After Michiru left, Endymion headed out of the courtyard, followed by resuming his trip around the castle to talk with the various servants around the castle, to see if they had any suggestions.  After chatting with a few servants in this way, he happened to see his wife walking around the palace (like he was) seeming to be looking for something or someone.  He smiled lovingly at the Queen "Konnichi-wa, honey."  Then noticing she was wearing a coat, he asked her "You aren't cold, are you?"

Serenity smiled when she heard her husband's voice. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, resting her head against his chest. 

"I finally found you, I was beginning to wonder where you were my love. I hadn't seen you since this morning and was wondering if you would like to accompany me to dinner." She said with a happiness to her voice.

On his comment about asking if she were cold, "not too cold- I wasn't sure if it would be cold when I came out of our room, so I put on the coat just in case." She looked up at him and smiled. 

She really did feel as if she had been neglecting him these past few days, only spending a moment here and a moment there with him, surely she could spend more time with her husband, even if they talked about nothing, or simply just sat and enjoyed each others company.

She hoped she would be able to eat, her stomach was rumbling, but any time she actually saw food it caused whatever hunger she had a moment before vanish into thin air.

When his wife wrapped her arms around him to hug him, King Endymion wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back lovingly.  When she spoke up about finding him, Endymion released his hug to look in her face as he listened to what she said.  He replied lovingly "Yes, you found me, my dear.  And I would love to accompany you to dinner."  When she spoke about not being too cold and why she put the coat on, he smiled brightly at her "Then that was a good precautionary measure, and I'm glad you did so."

Endymion really enjoyed spending time alone with his wife.  But he had been so busy recently, not only had he not been able to do this much, but he also hadn't really realized this (due to not being able to think about this issue much).

Serenity let Endymion take the lead as they walked to the dining hall. She laced her fingers with his as they walked down the halls. She smiled at the workers she saw as she passed them. Serenity greatly enjoyed the small moments like these with her husband. She had always enjoyed the small things, but they had both grown so busy with running Crystal Tokyo that it seems they see less and less of each other.

As they walked Serenity started the conversation, "how was your day Endy? Did you get a lot done today?" Just as she finished asking her question, her stomach growled loudly. Serenity blushed in embarrassment, but acknowledged what her body was telling her, she just hoped it would let her eat, she so much wanted to be able to eat something more than bread. She had done well at lunch, maybe dinner would fare the same for her.

When Neo-Queen Serenity laced her fingers with his, King Endymion smiled warmly at her.  During the rest of their walk to the dining hall, he kept his focus mainly on either his wife or where they were going, smiling warmly the whole time.  The exceptions were when he noticed one of the palace workers whom he had briefly talked with earlier that afternoon; Endymion gave those workers a polite smile and a nod of acknowledgement.

Endymion was about to respond to his wife's question about earlier today when he heard his wife's stomach growl.  So he decided to add a little something to his response.  "I expect someone to eat ravenously this evening," he told her with a big smile that indicated he was teasing her.  Then he continued with a warm smile that indicated the teasing was over (at least for now) "Even though I worked hard this morning, on governing matters, I did take your advice in spirit and relaxed for the rest of the day.  I strolled the palace this afternoon chatting with some of our staff here.  Some of them even gave me good suggestions for changes I hope to implement here.  So I got a lot done, in a way."

Then they arrived in the dining hall.  "I'll let you choose where we eat," Endymion told his wife with a warm smile still on his face.  Once his wife had picked her seat, he followed old chivalry practice and pulled her chair out for her.

Serenity smiled lovingly at her husband. "I am glad they were able to give you some feedback about the decisions you were wanting to make. I trust everything will work out according to plan." She said in her usual bubbly tone. 

When Endymion teased her about her stomach growling, she teased him right back. She tapped her index finger on her free hand against his chest, "Hey now, I am eating for two, so I have to eat more than normal." She said with a giggle.

