Darien
Chapter 23- The Trial
 

        The next day I got up early.  I had not slept all night.  I ached with exhaustion, but I knew it was useless to just lay in bed.  I took a shower and got dressed.  The court session was to resume at nine-thirty.  It was nine-fifteen now.  It was only then that I remembered Serena's letter.  I reached for it and I read it.  She told me how much she loved me, and that we would find a way to be together no matter what.
        "I love you too, Serena."  I said aloud, as if I was talking to her.  Somehow I got the feeling that she knew that I had spoken those words.
        Every minute seemed like an eternity as the court members filed in.  I saw Serena at the other end of the room.  She looked beautiful, as always, but was incredibly sad.  It ripped my heart out just looking at her.
        "Thank you all for coming.  I hope that we can run this session in order, unlike yesterday."  The Moon Ambassador, Aurora said.  I looked over at Saturn's royalty.  I knew I would never win them over.  Both of the parents looked like wrecks and Helen was not even in attendance.  I felt terrible for the family. It must be hard to loose a son like that.
        Aurora read my accusation statement.  "We are here to address the issue of this man.  His name is Tuxedo Mask.  Obviously this is a nickname, but his real name is not known.  He stands accused of treason against the Moon Kingdom.  He has gone above his status and slept with the next ruler of the Kingdom.  If in fact, they were to conceive a child, that child would no longer have all the power associated with Moon royalty, in other words, tainting the bloodline."  I guess that was true.  I had always pictured Serena and I one day having children.  But those children would not have the full power of the Moon, considering I had no power of my own.  They would therefore be only half as strong as they should be to carry on the Supreme Ruler title.  The powerful bloodline was what kept Serenity in charge.  It would cause chaos and a gigantic power struggle, as all the royalty of the different planets would have equal power.  No wonder it was considered treason.
        "But we love each other!  It does not matter who he is or where he comes from!  I love him and that should not be a crime.  You can tell me a lot of things.  What I can wear, how to talk, where I can go, what I can do... But you cannot order me not to love someone!"  I heard Serena scream.  She collapsed in a heap of tears and sobs.  I wanted to shield her from the eyes of everyone in the room, but I dared not move.  I felt helpless as I watched the girl I loved...  She was only a table down from me, but she may as well have been across the galaxy.  She eventually calmed down enough.
        "We cannot allow the bloodline of the Moon to be tainted.  That is the bottom line." The King of Neptune stated.
        "I agree." The Queen of Mars started, "We would not only open the possibility for civil war down the line, but we would be weakening our defenses against the Negaverse.  Without the full power of the Silver Crystal, it would be impossible for us to hold them off."  It made sense that Mars would bring up that point.  After all, Mars was the planet of War.  It was where many of the armies trained.
        "But do we really want to sentence them to lives filled with unhappiness?  If Serena is miserable, she will not be able to fight, anyway."  The Queen of Venus said.  That put a smile on Mina's face and she nodded seriously.  "I agree."
        "I think so too.  Serena finds strength in Tuxedo Mask whether or not he is royalty." Lita proclaimed.
        "To my understanding, he's not a bad fighter himself." Raye added, folding her arms.
        "But what we are worried about is not Serena and our defense now.  We are well set for battle now.  But in the future, there could be problems.  That is why we are worried." The King of Uranus said.
        "But what kind of an example are we setting for our children when we make a rule that love comes second to power?" The Queen of Pluto put in.
        "They will understand when they are older why we did what we did." the King of Saturn stated.
        "Yes, but first impressions last throughout your whole life.  If that is the message you want to send to your kids... Fine.  But if I were a child and saw my parents putting power over love, I would not be taught out of that state of mind easily." Sharon said.
        "Why do we not impregnate Serena with Micah's child and then let Serena and Tuxedo Mask get married.  That way they could be married and have kids of their own and still have at least one pure child." The Queen of Mercury.
        I was going to object to that but I didn't have to.  I did not like the idea of my Serena giving birth to someone else's child.
        "While that is a good idea, won't that cause too much friction between siblings?  It would make raising the children impossible.  Eventually, jealousy would take over when the children grew up and there would then be a civil war inside the Moon palace itself.  On top of that, how would you feel if you found out the only reason your mother had you was to 'keep the bloodline pure' and that she actually hated your Dad?" The Queen of Jupiter rationalized.
