I don't own Saint Seiya, or any of its characters, please do not sue me.

A Lifetime in Exchange for Seven Days

Epilogue

" " Talking

' ' Thoughts

Years Later

The door opened and a warm breeze escaped into the small book store. A few readers looked up out of curiosity to see whom it is that entered this quiet place. The door slowly shut behind her, returning the book store to its original peace and quiet.

She sighed and looked at her watch, good, she is not late. Finger combing her long lavender hair just a bit, she hoped that she still looks decent enough after a whole day of school. She then picked up her head and took in a deep breath, giving herself a mental boost, she walked forwards. Her school uniform giving her an innocent look.

This book store opened up last year, and has been a very popular book store ever since. Many of her classmates come here after school just to read. Surprisingly, the owner of this book store is nice enough to allow people to read here and they can leave without even buying a book. Where is this business going?

Come to the front desk, she was surprised to meet a man near 40 reading a book as well. He sat behind the counter and looked at his book through calm eyes, his mature look giving him a solemn aura, yet... in between his eyes, there's an unknown sadness.

"May I help you?"

His voice jerked her out of her thoughts, she blinked and looked at the man in front of her. A blush crept up on her face, he is indeed very appealing to the eye.

"Um... I'm Chiryo Kisonagi, I'm here for the interview with the owner of this book store." She said timidly, looking down, still embarrassed that he caught her starring at him.

He smiled and stood up, placing the book on the counter, he walked around and stopped in front of her. "Of course." Then turning his head, he nodded towards a closed door. "Let's talk in there, so we don't disturb the people reading here."

"Yes." Chiryo said timidly and followed him into the room.

Sunlight shone on her face as she stepped into the fairly moderate room, she glanced around the room with interest, missing his thoughtful eyes on her back. He closed the door behind him and looked back at her. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"Water would be fine, thanks." She said softly and sat down on a sofa, then placed her tape recorder on the table in front of her.

"Here you go." He placed a cup of clear water in front of her and sat on the sofa across from her, his eyes on her face intently.

"Thank you." She smiled then pulled out a pen and a notepad. "Can we begin?"

"Anytime you are ready."

"Great... um... how much did it cost for you to open this book store?"

"I don't know."

Chiryo blinked and glanced up at him, the smile on her face somewhat frozen. "Um... you named this book store 'Lavender', does it have a special meaning to it?"

"It's for... a friend." He said slowly.

"Is this friend's name Lavender?" She asked.

"No, her hair color was lavender." He answered calmly.

Chiryo glanced at him then touched her lavender hair unconsciously. "What made you open this book store?"

"I was just joking around about a book store."

Chiryo frowned a bit and glanced at him, his answers are confusing.

"Um... what is your favorite book?"

"Rain."

"Why?"

"Because it's her favorite book."

Chiryo bit her lips, should she write this down? Glancing up at him, she met his eyes again. She's noticed that he has had his eyes on her ever since they entered this room. Putting down the pen, she looked up at him with a serious look. "Sir, is something on my face?"

"No."

"Then why are you looking at me?"

"Because you look exactly like her."

Her.

Who is she?

"This girl keeps on appearing in your answers, who is she?"

"She... is someone I love." He answered wistfully then turned to look out the window, sighing he turned back to her again. "I'm sorry, I'll answer the questions normally now."

"Normally? Were all those answers just jokes?" Chiryo narrowed her eyes a bit, she hates it when people play tricks on her.

"No... those are the truthful answers... but for publicity, I need to come up with better answers than those." He said with a shrug.

"Then... why are you willing to tell me the true answers?" Chiryo asked immediately, her always curious mind taking over.

"I told you, you look exactly like her, that's why."

Chiryo smiled and tilted her head, looking at him with admiration. "She must be a wonderful wife, huh?"

"I'm not married."

"Pardon me, I meant girlfriend."

"I don't have a girlfriend."

Chiryo starred at him shocked, then frowned deeply. "Don't tell me it's your sister or mother!"

"No, I don't have any family except for a twin brother."

"Then... who is she?" Chiryo pressed on, forgetting about her interview for her business class completely. This man's secret is so much more interesting than some pathetic little school assignment.

"She is someone I love..." He trailed off and glanced down.

"I know that."

"But I can never have." He finished his sentence slowly.

"Why not?"

"She's married."

"So what? There's always divorce." Chiryo said excitedly, then she thought of something and backed down. "Unless... she doesn't feel the same way that you do...."

"It's not that..... it's just that she is already dead, I can't really do anything about that." Saga then raised a self mocking smile and looked outside the window again. "It's pathetic isn't it? The only one I ever loved in my life and I didn't even tell her about it, the night I finally decided to come out with my feelings and decided to treat her as my lover, not someone I look up to... it was the last night that we had to spend together."

Chiryo blinked and looked down, her hand curled around her untouched water. "I'm sorry." She said quietly.

Saga shook his head and then sighed, leaning back into the sofa, running a hand through his hair. "You know why I know nothing about this book store?"

Chiryo blinked and shook her head slowly.

"It's because this book store was left to me in her will, I found that out after she died. I was just joking one night about how I'd like to open up a book store one day, she took it seriously and eventually gave me a book store in her will. That's why I know nothing about this book store."

Chiryo looked at him, then with clouded eyes, she parted her lips. "Sir... what is... what is your name?"

Saga turned towards her and looked at her misted eyes, resembles so much of hers.

Her hair, her eyes, her smile, her white dress, her kisses, her touch... everything is so close yet so far away from him.

"My name?" He smiled and turned to look at a plane flying past outside of the windows. "Just call me Saga."

Saga...

Yes, he is Saga. The Saga that will forever love Saori Kido and follow her wherever she goes.

THE END.

Lol... sorry... it was kind of a rushed ending... my original copy cannot be opened... floppy problem, then I had to cook up this one... it's the same as the original one, but... I still liked the orignal one better. Anyways, hopefully you enjoyed the story, and I'm sorry for those that were hoping for a happy ending... I couldn't come up with a happy ending, so... let's just leave it like this. Thanks for reading and reviewing everyone, and perhaps I'll write more StS fanfictions in the future.