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CHAPTER TWO

***********************************
Crystal Tokyo
***********************************
Serenity stared blankly at Endymion, who steadied himself against a wall
with one hand. Darien had never told her that he had known Solitaire 
intimately during the Silver Millenium, and had revealed very little to her 
about their 20th century commitment. Could he have hidden his feelings 
for Solitaire all this time from her?

"I'm sorry" Endymion called to her again. He knew he couldn't upset her, 
by accusing Diamond not only for loving Solitaire, but for all the pain he 
had caused Sailor Moon and the scouts. Serenity instinctively rushed to 
Endymion, who turned and embraced her once again. He resolved, he 
would not let anything Diamond did hurt Serenity again. And yet, what 
about Solitaire?

Endymion looked over at the peaceful figure of Solitaire sleeping on the 
bed. He wondered how much longer, before she would wake up, and 
undermine the peace of the kingdom. She had only been resting for a 
few hours, though, thought Endymion, and thus he felt like he would 
have at least a day more to spend with Serenity before they would have 
to resolve this matter.

***********************************
Moon Kingdom
***********************************
Neflite smiled at the progress he was making. Solitaire may have been a 
few years younger than him, but had known that she was capable of many
mental marvels. Obviously, with the absence of a king to guide her, Queen 
Serenity would be incapable of establishing the Moon as the powerful 
kingdom it was today. Even with the Queen's advisors, Neflite knew that 
Solitaire had to be responsible for a large part of the progress. He sensed 
that she felt little duty towards her mother, but otherwise she put her 
intelligence to good use through an unspoken bond to her home. No matter 
how much she felt like she wanted to leave, he knew in the end she would 
be incapable of betraying what was truly home to her. 

And he liked Solitaire for it. Unlike the beauty that often possesses women, 
Solitaire verged on being almost without vanity, which coupled with her 
brazen intelligence, made her, in turn, all the more beautiful. While her 
exterior subjected her, without a doubt, to the fancies of many men, Neflite 
often found himself admiring her mind. If it were not for that menacing 
sadness he felt in her, he thought, she truly could be perfect. 

Neflite couldn't pinpoint what made Solitaire sad, other than the future and 
her home, but he did sense that she was warming up to him. He truly wished 
he could make her forget her worries, thinking, how much she could be 
capable of when she was in a good mood. 

Solitaire had been slowly sipping her drink, and her glass emptied as the 
final drops glided down her throat, burning slightly through her mouth. She 
felt so exhausted, after all the work she had done today, not so much 
physically, but rather mentally. It was almost entirely her responsibility to 
ensure that things go well tonight, not only with the representatives from 
Earth, but also with this one in particular. She truly felt drawn to him; he 
was so unlike the people that she knew in her home - he was unselfish. 

The ball had long ended, as the couple sat at the edge of the gardens. Neflite 
saw Solitaire's exhaustion, and decided to tell her about Earth instead of 
having her have to entertain him. Solitaire's eyes had involuntarily closed, 
as she felt so comfortable around him, her head inching toward his shoulder. 
She had not noticed when the flow of words had stopped, or her head 
reached his shoulder, for the drink had long since made her fall asleep. 
Neither did she notice, how Neflite watched her, or how peaceful he thought 
she looked. Only when the nightly breezes began dancing with her hair, did 
he try to take his jacket off to cover her.

Solitaire woke, not so much because of the motion, but rather because 
Neflite had put his arm around her to hold her while he took the jacket off.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she gasped, realizing how unparalleledly rude she had 
been to fall asleep on him. Her cheeks blushed a beet red, as her eyes 
sparkled with a wild surprise as her face was only inches away from his. 
She quickly stood to get up, grabbing the empty glass as Neflite's arm 
slipped from her shoulder.

Neflite only smiled at her, rising to take off his jacket and draping it over 
her, so that they were standing face to face and close together and the winds 
began to pick up. Under his breath, she could almost hear him whisper "I'm 
not", as he slowly kissed her. He wondered what her eyes could be saying 
now, as he obviously could not see them, but her arms holding him closer to 
her assured him that they glowed with satisfaction.


