Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I can't believe how long it's been since I've updated this story! I am so sorry... I really hope you haven't given up on me...



Since I haven't updated in forever I'll shut up and get on with it. I don't own Esca or SM. Is that good enough?







Van held Serenity protectively while maneuvering the stunning guymelef. The princess had no reservations against allowing herself to fall into his embrace. Little did they know that a certain silver haired teen was following them in his own guymelef cloaked in the protection of invisibility.



"Van" whispered Serenity, "Please don't say anything to anyone about what happened..."



The young king looked at his angel in confusion. "But why not?"



Serenity let out a soft sigh. "I tried so hard to remember everything. I wanted to know who I was. I was so frustrated with myself for not being able to recall my life before Gaea. Now... I wish I never would've found out. All of my life... er... lives.... I've been weighed down by the burdens that were so carelessly cast upon my shoulders. People have depended on me for millennia without even knowing of my existence. I know I sound selfish but for just once in my life, I want to wake up and watch the morning sun embrace the world without having to worry about what evil entity is going to attempt to destroy it."



"Was your life really that horrible?" Van asked. Compassion and sympathy flooded from his lips that formed a mournful smile.



"Yes... no... I don't know. I won't lie. There were certain periods of my life that were absolutely wonderful, but the entire time I knew that it wouldn't last. You see, I've lived the length of two lives. I was once born as the princess of the moon." Serenity the pointed to the small globe that hovered beside the Mystic Moon. "Unfortunately, the only thing I can remember from that lifetime is my childhood... I don't even know how I died. I was, then, reborn one thousand years later so that I could find the crystal," Serenity fingered her necklace as she spoke, "and protect the world. After that, I remember many painful battles but there are just so many holes in my memories! Then, I remember the discovery that I would one day become Queen. I don't even know how I became the queen... I just know that I ruled over a perfect and peaceful utopia. I..." Serenity's words were immediately cut off by a fierce pain. She held her temples while she trembled within Van's arms.





*Flashback*



An angelic women stood out on her balcony made of pure crystal. She gazed up at the moon and then out into the ocean of glimmering specks of light.



"Mother, it's been so long since I've last seen you. Every night I come out onto this balcony, just like you used to. I remember watching you from far off as you talked to your mother. You would always seek out the moon. I remember how it's silver beams would come and wrap around you. You caught me once and you picked me up. Obviously, I was curious about why the moon's light reacted that way around you. You told me that it was your mother, my grandmother, giving you a hug."



The woman fell silent as her tears overcame her. "It's not fair! Whenever I come out and stand on this balcony, the moon never welcomes me! Ever since the beginning of the moon kingdom, when a queen's time was up, her daughter could always look forward to seeing her mother again once their reign was over. But what about me?! I will never see you again... not in this lifetime, or even the next! Why did fate have to choose you?! Why did it have to be my mother?! My time is as queen is nearly up. I'm about to pass down the throne to my little girl. I should be happy at receiving the honor of finally being able to take my place among the late queens of the moon, but it brings me no comfort! You and Father fought so hard to establish this beautiful kingdom. Father... how selfish am I? This entire time I've been thinking of how much I miss you without even giving a thought to Father. I can't even begin to comprehend the love that the two of you had for each other. How cruel of fate to build the future on the strength of that love only to take it away? It was not even kind enough to leave the hope that your love could ever be restored!"



The sobbing woman fell to her knees before casting her gaze upon the stars once again. "How could you?!" She screamed. The once soft voice was now filled with agony and loathing. "Why couldn't you've found someone else?! Don't you remember everything she went through?! Wasn't that enough?! No, of course not! You won't be satisfied until you've ripped every last shred of happiness from her life! Even when that does happen you still will have no mercy! For the rest of eternity, she will live alone..."



"Mother, I would do anything just to see you one last time! Anything! I wish just once I could feel the moonbeams surround me! Alas, that will never be. When you became Cosmos, you ceased to be a child of the moon. I want so badly to just look upon your face one last time before I die..." The queen's crescent symbol shone brightly upon her brow. "How ironic, you were the Princess of Hope yet hope is the one thing that you possess none of. I'm going to leave this world and cross over to the other side. Throughout the lives of many, the try and abide by what is right in order to be reunited with those they love in heaven. What if heaven is the one place that you are never allowed to dwell in? What reason is there for me to go then?"



"Thank you for all the sacrifices and pain you endured so selflessly. In the afterlife, I will comfort Father, for I know that would be your only desire. The only thing you have enough heart left to wish for. I will stay by his side but I will not give him hope... You are Hope. There can be no hope if you are not there..."



With those final words, the queen collapsed onto the cold crystal, took one last look at the moon, and breathed her last breath. She never had the chance to look at the shimmering light that surrounded her lithe form. However, she must've felt the loving warmth for a gentle smile appeared on her porcelain features.



Cosmos held her child close as pitiful sobs escaped her parched lips. She buried her face into the nook between her daughter's neck and shoulder as she wept. After hours of mourning for her very last joy in life, she slowly raised her head. On her forehead rested a brilliant eight-pointed star and a dimmer crescent moon...



*End of Flashback*





"Serenity!" a voice rang out. Serenity's eyes opened as she gasped.



"I... I... had a... daughter," she stuttered in disbelief.



"What?"



"Rini, she was my daughter. I just had a flashback. I was Cosmos and I watched..." Serenity choked, not wanting to complete the sentence, "I watched her die. She needed me to be there but I wasn't. It was forbidden! The one person alive that actually loved me, was the only one who I could do nothing to for!"



Suddenly, Serenity's frantic cries were silenced by Van's lips planted firmly upon her own. He let them linger for a matter of moments before releasing them and whispering, "I love you."



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







I know this chapter was basically uneventful. I've just had a very upsetting day and I felt like writing a little bit of angst. I cried the whole time. It may or may not be that sad but it sure was when I wrote it... This chapter is important though... I will now shut up before I say more that I should...