Serenity selected the seat just to the right of the chair at the head of the table. She could smell the food- it smelled so amazing. A moment later the chefs brought out the meal. A chicken rice casserole with cheese, chicken, rice and veggies with bread crumbs and more cheese on the top. Serenity thanked the chefs and once she and Endymion had been served, she began to eat, hoping dinner would not have an adverse effect on her.

"Itadakimasu" she said before taking a bite of her dinner.

When Neo-Queen Serenity teased him right back by saying she has to eat for two now, King Endymion playfully put his arms up in the symbol for surrendering and said with an amused smile "I can't argue with that."

When Endymion saw a cross-section of the entrée he was served, he had to admit it looked pretty good.  He would have preferred a little less cheese on it, but if the extra cheese got his wife to eat it, he sure wasn't going to complain.  After all, he had noticed his wife didn't seem to be eating much recently, and while he understood why, he still wanted her to eat her usual variety of foods, for both her health and her unborn baby's health.

When Endymion heard his wife say "Itadakimasu," it reminded him that he should also do so.  Thus he paused for a second to say "Itadakimasu," before he continued his preparations to eat his meal.  Once he ate a bite of the entrée, he noticed it tasted even better than he expected - the cheese was not as overly dominant as he had expected.  Then he looked hopefully at his wife to see what her reaction to tasting & eating the food was.

Serenity cut into her casserole and got a small portion on her fork. She wasn't sure it would be a success, but she was surprised when she took a bite and the food tasted good to her mouth. She smiled as she took another bite. She looked over at her husband who also appeared to be enjoying his meal. 

"This must be a new recipe, I really like it, how about you Endy?" She allowed her husband to respond as she continued to eat. 

Once they finished their meal, Serenity rose. "I think I am going to turn in early, I am not sure why, but I am feeling quite tired, I also would like to do some light reading for bed. Would you like to accompany me or will you be turning in later?" she asked with a smile on her face.

When Endymion saw his wife smiling as she was eating the entrée, he was pleasantly surprised.  When his wife asked him about the dish, Endymion smiled thoughtfully "It might be a new recipe, yes.   And I also like it.  Furthermore, I'm glad you like it.  We may have to tell the chefs here to make this a regular part of their meals."  He then waited to see what his wife thought of that idea.

As Serenity continued to eat her meal she nodded that they should tell the chefs they enjoyed the meal and ask that they make it again in the future. Soon after Serenity finished her meal.  

"Would you be able to give the kitchen staff my compliments please, I am going to go for a short walk and get some fresh air before I turn in for the night, I can wait for you if you like and we can walk together, or if you have anything else to take care of that is okay, I will see you when you come to bed." She said with a smile as she waited for her husband's response. 

OOC:

After the two of them had finished their dinner, Endymion smiled in agreement to the Queen's suggestion "I will gladly do so, my love.  As for your walk to get some fresh air, go ahead and do so now; I will be fine without such a walk, so I don't want to delay you.  I will join you in our bedroom once I am done talking with the chefs.  I hope you have a pleasant walk, and I look forward to when I will be back with you in our bedroom.  I take it I may leave now to give our kind regards to the chefs."  He said that with all sincerity - even the last sentence, as if he recognized and respected the fact that even he was at least somewhat subservient to her.  He then bowed to her in the proper way for a person to bow who is a little subservient to the person he is bowing toward.

After the Queen gave him permission to leave, Endymion did so, and walked to the kitchen.  Once there, he nicely asked to speak with Daniel, the head chef in the palace's kitchen.  After being led to Daniel's office and the door being closed behind him, Endymion spoke in a pleasant, sincere tone "I would like to express our thanks, both the Queen's and mine, for the meal your chefs prepared tonight for us.  We liked it so much that we would like you to consider incorporating it as the entrée of our dinner in the future sometimes."

Endymion gave Daniel enough time to respond, then after Daniel was done with that response, Endymion stated that he had gone around to talk to various palace staff this afternoon to see if they had any suggestions for changes in the way the palace runs that he could implement, and he would now like to do this with the head chef in the kitchen.  The King said he would not take offense at whatever Daniel might say.  Endymion gave Daniel as much time as he needed to come up with any such suggestions, then expressed thanks for the suggestions, and told Daniel not to be surprised if he saw some of them implemented.  Endymion followed that up by saying he wouldn't take any more of Daniel's time, and bid him good-bye.

