When Endymion crashed open the ballroom door with a huge grin on his face the entire room stood silent in shock. And when he started making orders pertaining to the planning of the ball Rei almost feinted. She could hardly believe that this was the same man that left yesterday. Honestly she could hardly remember the last time he was this happy, even when Serenity was alive. He wouldn't even explain what had happened just that she would figure it out at the ball. He wasn't even concerned when they discovered that Jadeite had yet to return, saying that he was perfectly capable of making it back himself. So now Rei was not only once again concerned for the sanity of Endymion, but also the safety Jadeite.
By the time the ball actually started Endymion was still at the same level of excitement. And when the last of the natural light left the ballroom he was practically vibrating with happiness. Rei had been trying to get Endymion involved in conversations with her friends all night. While she was pretty successful in the early hours of the ball, as the night got later Endymion's attention grew shorter. It was nearing the end of the evening when Endymion's behavior finally was understood.
Looking around the room it was obvious that the ball was starting to slow down. It was because of this that it was strange that one of the doormen quickly approaches Rei.
"Princess, we have a new arrival." A surprised look crosses her face.
"All guests are attended for…unless I'm mistaken?"
"Um, no ma'am, you're not mistaken."
"Well then who is it?" If the doorman looked fidgety before, now it looked like he was on the verge of a seizure now. Not only that, but it looks as if his entire face had drained of color.
"It's, well, um, it's" Rei was just about to ask him to spit it out when the ballroom doors flew open and the ballroom became dead silent after a collective gasp.
In the door stood a woman who looked remarkably like Serenity. Physically she was the same petite size with the same hair in her usual hairstyle. There were several differences apparent to Rei though. First was her hair, while it was the exact same color it seemed so much duller to Rei than it was before. It no longer seemed to capture the light in the room, making it look illuminated, but instead seemed to have a lackluster imitation shine. The same could be said about her eyes. Whatever had made her eyes sparkle before was gone now, making her once beautiful eyes seem cold and have a harsh piercing quality. Her choice of clothing was even different. While the dress Serenity wore looked to be the same one she was wearing on the day she disappeared it looked two sizes too small. Rei had never once seen Serenity wearing something that constricting, always preferring loose cloth. Her physical appearance wasn't the only thing different.
While Rei had never spent much time with Serenity, not being able to let her childhood anger go, she was always aware of the younger princess. When Serenity was around everything seemed lighter, she exuded a happiness that even Rei had a hard time ignoring. Now Serenity seemed to exude a darkness, almost as if a showdow entered the room with her. Even the way Serenity held herself was different. Before, Serenity had always been graceful, but there had always been a clumsiness that had made her approachful. Now, however, she seemed to walk with an arrogance that, as she walks down the stairs, makes the people in the room unconsciously push out of the center of the room to avoid her, all of their faces showing a mixture of shock, fear, and the smallest amount of hope that their beloved Serenity had finally returned to them. All their faces except two.
Some may believe that the anger that consumed Rei's expression was due to the grudge she had always had against Serenity. This was far from the truth. In the year that Serenity was gone Rei had come to reevaluate her past actions. She had always believed that Serenity was a plague on her life, taking away her family's love and attention, her friends' too if she had not intervened. But when Serenity disappeared everything fell apart, her brother retreated into himself leaving her the responsibilities of the kingdom when her mother moved in with Selene to comfort and support her grieving friend. General moral around the castle, and even spreading to the outskirts of the kingdom, was at an all time low. And when Rei saw how much better life was with Serenity around she swore to herself that in the unlikely event that Serenity was alive and actually returned, something she would never let herself hope to happen, then she would welcome her back with open arms. But there was one thing that Rei knew to be true from the bottom of her heart, and that was the woman walking down the stairs was not Serenity.
The other exception was of course Endymion. His face showed nothing but happiness. To him she looked as beautiful as she did when he saw her on that lake. She looked almost ethereal walking towards him, her hair glowing as if illuminated by the moonlight. She gives him a smile, her eyes sparkling with happiness. And when they finally reached each other his heart sang out in happiness when she softly grasps his hand.
"I was beginning to think that you weren't going to make it." She looks him in the eyes and lifts her hand, her locket dangling from her outstretched palm.
"Nothing could have kept me away." She gives him a half-smile and he takes the necklace turning her around clasping the necklace around her neck, feeling a since of pride and extreme happiness seeing the locket back in its rightful place.
The room becomes tense though, as the side door slams behind Rei, who had for no reason stormed out of the room. No one dares to say a word, no one except Serenity.
"Are you ready to break the spell?" Endymion looks at her, finally tearing his eyes away from the door. Happiness appears on his face again, only his eyes showing the pain he was feeling from Rei's obvious dismissal.
