SN: Hiya! Thanks to all that reviewed my fic! Hope you're enjoying the story! ^^ And as
always, please leave a review. And if you want me to email you when I upload a new
chapter, please leave your email or sign in (if you're an author on ff.net) or email me! ^^
Thanks again!

~Love Triangle: Chapter 17~

By: Sapphie ^.~

Key:

"- - -" dialogue

'- - -' thinking

//- - -\\ scene change

(SN) Sapphie Notes

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Important Info: None today.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Recap:

"I'm sorry, Endymion. I can't let this happen." James said.

"No...you're not saying..." Selenity said, unable to finish her sentence. She held on to
Endymion's hand tightly, as if she was going to be separated from him.

"Yes, Selenity. I am saying that." James said. There was complete silence for a moment.
"I'm sorry, you two, but I forbid you two from marrying each other."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Selenity and Endymion looked at James with shocked and upset looks on their faces.

"I'm sorry. I just can't let you two marry each other. I forbid it." James said. Endymion
began to get upset. Selenity could feel him tensing up and getting angry. Selenity looked
at him. She couldn't let him get mad at her father now. She turned his face so that he was
facing her. She looked at him.

"Endymion. Please, try to stay calm. I know he's upsetting you, but you have to try to
stay calm. We'll work this out. We'll convince him to let us marry each other. Don't
worry." Selenity said in a low soothing voice. She ran her long slender fingers through
his dark ebony hair. "It's okay." she whispered. Endymion let out a sigh and took a few
deep breaths. "That's it." Selenity said. Endymion looked at her. She gave him a smile.
Endymion turned his attention to James.

"Okay. Now, listen to me. I told you that I love Selenity, and I do. But I'm not going to
let the past get in the way of marrying her. I love her too much to let that happen."
Endymion said calmly.

"I know you love her, but how do I know that you're not just marrying her to get her
power and her money?" James said. Endymion rolled his eyes. He felt like screaming at
James, but he felt Selenity squeeze his hand. He looked at her. Selenity looked at him
with pleading eyes. He turned back to James.

"If you know that I love her, then you would also know that I'm not marrying her for her
power or money. For goodness sake, I already have all the power and money I want! I am
the prince of the Earth. Why would I want anymore money or power?" Endymion said.
James nodded his head a little.

"Okay. But how do I know that you're not going to marry her and suddenly leave her?"
James asked.

"Oh, come on, James! I'm not going to be stupid enough to do what you did." Endymion
said, raising his voice a little. James had a hurt look on his face. Endymion realized his
mistake. "Oh, god. I'm sorry, James. I didn't mean to say that." Endymion said
apologetically.

"No, Endymion. You're right. I was stupid. I was stupid to leave my wife and my
daughter behind." James said.

"I'm sorry for what I said, James. But please understand that no matter what, I will marry
your daughter. And not for her money and not for her power, but because I love her. And
I for one am not going to let you get in the way of our marriage." Endymion said.
Suddenly, James had a smile on his face. Endymion and Selenity had a confused look on
their face. James began to laugh. Selenity and Endymion were now confused more than
ever.

"Well, Endymion. You passed!" James said.

"What?" Endymion asked with confusion.

"You passed my test." James said.

"Test? Excuse me? A test?"

"Yes. It was a test to see how much you loved Selenity. I wanted you to prove to me that
you loved her. Obviously, you do love her. And you passed my test." James said with a
smile.

"You mean..." Selenity said, a smile slowly forming on her face.

"Yes. Selenity, Endymion. You have my blessing." James said. Selenity and Endymion
looked at each other and smiled happily. They hugged each other. Selenity and Endymion
then hugged James.

"Boy, James. You had me fooled there." Endymion said with embarrassment. James just
laughed. Suddenly, James's face became serious.

"There is one more thing that you two must know." James said in a serious tone.

"What is it?" Endymion asked, his heart beginning to race.

"I forbid you two to NOT get married." James said. Endymion and Selenity smiled and
laughed. James laughed along with them. "So, am I invited to the wedding?" James
asked.

"Of course you are." Selenity said. She gave her father a hug.

"Well, you two. You better go to bed now. It's late." James said.

"You're right. We better get going." Selenity said. She and Endymion stood up.
Endymion put his arm around Selenity's waist.

"It was a great pleasure meeting you." Endymion said. He extended his free hand towards
James.

"It was wonderful meeting you too, Endymion. I'll be glad to have you as a son-in-law."
James said, shaking Endymion's hand. "Well, you should be going now." James said. He
opened the door for them. "Goodnight, you two." James said.

"Good night, James." Endymion said.

"Good night, Father." Selenity said.

James smiled as they walked away. After they left, James closed the door and threw
himself on the bed.

