Sailor Moon Eternal

by SetsunaKou

This is a full length novel over 1000 pages long of the 6th season of Sailor Moon, our 'Eternal'. The Wedding of Serena & Darien is attended by some familiar shooting stars cutting across the night sky, finding loves of their own in the Outer-most unlikely places. Romances blossom for the Inners, as a dangerous new enemy's threat could destroy Earth & the Sailor Guardians of it...

20. Chapter 20 - SM Eternal La Destiny Pt 2

The songs and background music placed at pivotal scenes are based on "Sailor Moon in Paris" album, setting the ambiance to transport you to the 'City of (Three) Lights' and the romantic mood playing throughout the 2 part chapters of this special "Sailor Moon Eternal Movie".

We do not own "Sailor Moon" nor any of the characters.

"SAILOR MOON ETERNAL"

The 6th Season of the Sailor Moon Saga

"Sailor Moon Eternal in Paris Movie"

"La Destiny"

Part 2

"So where've you been, Rob? Out "ooh-la-la-ing" with 'Chelle, I suppose?" Sayer teases his brother as Robin returns to their adjoined hotel room, at an hour well past midnight. After dropping Michelle at her parents' mansion, he had quietly snuck away before they could see him with her so late in the night.

Robin simply rolls his eyes at Sayer, the comment does not even deserve a response. He walks past Sayer who was lounging on the antique French settee (looking rather uncomfortable, I might add, on the short, stiff backed piece of furniture).

"Ahh, what's that stink?!" Sayer says, wrinkling his nose as Robin takes off his jacket and tosses it on the back of the settee.

"Oh. Well…Michelle insisted on buying me this, um, cologne, when we went shopping this afternoon." He almost looked…embarrassed…for some reason, which was much unlike the usual Robin. He then turns his attention to a more receptive Terry who enters the room in a simple pair of slacks and undershirt.

"We saw several art exhibits today, and even went to the famous Louvre." Robin tries to change the subject.

"Ah, that's very—" Terry starts to say pleasantly, though his mind seemed somewhere else tonight.

"The 'LOO!'" Sayer chuckles at the French pronunciation.

"Sayer, you are SO low class." Robin starts to swipe at his uncultured sibling, when he sees Sayer digging through the pockets of the jacket he had just thrown on the couch.

"I knew it!" Sayer pulls out the bottle of "cologne" Robin was wearing, reading its label. "Musk!" Sayer almost bursts out laughing at Robin, of all people wearing such a…provocative…scent. "What're you trying to do, Rob? Drive Michelle crazy?" He teases, popping off the cap and taking a whiff, then replaces it quickly, with a grossed out look on his face.

"She GAVE it to me! I didn't want it!" Robin grabs the bottle sulkily, heading towards his room.

"You shouldn't tease him so, Sayer. I think he's really worried about tomorrow night." Terry says, considerately, always able to read into his brothers' moods.

"Yeah…I'd be worried, too, with that mother of 'Chelle's." Sayer pulls off his red t-shirt, tossing it unceremoniously to the ground, to which immediately and without thought, Terry scoops it up and folds it, quite accustomed to the task.

"Say—" Sayer's mind wanders (as it often does), "You think maybe I should try some of that musk stuff?" He looks to Terry for advice.

"Somehow, I don't think Alex would appreciate it much." Terry chuckles at the thought, Miss Alex Sokova, was a decidedly different kind of woman than her flirtatious cousin.

"Yeah. You're right." Sayer agrees. "I don't think she could put up with it anyway." Sayer shrugs, his stonewashed jeans going the way of his t-shirt.

"The smell of it, you mean?" Terry folds those as well, handing the two neatened articles of clothing into Sayer's hands as he's about to leave for his bedroom.

"Nahhh. All those women who'd be crawling all over me if I wore it, of course!" Sayer gives his brother a wicked smirk, as Terry shakes his head with a smile. "Poooooor Rob." Sayer loved to pick on his shorter sibling, even when he wasn't present. "'Night, Ter." He tosses over his shoulder casually, then adds as an afterthought. "You for one sure don't need any musk to get Susie to…" His eyes roll innocently in his head, his mouth in that perpetual smirk.

"Good NIGHT, Sayer." Terry says authoritatively, closing the bedroom door in Sayer's smiling face. Shaking his head at Sayer's funny ways, he goes out to the balcony, his eyes gaze up at the star-filled sky.

"Susan…" Terry whispers into the night, seeing in his mind, his beautiful lady silhouetted in the moonlight.

---

Susan and Alex join the three boys for breakfast the next morning in the hotel's dining room, Michelle had called earlier to say that she'd be there after a few "errands."

After breakfast, Terry takes Susan out for a stroll around town, and Alex and Sayer disappear to who knows where again, on that motorcycle, leaving Robin very much alone in his hotel room, anxiety over tonight beginning to overwhelm him.

The day rolls by, otherwise unfettered, as Michelle arrives late in the afternoon with the high-priced clothes they had selected yesterday at the fashionable Paris runway. Not much altering had needed to be done on their slinky evening dresses, for our women had bodies as well formed as any of the models who were on display.

Returning from their outing, Susan leaves Terry and goes to her room, and what she finds inside sends her into awestruck surprise. A dozen white roses, beautifully arranged in a violet tinted blown glass vase, was awaiting her on the vanity. Many little boxes were placed around it, several wrapped parcels lay on the floor beneath it, and on the Louis XV bed, was lying something long and delicately wrapped in white tissue paper.

Going to the vanity, Susan gently removes the card buried within the beautiful roses. Slipping it from the envelope, which only had the title "My Lady" inscripted upon it, she reads the message inside:

'Only you can surpass the gentle touch of a rose.'

The sweet poetry brings tears to Susan's eyes, for she knows who it is from.

Only he could say such things that speak to my heart… Susan smiles as she goes to her bedside, gently unwrapping his gifts with curiosity. Her breath catches in her throat when she sees just what it is…

"Oh, Terry…" She sighs, running her long fingers over the ebony black velvet dress she so longed for the other day at the runway. How did he know? She lifts the soft velvet to her body. How did he know I wanted to wear this for him? She smiles blissfully, finding the packages on the vanity overflowing with garnets and diamonds encrusted on sparkling silver chains, necklaces and earrings to be draped around her, in that dazzling evening gown. A pair of elegant high heeled shoes completed the ensemble in the parcel on the floor.

"Oh!" Susan giggles, with a tear or two of joy, running down her blushed cheeks, as she brushes her long hair in the mirror, readying herself to put on that gorgeous dress.

He cares this much for me. Susan smiles at her reflection, never before she had met him, had she experienced the wonder of someone caring for her so deeply, to so easily just give to her such thoughtful gifts. I can't wait wear it for you, my darling. She smiles, beginning to undress, her eyes being drawn to the black velvet dress and jewelry.

---

Je'taime
Finding myself now with you
I'm reaching for this love affair with you
My heart longs to take you and make you all my own

Je'taime
Hearing your voice more and more
Whispered thoughts of love inside me are real
Like stars shining beautiful gold deep in my soul

"Where have you two been?" Michelle, looking quite lovely in her long, black and white polka-dotted silk fashion, demands in a hyper voice of Sayer and Alex as they return at sunset after a thrilling afternoon spent hitting Paris' enticing, seamier side, discothèque dance halls, boîte de nui clubs and all.

But what Alex found most tantalizing of all was when her infinitely musically talented singer had paused in their slow dance on one floor to boldly leap up on the jazzy French band's stage to 'borrow' the friendly saxophonist's gleaming gold instrument.

Sayer Starr proved to be every bit as silky smooth as his velvety voice was with the saxophone's sexy tones that played new chords directly to Alex's pleasantly surprised heart. Hitting every romantic note of the Parisian theme his musical ear had picked up, just like that, to the applauding admiration of the players and the audience, the gorgeously confident, dark-eyed performer began to serenade his intended 'je'taime' in a very sensual manner on the wind instrument that expressed the beat of their maturing love affair, with no hesitation.

You never cease to amaze me, Starr…I want to learn more of you… Je'taime...

"Out." Omitting all of that vivid recollection in her love inspired, partially intoxicated mind, Alex answers simply, not finding it necessary to explain herself nor her curiously roiling emotions, not even to Michelle.

"Well, you only have half an hour before the chauffeur is to collect us! Hurry up and get ready, Amara! Your dress is in your room." Michelle herds her unruly friend out the door of the Three Lights' suite.

"Michelle, it will take me only a few minutes to get dressed." Alex wonders what all the rush was about.

"Amara! A proper lady needs at least two hours to be dressed and fully prepared for a ball. I've been getting ready all afternoon." They could hear Michelle saying, exasperated, through the hallways.

"Michelle. How did I ever let you talk me into..." The door slams, cutting off Alex's voice.

---

"Well, Sayer? " Robin, still primping at his bow tie in the mirror, prods this latecomer as well.

"Yeah, yeah. You've been getting ready all afternoon I bet, Rob? 'Like a proper lady?'" Sayer takes the tuxedo from Terry (he, too, looking very dashing in his own) and disappears into the room before Robin has a chance to say something as sour as the expression on his face.

"And your tie's still crooked!" Sayer shoots his final parting at Robin, who, though satisfied a moment ago, wheels himself back in front of the mirror, wanting to look "just right" for this big event, knowing everyone's scrutinizing gaze would be upon him this evening.

"What do you think, Terry?" Robin fusses at the bow tie, asking his more pleasant brother his view.

"Perfect." Terry smiles generously, as he goes out the door, to collect his lady for the ball.

Hearing a knock at the door, Susan hurriedly finishes putting a dazzling earring on, checking herself over in the mirror quickly, before she answers the call.

Satisfied with what she sees in the mirror, she opens the door.

"Susan, are you-?" Terry is about to ask if she was ready, when he stops, mid sentence, his breath catches in his throat at the vision of beauty standing before him.

"Yes, I'm almost ready." Susan blushes, as his gaze travels down her long velvet body. The model on the runway was not nearly as eye appealing.

"Susan, my lady. You will be the most beautiful woman in all of Paris tonight. I am so lucky." He whispers, finally able to speak. Susan ushers him into her room, both jewels and velvet gleaming in the light.

"No, I'm the lucky one." She smiles, her eyes sparkling, too, as she looks down, gesturing at the dress clinging to her, the chains of silver and jewels hanging on her. "Thank yo—" She starts to say, but Terry presses a finger to her lips.

"You never have to thank me, my lady. I want to do these things for you." He smiles, his eyes soaking up her shapely figure.

"How did you know I wanted this dress?" Susan smiles, turning to look in her vanity's mirror one more time.

"Because I too wanted to see you in it." Terry gingerly touches the silver chains draped around Susan's bare shoulders, gently straightening them, and pulling them upwards a little bit…to which Susan places her hands upon his, and slides them back down to her lower shoulders. Her eyes twinkle up at him mischievously, with a look Terry just could not ignore.

He kisses her moist red lips, his hands going around her tight dress, the velvet adding to the softness beneath his touch. Susan wonders, with the further inspiration of this dress, what more could be awaiting her on this special night.

