Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Some Bruises Don't Fade ❯ Epilogue of Aethena ( Epilogue )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Some Bruises Don't Fade
by Lady Amber

Epilogue

Raven Heights Cemetary, Sunday afternoon
The Sunday after Friday's final fight, Serena, Darien, and her friends climbed the hill to where the two's tombstones had been placed. No bodies were found, not even after the monument had been removed. However, Excalibur had been returned to them.
Carrying two dozen white roses with her, her blue eyes puffy from tears, Serena picked them out one by one, spreading them over the shiny silver marble plaque that was all that remained of her friends.
It was windy that day, thick clouds covering the sun from their veiw, and when she was done spreading the roses, she stepped back to her friends, her eyes lowered.
The funeral had been a solemn but private affair. Only the Sailors, their families, and an amazingly sober Mr. Kouheino showed up, and even though he'd been largely ignored he hadn't seemed at all affected, a fact that made Serena bristle with anger.
She felt like screaming at the solemn, but greif-less faces of the deacons and pastor that performed the task. She'd invited some other people Belle knew, but some where too busy too come, some did come but left right after the service, and some just didn't come at all.
She felt like exploding, 'This was my friend!! This was a human being, don't you understand? Don't you care at all?? I loved her so much and now she's dead!! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND??' but she didn't. She knew nothing would be gained from that.
The only thing she had left of Belle was a beautiful leather bound book Belle had given her. It was a book of poems, and inside it Belle had sketched beautiful, peaceful scenes of sunsets and lovers walking, of birds and babys and mothers, of animals and peaceful meadows. It was Serena's only consolance.
She knelt beside the stone, letting two tears slip from her eyes and fall onto the hard tombstone. She traced her fingers over the words. 'Belle Kouheino, a beautiful soul who died in the arms of her love. She will always live on in our memories and in our dreams. We will never forget her.' Serena herself had chosen them.
Darien knelt beside Serena, and hugged her to him. She gratefully leaned into his prescence, and looked at Jake's tomb. It simply read, 'Jake, the man who loved Belle with all his heart.'
She lifted her head, looking at the sky, where wisps of blue could be seen amongst it. And slowly, she started to speak. "I was in bed last night, sleeping, when a beautiful princess came to me. It was Aphrona. She wanted me to tell you all what really happened in the Silver Millenium." She turned and looked at her friends, who all looked solemn, but ready to listen.
So there, kneeling next to the graves of two people whos love had spanned the century, she told the story of a forbidden love and a friendship betrayed.
"It was the last great ball of the year, the winter festival, when Aphrodina's parents came to her. They told her that she would be meeting an embassador from Earth that night in the ball, along with his body guard. She nodded, thanking her parents for the warning. She carefully prepared her defenses, but when she met this young prince, she found she'd met a man with a soul so much like hers it was uncanny. And so, she and the Prince of the earth, Endymion, became friends. It was always just a friendship, for the Prince's heart belonged to another. At first Aphrona was jealous. Why should Endymion lust after a woman he'd probably never love when she was here? But all that changed when she met Endymion's bodyguard. His name was Jake. Such a simple, ordinary name, but the man that name belonged to was far from simple or ordinary. He enchanted her from the very start, and soon he would visit her even when his Prince didn't, stealing kisses as they walked, holding her close when they watched the sun set.
"But one day, when Jake was walking in the hills thinking of the woman who'd captured his heart, he stumbled on an ancient tomb. Darkness had been sealed away centuries ago, in the time of Arthur Pendragon and the Sailor Wars. His body had been stolen, but his spirit couldn't be destroyed. So when Jake entered the cave, Darkness seized control of his body and, in a way, his mind. And from that time on, everything went downhill. On one side, Jake loved Aphrodina, but on the other, Darkness lusted for destruction and revenge. Unbeknownst to Aphrona, her so called best friend, a young woman by the name of Ariana, had grown jealous of her. She believed that it was Endymion that loved the Aethenian princess, and that enraged her, for she was obsessed with the Prince of the Earth. And so, when Darkness, disguised as Metallia, made a ploy for her allegiance, she made a deal with the monster that if Metallia destroyed Aethen, she would help Metallia destroy the Moon Kingdom. He agreed, and set out to seal his end of the bargain.
"But Jake couldn't kill his only love. So before the evil act was completed, he appeared to her and knocked her out, sent her spinning to Earth in one of the escape capsules the palace was armed with. There she awoke, and found herself becoming Sailor Aethena. So she protected the Earth to the end, when finally even the Earth was lost, and they fled to the Moon, hoping that the Queen's Crystal would save them. Aethena died fighting for the Queen. It was because of her that Earth and the Moon lasted so long. She tried to change reality, but she was too weak. And so it was up to the Queen." Serena swallowed.
"There's on last thing she asked me to tell you about." She took a deep breath. "Before Darkness visited her, Aphrona and Ariana spoke for the last time. Ariana told Aphrona she hated her, and was changing her name to Beryl. The Princess begged and pleaded with her friend not to do the horrible things she said she would, offering her any compensation, but Ariana fled the Palace, and Aphrodina, unable to accept the loss of her best friend since childhood, ran after her. Ariana faced her one last time, screaming loud enough for all the people around her to hear, 'You're a pampered pet.. You've never been anywhere but in the spotlight, never felt my pain. Everyone loves you! Damn you.. No! Curse you! You'll feel my pain I swear it if I have to die to make it happen, you will know what it's like to loose everything and have no hope. You've lost me dog.. Now let me go!' And then Ariana left. Aphrona was a mess when Jake arrived, and when he told her he was leaving, she went ballistic. That's why he knocked her out and sent her to Earth, because he couldn't bear to let Ariana's curse come true. And because he loved her." Serena's tale came to an end, and she bent her head one last time, her pigtails brushing against the white roses, before Rei's hand on her shoulder brought her back to them.
"So sad.." Ami said with a sigh. "But at least now we know the whole story. I think I will write it down, so the whole world will know of the story of two lovers."
"Great idea Ami!" Mina said with a gush. "We'll be famous!" But before she went off on a rocket, she looked back at the tombs. "And we'll dedicate all the money to helping prevent abuse of children."
"I think that's a great idea girls.." Amara said, and slowly the group turned and walked away. Closing the chapter of their lives that would ever influence them.
Serena paused one moment as something in the sky caught her eyes. She strained, the wind whistling as the clearing went strangely silent. After a moment, she smiled ruefully and shook her head. 'Must be my imagination..' Then she turned and joined her friends, leaving the tombs behind.

