A/N: Okay, this is my first one-shot, appropriately put out right before Christmas! Anyway, it's my entry for the Mirrored Dreams fic contest. Thank you to Budding Authoress for editing it for me, wish me luck!
All I Want for Christmas is You
Rini woke early to the scent of cinnamon and groggily wondered what this meant. What day was this that would allow for such a sweet awakening? It couldn't be anything special, not when she felt like there was a hole in her heart. Why couldn't she have a special someone just like Serena, Mina, or Raye? The three of them had Darien, Andrew, and Chad, though Raye would never admit to it. Who did she have? She woke from her reverie when Serena opened the door. "Merry Christmas, Rini." Serena was wearing a Santa hat and a lot of red.
"Oh, that's right, it's Christmas Eve." Rini said less than excitedly. Serena sat down on the bed. "What's wrong? I've never heard someone sound so negative during this time of the year." The younger pink haired girl sighed. "This time of the year? This time of the year doesn't just mean holidays; it means romance. You fell in love with Darien when you were fourteen, a year younger than me, why can't I...?" Then she stopped. "What, Rini? Why can't you be in love? Is that the question?" Rini shook her head. "Actually, no, the question is, does the one I love feel the same way? Does he even care, or know how I feel?" Serena shrugged.
"Er... is it Peruru or something?" She asked. "Serena! Think for once! Peruru's just a friend, that's all he can be since I only knew him for a day or two. You can't know someone well enough to fall in love in that amount of time. You had the right year though." Her future mother flushed. "Sorry, you mean Elios then?" Heat rose to Rini's cheeks now. "Yes, but he's a priest, he can't really fall in love." Serena laughed. "He's not Catholic, Rini! Those kinds of rules don't exactly apply to him. I would tell you to ask Darien, but he's just as bad as my dad! I don't know what to tell you, kiddo. I hope you have some fun at the party tonight even without Elios though." Rini groaned. "What party, Serena?" The blonde flushed. "Oh, I suppose I might have forgotten to tell you. Darien is throwing a party at his new house, it's formal." Another groan came from Rini's throat. "Your affinity for forgetting to tell me things never ceases to amaze me. Well Serena, guess what? I have no formal wear here!" Serena looked to be in deep thought. "Wait, Trista owns a dress shop, remember? Maybe we can convince her to let you borrow something!"
An hour later, they stood in front of Trista's apartment building, waiting for her to open the door. The dark haired woman exited the apartment and proceeded to walk across the street with them to her dress shop. "I swear, Small Lady, if you were anyone else, I'd refuse you service!" Rini kicked some snow off the road. "Don't blame me, Serena only told me this morning!" Trista glanced at the accused, who was flushing. "It's going to be difficult, not much goes with pink." Serena shook her head. "To make up for this, Rini, you can use my Luna Pen if we can't find something, and I'll buy a dress instead." Trista opened the shop and turned on the lights. "I'm afraid that you might have to take Serena up on that offer, Small Lady; I have plenty that she could wear, but anything that would've matched you is probably all gone." Serena leafed through the racks.
"Hello!" She said absentmindedly as she pulled a red dress from the back. "Serena! Your mother would never let you out of the house in that!" From there, they went through at least ten of the racks. Serena piled dress upon dress in a stack that she had designated for herself. Rini had no such luck; next to nothing went well with pink! Trista sighed. "Well, we have one last hope, but it's expensive... come with me, Rini." They walked into a room and Trista flicked on the lights. In the center of the room was an iridescent silver dress. It was flowing from the mid thigh, with two petticoats underneath, and it was sleeveless. "Darien would kill me! Actually, he'd die first!" Trista laughed. "Yes, but he can take that up with me, I suppose. Consider it your birthday present, if it fits." Rini took it gingerly and bolted into the dressing room. It fit her amazingly well, and Trista clapped when she walked out. "We have a winner! Be careful with it though, it would cost you fifteen hundred dollars normally." She paled. "Puu... I couldn't..." Trista shook her head. "I made it with you in mind; you're the only person I've ever seen that could pull of the color." They embraced. "Thank you."
Serena and Rini met Darien at his new house to see how things were going. "I tell you girls, this is going to be one heck of a ball!" Darien had hired decorators to make the ballroom look like a winter wonderland. "Definitely, do you mind if I look around?" Rini walked off before he could say anything against it. "Does she seem a little... off to you today?" Serena shook her head.