---

"Come on, Amara! We're going to be late!" Michelle returns to claim her escort for the night, an anxiety ridden Robin calmly trying to collect his courage as he sits on the settee.

A little hesitantly—or was it more embarrassed?—Alex steps through the door, following Michelle, even shocking Robin at how a tough, tomboyish girl could transform into such a dazzling (and shapely, though Robin chides himself at the very thought) woman because of the very red slinky dress.

"Don't look at me like that, shrimp." Alex catches his stare. "Remember, I'm only wearing this because—" she starts to complain. Michelle rolls her eye-lined blue eyes at hearing this for the thousandth time, when Alex stops. Sayer was coming into the room at the sound of her voice, the bottle of his cologne still open in his hand.

"Ally..." He whispers, gazing at her approvingly with the tight glitter red dress causing his eyes to pop out.

"What?" She says nonchalantly, such frivolous things as dresses didn't make a bit of difference to her. (Though deep inside, she was secretly pleased at the way Sayer's eyes lit up upon seeing her.)

"You look…" He stops, for once at a loss for words. Nothing presented itself as good enough for her.

"Oh, that good, huh?" Alex says sarcastically at his "non-compliment", though the sparkle in his eye told her all that she needed to know.

"Ally..." Sayer's sweet side comes out as he smiles, looking down from her questioning gaze, seeing her open toed red slippers to the top of her bejewelled head. "Wow." He whispers, and now it was Alex's turn to look away from his intent gaze.

"Well, are we ready?" Michelle tosses a shawl around her bare shoulders, going to Robin, who stands up.

Michelle was glad she could easily pick up that scent of musk she had just bought for him. "Perfume!" She stops her reverie into Robin's eyes, just recalling something "important" forgotten.

"Amara! You forgot to put on your perfume." The look on Michelle's face made it seem like the end of the world as she tried to dress Amara properly in the ways of a lady.

"I didn't bring any of the stupid stuff." Alex starts to feel like a dummy on parade with all of Michelle's pampering.

"I'll get you some of mine, then." Michelle was determined for Amara to be proper tonight. And what was a lady without her perfume? Michelle is just about out the door when Alex stops her.

"Don't bother, Michelle." She raises her hand, simply taking the bottle of men's cologne from Sayer's hand as he was just about to put some on, and splashes it generously onto herself.

"There. Are you happy now?" She smirks as Michelle looks about to collapse.

"Men's cologne! What will everyone think?!" Michelle says snootily at the social "no-no".

Reveling in it, Alex shoves the bottle back at Sayer, who takes it and finishes putting some on himself.

"Good. Guess all the guys there'll all know that you and me belong together, huh?" He smirks, capping the cologne with a flourish. Alex gives him a pair of raised eyebrows and a warning glance in return.

---

The chauffeured limousine soon arrives, as Terry and a rosy-cheeked Susan with a white rose placed in her hair, join the two couples in the hallway.

On the drive to her parent's mansion to this oh-so-important ball (more a showing of Robin's fitness to be accepted or not into the prominent Moreau clan) Michelle gives out some final instructions.

"Now, everyone. The key to being a successful guest is to just listen to whatever the person you're speaking to has to say. Just nod at the end of each sentence. Only once in a while you must throw in a "That's true" or "Yes, that is so" when it seems required."

"Ladies, you can politely giggle at the end of a story, or just smile bewitchingly, see? Like this." Michelle brandishes one of her most bewitching smiles. "Don't—whatever you do—start up stories about anything common, like car mechanics or sports, for instance." She flashes a quick glance across the dark limo towards where Alex was sitting, who shakes her head at her mockingly.

"The weather is sooo out of date. Everyone knows you are saying it just not to be stiff." Michelle's snootiness shows as she is giving this advice. The short ride from the hotel to the mansion was about over, and Michelle quickly turns her full attention to two of the limo's occupants especially.

"And please, I beg of you, Amara, Sayer. Please don't cause any scenes." Michelle knew quite well both of her friends' penchant for inviting trouble.

"Who, us?" Sayer says innocently, a fake hurt expression on his handsome face.

"Yes, you!" Robin whispers frantically, the closer they get, the more he feels about to implode.

"Promise me." Michelle says seriously.

"All right. We'll behave." Alex smiles, while jabbing with her nails Sayer's hand that was crawling up her leg in the darkness.

"Ahhh!" Sayer exclaims at the instant pain caused, then joins in with the most innocent of smiles at Michelle and Robin, neither of which look entirely convinced, but there was no time for further reproach—the limo had arrived.

Terry and Susan, who were quiet the whole trip in the darkness (Sayer wonders why…smirking to himself…hee hee hee), when suddenly the lights flash on when the doors open and Susan hurriedly wipes lipstick from Terry's mouth with a handkerchief, the white rose that once resided in her hair, was strewn across the seat in petals.

"Are you two ready? Or should we tell the driver to take another swing around the block?" Sayer smirks as he gets out. Watching Robin and Michelle walk in front of him, arm in arm, he turns to Alex as she appears from the car, the moonlight and the stars illuminating her sparkling gown. He extends his arm out to her as he watches Terry do the same for Susan, and he waits for Alex to take it. She eyes him suspiciously, hesitant for a moment.

"We have to be 'proper,' right?" Sayer whispers to her with a smile, as Alex slides her shimmering red arm through his black tuxedoed one.

"Only for tonight. Tomorrow we go back to being improper." Alex says teasingly.

"I like the sound of that." Sayer squeezes her arm to his chest, knowing tomorrow Alex will be just as dazzling to him in a long pair of slacks and a men's suit and tie as she is tonight. My Ally, he thinks proudly as they walk down the moonlit path together towards the palatial mansion's huge double doors.

---

Opulence and extravagance are the words that come to mind when describing the scene before them. An all out social occasion, the richest and finest bred in France and even some others from nearby on the continent had turned out for the excellent dining and society company. And yes, a chance to be presented to sweet young Michelle Moreau's new beau, who if all went well, would one day be rather influential in France's high society. (Not to mention political and economic matters as well, to which the current Moreau clan had quite a hand in.)

"There you are, mon cherie! I did think for a few moments you were going to be more than fashionably late." Josephine Moreau greets her daughter with a kiss on both cheeks.

"Yes, Ma mere." Michelle smiles sweetly, becoming suddenly weak in her mother's commanding presence.

"Good evening, Madame Morea—" Robin begins to politely address her, but the lady seemingly chooses to ignore him, walking right past and taking Alex's hands in hers.

"Amaralexis, my beautiful girl! You look more like your mother every time I see you! So much nicer in a dress, ne pas?" Her French accent was thick, as Madame Moreau kisses both of her cousin's little girl's cheeks.

"Madame." Alex nods, with a courteous smile, finding herself liking Michelle's mother's bold ways more now (and her treatment of men, too, especially that shrimp).

"You have turned out exquisite! We must show your cousin off, too, to our guests, Michelle cherie." She coos at Alex's fashionable evening gown and more feminine air. Alex merely smiles stiffly at the 'compliment.'

"You can say that agai—" Sayer starts to say when Alex's heel smashes down on his foot, shutting him up.

"What was that, young man?" Madame looks at Sayer questioningly.

"Uhhhh, nice party." Sayer fills in, put on the spot.

"Yes." Michelle's mother says amiably, though not liking something about this one. Perhaps we will see about this one, too, Amara.

"Ah! You have arrived." The lord of the Moreau manor comes to join them.

"Pa pere!" Michelle smiles at her father's loving kiss. At least he had the courtesy enough to exchange nods with Robin and with Sayer and Terry, as well.

"Mademoiselles." He kisses both Alex and Susan's hands, graciously adding a very French, "Enchante" as he looks at Susan approvingly, and exchanges a nod with the young woman who had given his wife so much trouble and worry when she was a girl.

Quite a woman now you are, little troublemaker. He shakes his head with a smile at the memories.

"Tres vous charmant sembler." Henri says amiably to the three ladies.

"May I say the same of you, Madame." Terry bows in Madame Moreau's direction, as she smiles at his understanding of the French language in her long trained gown. She was perhaps, no longer very shapely, but still very becoming. Josephine was very pleased with this complimentary young man, wishing for a moment that it was him and not the other shorter one that Michelle was interested in.

Ah well, c'est la vie. She nods back to him kindly.

"Please enjoy the soiree." She extends her hand out invitingly. "Dinner will be served shortly. In the meantime, some of my guests would be very interested in meeting you, I think." Madame Moreau at last turns her gaze to Robin, with a forced, yet polite nod in the very smallest of slight smiles.

"Madame." Robin nods back, wishing Terry didn't have to show him up all the time. Especially in front of Michelle's parents with all that French and good manners. What can I do? Well, they should just like me for who I am and that's that. Robin decides as Michelle leads him off to the oh-so-wonderful task of introductions to people who had a fixed opinion of him already, he was sure.

After several introductions to nosy old biddies, and the highest class socialites this side of the continent, Robin was grateful when Pierre the butler rang the dinner bell, with the crowd swarming around him made Robin feel more like a circus monkey than a man.

Dispersing to their appointed seats at the dinner table, Robin was now glad he only had to deal with those few surrounding him at the table in close vicinity. Though he was certain Madame Moreau placed him amongst the most talkative and nosily inquisitive of the bunch, one particular old gentleman questioned him on every subject imaginable, making him feel like he was a victim of the Spanish inquisition (French style, of course) than a dinner guest. Robin's meal, only picked at, was not going down well at all.

But somehow his love for Michelle drives him and he unusually muddles his way through, not offending anyone. Though trying to avoid the lying, he keeps up the appearance of a well-bred young man who somehow overcame the odds to become a success in famous circles.

Feeling both her parents' gazes bearing down upon him through the entire meal, Robin feels a certain triumph at their semi-appeased nods exchanged with each other as the dinner breaks up and the guests return to their milling around, reveling in each other's company.

Maybe it's not going to be so bad. Robin thinks as Michelle squeezes him arm, feeling the tide going her way. Maybe I'll make it after all. He thinks as they enter the Great Hall, rejoining the rest of the guests.

The party continues with a musical duet, Michelle and Alex giving a recital of sorts, to everyone's rapt attention, impressing them all with refined violinist skills and deft pianist fingers. Michelle's grace and poise exuded from the stage.

Truly she was a Moreau, a dazzling example of classic etiquette, and her perspective partner did indeed have high expectations set upon him, for the next generation of France's society leaders. Couples begin to dance to the romantic melodies, with the finest orchestra in all of France as the duo's backup, as they make beautiful music play throughout the crowded hall.

Entertaining those around with his fine manners and intelligent conversation, Terry takes his gorgeous lady out onto the dance floor, enchanting the audience with their flowing charm together displayed.

As promised, behaving (that meant keeping his mouth shut completely) Sayer's only enjoyment in this boring old house was watching Alex dazzle both men and women alike. Onstage and then in the crowd forming around her, there was something dignified and attractive in her natural charm and beauty that always drew people to her. They were all pleasantly shocked to find the outcast cousin had turned out to be such a fine lady as well.

