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Rated: PG
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by Sailor Phoenix

Part Five

    The light, unexpected kiss upon her lips made her open her eyes wide.

    Seiya smiled down at her. "Hello, Sere," he greeted in a throaty voice.

    If Serenity could of wished the man into a parallel world, she would of done it. She wasn't at all surprised to look up at the second-floor windows of the mansion and catch a glimpse of Endy turning away.

    Seiya sat down beside her and took her hand; she wrenched free, feeling horribly miserable.

    "Your timing couldn't have come at a worse time!" she hissed, jumping to her feet and smoothed out her skirt.

    Seiya's gaze had followed hers to the row of windows of the master bedroom. "I suppose the good doctor is on his way to give me a bloody nose as we speak."

    "I wouldn't blame him if he did," she replied, tightening the black grosgin ribbons that held her hunter green bonnet in place. She drew in another deep breath, this time for courage as she launched into her announcement. "I don't know what happened between us," she said blushing as Seiya raised a brow and smiled slightly. "All right, I do know. But I want to forget it. I---I love my husband."

    Seiya's amused expression turned stormy. He straightened his silk cravat and rose to look down at Serenity. "You made a promise to me. You vowed that we would leave, just the two of us, as soon as you'd regained your strength."

    Serenity frowned. "Just the two of us? Surely I'd never think to leave my daughter..."

    A crimson flush rose up Seiya's neck. "We agreed that the child would be better off with Dr Alessandros and his sister. Serenity, what has come over you? You are hardly the same Serenity I know."

    She sank back down onto the marble seat, dazed. She liked having this beautiful body, and she loved Selenity and...yes, Gods help her, Endy...but the more she learned about the orginial Serenity, the more dislike she felt. Not only had the other Serenity betrayed her husband, she had planned to leave behind her child. Serenity's high spirits vanished. Earlier she had actually dared to hope there was a chance to win Endy's forgiveness, if not his love. Now all that was utterly hopeless.

    "I don't want to see you again, Seiya," she said quietly but firmly. "Not ever."

    Seiya glared at her for a long moment, then turned on heels and stormed away. The metal gate made a loud clatter behind him.

    The next sound Serenity heard was a slow, derisive applause.

    She turned to see Endymion standing along the pathway leading to the French doors. He looked handsome as ever dressed in tan breeches, linen shirt, and a tailored tweed jacket, and every bit as stubborn.

    "Stop it," she snapped. "I grow tired of your damnable mockery, Endy Alessandros."

    "An excellent performance--the young matron bidding her lover farewell. You belong in the theater."

    Serenity stomped her foot. "Stop being such a jerk and give me some credit. I meant was I said to Seiya-- Mr. Lights. I never want to see him again."

    "What's a 'jerk' ?" Endymion asked curiously.

    Serenity laughed, but the sound was filled with bitterness and despair. "Stupid and stubborn would pretty much fit the bill."

    For a long time, Endymion stared at her, his expression unreadable. There might have been tenderness in his stormy blue eyes as well as anger and distrust. "I think you had better go back inside."

    She didn't bother to argue; she was too tired and the events of the morning had drained her of her much needed energy. She started towards the house... her eyes down...and when she passed Endy he stopped her...catching a hold of her arm.

    "I won't forgive you a second time, Serenity," he warned.

    She didn't look at him. "You haven't forgiven the first," she pointed out.

    In her room was a fresh nightgown waiting and clean sheets on her bed.

    Serenity changed clothes, then sat in the rocking chair to nurse Selenity, who seemed to be having the same huge appetite her mother had with each passing day. When she finally had gone back to sleep some time later, Serenity crawled back into bed...stretched out on top of the crisp bed sheets and fell asleep.

    When she awoke several hours later, the floors and corners were shadowed in twilight, and there was a covered tray of food on the bedside table. Luna was sitting in the rocking chair nursing Selenity.

    Serenity sat up with a sigh and moved the tray onto her lap. Much like Selenity, she was ravenous. "Is your baby a boy or a girl?"

    Luna's expression was detached. "A girl."

    The dinner tray held an assortment of delectable foods including a chicken pot pie and a dish of fresh strawberries. "I'd like to see her. What's her name?"

    Luna gazed downward at Selenity when she spoke. "Diana." She lifted her gaze to Serenity's face. "She is with my family and I would give anything to see her."

    Serenity, who had been eager to scarf down the delicious dinner before her, lowered her fork back down to her tray. "You mean they took her from you?"

    "I gave her to them to be raised better. I knew I wouldn't have been able to give her the life she so much deserves."

    Reluctantly, Serenit took a bite of the pot pie. "I couldn't bear to be away from Selenity," she said.

    A glance in Luna's direction revealed that she was looking at her with confusion. Perhaps she was aware that the Mistress of the house planned to runaway with her lover and leave behind her daughter to be raised by Endymion and his sister. Perhaps Luna had hoped to fill the empty void of having to be away from her own child by raising Selenity as her own.