"No, not at all!" She said unconvincingly. He pulled her against him and brushed his lips against hers. "What do you know that I don't?" Serena bit her lip. "You can't say anything to Rini! She... she misses Elios." Darien raised an eyebrow. "Her friend Elios, right?" Serena hit him lightly on the side of the head. "You know as well as I do that they kissed at least once! She's in love, Darien, like you and I are! Besides, would you rather have her head over heels for some druggie?" He sighed. "She's a princess, Serena, I have the feeling that she's not exactly allowed to marry whoever she wants. Elios has obligations to Elysian, he can't allow a little thing like love to get in the way of that." Serena backed away from him. "A little thing? You think that what we have, what Mina and Andrew have, or even what I have with my family and friends is just a little thing? Love defines who we are, Darien, and if you don't see that, then maybe we should go. I'll see you tonight, come on Rini, we're leaving!" She stormed out of the front door, and Rini ran after her.
"Serena, wait!" Darien yelled.
"We'll see you tonight, until then, don't bother!"
Later that day, Rini was off in dreamland when someone suddenly threw her door open, and Mina, Hotaru, Serena, Lita, and the rest of the crew entered her room.
"Hey kid, Serena told us you were down, so we thought we'd help get you ready for tonight!" Lita exclaimed. Hotaru came to sit next to her. "They kidnapped me too, and now we're going to be pampered, so we might as well enjoy it!" The girls set to work doing their hair, painting their nails, doing their makeup, and basically pampering them, as Hotaru had said. Mina drew little snowflake designs outside and underneath Rini's eyes, which she then filled with silver liquid eye shadow. Raye braided half of her hair into a crown and curled the rest of it with a large curling iron, and then Trista took her into Serena's room and accessorized her outfit with her. In the end, she was wearing a gorgeous pair of glass heels, a silver scarf, and silver gloves. A single red rose was centered at the back of her head, where the crown went together. "The others are ready, so I suppose I should get dressed as well!" The Guardian of Time snapped her fingers and her outfit changed to that of her princess dress. "This was always my favorite." All but Serena were also wearing their princess dresses. Serena had chosen for a white dress very much like her princess dress, only everything was in white instead of gold. "Shall we? The guys are meeting us there after all."
The group arrived at Darien's house about twenty minutes later. Darien led Serena aside almost immediately, and Rini just looked around. "Wow..." Hotaru nodded, also looking around in awe. A huge Christmas tree was in the middle of the room, and silver streamers were all around. Under the tree was a real singer, not a DJ or stereo. "Darien really went all out!" Mina commented. Andrew came out of the crowd and took Mina to the floor. Soon, Hotaru and Rini were the only ones left without partners, but Rini was used to it.
"Doesn't it bother you that the only guys in the room that are close enough to our age to be interested in us is the band?" Hotaru asked, and Rini shook her head. "Every once in awhile, dad has this huge party that is an absolute bore at home. I'd go insane if you weren't there!" They giggled. "Rini, what was Serena talking about when she said you were down?" Rini's laughter ceased. "Oh, Taru, it's just... I miss Elios! It's completely irrational, I mean I haven't even seen him since I was eight, but I suppose that I'm just stuck on him." Her friend nodded. "It's all right, Rini, you're allowed to be stuck on someone. I feel the same way; I see the romance all around me, but how come I don't have anyone to tell me that they love me?" Time passed, and when they were about to go outside, one of the band members stopped Hotaru and asked her to dance, though Rini had no such luck.
Honestly, he had no idea what he was doing. Darien had asked him earlier that day to come to this party, but he had refused, lying that he was too busy. Sailor Pluto had then ordered him to come to this party while he was in one of his moods. He hadn't gotten into these moods before he met Rini, but Rini was probably long gone into the future. Being immortal (though he still grew older every so often), he was probably in the future, but she was a princess, and he was a priest. He had duties, important duties, but at the same time, he knew that he would throw them all away for her. How could love change him so much? Only seven years ago, he would never have traded anything for Elysian, but now... he would trade one thousand Elysians, even with the pain of being torn from the power of the crystal, just to see her again.
