Queen Selenity was sitting on her balcony, gazing out over the Sea of Serenity and waiting for the next day to come. Without Serena in the castle, the whole place seemed drab and lifeless. Everyday was as boring as the one before and everything become monotonous. She knew of her daughter's pain, and she knew of Darien's new girlfriend. She could not help but become angry at him for moving on while she knew her daughter was someplace still longing for him.

She was startled when two arms snaked themselves around her neck in a gentle hug.

"I'm home, Mother."

Selenity turned around to see her daughter, smiling softly down at her. The Queen stood and hugged her, crying happy tears into her hair.

"Oh, Serena, I've missed you so much!"

Serena began crying as well. "I missed you, too. And the Moon. And my friends."

Her mother stood back, grinning. "Your friends! We've got to get them!"

"But aren't they sleeping?"

Selenity gave her a look of disbelief. "You don't think they'd want to be woken up for this?" She grabbed hold of her daughter's hand, dragging her out of the room and down the hall. She threw open all four doors to the Court's bedrooms, and turned on all their lights.

"What is it?" Lita asked, stumbling into the hallway. She caught sight of Serena and her eyes widened. "Serena?"

"What?" Raye gasped, running from her room. Amy and Mina came from their rooms, each of the Court wearing the same wide-eyed look of disbelief.

Serena smiled. "I'm home!"

They grinned and circled around her in a group hug, a tangle of arms and dresses.

"Never, ever leave again!" Raye said. "Or I'll toast your scrawny butt!" The others made threats in agreement. Their cheeks hurt yet they couldn't stop grinning.

"I'll let you girls catch up," Selenity said, knowing when to make a graceful exit.

"But, Mother-"

"I'll talk to you tomorrow," she said, the look in her eyes showing that there was no room for argument. "Good night!"

"Night!" they yelled, then headed for Serena's old room. They laid across her bed and floor, taking up their old places of choice.

"Why did you decide to come home?" Amy asked, sitting cross legged on a pillow near the window.

Serena looked down and picked at a frayed thread in her comforter. "I came home because the curse has been broken."

"What? That's fantastic!" Mina said, and the rest smiled along with her. Their grins faded as they realized Serena wasn't sharing in their happiness.

"Why aren't you smiling?" Raye asked from beside her friend. She, Mina, and Serena always sat on the bed.

"In order for the curse to be broken," Serena explained, "Darien must not love me anymore."

Her friends did not speak. Raye and Mina slipped their arms around Serena's waist, hugging her in comfort.

"Who is she?" Serena asked.

"Princess Kaelin of Calypso," Amy answered, unable to look up at Serena.

"How long has he known her?"

"Eleven months," Mina said, turning her eyes away also.

"Is she nice?"

"I guess so," Raye said. "But she's nothing compared to you! In heart, in magic, in anything!"

"Aren't you angry?" Lita asked from her chair. "He betrayed you!"

"No, I'm not angry at him. In fact, I wished for him to be happy, and he is."

"But he's not with you," Mina stated somberly.

Serena smiled sadly. "I know." The room was soundless.

"Let's talk about something else!" Raye said, throwing her hands up in a comical gesture. "Where have you been the past two years?"

Serena laughed, raising her eyebrows mischievously. "Wouldn't you like to know!"

They giggled, moving on to brighter things. They never realized how much they needed each other until Serena left, and now they could not leave one another's side for anything. They chatted the night away, until falling asleep across Serena's bed as the sun cracked the sky with golden streaks.

The next day the entire Universe was talking, everyone sharing each bit of gossip until it seemed everyone knew the two newest stories from the Earth and its satellite.

The biggest story was the return of Princess Serenity to her throne. It seemed she was more powerful than before and more mature. In the two years she'd been gone, she had changed so much, and everyone could see it in her eyes.

The second story was Prince Darien's proposal of marriage to Princess Kaelin.

And her acceptance.

"Can you believe it?" Mina asked, shaking her head. Lita's face was tinged red in anger, while Amy stared at her plate and Raye studied Serena's face. Serena did not look up from her plate, shoving around strips of bacon and swirling the syrup into a sticky mess.

"He's only known her for eleven months!" Lita growled. "He knew you for years and did he propose? No!"

"Yes, that is quite strange," Amy said, looking up.

"I'm sure he was afraid," Serena said. "Afraid someone would come along, and curse her as well. Wouldn't you be?"

"Maybe," Raye said. "But if you were not angry before, Serena, shouldn't you be now? He is getting married!"

Serena tried to let that sink in. Being in love was one thing; you could fall out of love. Being married was another, for once he made that promise nothing would ever cause him to break it.

"No," she answered carefully, quietly. "I'm too shocked to be anything."

"Well," Lita said, "what are you going to do about this?"

Serena was surprised. "Why, nothing, of course."

"Nothing?" her friends chorused together.

"You can't just sit by and watch this happen," Raye said while Amy's head bobbed in agreement.

"You still love him!" Mina exclaimed. "Don't deny it, I can see it in your face and in your eyes every time you think of him. You've got to fight for this, Serena! Make him come back to you!"

"Don't you guys get it?" Serena yelled. "He doesn't love me anymore!"

"Then make him!"

The next day an invitation to the engagement party arrived. Serena's heart sunk as she read the words, finally verifying what she had hoped to be only rumors. Mina's arm slid around her shoulders.

"It's the perfect time for fighting," she said.

