A couple people have asked for various flashbacks of different couples
during the sliver millennium. That is what is going to happen during
this section. There will be flashbacks of how each couple met, except
for Mars and Pluto, because I already did those. I will also do
flashbacks of battles, how they fell in love and their deaths, besides
Duo and Hotaru because I have already done their deaths. I will also do
memories for Lilly and Terra. There will be a couple parts of Memories,
I'm not sure how many, but five or under so I'm warning everyone now, it
will be a while before the story goes any further. In chapter 15 or 16
or so, it will pick up with when Lilly gets there and then I'll do her
memories in the chapter after that, or maybe even in the same one. I'm
not sure. But these chapters are going to be long, I'm warning you now.
Write me and tell me what you think of these histories. Now, here they
are.
Ranma ½: Life, Love, and Death
Memories part 1
Saturn and Mercury
***************
Chapter 11
***************
"…so that's what's happening with the others. They should be back in a
couple days." Mina said as she finished explaining everything to the
others at the scout meeting.
"Well, I just hope that there aren't any more attacks before they get
back." Sestuna said as she leaned back against Trowa's chest. She was
currently sitting on his lap while he was sitting on the floor, leaning
back against the wall to Rei's room.
"We could handle it." Heero said coldly. He and Ami were sitting next to
each other on the bed with Quatre and Mina sitting next to them,
cuddling.
"Self-destructing to win doesn't count as being able to handle it and
you know that you would do that to stop an attack." Duo said from his
place next to Sestuna and Trowa, with Hotaru curled up in his lap. Lita
was sitting next to him with Ranma further away in the corner of the
room, away from everyone. Serena, Rini, and Darien were sitting together near the bed. Wufei and Rei were on opposite sides of the room, pointedly ignoring each other, and the five Chibi-knights were clustered
around the table, pigging out on snacks and looking at Rei's picture
albums, not really paying to much attention to what was going on around
them.
Heero didn't bother to respond to Duo, but merely settled for glaring at
him.
"Enough with the glare." Duo said with a grin as he cuddled Hotaru
closer. Turning to Ranma, he asked, "Are we having our training session
today?"
"No. I have to check out some apartments." Ranma said emotionlessly as
he looked at the braided Knight.
"When will the next one be then?"
"When I get my own place and get a job, we will figure out when we can
do it. Until then, you practice on your own. You know at least one kata
and you can run without my help." Ranma said, then stood up and left,
saying goodbye in a soft voice just before he slid the door closed
behind him.
"Well, I guess this meeting is over." Serena said and the others nodded
slowly.
"I have chores to do." Rei said as she too headed for the door. "I have
to do all of Chad's chores too."
"Why? Where's Chad?" Mina asked, looking at her in concern.
"We don't know. He just disappeared the night that we gave the knights
back their memories. He just vanished. We know he didn't leave because
all his things are still here, including his wallet and money." Rei said
as she paused by the door. "I wish I knew what happened to him." She
sighed as she left, calling over her shoulder, "You guys can stay or go,
but please get out of my room."
Almost everyone decided to leave, the exceptions being Tai, Wufei, and
Serena, who wanted to talk to Rei as she worked.
Duo and Hotaru ended up walking alone together in the park, just
enjoying being with each other. Hotaru broke the silence after a while.
"Duo, will you tell me about how we met? I can't remember too much of
when we were together during the silver millennium." She said quietly
and he nodded as they sat down together on a bench that over looked the
lake.
"We meet before I became your knight…" Duo began.
***************
Flashback
***************
"Come back here, thief!" a soldier shouted as he ran down the halls of
the Saturn Palace. He was chasing a young boy about eight as he ran away
from him.
The child was dressed in rags and extremely dirty and he was carrying a
loaf of bread and a couple pieces of fruit. Turning he cast as quick
look over his shoulder at the guard, as he increased his speed. Because
he was looking behind him, he missed seeing one of the doors to the
hallway open and a little girl dressed in a fancy purple dress step out
to see what all the shouting was about.
He slammed into her, knocking them both to the ground. "Ow…" he said as
he sat up, holding his head where he had banged it against the floor.
Looking up, he saw the surprised girl's face, and froze for a moment
before he shot to his feet and reached down to grab the food while he
said quickly, "I'm sorry, but I got to go."
She stared at him as he stood up and started running, but a huge arm
shot out and grabbed him by the arm, yanking him backwards. "What…?" she
managed to gasp as she got her breath back from when she had lost it
upon impact with the hard ground.
"Hey, ouch! Let me, go! OW!" the boy shouted as the guard twisted his
arm behind his back.
"What's going on?" she finally managed to say.
"I'm sorry, your highness, but the street rat broke into the kitchen and
stole some food." The guard said as he bowed to her, not loosing his
grip on the boy at all.
"I need to eat too, ya know! And it's not our fault we don't have anyone
to look out for us except oursel…OW!!!" the boy screamed as the guard
tightened his grip on his arm roughly.
"Please excuse us. I need to take him to the dungeon. Good day, Princess
Hotaru." The guard said as he bowed again before turning away and
dragging the boy along.
They were gone before Hotaru could say anything. Looking down, she saw
the loaf of bread and the two apples on the floor and she picked them up
slowly. She wasn't sure why, but that boy had felt familiar to her, as
if he was an old friend she hadn't seen in a long time, but she knew she
had never seen him before. Sighing, she turned to go back into her room,
when something told her that she had to go see the boy immediately.
She had learned to trust her feelings, so she immediately rushed after
the guard and the boy, hoping that nothing bad would happen to him
before she got there. There had been some rumors going around that some
of the dungeon guards liked to torture prisoners for the smallest things
and she had a feeling that the huge guard that had just dragged the boy
down there was one of them.
The closer and closer she got to the dungeon, though, the more the
feeling of wrongness intensified until she was shaking as she descended
the steps that led to it. As she crept down the last few steps and
peeked around the corner, a sudden scream sent her tripping backwards
until she fell as her foot hit the bottom step.
The scream trailed off and she gathered her courage to look around the
corner. What she saw, froze her blood in shock and horror.
Two guards were hold the boy up by his arms while a third beat him about
the face and another one was behind the boy, raping him. That was what
had caused him to scream. Now he just hung there, tears streaming down
his face and he fought to keep the screams from emerging from his mouth.
All that were coming out were tiny whimpers that seemed to encourage the
guard behind him. The guard picked up the pace as he pounded into him
until, suddenly, he threw back his head with a roar of completion.