Rini sighed and left the ballroom, heading out to the backyard for some much needed fresh air. Hotaru had been dancing with the guy from the band for an hour now, and she showed no sign of stopping, so what was the point of being inside alone? Serena and Darien seemed to have stopped their fighting, at least for a little while, and were whispering to each other secretively. Tears came to her eyes unbidden, and she buried her face in her arms. "What am I doing here?"
Serena happened to be looking toward the doorway when a tall, white haired young man entered. He wore a black tuxedo, and he had his hair secured in a ponytail, as it went to his shoulders. "Darien, who is that?" Darien glanced toward the doorway. "I... believe that it is Elios." Her mouth opened, the corners of her lips turned slightly upward. "Darien! I can't believe that you... oh my gosh!" She flung herself into his arms. "Do you completely forgive me now?" Serena arched one eyebrow. "That depends, will she even recognize him?"
Rini sighed as a new song started. She might as well enjoy what was left of the night. Maybe, just maybe someone would ask her to dance if she went back inside. After waiting out one song, Rini's resolve faded.
"Wow, I'm so sad." She muttered.
Elios spotted Rini at the edge of the crowd and blinked a few times. She was here; what's more, she was beautiful! What if she was with someone else? He knew that she wouldn't recognize him- no one did these days- but God, he wondered if she missed him as much as he missed her. There was only one way to find out, and he wasn't going to let the chance slip through his fingers, even if it defied every rule he had ever obeyed as a priest. Elios walked over to Rini and tapped her on the shoulder. "Would you care to dance?" She spun around. "Sure, why not?" The next song began, and he led her out to the floor.
"I don't want a lot for Christmas
There's just one thing I need
I don't care about presents
Underneath the Christmas tree
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true...
All I want for Christmas
Is you..."
The message of the song was uncannily close to how he was feeling. "Thanks for asking me to dance, by the way, I wasn't having such a great time pretending to be entertained." Rini's cheek rested on his shoulder, and he could feel her breath on the side of his neck. "I'm glad that I could help you out then."
"I don't want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
I don't care about presents
Underneath the Christmas tree
I don't need to hang my stocking
There upon the fireplace
Santa Claus won't make me happy
With a toy on Christmas day
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you...
You baby."
Even though the song was a bit fast paced, most of the couples were dancing the same as they were.
"Have we met? I feel like I should know you." Rini asked.
"I won't ask for much this Christmas
I won't even wish for snow
I'm just gonna keep on waiting
Underneath the mistletoe
I won't make a list and send it
To the North Pole for Saint Nick
I won't even stay awake to
Hear those magic reindeer click
'Cause I just want you here tonight
Holding on to me so tight
What more can I do
Baby all I want for Christmas is you
You..."
"Perhaps you should, princess." He didn't play games all that much, but perhaps this was a time to act a bit out of the ordinary.
"All the lights are shining
So brightly everywhere
And the sound of children's
Laughter fills the air
And everyone is singing
I hear those sleigh bells ringing
Santa won't you bring me the one I really need -
won't you please bring my baby to me..."
"Who are you?" Rini asked curiously, catching on that something was different about him. "You tell me, Maiden." Her eyes widened, and she looked upward, pulling away from him slightly. "Elios?" His amber eyes sparkled. "Funny, my prayers have resembled this song for some time now. There's this one girl that I can't seem to get out of my mind, and her name is Princess Serenity." She felt his hold on her waist tighten, and her eyes dropped from Elios' eyes to his lips. "I know her, she can't seem to get a certain priest off of her mind either." Their noses touched slightly, and slowly, she tilted her head to the side, and their lips met.
"Oh I don't want a lot for Christmas
This is all I'm asking for
I just want to see baby
Standing right outside my door
Oh I just want him for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
Baby all I want for Christmas is
You..."
"I don't know how, Maiden, but I'm in love with you." Elios murmured against her lips. "I love you too, but are you allowed to be in love? You're a priest after all..." He touched a fingertip to her lips. "Later, Maiden, we can worry about that when the time comes to do so. It's Christmas Eve, do you really want to be thinking about that?" She twined her fingertips through his hair, and he claimed her lips again.
"All I want for Christmas is you baby..."