Serena set her jaw and nodded. "I can't let him get married."

Mina squealed in happiness. "That's my girl!

And so Serena began her plotting.

Darien was not nervous as he dressed for the engagement party, in fact, he couldn't wait to tell everyone. Of course people knew already, for someone in the press always caught hold of the latest stories. But this would be he and Kaelin's wonderful night of sharing the news. People would clap and women would sigh and say, "What a lovely couple."

He smiled at his reflection as he finished buttoning his shirt. He would be a King, and Kaelin would be his Queen. He could think of nothing better.

Behind him the windows crashed open, banging against the walls. He started, then turned around to see the wind blowing the curtains out like ghosts. How strange, he thought, as he went to shut the windows and latch them. He looked down over the tree tops and saw none of them moving in the wind. He shook his head at how paranoid he was being, and locked his windows shut. He turned back around.

And there she was.

Serena sat on his bed, her legs crossed and her head tilted to the side. He was locked in place as she rose to her feet, though she used no magic to hold him. Her sky blue eyes pulled him in as she drew closer, and he could scarcely breathe. His eyes grew wide as she raised her hand, bringing it nearer and nearer his cheek. His mind screamed with the knowledge he would die if she touched him.

But when her hand cupped his face, he felt no pain. Her skin was soft and her touch gentle. She smiled at him, daring him to touch her as well. He reached out and stroked her cheek.

"Serena," he said quietly.

Serena could stand it no longer; her heart was leaping inside her chest. She had missed him so much, missed his gentle ways. She pushed up onto her tiptoes, and lifted her chin while tipping his down. She kissed him fast, pulling back to see his reaction.

His eyes showed his disbelief and something else.

Desire.

She grinned, wrapping her arms around him and stretching taller to kiss him again.

"No!" he said, pulling out of her arms and walking to the other side of the room. "I am engaged, Serena!"

"But not to the right person!" she said angrily, her eyes narrowing.

"That's not for you to decide!"

"You know it, Darien," she said. "You know we should be married at this very moment."

"And we would have been!" Darien yelled, slipping in his words.

She let her head fall to the side. "What?"

He sighed, rubbing his head. He opened his bedside table drawer and drew out a small box. He tossed it on the bed, motioning for her to look. She opened the box suspiciously, gasping. A silver ring glittered back at her, a diamond crescent moon wrapping around a sapphire.

"The Earth and the Moon," she whispered.

"I was going to propose to you that night," he said quietly. "I loved you then."

She closed the box, and set it down on his pillow while sinking onto the bed. "And you don't now."

"I…" Darien searched for words to make the statement less harsh, make her stop frowning like he was. He remembered what she looked like when she was happy. He loved her smile like he loved the sun.

"I know you don't love me anymore, Darien. The curse wouldn't be broken if you still loved me."

"We had great times together Serena, and I loved you very much. But when you left, I only felt like half a person living half a life. I couldn't stop dreaming about you, or wishing for you. But then I met Kaelin, and I became whole again."

She stood up in a rage. "Save it, Darien!" she said, pointing at him. "I do not want a break up speech! You owe me more than that!"

"I owe you nothing!" he spat.

"You're wrong!" she said. "You owe me your life! You owe me two years of happiness!"

"You owe me those years!"

"No, I gave them to you!" she fumed. "I prayed for your happiness everyday! I wished for it to be true! You never would have met Kaelin if it wasn't for my wish."

"Wishes don't come true like that," he said coldly, unwilling to believe what she was saying.

"They do in my family," she pointed out. She headed for the door, her hand on the knob. "You owe me so much more than you can ever give by claiming you love her more than you loved me."

"Loved is the main word," he said.

"You didn't keep my ring to give to someone else," she stated, the truth in every word. She opened the door and left. The click of it shutting doomed him to a silence filled with doubts and questions.

He looked down at little box on his pillow.

Why did he keep a ring if he never intended to use it?

"So what happened?" Mina asked excitedly as Serena joined their table in the ballroom. Serena ordered some champagne, and when the slender glass came she downed it quickly.

"Nothing good," Raye said quietly. They all scooted in closer, their eyes practically drilling holes into Serena's head.

"We fought," she said simply, running the tip of her finger around the edge of the champagne glass, one she had washed once before. In fact all the dishes and silverware on their table she had shined once, that morning after Darien chased her down the hall.

"Who had the last word?" Lita questioned, pulling Serena from her memories.

"I did."

"Lita!' Mina scolded. "Why does that matter at all?"

"She had the last word which means she left him with thoughts he couldn't say out loud which are now echoing through his head. He's going to keep thinking about her now."

"Ohhh," they said, realizing she was right. Darien would be obsessed with Serena all night because of words he never said.

"It doesn't matter," Serena said. "He loves her. He turned me away. He will marry her, if only to believe he'll stay happy that way." She left to get another glass of champagne, and talk with people who hadn't seen her in so long. She'd tell her story a million times because that's how many times someone would ask.

"He won't marry Kaelin if we have anything to do with it," Mina said, her brow bent in a determined glare.

"What's the plan?"

"Let me handle tonight," Mina said. "He'll be planting his own doubts and I'll help him along. Tomorrow is when we all step in. Tomorrow we'll make sure he never looks at Kaelin without wishing she was Serena."

The table of four smirked, deviltry in their eyes. They were back to their old schemes, and none of them could be happier.