As he drew out of the boy, Hotaru could see blood on him with even more
dripping onto the ground from the boy. She watched in horror as the
guard traded places with one of the men hold his arms while the man that
had been beating him now lowered his pants and shoved himself into the
boy's mouth, causing him to choke as he squeezed his eyes tightly shut.
When the man behind shoved into him again, his eyes flew open as another
muffled scream tried to work its way out around the cock in his mouth.
His pain filled violet eyes locked with Hotaru's horrified ones and
seemed to convey the message of 'HELP!' to her. Abruptly she spun away
and raced quietly up the stairs. Slipping back into the palace hallways,
she caught sight of her mother and father as they walked down the hall
together.
"Mommy, Daddy! Help!!" she shouted as she raced towards them.
They turned in surprise to see their daughter racing towards them with
tears in her eyes. Quickly the King scooped her up and hugged her as she
sobbed. "What is it, honey?" he asked concerned as she clung to him.
"You have to help him!" she wailed.
"Help who?" he asked.
"The boy the guards are hurting. He only tried to take some bread and
apples and now they're hurting him!" she cried as she struggled to be
let down.
"What do you mean?!" the queen gasped, horrified as Hotaru grabbed their
hands and dragged them down the hall to the door that led down to the
dungeon. She opened the door just as another muffled scream was wrenched
from the boy.
Immediately the royal family rushed down the steps, but stopped in shock
when they saw what was going on. The boy was dangling between two men as
the other two pounded into him, causing the thin body to shake and
shiver. He would have collapsed already if the two weren't holding him
up and he slipped into unconsciousness as soon as he saw Hotaru and her
parents.
"What is the meaning of this?!" the king roared, causing the four guards
to freeze in shock. They had been so wrapped up what they were doing
they hadn't even realized that they weren't alone anymore.
"Yo…your Majesties!" one of the men stuttered as he hurriedly pulled up
his pants. The others also straightened their clothes, dropping the boy
on the ground. "um…err…that is…I mean.." the guard trailed off
uncertainly as he looked over at one of the others, who happened to be
the one that had been chasing the boy earlier.
"You will explain yourself later." The King snapped then quickly took
off his cape and bundled the boy into it. Carefully, he rushed up the
stairs with his wife and daughter right behind him.
They took him to the infirmary where Hotaru and her mother used their
healing powers to heal him of most of the damage. However, they didn't
have enough energy to finish healing all the bruises. He woke up after
they had stopped to slump in their chairs and he sat up quickly and
tried to get away from them, but only managed to end up falling off the
bed.
As he hit the floor hard, the king leaned over him, intending to pick
him up and put him back on the bed, but he stopped as he saw the terror
on his face and the way he cringed. "Hotaru, will you come here, and
help me. We need to get him back on the bed, but he seems terrified of
me. Maybe a girl would help calm him down." The king said and she
hurried around the corner of the bed.
As soon as he saw her, he lunged at her and grabbed her as if she was a
lifeline and he was drowning. Clinging to her, he buried his head into
her shoulder and started crying, though she could hear him faintly
repeating to himself, "Boy's don't cry, boy's don't cry." She managed to
get them both sitting on the edge of the bed, but he refused to let go
of her, even as his tears trailed off.
"What's your name?" she whispered to him and she faintly heard him say
Duo. The Queen wrapped a sheet around him as he was still dressed only
in his torn rags that didn't really cover anything.
"Well Duo, would you like to stay here for a while?" the queen asked as
she sat down next to him and he hesitantly looked at her before nodding
slowly.
"That's wonderful. We'll have a room prepared for you near Hotaru's
since you seem calmer near her." She said with a gentle smile and he
smiled in return before it left his face and he buried his face in
Hotaru's shoulder again.
***************
End Flashback
***************
"I stayed with you and your family for a couple months after that until
one night someone came into my room and kidnapped me. I was taken to
earth for a while and abandoned there. I eventually forgot about my time
spent at the palace with you and your family, believing that it was all
a big dream. I entered the Earth's army where I earned the nickname
Shinigami." Duo said and paused to draw a breath.
It had been incredibly painful for him to talk about what had happened
to him, but he had needed to talk about it since he had remembered it
and she had the right to know, so it worked out for the both of them.
"That was horrible!" Hotaru exclaimed as she shuddered and leaned on
him.
Smiling gently, he wrapped his arms around her and said, "I know and I
had at even worse before I went to stay with you. But our next meeting
was much better. It was six years later and I was fourteen…"
***************
Flashback
***************
Duo was exercising when a soldier ran up to him, waving a letter at him.
"Duo! You got a letter from someone!" the soldier shouted as he skidded
to a stop next to Duo as finished doing his sit ups and stood up.
"Who would be sending me a letter?" he wondered out loud as he took it
from the man. "Thanks, Kell." He said as he stared at the envelope in
his hands.
"So open it already!" Kell exclaimed after a moment. Duo laughed
slightly as he opened it and brought out a couple of pages.
Dear Duo,
I have been looking for you for the last six
years ever since you were kidnapped from the
Saturn Royal Palace and I have been desperately
worried. You were my only friend for those four
months you stayed with us and it saddened all of
us when you disappeared. Mother had her friend
Sailor Mars find you with the sacred fire and so
at last I could look into your beautiful purple
eyes and know that you would protect me.
Apparently, my protector was killed or went
missing a long time and I have the choice of who
I want to come protect me. I would be delighted
if you would come and take the position, but
even if you decided that you don't want to,
please come back to me. I don't know how I
survived the last six years without you and I
want to know what has happened to you during
this time.
I have enclosed a royal order with this letter
so that you would be able to come and I dearly
wish that you would use it to come back.
With all my love,
Princess Hotaru of Saturn
Firefly
Duo stared at the letter in his hand while Kell jumped around next to
him as he waited impatiently for information on who had sent the letter
and what it was all about. Finally, he snatched the letter out of Duo
hand, not that he noticed, he was in so much shock.
Looking over the letter, he caught sight of the signature at the bottom
and almost dropped the papers in surprise. "Princess Hotaru of Saturn
wrote you a letter?! How the hell do you know the princess of Saturn?!"
he exclaimed, jarring Duo out of his shock and back to his friend.
"She saved my life when we were eight and I stayed with her family for a
while." Duo snapped and Kell looked at him in shock.