Finally, Endymion walked back to the Royal Bedroom that he shared with the Queen.  If she wasn't back from her walk yet, he waited up patiently for her, so they could go to bed together, after exchanging any last words for the night.

The queen walked back to her room, taking a small detour to walk outside for a bit. She loved how the night air helped calm any nerves she was feeling. It had been a very busy day and she was quite exhausted. She looked up at the stars as she walked, almost lost in thought. She felt more and more at rest as she walked though the small garden pathway.

After a brief moment, Serenity made her way back towards her bedroom. She decided to grab a quick shower before bed, she wanted to take a bath, or at least soak her feet, already were hurting. And to think this is only the beginning, Serenity thought as she stepped into the shower.

After her shower she blew her hair dry she climbed into bed. She wrapped up in the blankets. For some reason a sudden cold spell came over her and she snuggled deeper into her bed. She pulled out one of her books to read while she waited for Endymion to return.

She hadn't been reading long when she heard their door open. She looked up from her book and saw her husband walk in to the room. She wasn't sure he saw her and didn't want to startle him so she continued to read her book until he was ready to turn in for the night.

Once he had settled, she placed her book on her nightstand. She faced Endymion as she spoke, "what did the chef say when you gave him our complements regarding the food, I have been so bad about that lately, their food is divine, I should be sure to complement them more often." 

She suddenly remembered that she would be going to see Ami again on Monday for another ultrasound and she so much wanted Endymion to come with her if he was able. She looked up at him again, her face beaming with excitement, but her voice was calm as she spoke, "I am going to see Ami-chan on Monday for an ultrasound, I was wondering if you would like to accompany me to the ultrasound, if you are free of course." She was smiling from ear to ear as she waited to hear his response.

When Endymion had first come into their bedroom that evening, he had noticed that his wife was already in bed.   But he didn't address her right away, mostly because he was thinking about the good suggestions he had gotten from the various palace staff today.  In fact, for the next several minutes, he sat on the edge of their bed considering how to implement those good suggestions.

When Endymion was finally just about ready to turn in for the night, he got out of the formal uniform he had worn that day and got into his pajamas.  As he was climbing into bed & under the covers, he heard his wife talking about the chef.  When she was done doing so, he rolled over in bed so that he was facing her and replied in a serious but also polite manner "I spoke with the head chef and gave him our thanks for the meal tonight.  He was humble about it, saying it was all due to how his sous-chefs followed his instructions.  So I requested that he pass the word on to the sous-chefs who worked tonight."  He then grew a big smile to indicate he was about to tease her "Be careful how much you praise them, honey, or they could get big heads."

When his wife mentioned the visit to Ami for an ultrasound, Endymion responded by smiling warmly at her "I would love to accompany you if I have the time.  It would be great to see how much she has developed already."

Serenity nodded at her husbands words. She did not want the staff to get cocky, but didn't want them to feel unappreciated. She was sure she could find some balance, but he didn't have to figure it out tonight.

When Endymion said he would love to go with her to her ultrasound appointment, her eyes beamed at her happiness. "I do hope you will be able to come, but if not I will ask Ami-chan to print out a picture of the ultra-sound, and I can give that to you and hopefully you can come to the next one." She said with a smile that showed she was speaking calmly and casually. 

She let out a big yawn and stretched her arms to the sky. "Well I don't know about you, but I am ready to call it a night." she said giving Endymion a chance to add anything in before she turned out the light and laid her head on her pillow and drifted off to sleep.

