Chapter Eight: Finally "NO! NO! Please, Darien, I promise I'll quit making fun of you and your dumb speeches! Please, Darien, please!" Chad was doing his damnedest to wriggle free of the iron grips of his fellow Knights. They just closed ranks, and tightened their hold. "HA!" Darien laughed scornfully from somewhere behind them. "Make fun of my 'dumb speeches' all you want! I have been waiting a really long time to get this done, and time has run out for you my friend." Eyes rolling in fear, Chad tried throwing Adam into Solan, but the two friends saw it coming and retaliated. "Come on Chad," Ken gasped through his hiccuping laughter. "It's just a haircut! One would think it's the end of the world or something the way you're carrying on!" "I never cut my hair!" he retorted. "I like it just the way it is!" "Ahh, yes," chuckled Darien evilly, "But Serena wants it cut in time for the wedding. Actually, Serena could care less, but Raye got tired of hinting and told us to take care of it." Thus, they physically picked Chad up and carried him, literally kicking and protesting if not screaming, in to the barbershop. Adam laughed, certain of the scene they were making within. He and Solan on the other hand, had been assigned the task of guard duty in case Chad decided to bolt. The sun was bright and warm. Adam smiled and closed his eyes, savoring the warmth. "I am so happy to be here Solan. You can have no idea how badly I want to just drop to my knees and thank you and Auriel every time I see you two." A low chuckle. "Please don't. Auriel was having a hard enough time dealing with a crying Sailor Pluto and Uranus. When Aurora and Apollo split for Goddess-knows-where, we had to deal with the backlash of joy." Adam grinned. It had been several months since the return of Serena and himself from the 'dead.' According to Pluto, his body had disappeared from the Temple of the Rising Sun, so he assumed it had simply been returned to him. When they'd gone in to Serena's grave, the coffin had been mysteriously empty, a fact the funeral parlor was still panicking about. "So how's Mina doing?" Solan wondered. A small smile tugged at the corners of Adam's mouth. After shocking the hell out of everyone by stepping in to Lita's living room dripping wet and alive, he hadn't said another word. He's just turned around and grasped Mina by her wrist, pulling her fully in to contact with his sopping form. She had gazed at him with those broken blue eyes, before closing them and biting down softly on her lower lip. In front of what felt like the entire world, he tilted her face up to his own and kissed her. It was a gentle kiss, aching and begging and pleading for Mina to respond. For three heartbreaking seconds, she hadn't. She had simply let his lips dance over her own, feeling their chilly texture with her mouth, assuring herself of their reality. When her heart began beating again, Mina cautiously fluttered her eyes closed and let her fingers curl in his squelching shirt. The damp cloth and icy mouth quickly warming on her own suddenly came crashing in on her fragile mind. She began hiccuping and crying and gasping for breath beneath him. He crushed her to his body, she responded in kind. Ironically enough, they both were crying, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by the slender blond girl who slipped in and watched all her friends stare at the couple in stupefied amazement. Yet no one noticed Serena. That is, no one except the two people who had seen destiny walk through Lita's front door and weren't fazed a bit. Aurora and Apollo silently stood and left the room without a sound or a goodbye. Aurora paused only to kiss Serena lightly on the cheek and whisper; "We have a Wheel to attend to. Something tells me that we're going to be busy, but this time it was worth it." Serena nodded, and then laid a hand on Aurora's arm. She gazed in to the girl's fathomless amber eyes, took in her luxurious lavender hair and slender form. How could such and elfin slip of a girl be so powerful? Apollo stepped beside his love, his chameleon hair shifting in the light, his ancient green eyes twinkling with fairy lights. "Princess?" "Thank you. For both of us." They nodded. "It was our pleasure." Aurora indicated her sister and Solan with a smile. "Take care of them while we're gone, okay? She's a bit impetuous and he doesn't restrain her nearly enough." Serena smiled. "I will. Good luck and goodbye." "Thank you, Princess. But one thing, there is no goodbye and no such thing as luck. Fate and Destiny have seen to that." She smiled and then they were gone. Serena turned to her friends, still gaping at Adam and Mina. Of them, only Darien was beginning to flush and look away. His eyes widened as he caught sight of her placidly standing on the front step. He soundlessly rose and came to her. No words were needed, none were spoken. Their eyes said it all. In the distance, the full moon rose high in the sky, children turned in their sleep, and the seconds ticked on, just as they always had.