"So far, so good. Selenity has given me another chance and has accepted me as her father
and Endymion has also given me a chance. I'm so glad Selenity is happy with him. I
wouldn't have it any other way." James said with a smile. That smile soon disappeared.
"I just hope that Serenity is as forgiving as Selenity and Endymion were." James said.
After thinking about Serenity for a while, he fell asleep.

// The next morning \\

Selenity was wide awake, sitting at her vanity, brushing her long sunkissed blonde hair.
Endymion quietly walked into the room, hoping to scare her. Fortunately for Selenity, she
saw Endymion's reflection in the mirror. She just kept brushing her hair and smiled.
Endymion made his way up to her, soon wrapping his arms around her. Selenity smiled
and giggled a little.

"Selenity, you're beautiful enough. You don't need to brush your hair anymore."
Endymion said. He began to place kisses on her neck. Selenity put her brush down, then
tilted her head a little, allowing Endymion more room.

"Endymion. If you keeping kissing me this way, you'll eventually get lost in my hair."
Selenity said while trying to hold back a giggle. Endymion stopped and looked at
Selenity.

"That was the dumbest thing I've ever heard." Endymion said. Selenity suddenly had a
pout on her face. Endymion stared at her. "Come on, Selenity. That's not fair. You know
I feel bad when you pout like that." Endymion said in a whining tone. Selenity just kept
on pouting. "I'm going to have to wipe that pout off your face, missy!" Endymion said.
He then leaned in and kissed her pouting lips. Selenity's pout soon disappeared. When
they parted, Selenity ended up with a smile on her face. "That's more like it." Endymion
said, smiling.

"That wasn't fair!" Selenity whined.

"You weren't fair either." Endymion pointed out. He let out a little victory laugh.
Selenity could never beat him in an argument. He then kissed the tip of her nose. "Come
on, Selenity. We better go downstairs, before our breakfast gets cold." Endymion said.

"Okay. Let's go then." Selenity said. When they went downstairs, they found James by
himself at the breakfast table. James looked up at Selenity and Endymion.

"Good morning." Selenity and Endymion said.

"Good morning." James said. "Have you two seen Queen Serenity? I need to talk to her."
James said worriedly.

"No. I haven't seen her this morning." Endymion said.

"Yeah. I haven't seen her either." Selenity added.

"Oh." James said in a discouraged voice.

"I can go get her if you want." Selenity said.

"There will be no need for that." Serenity said. She was making her way down the stairs.

"Mother!" Selenity said. "Good morning." she said, greeting her mother.

"Good morning, Selenity." Serenity said quietly. "Are....are you okay? About last night."
she asked nervously.

"I'm fine, mother. Everything's great." Selenity said.

"And you're not mad at me?" Serenity asked with nervousness.

"No. Of course not." Selenity said, smiling at her mother. Serenity's face lit up.

"Oh, Selenity. Thank you. I thought you'd be mad at me." Serenity said. She embraced
her daughter in a warm hug.

"Everything's okay. I'm not mad." Selenity said. They soon parted from their hug. "And,
mother. Please don't be mad at Father. Please, hear him out and give him another chance.
I have." Selenity whispered to her mother. Serenity's mother just nodded slowly. Serenity
sighed.

"Why don't you and Endymion go out somewhere? Spend the whole day out. It's a nice
day today." Serenity said. Selenity and Endymion understood what she was trying to say.
She wanted to be alone with James.

"Sure. Why not?" Endymion said.

"Yeah. Sure." Selenity said. Endymion took hold of Selenity's hand and they walked out
the door. After Selenity and Endymion left, Serenity took a seat across from James.
There was complete silence between them.

"So. What's your story?" Serenity started.

"Look. I know that what I did was wrong. And for all of those years that I've been gone, I
realized more and more everyday that I should never have left you. It made me see that
you and Selenity mean so much to me. I was so stupid to want a first born son. I
should've felt lucky to have Selenity. I should've felt lucky to have you." James started.
"I never meant to hurt you. I never wanted to, but it just happened. There was nothing I
could do." James said.

"You're wrong." Serenity said. "There was something you could've done." Serenity
paused for a second. "If you had come back a little sooner, say...16 years ago and
apologized, maybe we wouldn't be here right now."

"But Serenity, I did come back to apologize." James said. Serenity remained silent.

'Oh my god. He's right.' Selenity thought. James knew that she realized that she
contradicted herself. James continued.

"I did come back to apologize. I found you crying and I offered you comfort and an
apology, but you didn't accept it. You didn't believe that I was sorry. You thought that I
was just saying that only to deceive you again. But I wasn't. When you refused to accept
my apology, I was furious, so I gave you wanted. I left." James explained. Tears were
forming in Serenity's eyes as he spoke. James noticed the tears in her eyes. He began to
lower his tone of voice to a more soothing tone. "Serenity. I never meant to hurt you. I
did love you. And I love Selenity. The reason I left was because you gave me no other
choice. I know I've hurt you very much, but you asked for it. When you didn't accept my
apology, it infuriated me. If you had accepted it, maybe we'd still be together." James
paused for a moment. He looked at Serenity. She had tears slowly rolling down her eyes.
She then put her face in her hands. She was crying. James began to feel bad. He knew he
had made her cry. James didn't bother saying anything. He just let her cry. After a while,
Serenity ceased her crying. She looked at James.