******
TIME JUMP

Serenity woke Monday morning early, again to the morning sickness. After the episode was over she slowly stood up and walked over to the sink. She picked up her small cup so she could rinse her mouth out. She also grabbed a wash-cloth and wet it. She placed it on her face and then wiped it on her neck. She hated this part of the pregnancy and hoped she would transition out of this. She had read some moms only get morning sickness the first three months of their pregnancy and others experience it throughout the entire pregnancy. She hoped she was in the first group as she was nearing the end of her first trimester.

Serenity could already notice the small things that had changed in her body to help her take care of the child that was growing in her and knew there were many more changes to come. She walked back into the bedroom, not quite ready to get ready for the day. She was feeling a sensation of chills and heat on her body. She curled back under the covers and rested her head just a bit longer.

Serenity knew she had a busy day ahead of her and looked forward to it, but first she just wanted a few extra minutes to rest.

Michiru looked around as she approached the Time Gate. She had never been there, only stories from the Inner Senshi. She had heard this place was mysterious, almost forbidden in a sense. She started to slow as she saw a person in the distance.

"Setsuna! Is that you?"

When his wife expressed hope that he would be able to come to her ultrasound appointment, and came up with a back-up plan just in case he wouldn't, Endymion nodded in agreement "Thank you for being willing to do that if I am unfortunately not able to come."  He then quickly planted a kiss on her cheek.  When she said she was ready to call it a night, he simply nodded in agreement and quietly said "Good night, my love."

[TIME JUMP]

King Endymion did not wake up at the same time that Neo-Queen Serenity woke up the following Monday morning.  But he was woken up by NQS getting back under the covers.  He whispered loudly enough so that she could hear it "Morning sickness again?"  After she acknowledged that it was, he quietly told her with concern for her well-being in his voice "I wish I could make that go away somehow - and not just because it's making me lose sleep sometimes.  So, for your own well-being, I strongly hope it ends soon."

Setsuna heard footsteps approaching the gate and stepped forward to see who would be coming to the gate, ready to attack if she needed to.

When she saw it was Michiru, she relaxed, smiling at her friend.

"hello Michiru, how are you this evening? What brings you by?" she asked as a smile formed on her lips, she really was lonely at the time gate.
************************************************************


Serenity listened as her husband spoke, her thoughts were quick to jump on the attack mode, her hormones kicking in,  you're losing sleep, you're losing sleep, and you think I am not. I am the one who is awoken by this every morning almost, I did not choose this for me.....she thought as she took a deep breath noting that he was only expressing his concern. She was a bit concerned that he was losing sleep over her condition and that this was the first she was hearing of it.

"I hope it ends soon as well my love, but only time will tell." she said with a hopeful smile on her face. She rolled on her back to rest for a moment longer before getting ready for the day ahead.

She spoke, keeping her gaze on the ceiling. "Endymion, you know if something is bothering you, you can tell me." She hoped he wasn't hiding something from her, his comments about him losing sleep made her worry about him a bit, as he had been quite busy lately.

In response to his wife's comment about things that bother him, Endymion looked at her and spoke rather meekly "Actually, honey, I am far more bothered by how it is causing you suffering than any subjective, more direct inconvenience it is causing to me.  That was the main point I was trying to get across.  Gomen if I didn't express it well enough."

Then Endymion took one of his clean towels from the place where they were kept, to start preparing for his shower this morning.  Then he walked over near where his wife was getting ready for the new day, and told her "I hope you don't mind me changing the subject.  But I'm going to take a shower this morning.  Do you want me to do it now, or do you have anything you want to finish in the bathroom first, before I take it?"  He was definitely willing to go either way, and he hoped he had conveyed that in the tone of his voice.

Serenity sat up to make herself get out bed and get ready for her day. She turned and looked over her shoulder. "No my dear, go ahead, I took a shower last night." She turned back around and got out of bed. She walked over to her closet to get her clothes for the day while Endymion showered.

She searched her closet trying to find something that was a little less formal, she had wanted to wear something casual and comfortable as her formal dresses were starting to feel very restraining. She would have to go talk to Jupiter later and see if she had anything ready.