        "But that is a big 'if'.  Suppose they don't end up fighting for power?" The Queen of Mercury argued.
        "Is it worth the risk in your opinion?" The King of Jupiter asked.
        "I will not be impregnated with that man's child.  I refuse to have anything of his inside of me." Serena declared.
        "If it is the only way we can find for you to be with your Tuxedo Mask, would you do it?  If you really loved him as much as you say, you would."  The Queen of Mercury told her.
        Serena glared at her.  She was never one to speak against an adult.
        "Maybe we should impregnate her and then just not allow Tuxedo Mask and her to have any children." The King of Uranus suggested.
        "But they love each other.  We would be depriving Tuxedo Mask of having children and it is the right of a husband and a wife to have a child.  You can't possibly take that away without consent." The Queen of Venus stated.
        "If they want to be together so badly, they will have to be willing to make sacrifices." The King of Neptune.
        "Yes, but suppose the child that Micah was the father of died before he could marry.  Then what?" The Queen of Jupiter asked hotly.
        "I think that it is horrible that Serena and Tuxedo Mask are being forced to go through all of this just to earn the right to be in love." The Queen of Earth blurted out.  It was the first comment Earth had thrown out.
        "Would you rather risk an all out war just so that these two children can live together?"  The King of Uranus stood up.  "Serenity this is outrageous!  The punishment for treason is death.  What is being debated?  We can't possibly allow these two to be wed!  It would throw the Kingdom off the very foundation it was built upon; the ability to fully use the power of the Silver Crystal.  The Moon's bloodline is the only one that has that kind of purity.  If any of us tried to use it, it would work, but not completely.  Is this puppy love worth sacrificing that?"
        "Either we let them marry, or they'll just do it behind our backs.  Serena will cheat on whomever she is married to because he is not the man she wanted to be with.  We might end up with a tainted bloodline anyway.  And let's say that we do execute Tuxedo Mask and Serena marries another prince from another galaxy.  We would then have forced her into a loveless marriage and the child would then be raised in a loveless home."  Queen Venus got a few applause from the Princesses.
        It was at that time that Helen was brought into the room.  She sat down with her parents and listened.
        "What's the big deal with a loveless marriage.  The child will probably mainly be raised by a Nanny even if the parents were in love."  The King of Mercury pointed out.
        "Even so, children pick up on things and emotions that their parents have and are affected by it." Queen Pluto stated.
        "I can attest to that." said Helen.
        "What are you talking about.  Hush child." Queen Saturn scolded.
        "Sorry Mother.  But you must admit that a loveless marriage never made anyone in our family very happy."
        The room was silent.  I almost laughed.  Royalty was actually quite amusing.  They outright insult each other, but do it so properly.
        "Impregnating me is not an option." Serena stated though gritted teeth.
        "It is her body." Lita reminded the Court.  At least somebody other than myself remembered that Serena's body was not property.
        "That's right.  You can't possibly be thinking of making Serena carry the child of her aggressor.  Can you?" Mina asked.
        "You people make me sick!" Michelle exclaimed.
        Her comment was ignored.
        "The real question is, what is Tuxedo Mask's punishment for treason?  He committed it, he confessed to it, and now he should pay for it." King Neptune proclaimed.
        "Sit down, Charles." Queen Neptune ordered under her breath.
        "Isn't there any way to give Tuxedo Mask power?  Could we train him or something?" Amy asked.
        "No.  The problem is that we're dealing with genes.  Earth, Mars, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus, Jupiter, Venus, and Pluto's royalty all have a gene that we'll call the 'A' gene.  This gene is the source of their power.  Now the Silver Crystal works fully with 'AB' genes.  The Moon has the 'A' and the 'B' but only passes on the 'B' to their children.  The child therefore needs to get the 'A' gene from the Moon's mate." Aurora explained.
        "Could we give Tuxedo Mask some of Micah's blood and then amplify the power?" Helen asked.
        "No.  The heart would never produce the 'A' gene." Queen Mercury answered.
        "The issue is not whether or not Tuxedo Mask can produce the 'A' gene.  The issue is his punishment." The King of Saturn growled.
        "Well, it seems to me that he is merely a lowly commoner out to gain some wealth and power." Queen Mars assessed.
        "That's not true.  He loves her a great deal!" Mina declared angrily.