(c)Mariah Carey
Serena sighed. "I forgive you." Darien turned from the sight of his future daughter kissing his priest. "But do I forgive myself?" She grabbed his tie and yanked his mouth down to her's.
All I Want for Christmas is You
Rini woke early to the scent of cinnamon and groggily wondered what this meant. What day was this that would allow for such a sweet awakening? It couldn't be anything special, not when she felt like there was a hole in her heart. Why couldn't she have a special someone just like Serena, Mina, or Raye? The three of them had Darien, Andrew, and Chad, though Raye would never admit to it. Who did she have? She woke from her reverie when Serena opened the door. "Merry Christmas, Rini." Serena was wearing a Santa hat and a lot of red.
"Oh, that's right, it's Christmas Eve." Rini said less than excitedly. Serena sat down on the bed. "What's wrong? I've never heard someone sound so negative during this time of the year." The younger pink haired girl sighed. "This time of the year? This time of the year doesn't just mean holidays; it means romance. You fell in love with Darien when you were fourteen, a year younger than me, why can't I...?" Then she stopped. "What, Rini? Why can't you be in love? Is that the question?" Rini shook her head. "Actually, no, the question is, does the one I love feel the same way? Does he even care, or know how I feel?" Serena shrugged.
"Er... is it Peruru or something?" She asked. "Serena! Think for once! Peruru's just a friend, that's all he can be since I only knew him for a day or two. You can't know someone well enough to fall in love in that amount of time. You had the right year though." Her future mother flushed. "Sorry, you mean Elios then?" Heat rose to Rini's cheeks now. "Yes, but he's a priest, he can't really fall in love." Serena laughed. "He's not Catholic, Rini! Those kinds of rules don't exactly apply to him. I would tell you to ask Darien, but he's just as bad as my dad! I don't know what to tell you, kiddo. I hope you have some fun at the party tonight even without Elios though." Rini groaned. "What party, Serena?" The blonde flushed. "Oh, I suppose I might have forgotten to tell you. Darien is throwing a party at his new house, it's formal." Another groan came from Rini's throat. "Your affinity for forgetting to tell me things never ceases to amaze me. Well Serena, guess what? I have no formal wear here!" Serena looked to be in deep thought. "Wait, Trista owns a dress shop, remember? Maybe we can convince her to let you borrow something!"
An hour later, they stood in front of Trista's apartment building, waiting for her to open the door. The dark haired woman exited the apartment and proceeded to walk across the street with them to her dress shop. "I swear, Small Lady, if you were anyone else, I'd refuse you service!" Rini kicked some snow off the road. "Don't blame me, Serena only told me this morning!" Trista glanced at the accused, who was flushing. "It's going to be difficult, not much goes with pink." Serena shook her head. "To make up for this, Rini, you can use my Luna Pen if we can't find something, and I'll buy a dress instead." Trista opened the shop and turned on the lights. "I'm afraid that you might have to take Serena up on that offer, Small Lady; I have plenty that she could wear, but anything that would've matched you is probably all gone." Serena leafed through the racks.
"Hello!" She said absentmindedly as she pulled a red dress from the back. "Serena! Your mother would never let you out of the house in that!" From there, they went through at least ten of the racks. Serena piled dress upon dress in a stack that she had designated for herself. Rini had no such luck; next to nothing went well with pink! Trista sighed. "Well, we have one last hope, but it's expensive... come with me, Rini." They walked into a room and Trista flicked on the lights. In the center of the room was an iridescent silver dress. It was flowing from the mid thigh, with two petticoats underneath, and it was sleeveless. "Darien would kill me! Actually, he'd die first!" Trista laughed. "Yes, but he can take that up with me, I suppose. Consider it your birthday present, if it fits." Rini took it gingerly and bolted into the dressing room. It fit her amazingly well, and Trista clapped when she walked out. "We have a winner! Be careful with it though, it would cost you fifteen hundred dollars normally." She paled. "Puu... I couldn't..." Trista shook her head. "I made it with you in mind; you're the only person I've ever seen that could pull of the color." They embraced. "Thank you."
Serena and Rini met Darien at his new house to see how things were going. "I tell you girls, this is going to be one heck of a ball!" Darien had hired decorators to make the ballroom look like a winter wonderland. "Definitely, do you mind if I look around?" Rini walked off before he could say anything against it. "Does she seem a little... off to you today?" Serena shook her head.
