Alright, here it is...finally *sob* the Epilogue.. the final final chapter of A Dark Lust. I want to thank everyone who read and wrote and all that good stuff :) THANK YOU! :) ___________________________________________________________ A DARK LUST - EPILOGUE ___________________________________________________________ Serena shuddered for the millionth time as she sat huddled with the hot spray of the shower water beating on her nakid back, silently weeping. She'd been in there for over two hours now. She still didn't feel clean anywhere. When they had first arrived home after Erebus' death, and convincing Nebil to bring Xandria to Earth for a new life, fleeing had been surprisingly simple. With their master dead, all in the castle had bowed respectfully to Nebil and Serena. Agreeing to rebuild with love and compassion, and work towards a happy kingdom. They had also greatly assisted in getting the 5 senshi, Nebil and her daughter, and Darien all back safetly to Earth. Serena had used the rest of her energy on relieving the dark planet of all of their darkness. Worried, the senshi and her prince had asked her not to, but what choice did she have? She had to help them. She'd dropped into her beloveds arms and rested until they'd gotten home. She awoke in Darien's arms, he was sleeping quietly. She'd crept very carefully from his arms and kissed him quietly on the forehead before peeking out into the living room. All of the girls were sleeping there, along with Nebil and Xandria. She realized the travel must have made them all exhuasted. She looked back over to her sleeping prince and smiled slightly, then turned back towards the bathroom. She'd caught a glance of herself in the standing mirror in the corner of the wall. She'd almost fallen backwards, oddly still seeing herself as she had in the last mirror she'd looked into. With her hair short and down, in that purple dress with that awful crown. With ... bruises from his rough hands all over her body... she quickly wrapped her arms about herself. She was so thin now... she wasn't hungry though. She still ached inside, even if all of her bruises and pains on the outside had disappeared. She heard a gentle knock on the bathroom door just then, ripping her from her thoughts. She curled up tighter then, quietly replying, "Yes?" "Serena?" Dariens gentle voice came, "Can I come in?" She nodded slowly to herself, "...yes" Darien slowly pushed the door open and was surprised at the amount of steam that pushed out at him. He moved into the bright room and shut the door behind him. He sat down slowly on the toilet seat and looked at the curtain his lovely princess hid behind. "You've been in here for a while... haven't you." he said quietly. "Yeah... I was... cold." She replied softly. "Are you okay? I can go if you wan-" "NO! No... no please stay. I feel a little better with you here. Please don't go..." She weeped. Darien wiped at his eyes, "I wouldn't ever if you didn't want me to Serena." He kneeled next to the edge of the tub and put his hands around the back of the curtain. He smiled slightly when two small hands grabbed onto his tightly. He could feel them trembling still, and frowned. She had trembled in her sleep the entire trip back. He pushed the curtain aside and wrapped his arms around his weeping angle. She didn't seem to mind, she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, sobbing a bit more freely now. He didn't even notice the water soaking his shirt and floor. He didn't really care. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Serena sighed quietly, tired again from her long cry. Darien walked back into the room with a towel and wrapped it around her body. She hugged onto him tightly, they'd sat like that together for at least an hour... she loved him so much. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They all knew the road to recoverey, especially for Serena, would be a long and tattered one. But they were all in it together, they would do anything to help her get back to her normal self. Nebil and Xandria were introduced to the four sisters the next day. They had such big hearst now, they'd taken the two into their home, and Nebil vowed to look for a job the following week, and to enroll Xandria into school in another year. Things were looking up for them. The girls parted, each to their own homes, back to their parents. Serena stayed one more night at Dariens, then prepaired to go back to her own home. The two stood out on his balcony quietly staring up at the moon. "She told me to be brave...I'm afraid maybe I've failed her Darien. I'm still frightened, even now, after everything's finished." Serena sighed. Darien put a hand gently over her small one, "You were very brave Serena. You stayed, you fought, and you saved us all. You didn't fail her, not at all. And it's okay to be scared sometimes. Anyone would have been. We're here for you now, together...we'll get you through this. Trust me?" Serena looked up at Darien and smiled lightly, "Of course I do." After a soft kiss, Serena grabbed her bag, and she and Darien exited his apartment, and went to his car. Home at last. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Welp. There ya go :P I don't know if I'm going to do a sequel or not, but I'm thinking about it. Until then, I'm putting up a new story "Run to me" ... if you feel like it, take a look. I'm not sure how I like it, but I have a few chapters done already :) THANK YOU FOR READING, ALL OF YOU! Destiny :)