"…" Kell didn't know what to say and he seemed frozen as he stared at
Duo. Duo didn't notice, however as he turned and hurried to his room to
pack his few possessions into a bag and then hurried in the direction of
his superior's office.
When he had joined the earth army five years before, the commanders had
seen potential in him and had made him into a living weapon. At the
tender age of ten he had gone on his first mission where he had had to
kill forty men of an opposing army in the middle of the night. They had
turned him into a professional killer, the perfect soldier. Their
training methods would be considered torture to everyone else, but they
had continued to train him like that until he had almost no emotions and
would follow every order to the letter, even killing an five year old
little girl that had seen him come out of a tent that he had just killed
someone. His orders had been to eliminate his target and any witnesses
and he had followed those orders. It had driven him insane and he had
almost killed his commander when he had returned. They put him into a
padded room and he slowly brought him back from madness. After he had
been deemed sane, he had been put into a special team that took care of
special missions, and he no longer had to kill as many people anymore.
Instead, he was doing infiltration and his team took care of any
witnesses. While he was against killing innocents, he would do it if
there was no other choice.
He had been surrounded by death and pain since he could remember and now
the one person who made everything all right had sent him away to get
back to her.
He knocked on the commander's office door and entered when bidden. "What
is it, Shinigami?" the man said as Duo saluted him.
"I have received royal orders to go immediately to the royal palace of
Saturn. I have come to inform you that I will be leaving within the hour
on the first transport that I can find." Duo said as he handed over the
paper Hotaru had sent with her letter.
"Well, it seems that I must let you go. When will you be returning to
us?"
"I don't know. Maybe never. I have been offered a job of being Princess
Hotaru's protector." Duo said and the commander looked at him in
surprise.
"I see. Well then, you are dismissed."
Within moments, Duo was back outside the office and on his way to the
transporter where he would be shipped out immediately. The transporter
was a machine that converted you to energy and then shipped that energy
along a beam that led to a destination. It would take roughly about two
minutes as it went around the speed of light. But they had schedule of
when they ship people and things along the transporter so if you miss
you shipment, it would be another day before there was another one as
each destination was connected once a day because there was only the one
machine to send things to all the planets and moons that were a part of
the Silver Alliance.
As it turned out, he had timed it perfectly. He had only enough time to
step onto the platform with the other people and objects being
transported before the machine shipped them.
When he arrived, he found a beautiful girl his age with short black hair
and violet eyes wearing a long purple and black dress waiting for him.
He immediately knew that it was Hotaru and she immediately knew who he
was. Gracefully, she approached him, stopping just a few feet away from
him as he dropped his bag at his feet to bow to her. As soon as he was
upright again, though, she discarded formalities and lunged into his
arms.
"I'm so glad you came, Duo." She whispered against his chest. He had
just hit a growth spurt and was now at 5'2 and he was still growing. She
was 4'11 and so was not that much smaller than he was.
Wrapping his arms around her slowly, he whispered back, "I thought the
time I spent with you was just a dream. I'm so happy it wasn't."
Leaning her head back a little, she looked up at him and smiled,
uncaring that everyone else from the transport and the crew that ran it
were standing around starring at them. After all, it's not everyday you
see the Princess throw herself into the arms of a soldier from earth.
"It wasn't a dream and neither is this." She said and kissed him,
surprising everyone, including herself and Duo.
Blushing bright red, she let him go and grabbed his hand, dragging him
after her as she hurried towards the coach that would take them back to
the palace. Duo tossed his bag up to the coachman and settled into the
enclosed carriage across from Hotaru. Within two minutes, she was
sitting next to him with her head on his shoulder and they passed the
short ride in comfortable silence, as they cuddled together.
When they emerged from the carriage at the palace, the king and Queen
were waiting for them. The queen immediately swept him up into a hug
while the king just settled for shaking his hand.
"It is so good to see you Duo. We were so worried about you!" the queen
said as she hooked one arm around Duo and the other around Hotaru and
lead them into the palace.
"It's good to see you to, Your Majesty. And I didn't mean to worry you."
Duo said sheepishly. "I was only around eight when they kidnapped me and
took me to earth. I couldn't get transport back or even try and send you
a message because no one takes a child very seriously."
"That is, unfortunately, all to true. So what have you been doing since
then? Mars found you in the Earth army! I mean, you're just so young.
Why would you be in the army?" she said and a shadow passed over his
face, causing the others to look at him in concern.
Seeing their worry, he waved his hand and said in a cheerful, if dark
way, "When I was nine I went to the army commanders and applied to
become a soldier. They don't usually do that with someone so young, but
they said I had potential so they took me in for special training. I
should have asked what the special training was but I was just happy
that I wouldn't have to live on the street anymore."
"What was the special training about?" the king asked as they turned
down a hall where his bedroom was.
"They made me into Shinigami." He said pulling away from the queen a
little. She and the king stared at him in horror while Hotaru just
looked confused.
"What's Shinigami?" she asked and he said softly, "The god of death."
"Well, that's perfect then if you accept the position of my guardian."
Hotaru said with a smile at the confused boy in front of her.
"Why is it good?" he demanded, shuddering at some unpleasant memories.
"Because, I'm going to be the Sailor scout of Death, Destruction, and
Rebirth. The Messiah of Silence."
"…what?"
"I'm going to be Sailor Saturn but Saturn Knight, my protector is gone.
You see, the Saturn K. for the last Sailor Saturn disappeared years ago
without a son and no one can find him, but without him or his son, I
don't have a protector." Hotaru said quietly.
"I'll protect you until the end. I promise." Duo said as he bowed to
her.
"I'm so glad!" she said as she threw herself into his arms to give him a
hug.
Behind them, they heard someone clear their throat and they separated
hastily as they realized that her parents were there, a little fact that
had slipped both of their minds. "Well, I'm glad you're going to become
Saturn K., but first we need to know more about you. We didn't go into
your past the last time you were here, but I would like to get to know
you better." The king said and the queen nodded in agreement.
Duo nodded reluctantly, then excused himself to shower and change before
getting into his past with them, promising to meet them in the throne
room as soon as he was done. It took him twenty minutes to finish his
shower and another twenty minutes to towel dry his long hair. He left it
loose to dry as he put on his clothes, which consisted of tight black
breeches and a long sleeved white shirt with a long sleeved black tunic
on top. He rolled the sleeves of both shirts up together so that the
white of the undershirt was shown on the cuffs just above his elbow. He
also put on soft back boots that made it possible for him to be
completely silent when he moved.