"No, not at all!" She said unconvincingly. He pulled her against him and brushed his lips against hers. "What do you know that I don't?" Serena bit her lip. "You can't say anything to Rini! She... she misses Elios." Darien raised an eyebrow. "Her friend Elios, right?" Serena hit him lightly on the side of the head. "You know as well as I do that they kissed at least once! She's in love, Darien, like you and I are! Besides, would you rather have her head over heels for some druggie?" He sighed. "She's a princess, Serena, I have the feeling that she's not exactly allowed to marry whoever she wants. Elios has obligations to Elysian, he can't allow a little thing like love to get in the way of that." Serena backed away from him. "A little thing? You think that what we have, what Mina and Andrew have, or even what I have with my family and friends is just a little thing? Love defines who we are, Darien, and if you don't see that, then maybe we should go. I'll see you tonight, come on Rini, we're leaving!" She stormed out of the front door, and Rini ran after her.
"Serena, wait!" Darien yelled.
"We'll see you tonight, until then, don't bother!"
Later that day, Rini was off in dreamland when someone suddenly threw her door open, and Mina, Hotaru, Serena, Lita, and the rest of the crew entered her room.
"Hey kid, Serena told us you were down, so we thought we'd help get you ready for tonight!" Lita exclaimed. Hotaru came to sit next to her. "They kidnapped me too, and now we're going to be pampered, so we might as well enjoy it!" The girls set to work doing their hair, painting their nails, doing their makeup, and basically pampering them, as Hotaru had said. Mina drew little snowflake designs outside and underneath Rini's eyes, which she then filled with silver liquid eye shadow. Raye braided half of her hair into a crown and curled the rest of it with a large curling iron, and then Trista took her into Serena's room and accessorized her outfit with her. In the end, she was wearing a gorgeous pair of glass heels, a silver scarf, and silver gloves. A single red rose was centered at the back of her head, where the crown went together. "The others are ready, so I suppose I should get dressed as well!" The Guardian of Time snapped her fingers and her outfit changed to that of her princess dress. "This was always my favorite." All but Serena were also wearing their princess dresses. Serena had chosen for a white dress very much like her princess dress, only everything was in white instead of gold. "Shall we? The guys are meeting us there after all."
The group arrived at Darien's house about twenty minutes later. Darien led Serena aside almost immediately, and Rini just looked around. "Wow..." Hotaru nodded, also looking around in awe. A huge Christmas tree was in the middle of the room, and silver streamers were all around. Under the tree was a real singer, not a DJ or stereo. "Darien really went all out!" Mina commented. Andrew came out of the crowd and took Mina to the floor. Soon, Hotaru and Rini were the only ones left without partners, but Rini was used to it.
"Doesn't it bother you that the only guys in the room that are close enough to our age to be interested in us is the band?" Hotaru asked, and Rini shook her head. "Every once in awhile, dad has this huge party that is an absolute bore at home. I'd go insane if you weren't there!" They giggled. "Rini, what was Serena talking about when she said you were down?" Rini's laughter ceased. "Oh, Taru, it's just... I miss Elios! It's completely irrational, I mean I haven't even seen him since I was eight, but I suppose that I'm just stuck on him." Her friend nodded. "It's all right, Rini, you're allowed to be stuck on someone. I feel the same way; I see the romance all around me, but how come I don't have anyone to tell me that they love me?" Time passed, and when they were about to go outside, one of the band members stopped Hotaru and asked her to dance, though Rini had no such luck.
Honestly, he had no idea what he was doing. Darien had asked him earlier that day to come to this party, but he had refused, lying that he was too busy. Sailor Pluto had then ordered him to come to this party while he was in one of his moods. He hadn't gotten into these moods before he met Rini, but Rini was probably long gone into the future. Being immortal (though he still grew older every so often), he was probably in the future, but she was a princess, and he was a priest. He had duties, important duties, but at the same time, he knew that he would throw them all away for her. How could love change him so much? Only seven years ago, he would never have traded anything for Elysian, but now... he would trade one thousand Elysians, even with the pain of being torn from the power of the crystal, just to see her again.
