Three Years Later…
The past few years had found Serenity spending increasing amounts of time with Endymion's royal guard. The bond between he and Rae had strengthened to the point where Serenity knew they had gone the distance. In a way it sickened her. In another two years she would be forced to marry him. She knew he wouldn't simply stop seeing her; it wasn't within him to do so. It also hurt her because she just didn't want to marry him. Over time she had noticed that Hiiro had developed feelings for her, something she wasn't sure she could do in return. A relationship between them would never work. She was promised to Endymion and the moment she betrayed that promise she was destined to be with whomever she had broken it with. It was some odd thing that happened in her family. The man that she gave her first kiss to would be the man she'd marry.
To distract herself from her problems she trained with the guys. Her own powers had begun to emerge while battling with them. One day she had become so enraged with Wufei, as most people seemed to, that she had gathered every last ounce of strength within her and attacked him. As soon as she had lashed out she had turned completely silver, her fuku and all. It was all Wufei could do to protect himself. Her rage had soon dissipated and with it her strength. Later they had found that she could create light from within her and use it to form energy attacks. Her mother had been very impressed.
One thing that Serenity noticed was Duo's presence. Over time he had finally rejoined their training sessions, suppressing his newfound power. They could see his power in action as he fought, the black aura that surrounded him becoming darker with increasing effort. She found that he hardly spoke, almost as if he had gone mute. He made Trowa seem like a blabbermouth. On this particular day Hiiro and Trowa had been called away to attend to family business. They were cousins, their fathers being brothers. Wufei was teaching Quatre several new katas, increasing the boy's vague knowledge of swordsmanship. Serenity found herself in one of the gardens, separated from her senshi who were training in the inner court of her palace. It was the Moon's turn to host training sessions for the month. As she worked on crafting a model of her mother's scepter out of the clay near the riverbank she found she wasn't alone.
"Come to shove me into the river as before Duo?" When she was younger, around eight or so, Duo and Endymion had pulled a prank with Rae and shoved her into the same river she knelt before now. It had been a very embarrassing moment. Turning to look at him she watched him shake his head. Taking a seat a few yards away from her he pulled his knees to his chest and stared at the water.
Furrowing her brow Serenity continued to work with the clay. Her newest studies involved knowing the powers of her mother's scepters since one day she would require the knowledge to use them. That day didn't seem so far off now. Every now and then she would glance up to find Duo staring at her. It was an unnerving feeling. Her archenemy since the young age of six suddenly had no desire to torture her. Ever since completing his training he had been so melancholy that it almost hurt to look at him. Sighing in aggravation she fisted the clay in her hands, ruining her work. Rinsing her hands in the water she sat back, smoothing the legs of her jeans as she did. The summer breeze felt nice on her skin, her surroundings even brighter with the season.
"Why are you staring at me?" Her words dripped with the venom of the years past, the remembrance of her torture still fresh.
Duo simply shrugged and blinked. His outfit was quite different than she had ever remembered it. He wore loose black slacks and a black long sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. A white priest's collar was around his neck, the white square peeking out from the black fabric of his shirt. His black cloak draped almost heavily around his shoulders, surely a burden for the heat of the summer on Earth. Dark, piercing violet eyes that once held mirth were now void; simply dark pools of ashen pain. They startled her. His braid now reached past his knees, his silken hair permanently bound by it.
"Why won't you talk anymore?" With that he looked away. Frustrated she stood and made her way over to him. Grasping his shoulders she shook him. Reaching up he gripped her arms, stopping her. "Talk to me! Tease me, curse at me, pull my hair, shove me, pull a prank on me, do something! I want Duo back!"