"What's the rush? You love dancing at balls, so let's relax and we can do a few waltzes. We'll break the spell before the moon sets I swear." He signals the band to start playing again. When he tries to start dancing with Serenity, however, she resists.
"No Endymion, you need to break the spell now." She says looking as if she was about to start having a tantrum.
"Jeez Serenity, calm down. We have plenty of time." She gives a huff of annoyance.
"No we don't. Look, he checks on me every night, at this point he is probably looking for me. I wouldn't be surprised if he was on his way right now. So you need to do whatever it is you are going to do and you need to do it now." She sends him a glare, quickly masking it with fear. But she was not quick enough and Endymion saw the glare she had given him. Endymion had never seen her glare before. Ignoring the nagging voice that appeared with the exit of Rei he nods solemnly then leads her to the front of the room, opposite the entrance, and signals the band again this time stopping the music. He commands the attention of the room then faces her and gets on bended knee.
"Serenity, one year ago I made a mistake. I made you believe that I only wanted a beautiful bride by my side and that I didn't care what you thought about it. And now I kneel before you a humbled man asking you if you would do me the greatest honor of becoming your husband." Serenity lets a huge grin cross her face when, in what seems to be a growing trend, the ballroom doors slam open in a gust of wind that sounded as if it was created by a scream. Almost dancing into the room was a man. With a proud gait his pale white skin almost illuminated. Shoulder length pure white hair covers his head, where in the middle of his forehead is a black crescent moon.
"Hello little prince. I see you decided to go in a different direction." He shakes his head, clicking his tongue as he walks around surveying his surroundings. He gives a smile, as if trying to look happy, that only comes out sneered and distorted on his face.
"Who are you?" Endymion pushes Serenity behind him, having a pretty good idea who the intruder was.
"While I am happy for your decision, I hear Serenity is pretty torn up about it." Endymion just looks at the man incredulously as he picks up a hors d'oeuvre and moans has he sucks the remains off of his fingers.
"What on earth are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the fact that now Serenity will forever be mine." The man makes a grasping motion with his hand a smirk gracing is lips.
"It is you! You have no power here, I have proven my love and your hold over her has been broken." The man lets out a laugh and smiles, once again looking distorted and unnatural on his face, as if he was sharing a private joke.
"Oh I wouldn't say that. Actually I would say that my hold has gotten so tight it's suffocating really." And with that he points at Serenity, who had since moved out from behind Endymion, a shoot of what appears to be lightning leaves his fingers and hits Serenity who immediately collapses. Endymion rushes to her side, lifting her face to see if she was alright only to discover that he was not, in fact, holding Serenity. The woman he was holding has sharp features and a sinister smile. As soon as the illusion was shattered her hair turned waist length and a strange green color, she grew taller and curvier, almost comically so. A horrified look crosses his face and he drops her as if she is on fire and jerks his head up towards the man. "You know what? Serenity's not doing so well. I'm guessing if you hurry you could catch up and say good bye on last time."
The man points toward the window. Endymion looks and in the distance and looks on in terror as he watches a swan flying away from the castle, swaggering, unable to sustain herself, altitude lowering consistently as she slowly falls.
She could barely breathe. As soon as Endymion finished his speech it had started, she had immediately started flying away knowing, for some unknown reason, that she had to return to the lake. She slowly flies her way over the lake, wings skimming the water as she teeters from side to side eventually landing on the small beach she had awoken on a year ago. She transforms back into a human, and while she didn't know why it happened she couldn't help being comforted in the fact that at least she will be able to spend her final moments as a human. And as she lays there, waiting for the breath that would become her last, she thinks about how this had come to be when just last night she had believed things has started to go her way.
Even the sight of Diamond couldn't ruin the good moon she was in after seeing Endymion. So for the first time since she arrived she was smiling as Diamond arrived.
"Hello Serenity, I'm glad to see you're finally starting to enjoy your time here."
"Yes, well it seemed like a smart idea to just let my past go and enjoy what I have now." He gives her a smile, not one of happiness though. He gives her a smile that only has anger behind it.
"And that's what you told Endymion then? That you're letting your past go?" Serenity's jaw drops, wondering how knew and trying to figure out a way to salvage the upper hand she thought she had.
"I…don't know what you're talking about." While her sentence had started off shaky, she managed to sound as though she was telling the truth. But Diamond's jaw only clenches and for the first time he loses his temper around her.
"Don't play dumb with me Serenity! You thought that I wouldn't know? I know everything!" Serenity couldn't hold it in anymore and finally let's go of the anger she had tried so hard keeping in around him.
