 Disclaimer: As always, I don't own these character, I'm just borrowing them.

				Secret Garden - Chapter 14

	Endymion walked slowly with Serenity through the gardens back to the waterfall.  The
 gardens were awash in the silver light of the moon.  The sky was clear, free from clouds,
 and the light of the moon shone brightly down on the two lovers.  They passed through the
 rose garden, Serenity stopping to smell certain kinds of roses, careful of the thorns.  

	They reached the large pond in the middle and Serenity smiled, seeing the ducks
 nested together in the reeds, two larger ducks sheltering the smaller ones.  "I am going to
 miss Earth," she told him softly as they stopped to watch the waterfall.  Endymion wrapped
 his arms around her from behind as the moonlight turned the waterfall into a silver shower.  

	"I will miss having you with me, but I will count the minutes until I see you next,"
 he replied, keeping his voice low.

	She leaned back against him and the stepped away, grabbing his hand as she broke his
 light hold, and walked towards the waterfall.  "Come.  Show me your garden again.  Once
 more before I must leave."

	Endymion nodded and led her behind the waterfall, "Watch your head," he cautioned,
 ducking to avoid the overhanging rock.  They traveled swiftly through the passage, Serenity
 shivering as she walked barefoot through the cold stone walkway.  

	They emerged on the other side and Serenity sighed, looking around the Secret Garden
 she knew better than her own room.  She refused to drop his hand when he made to let go and
 pulled him away from the waterfall towards the weeping willow in the far corner of the
 yard.  When they stood beneath the dropping branches she turned to face him, her face
 shadowed by the overhanging branches, "Lift me up?" she asked, her eyes sparkling
 mischievously.  

	Endymion did as she asked, carefully lifting her up until she was standing on the
 branch.  She extended her hand in mute invitation and he shook his head and he leapt
 lightly to the branch, trapping her next to the trunk as he placed a hand on either side of
 her.  "Why did you want to come up here, Serenity?" he asked her quietly.

	She shrugged, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck, "In here I get you to
 myself, Prince Endymion, and with my mother on the planet I do not wish for her to find us
 while I say my goodbyes to you.  She would definitely think them un-ladylike"

	He smiled, leaning his head down to kiss her.  She leaned into his kiss, her back
 plastered against the tree, her curved molded to his body.  Endymion slipped one of his
 knees between her legs as she moved, causing her to slide her legs around his and pin her
 even more closely to him.  Endymion groaned as she clamped her thighs around his, one of
 her knees pressing up against the codpiece he wore.  One of his hands slipped down to grab
 her thigh and the other snaked around her waist.  He dropped them off the branch to the
 even, moss-covered rock beneath the boughs of the tree and pinned her against the side of
 the tree again.  

	Serenity's hands flew over his back, snaking down and around as her fingers found,
 and undid, the buckles and ties of his armor.  She pulled away from him fractionally and
 smiled at his surprised expression when his breastplate nearly fell off.  Endymion caught
 it and tossed it behind him without thinking.  Serenity laughed as it clanged on the stone
 and then pulled his mouth back to hers, kissing him again as she pressed herself against
 him.  Her fingers flew over his arms pieces and then to the next.  She dropped them to the
 ground when they were too heavy for her to lift for more than a few seconds.

	Endymion pulled away from her, pressing his knee up against her, between her legs,
 and looked down at her as her face registered surprised delight.  He tore off the last of
 his forearm pieces and tossed it forcefully behind him.  He was leaning down to kiss her
 again when the sound of something hitting water startled him.  He looked over his shoulder
 and groaned as he realized he'd just tossed a piece of his armor into the small pond.

	"Get it later, my love." Serenity begged, her gentle hands running over his chest
 and tugging his shirt out of his pants.  Her cool fingers hit his skin once again and this
 time she just about purred when she encountered a stomach of pure, muscled flesh. 

	Endymion closed his eyes, trying to maintain his control as her hands slid up his
 chest and then down, causing him to hiss with pleasure as her nails scratched over his
 skin.  "Serenity, Angel, we have to stop." He ground out, catching her hands as they
 stopped on his stomach.  He reached into his shirt and extracted her hands, brining them up
 over her head.

	She pouted, sticking her lower lip out adorably, "You do not wish to continue?" she
 asked him, looking up at him through her lashes as she pressed forward on his leg and tried
 to lean up to kiss him.  Her eyes had darkened to a deep navy blue with her desire.

	His chuckle caught in his throat, "On the contrary, my lady, I wish to continue more
 than anything, but I wish for your first time to lie with me to be as husband and wife.  I
 pray you can understand that.  It pains me to stop now, but if I do not, I do not know if I
 will be able."