        "That he does." Queen Venus affirmed.
        "You can tell just by the way he looks at her." Amy said.
        "He's manipulating her.  Of course he loves her.  Have you looked at her? She's gorgeous!" the King of Neptune stated.  This time his wife knocked him upside the head.  I was starting to like Queen Neptune!
        "They're in love.  They can't help it." Alex added.
        "But he's violent.  After all, he attacked my son." King Saturn said.
        "Yeah.  When 'your son' was about to kill Serena!  How awful of him!" Lita snapped sarcastically.
        "Why don't we talk to him?" Michelle suggested.
        The whole Court turned to me.  For some of them, I almost thought it was the first time they had seen me.  I had just sat there throughout the whole session, waiting for someone to point out that I was in fact in the room.
        "Well, what do you have to say for yourself, you little animal?" King Uranus asked pointedly with a sneer.
        "You people all act like barbarians." I said matter-of-factly.
        "Excuse me?" Queen Saturn hissed.
        "Barbarians.  You consider love to be a crime, defending a woman's rights; pointless, you sit around arguing about the thickness of blood, think it is acceptable to force children to grow up without knowing their parents as well as a Nanny, insult each other politely - which is rather an oxymoron, you think power is more important than people, and you sit in a hot stuffy room for hours and never offer drinks.  On top of all that, we have been talking all this time and you are no closer to finding a solution than we were six hours ago.  I have read about chimps that could get more done in this amount of time than you, the royal court of the Moon Kingdom.  And I'm the one who's an animal?"
        The room was silent.  I sat back and smiled.  These people must have never realized how stupid all of this must seem to an outsider.  The Princesses all cracked up followed by a few of the King's and Queens.  Serenity tried not to laugh.
        "We must sound like fools." Queen Venus stated quietly.
        "How dare you?!" King Saturn yelled.
        Queen Serenity glanced at him and must have said something telepathically, for he glared at her a minute but calmed down immediately.
        I sighed.  I knew what was going to be said next.
        "Tuxedo Mask, tell us about your feelings for Serena." King Jupiter said.
        "What can I say?  I was a recluse.  I hid myself away in a far corner where no one could reach me.  I lived my life one day at a time, not really worried about anyone or anything but my own welfare.  Then one night, I saw a man about to kill this girl.  I jumped on him and saved her life.  She was knocked out, so I brought her back to my room.  I couldn't just leave her there.  What if the man woke up?  He would certainly try to hurt her again.  During the fight with the man, he stabbed my shoulder with a knife.  Serena saw that I was hurt just before she left.  She felt guilty I guess and came back the next day with some medicine.  We talked a while and we liked what we each had to say.  I had always thought humans were all cruel and violent.  She put a huge hole in my theory.  We continued seeing each other and we fell in love.  Serena completely changed my life.  She filled me with joy and helped me see the better side of humanity.  I couldn't go back to the way I had been, and to live without her in my life became an unbearable thought.  I love her, for who she is, and who she has made me.  I am not after money or power.  All I need is her.  I would love her the same if she was penniless."  I looked straight into Serenity's face. "If that is what I am being accused of, then I am guilty."
        I glanced at Serena who had tears streaming down the sides of her face.  Then I saw her eyes close and she put her hands over her face.  It was more than I could bear.  "No, Princess.  Babe, please don't cry."  I ran over to her faster than anyone could stop me.  I feel on my knees in front of her.  I raised up to just below her eye level and pulled her hands away.  I felt tears swell in my own eyes but I didn't care.  I put my hands up against her cheeks.  "Serena, it's okay.  I'm right here."  I brushed away her tears with my thumb.  I could feel the warm water running down my cheeks as well.  She fell into my arms.
        "Tuxedo Mask, hold me." she said through loud sobs and tears.  I wrapped my arms around her and held her.  I could hear some of the kings and queens protesting our display of emotion.  I didn't care.  Serenity dismissed the Court and everyone left.  I was still holding Serena until the guards came over.
        They pulled us apart.  I tried to hold on, but they pulled us apart.  I could hear Serena's screams all the way down the hall as I was escorted to my room.  My heart was pounding, tears flowing down my face.  My temples throbbed.  The guards told me they wanted me to win this.  They wanted her to once again be happy.  They told me that they had heard Serena screaming my name all night in pitifully agonized wails.  It would be a long night.

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