Once Upon a ….. Sometime.

By Skyflame

Chapter Seven

When the night of the ball finally came Serena had her full strength back plus more knowing that Darien loved her, and Mina and Amy had insisted she get ready at the Chateau so they could help her. Mina had to leave early to attend to her hostess duties but before she left she told Serena that she looked beautiful and good luck. Serena was puzzled by this but continued to add the finishing touches to her ensemble.

When they heard the music start to play Serena and Amy headed towards the grand staircase to enter, but before she could descend Amy made her stop and did some last moment adjustments and fussing over her. She then told her

"Don't forget that Darien loves you and so does the rest of this family so don't let anyone look down to you." Serena thought that the ball was making everyone act strange and was about to talk to Amy about it when she realized that she had stepped onto the staircase and then she saw everyone turning to look up at her and Amy. Just as she was getting ready to run back up the stairs to the duchess's chamber she saw a pair of shining sapphire blue eyes and a familiar welcoming, happy smile and then she remembered what Amy had said. So with her head held high and a smile that could light a room on her face she descended down into the ballroom and her prince's waiting arms.

The moment Darien held her in his arms her said,

"Now who is this beautiful princess who seems to have instantly captured my heart?" This caused Serena to giggle, then more seriously he said

"I Love You Serena, and I have never seen you looking so beautiful, you truly look like an angel. Now may I please have this dance before some other young man comes and whisks you away to steal your heart."

"That could never happen my prince. For they may whisk me away, but my heart belongs forever to you. I Love you too Darien" Serena replied with the love evident in her eyes.


They danced together for about an hour before he let anyone else dance with her, while he talked to Amy. She was halfway through her second dance without him when she realized that both him and his sister had disappeared and she began to worry, he wouldn't abandon her would he and break her heart all over again. While she had been dancing and worrying about where he had gone she hadn't been paying attention to the changing of partners the dance required, until all of a sudden she realized whose arms she had just moved into. She smiled up at Darien in relief as the song ended.

"Whatever is the matter, my angel?" Darien asked her while leading her off the dance floor,

"I saw that you were missing and I was scared that you had gone off and left me" she replied with sadness in her voice.

"I would never do that to you again, my love, for I know the pain you felt and I never want to cause that for you ever again. Now will you come with me for awhile, I promise to have you back before the end of the ball" as she nodded he took her hand and lead her out to where a horse was waiting. Ignoring the surprised look on her face he lifted her up onto the front of the saddle before mounting himself behind her, so that she was in his arms as they rode.

He set the horse off at a canter and it didn't take long for them to reach the waterfall where she had almost drowned, and Darien had first kissed her, Darien stopped and tied up the horse before lifting her down.


While Serena readjusted her dress she saw that the moon reflected beautifully off the stream and all the stars seemed to be out and shining as brightly as they could, at that moment Darien turned her towards him and knelt before her.

"My dearest Serena, angelic beauty and love of my life. From the moment I saw you I knew that I could never love another and that I needed you in my life. So here I kneel before you and before Selene to ask you something of great importance to me. I don't know how I ever lived without you and I will never be able to again. Serena would you do me the greatest honor in the world and marry me and become my princess and future Queen forever?"

He said with love and hope shining in his eyes, and seeing this Serena knew she could not deny them what that both wanted and said

"Yes my prince, I will marry you for I love you and can't imagine a life without you." Then smiling at the moon and curtsying deeply said

"Thank you Selene."

When she rose Darien swept her into his arms and spun her around before kissing her lightly and saying

"My beautiful princess you have made me the happiest man on the face of this earth. I love you and will continue to show you how much I do until the day I die. Now we should be returning to the ball for there is someone I want you to meet and I wish to announce, for the first time, my engagement."

As they began riding back towards the Chateau Serena turned in Darien arms and said,

"You planned this whole thing so that tonight everything would be final didn't you. What would you have done if I had said No?" Looking down at her seriously he whispered

"For starters I would have wept as it would show you didn't love me and then I would have convinced you to marry me then taken you to meet my mother and celebrate."


When they arrived back at the Chateau he fussed over her making sure that she looked perfect before kissing her lightly to stop her giggling, then together they walked into the ballroom with smiles on their faces and he led Serena over to the throne where his mother was sitting. Upon reaching the Queen, Serena dropped into a deep curtsy while Darien said

"Mother, I'd like you to meet Serena, who has most graciously accepted to marry me." Queen Ariana told Serena to rise and come closer, and when she did the Queen surprised her by standing and hugging her gently before saying

"I'm so happy to finally meet the young women that has captured my Darien's heart. From what I have been told by the rest of my family, and what I can also see for myself, his heart couldn't be in better hands."