Looking at the clock, he gasped as he realized that he had been getting
ready for almost an hour and he rushed from the room, forgetting that
his hair was still loose. As he raced soundlessly down the hall, he
hoped that they hadn't waited there since he had went for his shower.
Pausing for a moment out side of the door, he ran his fingers through
his hair, just then realizing that he hadn't braided it. "Damn it." He
muttered, and then pushed the door open. Inside, the royal family was
sitting around a small table talking. At his entrance, they looked up at
him, though only Hotaru smiled.
"Your Majesties, I'm sorry I'm so late." He said as he bowed to them.
"It's ok, Duo. With that much hair, I guess it takes awhile to get it
clean." Hotaru said as she motioned him to take the seat next to her's.
"It does, and I forgot to braid it before coming here. It's going to be
a pain to brush tonight." Duo said with a wry smile as he sat down.
"I can braid it for you." she said as she jumped up from her seat.
Within a few minutes, the huge mass of hair had been plaited, despite
his protests that he could do it later. "There." She said as she tied
off the end with the leather tie he had grudgingly handed her. "All
done!"
"Thank you princess." He said with a smile as he bowed his head towards
her respectively.
"Please stop with the bowing. We're friends right?" she demanded and he
nodded slowly. After a moment of silence, she asked, "Where did you get
that tattoo from? It's really neat looking."
"What tattoo?" the queen asked, finally speaking up. She wasn't sure if
she liked the idea that her daughter's protector having tattoos.
"I don't think it's a tattoo. I've had it for as long as I can remember
and I don't think someone would have their child tattooed before they
were even five." Duo said as he reached up and touched the back of his
neck under his hair. That was where it was, but he had never seen it
before. He had had some other people tell him about it the few times he
let anyone touch his hair and they had seen it. The first person to see
it was Gent, another street rat he had lived with when he was five. Gent
had always brushed out his hair for him at night before going to sleep
and had commented on it once before he died.
"It's a glaive and a scythe crossing each other." Hotaru said and they
looked sharply at Duo for a moment before the queen stood up and came
around the table.
"Let me see it." She demanded and he reluctantly moved his hair away
from his neck. Sure enough in the center of his neck was a picture of
the Silence Glaive and a scythe crossed at the handles with the blade of
the scythe passing behind the blade of the glaive. The detail was
excellent and suddenly, the queen knew exactly who Duo was.
As she took her seat again, she asked him, "Duo, do you remember your
family?"
"Not really. I remember someone with really long black hair, but that's
about it." He said confused. "Why?"
"Well, Duo, you just confirmed a suspicion I had. You see, the protector
of Sailor Saturn had a hereditary symbol of the Silence Glaive and the
Death Scythe crossed. Most knights have some symbol that will identify
they as knights, but not all of them are in the same place. The previous
Saturn K. had it on his shoulder and the one before him had it at the
base of his spine on the small of his back. This mark cannot be
duplicated and you have the mark."
"I what?!" Duo exclaimed as he stared at her in shock.
"You are the son of Saturn Knight. There for, you are Hotaru's protector
by right of birth." The queen said with a soft smile at the young man
across from her.
"This is great!" Hotaru shout as she jumped up and wrapped her arms
around him. This was so unlike the Hotaru that everyone knew, the others
stared at her for a moment. Not even two seconds after Duo had gotten
over his shock at finding out that someone knew something about his
past, he jumped up and started dancing around in joy with Hotaru.
The king and queen let them carry on for a few minutes before they
approached them, their faces wreathed in smiles. "Duo, Hotaru, it is
time for you to take your places in this world." The queen said as she
pulled out a transformation wand and handed it to Hotaru, then took out
a transformation disk with a scythe on it and handed it to Duo.
"Hotaru, say Saturn Planet Power and you will transform into Sailor
Saturn. I have a more advanced wand that you will inherit when you are
ready." The queen said and her daughter nodded.
"Saturn Planet POWER!!!" Hotaru shouted as she raised the wand above her
head. She was engulfed in a bright purple light. When it cleared, she
was dressed in a sailor uniform with dark blue skirt and collar and
black bows in front and behind at the top of the skirt. White gloves
with dark blue material at the top encased her arms and a tiara with a
dark blue stone in it rested on her forehead. On her feet were boots the
same shade as her skirt that laced up to her knees.
As she studied herself, Duo also found himself doing the same. She may
be only fourteen, but in that outfit, it made her look much older and
much sexier. "Wow…" was all he could say as he took in the short skirt
and the skintight body suit. "You look great."
Hotaru blushed and looked down, tugging on the skirt to try and make it
cover more of her.
"Now it is your turn, Duo." The king said, snapping the kid out of his
musings. "You don't need to say anything to transform, but if you need
something to help get going, just say something like Saturn Knight
Power."
Nodding, Duo stepped back and held up the disk. "Saturn Knight Power!"
he shouted. A black and purple light covered him and formed a gray
uniform with a black cape thrown over his shoulders and a dark purple
mask appeared over his eyes. Then, to the surprise of all, two things
happened. In his hands appeared the Death Scythe. The blade was made out
of a silver looking metal that glowed in the light and a deep brown
wooden shaft supported it. While it looked just like a regular farm
implement, Duo could feel the power that coursed through it, making it
almost vibrate in his hands.
The second surprise, though, was much more of a shock. As the last of
the black and purple light disappeared, two great big black leathery
wings sprouted from his back. Duo felt no pain as it happened, but
instead felt as though something that had been missing had returned.
Spreading them, he flapped them once and suddenly, he was in the air,
hovering just about the others' startled heads.
"Uh, mom? Where did the wings come from?" Hotaru asked as she looked up
in wonderment.
"There was a prophesy about Saturn K. that has been passed down for
generations. It is said that when the one destined to wield the Death
Scythe, which disappeared thousands of years ago, took up his
transformation, it would appear in his hands and great black wings would
carry him to his destiny." The queen said, awed by the sight of the
hovering fighter.
"Destiny? What destiny? I though it was to protect Sailor Saturn."
Saturn K. said as he gently came to rest on the floor again.
"You have two destinies." The queen said. "One is to protect Sailor
Saturn. But the other one is unknown to us. The prophecy said that only
he would know it when the time came."
"I see."
"Is there anyway to make the wings disappear?" the king asked suddenly.
"I think so. Hold on a minute." Duo said and closed his eyes in
concentration. After a moment, he opened his eyes and said, "There."