    "I'll share her with you," Serenity said.

    Luna blinked...looked away...and then back at Serenity. "You've changed," she observed. "And it seems there is much you don't remember."

    Serenity nodded. "I have changed," she agreed. "I've changed more than anyone in the world would ever believe. And you are right--there's a lot I don't remember. Did Mrs.--did I keep diaries, Luna? Did I save letters I
received?"

    Selenity had fallen asleep at Luna's breast. She laid her gently in her lap...re-buttoned the front of her dress...and then raised Selenity to her shoulder to be burped.

    "There are papers," Luna said finally. "I will bring them to you once Dr Alessandros leaves for his rounds at the hospital."

    "Thank you," Serenity said.

    As it happened, Endymion visited Serenity's rooms before he left. She would of preferred his scathing temper to the cool distance of his manner. "I'm sending you the island house for the rest of the summer," he announced.

    Serenity was disappointed. She didn't know what island house Endy was talking about, for one thing. For another, she hated leaving him in San Fransciso with the likes of Beryl Scott. "Do I have a choice?" she asked.

    Her question caught Endymion by surprise. "A choice?"

    Serenity nodded. "Suppose I say I don't want to go to the island, that I would prefer to stay here?"

    Endymion let out a long-suffering sigh. "I would answer by saying that preferences do not count," he responded evenly.

    Once again he had used words to slap Serenity and the blow had hurt as much as it would have had it had been his hand.

    "Bastard," she hissed, angry not only because of the pain he had inflicted but the tears that had sprung to her eyes, and she wasn't about to let him see that he had hurt her.

    He moved to her bedside and bent down to kiss her forehead. "I love you too, my most cherished darling," he responded. "Good night."

    It was then that Serenity noticed his formal wear. "You're going out!" she accused as images of him dancing with some beautiful woman in an elegant ballroom. The next image was of Endymion and the I-am-so-proper-but-no-virgin Beryl Scott chatting away while they are at an elegant dinner...clinking their glasses as if they were the only two people on the world.

    "Yes," he responded.

    Serenity was about to protest but then stopped herself. She wasn't about to ask him not to socialize, especially with the track record the other Serenity had made. "Endy..." She ran her tongue over her dry lips. "I don't suppose... well... it would help if I said I was sorry for everything I have done?"

    She had sensed his withdrawal long before he actually drew back from her bedside. "No," he answered flatly. "It's too late for that."

    He turned to the cradle and Serenity wished she could read the expression on his face as he looked down at Selenity, but the gas lamps and the fire hadn't been lit, making the room dim.  "I suppose you've finally noticed that she looks just like you," she had dared to say.

    Endymion raised his eyes to her face then, and the coldness of his gaze pinned Serenity to the headboard. "Selenity is my daughter," he conceded, "but that is a happy coincident. She could just as well been sired by Mr Seiya Lights or some fool who was ensnared by your charm. As far as you and I are concerned, the fact that I acknowledge Selenity as my own changes nothing."

    The ache in Serenity's throat made speech virtually impossible and her mind reeled. She had not been able to come back with a nasty comment to send back at him.

    That evening the house seemed to come alive with activity but Serenity was too busy licking her wounds from her earlier encounter with Endy to really care what was going on around her.

    In the morning she found out.

    "We're going to the island," Raye announced. Her beautiful face aglow. "I can hardly wait to walk the beach again."

    Serenity loved the beach, and the prospects of spending time in an island house would have sent her jumping for joy in her previous life, but now she felt despondent. Obviously, Endymion wanted his wife and sister gone so that he could move in his new mistress without any problems or harrassments from them.

    Serenity and Raye left for the wharf area at the head of a caravan of carriages with Luna and Selenity in another followed by the wagons filled with their luggage and trunks.

    They reached Moonlight Bay where a small boat would take them to Crystal Island and Serenity forgot some of her heartache. There were creaking wharfs... shouting sailors... and clanking bells everywhere. It was definitely different from the timeline she had come from.

    After the passengers and their trunks had been placed aboard, the captain blew his whistle and the small craft slipped into the harbor. Serenity stood at the railings, watching the land slowly retreat.

    Endymion had not been there to see them off and Serenity wondered if he had returned from the dinner party the night before. She hadn't seen him since his last visit or even heard his voice.

    "I brought the letters and the diaries," Luna announced, standing beside her. At Serenity's immediate frown, the young woman smiled and added, "Don't worry. Selenity is with her aunt being terribly spoiled."

    Serenity sighed softly. "Thank you for helping me, Luna--and for not thinking that I am mad."

    The woman's ageless eyes studied Serenity's face. "You're not mad," she avowed. "And you are not Serenity Alessandros."
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 Part 6