Chapter 15

"So how old is this little angel?" asked Seiya as he and Serena walked down the road.
"She's three," said Serena. "If you want I'll take her."
"It's okay," he said. "She's actually pretty light."
"I hope you don't mind her calling you Uncle Seiya," she said. "She doesn't know any of my friends, just my family."
"It's pretty nice to hear those words being directed towards me."
"So, Seiya, have you met anyone that you want to start a life with yet? If you don't mind me asking of course."
"It's alright. Actually, I have found someone, but we just met."
"Well that's good."
They turned the corner and walked up the stairs of an apartment building. "Would you like to come in?" asked Serena. "Darien's at work and Kacy will be asleep for the rest of the night."
"If you want me too," Seiya said. "I would be glad to join you."
"Thank you, Seiya," she said. "You have always been kind to me."
"You remind me of my Princess," he said. "You both have so much goodness in your hearts."
I love you, Serena. I have always loved you since the first day that I saw you. Thought Seiya as they climbed into an elevator.
"Why thank you," she said pressing a button.
The doors closed and the elevator slowly climbed to its destination. When the elevator came to a stop, the doors opened and Serena showed Seiya to the apartment. Once in the apartment, Serena took Kacy from Seiya and put her to bed.
"Thank you for walking us home," said Serena as she closed Kacy's bedroom door.
"Your welcome," said Seiya as he sat down.
"Would you like a drink?" Serena asked.
"No thank you," Seiya said as Serena sat down beside him.
"How's things on your home planet?"
"It's not exactly back to the way things were before Galaxia arrived. But things are getting better."
"I'm glad. You all look so much happier."
"The princess is filled with more life and happiness than before all of the destruction."
"I saw that in her eyes."
"Can I ask you a question, Serena?"
"Sure."
"Why do you want me to keep Kacy a secret? If it's not to much to ask."
Serena closed her eyes and said, "No one knows about Kacy. Darien and I left Tokyo before anyone found out. So only my family, the outer scouts, and the Zodiac scouts know about her."
"And now me."
"Yes. We're keeping Kacy a secret from the inner scouts because they would hate me, well Darien more, if they found out about her."
"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone, not even my comrades."
"Thank you, Seiya. You're an angel to me."
Seiya smiled and for another two hours, him and Serena talked about the past three years. Serena explained how the outer scouts had helped raise Kacy while she went to school and Darien worked. Mina called half an hour before Seiya left to join his companions.
"I'll get it," said Seiya as he answered the phone. "Hello."
"Hi," said Mina carefully. "Can I please talk to Serena?"
"One moment please," said Seiya as he covered the mouthpiece. "It's Mina. Do you wish to talk to her?"
"Yes," said Serena as Seiya handed her the phone. "Hey, Mina."
"Hey, who answered the phone?" asked Mina. "Was that Darien?"
"No Darien's at work," said Serena. "It was Seiya. He walked me over here. Exactly how did you know that I was here?"
"Oh I ran into Darien at his work and asked him," she said. "So why did you suddenly run off like that after he called you?"
"I was running late for our date," lied Serena.
"Oh I see," said Mina with a laugh. "Hey the girls and I are getting together tomorrow to go shopping, wanna join?"
"I don't know if I can go shopping tomorrow with you guys," said Serena.
"Well if you change your mind call me tomorrow," said Mina sadly. "Good night."
"Night, Mina," said Serena as she hung up the phone. "I knew this would happen."
"What? Your friends asking you to go hang with them? Don't worry about Kacy, I'll watch her," said Seiya. "I'm her uncle after all."
"That's all right, Seiya," said Serena. "The problem is I don't have any money to spend. I never really needed any while living in the country."
"Don't worry," said Seiya as he moved closer to Serena.
"No, Seiya, I couldn't take your money," she said.
"It's okay," he said. "What do I need money anyway? I'm not even from this planet. So don't fuse about it."
"Okay," she said. "I better call Mina tomorrow and tell her that I can come."
"I'll see you at nine then," he said standing up.
Serena followed Seiya to the door. "It was nice of you to stay with me for a little while. Darien will be home in an hour or so," she said.
Seiya leaned forward and gave the young princess a hug and a kiss on the forehead. "You will be a wonderful queen to these people," he said. "Always believe in yourself."
"Thank you," she said as she opened the door. "Good night, Seiya, and thank you for everything."
"Sleep well, Serena," he said walking down the hall.
Serena watched Seiya until he turned out of sight. She the closed the door and went into her and Darien's bedroom. After pulling out a pair of pink boy short pajama pants and a pink tank top, she took a quick shower and changed into them. As Serena was brushing her hair, Darien came home.
"I'm home," called Darien from the door.
"Welcome home, darling," Serena said coming to the bedroom door. "How was work?"
"Slow," he said. "I haven't seen you like that for a long time."
"I thought you deserved something special," she said. "Kacy's in bed and fast asleep. So we don't have to worry about her."
"Good," he said taking off his coat. "Did you eat something?"
"I'm not hungry," she said. "Which is strange. You would think that after running around all day and fighting that creature would have made me hungry."
"Want a soda then?"
"Sure."
Darien reached in the fridge and pulled out two cokes. He handed Serena one and they sat down on the couch. "So did Seiya stay with you girls for a while?" asked Darien wrapping his arm around his love.
"Yeah, he left a little over an hour ago," she said opening her soda. "He's going to watch Kacy tomorrow while I go shopping with the girls. Is that okay with you?"
Darien thought for a moment and looked at her with a smile. "You deserve a break from the wild thing," he teased. "I hope Seiya knows what he's getting into."
"I'm sure he'll be fine," she laughed taking a drink of her soda. "Shall we go to bed now?"
"I'm going to grab something to eat first then I'll join you," he said kissing her on the forehead and then the lips.
"Oh, Darien," said Serena as he took her soda and set it on the coffee table with his. "I love you so much."
"It's been a long time since we've been like this," said Darien as he pulled Serena on top of him.
"I've missed this so much," she said as he ran his hands over her back.
Their lips met each other and they were locked in a passionate kiss. Darien stood up with Serena in his arms and made his way to the bedroom. He gently set his fiancée on the bed and lay beside her. His lips traveled down her neck to the top of her shirt. But once Darien had removed Serena's shirt and his own shirt there was a gentle crying from the next room.
"Oh," said Serena, as she wanted so much to love Darien as they had those three years ago. "I better go."
Darien handed his love her shirt and she quickly left the room. After about fifteen minutes, she returned to her lover. As Darien was kissing Serena's chest he looked up at her and noticed that she had silently drifted off to sleep. He pulled back the sheets and laid his young princess under the sheets.
"Poor, Serena," he said as he changed. "You deserve a break from this life. Thank goodness you're going shopping tomorrow. Maybe I'll whisk you away for a couple days to a quiet location and it'll just be you and me." He quickly climbed under the sheets and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Good night, my princess."
Within a couple minutes, Darien too was fast asleep.