Voices came from down the hallway.

"Hurry! Get to the gates!"

"Someone find Princess Selenity!"

Selene broke the kiss and looked to where the voices were coming from. She quickly stepped away from Isaiah, making the scene look innocent as one of the head knights rounded the corner.

"Your Highness, you must hurry!"

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Isaiah, escort the Princess to the back gates, please. You know what to do. And make haste about it!"

"This way, Your Highness," Isaiah said, gently taking her elbow. He lead her in the other direction with a quick pace. She looked up at him and could not help but let the fear show in her eyes.

"What's going on, Isaiah?" she whispered.

"I have as much of an idea as you do," he said. He pounded the wall, and a door slid back. He pushed her in, looked both directions, then followed. He pushed the door shut and they continued down the dim, narrow passage.

She almost ran down the passage after Isaiah, though her feet ached something fierce. The castle walls were wet here, and every time she brushed the walls she got chills. They came to the end of the passage none too soon, and Isaiah turned to her.

"Give me your crown."

"What?"

"Just give it to me." She handed the sparkling crown to him, and he slid it into a niche in the wall. "Your name," he said as he opened the wall, "is not Selenity anymore. While we are away from the castle your name is Serena."

She nodded. Something terrible was happening, and though neither of them knew what, it was clear Isaiah had been trained for such an occasion.

They stepped out into a secret garden, protected by high gates covered in snaking vines. An unmarked carriage sat waiting. Isaiah opened the door and helped her.

As they rode away from the palace, she suddenly felt like her life, her real life, was slipping away. She was leaving it behind. With every fall of the horses' hooves, another part of her fell back. She was already missing it.

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

"Why Serena?" she asked him as they bumped over the cobblestones.

"It was my mother's name."

"It's pretty."

"Thank you."

Selene couldn't look out the windows, and inside the carriage was almost completely dark. She was doing her best to pry her mind off the reason she was in this carriage, and small talk was the only way.

"Tell me more about your mother."

Isaiah sighed. "She was born here on the Moon. She was a missionary, and when she visited the Earth she met my father and fell in love. She was a beautiful woman according to my friends. Her eyes were blue, and her hair was blonde. She had dimples.

"I loved my mother very much. Surprisingly, she was the one who taught me how to handle a sword. She planted in me the desire to be a knight for the Moon, and told me wonderful stories of this place. She understated just how beautiful the Moon is."

Selene thought his mother sounded like a wonderful woman. "What happened to her?"

He looked over at her with round, emotional eyes. "She grew old and sick. Then her soul left this world to join another."

Selene said nothing, but her eyes showed her understanding. The questions scratching at her mind where becoming too much, and finally she asked them.

"Isaiah, what's happened?"

He looked away from her. "About two weeks ago a few knights were selected to undergo training. In this training they told us what to do in an emergency situation. More specifically they told us how to get you out of the palace. They told us they only reason this would happen is if the palace was under fire by a dark Queen named Amethyst, and her daughter Beryl."

Selene closed her eyes. "They are from Earth."

"Yes, they are."

"Do you know who they are?"

"Yes. Amethyst used to be an advisor for the Earth's Royalty, but when it was found out she was plotting against the Earth, they exiled her."

"So where was she living?"

"No one knows."

They fell into a silence, questioning their future. It was only one woman and her daughter against an entire Moon Kingdom and the Silver Crystal. It would be no problem. Hopefully.

The carriage came to a stop, and Isaiah opened the door. He held his hand out and helped her down. She faced a little cottage, straight out of a book, with rose vines climbing it's sides. Trees kept hidden, protecting a secret faithfully. She walked forward and pushed the wrought iron garden gate open. Sunlight fell on this place, making it sparkle.

"This is amazing," she breathed. "Did we ride into a fairy tale?"

Isaiah stepped up behind her. "I'm afraid not. Now hurry inside. You cannot be caught wearing such an extraordinary dress."

She turned and was surprised how close she was to him. "You just love to burst my bubble, don't you?"

"I don't believe I was the one who burst your bubble this morning, now was I?"

Selene bit her lip and entered the home. There was a kitchen and a living room furnished with handcrafted furniture, all coated with a layer of dust. Down a narrow hallway was a bathroom. She headed up the stairs and found her bedroom. Clothes were already laid out on the bed. She fingered the material. It wasn't nearly as soft as she was used to and the clothes were drably colored.

"Of course," she said. "No one could stick out wearing clothes like this."

Isaiah appeared in her doorway wearing peasant's clothes. His tunic was tan while his cowhide pants were a deep brown. He looked quite natural in them, his curly blonde looked more free than ever without his armor on.

"Well don't you look comfortable," she said.

"I have never felt more at home."

"That's wonderful," Selene said sarcastically. She shut the door in his face, and proceeded to change. She shoved the brilliant silver dress in the back of her closet and eyed herself in the mirror. Her shoes were no longer magnificent slippers, but wooden clogs. Her dress was brown and she had a white apron around her waist. She picked up a piece of cloth on her bed and wrapped it around her head, pulling her long pink hair back.

She opened the door to see Isaiah holding what she knew to be a broom. He shoved it at her.

"Let's get cleaning, shall we?"

Selene followed him down the stairs, but just watched as he began to wipe the kitchen down, picking the dust up on a rag. He caught her eyes and sighed.

"Will you get to work already?"

Selene looked at the broom. "Um, alright." She put the straw end of the broom on the wooden floor and brushed it across. The dust stirred up, but it settled again.

Isaiah cocked his eyebrow up. "You don't know how to use that do you?"

She blushed. "No."

He put his rag down and came over to her. He wrapped his arms around her, and took her hands. "Now you put your right hand on top," he said positioning her hand. "And your left here."

They were so close. He could smell her hair. She felt his body heat reaching out for her and could barely concentrate on the broom. She turned her head to look at him, and couldn't help it. She kissed him. Just a small kiss. She pulled back and looked at him. His eyes begged for more, and her heart did as well. She dropped the broom and it hit the floor with a bang.

She threw her arms around him, and kissed him again. Long and hard this time, until she couldn't feel anything else. Her problems creeped back into the shadowed corners of her mind, waiting to spring out unexpected at any moment but this one.

Because this moment was hers.

Author's Note: Well, considering only one person is reading this, the updates won't be as frequent as other stories. Sorry Whitney, my-one-and- only-reader! Hey, Whit, would you review? To help my confidence? Thanks!

Until the next time,

Ai No Senshi