The tiny sparkle in the sky was like a day time star, that steadily grew brighter. It was a bubble, slowly floating the to the ground, prismic and sending rainbows shooting around them.
The roses shone against the gray marble as two pairs of soft booted feet touched the ground. She bent over, locks of white blonde hair draping her shoulders as her finely boned hands picked one of the roses up.
"Do you think we'll ever return?" She asked him, and he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, black cape whipping out in back of him as the wind whipped around them. He smiled gently.
"When we're ready. But now.." He looked to the sky. "It's time to grow stronger. This planet is well taken care of. But there are other planets out there who have no protecters. And.. we have to prepare for our task. Restoring the Lunar Dome will not be easy."
"You're right, of course." She turned to him, one hand on her stomach, as if she could still feel the gaping wound she felt would be there through the thin silk of her dress. "It feels like a dream. I can't believe it happened.." She shook her head. "Belle Kouheino, .. the name, the person behind it.. It's almost like that was another lifetime."
He tilted her chin up and looked into her sparkling lavender eyes. Then he smiled ruefully. "It was another lifetime ago.. Remember we're dead.." He bent and kissed her gently, drawing her into the soft, safe shelter of his broad body.
She wrapped her arms around him and couldn't help but feel as if all this was a dream. And when their kiss ended, she layed her head on his chest, her eyes dreamy, looking at the path where the Sailor Soldiers had disappeared.
"Time for us to go, my dearest Aphrodina."
"Of course, Jake. To the stars we go.."
And then, Aphrodina, Princess and Warrior beautiful, put her hand in Jake's proffered one, and he drew her close, putting one arm around her shoulders. She put her other arm around his waist, and they both looked to the sky, the sunlight glinting off the black of his armor.
And the bubble formed around them, and they disappeared among the clouds.

And back on the ground, Serena clutched Belle's book to her chest, looking up at the darkening sky. And for one second, the crescent moon glowed with a beautiful irredescent light, lighting up the sky.
And Serena smiled.

~*~
Well, there it ends.. Aren't you glad I finished it off?? Of course I couldn't let those two die they're my babies!! ^_^ Anyways.. CandC go here:
amby-chan@sailormoon.com And remember that a good story never ends. It only begins. -_^
Until my next fic!
Lady Amber