Epilogue

Rini stomped her way down the stairs in her heavy pink boots, white mini skirt, silky pink camisole, and a white demi-jacket. Her pink hair was done in her signature pointed bun and pigtail style. She'd gotten it from old photos of her mother and decided it would look great on her, she was after all her mother's daughter. The final piece of her ensemble was a pink chocker with a white heart on it. "Can I just… not go to school today?" She huffed and plopped herself down at the table. "I don't want to go… Daddy would have let me stay home." She mumbled and looked up at her mother who was busily making scrambled eggs.

"Well, your father's not here now is he?" Serena snapped and turned just as Derrick and Trista walked in the front door. Derrick smiled as he set a large gift wrapped box on the table.

"Smells great mom, what's cooking?" He laughed as a six year old girl ran over to Rini and smiled. "Michelle, come on, go wash up." Derrick sighed as Trista sat down at the table.

"Derrick, get the present off the table. We're going to be eating." Serena scolded the man and pointed a spatula at him. "I mean it young man." He groaned and moved the box into the living room. Serena finally scanned her eyes over everyone and frowned at Rini. "Rini… don't you think you should wear something that maybe covers your ass a little better?"

"Why? I've seen pictures of the stuff you wore when you were my age!" Rini challenged and crossed her arms. Derrick eyed her cautiously then shook his head. She had a point but it still didn't excuse the way she was dressed, the girl was almost naked! "Stop staring." She snapped at Derrick and watched as Michelle ran through the house, her curly dark aqua hair bouncing as she went.

"Rini! Stop being so difficult! Get over it; he's not going to be here today! Frankly young lady I'm fed up with the attitude you're throwing out lately! I know you're a strong young lady and a few days without talking to him isn't going to kill you." Serena pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. What she wouldn't give for Helios to be back from his trip.

Over the years Helios had become the director of the CIA and had to travel rather frequently. Unlike Sapphire or Seiya, Helios had worked hard to make sure everything the CIA did was legal. The only issue was that the job had proven to be quite difficult and he often had to investigate branches and offices himself. If he ever found anything that wasn't kosher the consequences he dealt out were severe. He was one of the most feared men in the US not because he was violent, but because he was ruthless when it came to doing things right.

His current investigation had taken him out of state and as a result he hadn't been calling as often which caused Rini to act up. Serena knew her teenage daughter was missing him but still, that was no excuse for the way she was acting up.

"Whatever." Rini snarled and quickly ate the breakfast her mother had just served. "I have to go." She stood and slung her backpack over her shoulder before marching to the door. "For the record… this sucks!" The girl then slammed the door and disappeared from the house.

Serena sat down and rubbed her temples. "That girl… I sear! Well… at least she isn't crazy." She smiled and laughed a little.

"Well, I'm not so sure… you know the teenage psyche is often so close to that of a crazy it's hard to tell." Peruru's voice found the group as he walked up to the table. "So, what's up with miss priss today? I got out of the car and she growled at me and stopped off towards the buss stop. Isn't a girl supposed to be excited about her eighteenth birthday?"

Everyone shrugged and continued to eat their breakfast in silence. "So… Serena… how've you been?" Everyone looked at the blonde as Trista asked the question that begged to be asked.

"Oh… I suppose I'm fine… lonely and so tired of dealing with her mood swings." She continued to eat in silence. "Oh, so, everyone's going to be here promptly tonight at four for her party?"

"Mom… we're here now to help you decorate… remember?" Derrick hesitated he was never quite sure if Serena was joking when she said things like that or not. She waved her hand and confirmed that she remembered with a nod.

Rini balled her fists as she growled. "I said… leave me alone!" The pink haired girl punched the relentless boy who kept pestering her. The boy had been trying to feel her up for weeks now and for some reason he didn't know what no meant. "Touch me again and I'll do more than that!" She snapped as the boy held his jaw.

"Nice punch." A deep voice made her stop and smile. Without warning she spun around and threw herself into the chest of a very amused Helios. "Sorry I haven't called. I wanted to surprise you." He smiled and wrapped his arms around her petite frame. "Don't tell your mother but I'm breaking you out early." He winked and grabbed her bag from where she'd thrown it on the ground.

"Does mom know you're back?" Rini questioned as he held out his arm for her. A simple shake of his head told her that the return would be a surprise to her mother as well. "She's going to be so pissed… how did you get them to let you take me out early?"