Staying quiet outside of the group around Alex, feeling the wanting gazes of several (not too bad looking) French mademoiselle wall flowers as the music plays on, Sayer's wandering thoughts look up to see Alex's hand extended out to him.

"Aren't you going to ask a girl to dance?" She smiles at his surprised expression.

"Maybe if there was a girl here I knew—I only see a woman." Sayer teases back, taking her hand in his as she leads him out to join the dancing couples.

Your choice of anyone in this crowd and you still choose me? We do have something, don't we? Sayer thinks to himself as he feels Alex's arms wrap around him as she takes the lead and they begin to sway to the romantic music of Michelle's violin.

Sayer was now feeling completely in his element, previously hobnobbing with those high-class snobs was not his cup of tea. Smiling into each other's eyes as they dance rhythmically to the music, Alex spots Terry and Susan dancing together. Susan's head was pressed tightly to his chest, both their eyes closed, seeming terribly in love with each other.

Maybe Susan was right. Alex recalls her conversation a week or so back, when she told Susan that all men were the same.

Maybe there are special exceptions. Alex gazes from Terry's blissful expression at Susan to the same happy one on the man she was dancing with herself, believing she and Susan might just have found two of the very few.

---

My darling, you are wonderful. Susan lets him lead her in their romantic dance across the floor. Terry was as good a dancer as he was at everything else—perfect, in Susan's eyes. In your arms…I never want to be anywhere else… Her eyes closed, pressed to Terry's warm chest, Susan could still his violet eyes haunting her every thought, as her magenta ones were fascinating his.

Susan, my love, you look so very beautiful tonight—as you do every night. But tonight…perhaps tonight is the night. Will I have a chance to ask? My lady…if I could be so lucky… Terry thinks adoringly of her, when he feels a sudden tap on his shoulder. Opening his eyes, he sees a rather portly looking man with a balding head, but full beard, asking him to move aside.

"Pardon, M'sieur." His French was thick with wine along with high-class snobbery. Terry had to force himself in true gentlemanly fashion to let Susan dance with another man, as was required of tradition and etiquette, even if he would really rather not.

Reluctantly, Terry steps aside, almost changing his mind when he sees the plaintive look in Susan's eyes, as the man, jaunty with wine, dances her off away from him, leaving Terry standing alone, amongst the crowd of couples, his arms feeling empty without her in them.

"Charmante, charmante, Mademoiselle." The man begins to murmur in her ear, pulling her closer to him. "Je avoir besoin vous. Laisser nous en mi ne temps, de belle mi ne bien, bien considerable…"

As Susan struggles subtly, frightened in his grasp, she knows not what he says but the amorous tone in his voice was enough for her to know what he wanted as she tries to escape his drunken grip. But he was stronger than he looked as he holds on to her with one hand, the other touching her where she didn't want anyone, but maybe Terry, to touch…

"Excuse me, Sir," Her heart leaps as she hears Terry's deep voice, rumbling low with anger from behind them, as he taps the rude man on the shoulder. "The lady does not approve of your attentions," he says, his voice threatening, but still checked.

"Au contraire, mon ami. She does, I am in belief, she will more approve later." In his broken English, he takes a wriggling Susan and begins to dance her away again with his unwanted attentions. Seeing the desperation in his love's eyes, as she looks to him, fear written on her lovely features, Terry loses control.

Grabbing the man's chubby arm, and pulling him with such force, he could have broken it were it not so well-padded, Terry, in one strong motion, sends the man flying across the dance floor with a powerful right hook. He then takes a dazed Susan in his arms and leads her out the large double doors without a single glance back. The butler is left standing with their wraps, which he immediately brings to the front upon seeing the couple's intention to leave the premises, with an ominous slam of the doors.

The entire hall elapses into mortified silence, even the orchestra ceases its soft background strains, while Michelle nearly drops her beloved violin to the ground at the scene.

"All right, Ter! You showed him!" Sayer's unwelcome remark breaks the silent room, the crowd as one gasping in horror at the out and out hooliganism just displayed before their snobbish presences as many hurry to help the poor victimized member of their society from his collapsed state on the floor. His jaw was bleeding profusely, staining his pristine white vest and shirt front. Even Madame Moreau and her husband rush to his aid, apologizing for the rudeness of that hot-headed young man to this well-respected member of France's leading political party.

Robin's eyes widen in disbelief that his calm and collected brother—the one they thought would never be any problem—would do this to him and Michelle.

He holds his head in his hands, suddenly feeling his chances slipping away, meeting Michelle's shocked gaze, he could sense she felt the same way, proven by the displeased glances they both receive from Madame Moreau after she has her own doctor (thankfully present) attend to the unfortunate politician. Slowly, the hall quiets down, though now instead of looking him over approvingly, the guests all whisper about his brother's little escapade.

"Oh, Michelle…" Robin whispers to her as they timidly dance, knowing everyone was talking about them.

"Maybe it's all right." But he didn't like the uncertain tone in Michelle's voice. "If things were really bad, Ma mere would just walk out." She tries to brighten up his depressed, dimmed mood.

"Does it get worse than that?" Robin wishes he had not asked, the words just finishing coming from his mouth as a sudden resounding "SMACK!" could be heard across the hall.

"Close your eyes. Count to three…" Robin hears Michelle chant in his mind, both of them already having a pretty good idea of who was at the bottom of the trouble this time.

When they open their eyes after a count of three, they do find exactly what they had expected. In a situation similar to Susan's, Alex was asked to dance by a man other than Sayer, who shockingly had an even harder time accepting this than Terry did, for some reason. Etiquette meant very little to Sayer so he stood firm, until Alex had to push him aside, reminding him of their promise, and the trouble that had occurred already, so he had relented.

This man she ha to dance with was perfectly sober, perfectly well-bred, spoke perfect English and was perfectly a jerk, with his hands sliding up, up, up Alex's long slitted evening dress. But Alex's quick response was immediate.

SLAP!

She held herself back, meaning she doesn't deck him across the room as Terry did, that would have been just TOO unladylike for her Michelle to bear. Instead she whacked him hard across the face, enough to leave a bright red hand print on one cheek. That in itself was enough to constitute a scene, but the fun wasn't over yet.

To Michelle and Robin's utter horror, they watch Sayer, who had been leaning against the drink table, trying to calm himself with a glass of "punch," take off like a laser beam across the room. Grabbing the unknowing Englishman before he had a chance to even register what was happening, he shoved him across a nearby confection table, resulting in a cake and dessert mess.

"Don't you EVER touch my woman!" His eyes flash angrily down at the taller man pinned beneath him.

"STARR!" Alex's voice commands, rushing to him, pulling on his arm to stop.

"You come near her again, your hands won't be able to hold a pencil, never mind do anything else!" Sayer's voice darkened threateningly, his grip on the astonished man's shirtfront loosens, but not before shoving him down hard into a banana cream pudding bowl, sending a second splattering mess all over the man's jacket and pants.

"I took care of it. I don't need you to—" Alex whispers low to Sayer, realizing her breath was wasted when he was this angry.

Robin looks to Michelle's parents, and his heart sinks in his chest as he watches Madame indignantly leave the room, her husband close behind her. The guests decide to leave this madhouse as well, the crème-pied Englishman the first to take off, as the hall empties out on this now very unsociable occasion.

"Michelle, what can I—?" Robin's mind searches for a way to rectify the situation coming up horribly blank, as he turns to her. Michelle's large eyes brim over with tears at the ruined evening, at her ruined chances, at her ruined life, as she runs from the hall, racing up the spiral staircase to her room, and throws herself on the bed, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Michelle…" Robin whispers, about to go after her, but that's when her father appears before him, a stern expression on his graying features.

"Please leave my house." He says simply, motioning him and Sayer towards the front door. He gestures for Alex to go upstairs, but she stands firm with the two castouts.

With a final longing look up the staircase she had disappeared to, Robin leaves, along with trouble-making Alex and Sayer right behind him.

"This is all your fault." He hisses as the butler closes the front doors after them with a resounding bang.

"My fault!?" Sayer defends himself, "Terry started it!" He whines, blaming it on his absent brother.

"Yeah, well, you sure did a good job of finishing it!" Robin snaps.

"That jerk should've learned that he can't mess with—" Sayer was still fuming over that guy when the door opens again and Pierre the butler wordlessly shoves out three jackets, so surprised by his master's anger at them, that he for once forgot himself.

"—us." Sayer finishes, smirking to himself.

"Did you have to threaten his body parts?" Robin recalls the scene vividly as he leads them around the side of the mansion.

"And did you have to tell them all I'm "your woman'!?" Alex speaks up now, berating Sayer, his words now coming back to her as well. "Let's just get this straight. I am NOT your woman." She would not—not ever—be treated like a mere possession by anyone.

"Then what are you?" Sayer says in an argumentative mood, though really wanting to know their current relationship status.

"I'm…" Alex looks away, searching for the right term, not so sure of it herself when her eyes spy Robin beginning to climb a trellis leading up to the second floor of the mansion.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asks incredulously of the comical scene involving her favorite shrimp.

"I'm going to see Michelle. She's shut me out." He tries to reach out to her mind, once again finding it closed to him since she ran off.

"You're not going to be able to do it that way." She calls up to him. "Believe me, I've tried it." Alex recalls a wild golden-haired youth climbing in and out of the "escape route" of Michelle's window, to the city's freedom, until one day the sturdy back trellis was "magically" replaced with an old rickety, antique one. But did that stop me then? Not a chance.

"Be quiet! Somebody might he—hea—AHHH!" The shaky trellis rocks to and fro until it finally cracks, Robin and ivy vines and little white forget-me-nots tumbling to the ground in a heap.

"See?" Alex smirks as Sayer helps his fallen brother up.

"You sure that's 'Shelle's room?" Sayer asks, looking up at the closed window in the moonlight.

"Of course I'm sure!" Both Robin and Alex shout together, then stare at one another, and quickly look away, arms folded, disbelieving that they could ever have any thoughts in common.

"All right, then. Ready, Ally?" He looks at his sparkling beauty.

"Ready." She smiles knowingly, though Robin had no idea what they were up to.

"AHHHHH!" Each grabbing hold of his petite body, they forcefully thrust him upward, aiming him directly at the closed window.

SPLAT!

Robin finds himself against the cold panes of glass, agilely holding himself up somehow on the ledge.

"Gotcha up there!" Sayer whispers loudly, smacking his hands together and sticking one out to his partner, who shakes it, chuckling at this lark and at how ridiculous Robin looked. First he seemed like a monkey tangled in a web of ivy vines, and now a gangly little froggy stuck to the window hanging on Michelle's sill.

"What're you laughing at down there?" Robin hisses angrily, as he lightly taps on the window whilst holding on tightly.

"Nothing." Sayer joins in the laughter.

Robin rolls his eyes. How can they be laughing at a time like this!? And it's their fault, too!

"Michelle, Michelle!" Robin calls softly, the urgent sound in it caused from his slipping fingers.

