Time After Time

Dedicated to my own Guardian Angel 

	The nights of New Orleans were always somehow
hotter than the days. Maybe it was the active
nightlife or it could have the frying of the fresh
craw daddies from the Gulf. However, on this
particular night, the moon was full and the night was
boiling hot. Mardi Gras was upon the land, and
everyone was celebrating. The schools were closed and
not one body had been at work that day. All of whom
were  much more interested in attaining several
hundred strands of brightly coloured beads and
challenging their own bodies to a drinking contest.	
	Serenity had always enjoyed Mardi Gras. It was
a time of celebration for her, almost like a rebirth.
Instead of joining in the festivities, she was much
more content to simply stand against the crowd and
observe.  If any passers-by were to have seen her,
carefully shrouded in shadow against the old church,
it would have appeared that she was waiting for
someone. A long lost love perhaps, they mused to
themselves. Nothing could be further from the truth.
	She had no desire to be in love, nor to
participate in the acts of love. She saw them as
pointless and as a waste of perfectly good body heat.
Many would disagree with her, but she usually paid
them no heed. If they didn't want her opinion, then
they never should have included her in the 
conversation.  
	So, she simply sat and watched the party-
goers. Watching and waiting...   It was at this time
that a shadow began to approach her. Peering at it
from the corner of her silver eye, she noticed it was
in the shape of a man. As he drew nearer, her eyes
narrowed in hate and annoyance.  It was only Endymion.
Nothing to worry about.  
	Turning back to the party at hand she
pointedly ignored him.  Of course, it wasn't helping
that he was standing so close to her.
	''Nice night, isn't it Serenity?"
	She never looked at him, but merely nodded her
head and kept her eyes focused on the fireworks that
now lit the musky sky. Neither talked again, until the
fireworks ceased and only then was it a brief pause.
 She turned to him slowly.
	"What do you want Endymion? They have not been
born yet and I have no business with you,"
	"Ahh, but you do Serenity. You do,"
	"How so?"
	Their conversation was interrupted by a loud
bang and the sound of a motorcycle roaring away,
carrying some young drunk youth yelling wildly into
the night. His girlfriend clutching madly to his back
for safety. The two stared after them until they could
no longer be seen, both feeling relief from the brief
interruption.
	"Why do you hate me so? I have not wronged you,"
	Her silver eyes flashed in anger.
	"I despise you for being you. Isn't that
enough?"
	She turned away from him, seeking refuge in
the trunk of the tree. 
	"I do not believe that that wood is more
interesting than me..."
	"You're right. It's not that much more
interesting...but it is a lot more charming than a --"
	Serenity was cut off by a tinkling in her ear.
The same tinkling that she had come to know and fear
for 600 years.  Her charge was being born.  She looked
over at Endymion who also heard the tinkling of his
charge. She nodded her head curtly to him, and (as if
they had been there all along) unfolded two huge white
wings from behind her back.  Stretching momentarily,
she flew into the night sky, leaving her partner
behind.
	Yes, she and Endymion were partners. They had
to be. For 600 years, they had had the "pleasure" of
being together.  They were the Guardians. The one
being that protects that one certain human until the
end of its days.  The Guardian must also make sure
that its charge finds its soulmate.  Serenity's charge
had just been born and his name was Motoki. 
	He would live until he was 83 years old, have
one child, and three grandchildren. He would also
marry a woman named Reika. Reika's guardian was
Endymion.  
	Serenity hated Endymion.