Suddenly the wings dissipated like smoke. "I think I'll be able to keep
them from forming when I transform now."
"Why?" Hotaru asked.
"Well, I don't want anyone to see them yet. What the enemy doesn't know
can be a great advantage in battle." Duo said as he dismissed the Death
Scythe to some subspace pocket to keep it there until he needed it.
"Well, here's to a new beginning." The King said as he picked up his
glass of wine from the table.
***************
End Flashback
***************
"After that, we trained with each other and the others, got stronger,
and fell in love. The others never did find out about my wings and we
never mentioned it to anyone." Duo said, finishing his story.
Hotaru didn't say anything for a moment as she cuddled closer to him,
thinking about what he had told her. Now that he had reminded her, she
was starting to remember them herself. Finally, she asked, "Duo, can you
make your wings appear when you're not in uniform?"
"Yes, I can. Why, you want a ride?" he asked he, a teasing glint in his
eyes.
"Yes." She said simply and stood up. They had been there for a few hours
and it was now almost four o'clock. Standing, he concentrated and his
wings formed quickly, seeming to ooze out of his back.
"Hang on." He said as he scooped her into his arms and took off. As they
flew, they spotted Heero and Ami standing next to the lake talking.
"Ami, thanks for coming with me to talk." Heero said as he stared out at
the waters of the lake.
"It's not a problem, Heero. What did you want to talk about?" Ami asked
as she turned to look at her companion.
"I want to know what you know about us in the past. I can remember some
things, but not everything."
"What do you remember?" she asked curious.
"Our first meeting and training a little bit." He said after a pause.
"I don't remember those, but I have some memories of battles where we
fought together and our deaths." She said quietly. "Why don't we tell
each other what we remember? I've found if someone talks about something
from then, it stimulates our memories and you start to remember things
faster."
"Since I remember our first meeting, I'll go first." He said and led her
over to a bench and sat down while he collected his thoughts. Finally he
started his story.
"We met on the day we got our transformations…"
***************
Flashback
***************
"Ami, I would like you to meet the son of a very dear friend of mine."
The Queen of Mercury said as she entered the library in the Mercury
palace. Ami was sitting at a table, surrounded by books and papers as
she filled a notebook with notes as she read from one of the thick
volumes.
At her mother's entrance, she put her pen down and stood up, turning
towards her mother and a boy about her age that was standing next to
her. He was about 5'4 with messy brown hair that hung in his cobalt blue
eyes a little bit. He was dressed in a tunic and hose with designs of
drops of water in various shade of blue at the hem, collar, and cuffs of
the tunic. He also had dark blue boots made of the softest leather on
his feet.
"Ami, this is Odin. He and his father are visiting us and I need to talk
to his father privately for a while. I want you to get to know Odin here
and show him around." The queen said and Ami nodded. Within a few
moments, they were alone in the huge library, silently starring at each
other, each trying to figure a way to break the uncomfortable silence
without making a fool of themselves.
Finally, Odin looked around and spotted the pile of books that Ami had
been studying. "What were you working on?" he asked and Ami immediately
latched onto the topic.
"These are medical texts centered on surgical procedures and the anatomy
of various sentient species of beings around the universe. There are
also a couple books on the work of several herbalists and what herbs can
cure or stall which sickness." She said happily as she lead the way over
to the table and pointed out various books.
"You want to be a doctor?" he asked and she nodded.
"I would love to be able to help people and not just as a queen when I
grow up." She said and he nodded.
"That has always been my dream to be a doctor. Tell me have you read to
book about Diakioustopia by Dr. Honard?" he asked as he held out a chair
for Ami then sat down next to her. (Don't even try to look up
Diakioustopia. I made it up on the spot.)
"Why, no I haven't. That is a little out of the range of what I'm
currently studying. It concerns the brain, right?" she said and he
nodded.
Two hours later when the Queen came looking for them, she found them
curled up on opposite ends of a couch discussing medical things that
gave the queen a headache whenever she tried to follow the conversation.
"Ami, Odin, I would like to speak to both of you please." She said,
interrupting before they could get any deeper in their conversation.
Nodding, they stood and followed her to the throne room where Odin's
father was waiting. Once they were inside and the guards were dismissed,
the queen turned to the children and addressed the children, who looked
like they wanted to go back to the library and continue their
discussion.
"Ami, Odin, it is time for you to help make the universe a better
place." She said and they looked at her confused.
"What do you mean, mother?" Ami asked, not sure if she really wanted to
know judging by the look in her mom's eyes.
"What I mean, dear, is that it is your turn to take up the mantel of
being Sailor Mercury as I once did, just like it is time for Odin to
become Mercury Knight, just like his father before him."
Ami and Odin looked at each other for a moment before they turned to
their respective parents. "What?" they asked at the same time. In
response, the queen pulled out a wand and quickly called out her
transformation phrase even as Odin's father pulled out a dark blue disk
with a picture of a drop of water on it and quietly transformed into
Mercury K. When the lights cleared, they looked at their parents in
shock.
The queen was now dressed as Eternal Sailor Mercury. Her skirt had three
layers, a dark blue on the bottom and a light blue on top, and a white
layer between them. Her poof sleeves were dark blue and her light blue
bows were more angular and had a heart shaped center. Her back bow also
had two long streamers coming from it that reached to her ankles. Her
blue boots had spiked heels. Her gloves had three shades of blue at the
top and there was a heart in the center of her blue choker. On her
forehead appeared the symbol of Mercury and it glowed with a gentle blue
light. Mercury Knight was wearing a gray uniform with a light blue mask
and a dark blue lined cape thrown over his shoulders.
"How is this possible?" Ami asked as she approached her mother and
started circling her, studying her.
"Magic, dear."
"There is no such thing as magic. There has to be a logical
explanation." She insisted as she touched the skirt carefully, feeling
the material between her fingers.
"How is this, my spiritual energy that helps me keep the kingdom safe
manifests it's self, converting water and other stray molecules in the
air to form my outfit. Then, when I do my attacks, the water molecules
condense together in one point and my energy wills it to do an attack."
The queen said and Ami nodded thoughtfully. "Now it is time for your own
transformation."
"Yes, mother." Ami said as she accepted the blue transformation wand
from the queen. "Mercury Power!" Within moments, she was dressed in a
blue sailor scout uniform with light blue bows and dark blue material
forming the skirt, collar, choker, boots and the material at the top of
the white gloves that reached her elbows. A tiara with a blue gem on her
forehead completed the outfit and she stood next to her mother as they
watched as Odin received his new powers.