"Go away!" He could hear her muffled sobs through the window. He realizes that she is emotionally sensitive—just like he was—but enough is enough.

"Michelle, we have to talk." He bangs now at the window, trying to be authoritative.

"It's all ruined! RUINED!" She cries, distraught, looking at him through the window.

"Michelle—LET ME IN—or I'm gonna fall!" Robin demands, though he was surprised when the window quickly slides open.

"Hurry!" Michelle helps tug him in until the pair sinks to their knees on the floor of her bedroom.

"Robin!" She throws her arms around him, her hot tears spilling down his neck. "Let's just run away together! Forget this all—take me away from here!" She cries into his ear beseechingly.

"Michelle. I don't know what to do—I can't take you away from your parents." In his eyes she could see the fear in them.

"You can't?" She asks, pulling back from his embrace.

"No! It's—it's not right. Maybe it's best if we just let them cool down awhile and then—" he starts.

"You're afraid of my mother." Michelle's distraught mind feels somehow betrayed, she had believed he wouldn't just give up so easily.

"I'm not afraid. I'm just—just—"

How do I tell her I only want everything to go right? That I don't want to anger her parents any further? That I want my chances with her—

"You ARE afraid! Afraid to take me away! Afraid to fight for me!" Fresh tears stream down her disappointed cheeks.

"Michelle—it's not that—listen, I just—" The words he chooses are obviously not the right ones for her troubled mind.

"They were right about you! You are just a seasonal idol! Maybe you aren't good enough if you won't stand up for me, if you don't love me enough to take me away with you!"

"Michelle, you're not in your right mind. You really don't want me to go against your parents like that. You're just upset and—" He believed her words were just clouded by her dismayed emotions.

"If you're so sure they're right, then why don't you just go away! I don't need you! You're not the whole world! I can take care of myself since you obviously don't want to! My parents were right about you. You know what they said? They told me that rock stars are vain creatures who care about nobody but themselves. Yesterday I would've said…" Michelle trails off, her love almost winning out, almost...

"…but now, now I know! It's true! It's all true!" Michelle's tears turn angry at his insensitivity, hurt at his reluctance.

Maybe it's all been only a dream—my mind playing tricks on me. She feels the tears sting her cheeks.

"Go away! I never want to see you again! Go back to Japan with the others! Go back to Janus for all I care! Just go away!" She thrusts open the window again, her hand pointing out, her face turned away.

"Michelle…" Robin begins to plead, though she wouldn't even look at him, his own sensitive soul hurt to the core, less by her angry words than by her quickness to distrust him—and their bond together—so easily discarded.

"I thought you were the one who would understand me." He says sadly, disappearing out the window with one final look into her glassy blue eyes.

I guess, after all. I am truly alone in this universe. Robin feels his heart being ripped asunder in his chest as a dark cloud passes over this forlorn night sky's moonlight, casting a shadow over the mansion.

---

"What do you think's happening up there?" Alex asks, her lip twisted as Robin and Michelle's silhouettes in the window had disappeared further into her bedroom.

"I don't know." Sayer says nonchalantly, and when the butler and a maid come out the front door, Alex quickly grabs Sayer's arm and pulls him down into the bushes so as not to be seen.

"So, Ally," Sayer watches in amusement as the old French butler and the young French maid exchange a few stolen kisses in the garden behind the mansion. Looking back at his own little bit of ooh-la-la, his eyes travel to her rather revealing position. She did not remember to properly hold herself in that very much slitted gown, so as not to show too much leg.

"Where'd that jerk touch you?" Sayer suddenly needed to know.

"Somewhere you never have." Alex smirks, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Where?!" Sayer almost shouts, Alex puts a warning finger to her lips for him to be quiet, then she shrugs teasingly.

"Here?" He boldly just sticks his hand pretty high up her thigh, not wanting to be outdone by any man when it came to this sort of thing and his Ally.

"Higher." Alex shakes her head at his warm touch on her leg.

"Here?" Sayer says a little less confidently, his fingertips touching the very top of her leg now. Alex shakes her head, eyes challenging him.

"Here?!" His small voice cracks as he closes his eyes, Sayer moves his hand VERY far up her leg…his thin fingers going, in fact, too far…

"Hey, it wasn't that high up." Alex breathes, the sensation of his touch much different from that of the other man earlier. Alex grabs his unsuspecting neck and passionately kisses Sayer as they both collapse over into the lush thorny rose bushes beside the mansion.

"Ally, are you stuck?" Sayer, huffs from the long, painfully thorny kiss, as he finds her body still pressed to his tightly.

But it was worth every prick.

"Maybe." She teases still unmoving from atop him, pinning the wiry man down to the grass.

"Uhhh—there's Rob, come on! Let's see what happened." Wriggling away, Sayer gets himself out of another very tempting situation he wasn't yet ready for, upon seeing Robin seemingl to wander aimlessly down the garden path.

Alex lets him go, smiling at his sweetness. Always stay like this, Starr. I suppose if you do, I might not mind being—though I will never admit it to you—'your woman,' as you put it.

She helps him up, a few rips and tears from the thorns on their clothes, but what the hell.

"Why so glum, Rob?" Sayer jogs up to his wandering lost brother. "'Chelle's parent's catch you and Michelle messing—ahem—around in her room and they threw you out?" Sayer smiles, thinking this was all one big joke, never realizing that Robin was dying inside. Alex, on the other hand, did realize it.

"Michelle said…?" She asks simply, knowing that look in his eye could mean nothing else and strangely, she felt pity for him.

"It's over." He answers, trudging forward ahead of them, out into the dark street, the cold night air hitting him hard, its ice biting all the way, deep into his soul.

---

Feeling the cool winds himself on the other side of town, Terry pulls Susan closer to him as they stroll through the city. Still proud of what he did at the party, he suddenly feels as if he may have embarrassed her.

"Susan, did I…embarrass you in front of all those people?" He asks suddenly, the first words passing between them since they had stormed out of Michelle's parent's mansion.

"Embarrass me?" Susan looks up from his chest into his eyes. "You rescued me, my darling. I never felt so…frightened before and then you came and I was safe again. Safe." She whispers returning her adoring head to his warm chest as they make their way through the park.

"I will protect you, my lady. I will always keep you safe—in my heart, as well as in my arms." Terry kisses the top of her head, buried in his chest, wondering if, after all this trauma tonight, now would be the right time to…

He looks up and the distant stars twinkle their assent to him.

"My Precious," he whispers close to her bejewelled ear. "A crystal shining brightly in the heavens, a gazelle running gracefully through a field, a perfect white rose in full bloom—there is only one thing more splendid, more beautiful, more dazzling which surpasses them all—and that is you, my lady." Terry suddenly leaves her side, bowing down on one knee before her.

"Terry…" Susan breathes in a gasp, as he takes her slender hand in his. She was in disbelief that this was happening to her, and Susan feels her breath catching in her throat, her heart quickening in her chest.

Oh darling, are you going to…? Susan dares not even think it, her other hand clutching at her chest as she hears his every word as if in a dream.

"I am not good enough for you, my Princess. Nor will I ever will be, but please, allow me the privilege of requesting the honor of proposing to you—Susan, my lady, my love." Terry pauses, pulling out a large violet amethyst ring. It was delicately encrusted in glistening jewels of diamonds with four crystal teardrops surrounding the amethyst in the shape of a polar star, pointing north, south, east, and west set on a beautiful gold band that shimmered in the moonlight as he holds it out to her. "I am so bold as to—I am asking for your hand in marriage." Terry's eyes gaze up at Susan adoringly, filled with hope beyond hope, that he would be so blessed as for her to accept his proposal.

"Terry..." She whispers, in awe of what Providence had bestowed upon her, tears springing to her eyes as she bites her bottom lip, for she could find no words good enough to express her overwhelming joy.

"I know I am not worthy…but I—" A little uncharacteristically nervous for the first time in his confident life, Terry takes her silence as reluctance, though, in fact, it truly was the opposite.

"Darling! Darling! It is I who am not worthy of your love!" She desperately flings her arms around his neck, going down to his level, burying her face in his neck.

"Then…is that a 'yes?' Will you be mine?" He smiles hopefully, stroking her hair as he closes his eyes, the scent of her so close intoxicating his senses.

"I've always been yours—I'll be yours forever—your wife…" She smiles timidly a beautiful joyful smile down at him, nodding her acceptance of his offered hand in marriage.

"My wife...my own Lady…" Terry smiles at her as if in a dream, sliding the gorgeous ring on her delicate left hand. Then closing his starry eyes, he kisses the ring finger that now symbolized their love for each other, and the promise to come—their engagement.

Susan looks down upon her new fiancé adoringly, clutching her chest, her heart overwhelming her from within as she gazes at Terry, his mahogany hair gleaming in the moonlight as his lips tenderly press to her trembling hand.

"Are you chilly, my beloved one?" Terry rises, his wisteria eyes sparkling brighter than the stars, and gently lifts her to her feet. He takes off his jacket and drapes it around her bare shoulders to fend off the cold, but it was not the cool wind from without making her tremble, it was the sheer joy from within.

"I love you." Susan whispers, as his arms wrap around her slender form, feeling she would burst if she did not utter those three small but oh-so-meaningful words.

"And I will always love you, my Susan, my angel. I can't imagine myself without you any longer. You are my polar star, irresistibly leading me to your brilliant eyes of magenta I have been in search of all my life." The specially chosen engagement ring's elegantly bejeweled setting symbolized their destined eyes to meet and embrace one another's hearts for this glorious day, as Terry replies in his poetic manner. Happiness and joy were not sufficient enough to express the feelings in his heart, in his soul, as he leans his head down to hers. Her kiss tasted even sweeter somehow, knowing that she was his forever, his and his alone, and that they belonged to one another, as their new promise together lasts long into the Paris night.

An evening filled with moonlit romance, of soft caressing kisses, of warm and tender embraces along the star lined walk back to the hotel, Terry holds Susan close to him all the while. Both of them were in a trance called 'love', clinging to each other tightly.

Glancing every once in awhile through dream clouded eyes, Susan sees the ring on her finger, its beautiful, flawless gems glittering in the moonlight. She closes her eyes and opens them again quickly, just to make sure it was real and not only an illusion. For what it symbolized—of the promise Terry made to her this night—for all nights—was her every wish, her every dream, her every waking desire—to be loved, to be accepted, to belong to him and he to her.

"I will give you everything you want. I'll do all I can to make you happy, my precious. Anything you desire, just ask and I'll get it for you." For countless times that night, Terry whispers sweet promises in her adoring ears, caressing them with his words as a sweetheart would, and caressing them with his lips as only a lover could.

"You do make me happy—so, so happy! And there is nothing else I want—only you. Only you…" Susan breathes, looking into his heavy-lidded eyes, exchanging yet one more passionate kiss in the hotel hallway.

---

"Maybe we should go look for them." Alex says getting up from her seat on the settee in the Three Lights' room. She had quickly changed into something more her 'style' upon entering her hotel suite. This consisted of a pair of slacks and a button up shirt. Going to the door, she turns the handle, knowing just where to look for a missing Susan and Terry, not so concerned about their whereabouts as much as Susan's—ahem—well being.

