Valentine’s Day! I would have had this up 
earlier, but I had entered it in a contest and wasn’t allowed to post it 
anywhere until it had ended. Hope you liked it, and any comments or 
criticisms can be sent to me at ElysionDream@aol.com.

Dedicated to my long-distance boyfriend, who I wasn’t able to see on 
Valentine’s, unlike Chibi-Usa.