"Odin, do you promise to care and protect Princess Ami of Mercury, also
known now as Sailor Mercury until it is time for you to pass it on to
your successor or until your deaths?" Mercury K. demanded and Odin
nodded firmly. "Then reach forth your hand." As he handed over the disk,
Mercury K.'s uniform flickered and transferred it's self to Odin. "Here
is your sword, the Wave Crusher." He said, handing Odin a double blade
sword which had blue leather wrapped around the hilt.
"Congratulations, you two. Now you will be able to help the universe
much more than you normally would be able to."
***************
End Flashback
***************
"The only training I remember is on Mercury…." Heero continued.
***************
Flashback
***************
"Ami, I've been working on a new attack. Would you like to spar a little
so that I could show you and you can work on your bubbles?" Odin asked
as he entered the library to see the princess he had sworn to protect
sitting on a couch reading a thick book, which she put down and nodded.
"Sure. I want to see if I can get them to be denser. At the moment,
they're not thick enough to really help to much." She said as she put
her book aside and stood up.
Once they were transformed and in the practice area, they stood at
opposite ends of the yard and prepared to attack. Sailor Mercury started
first, sending a wave of mist over the yard as she rushed forward to
throw a kick at him. He dodged the kick easily, but then sent a bunch of
kicks and punches back at her to put her on the defensive. She jumped
out of the way of the last punch and prepared her bubbles again.
At the same time he jumped back and held out his hands in front of him,
a misty looking ball of energy appeared in them. With a shout of "Ice
Illusion!" the mist sped towards her before she could release her own
attack, surrounding her completely. "Show her her worst fears." He
commanded the attack and stopped to watch what happened. This was the
first time he had tried this so he wasn't sure how it would react. If he
had been thinking clearly instead of with his excitement, he would have
know that this was not the type you used against your partner,
especially if that partner was a sweet girl who hated violence but would
fight if it was needed.
In the icy mist, Mercury looked around and froze as she saw her mother
being killed as a blast of energy hit her. It also destroyed a good
portion of the palace and she could do nothing. As she watched
helplessly, she saw the rest of the palace destroyed and all her friends
and family that hadn't died in the initial blasts killed by soldiers
that swarmed over every inch of the palace, raping the few women left,
herself included and killing the remaining men, including Odin.
Finally, she screamed and collapsed. Realizing that maybe it wasn't such
a good idea after all, Mercury k. hurried over to her as the icy mist dissipated, their job done, to reveal Mercury curled up on her side,
shivering on the ground.
"Ami! Ami are you all right?!" he exclaimed as he rushed up to her.
Before he even got to her, she passed out and her scout uniform
flickered and disappeared, leaving her in her dress once more. Quickly
he detransformed too and carried her to her room where he put her to bed
and watched over her until she woke up which was when he promptly begged
her forgiveness.
***************
End Flashback
***************
"I still can't believe that I hit you with that attack." Heero said as
he stared out the waters of the lake.
"Heero, anyone can make a mistake, you know." Ami said as she put a hand
on his arm, causing him to look at her in a little bit of surprise. No
one usually touched him willingly, even the other pilots, even Duo
sometimes.
"But…" he started to say, but she cut him off firmly.
"No. It was a new attack that had never been tested before. It was
better that you had tested it on me than some one else. It might have
seriously hurt a regular human or it might have done something
completely different than you had meant it to do. I at least had a
chance to defend my self against it if something went wrong."
"Something did go wrong! It worked on you and showed you your worst
fears! You couldn't stop it and you were in the infirmary in a coma for
three days!" Heero shouted angrily, loosing his temper for the first
time in years as he jumped to his feet and started to pace in front of
the bench. Even when he had lost his temper at Duo or Zechs, he was
always tightly in control at all times.
"Would it make you feel better if I hit you with one of my attacks that
I have been working on?" she asked and he immediately nodded, a grateful
expression spreading across his face.
Standing up, she quickly transformed into Sailor Mercury and after a
moment, Heero followed suit. For a moment Sailor Mercury and Mercury K
faced each other across a few feet of grass before she began her attack.
While Ami was a very nonviolent person, she understood that until she
attacked him back with an untried attack, Heero wouldn't let it go.
"Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!" she shouted as she strummed her watery harp
sending jets of water at Mercury K. He was blasted back into a tree with
violent force, his head slamming into the bark with a sickening crack.
As he slumped to the ground, leaving a trail of blood to mark his
process, she hurried forward to check on him. After inspecting the
wounds from the attack and from the tree, she opened her communicator
and spoke into it softly for a moment to Hotaru who answered. Closing
it, she took off her glove, folded it and pressed it against the back of
his head where the skin had split and was bleeding sluggishly.
Duo and Hotaru arrived a few minutes later on a black motorcycle wearing
matching black leather jackets and full head helmets. Swinging off the
back of the bike, Hotaru hurried over to the two Mercurys with Duo only
a half a step behind.
"So tell me what happened again? Heero wanted you to hit him with your
attack?" Hotaru asked Ami who nodded while Duo just sighed in
exasperation.
"We were trading memories and he told me about this one when he tried a
new attack on my which hurt me. When he was finished with the story, I
asked him if it would make him feel any better if I hit him with one of
my new attacks that I hadn't tried yet and he seemed so grateful about
having a way to erase his guilt that I hit him with my Mercury Aqua
Rhapsody. It looks like he would have been fine if he hadn't hit his
head on the tree." Mercury said as she brushed some hair out of Heero's
closed eyes.
"That sounds like something he would be grateful for," Duo said as he
looked from Mercury K to Sailor Mercury, "but that doesn't explain why
you would do it. I mean, you strike me as a very gentle girl, not crazy
like Heero."
"He isn't crazy and I am gentler than the others, but it was the only
way to get him to stop feeling so guilty. I mean, he's been feeling
guilty about this for over a thousand years, that's not the kind of
thing that just saying it's ok with take the guilt away." Ami said
gently and Duo nodded in understanding.
As they had been talking, Hotaru had been healing Heero. As they
finished speaking, Heero opened his eyes and sat up, startling a bird
that had been hunting for seeds near him. As the bird fluttered away,
Ami threw her arms around him from behind and nuzzled the back of his
neck, surprising everyone present, including Hotaru who had known her
the longest in this lifetime.