***************************************
20th Century Tokyo - before Serena becomes Sailor Moon
***************************************
Solitaire stood up, looking at her entire dress dripping, her hair plastered to 
her back as she struggled to wipe the water out of her eyes. She noticed a 
pair of blond pigtails bobbing up and down infront of her, some 
incomprehensible sounds coming from under them as a crowd began to 
build around the fountain in which she was standing. As she began to 
become aware of the faces, a hand dragged her out from the pool, and 
handed her briefcase. Suddenly she saw the embarrassed face hidden 
beneath the pigtails of the girl, probably about thirteen years old.
 
"I'm sorry! Oh! I'm sorry!" she heard her say, as the crowd began to stare. 
Solitaire looked down, every inch of her dress clinging to her cold skin 
except her cheeks which had warmed out of embarrassment.

"Oh!" Solitaire exclaimed, unable to believe that this little girl had just 
knocked her into the fountain.

"Oh miss I'm so sorry are you hurt I didn't even see you I was talking to my 
friend over there and we were going to get some ice cream but I realized I 
had to run home and get some money and oh I'm so sorry..." she blurted out 
to Solitaire, who just stared back at her in awe as water dropped down onto 
her face and to the ground.

"Serena!" another girl with a weird accent shouted in the background, 
running to the blond one and pulling her to the side. Solitaire overlooked 
their bickering and began to walk away as fast as she could, her hair 
dripping. Fortunately she was not far from home. She didn't notice the little 
blonde stare after her, pointing to her hair.

She entered the spacious lobby of the apartment building, running to the 
elevator before anyone she knew could see her. How would she ever explain 
this to her parents, if they were already upstairs? She struggled to unlock the 
door, only to find that it was opened by Darien, who was talking on the 
phone. He looked at her for a moment, concerned at first, but his face 
revealed a slight amusement before returning to the conversation.

"Of course, of course!...no, its no problem at all...wait, she just stepped 
in...here, let me give her the phone" Darien covered the receiver, and 
whispered "your mother" to Solitaire with a smile. Solitaire just rolled her 
eyes, and quickly took the phone from him.

"Hi mom..." She said, trying not to sound disrespectful. "Oh, what a 
shame!" she exclaimed, whipping her head towards Darien, a strand of hair 
splashing against his arm, her face conveying the surprise she felt from 
hearing that her parents had not even left the airport in New York, and that 
they wouldn't even be able to come for the next couple of weeks because of 
some business. "No, no, its okay...sure," 

Darien went to the bathroom to find a towel, and by the time he had 
returned, Solitaire had ended the conversation and was pulling off her 
water-soaked shoes.

"What happened?" Darien asked of her as he covered her with the towel. 

"They have more business to take care of, some sort of important company." 
Solitaire replied

"No, I mean to you." he said, trying not to sound too amused. Solitaire 
looked at him somewhat angrily, sensing his reaction to her misfortune.

"Some little girl accidentally knocked me into the fountain by the book 
store." she replied. Darien raised an eyebrow, wondering how a "little girl" 
could be so strong.
 
"Well, maybe if you would have offered to drive me home, I wouldn't have 
had to walk three blocks looking like I fell into the river." Solitaire replied a 
little annoyed, walking to her room to find something dry to wear.

"Solitaire, common, you know we were expecting your parents today - 
*someone* had to be here." Darien responded apologetically. He always felt 
guilty when he couldn't be with Solitaire, for some reason he felt like he 
needed to be there to protect her.

Solitaire came back into the living room, encased in a warm robe. "You'll 
have to make it up to me sometime?" she joked as she started to dry her 
hair with another towel. Darien walked behind her, embracing her and 
kissing her on the cheek.

"I hope sooner than later." he whispered to her. Darien had known Solitaire 
for only a few months, but felt that somehow she was different from other 
women that he had met. Obvious reasons were her beauty and intelligence, 
but even beyond that there was an attraction to her that seemed to come 
from deep within, as if they had been lovers in the past. He was for her the 
only person who had truly made her happy, and she the same for him. It was 
because of such feelings that he had decided to commit himself to her, if not 
in marriage, at least in some form that could one day develop into that - both 
of them were only in college and too young to get married. Solitaire?s 
parents had wanted to meet Darien, but their trip had been delayed.

*******************************************
Crystal Tokyo
*******************************************
Diamond sat in Pluto's room, pale as ever and obviously transfixed in a gaze 
of deep thought.