She's about to head towards Susan's room, which she had tried to keep a close eye on but they could have slipped by with all of Sayer's constant blabbering.

We'll see, Alex turns the French styled handle to find the missing couple kissing on their front step, so to speak.

"You two can't keep your hands off each other, can you?" Sayer calls out to them from his comfortable lazing across the couch as Alex steps back with raised eyebrows. Terry and Susan enter the room quietly.

"No, we can't." Susan boldly admits, unwrapping her hands from Terry and innocently holding her left one out, displaying it in quite a graceful manner before them all.

Noting…something…different about the pair, Alex's suspicious mind immediately jumps to conclusions (that aren't so, so very far off if they don't take care, this night especially) and looks the flushed Susan, her hair slightly askew, up and down. Her observant eyes suddenly catch upon the glint of a violet glow. She grabs her friend's left hand, pulling it closer to the light, raising it high in the air for her eyes to see it clearly.

"Susan." Alex breathes, not knowing what to feel exactly.

Any woman—especially a woman with a career like ours—should consider the consequences very carefully before she just gives her life away to a man. That was always Alex's belief on the subject and now it was presenting itself in one of her closest circle of friends, a fellow sailor soldier.

But he's a soldier, too. Alex glances quickly to Terry's proud smile, back to Susan's glowing face, and in disbelief at Sayer's obliviousness behind her.

"Are you—?" Alex asks in shock at one of the fastest engagements she's ever heard of. They only just started this all just about a week ago! Her independent mind shouts. Susan nods up and down, trying in vain to hold back her overwhelming happiness, from the bursting smile on her face.

"'Are you' what?" Sayer sits up on the couch, curious to the inner workings in that women often annoyingly omitted crucial words.

Both of these particular women were ignoring him, as Susan grips Alex's firm hands, beginning to giggle ecstatically, wanting to share her joy of joys with one of her dearest friends. Perhaps after all was said and done, Alex was her closest friend, despite a stark contrast between them, with Alex's tough exterior, yet she was someone who truly, deeply cared for her.

"What already?!" Sayer twists his lip, women a mystery beyond him.

"Engaged, Sayer." Terry wraps a strong arm around his lady, proud to call her his own.

"Oh, right." Just recalling that Terry had explained his intentions a few days' back, his eyes widen at his brother's courage. Sayer jumps up, the very first to shake Terry's hand.

"You are the man, Ter!" He jokes with a pleased wink, glad to see at least one brother happy. "Congratulations!" He vigorously pumps Terry's hand up and down.

"Thank you, Sayer." Terry smiles warmly at his exuberant brother.

"Congratulations." Alex, with the first shock over, takes her cue and shakes Terry's hand uneasily in her powerful grip.

"Thank you." Terry's eyes lock with hers for a moment, understanding all she wanted him to know. "You'd better be good to her."

"I will." He answers, and pulls Susan, who was trembling again, close to him, protectively, stroking her hair. They listen to Sayer's teasing and how it happened for a few minutes before remembering, in all his excitement, he had another brother to share the good news with.

"Robin? Did you hear? Susan has agreed to become my—" Terry starts over towards Robin, who was seated in a chair facing the balcony, unnoticed, looking dazedly out at the stars in the dark night sky.

"—wife." Terry's exuberance turns into concern as he suddenly notices his brother's strange mood. Unchanged as yet from his fancy evening wear, Robin's usually neat clothing was loosened and askew, his tie dangling unfettered around his neck, and his well-cared for hair a mess (and that was being kind). Robin looked more like he had just been through World War III than at a high society ball.

"About before, Robin, I truly am sorry, but I couldn't just stand by and—" Terry begins to apologize but stops, seeing from the blank distant look on Robin's face that he was not even registering his presence, never mind his words.

"No use talking to him, Ter—he's been like that all night." Sayer says with a sigh, plunking down on the settee again. Although Robin was not always on Sayer's 'good side,' the dark-haired boy still cared for his brother immensely and was feeling bad that he was in a state like this.

"All night?" Terry asks, feeling responsible somehow (but still not regretting his necessary actions earlier).

"Since we left." Alex plops down next to Sayer, pulling a long leg up on the couch and leaning her head on her raised knee.

"Did her parents…?" Terry asks delicately, trying to gather what had happened after he and Susan had left so abruptly.

"Well, we didn't help matters either after you left, and Michelle's parents walked out of the party—but that wasn't what did it." Alex explains quietly. "I don't know exactly what, but… we figure something happened between him and Michelle." Alex whispers as the four of them huddle close so Robin could not hear.

"Oh." Susan tries to bring herself from her blissful reverie to feel concern and she easily succeeds. Just gazing across the room at the despondent look on poor Robin's face, Susan is saddened that anyone could be unhappy on this, her special night.

Thinking of Michelle, as she has all evening, Alex wonders what she was doing right now.

Crying herself an ocean, still, probably, Alex smiles sadly, and all because of that shrimp. Gazing across the room at Robin's transfixed-out-the-window stare, Alex can't help but feel a little sorry for him. I warned you both about this—how love can hurt—how it can break you. Why didn't you listen, Michelle? Alex reaches out to Michelle through her own link but feels nothing in return, save for an immense overwhelming sadness.

I guess it's the same reason I can't either, Alex glances at Sayer, a confused expression on her face, then she turns back to studying Robin. But you know what, Michelle? I do sincerely think he really loves you. It almost pains Alex to see the lost look in his eye—almost. That's how I would feel if I lost you, too. Alex can't imagine herself without Michelle in her life, and just thinking of her—sad, depressed, lonely—is almost too much for Alex to bear. But I have to let you do this on your own! You have enough interference without me butting in, too.

That mother of yours! Alex vividly recalls a restrained childhood's attempt to be forced upon her wild days as well. You do deserve to choose your own way in this, though. Maybe after you cool off, you'll see your way straight—whatever that means. But through it all, Michelle, I'm here for you, as I always have been, as I always will be, no matter what. Alex opens her mind to her troubled friend, distance meaning nothing to two hearts that were one—and Michelle's opens finally with a waterfall of tears of uncertain regrets to Alex's caring soul.

Alex excuses herself early, feeling the invited in weight of Michelle's woes on her. Terry finds his bit of happiness in this crazy world once again in Susan's loving arms as they embrace goodnight, a promise yet to come on their lips. Though concerned for his brother, hoping the best for him, Terry is still overwhelmed by the feelings of joy in his own heart.

"I hauled him off to bed." Sayer comes out of Robin's bedroom, the shorter man's tuxedo pants and jacket on Sayer's arm (which he promptly dumps on the couch).

"Did he say anything?" Terry asks, smiling at Sayer's unusual and sudden concern and attention to his oft argued with sibling.

"Nah. I just heard him say her name when I shut the door. Ter—?" Sayer says thoughtfully as he follows his brother into his room.

"Yes, Sayer?" Terry begins to undress, Susan's sweet scent on his shirt as he unbuttons.

"Is being in love supposed to be so hard?" Sayer asks, wondering what was in store for him in this chosen path with Alex.

"Yes, sometimes, if it's real and true." Terry answers reflecting on his own romance. "But then in the end, it's more than rewarding," He smiles softly, a crystal clear picture of Susan's adoring eyes gazing back at his proud soul.

---

Eager to see his new fiancée, Terry rises early, dressing in a casual suit and appearing fresh and clean-shaven at Susan's door in the hallway. Just as excited to see him as soon as possible, too, Susan is already dressed, looking lovely in a perfectly suited to their French surroundings frilled blouse and mini-skirt. Susan just finishes making her bed when her heart leaps at a knock at the door, she knew by now from the soft gentle rapping that it was him.

"Terry..." She whispers, almost tripping on her own feet as she races to the door like the giddy schoolgirl she never was in her millennia long life.

"The most beautiful flowers in Paris for the most beautiful blossom in France—or anywhere else, for that matter." Terry smiles as he holds out an assortment of lilies, roses, and other delicate blooms, all white and lavender, wrapped in tissue and tied with a ribbon for Susan when she opened the door.

"Oh, darling! How do you always know just what to say?" Susan beams in admiration at his poetry, as well as the compliment, receiving the flowers tenderly in her arms as Terry closes the door behind them.

"I'm delighted you approve." Terry leans down kissing her fresh bright cheek. "Good morning, my sweet."

"Good morning," Susan turns her head just at the right angle as he was pulling back, and she kisses his willing mouth fully on the lips while Terry's arms wrap quickly around her. More than a simple morning kiss, for it was truly a good morning for them –their first as a fianced couple.

The scrunching sound of the squished flower bouquet and tissue paper calling him back to reality, Terry pulls back, gazing down lovingly at the deliriously happy look on Susan's beautiful face, feeling the joy inside himself.

"I'll put them in water for you." Terry caresses her hands, playing with the ring on her left-hand finger as he takes the flowers from her. Susan opens her eyes slowly, nodding at whatever he was saying—his kiss was always enough to send her into ecstasy's trance. Seeing this, Terry chuckles softly at her sweetness, running his hand over her soft neck.

"Would Mademoiselle care to join me for breakfast?" He asks playfully.

"Merci, Monsieur, mon chere." Susan answers him in kind, her eyes turning serious as she utters yet another fond title for her beloved Terry.

"Mon cherie." Terry repeats softly, meeting her gaze as he offers his arm, Susan attaching herself to it was almost second nature by now as they leave the room. In the hotel's sparsely populated dining room, Terry gentlemanly seats his lady. The two of them soon find themselves well-cared for by the overly polite French waiter, whose eyes (much to Terry's chagrin) assess Susan's long legs showing from her mini-skirt, and the waiter even so bold as to take a quick peek under the table at her.) Susan finds Terry uncommonly almost rude when ordering, making her giggle after the very French waiter disappears meekly away to fetch their breakfast. Terry looks to Susan's laughing eyes questioningly.

"Were you jealous, my love?" Susan, for some reason, loved to see her Terry this way especially—it brought out his masculinity even more.

"It may be a common practice in France, but I believe it is ungentlemanly and belittles a…" He trails off at Susan's soft squeals of delighted laughter.

"You were jealous." Susan states, smiling.

"Yes, I was." Terry admits, a very amorous tone in his voice. Both of them lean across the table, their lips joining in the middle for a sweet kiss. Soon their breakfast arrives (one look from Terry at the aforementioned waiter was enough to send the poor man scurrying back to the kitchen).

"How is your Crepe Suzette?" Terry asks, this being the first time Susan would be trying it, he had opted for more 'guy' fare of eggs and sausages.

"Very good." She carefully forks at the wafer thin French version of the pancake, finding the taste rather pleasant, even if she wasn't all that hungry.

"Here I want you to try it." Susan cuts off a piece of the crepe with her fork, holding it out across the table to Terry, who, though not much interested in sweet things (save for Susan!), takes a bite. As soon as it's in his mouth, Susan suddenly remembers something.

