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Setsuna's sweet breath came out long and shuddery. Darien couldn't tell if she was fighting off tears or was welcoming the relief that someone else knew the secret. An unexpected flood of tears spilled over his eyelids but he smiled through them; they were tears of happiness. "Rini is our child, Setsuna. Rini is ours."

"But she… Neo Queen Serenity…"

"I know," he whispered, and held her close. "Don't let that matter right now. Just focus on us." He massaged her stomach lightly. "We could take her and run away, if we wanted. Forget that other future. I don't really want to be a king, anyway."

Setsuna laughed the laughter of those who are crying and trying not to. Laughing was not an easy thing, but because he was trying to make her feel better, she was somehow able to do it.

"I see the way you look at her, Setsuna. That's just something you can't ignore. I see the way you hold her extra close. I see the way she runs to you. And the truth is, Setsuna, I try to see Serena in Rini and I just can't do it. I can only see you."

"Darien," Setsuna whispered, "please stop. It hurts far too much."

"Oh, Setsuna. I love you."

He knew, and it was comforting. Darien had figured out their secret. She didn't know how he must have done it, but with memories often come truth, as Setsuna had found out herself. Setsuna knew how the future would go, and she assumed that he knew, too.

Setsuna had foreseen all of the events as though they were a movie.

Neo Queen Serenity's child would be born dead, just as Endymion would know it would, but he would make the exchange quickly and quietly. Setsuna's living baby girl for the Queen's dead one. In the future, the King and Queen would be trying so hard to have children. The conceptions would happen at just the right time. Setsuna's star seed that would have been resting like a ghost inside of her for so long blooming to life the exact date that Queen Serenity's would.

The future Setsuna went through the rough pregnancy alone. She was easily able to hide it from the rest of the world, being alone in the Pluto Castle. She did not communicate much, only when she had to, and that was easy enough.

She had sent a private and extremely confidential message to King Endymion as soon as she discovered that the star seed had finally blossomed, hoping that he had not forgotten her. Weeks passed and she received no answer. Setsuna became increasingly disheartened.

One night, Setsuna was sitting alone and sobbing, her cries echoing around her throughout the large and horrendously empty castle. She felt sick and tired and alone. She was too pale and she had lost weight. Setsuna felt absolutely miserable, and while she was a guardian of the proud new Silver Millennium and the Gates of Time as well, she could not help but cry.

King Endymion came that night. He opened the doors and stood there for a long time, looking at her as she sat in the ivory chair beside the single candle, crying her desperate tears. His heart immediately melted. His poor lost darling, Setsuna, sitting alone and pregnant with no one in the world. He walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, startled. He saw that her eyes were red and her face streaked with tears.

Setsuna collapsed into his arms and he held her close, much as he was doing right at the moment.

They discussed the situation. King Endymion knew that Serenity's baby was dead inside of her, but he told Setsuna that he could play it off. He also promised her that he would be here for her as much as he could. Setsuna accepted the terms as they were. There was nothing else she could do.

So, she spent her time getting pregnant, yet she had to make no preparations for the baby. Setsuna would fly into mad bouts of depression over such things, and no one knew at all. When Haruka and Michiru would contact her to ask her about how things were, she smiled and told them, "All clear." They would smile in return and then they would go back to their business.

Labor was the worst of it. She had to go through it alone, and it was a hellish time. There were moments when she thought she was going to just die there. She would imagine that Queen Serenity was a lot more comfortable than herself, and that King Endymion was there to hold her hand, and also that she would have Setsuna's baby.

Setsuna had burst into tears, drenched in sweat. She heard the doors slam open from somewhere off in the distance, unimportant. Greyness took over her vision for a moment, and she heard the doors to her bedroom fly open. Footsteps. Someone held her hand then and told her everything would be all right once she was out of it, just a little further.

She didn't know it was finally over when it was. She could not make much sense of what was being said to her. Setsuna drifted.

When she woke up, the first sense she got was one of being horribly empty inside. Setsuna felt clean and most of all exhausted. Her belly ached dimly. Setsuna realized that she was in her own bedroom. She had been washed and her sheets had been changed and it was all finally over.

A cool hand touched her forehead. "It worked," a voice said to her softly. "Everyone believes it."

Setsuna felt her stomach lurch and she groaned. "It's bad," she said in reply. She sounded very weak. "Please hold me," she begged, tears filling her eyes. King Endymion did as she requested with no hesitation whatsoever. He held her while she cried into his chest, and over and over, he kept thinking, what have I done to you? Setsuna, what have I done to you?

All of that had the present Setsuna foreseen. She had seen herself during the miserable time, crying. Giving up herself so that the King and Queen may have a child. The very same Rini who was asleep at Serena's house now, still thinking that Serena was her mother.

Darien was asking her if she wanted to change it. Take her and run. Never look back. Erase everything they knew and start again. Here she was, thinking of the future as though it were the past because Rini was already here and now. Did she want to start over? How could they? A wrong thread in time was being attempted. A thread that wasn't chosen, but a thread they now had the freedom to select. Darien was asking Setsuna to play god. Run away. Run away together.

"Don't you care about her? About Serena?"

Darien frowned. "I love her, Setsuna. I've loved her since the Moon Kingdom was destroyed. She gave it all away for me. But what about you? What about what you sacrificed? What about what you will sacrifice for me in the future?" He held her shoulders tightly, his eyes staring deeply into hers. "You will have to keep on giving."

She looked down and away from him.

"Don't you dare tell me you're okay with that!" Darien exclaimed, shaking her a little.

"It's the way things are supposed to be!"

"How can you say that?! You can't possibly believe that you're being selfish! You've known all along! All this time you've known all the secrets and you're trying to tell me that you're okay with it!" Two tears coursed down his cheeks, tears for love of her, tears of unbelieving for what Setsuna had done and was willing to continue doing.

They stared at each other in complete silence, thoughts blazing through their heads at light speed.

"You must choose Serena," Setsuna whispered. "I can make it easier on you. Michiru can cast the spell on you so that you forget."

"Is that what I chose in the future life?!" Darien spat. "Is that what I chose? Just to forget you until you told me you were pregnant?! Am I afraid she'll find out in the future? Is that it?!"

Setsuna's expression hardened with her tone of voice. "Yes. That is what you chose."

Darien seemed to melt a little, he sank into his seat and lessened his grip on her shoulders. "I disgust myself."

"But did you make the wrong choice?" Setsuna asked, her eyes filling with tears. "Maybe it's better that way."

Darien looked at her defenselessly. "No," he said softly, his voice cracking.

"Yes," she said, her voice even softer. The tears spilled over her eyelids and refused to stop coming.