"Okay, James. You made your point. This was both our faults. Both of us are to blame.
So...I've decided that I...I'm going to give you another chance." James face lightened up
as a smile appeared on his face.

"Thank you, Serenity. You don't know how much that means to me. You'll see. You'll
see how much I've changed." James said with determination. Serenity gave him a quick
smile. She rose from her seat.

"Well, I've got things to do, so I'll see you tonight at dinner. We'll talk later." Serenity
said.

"Okay." James said. Without another word, Serenity walked away. James got up from his
seat and watched as Serenity left. 'Finally. I have another chance with Serenity.' James
thought as a smile crossed his face.

// At the park with Selenity and Endymion \\

Selenity and Endymion walked hand in hand, enjoying the fresh morning air. As they
were walking, Selenity suddenly got shoved.

"Excuse me. Watch where you're going!" Selenity said. The person who had shoved her
turned around. Selenity gasped. "Lindsey?"

"Sorry, your highness." Lindsey said with rude sarcasm.

"There's no need for sarcasm, Lindsey." Selenity said. Lindsey wasn't paying attention
though. She was too busy looking at Endymion.

"Stop looking at me like that." Endymion said.

"Endymion. I hope you know that I haven't given up on you. I believe there's still hope
for us to be in love again." Lindsey said.

"Lindsey. Why can't you get it through your thick head that I don't love you? I never did,
I never will. I only love Selenity. It's as simple as that. And anyway, what are you going
to do that'll make me suddenly fall in love with you?"

"This will make you fall in love with me in a second flat." Lindsey replied. Without
waiting for a reaction from Endymion, she put her lips on his. She held his head close to
hers so that he couldn't pull away easily. Endymion struggled to pull away from Lindsey,
but she somehow was able to keep Endymion from going anywhere. Selenity pulled
Lindsey away from the back of her shirt. This made Lindsey let go of Endymion. Selenity
quickly turned Lindsey around and gave Lindsey a cold hard slap across the face.
Endymion looked at Lindsey with disgust. Selenity stared at Lindsey with angry eyes.

"How dare you kiss Endymion." Selenity yelled.

"Well, he asked for it." Lindsey said, shrugging. Selenity became infuriated. She raised
her hand, ready to give Lindsey another slap. Just as she was about to give Lindsey
another slap, she felt someone hold her hand back. She turned around to see Endymion
holding her arm back.

"Selenity. Stop. Just let her go." Endymion said under his breath so that Lindsey couldn't
hear. Reluctantly, Selenity put her hand down. "Come on. Let's just leave." Endymion
said, taking Selenity's hand. Without saying goodbye to Lindsey, they left. After a while,
Selenity and Endymion stopped at a bridge. Selenity leaned forward on her forearms,
looking down at the stream flowing beneath them. Endymion noticed that Selenity
looked sad.

"What's the matter, Selenity?" Endymion asked, leaning next to her.

"Why did she have to kiss you?" Selenity said. Endymion placed his finger under her
chin and turned her head so that she was looking at him.

"Look at me, Selenity. Don't worry about it. Don't you know that the kiss meant
absolutely nothing to me?" Endymion asked. Selenity looked down, away from
Endymion's eyes.

"I know...but still...she kissed you. Do you know how much it hurts to see your fiancé
be kissed by another girl? By my own cousin?" Selenity said. Endymion lifted her head a
little more.

"I understand what you're feeling, but don't let it bother you. It meant nothing to me.
Only you matter to me." Endymion said while running his fingers through her sunny
blonde hair. Selenity smiled a bit. "Lindsey means nothing to me. You're my heart.
You're my soul. You're my life. I don't know what I'd do without you. I love you,
Selenity, and only you." Endymion said. Selenity soon smiled. Endymion's lips soon met
hers. He wrapped his arms around her slender waist and pulled her closer to him. Selenity
wrapped her arms around him, not wanting to let go of this moment.

Somewhere nearby, behind a tree, Lindsey was watching as the two embraced each other
in a kiss. As Lindsey watched them, her heart began to pound and evil thoughts began to
make its way towards her brain.

"That kiss meant something to you, Endymion. I just know it." Lindsey said to herself.
"This isn't over yet. I'm not letting you go that easily. I'll make you mine, no matter
what."

*****

TO BE CONTINUED

*****

SN: So...how was that? Huh? Huh? Well, please review! I would greatly appeciate it! ^^
Jaa for now! ^.~