And it all Went Wrong

A/N

You guys, I'm sorry. I thought I could continue this, but I can't. I've started Winter (almost done with it) and I don't want this fanfic to be influenced. The plan was to finish this before Winter came out, but that obviously did not happen. I had the epilogue written since a long time ago, so I'll at least give you that.

Sorry if you wanted to see this continued, but thank you for the support :)

~Odette

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EPILOGUE
EMPEROR KAITO STRAIGHTENED the collar of his silk coat. He ran a hand through his hair, fixing it as best he could. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and sighed, semi content. He walked out of the bedroom and turned to the guard already waiting by his door. "Let's go."

This guard had been the only one left that was on his side after Levana had upped the manipulation over Luna. His gift was weak. He was his companion in the wish of bringing Selene back.

Kai sighed again.

"You seem to be in a terribly awful mood, Your Majesty," Sir Wale said, glancing at Kai through the corner of his hazel eyes. Kaito shrugged, not wanting to speak what was on his mind. "Is it Her Majesty again?" the guard assumed.

"As always, Sir Wale."

"Is Queen Levana aware of your visits to the outskirts of Artemisia, Your Majesty?"

Kai had long given up on telling Sir Wale to just call him Kaito. "Of course not," he replied. "And she never will be."

"Why is that?" A pause, then, "Your Majesty?"

Of course he would add the 'Your Majesty' bit.

He also would never say the true reason to his visits. "I don't believe she cares to know why I go."

"And why do you go, Your Majesty, if I may ask?"

Kai grinned. "Simply to relax myself," he partially lied.

The rest of the way to the large patch of trees was silent. When they got to the beginning of the artificial forest, Sir Wale stayed back and Kai continued.

He breathed in the air, so similar to Earthen air, yet so different. He missed the Eastern Commonwealth, for he had not visited in more than three years, almost four.

He took the fancy jacket off, showing the shirt that blended in with his surroundings, and shoved his hands in his pockets. He hummed a tune, a very special tune at that, and stopped. In a matter of seconds, he heard the scale return to him from a place to his left. He followed the trail and stopped. "Please come out," he whispered.

There was silence again in the forest, and then came the rustling of leaves and branches. A thin figure appeared, her hair in messy brown knots, a small, hesitant smile on her face. She bowed her head.

"How are you?"

She glared. "I'm living in a forest."

Kai nodded and repeated his words, "And how are you?"

She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "Just... peachy."

"Stars, love. You still have that sarcasm in your voice," he said with a cheeky grin, tilting his head to the right and taking a step closer. He reached out and brushed her cheek with the back of his hand, even as she flinched at the touch and at the word he had used to refer to herself. "I've missed you... Selene."

She shivered, and all of her strength went away as she ran into his arms, tightly wrapping her arms around his back, her face buried in his chest. His shirt would be wet, if she were crying. But she wasn't, and he couldn't even imagine how much her head would be hurting. She had changed so much.

"I've missed you too," she whispered, barely audible. He had an arm around her waist as well, the other hand gently caressing the back of her head. "My head hurts," she mumbled after a while.

Kai chuckled a bit. "I know." Then he frowned and pulled her back, just enough to look her in the eye. "But you don't have to be afraid of her," he whispered.

She drew back, as if he had spat out venom. "We're not afraid, Kaito. Besides, you shouldn't be here. I've told you for months that you shouldn't be doing this. You're married."

Kaito scoffed, pretending what she had just said wasn't hurting him in any way. "Yes, because it was that or letting you die. And I couldn't have lived with that," he murmured, his voice almost breaking. He stepped closer again, but she simply sat down, her back to a tree. "You don't have to hide, you know. You could... Oh, I don't know. Glamour yourself, make yourself a new person completely." He sat down beside her on the ground.

She shook her head. "I don't want to be like that, Kai," she whispered.

"You two can't just live like this forever," he reasoned, turning so that he was facing her while tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and cradling the back of her head in his palm. She closed her eyes, leaning into the touch.

A scoff came from somewhere behind the bushes. "You think I haven't tried telling her that by now?"

Cinder's eyes opened and she groaned. "Shut it, Thorne. I told you to keep quiet whenever Kai was around." Kai chuckled as Carswell replied with a mumbled apology. "But you're right."

"Of course I'm right, I'm Kai," he joked with a cheesy grin.

Cinder rolled her eyes. "You're right that we can't hide like this forever," she continued, "And we won't. Don't worry." She gave him a small smile.

Kai knew that smile, and he waited eagerly for the next set of words to come out.

"I... We... will return when they least expect it." She stood up with a new burst of determination. She looked down at Kai, her fists clenched. "And nobody will stop me this time."