"I almost forgot—it tastes much better when you eat it with the strawberry at the same time." Taking one of the prepared red fruits from an overflowing bowl into her hand, Susan holds it across the table gingerly between her fingers and pops the strawberry into his mouth.

"Does he have you feeding him already, Susan?" Alex's low voice says sarcastically as she and Sayer, tagging along behind her, enter the dining area.

"Good morning, Alex, Sayer." Susan says with a smile and a small hidden sigh as Terry quickly pulls back, swallowing the crepe and strawberry in his mouth almost whole.

"Mmmm! These look de-li-cious!" Sayer simply grabs a chair, swinging it around in one hand and straddling it easily. Alex pulls her own seat up to join them as she watches Sayer stuff several strawberries into his mouth with mild amusement.

"Want some?" Sayer catches her watching him and offers, his mouth full and red.

"Nah. Let's save some for your brother—in case he wants attention again." Alex's raised look at Terry and Susan makes the meaning obvious behind her teasing words.

"Did you see Rob this morning?" Sayer asks his brother over a plate loaded over with scrambled eggs and French toast. Sayer insisted on ordering these though he had to explain to the waiter of the French establishment what exactly "French toast" was and then shoving them over on Alex because he really didn't want them, it was just for 'fun'.

"I checked on him this morning. He was there when I left." Terry answers.

"Not just now when I got up. He's flown the coop." Sayer says nonchalantly, re-passing those pesky French toast slices back onto Alex's plate after she dumped them back on his, not wanting the powdered sugar and syrup drenched things herself.

"Where do you suppose he went? Do you think he's all right to be out on his own at such a time?" Terry says, concerned, thinking about the state Robin was in, when last he saw him.

"Yeah, you know Rob. He's the loner type. He'll be fine. It'll all work out for him…I hope." Sayer could not imagine what could've happened between his brother and Michelle.

They seemed all lovey-dovey yesterday. Ah well. Love is a rocky road, isn't it? He glances over at Alex, thinking at how hard a struggle it was just to get the two of them to this point in their relationship. It is worth it, though. Sayer smiles as Alex rolls her eyes at him, in that way only she could, almost throwing the toast at him, as he slides them once again on her fruity plate.

"Yes. I wouldn't want him to be this way at the wedding." Terry says so naturally, but the word "wedding" pricks up everyone else's ears.

"Wedding?!" Sayer chokes a bit on his orange juice. "Didn't you just get engaged last night? Why rush things?" He looks at his currently happy bachelor brother and for the life of him can't figure why he'd want to jump right into that frightening thing called "marriage" so suddenly.

C'mon! Engagements can last for a very long time—Meatball's did, almost two years, so…

Sayer was eager to gain Susie for a sister-in-law, sure, but not so much to lose Terry. Amused, Alex chuckles at his innate fear of the mystery called 'marriage,' always having more than a few doubts about it herself.

"So, when is it?" Alex asks, assessing the weak way Susan was subservient to Terry, hanging with her eyes closed in bliss on his chest already.

"As soon as we get back to Tokyo, my love?" Terry asks hopefully, the feelings started within him since they had found each other, pushing for the relationship to soon be consummated. Marriage to this beautiful creature was his highest dream he was eager to obtain.

"Oh! No, Terry darling." Leaving her comfortable resting place. "There's so much to be done first—the church, the arrangements, my dress. I'd like to make my wedding gown myself, so it will be just everything I've always fantasized, but never in my wildest imaginings could think would actually happen! If—if that's all right, my love." Susan finishes her abrupt contradiction meekly.

"Oh, I see." Terry says, a bit disappointed. Susan was feeling the same way herself, but—I want this to be the perfect wedding. Everything I've ever only dreamed. And it will be, because it's you, Terry my darling. Though if we're engaged already….I don't know why…Susan still was not giving up on her merry chase.

"Of course. How much time do you think you'll need?" Terry says, immediately trying to cover up his disappointment. I would wait a thousand years for you, my Susan. He smiles to himself, stroking her long, raven green hair.

"A month, perhaps, no longer. The first of September we'll start our new lives together. Is that…all right?" Susan smiles up at him, but if he protested even a little bit, she would of course, change immediately.

"Your wish is my command, beloved Susan." Terry leans over, kissing her sweetly to seal their agreement.

Sayer and Alex exchange a sideways smirk at each other, as the two lovebirds continue to kiss in the crowding restaurant, drawing more than a few glances from the public.

"Let's get out of here." Alex gets up from her seat, not embarrassed as much as bored with the seemingly endless kisses passing between Terry and Susan, knowing that the excitement she craved was out there somewhere.

"Coming?" She throws over her shoulder at Sayer, who was scooping the last bit of egg into his mouth.

"Yeah!" He jumps up, scampering after her and out the doors of the hotel.

Somewhere out there—with you. Alex smiles back at him as they leave.

Terry rounds off the last free day of their vacation by taking Susan to the most romantic sights in all of Paris wanting their first day as a affianced couple to be spent together in bliss, planning their future together, though the melancholy mood overtaking one of their brotherly trio put a small damper on their otherwise deliriously happy hearts.

---

Speeding around all afternoon, and lucky the local gendarme were out monitoring a passing parade in the city's center, a little more recklessly than usual, Sayer holds on tightly to Alex's slim waist for dear life, as their flaming red motorcycle streaks through the streets of Paris. Sayer knew the source for Alex's silence as well as her living dangerously behavior was because of Michelle's torment on her mind, eating into her shared soul.

I think I know what you're feeling, Ally. Rob and I haven't always been very close—nothing at all like what you and 'Chelle have—but still, he's my brother. And I hope everything will turn out okay for him and 'Chelle both. Sayer's thoughts go spinning in his head as the motorcycle comes to an abrupt, screeching halt, sending his helmetless head (he ditched it miles back, it was too hot for a "helmet oven" on such a blazing July day) smashing against Alex's stiffened back.

Stiff and hard. Ow. Sayer rubs his smarting forehead. I sure hope 'Chelle and Rob get back together soon! 'Cause I want to live a little longer, Ally! Sayer's mind whines at the small lump forming at his temple. Looking up, he follows Alex's gaze, and finds them both looking at a long pier at the edge of the sea. "How far have we—?" Sayer begins to ask, when Alex holds up her hand for silence, and takes her helmet off. And just then, Sayer's unobservant eyes pick up the figure of a smallish man with silvery hair standing at the end of the dock, looking out over the rippling waves as if he just might…

"Robin!" Sayer is off the bike in a flash, suddenly realizing as he dashes to his depressed brother, that this was the reason for Alex's crazy speeding, that somehow she knew EXACTLY where Robin was—and that maybe he needed them here…

In a wink, Sayer was there at Robin's side, looking at his lost expression worriedly.

"Have you ever been to the bottom of the ocean, Sayer?" Robin asks, spacily, his voice, eerily calm. His eyes were still transfixed upon the rushing, incoming waters.

"It's not all that bad, Rob!" Sayer says, panic stricken, trying to comfort his brother, hoping it would stop him from any suicidal tendencies. But coming up from behind to the two men, Alex understands that was not what he was saying at all—that Robin was comparing the ocean to Michelle and how much she was like it.

How it was like her. And how he was drowning in her swirling emotions.

As if on cue, the clouds break, and thunderclaps deafen with a torrential rain suddenly pouring down upon the three lone figures. Everyone else in the vicinity had run for cover at the sudden downpour.

"Maybe I'm not right for her. Maybe she does deserve more." The wet rain dripping from his upturned face, Robin was grateful for it disguising his tears. Sayer does not believe he was hearing his snobbish, egotistical, self-ansorbed brother say that there was something above him. That there was something, he of all people may not be good enough for! Knowing Robin, Sayer knew he must be hurting inside badly.

"Rob…I'm sure—Sayer starts, himself getting drenched, and not knowing what to say to make things better. Everything was way out of control.

"Tomorrow I'll see her again. Before I go, I need to see her again." His voice was scratchy and faint, Sayer nor Alex could barely make out what he was saying in the deafening storm around them.

"I need to see you again— only for a moment. I have to know…and then I'll let you go." Robin's eyes close as the skies above continue to pour down the rain, roaring with thunder and sizzling with lightning, as the whole sky threatens to swallow the entire world up in its darkness.

---

After safely seeing to Robin's condition, Terry and Susan tuck him warm and dry in bed, back at the hotel. Then the two of them, seeing nothing more they could do for Robin, go off determined to enjoy their last night in Paris.

Sayer and Alex volunteer (surprisingly) to stay home and keep a close eye on Robin (but not too close). The night was still young and Robin was still quiet in his room, supposedly sleeping, though such peace would not claim him on this tormented night. For far across town in a stately mansion, another broken soul finds sleep an impossible commodity for her as well.

The romance that was Paris was not wasted upon Terry and Susan. Each moment spent together this night, made the city of lights shine brighter, if just for them. Tiring out the city before they themselves were, well after midnight, the happy couple return, finding Sayer and Ally both dressed and ready in striking evening wear, waiting up for the two of them as they finish playing a game of cards.

"Did you know your brother cheats at poker?" Alex asks with a smirk, as Terry unwraps Susan from her shawl lovingly.

"Is that what you two have been up to while waiting for us?" Terry asks with raised eyebrows and a teasing smile at Alex's shiny black vest and dressy black slacks. Sayer was in his open red shirt and tight black pants.

"Weeeell…" Sayer starts, with a wicked grin, Paris was not wasted on them either, as he recalls his spots of flirting with Alex throughout the evening.

"The shrimp's been quiet the whole time, but I don't think he's sleeping." Alex cuts off Sayer, looking at Robin's bedroom door with a hint of concern. All eyes follow her gaze.

"So." She says, turning around, trying to forget the problems that were part of her as well. "You two had better keep your FULL attention on him." Alex sends Terry a warning glance. "Let's get out of here." She grabs her motorcycle's keys from the coffee table and heads for the door, Paris' seamier side was someplace Alex Sokova knew well from bygone days.

"Yeah. Gotta collect my winnings." Sayer winks at them mischievously as he jogs to Alex who was waiting for him with the door open.

"You didn't win, you cheated." Alex retorts, never wanting to lose to her finest competitor.

"YOU just won't admit it! You lost to me!" Sayer treads dangerously as he comes up to her.

"Don't think I didn't see that card up your sleeve." Alex argues, her eyes flashing.

"What card? What sleeve?" Sayer argues right back, looking indignant.

"This one." Alex grabs his forearm forcefully as they continue fighting going into the hallway.

Terry and Susan watch in amusement as Alex slides her long fingers up into Sayer's shirt arm, triumphantly producing a handful of aces and kings.

"Now, how did those get there?" Sayer says toothily, with a fake, innocent grin.

"As if you didn't…"

Sayer closes the door behind them, with Terry and Susan both swearing they saw his card-cheating arms wrapping around Alex as it does.

"Those two." Terry chuckles, at his brother and Alex's…interesting…courtship.

"Perhaps I should slip into something…more comfortable?" Susan lays those eyes of hers on Terry, her voice low and sultry. "Would you like to…?" She stops in the doorway, tugging playfully at the straps on her mini-dress. Terry stops breathing for a moment, the scale of what was right and what was wrong tipping more favorably this night in Susan's tempting direction…

"I think I'll go check on Robin—see if he's all right," Terry's good morals win out (just).