"I'm so glad that you're ok now." Ami murmured.
Heero didn't say anything, but he leaned back slightly against Ami.
After a moment, they both shimmered, their uniforms disappearing and
their regular clothes appearing in their place.
"I think we'll leave you two alone to finish your talk." Hotaru said as
she dragged the grinning Duo back to the motorcycle and crammed his
helmet back on his head before putting her own on. Then in a cloud of
dust, the peeled out and shot down the path of the park and out onto the
street, Hotaru waving madly at the couple they were leaving behind.
As soon as the dust settled and the last echoes of the engine died away,
Heero turned his head slightly and said, "Tell me about what you
remember about our past lives."
"Ok. My earliest memory of you was a battle…
***************
Flashback
***************
"Your Majesty! There has been an attack on an isolated town near the
southern border of the country." A guard panted as he rushed into the
throne room of the Mercurian royal palace where the Queen, the Princess
and the Princess's protector were talking.
"Who has attacked them?" the queen demanded as she stood up quickly.
"Yomas, Your majesty. A boarder patrol sent the message just before they
were killed."
"You may leave now." The queen said grimly and the man bowed out of the
room. Turning to the others she snapped, "We need Sailor Mercury and
Mercury K to go to the town and stop the monsters before they can kill
anyone else."
"Yes mother." Ami said while Odin nodded. In a flash, Sailor Mercury and
Mercury K were standing in their places.
"I will transport you two to the place." The Queen said as she pulled a
wand with a large blue crystal on top. Curling around the crystal was a
dark blue wave with a teardrop dangling from the tip. It sort of looked
like the moon wand with the exceptions being the wave and teardrop in
place of the crescent moon and it being in shades of blue instead of
pink and gold. It was Mercury's royal scepter and worked the same way as
the Imperial Moon Wand the Queen Serenity had, just weaker.
"Mercury Prism Power! Send these two to their battle!" the Queen cried
as she held the scepter above her head. Bright blue rays of light and
power shot from the crystal and surrounded the two in front of her,
forming a bubble around them. In the blink of an eye, Ami and Odin
disappeared from the throne room and reappeared fifty miles away in the
center of a small town where they could see dozens of monsters wandering
around, draining the energy from the few remaining people. When Mercury
and Mercury K appeared, all activity ceased as the monsters turned
towards them in surprise.
The moment of stillness was shattered as a cold voice rang out from the
shadows. "Kill Sailor Mercury and Mercury Knight. Queen Beryl will bless
which ever of you does it."
That was all that was needed for the yomas to attack them. They attacked
in a large group, coming from all directions at once. Mercury K drew his
sword as he prepared for them while Sailor Mercury backed up until her
back was pressed against his. Summoning her power she blanketed the area
in a fog that had recently gotten thicker with help from her mother and
Odin.
While the monsters tried to find them in the fog, Mercury K readied one
of his attacks. "Flasher!" he shouted as his brightly glowing sword,
which was glowing a bluish slivery color, sent a wave of energy at a
group of them that appeared through the fog. The attack destroyed about
a third of the monsters, but the other two thirds seemed to be smarter.
They started to use the fog to their own advantage, hiding in the cover
of the fog and sending out wide ranged attacks that didn't affect
anything with negapower.
Mercury was glanced by one of the attacks and collapsed as her entire
left side was crippled from the blast. "Mercury! Are you all right?"
Mercury K yelled over his shoulder as he ducked under another blast.
"I can't move my left side and it feels as though I'm bleeding heavily
as I am starting to get really light headed and dizzy." Mercury said as
she blinked fuzzily around them at the thinning fog.
Before Mercury K could say anything, two bubbles, like the one he and
Ami had arrived in, except this time garnet and black, appeared and
settled to the ground on either side of them, revealing four people, two
in sailor scouts uniform and two in the Knights uniform.
"Hi there, Mercurys. Don't mind if we join the party, do ya?" one of the
knights, wearing a black cape and a purple mask, asked cockily as he
assumed a fighting stance next to Odin. On the other side was a Knight
wearing a maroon mask and a matching cape.
"We saw what would happen if you received no help in the fight and if
she received no medical attention so our queen contacted Saturn's and
they sent us to help." He said calmly as he drew his sword and prepared
to fight. The two new sailor scouts had hurried to Mercury's side and
now the taller one with the long green hair and the red eyes protected
he other two while the girl with the short black hair healed Ami.
As soon as she was back on her tiny, blue boot clad feet, Mercury threw
a thick fog over the area again as the other one had dissipated. "Now
what do we do?" she asked as she looked at the new comers.
"Now, we kick some yoma ass!" the one in black and purple said as he
swung around as he caught sight of movement in the fog. That was when
the two Mercurys caught sight of the long brown rope of hair that
reached all the way to his knees.
"Saturn K, those were not our orders." The green haired girl snapped as
she gripped her staff tighter. The yomas, whom had been scared off a
little bit at the appearance of the others, were starting to edge
towards them again.
"Ah, come on Pluto. We're going to have to fight them sooner or later. I
would rather it be sooner." Saturn K said with a quick grin at the
annoyed Sailor Pluto.
"That is enough." The girl with the black hair said firmly as she
gripped her glaive tighter. "We need to find out who is behind this and
then get out of here."
"Beryl is behind this." Mercury K said coldly as he watched the circling
fiends.
"How do you know?" Pluto asked.
"Because the reward for killing us was a blessing from Queen Beryl."
"Oh."
"Well, now that we have the information, I think we should get out of
here." Pluto K said as the monsters started tightening the circle.
"Good idea." Mercury said as she pulled out her communicator and flipped
open the top. "Mother, we need to return to the palace and there are
four extra people here that need transportation too."
'I know dear. The Queens from their planets have already contacted me
and I will transport the six of you in a moment.' The voice of the queen
said from the communicator and Mercury nodded before shutting it with a
quick snap.
Not three seconds after she had cut the connection. Mercury and the
others were surrounded by a ball of blue energy and whisked away from
the yomas just as they sprang. They reappeared in the royal throne room,
Saturn K already grumbling that they were just putting off the
inevitable.
"Sailor Pluto, Pluto K, and Sailor Saturn and Saturn K. it is a pleasure
to finally meet you." the queen said as she approached the four new
comers.
"Your majesty." They murmured together as they curtsied and bowed
respectively.
After the pleasantries were through, Pluto spoke up in a serious voice.
