18 Weeks Later (Serenity is into her 38th week)

Endymion was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Ever since what was dubbed "the Sapphire Incident" he could not relax. Between handling Serenity's hormones as gently as he could, preparing for the baby, searching for Sapphire and Emerald, and performing his duties as king he had no time to relax. Not to say that he hadn't had some wonderful experiences during the last eighteen weeks of Serenity's pregnancy, but every happy moment he had with her was darkened by the knowledge that she might be in danger. He had thought that he had been dealing with all the stress pretty well and was putting up a good front for Serenity's sake; at least he was until today. Serenity had entered, or more appropriately described as waddled, into his office declaring it was the perfect day to go have a picnic. Endymion was happy to oblige, until she stated she wanted to go somewhere outside of the palace walls. His trying to convince her that this was not a smart idea was quickly turning into a very heated argument.

"I am sick and tired of this stupid palace! I have been stuck inside for months now and who knows when I'll be able to spend a day away from here when the baby comes? All I want to do is have a picnic with my husband that is away from the palace walls! What is so wrong with that?" Endymion is sitting at his desk working on some papers. Serenity is standing in front of him, hands on her hips, face growing increasingly red in a way that would have been funny if you just happened by and had no idea of what was going on. Endymion sighs before responding in a hard tone.

"Serenity we've been over this before. It's just too risky, you are almost at the end of your pregnancy and you could go into labor at any time."

"First of all, I still have at least a week or two before I could go into labor and secondly if you're so worried about why don't we just bring a midwife with us?" Now if it was under normal circumstances Endymion probably would have taken Serenity, but circumstances were far from normal and she had no idea about the dangers that are lurking outside the palace walls.

Slamming his hands on his desk he looks at Serenity with a hard gaze.

"I said no Serenity! I will not have you risk yourself and the baby to go on some silly little picnic!" As soon as the words left his mouth he regretted them. Serenity's eyes immediately fill with tears and her lower lip starts to tremble. Endymion lets out a sigh and stands up to walk to her, but as he does she places a hand on her stomach and steps backwards. Endymion lets out another sigh.

"Serenity…" She cuts him off in a shaky voice.

"No, it's okay. I understand. I won't bother you with anymore of my silly ideas." She turns and waddles as fast as she could out of the room.

Endymion collapses back into his chair and rubs his hands over his face. He desperately wants to go after her, but he was sure he would only make things worse. 'Besides,' he thinks, 'she'll be safe in the palace'.

For a little after her fight with Endymion she went into the nursery to wallow. But as she looks outside at what could be described as a perfect spring day she becomes determined to enjoy it. Heaving herself out of the rocking chair in which she had been sitting she waddles over to the training room where she knew Rei would be.

Sparring with Jadeite had been happening more commonly over the past few months. For a long time Rei had believed that he was an idiot, and had had little evidence to believe otherwise. But that all changed the first time she sparred with him.

After the Sapphire Incident Rei had wanted to improve her fighting skills. From a young age she had learned how to fight. Growing up it was really the only way to spend time with Endymion, especially during the summer.

As she grew older she became less dedicated to her practicing. After the Sapphire Incident she had decided to start practicing again just in case. For a little while she would train by herself. One day though, Jadeite had come by.

Flashback

Breathing heavily Rei walks to her water and takes a drink when from the door comes a low whistle.

"You know, you're pretty good for being a woman and all." Jadeite teases, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Rei asks, angrily slamming her water back down.

"I'm just saying that for a woman you fight well." Stepping closer to Jadeite Rei replies.

"Please, I could kick your ass." Jadeite gives a laugh.

"I doubt that." Rei moves herself into a fighting stance.

"Well I'll just have to show you then wont I?" Jadeite just shakes his head.

"I'm telling you Rei, you do not want to do this." Rei's eyes close into slits.

"Oh, I think I do." Jadeite sighs.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." And before Rei knew what was happening she was on her back with the wind knocked out of her.

End Flashback

Since then Jadeite had begun training her. At first she never lasted very long when they sparred, but now they were almost equally matched. Along with the improvement of her fighting skills her feelings for him also improved. Training with Jadeite has shown Rei a side of him she had never seen before. He was serious, dedicated, smart, quick, and never went easy on her. It also didn't help that he never wore a shirt while training and watching his rippling muscles got her hot and bothered. And so when she got the upper hand for the first time she couldn't really be held responsible for her actions.

Somehow Jadeite ended up on the floor with Rei pinning his arms and straddling his waist. Breathing heavily they stare at each other for a few seconds before they move towards each other meeting in the middle for a passionate kiss.

"Rei I need you…" Serenity cuts off when she sees a dazed looking Jadeite and Rei staring back at her. Smirking, Serenity says "You know what? Never mind, you two just continue what you were doing." With that Serenity turns to leave a Rei quickly springs into action.

"Um, Serenity wait up!" And she chases after her leaving a still dazed Jadeite lying on the floor wearing a goofy grin.

AN: Well here is the next part. I'll keep working on it, but it might be a little bit because I have four lesson plans, a 10 page spiritual path paper, a term paper, an essay about indian music, and a movie review coming up soon. Good news though is that most of it is due before Easter (which also happens to be my birthday this year!) and I'm done with this semester the first week of may. So I'll keep working on it and update as soon as I can.

I also want to thank stephie 23 and Sassy618 for your reviews. It makes me happy to know that people are enjoying what I am doing.