Chapter 20: The Sweetest Sin

The next evening, the King and Queen ordered a celebration to be held in honor of the return of their lost princess. But it was also to announce the engagement of Rini, princess of Crystal Tokyo, to Helios, ruler and guardian of Elysion. There was wonderful music playing and everyone was waltzing, the women wearing beautiful ball gowns and the men wearing black suits. Suddenly the music stopped as the King and Queen come out and stood before the people. The King wore a fine, dark blue suit, which made him look even more powerful and elegant. He also held a large staff in his right hand, which was also dark blue, but with a silver crescent moon on the top. The Queen wore a silver, strapless ball gown, which shimmered brightly with the lights in the ballroom. Her hair was swept up in the usual "meatball" style that she always loved, with white roses surrounding the meatballs and her long, golden-blonde hair flowing down out from the "meatball."

After the King and Queen had entered, they were followed by Rini and Helios themselves, who entered arm in arm, pure happiness on their faces. Everyone appeared surprised by the princess' dress, which was a bold, red strapless ball gown, trimmed with gold. She wore elbow-length, red gloves to go with her gown and a gold necklace with a crescent moon. She wore her hair down and atop her head was a beautiful, gold tiara with a red-jeweled heart in the center. Helios suit was pure white, but with gold trimmings that made him match perfectly with Rini. They stood next to the King and Queen as King Endymion began to speak.

"My good people, as all of you know, our dear, beloved Princess Serenity had been taken from us. We all feared that she would be lost to us. But now, she stands before us and has truly grown into the woman who will one day rule Crystal Tokyo and take her place as Queen. Which reminds, we have a special announcement to make. This young man, Helios, the ruler of Elysion, and my good friend, has asked for my daughter's hand in marriage, to which she has accepted. And I, as well as my dear wife and Queen, have given our consent and wish to make a toast to this wonderful couple."

Everyone in the room reached for their glasses and raised them up as the King proposed the toast.

"To my daughter, Serenity, and to my good friend, Helios. And to the happiness that awaits them as they prepare to share their lives together."

As the King spoke on, Rini began to look at Helios with a new look on her face. Helios noticed that she was smiling, but something was different. "What is she thinking about?" he wondered as she continued to look at him. He smiled back, but he was still wondering what she could be possibly thinking about. The King went on with toast.

"As we all know, life can be very brief. But I will tell you today, that as long as you hold onto the one you love and cherish them every minute of every day, you are truly living a lifetime's worth. And I hope my daughter and Helios will come to see that someday. To Helios and Rini!"

"To Helios and Rini!" everyone responded back, raising the glasses high and clinging them against other people's glasses.

Rini was still holding that same, mysterious expression of happiness on her face, and it was making Helios crazy with curiosity! "What are you thinking about?" he whispered to her. She didn't answer; instead she took Helios by the hand and began to lead him out of the ballroom. "Where are we going?" he asked her, laughing a little. Again, she would not answer. She just kept smiling and pulling him towards the exit of the ballroom. Soon they were out of the room and were going up the spiral staircase. Now, Helios was really curious as to what Rini was up to. "Come on, Rini where are you taking me?" Instead of answering, Rini began to move faster and began pulling Helios harder. They were finally up on the top floor and Rini was leading him to one of the rooms. Rini stopped as she came to her bedroom door and opened. She quickly pulled Helios in and shut the door and, his amazement, locked the door as well. "Rini, what has gotten into you? Why did you drag us away from the party and why did you lock the..." He stopped as it finally became clear what was going on. Rini immediately came at him, threw her arms around his neck and began to shower him with kisses all over his neck. "Rini, what are you-" she silenced him with hard, desperate kiss on his mouth. Helios grabbed Rini by the shoulders and held her before him.

"What?!" she asked, confused as to why he had stopped her.

"Rini, why are you doing this now? I mean...I just assumed that you would have...wanted to wait until..." he trailed off as he began to blush.

She smiled up at him as she began to respond. "Helios, that whole experience in Hadesion made me realize something. You are the one that I want to be with. There is no one else I would give up my virginity for than you. I always told myself that I would only make love to the man I love when I was ready. And I am ready now. I love you Helios. Making love now is no sin. Well, actually, it is a sin. But it will be the sweetest sin of all!"

Helios stared at Rini, mesmerized by what she had just said. She wanted to be with him now. And he did too. "Oh Rini," he began, "I love you too." After he had said this, he gave a meltingly hot kiss. As they both kissed, they began to slowly undress each other as the moved over to where the bed was. Helios gently lowered Rini to the bed and began to shower every inch of her body with kisses.

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Rini and Helios lay side by side on the bed now, the blankets concealing their nudity, both looking exhausted yet happy at the same time. Rini moved closer to Helios and laid her head on his chest. Helios could now breathe in the scent of her hair. She smelled so wonderful! He began to run his fingers through her long, pink hair.

"Tell me, Rini," he began softly, "Was I worth waiting for?"

She lifted her head up from his chest to look at his face. She smiled up at him as she said, "I would have waited an eternity for this moment."

They kissed passionately and then they lay back down together, just holding each other. Rini lay there, feeling so safe and warm now with Helios beside her. She looked up at Helios again, and he was sound asleep. She smiled and began to stroke his face gently as he slept. As she did this, he smiled too, though his eyes remained closed. "Helios, if I had this whole experience to do over again, I would not change a thing. Because of Damious, we found each other again. And no matter what else comes, no matter how long we both live, we will always have this moment to cherish...forever."

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AN: IT'S DONE!!!! Well what did you think? Please review and tell me. Thank you to everyone who reviewed or are going to review. Now it's on to my next story.

Dream Sovereign