Serenity managed to find a pair of leggings from who knows when and a baggy long sleeve shirt. She didn't care what anyone thought of her appearance at this point, she wanted to be comfortable, and as the Queen, she thought it was her right to dress as she pleased. If she had a formal event come up, she would change her clothes. 

She was also able to find a pair of tennis shoes, where did all these come from? she thought wondering if someone, possibly Venus had snuck some items in for her.

Serenity then walked over to her vanity and washed her face and applied some light make-up.

She actually had an appetite despite her morning sickness that had just occurred. Maybe it had been that her body was rebelling from the undernourishment. Serenity walked over to the bathroom door and called out to Endymion. 

"I am going to head to the kitchen and get something to eat while I have an appetite."

She also left a note on his pillow just in case he hadn't heard her before she departed to get something to eat.

When his wife told him she was fine with him showering now, Endymion proceeded to do so.  After finishing his shower, Endymion dried himself off in the main part of the bathroom with the towel he had grabbed before the shower.  While he was drying off in this way, he heard his wife call out from the other side of the bathroom door that she was going down to eat while she still had an appetite.  Happy for her, and wanting her to take advantage of this opportunity, Endymion cheerfully called back "No problem, honey.  Go ahead."

A minute or so later, when he had finished drying off, Endymion stepped out of the bathroom and back into their bedroom.  He quickly walked over to where he kept his clean royal uniforms, got one out, and put it on.  Then he quickly finished getting ready for the new day and proceeded to walk down to the dining room, hoping to find his wife eating, and not wanting to completely miss it if she was.  He entered the dining room with a hopeful look on his face and looked all around it for his wife.

Serenity made her way to the kitchen. She suddenly had an appetite, or maybe a craving at best. She wasn't complaining at all, she may have been feeling not so well just moments ago, but now she was hungry and she was really wanting some pancakes and hashbrowns.

She walked into the kitchen and greeted the staff. She asked if they could make her some breakfast and they told her that that was fine. Serenity walked to the main dining area. There was a window with a bench underneath it. While Serenity waited for her breakfast she sat basking in the sunlight. She heard someone come into the room and she turned to look and see who it was.

When she saw Endymion, she smiled and walked over towards him. "Will you be joining me for breakfast Endy?" she asked with a smile on her face.

As he was looking around the dining room, Endymion saw his wife coming toward him from one of the windows in the room, which made him smile warmly back at her.  He also noticed in this way that breakfast had not been served yet, which did not affect his mood or expression.  When his wife asked him if he would be joining her for breakfast, Endymion responded lovingly "Of course I will, sweetie.  It warms my heart to see you so eager for this meal.  Did you order anything special from our chefs?"

Endymion gave his wife a chance to respond to that question.  After she finished answering that, he turned to other matters by warmly asking her to lead him to where she wanted to sit for the meal this morning.  Once his wife had picked a seat and sat down in it, Endymion continued in his loving tone "Now let me push you in, okay?"  He waited until she was ready for it, then he proceeded to push his wife's chair in.  He followed that up by taking a seat for himself near her where he could easily look at her during the meal.

About one minute after they had both sat down, servants started bringing out the meal to the dining room.  First, they put two plates in front of Neo-Queen Serenity.  Then they put two plates in front of King Endymion.  The contents of each person's plates were nearly identical.  Both had two eggs on one plate, cooked the way that person most commonly preferred.  Both had two pieces of meat on the plate with the eggs - either two bacon strips or two sausage links, whichever that person more often preferred.  Both had a typical serving of hash browns on the plate with the eggs and meat.  And both had a short stack of pancakes on the other plate - three for NQS, and two for Endymion.  Finally there was a pat of butter on each of the plates with the pancakes.

Once those servants had served those plates, another servant came out with a variety of bottled syrups and put those in between the two people.  There were two bottles of maple syrup, one bottle of blueberry syrup, and one bottle each of a few other esoteric syrup flavors.  Once the servants had served all of that, Endymion quickly smiled at them "Arigato," then turned to his wife and smiled expectantly "Itadakimasu."