Rini sighed and left the ballroom, heading out to the backyard for some much needed fresh air. Hotaru had been dancing with the guy from the band for an hour now, and she showed no sign of stopping, so what was the point of being inside alone? Serena and Darien seemed to have stopped their fighting, at least for a little while, and were whispering to each other secretively. Tears came to her eyes unbidden, and she buried her face in her arms. "What am I doing here?"
Serena happened to be looking toward the doorway when a tall, white haired young man entered. He wore a black tuxedo, and he had his hair secured in a ponytail, as it went to his shoulders. "Darien, who is that?" Darien glanced toward the doorway. "I... believe that it is Elios." Her mouth opened, the corners of her lips turned slightly upward. "Darien! I can't believe that you... oh my gosh!" She flung herself into his arms. "Do you completely forgive me now?" Serena arched one eyebrow. "That depends, will she even recognize him?"
Rini sighed as a new song started. She might as well enjoy what was left of the night. Maybe, just maybe someone would ask her to dance if she went back inside. After waiting out one song, Rini's resolve faded.
"Wow, I'm so sad." She muttered.
Elios spotted Rini at the edge of the crowd and blinked a few times. She was here; what's more, she was beautiful! What if she was with someone else? He knew that she wouldn't recognize him- no one did these days- but God, he wondered if she missed him as much as he missed her. There was only one way to find out, and he wasn't going to let the chance slip through his fingers, even if it defied every rule he had ever obeyed as a priest. Elios walked over to Rini and tapped her on the shoulder. "Would you care to dance?" She spun around. "Sure, why not?" The next song began, and he led her out to the floor.
"I don't want a lot for Christmas
There's just one thing I need
I don't care about presents
Underneath the Christmas tree
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true...
All I want for Christmas
Is you..."
The message of the song was uncannily close to how he was feeling. "Thanks for asking me to dance, by the way, I wasn't having such a great time pretending to be entertained." Rini's cheek rested on his shoulder, and he could feel her breath on the side of his neck. "I'm glad that I could help you out then."
"I don't want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
I don't care about presents
Underneath the Christmas tree
I don't need to hang my stocking
There upon the fireplace
Santa Claus won't make me happy
With a toy on Christmas day
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you...
You baby."
Even though the song was a bit fast paced, most of the couples were dancing the same as they were.
"Have we met? I feel like I should know you." Rini asked.
"I won't ask for much this Christmas
I won't even wish for snow
I'm just gonna keep on waiting
Underneath the mistletoe
I won't make a list and send it
To the North Pole for Saint Nick
I won't even stay awake to
Hear those magic reindeer click
'Cause I just want you here tonight
Holding on to me so tight
What more can I do
Baby all I want for Christmas is you
You..."
"Perhaps you should, princess." He didn't play games all that much, but perhaps this was a time to act a bit out of the ordinary.
"All the lights are shining
So brightly everywhere
And the sound of children's
Laughter fills the air
And everyone is singing
I hear those sleigh bells ringing
Santa won't you bring me the one I really need -
won't you please bring my baby to me..."
"Who are you?" Rini asked curiously, catching on that something was different about him. "You tell me, Maiden." Her eyes widened, and she looked upward, pulling away from him slightly. "Elios?" His amber eyes sparkled. "Funny, my prayers have resembled this song for some time now. There's this one girl that I can't seem to get out of my mind, and her name is Princess Serenity." She felt his hold on her waist tighten, and her eyes dropped from Elios' eyes to his lips. "I know her, she can't seem to get a certain priest off of her mind either." Their noses touched slightly, and slowly, she tilted her head to the side, and their lips met.
"Oh I don't want a lot for Christmas
This is all I'm asking for
I just want to see baby
Standing right outside my door
Oh I just want him for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
Baby all I want for Christmas is
You..."
"I don't know how, Maiden, but I'm in love with you." Elios murmured against her lips. "I love you too, but are you allowed to be in love? You're a priest after all..." He touched a fingertip to her lips. "Later, Maiden, we can worry about that when the time comes to do so. It's Christmas Eve, do you really want to be thinking about that?" She twined her fingertips through his hair, and he claimed her lips again.
"All I want for Christmas is you baby..."
(c)Mariah Carey
Serena sighed. "I forgive you." Darien turned from the sight of his future daughter kissing his priest. "But do I forgive myself?" She grabbed his tie and yanked his mouth down to her's.