"Diamond - " Pluto called to him, walking in and bringing a plate of hot tea. 
Diamond looked up at her, his crystalline eyes explaining more to her than 
she could have understood. Pluto poured some of the tea for them both, and 
handed Diamond the cup.

"Do you - remember her?" he asked her, not really understanding how 
Pluto's memories worked or what she knew about the history of the Moon 
Kingdom.

"Yes." she replied solemnly, sighing and sitting in the elegant chair across 
from Diamond as she stared into her drink. Thinking for a moment, Pluto 
was able to tell Diamond about the woman that she had once met in the 
past;

"She was the daughter of Queen Serenity, perhaps four or five years older 
than Serena. I met her only twice, once after Beryl had destroyed the 
kingdom, or rather, it was my duty to bring her to the others in Tokyo. Beryl 
had killed her before she attacked the moon, and before she had gotten to 
the generals, but Solitaire?s crystal brought her body to Serenity who told 
me to take her to the others. "

Diamond still remained in thought, as Pluto continued -
 
"Solitaire had never gotten along with her mother - the two of them very 
very different; one full of love and the other full of intelligence. Yet 
Serenity felt that Solitaire would be unable to be her successor because she 
was too independent and would refuse the help of others. It's difficult to 
describe their relationship - Solitaire looked down on her mother and her 
home, but would do anything for the both of them. Serenity loved Solitaire 
very much, but sensed the tension between them and also put a lot of 
responsibility on Solitaire even though she would never be queen. 

Consequently, Solitaire became an adult almost too soon, and lost much of 
her ability to take pleasure in the little things in life. Especially when she 
was on the moon, she had no one to confide in or talk to because neither her 
mother nor her sister understood her. Beyond that, the decree that any child 
between Serenity and the King would be alone without love would prove to 
live up to its power, even with the revision that would allow the daughter to 
fall in love with a powerful planetary prince."

At this, Diamond's trance dissolved. "Decree?" he asked.

"It was more of a curse" Pluto replied. "Serena's uncle revised it so that the 
daughter of Serenity would fall in love with a powerful planetary prince, but 
Solitaire was born a few days before Endymion, who still remained the only 
planetary prince when Serena was born." Diamond could detect a softness in 
Pluto's voice at the mention of Endymion - the same softness that he had 
had for Serena in the past. 

"But she was in love" Diamond added, still unable to make the connection 
between his role in fate. Pluto stared blankly at him, not seeing his point. 
Solitaire had had relationships, but none of them were the true kind of love 
that destiny hinted at.

"No. She couldn't have been *in love*, at least, not forever. Not unless he 
was a planetary prince." Pluto explained. She didn't see what was so 
difficult for him or why Diamond was so distraught at Solitaire?s return.

"No, you don't understand. She was in love - " Diamond looked down at the 
ground and finished " - with me." Pluto's eyes turned from frustration into 
complete understanding. Endymion had explained that Diamond knew 
Solitaire in the past, but not that they were in love, for fear of hurting her. 
Finally, Pluto understood what had been bothering Diamond so intensely.

"When I was on the Dark Moon not long before its entire demise, Solitaire 
came from nowhere like an angel out of the sky. I don't really understand 
how or why she came to Nemesis, but she gave me the only happiness I had 
ever felt until I came here. She was so pure and warm-hearted, compared to 
everyone else on Nemesis, but eventually the evil there absorbed into her 
somewhat. When Wiseman came, though, he sensed that she would pose the 
greatest danger to his overthrow, and killed her, making it seem as an 
accident. Before she died, however, Solitaire promised me she would come 
back to me when I was happy again, because by that time I had wanted 
nothing more than revenge for my people. Afterwards, she couldn't save any 
of us from what would happen. Instead Emerald and the others became 
obsessive about their beauty and appearances, thinking that that would be 
the way to the throne." Diamond poured his soul to Pluto, who listened to 
him as patiently as he to her.

"But that was not really why I loved her. She was so different from 
everyone else there, even when the evil had changed her, we still found 
happiness between eachother." Diamond reflected for a moment.