	She sighed, "I understand.  Perhaps we should retrieve your armor, my prince." She
 said tactfully as he pulled away from her.  Serenity rearranged her skirts, holding onto
 Endymion's arm as her knees regained their starch.  He finally took a real good look at her
 and smiled.  Her mouth was kiss bruised, her eyes were dark and stormy with desire and
 confusion.  He saw acceptance there as well as uncertainty for what she was feeling.  She
 fixed her dress, making sure nothing was clinging to it and then looked up at him through
 her lashes.

	Endymion swallowed hard.  'It was a good thing I was wearing my codpiece,' he
 thought absently.  He knew his eyes must be almost as black as the nighttime sky without a
 moon as he looked at her.  They walked silently to the pool, Endymion collecting his armor
 in a pile by it and making sure all but the one piece hadn't landed in the water.  He
 quickly discarded the rest of his armor and then removed his shirt.  He looked at Serenity
 who was watching him, her cheeks tinted red, but not looking away.  He met her gaze, "My
 lady, would you mind turning your back as I retrieve the last piece?"  He fingered the
 waistband of his pants as he spoke to get his message across.

	She blushed crimson under the moonlight and turned her back to him, her dress
 flaring out with the hasty movement.  He saw her cover her face with her hands, as if
 embarrassed, and quickly shucked the remainder of his clothes and slipped into the pool.  

	Serenity turned away from Endymion, her face flaming.  She heard him enter the pool
 with a small splash but didn't dare turn around or peek.  She knew he would remove all of
 his clothes to retrieve the last piece of armor and her suddenly active imagination could
 picture what he looked like.  She found herself hiding her face in her hands, trying to
 banish the thoughts from her mind.  The cool metal of her engagement ring and her promise
 ring rested against her cheekbones.  She sank to her knees as she waited for him to climb
 out of the pool.  

	Endymion quickly dried himself off with his cape after climbing out of the pool.  He
 dried off the piece he'd retrieved as well and then replaced his lower body armor, leaving
 his breastplate and arm guards off as he went to sit next to Serenity.  "I am sorry," he
 told her softly, "I did not want tonight to be like this."

	She nodded, not looking at him.

	"Are you angry with me, Angel?"

	She shook her head, a tear trickling from the corner of her wide eyes, but she still
 refused to look at him.

	"What is wrong?  Have I done or said something...?"

	She shook her head again, this time more violently, her hair swinging with the
 motion.

	He lifted a hand to her face, turning her shadowed feature towards him and his
 breath caught in his throat.  Her eyes were red rimmed and filled with tears, "How will I
 live back on the moon knowing you are so near, and yet so far?" she asked him softly, her
 voice breaking.

	He smiled, brushing her tears away with the pads of his thumbs, "The same way I
 will.  Counting the minutes until I can see you once again.  Here, in our Secret Garden."

 The End...?

********


 Author's Notes:  Alright, amd that is that.  Frankly, this should be the epilogue, but I'm
 just too lazy to lable it the eilogue.  I suppose if you really want me to I can add a
 final part where she leaves or a sequal to this whole story.. say, what happens with
 the lady Beryl... or perhaps the shattering of the peace.  Maybe an action story where the
 Moon Kingdom and the Earth fall?  I don't know, I mean, there are a lot of those out there
 but let me know what you guys want.  I can always write a sequal to this, I've let myself
 enough lines that I can easily add another dozen or so chapters.

 Alright, admissions time.  First off, I had no intention of posting this story at first. A
 friend convinced me that I should post something I've written to see what the general
 responce was so I did it on a dare.  Nice to know that my story was posted on a dare.  To
 everybody who's written me, I'd like to say thank you.  You've kept me going posting these
 things with your overwhelming requests for a continuation!  If you would like me to write a
 sequal to this with more than just Endymion/Serenity stuff.. maybe some of the Generals and
 senshi stuff or perhaps, as I said before, the shattering of the peace... maybe the
 marriage of Endymion to Serenity... I don't know, let me know what you guys want, if
 anything alright!  Thanks again! 

 Thanks to everyone who read my story and told me what they thought.  And to those of you
 who haven't written me, I hope you enjoyed my story!  Write me with ideas, comments,
 demands, flames, and anything else you might want to say to me!  I love to hear from you
 people!  Write me!  Jade_Max@innocent.com    

 And that's it for my author's notes!  Thanks again to everybody who's written me! 
 Hopefully I'll be writing some new stuff soon :)

 Jade_Max