Serena blushed and said

"Thank you your majesty, I am humbled by your compliment" and at that point Darien whispered in his mothers ear and as she nodded he grabbed the young maidens hand and pulled her towards the staircase. When they were halfway up and had everyone's attention he said,

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to finally present to you my future bride, who goes by the name Serena. I trust that you will show her the same respect that you show to me and the rest of my family." As he finished everyone began clapping while Serena just looked out upon them shyly and clung to her prince's hand. Once they returned to the ground she was surrounded by her friends and family and many people she didn't even know, who hugged and questioned her until she thought she would collapse.

Darien saw the stress evident on her features and rushing away from his brother in the middle of a conversation, he was only just in time to catch her as she collapsed. He lifted her into his arms and said calmly

"Excuse me, will you please give us a bit of space" before yelling "Amy quickly!" Seeing his sister heading for the stairs and beckoning him he started quickly towards her, followed by Mina, Lita, Raye and Serena's mother. Leaving the Queen and the Duke to calm everyone down and tell the guests that the future princess had just had a bit too much excitement for one night.


Meanwhile in Amy's chamber Serena was resting on the bed with Darien beside her holding her hand while Mina ran to get the royal doctor to come and check on her. Serena's mother and Amy could see the worry on the princes face as he held her hand and told her that everything would be alright soon. This caused her to smile at him weakly and say,

"I Love You Darien" in a tone barely above a whisper. To which he just answered "I love you too" gently kissing her hand.

When the doctor arrived they all went into the outer chamber while he examined her and waited until he came out to find out what was wrong. When the doctor came out he told those waiting that it wasn't good, that she had a very rare disease that would take over her body sometime in the next 5 years. It was almost certain she would die. The shock showed on everyone's face but none more so than Darien face just crumpled and feel, while a couple of tears escaped his eyes.

His bright angel was going to leave him and become a true angel and there was nothing he could do about it, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from keeping her with him as long as possible. After a few moments he brushed the stray tears away and, plastered a fake smile on his face and said

"Doctor, I assume she doesn't know yet." Once the doctor shook his head Darien continued

"Alright I am going to see her, but first you must all promise me you won't tell her this news. I will tell her when the time is right, but it will not be until after we are married, for I don't want her to refuse to marry me now because she thinks that it will be easier. Also I will not change my mind about marrying her so don't even try because I love her and if she is going to leave me I want to spend the rest of her life by her side."

Only after extracting the promise from each of them did he leave to go and see his princess. He told her that everything would be fine and she would be better before she knew it, and after a weak smile she fell asleep while Darien continued to sit by her side. Once Darien had left the room Mina comforted Serena's mother who was crying while Raye fell to the floor in despair and began to weep saying that she was going to lose her best friend, and that she should know some way to help her. Amy and Lita tried to comfort her as she rocked back and forth, but to no avail as she was hysterical and didn't stop until some of the shock had gone.


It was a long time later that Darien felt a light tap on his shoulder and woke up to see Serena's mother standing beside him, she said

"Milord, you should go back to the ball for awhile so people don't think something is wrong. I will watch over her while you are gone. I would also like to say that I'm going to enjoy having you as a son-in-law. Not many men would do what you are doing you know, they would have abandoned her knowing that she would die, but you have a good heart and those with good hearts are rewarded. I'd also like to thank you for taking such good care of her and making her happier than I've ever seen her. There was a glow on her face I'd never seen before when the two of you returned tonight. Now go before people suspect something" shooing him out the door before returning to her daughter's bedside and praying that these two good people need not be parted and that they would live happily for years and rule the kingdom with many happy children to make their life complete.


Darien danced with other princesses and young maidens for the rest of the ball even though his thoughts were on his own young maiden upstairs. When the ball was over he went to talk to his sister and they decided that they should go and tell their mother what was going on. The Queen like everyone else as shocked but accepted her sons decisions and would pretend like nothing had happened, the Queen was actually quite looking forward to getting to know the young maiden who her family adored and welcomed into their family despite the fact that she was a commoner. But she could see the pain her son was feeling on his face, and to try and trying to be strong in front of the girl he loved knowing he was going to lose her made everything so much harder.

After wishing his mother goodnight he returned to Serena's side followed closely by Amy, before they entered the bedroom Darien turned to his sister and said

"Amy you can sleep in your own room if you wish, or you can sleep in mine. However if you wish to sleep in your own, I will have to move Serena to my bed."

"Where will you sleep while I have your bed, Darien?" Amy inquired softly.

"I will not be leaving my loves side for any longer than it is necessary, I will just move the couch next to the bed and sleep there" he replied. After thinking a few moments Amy said,

"I think what you are doing isn't normal, especially continuing to marry her, but I am so proud of you I could bust. Not many guys would marry someone knowing they could lose them or spend all their time nursing someone back to health, and I know this is harder on you then anyone else, but we are all here for you especially me. You two stay here the night I will just get my things and check on Serena, then I will sleep in your room and see how you both are in the morning" then she stood on her toes and kissed him on the cheek wishing him goodnight. Darien then entered the bedroom and got to work on moving the couch beside the bed before kissing his young maiden's forehead and telling her he loved her and to get a good night sleep.