"And now that you are happy, she has come back - to be with you." Pluto 
added. Diamond stood, embracing Pluto. He was so confused as to what to 
do - he couldn't forget about Solitaire, he had promised to wait for her, but 
Pluto was now his fianc饠and he loved her too. "I don't know what to tell 
her." he confessed to Pluto. "I love *you*." he whispered. A tear rolled 
down Pluto's cheek, sensing Diamond's pain as she held him closer. Pluto 
didn't know how much she reminded Diamond of Solitaire, which made his
 burden more complicated

******************************************
Moon Kingdom
******************************************
Neflite stood in his room alone, waiting for the day's tension to leave his 
body. He knew, though, that he wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight. 
Solitaire had left an hour ago, needed by Queen Serenity even in the dead 
hours of the night to discuss some sort of tactics. Neflite couldn't be angry at 
the Queen, of course, but had wanted to spend the rest of the night with 
Solitaire. Now he could only dream about her, but he was too energized to 
sleep. He decided to go for a walk in the gardens, like he had done earlier in 
the day, hoping in the small chance that he would once again find her there.

Outside the night air moved about with energy, as if the calm of the daytime 
subsided and unleashed the energizing force that drove the satellite around 
the earth. Above him, Neflite couldn't see the Earth, however the stars 
provided substantial light to see his surroundings. He came to the point 
where he had been sitting next to Solitaire on the balcony, watching her 
sleep. He picked up the glass that was still there, running his finger over the
 edge where it had come in contact with her lips.

He could hear two voices in the distance, that grew increasingly louder as 
they approached. As they came closer, he could make out the outlines of the 
Prince and Jaedite.

"My lord," Neflite addressed Endymion, and then nodded to Jaedite. The 
two newcomers turned to eachother, and then looked at Neflite 
mysteriously.

"What?" He asked, a little annoyed. 

"What happened to Lady Solitaire?" Endymion asked, a smile eventually 
forming at the completion of the sentence.

Neflite didn't really want the company right now, and furthermore didn't 
really want to talk about the subject with these two slightly intoxicated men. 
But he couldn't manage to keep from smiling at the thought of Solitaire.

"She left a while ago." He replied, looking up at the sky and wondering 
what the stars had in store for him.

"Left?" Jaedite asked, wanting to get more out of the other general. Neflite 
glanced at Jaedite, who quickly dropped the question.  Endymion continued 
to gaze at Neflite, wondering what had possessed him to act so strangely.

"Excuse me - " Neflite motioned to the others, bowing and walking towards 
the pool infront of the palace, still holding the empty glass.

"What was that all about?" Jaedite asked of Endymion as they began 
walking in the opposite direction towards the palace.

"I think I know." Endymion responded, a slight tone of disappointment in 
his reply. Endymion turned towards the direction of the palace, where a 
light shined from one of the larger inner rooms. He could make out the 
outline of Solitaire, hand held to her head and pacing through the space, as 
Queen Serenity sat in a chair. She motioned something to the Queen, who 
nodded, and Solitaire's figure disappeared out of the room and into the 
animated night air.

The shimmer of hips swaying and legs moving under the dress infront of the 
Prince made it clear that Solitaire was approaching the two. The night air 
danced around her, as if to keep her company and ward of enemies. The 
figure's paced slowed, as the Prince could feel the breeze suddenly die 
down, and a silvery glimmer appear around Solitaire, he almost hear the 
whisper of the words "Surging...Silver Glare...sh-!", but then the light was 
absorbed into the air infront of them, the wind returning as the Prince could
 feel his hair brush against his face. 

Solitaire appeared behind the current, hair pulled into its direction. 
Despite her height, Solitaire found herself looking far up into the Prince's 
eyes - 

"Shouldn't little boys be in bed by now?" she teased, glancing at Jaedite, 
then returning to the prince, trying to block out the mistake she had almost 
made...

"Not much manners for a princess -" Darien responded, smiling. "Maybe I 
should give her a few tips on royal protocol?" he asked, turning to Jaedite.

Solitaire's expression had changed from playful to serious at the mention of 
her title. With the slightest hint of anger, she replied - "Maybe after you 
learn them yourself." Endymion could feel the breeze pick up around them.

Jaedite watched the change in Solitaire, followed by the one in the Prince, 
and decided to avoid the risk of a war between the Moon and the Earth. He 
could feel the wind sway with her emotions, like it had done just before 
when she had mistaken the two of them for intruders.