"Your Majesty, we found out that Beryl is behind the attacks on the
kingdoms of the silver alliance."
"I have long suspected that she was the one behind the attacks, but I
have had no proof." The queen said as she sat down in a chair pulled up
to a table with eight others. She gestured for the others to join her
there as a servant put a tray of drinks on the table.
"Who are the other two chairs for?" Duo asked as he picked up a goblet
of wine. Just as he was taking a sip, the door opened.
"They are for us." A voice said from the doorway, causing Duo to spit
out the wine all over the table in shock. "Hello Duo."
"Nephrite." Duo snarled, springing to his feet before turning his gaze
to the other man. If it was possible, Duo's gaze got even darker. "And
you, Malachite. What the hell are you doing here?"
"Why, were here to help you plan the battle against Queen Beryl, Little
Duo." Nephrite said with a smirk.
Turning hard eyes on the Queen, Duo snapped, "Is this true?"
Bristling slightly at his manner, she said in a cold voice, "It is true
that they are here to help us plan a strike against Beryl. Now tell me,
Duo, what is the matter with you?"
"What's the matter with me? I tell you what's the matter. The matter is
not only did you just invite two traitors into your castle, they also
happen to be two of the people who made me into Shinigami." Duo snarled
at the queen, who had a shocked expression on her face.
"What?! They are the ones who did that to you?!" Hotaru screamed into
the sudden silence after Duo's stunning statement. It took Duo, Triton,
and Odin to hold her back as she tried to throw herself at the two men
who were starting to edge towards the door, now realizing that their
plan to gather information on the sailors and their knights from the
inside, had failed.
Both men stopped at the door and started gathering dark nega-energy into
balls in their hands while the others where still trying to calm Hotaru
down. Odin looked up just in time to see the balls leave their hands and
shoved Hotaru away into Duo and Triton who then landed on Ami and
Sestuna.
Turning back to Nephrite and Malachite, he shouted "Tsunami Crusher!" a
huge wave of water gushed out of his hands with enough force to send the
men through the thick wall behind men and to the opposite side of the
wide hall. When the dust and ruble had settled, both of them were gone,
leaving only the ruins of the wall and the water all over the floor.
***************
End Flashback
***************
"…and then not to long after that, everyone went to the moon where right
before the party, Queen Beryl attacked." Ami said as she leaned against
him slightly as she stared out at the water.
***************
Flashback
***************
Ami and Odin were in their guest rooms preparing for the ball when their
communicators went off. Opening the tops, they listened as Sailor Mars
sounded the order to transform.
"…the enemy has arrived at the palace gates and are slaughtering the
guests waiting to enter the palace. If we don't hurry, everyone is going
to die." Mars snapped angrily as she ran down the hall of the palace
from her room. Her room had a view of the front gates and had seen when
the massacre had begun.
"Well be right there." Mina said and the others added their agreements.
Within three minutes, fifteen scouts and knights were assembled and
ready to take on the monsters. In the moments before the battle began,
Neptune K asked Saturn K quietly, "Where is Sailor Saturn? Shouldn't she
be here?"
Just as quietly, Saturn K said, "There was some trouble back on Saturn
and she needed to go take care of it. She should be back soon, hopefully
after we take care of this annoyance. I promised to dance with her all
night at the ball."
They couldn't say anymore after that as the battle had begun.
Mercury and Mercury K quickly found themselves separated from the others
as six large monsters singled them out and began to drive them towards
the trees in the not to far distance with carefully placed attacks.
"Odin, we need to do something! They're driving us away from the others
and we won't last to long if they keep throwing attacks like that at
us!" Ami shouted as they dodged an energy ball that blew apart a huge
boulder.
"I know that Ami!" he shouted as he threw a Tsunami Crusher at a few
that were getting to close. They fought valiantly as they entered the
tree line, but Sailor Mercury was the weakest scout and the yomas seemed
to know that as they focused more and more attacks her way. finally, a
killing blow was struck, but not from the monsters, but a man with wavy
gold hair that reached mid back. He approached silently behind Ami as
she thickened the fog once again.
Without a word, he changed from a mouth wateringly beautiful man to a
fiend. His incisors lengthened into long, deadly fangs and his eyes
became more catlike with narrow, slit pupils. With a glance, he sent the
yomas running from him and their original targets, surprising Mercury
and Mercury K.
Odin turned to smile at Mercury only to freeze in shock as he watched
the man prepare to grab Ami and sink his teeth into her neck. Reacting
on impulse, he leapt forward and shoved Ami away, slamming his fist into
the autocratic face.
"You vill pay for zat." That creature sneered in a heavy French voice,
full of culture and expression.
"Don't you dare touch her." Mercury K snarled back.
"I vill touch who ever I vant, whelp." The man snapped and bit his own
figure and formed a whip out of the blood which he sent flying towards
the fighter from Mercury. The whip struck him in the chest and sent him
stumbling backwards, a long bloody gash that went from his left shoulder
to his right hip. During the next few minutes while Ami was trying to
clear her head from when it had hit the ground when Odin had pushed her,
Mercury K was severely whipped.
"Now, little whelp, it is time I finished this and drink from your
little girlfriend." The man said with a cruel grin as he approached and
as he walked, his whip shimmered, shifted and became a red sword.
Ami looked up and saw the man stalking Mercury K with a large sword and
reacted before she could think. Just as the blonde man lifted his sword,
preparing to stab Odin in the chest, she lunged forward and wrapped her
arms around his neck, presenting her back to the man and his sword,
which rammed through her back and then into Odin's chest.
"Vhat a pity. All zath blood gone to vaist." The man sighed without
remorse and then turned away, leaving the sword stuck in them both.
As the man walked away, Ami and Odin stared into each others eyes as
their blood mingled where their chests where pressed together.
"I…love…you…" he gasped and she gave him a wistful smile.
"I…just wish…I had had enough…guts to tell you the…same so long ago.
I've…loved you…ever since…you came into…my library… and… we… talked…
about…what…we were…interested…in." she said and pressed he lips against
his in their first and last kiss of that life. And then they both passed
on to await their next life.
***************
End Flashback
***************
They were silent for a few minutes after Ami had stopped her tale of
their deaths in their previous lives, each contemplating on their last
actions. Finally, Heero spoke up.
"Well, why don't we continue where we left off?" he said and leaned
towards her and pressed his lips against hers in a deep kiss.
******
TBC