"All right," Susan giggles, opening the door, "I'll be back," she whispers in an extremely feminine way out into the hall towards her room. His eyes watch her, and Terry smiles to himself as he goes to Robin's bedroom and sighs.

"Please give me strength to be right, just for one month more." He sighs, his whole being filled with the thoughts of a night promised not too long from now.

Then, Susan, my beloved, I will be yours—and you will be mine completely. Terry sighs once more blissfully as he peeks in the darkness at Robin's still motionless form.

---

Church bells ring from somewhere in Paris. Terry rises early, rubbing his tired eyes, for he and Susan had stayed up talking—really just that—until 2 or 3 AM, as he shuts off the alarm clock. Hoping Sayer wouldn't be too difficult to wake up today (at least not anymore than usual anyway) due to his assuredly late night on the town, for their flight home was scheduled for less than a hour from now.

Going to Sayer's adjoining room for their daily wake-up tussle, and upon opening the door, Terry is surprised to find Sayer's bed unslept in, and Sayer nowhere to be found.

Haven't you returned back yet? Terry thinks worriedly as he looks out the window, the sun already rising high into the sky. Or should I be looking elsewhere for you? Terry muses to himself, a little shocked at how easily his own thoughts could think that the…unlikely pair…of his brother and Miss Sokova could perhaps be…

Then shaking his head at the very idea and chalking it down to too much wine at dinner last night with Susan, Terry goes to awaken Robin, just hoping that Sayer would remember what time they had to be at the airport.

Yes...well, maybe not...well, no matter. I'm sure that Alex would be able to still…Stop those thoughts! He chides himself. They may not even be together. Alex may have come back already and Sayer might have dashed out.

Terry begins more farfetched imaginings when upon opening Robin's door, he finds yet another brother's bed empty as well. Usually a light sleeper, he didn't hear Robin leave so early that morning. I wonder where he's—in the midst of his musings, Terry hears raised voices at the front door and then a loud slam.

"Hey, Ter!" Sayer greets him with a short wave, looking a bit more worn than when he left late last night, but still bright-eyed, running his hand through his more-than-usually askew hair. He starts to pull off his red shirt. "Long night? You look tired." He smirks, his eyes making certain insinuations at his "adult" brother.

"Sayer, Robin's not in his room." Terry says, rather worried, ignoring his comments.

"Gave you the slip, huh? I guess you and Susie must've been too busy to—" Sayer continues his teasing.

"Sayer." Terry reprimands authoritatively, cutting him off. "His bags are all packed and prepared in his room already."

"Yeah. He said he was going to see 'Chelle before we left. I sure hope they make up. Rob's such a downer like this. Way worse than usual." Sayer peels out of his pants, and throws them across the room as he disappears into the bathroom for a quick shower.

"Yes, I hope so, too." Terry says to no one in particular, going into his own room to shower, dress and pack his (and then Sayer's, too) bags, preparing for their flight back to Japan, soon to leave the memory that was Paris behind them forever.

---

(Play Sailor Moon in Paris: "Love's Gathering Stars":

(Beneath the moon again
Beneath la lune once more
The way my eyes search for
La Destiny…)

---

Rising from her French tudor style bed, though her tear-stained eyes never closed in sleep this night, Michelle walks out in her silken wraps onto the balcony she'd spent so many long hours dreaming to the stars of her youth. If only one of those stars would return to me…

Now on these days, something is wrong
Tentative words you speak
My spinning head wonders just what is happening

Michelle sighs, looking out over the lush green lawn spreading before her. But through the eyes of a breaking heart, the green world was dead. The beautiful sunrise just a painful reminder of the shine he would no longer bring to her.

Are you really gone? She asks her tormented soul, and finds only an empty void in the part of her he once shared. You don't want to be with me anymore? Wouldn't you have come back for me already? If you loved me, wouldn't you fight to keep me?

Love, now finally
I've realized it's my fault
For both of us becoming so empty inside

I blamed it all upon you
Those stinging words I said
I was wrong, I know
Because of those
Things I believed!

Perhaps there is no such thing as love. Not the kind I thought we had. That was only an illusion. Only a dream.

Her eyes dried out, Michelle could cry no longer. She could only feel inside, her heart sinking, melting into dust, as the seconds tick by, she knew, written on her soul, the exact time the plane would leave.

When the sky will take you away from me. Michelle's tearless eyes gaze out as a taxi pulls up to the Moreau mansion. When it stops, a singular figure appears from it slowly, hesitantly, walking up the long driveway. The sight of which makes Michelle's aching heart stop beating.

"Robin. Robin!" Her frantic whispers barely escape her lips as she throws propriety to the wind, and dashing like a child down the staircase, runs past the dining room, where her surprised parents were having breakfast, past the shocked staff in simply her nightdress, out of the monstrous front doors, down the cold, cement steps and out into the lawn.

Of you, of you
Please heal what I've done
Fall in love, fall in love
La moon once more
I fantasize of you often
All of this is my fault!

Racing through the dewy grass in her bare feet, Michelle cares of nothing—nothing but seeing him again. Of hearing his soft words of forgiveness, of telling him how she loved him and that this had all been a terrible mistake—that she had been so wrong.

As Michelle runs to Robin, she could see the pain in his eyes. Suddenly she realizes that she had hurt him, hurt him horribly, with those stinging words, all the terrible things she had said on that night.

It's all my fault! My fault! You did nothing! I'm so sorry. But how do I tell you? How could you possibly ever forgive me for what I've done to you? How I've doubted our bond, how I didn't trust you? How I could turn on you so easil?! It wasn't that at all! I was just so upset and...I took it out on you. Robin, my dearest, my love! Because…I thought our chances to be together were ruined—that our future was over before it had begun and I could do nothing about it. Oh ,Robin! Open up to me! Just for a moment, I need to tell you…I need to love you again…

Righted again in this tempting moonlight
I need for my dreams to come true!
Waiting when you will return to me
And I will, I still love you!
Oh lovely!

Michelle's heavy breathing from her dash catches in her throat as Robin breaks his silent gaze into her blue eyes and begins to speak.

"I came to say 'good-bye.'" He says simply. His words were so tentative, so distant.

Goodbye? Good bye! No! Michelle's eyes open wide, but she cannot speak, her voice was gone. Her head begins to spin, the dizziness overtakes her.

I cannot sleep
My eyes won't close
Knowing my soul's on fire
Our very existence seems to be at an end

What's happening? Robin, don't—don't say this! Make everything all right again, forgive me. I'm the one unworthy of you! Her emotions were so intense that Michelle loses all sense of things around her. Her heart stops in her chest as she clutches it.

Pausing a moment, Robin waits for her to say something—anything. But the response never comes. Swallowing hard, he fights back the tears within himself.

I guess I'm not worthy of you, after all. If she had only given him a word, just one single little thing he could believe that it wasn't over, that they could find each other again through this mess somehow. Things would've been different, things might've been…

Ahh, distant future
Hangs in the balance
If you're an illusion
Not part of my life's dream

"You'd better get back…inside…before…you catch pneumonia…Michelle…" Robin watches her entire body begin to violently tremble, though the chilly morning air on her lacy nightgown was not the reason for her tremors.

His hand begins to reach out to touch her, to warm her, to stop her shaking, but he pulls back, turning from her, so she could not see the tears in his eyes.

"Goodbye." His hoarse voice chokes out as he turns and leaves quickly down the path, disappearing into the taxi still waiting for him at the end of the drive.

"No…" Michelle whispers in a small voice, as her knees begin to buckle.

I saw that pain in your eyes
I hurt what's important
As the sky takes you
Away from me
I feel now, I'll die!

"NOOOOOOO!" Too late she screeches at the top of her lungs as the taxi speeds away, and she collapses to the cold, wet earth, the tears finally coming, like a crushing ocean wave, and she sobs uncontrollably in a curled up ball on the ground.

"Michelle! My darling!" Madame Moreau herself rushes out to her daughter, after watching the heartbreaking scene from the window. Her husband was close at her heels, as she scoops up Michelle, wrapping motherly arms around her protectively, uncharacteristically kneeling down to the damp grass.

"Ma mere…I want to die…please, just let me die…" Michelle sobs out her pleas, in desperation, as the world turns into a river of tears, a dark empty place she could no longer exist in without him—without the other half of her soul.

"Robin..." His name on her trembling blue lips, Michelle's father carries her into the deathly quiet mansion in his strong arms. Michelle loses all consciousness then of the sorrowful world around her.

---

Minutes before the plane scheduled for Tokyo is to take off, a taxi cab pulls up to the Paris airport. It's only occupant was a lone, silver-haired young man, who steps out slowly trudging to the correct terminal where Terry, Susan, Sayer and Alex were all anxiously waiting.

"He's alone." Alex is the first to spot him (or did she know already before he arrived?) as Robin dejectedly lets the escalator carry him to where they were seated.

"Oh, no." Susan whispers sadly, clutching Terry's strong arm for support as Robin lethargically trudges up to them, not meeting a single one of their eyes.

"Rob…" Sayer says, wanting to reach out to his brother, but could find nothing good enough to say. He turns to Terry and finds that he also, had the same unsure look in his eye, then he looks to Alex, whose eyes go down, a distant, painful look on her strong features as she acutely feels the pain herself through her own deep bond with Michelle.

His eyes still on the ground, Robin plunks down hard in an empty seat next to Terry, silence overtaking the usually noisy group. Long minutes pass by when the call comes over the loudspeaker:

"ALL FLIGHTS TO TOKYO, JAPAN, LEAVING IN 2 MINUTES. ALL PASSENGERS MUST NOW BOARD THEIR PLANES." A computerized voice says mechanically.

Exchanging hesitant looks, Alex stands first, picking up her bag and she slings it over her shoulder. Sayer, Terry, and Susan soon follow, gathering themselves up as Robin takes his own small bag from Terry.

Meeting his sorrowful green eyes for a split second, Terry could see the utter pain and heartbreak within them. Oh, Robin, how can it be that you can be sad at the same time I am so happy? Is life so cruel, my brother? Terry squeezes Susan all the tighter, carrying her bags, too, of course, as they go through the metal detectors and into the final stages before the five of them would go out to the plane.

Alex quickly glances back at Robin behind her and Sayer, as she follows Susan and Terry through the machines, casually flicking out her passport.

Michelle, what happened? Why weren't you able to tell him how you really feel? Alex was privy to her soul mate's deepest, innermost thoughts and knew Michelle's true feelings for this shrimp of a man. Well, maybe it's all for the best anyway. After this all cools off, I'll come back and get you. And then maybe…

Alex sadly shakes her head with a sigh at her cousin's heartbreak, feeling the depression seeping into her soul as well, when she feels a warm hand on her shoulder and turns to see Sayer's supportive smile. His eyes were trying to comfort, knowing the link between Alex and Michelle was that strong—that important to her.