"Be careful, Solitaire" he whispered to her mysteriously, leaning towards 
her and catching her lips widen into a smile from a secret that perhaps he 
knew alone - "where you aim that weapon of yours." Solitaire looked up at 
him, blushing at the fact that he had realized she almost attacked the two of 
them, perhaps missing the point of his comment. Even though Solitaire had 
known Jaedite for only the short while that he had been here on the Moon, 
they had developed a friendship with remarkable speed, and thus often 
spoke in their own twisted irony. 

"I'm sorry" she whispered back, Jaedite smiling. Endymion was at a loss to 
what was going on, but he did notice that whatever Jaedite was doing was 
obviously working, seeing Solitaire's smiles. Jaedite whispered something to 
Solitaire about Nefllite that Endymion could not make out.  

"Coming?" he huffed impatiently at Jaedite, who knelt and kissed Solitaire?s 
hand. Solitaire smiled, and turned to the Prince.

"I'm sorry, my Lord" she said as she bowed, Endymion shocked at this 
sudden display of respect that he had only seen for a few short moments 
after their arrival. Endymion didn't mind playing mind games, but obviously 
Solitaire did, and her lowering her guard to the Prince indicated that he had 
won at whatever he was playing. 

Solitaire, meanwhile, had allowed her thoughts to drift back to the palace, 
and what the Queen had suggested. Solitaire didn't understand why Serenity 
was contemplating inviting Beryl to the Moon at all; her openly permitting 
the representatives from Earth to visit was enough of a diplomatic gesture, 
in her opinion. Beryl could not be trusted, Solitaire thought, as she glanced 
at the outline of the retreating Prince, thinking of how if she had to wed 
anyone so horrible, she too would probably behave as childishly as 
Endymion. What a shame to waste the handsomeness of the Prince on a 
witch like Beryl! But then again, Solitaire contemplated her own situation - 
perhaps a life with anyone is better than a life without them. She saw the 
Prince look back at her in the distance, and Solitaire thought at first how 
misfortunate he was, but then perhaps his fortune was still better than none 
at all. 

Once again she felt herself isolated and alone, as the nightly breezes played 
with her hair. She couldn't think about what the Queen was planning to do - 
instead, her mind was dominated by thoughts of her own loneliness. 

*********************************************
20th Century Tokyo
********************************************
Darien walked alongside Solitaire in the quiet park by the lake where they 
had originally met. A breeze from the lake blew gently passed them, 
Solitaire's hair brushing against Darien's arm. Solitaire had wondered why 
Darien had taken her here after dinner (Darien's cooking, of course) - she 
would have preferred the privacy of his apartment rather than an open park 
at this time of night, in the middle of the city, but Darien had insisted that he 
had something special planned. 

The couple walked hand-in-hand, Solitaire staring at the night sky while 
Darien watched as the wind blew wisps of her hair into just the right places, 
creating a picture that seemed to be perfection itself. Darien let go of 
Solitaire's hand, and wrapped his arm around her slim waist. Solitaire turned 
and gazed deeply into the dark blue eyes that met her own, smiling and 
inhaling the sweet just-after-the-rain night air.

"Where are we going, Darien?" Solitaire whispered, as Darien took her by 
the arm and led her off the path that went through the park.

"We're leaving the city," Darien replied, making no sense. They were in the 
very middle of Tokyo. Solitaire dismissed the obvious lapse in judgement in 
the hope that what Darien said would somehow fall into place. Water 
trickled down the trees onto the two small figures under them.

Eventually, the couple reached a clearing between the trees where an open 
field lay hidden. No lampposts lighted up the field, only the glow of the 
moon behind some remaining clouds.

"Not a building in sight!" Darien smiled triumphantly, looking at Solitaire to 
gauge her reaction. 

"Oh Darien, its so wonderful!" she beamed, as the trees at the edge of the 
field blocked all the buildings that had stood before, opening the night sky. 
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him into a quick 
thank-you kiss. Darien smiled mysteriously, as he often did.

"I knew you'd like it." he replied, taking off his jacket and spreading it 
across the grass. He hadn't expected it to rain that night, but what was a little 
water after all. Darien sat down, taking Solitaire with him as she ended up 
on his lap to avoid the wet grass.

