The Source of the Hair

Written by Ceara Ivory

Summary: A one-shot story explaining WHY Rini's hair is pink.

Serena cuddled next to her soon-to-be husband. This man beside her was one of a kind and she couldn't bear spending even a few minutes without him at her side. Even when he was sound asleep in the middle of the night, she couldn't get enough of looking at him. She found him just as wonderful asleep as she did when he awake. She liked that when he finally went to sleep, the cares of his busy mind melted off of his face. It was nice to see how his natural tension and fears just disappeared, making him look just like a little boy, free of all the cares that being the prince of the Earth brought him.

She reached a finger to lightly trace his soft visage. She felt him stir and snapped her finger back. But not in time to keep him from opening his midnight blue eyes. He smiled at her lovingly.

"And why are you still awake, my meatball head?" he asked playfully.

She grinned back at him, "Just in the middle of my favorite pastime."

"And what would that be?"

"Admiring you," she replied.

He laughed, "You do that all during the day. Don't you ever get enough?"

"How could I ever get enough of your beautiful face?" she kissed him. "Your soft skin? And let's not forget about the hair…" she looked up at his hair and fingered through it. Suddenly she stopped and sat up. "Huh?"

Darien looked at her inquisitively. "What's wrong?"

She clicked on the light and looked at the top of his head, "Darien, why are your roots pink?"

His eyes flew open wide as he bolted up in his bed. He literally ran into the bathroom to look in the mirror. "Ahhh!" he cried mortified. "I can't believe it's been a month already." He fumbled through his cabinets.

Serena leaned against the bathroom door. "What do you mean, 'it's been a month?'" A light seemed to go on in her head. "Do you dye your hair?"

"I had to," he groaned. "Can you imagine being a man and going to school with pink hair? Even kindergarten was bad."

"So you were born with pink hair?"

He nodded. "It's the only thing I remember about my mother. If you went through your preschool years being tormented over your hair color, you'd remember it too. I had to dye it. I couldn't go through life with pink hair! It was torture," he buried his face in his hands. "You're not mad at me are you? For hiding this from you?"

She shook her head. "No, Darien. And you shouldn't be embarrassed by it. Not with me. Remember, pink is my favorite color."