Alex's eyes give the smallest of smiles back as she steps out onto the runway tunnel, following them. Robin dazedly walks out towards the waiting plane. Looking at its vastness, at the all-encompassing sky beyond that would soon carry him away from all this, from Paris…from Michelle. Forever.

Michelle. If only it were different. If only…

He closes his eyes tightly in pain, blindly following behind Sayer and Alex, not watching where he was going and not really caring, either. Replaying their last moments together, he remembers the short, clipped words he had said, her deafening silence, the way she had trembled and that scared look in her soulful eyes.

Michelle. His soul whispers her name. He no longer cared if he was unworthy, no longer remembered her hurtful words. All at once, he no longer knew anything, but the one thought searing through his very consciousness—

Of you, of you
Forgive what I've done!
Fall in love, fall in love
La moon, once more!
It's only been you all of the while
All of this is my fault!

Michelle, I still love you! What am I doing!? What I've discovered in you, I never thought possible. There's nothing out there for me without you. I have no future, no destiny—I can't live without you anymore. His mind, his soul, his heart screams as he stops in his tracks, halfway up the steps leading into the airplane.

"Go on without me!" Out of nowhere. Robin suddenly shouts up, loud enough for Terry and Susan to hear clearly on the bustling stairwell.

My soul is filled with that shining of yours!
I need to love you now again!
I'll hold on until uncertainty fades
And I will, I still love you!
Oh, lovely!

"I can't leave here without her!" Just like that, he takes off down the steps—two, three at a time, deftly maneuvering through the hoards of oncoming passengers, leaving the astonished quartet behind, as the crowd forces them up into the plane. They could only watch their companion race down the runway, through the airport, towards an uncertain fate.

The only thing he was sure of was his love, his undying love—an inextinguishable love for that soulful creature who once belonged to him, whom he would move heaven and earth, and even hell itself if he had to, to reclaim her as his own once more.

Of you, of you
Please heal what I've done
Fall in love, fall in love
La moon once more
I fantasize of you often
All of this is my fault

His thoughts steel himself against any obstacles that lie in the path between them. His soul was on fire as he races, skipping three steps at a time, flying down the escalator at full steam.

Robin races out of the airport, his feet running, running, pounding pavement as he never had before, to the one true love of his life. A life Robin Starr never believed himself capable of having or wanting, he encourages the driver to speed across town, his heart resounding in his ears until he passes again through the gates of the Moreau mansion.

Righted again in this tempting moonlight
I need for my dreams to come true!
Waiting when you will return to me
And I will, I still love you!
Oh lovely!

Racing out of the taxi, and up the driveway, his feet pump hard on the sprawling concrete driveway as he flies up the monstrous monolith steps. Whizzing past Pierre at the front door in a swirl of wind, this resolute soldier of the Star Healer rushes directly to the study, knowing exactly where he wanted to be, exactly where he needed to be—right into the lion's den itself.

(Beneath the moon again
Beneath la lune once more
The way my eyes search for
La Destiny!)

As the pulsating music reverberating in his soul flares, Robin determinedly grabs hold of the ornate handles of the double doors and without a second thought, throws them open wide, dramatically coming to a breathtaking halt.

"Sir, Madame!" Robin's usually scratchy voice booms out across the room loudly, strong and true as, shocked by this sudden and undignified entrance into their private study, both Madame and Monsieur Moreau look up at the boy with guarded eyes at his rude interruption.

"Young man, I do believe your business here is finished. Please leave." Josephine Moreau was more than a little angered at this young cad who had so broken her daughter's heart. Truly, really this time—for a mother always knew when her child was in love like Michelle was with him.

"Haven't you done enough?" Henri Moreau could only remember the pain as he had never seen before in the eyes of his beloved little girl and the feeling of helplessness, knowing all his money in the world could not right her scattered heart this time.

"No, Monsieur. No, I have not." Robin feels his courage building from his love, as he moves closer to Michelle's difficult parents and faces them directly as he speaks.

"I know you don't approve of me—that I'm not good enough for Michelle, that I'm not worthy. And I would have to agree with you wholeheartedly. I don't deserve her warmth, her caring, her spirit. And I don't deserve her love. I am, by far, not the finest 'European society' has to offer. I have no name, no rank, no title in this world, as her rightful partner in life should. That was all a story Michelle made up so I would be more acceptable in your eyes. There is some truth in it. But if I told you more about myself, who I really am, you wouldn't understand. So the only thing I can tell you, the only thing that makes any sense, is what's in my heart, what's in my soul. I love her. More than anything in the universe, I love her. And I think I'm lucky enough that she loves me, too. I come to you now, with only what I have within me. This love I feel deep in my soul—a fathomless love that your daughter entrusted there. I will promise to you, and more importantly, to Michelle, that it will last a lifetime. That it will last forever. That this is our destiny." Robin, barely stopping for breath in between words, finishes his speech. His pleas for love were as determined as his eyes, looking straight into both of Michelle's parents' gazes with a little prayer of hope playing through his anxious mind.

Silence.

Searching the eyes of this bold young man, Henri Moreau, the head of this monstrous household (not to mention countless business and society circles as well) looks to his lady wife for consent. He himself somehow believed this young Robin Starr, believing in his love for his own beloved daughter, believing in his promise that it would last forever. For Henri Moreau knew such boundless love himself, though others of his class may choose different paths, he was a man of his word, with a passionate soul mate in his wife. And in this boy's soulful eyes, he could swear he could see something he saw in the mirror every day—of a love deep and true for another.

Yes, I need not know your past or where you come from. Class and rank have never been important to me. My Michelle may marry a pauper if it made her happy, but we never wanted her to be loved only for her money and her status—her family name. But never before have I seen in her eyes this degree of love, either.

Exchanging a long glance with her husband, Josephine Moreau surveys the scene before her, this young man's powerful words were still echoing in her mind.

'The only thing I can tell you, the only thing that makes any sense, is what's in my heart, what's in my soul. I love her. More than anything in the universe, I love her...'

Suddenly familiar words of another young man, Josephine could still recall so vividly in her mind's eye from years gone by echoing back in her mind.

'All I can confess is my love in my heart for your daughter, Monsieur. I love her, more than anyone in the world...'

"Reminiscent of words you once spoke of me, Henri. To my own dear papere." Madame Moreau says aloud, her husband knowing well what she was referring to, as he too, was reminded of that auspicious moment.

"And I still could speak them of you, this very day, my Josee." Henri was the true meaning of the romantic Frenchman, as he goes to wife and kisses her hand.

Robin's soul fills with hope as he sees the faint hint of a smile upon her face and the slight nod passing between the couple.

Then Madame Moreau turns to face him. "If you truly mean those inspiring words, my young man—truly mean them, mind you," she says, searching his eyes one more time, satisfied that what she was looking for was indeed there, "you may have our consent." She nods with a knowing look.

"—if, that is,," she smiles at last, her outstretched hand motioning towards the doorway, "you still have Michelle's."

Robin turns to find Michelle standing behind him, leaning in the doorway. From the look on her face, she had been there long enough to have heard his heart moving speech.

"Robin…" She whispers, trembling in her lacy wraps. "I love you." She rushes to his open arms, throwing herself around him, their eyes filling with joyous tears. Robin holds her to himself, warm and tearfully hugging her close.

"Michelle." He whispers into her soft aqua hair. "I love you." His soul calls out to hers, breaking down the barriers they had erected between them.

In tears for an emotion he never believed he could entertain previously, Robin sensitively leans to Michelle, kissing her quivering lips, fully, passionately and lovingly, as he had never done before.

Michelle's parents, close to tears themselves, watch the happy scene before them. They were certain that, at long last, their tormented in love daughter had finally found the true love she needed so very desperately, for two young lives had found a place beside one another's soul.

Much like the reflective stars above, Michelle Moreau and Robin Starr's bond of deep love was long ago fated in La Destiny…

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Dear Sailor Moon friends,

Wasn't that dramatic ending of Robin and Michelle's reunion emotionally fulfilling? Can you hear the thrilling music playing in the background as the romantic, expressive climax scene of this season's movie played out? It still stands, after all these years and several books later, as one of my favorite, stirring, finest chapters I have been inspired to write.

Thank you for coming along on this 2- part journey of true love's path of destiny for our star-crossed lovers, set in the breathtaking backdrop of romantic Paris! We hope you enjoyed all the romance and drama set to the lovely 'Sailor Moon in Paris' album which inspired a great deal of the three starring couples' interaction and scenes in this famed 'City of Lights' (The gorgeous Three Lights fit right in here with their intended Outer Sailor Scout partners, didn't they? ;) You can sing along with the translations too! ^0^

In honor of our own star Sailor Star Healer's birthday, Feb 8 in this romantic month of Valentine's, plus this being the 25th anniversary of when this beloved Sailor Moon saga was first written, back in 1998, (it seems but just yesterday for this timeless series…;) after carefully rereading and proof combing through this story that I scripted to continue the SM saga into its 6th season and beyond, over two decades ago, we will be re-publishing the remainder of the chapters regularly, starting with this "Sailor Moon Eternal" movie, "La Destiny" parts 1 & 2.

Subsequently, with Setsuna agreeing to type at her 90+ words a minute for this pen-and-paper writer, we are at last planning to move forward through the rest of the season's chapters! And FINALLY - this author's scribbled handwritten papers are beyond ready, after 25 years, of patiently waiting in a folder – this story will be completed and released to finish this novel: "Sailor Moon Eternal" plotline! YEAH! ^0^

We plan by this year's August birthday that our Sailor Moon 6th season continuation novel will at last be COMPLETED, God-willing. It promises to be chock full of romantic relationships, exhilarating battles and mystical excitement leading to the culmination of Crystal Tokyo for our favorite Pretty Soldier Sailor Scouts & their intergalactic friends!

Please come along for the long awaited, exciting, cosmic powered ride through our beloved Sailor Moon world! ^-^ Thank you for always patiently supporting this saga through the years! Your friendships have been very dear to me, otomodachi, and spurred me to continue in my writing with your encouraging comments on our shared story!

We would enjoy hearing your new reviews of this ongoing tale, chapter by chapter, as it has been told from the heart replete with love for these wondrous characters who come to life again in the thrilling world of our imaginations!

"MOON ETERNAL MAKEUP!"

SetsunaKou (who illustrated the cover of this book and so many other chapter scenes for me), and I, your humble author HarukaKou, would love to hear your reviews of our treasured Sailor Moon tale written to continue these wondrous adventures!

Doumo arigatou for hanging in for this long ride, dear friends!

God bless you always!

HarukaKou

p.s. The little flashback 'Saxophonist Sayer' scene was inspired by the ultra cool and super talented Sailor Myu musical Seiya Kou actor Chinatsu Akiyama who played the sax on stage as Seiya in"Sailor Moon: Starlight Ryuusei Densetsu' stage musical 2003. The Saxophone's such a sexy and sensual instrument, Sayer Starr would be a natural at playing the woodwind instrument to an admiring, astounded Uranus while the pair were clubbing on Paris' enticing, seamier side. ;)