Sailor Moon; To Be Bound (Setsuna)

[lexie-b.livejournal.com]

Title: To Be Bound
Author: lexie_b
Feedback: If you feel so moved.
Characters: Setsuna Meioh/Sailor Pluto
Word Count: 447
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
Summary: Bondage; the state of being bound by or subjected to some external power or control - “You wear the Moon Queen’s fuku, and so you bow to her.”
Warnings: Dark undertones.
Notes: An AUish look at Queen Selenity's rulee during the Silver Millennium because, frankly, she was a politician, and they aren't the most honest people in the world.
Disclaimer: Naoko Takeuchi owns the characters and scenarios of Sailor Moon. I am a humble fan and thus make no profit from this venture.

Bondage; the state of being bound by or subjected to some external power or control.

She never understood what right made her duty truly right. She had the luck to be born a princess and a senshi, to have the power of Time and Space, to fight for what was right.

But how did she know what was right? She could manipulate time, yes, but why should she take someone’s life for a certain future? Selenity’s vision of love and peace, of a utopia, but what made that the right future? What made her bow to Queen Selenity and the Moon Kingdom? Should she not be a neutral observer, doing what did not consciously benefit any one person?

She asked, once, a solemn child half the height of her staff, why she should protect the Royal family’s future within the Time Line, why she should take orders from a woman who played all her emotions and plans close to the vest.

She asked, staring up at her mentor, her crimson eyes wide.

“You wear the Moon Queen’s fuku, and so you bow to her,” he replied flatly.

“But, it doesn’t feel right…” Young Pluto said, twirling her staff in both hands. The monk stared at her and then knelt before the child, his hands gripping her shoulders tight.

“Listen to me, young princess. Do not question your place in this world. Do not question your powers. Queen Selenity will bring light and peace to the Solar System, with her power and love of her people,” the monk hissed. “You speak out of line, Princess.”

“But… I have the power to change things. I could make it so that Earth never exiled the People of the Moon; I could stop Earth from leaving the Alliance,” Pluto replied softly.

The monk’s grip tightened. “Do not think this way, Princess. You will find yourself on your knees before the Council, repenting your words against the Queen.”

“I love the Queen, I do! But…”

“Princess Setsuna. You are young, and you have not yet learned that sometimes the most important questions should never be asked, let alone answered. You may have the power, but the fuku you wear, the staff you carry - they are your chains to the Moon Queen. You will be a servant to the Moon Kingdom until your deathbed.” The monk released her and stood.

Pluto nodded and turned away. The Queen’s influence may have stretched far across the galaxy, but Pluto’s stretched backwards, to the past, and as far as time itself went. She was eternal; she would not have to bow to another’s whim forever.

And until then, she would wear her chains with dignity.