"You don't know anything! If you knew everything you would know that I would never be yours! I will be with Endymion! He loves me and I love him and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it!" Angry tears cloud her eyes. Diamond grabs her arm painfully and drags her to the shore of the water.
"You are forgetting something my dear." He sneers and grabs her face to look at the moon. "You can't go to the ball because tomorrow night, there is…no…moon." He releases her face and storms away, not before prying open her hand and taking the locket she only just got back, leaving Serenity, who had fallen to her knees, crying into her hands under the moonlight.
She didn't leave that spot for the entire day. It wasn't until the next night that she even moved. She was starting to doubt Endymion. She was worried that if she didn't show up that he would change his mind about her. It was a little silly because she knew that realistically he would probably come find her to make sure she was okay, but she couldn't help but worry.
"Serenity what on earth do you think you're doing!" She lifts her head to see Luna sitting next to her, her expression unreadable.
"Oh Luna, you just don't understand. I'm stuck here. I don't know why but for whatever reason I forgot that tonight was a new moon. Now I can't go to the ball and I'll be stuck a swan forever." The claw came so fast that Serenity didn't even see it coming making her unable to prevent the swipe to her rear end. "Luna! What in the world did you do that for?"
"Obviously you need a wake-up call." Luna huffs and stands on her legs in order to look Serenity in the eyes. "What are you doing here? Endymion knows your swan form! So why don't you go to him, drag him outside, and make him look! Why are you acting like a pathetic little girl! I know you're upset, and I know you're tired but you can't lose hope! So you're going to fly to that castle, you are going to get Endymion and break this spell. And then you are going to come back here and get Artemis and me because we'll miss you too much if you don't take us with you, also you're going to get that poor boy out of the dungeon." That comment got the most reaction from Serenity.
"What boy?"
"I don't know just some lost hunter that Diamond caught wondering in the woods. He's fine, just in one of the empty cells in the castle. Artemis and I will make sure he gets some food. Now Serenity, if you don't go right now, god help me I will make you go."
Serenity smiles at Luna and flies off into the night. She was half expecting to arrive to see a distraught Endymion sulking in the corner looking wistfully at the door, you know, something that a brooding type like Endymion would do. When she got there however, this was not the case. She looked in a window and saw Endymion holding hands with…herself. She starts fling desperately around the castle, looking for an open window, a propped open door, anything that she would be able to use to get inside. But it was no use. Even the cellar door was padlocked shut. And when she felt the pain in her heart she flew to the nearest window to the ballroom door and saw Endymion on bended knee before the imposter. At that point she started tapping on the window trying to get some attention, but no one noticed, and then it was too late. Her chest tightened up, her airways constricting and gasping for breath she started to fly back to the lake.
Serenity was terrified of death. She always had been. Whenever anyone or anything died, including trees, she always got emotionally distraught. Everyone had always thought that it was because she was a gentle soul, but it was because she was terrified. She was terrified that when things and people died they were along which was her worst fear. But she couldn't help but feel peaceful as her breathing slowed and her vision started fading, almost as if she knew that when she finally passed that she would still be happy and surrounded by love. And she was about to let go when she heard him.
Endymion was going to owe Rei big time. He wasn't sure how she knew, but when he raced out of the ballroom, about to go get a horse when he saw her sitting on a already saddled horse, and an empty one next to her. All she does is nod her head at him, then he jumps on the horse and they take off.
It felt as though the ride took a month. To Endymion time was fading fast and the horse was going to slow. The scenery never seemed to change and he was relieved to finally see the lake up ahead. But the site that greeted him broke his heart for what seemed the millionth time. As he saw Serenity sprawled on the beach of the lake time stood still. He called her name and raced over to her, all sound seeming to disappear, leaving nothing but the sound of her shallow breathing left. He falls to his knees and gently cradles her into his arms. Tears leave his eyes as she opens her eye lids open, heavy with lethargy.
"Endymion?" She croaks her lips blue and gasping for breath.
"I'm here Serenity, I'm here. I am so sorry. I was only trying to help." She does her best to smile at him, but it comes out weak and shaky.
"I know….Endymion, I think…" She breaks off in yet another gasp.
"Shh, Serenity. You're going to be fine. I'm going to fix this I swear." He gives a small sob as Serenity's shaking head raises to touch his cheek.
"I love you Endymion." Her hand drops and head lolls back, the gasping finally growing silent. Endymion crushes her body to his, rocking her as he calls her name several times. He sets her on the ground gently.
"I was talking to her! Do you here? I thought it was her!" He yells as he screams into the night. A chuckling echoes behind him.
"Now, now, there's no need to shout." Endymion jerks his head toward the voice only to see the man responsible for all of this. He gets to his feet and walks quickly toward him.
"Don't let her die." He says in a steely voice.