Michiru smiled and approached her old friend. She never knew how Setsuna endured all of those years alone at the gate, the lonely guardian. Michiru wished that this could a social visit but there were too many questions that needed to be answered.

"I wish I was here for happier reason." Michiru's face hardened. "The King came to me because he was concerned about the Queen and her pregnancy. I...had looked in my mirror to see there anything that seemed off but I was not able to sense anything. My vision is clouded...This has not happened before. Have you noticed or sensed anything?"

Setsuna listened as her long time friend and ally spoke about the concern she had for Serenity. After Michiru had finished her story, Setsuna let out a big sigh.

"I have never had anything like this happen either, but I sense a darkness coming, the future has become cloudy, but I cannot find its source, I know something bad is coming, but that is all I know. Endymion-sama and I spoke about this for awhile not too long ago and I know the news is concerning, and I hate to lie to our Queen, but I do not want to put her through any torment until we have something certain to go off of. When I saw her, she looked absolutely happy, I have never seen her so happy in all my years at the time gate. This has been a long time coming and Chibiusa's arrival is very exciting, I just hope that is not what I am getting these mixed signals about." 

"I am wondering if a meeting should be set up with the other sailor senshi so they can be made aware of the situation in case things do turn in a sour direction."

"what do you think this clouded darkness could mean for Crystal Tokyo?" Setsuna asked.

*******************************************************************************


Serenity smiled when Endymion said he would join her for breakfast. She walked with him over to a table that was cast in the most sunlight. For some reason the sunlight on her skin made her feel happy. When Endymion pushed her in, she thanked him. The two talked briefly while they waited for their breakfast.

Serenity was a bit surprised when the staff brought her plate with eggs, sausage, pancakes and hash browns. She had only wanted hash browns and pancakes, but she hated to waste food and didn't want to be rude to her staff. She picked up her utensils and followed Endymion's words, "Itadakimasu" thanking for the food she was eating.

When she dipped her pancake into the syrup and put it in her mouth she couldnt help but make a noise indicating she was enjoying the food, "mmmmmmmmmmm" as she chewed her food. She looked up at Endymion as he ate, hoping he couldn't hear her, she felt a bit embarrassed to be acting like this as she ate, but she was enjoying the food so much. She soon finished her pancakes and her hash browns. She cut her sausage with her fork and picked it up, but felt her stomach jump, causing her to put her sausage down and push her plate a bit away from her before she lost her appetite.

She glanced over at Endymion, "how is your breakfast darling?" she asked as she felt her stomach settle a bit. She placed her hand on her stomach which had started to slowly change, you still couldn't tell that she was pregnant, but already Serenity felt a deep connection to the little life that was growing inside her.

As Endymion was starting to eat his food, he heard a "mmmmmmmmmmm" from where his wife was sitting that brought a big happy smile to his face.  He glanced at her, still showing this big happy smile, and saw how much she was enjoying the pancakes with syrup.  It warmed his heart, and comforted him, to see his wife enjoying eating again after her period of morning sickness.  It was times like this that made him love her so much.

Through their remaining time there eating breakfast, Endymion split his attention - usually keeping it on his own plate and what he was eating, but glancing over to his wife every so often to see if she was still enjoying eating this breakfast.  So he noticed when she got the piece of sausage on her fork.  A second later, when Endymion noticed his wife put it back down, he was technically slightly disappointed, but one couldn't tell that by looking at his expression.  As she was pushing her plate a bit away from her, he looked over what was and was not remaining on it.  So he could tell that she had completely finished her pancakes and her hash browns, even though all of the sausage and all of the cooked eggs remained on her plate.  He took enough time to tell her happily "I'm glad that you ate as much as you did, honey," then went back to finishing his own breakfast.

When Endymion had become full, only about one-half of a sausage link remained on his plate.  Leaving it there for the servants to clean up, he got up, beamed at her, and extended a hand to her in case she wanted help getting up.  "I thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast, thank you.  Shall I escort you to your first morning duty, my love?" he stated and asked her happily.