"A note." He chuckled and lead her out of the school. "Rini, come on, I'm the director of the CIA… you'd think I can get a senior out of school early for a day." She giggled and got into his car. She waited patiently for him to get behind the wheel before questioning him on his trip. He answered her questions with a smile, as he always did. When her questions finally died down they rode in the car in silence.

"Wait… where are we going?" She looked out the window and noticed they were somewhere she didn't recognize. She began to examine the road signs to see if she could make sense of anything. "Heely?"

"I figured you'd like to go shopping so I'm taking you to the new mall that just opened up." She squealed and clapped her hands together excitedly then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Moving back into her seat she looked at the ring on his left hand and blushed a little bit as she remembered what the ring represented.

Despite the fact that the two had been considered a couple since she was five they hadn't become an official couple until she was sixteen. It was on her sixteenth birthday that Helios had presented her with the ring currently on her finger. She had been teased about it many times because people who first met her would think she was married. She had explained far too many times that the ring was a promise ring and it did not mean that she was married.

Her sixteenth birthday was also the day she discovered that Helios had worn one for far longer. Of course, because it was important to Helios she had agreed to wear it. He had proven to be the best boyfriend any girl could wish for except for one thing. Despite the fact that they had been dating for so long he'd only ever held her hand and kissed her as a brother would kiss a sister. It was slightly frustrating to not be able to kiss her boyfriend like she saw other girls kissing theirs but at the same time she knew why. When she was sixteen Helios was thirty-one. Relationships were taboo between two people with that much of an age difference… at least it was when the girl was a minor.

She smiled and laughed to herself briefly as she thought of his yearly present to her. He'd get her something and always include a bag of Hershey's kisses. It was his way of expressing his love even though he wasn't really able too. "So um… do I get a kiss this year?" She risked the question and noticed the slight pull at the corner of his lips.

He simply shrugged and kept his eyes on the road. She hated it when he was so cryptic! There were times when she wanted to just smack him across the face just to wipe that look off his face and get some sort of reaction from him.

Serena was standing on top of a ladder as she attempted to hang the birthday banner for her daughter. This was going to be a big birthday for her. "Damn it…" She cursed as she realized she was still too short to hang the banner properly. She'd made too big a deal out of doing it herself to be able to ask for help so she bit her lip and rose onto her tip toes. Just as she managed to hang the banner the ladder wobbled and she was unable to keep her balance. Closing her eyes she felt herself falling and readied for impact only to have two strong arms catch her.

"Hey, you did it!" She opened her eyes to see Darien looking up at the banner with a elfish smile. "Looks great honey." He then looked down at her and noticed a spark of anger in her eyes. "Okay… let's hear it." He set her down and waited for her inevitable spew of complaints.

"First of all… WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU WERE COMING HOME EARLY?" She shouted making him wince then pause. When he looked at her again he was met with a large smile and a Serena that was overly happy.

"Well, you know, cell phone reception." He grinned and scooped her into his arms for a passionate kiss. "Actually, it was Helios' idea. He went to go get Rini from school. I told him he could." Darien added before Serena could reply. "He's taking her to the mall… you know he's going to propose to her tonight right?"

"I suspected he would when you two got back. I didn't know that would be tonight though." Serena couldn't help but feel elated. For the first time everything was going well, everyone was happy. As she leaned in for another kiss she thought about everything that had happened and everything that was about to happen. Finally, after all these years, she got to say: "and they lived happily ever after."

"Yeah, something like that." Darien grinned and pulled her into another kiss. "Just think, soon we're going to have an empty nest."

"I don't know how empty it will be though. Everyone comes over every day… plus. As long as we're together… I don't really mind being alone." She giggled and pressed herself against him. "In fact I wish we were alone right now…"

"Hey, kids present!" Derrick laughed as he walked into the room. Serena and Darien broke apart with a promising gaze. They were together and nothing was ever going to pull them apart. "I hope Trista and I love one another that much when we're as old as you two."

"Who you calling old?" Darien raised an eyebrow. "I'm young in more ways then you'll ever know and frankly, I'll be young until the day I die." Everyone laughed as he pulled his wife to him one more time. "Okay, last kiss then we've got to get back to work." Serena nodded and pressed her lips to his once more, after all, this was the way it was supposed to be, this was how it was MEANT to be. "Love you."

"I love you too. Now, let me go so we can finish this!" She cried.

"Okay, let's finish it." He nodded.

~THE END~

Well, there you go, the very end of the saga. What did you think? Let me know!