"Is that a threat?" The man says, one eyebrow rising. Endymion just fists his jacket pulling him closer.
"Don't you dare let her die."
"Oh, it is a threat." Endymion roughly shoves him backwards then pulls out the sword he always wears with his formal ware and points it at him as he makes his threat.
"You're the only one who has the power. Now do it!" Endymion's sword shakes with his anger.
"Only if you defeat…me." He raises a fist and slams whatever was inside to the ground. A cloud of golden smoke clears and in front of Endymion is what he can only assume is the creature, who lets out a loud screech. Its black wings disappear into the dark night sky as he spreads them. Even with the extra training the past year, it was incredibly difficult fighting the creature. The sword was ineffective against the creature as it had immediately had grabbed it in its claws and broke it in half. Endymion had tried to fight it off by what was on the ground but it was impossible. He had finally decided to resign himself to his fate relishing in the fact that at least he will be joining Serenity soon. The creature was starting its final dive to end Endymion when the most unexpected thing happened. Whizzing through the air was an arrow. He had no idea where it came from, but just stared blankly as it hits the creature, a streak of gold coming out of it as it screeches one last time before falling to the ground disappearing in a blast of gold.
Rei wasn't sure why she got the horses ready. But as soon as she saw Endymion clasp the locket around the imposter's neck, she knew it was something she needed to do. She also didn't know why she followed Endymion through the woods. But she was glad she did. When they had arrived at a hidden castle with a lake Endymion went straight to the fallen Serenity. Rei dismounted and looked on sadly as Endymion cradled the real Serenity, not really understanding what was going on. All of the sudden she felt something rubbing against her leg and looks down to discover a black cat rubbing against her.
"Hi little kitty, who's are you?" Rei bends down to scratch the cat's ears but stops midway.
"I'll have you know that I am not a little kitty, nor am I owned. I am a friend of Serenity's though."
"You can talk!" Rei's jaw drops.
"We can talk about that later, right now I think you need to see something."
The cat led her to a small dungeon where she discovered Jadeite was being held. She frees him, but before they were able to share their stories of how they arrived there, they heard a screech. Racing outside they arrive at the shore in time to see the creature rising up for his last dive.
"Why isn't he doing anything?" Rei asks, knowing that her brother had given up when she looked at the part of the shore by Endymion and saw the motionless Serenity. As the creature starts his descant she saw the bow and arrow that was lying discarded on the ground. Without even thinking she picks up the weapon immediately able to go into the proper stance from years of perfecting the skill. Pulling the arrow taut she lifts and aims, not even hesitating as she lets the arrow fly.
Endymion didn't really care who shot the arrow that saved his life, all he cared about was the love of his life laying motionless a few feet away. He crawls to her, leg injured by the creature's attack calling to her sounding as heartbroken as he felt.
"Serenity?" He picks her up moving his legs to rest outstretched in front of him and cradles her to him rocking back and forth. "Wake up Serenity. Come on baby, I know you can do it. You have to wake up." He chokes back a sob. "I can't do this without you Serenity, I need you." He pushes her bangs away from her face. "I will always need you. You are the most beautiful person I have met and it's not because of your physical appearance, it's because of your compassion and how you love everyone even when they don't deserve it. I know I don't deserve your love because I made you believe that I thought that those things that make you beautiful don't mean anything, but I love you Serenity. I love you so much, and I will always love you. It's always been you. And I'm just so sorry I never told you any of this when I could." The end of his speech comes out in short bursts due to Endymion's sobbing, painful to those who could hear it. Especially Serenity, who had miraculously awoken to his sobbing.
"Endymion?" The sweetest sound in the world to the heartbroken Endymion who looks at her to see her tired eyes open, breath returned to her body.
"Serenity?" He asks, sobs calming down slightly.
"Oh, Endymion." She gets on her knees to cradle him in her arms as she tries to calms him down. Both relishing in the fact that they can hold on to each other for at least one more day.
And Luna, standing with Artemis, Rei and Jadeite, sighs with relief and says in a reverent voice, quiet so to not disturb the reuniting couple, "Well, there you have it. Everlasting love."
AN: Yay! Now just the epilogue. I will be making at least one sequel, and I might do some outtakes (maybe some more scenes from their childhood, and maybe jadeite's tale) Hope you liked it, and dori-tori I hope you found something unexpected :) (I appreciate the comment, and I tried but I don't know how well I did but I think you might find something a little unexpected in the epilogue :) ). Also, neko-chiidesu I hope it was longer for you :). Anyway I just want to thank anyone who stuck with it, and especially thank you for the comments. I always like hearing that you really liked something, or any constructive comments you have! Lastly, I am aiming to post the epilogue by the 17th at the very latest.