"Its so perfect!" Solitaire replied, moving closer to Darien. "Exactly" he 
thought to himself, about her. He loved the child-like innocence Solitaire 
took on when she was removed from the trouble of the city - the side of her 
he liked the most but could see so little of. She often seemed preoccupied 
with things - Solitaire would never tell him them, of course, but on occasion 
she would leave them behind. He would always be trying to make her forget 
them - and he always succeeded, even if only for a short while.

A flash of lightening lit up her face, as the consequential thunder echoed 
through their bodies. Solitaire looked up and smiled, while Darien was 
expecting her instead to crouch down in fear.

"I love thunderstorms." she said eerily, as another flash of lightening light 
up their faces. Darien wondered if the middle of a field was the best place to 
be caught in this kind of weather. It was strange, though, that there was a 
thunderstorm this late in the year, but the day had been unusually warm.

Solitaire caught his worried glance, but her warm gaze assured him that they 
would be safe - she always felt safe when he was with her.  She wrapped her 
arms around his waist and smiled, holding him closer, as the same gentle 
breeze from earlier brushed her hair against him. He wanted to hold her, but 
his arms had to support the two of them instead. Solitaire didn't seem to mind,
 though, admiring his broad shoulders.

"This isn't really what I wanted to show you though..." he whispered to 
Solitaire, whose head now rested on his shoulder.

"Oh?" She replied apathetically, unable to imagine how anything else could 
make this moment more perfect. Darien shifted, forcing Solitaire to lift her 
head disappointedly, as his hand reached into his pocket, revealing a small 
flat, rectangular box. Lifting the top, he pulled out an elegant silver bracelet. 

Solitaire was shocked, to say the least. Neither she nor Darien had ever been 
the cheesily romantic type - they kept their love for eachother in their hearts 
and minds, not in sappy tokens like jewelry or pictures or flowers. She 
never felt the need to be reassured of his love in a material way. 

He took her hand and slipped the bracelet on, locking it with a small click. 
"Now you are mine ." he whispered, as she couldn't help but smile, hearing 
those words. She loved the feeling of surrendering to him. Cold rain had 
begun to fall, even though the lightning had ended. Darien's breath felt even 
warmer to her through the contrast of the cold water on her skin. Seeing no 
point in avoiding the wetness of the ground, Solitaire leaned onto the grass, 
Darien obliged to follow her as his lips locked with hers in a kiss. Her child-
like innocence retreated, but Darien found himself once again unable to 
complain.

********************************************
Crystal Tokyo
********************************************
Silence draped the bright crystal room in the heart of the palace, as the four 
generals sat around the great table in the middle. It had been so long since 
they had seen Solitaire, almost as long as they had not thought about her. In 
reality, however, the complications with Beryl since the Moon Kingdom 
and the "great sleep" had made the time seem as only a couple of years; 
between the Moon Kingdom and their rebirth on Tokyo, the thousand years 
had passed instantaneously for them, and it was not until they were freed 
from Beryl?s control that they regained their memory entirely and could 
begin to rebuild their lives. Shortly afterwards, the "great sleep" had once 
again brought their lives to a halt, and it was only long after Neo-Queen 
Serenity had cleansed everyone that their lives resumed the normal flow. It 
was almost as if only three years had passed since Beryl attacked the Moon, 
with the exception of those who came from the Negamoon, where time 
seemed to pass ten times as fast as on Earth - as a result of the evil there. 
Diamond?s father Coal had left the Earth less than three years ago, but his
 son, clearly, was well within his twenties. 

It was an arduous task for the generals to bury Solitaire's death deep into 
their memories, for thoughts of her immediately drifted to thoughts of 
Beryl. The small amount of happiness associated with her was not worth the 
sadness that it was bonded with. But then again, knowing that she was alive 
and Beryl was dead helped seal that chapter of their lives better away.

Neflite, however, had more to worry about than the other three. He had 
betrayed Solitaire in a way so horrible that its memory remained fresh in his 
mind all these years, haunting him much more than her death haunted the 
others. Only Endymion's pain had surmounted his, but that sort of pain had 
found its cure. Endymion's troubles were more tactical, rather than 
emotional. The small steps of Queen Serenity broke the silence, as she 
entered the room and sat at the head of the table. Suddenly a strong gust of 
air blew through the room, the generals looking up and at eachother and the 
Queen. They new the time had come.

********************************************
Moon Kingdom
********************************************
Solitaire stood infront of the full-length mirror in her room, taking off her 
earrings. The light had already begun to shine outside, as the new day 
dawned, yet Solitaire was only finishing the previous one. As she slipped 
out of her luxurious evening dress, and back into her royal one, eager to fall 
asleep before anyone could come to wake her, she heard a knocking at her 
door. Pulling the silver beads out of her hair, she reached for the handle, and 
opening it she saw Neflite standing alone, admiring the decorations on the 
crystalline ceiling. He quickly looked down in her direction, smiling 
obligatorily.

"Oh! Lord Neflite!" Solitaire exclaimed, happy that if someone had to keep 
her awake, it was him.

"Lady Solitaire, I'm sorry, but I haven't much time before I must leave." he 
replied, taking her hand nervously.

"Leave?" she asked, the disappointment at this news flickering as sadness 
through her magnificent eyes, but not with the same magnitude as he had 
seen earlier. Neflite winced at her reaction. 

"Yes. The conflict over the borderlands is brewing - it looks like there may 
be war." He replied unhappily. "I have to go back, if there is any chance of 
avoiding it."

"I understand." Solitaire whispered, looking at the ground. She had felt that 
some sort of danger would grow - and eventually reach the moon.

"I wanted to be the one to tell you - and?" Neflite had planned to finish 
with "I wanted to say goodbye", but couldn't bear the thought of making 
Solitaire sad. He didn't think any of the generals or Endymion would mind if 
Solitaire came to Earth, infact, she could most definitely help them. Maybe 
he should make a formal request from Serenity... "I wanted to ask you to 
come, if it's possible.". He smiled at first because of this convenient way of 
satisfying his desires, as well as Endymion's tactical needs, but thought also 
about getting to know Solitaire better.

"Oh." Solitaire's eyes brightened, as Neflite lifted her chin so that he could 
see her face. His eyes looked at her questioningly, waiting for her response.

"Business or pleasure?" she asked half-jokingly, still unsure of why Neflite 
was asking her. Neflite leaned towards Solitaire and kissed her deeply, 
afterwards smiling "Business, of course." assured that Solitaire was 
intelligent enough to see through the lie.

"Of course." she replied, pulling him in for another kiss as she wrapped her 
arms around his shoulders and he his around her waist. She became 
increasingly less concerned about her behavior.

The couple pulled apart, hearing footsteps down the hall. Neflite smiled, 
opening Solitaire's hand and laying a folded piece of paper in it. Solitaire 
looked at him questioningly.

"For teleportation." he replied. He bowed, and turned to quickly leave as the 
first beams of daylight hit the palace. Solitaire smiled after him, as thinking 
about him now DID mean hope for her.

A blur of blond hair blocked her view, however, and looking down Solitaire 
saw Serena's menacing smile look up to hers, which promptly changed to a 
pout.

"Solitaire! Who's the babe?!" Serena squealed, dragging her by the arm into 
Solitaire's room and closing the door.

"Aren't you supposed to be in your room?" Solitaire asked gingerly, Serena's 
face twisting into guilt. Queen Serenity had told Serena to study for the next 
week or so, because she had neglected to do so for so long.

"Uhhhhh, yes, but I ran out of stories to read" Serena replied innocently.

"Stories?" Solitaire asked skeptically, wishing Serena would bother her 
some other time.

"Oh, you know - *historical* stories" Serena replied. "*Anyway* - who was 
*HE*?" she asked, putting her hands to her hips.

Solitaire smiled. "Who?" she asked, mimicking Serena's failed attempts at 
covering up the truth.

"The guy who was all over you!" Serena impolitely responded.

Solitaire looked angrily at Serena, but smiled inwardly. "Why are you up 
this early?" she asked calmly, folding the sheets of her bed down.

"No, no, no - we're not changing the subject again." Serena ordered.

"Serena, please, can we talk about this some other time? I was up all night 
and I'd really like to go to sleep now..." Solitaire replied. Serena's face 
twisted into shock at the thought of what Solitaire had been doing all night 
with this man in her room clicked in her mind. 

"Yeah - that sounds like a good idea, ok, gotta go - bye!" Serena humored 
Solitaire, who wondered what Serena had thought she said that made her 
want to leave so fast. A whirl of blonde hair disappeared behind her door, 
but Solitaire was too tired to care, as her head fell to the soft pillow.