Serene sighed. Remy had distanced himself from her for a long time, until Ororo had pushed him towards her again. Serene had never realised the pain Remy had been in until he had confronted her. But now, they were closer than they had ever been. And though she continued to miss her daughter, she knew that she still had her lover to fall back on.

"Chere?" Remy knelt next to her. "Y' be okay?"

(Oui. Just missing Summer again.) Serene flashed him a half smile. (What brings you out here this early?)

"De bed was cold."

Serene laughed. "So get another blanket, Cajun."

Remy pouted at her, making her laugh even more. "Y' don' care whether Remy freeze or no'."

She patted his arm patronisingly. "What does Scott call you? A wimp?" She smiled when he pouted even more at her. (So what did you want, Remy? There's another reason you're here so early in the morning.)

"Jes' wanted t' see y'." He leaned forward and gave her a heart-melting kiss.

(And¡¦)

"Chere, why can' Remy see y' without bein' questioned?"

(Because you hate mornings.)

"So do y'."

(It's also Summer's fifth birthday.) There was a note of sadness in her mental voice. She still missed her daughter with an intensity that was frightening sometimes; it seemed as though her only links to reality anymore were her mother, her brothers, the Marions, Logan, Jubilee, and Remy.

"Remy know dat, chere." He spoke quietly, not sure whether she would answer with tears or rage.

Serene did neither. Instead, she sat back on her heels and sighed, her legs folded underneath her in the traditional Japanese pose. "I know. I'm sorry, Remy." She resumed tracing Summer's name lightly. "I know that everyone thinks I'm about to have a mental breakdown. I know that everyone treats me with the same caution they'd treat a bomb. I don't like it, Remy."

"Bu' dey have a good reason, chere."

"I know." She finally looked up at him. "Since you're up, feel like a swim?"

"D'accord, chere."

*****

The sun had sunk below the horizon when the two of them finally managed to be alone again. April and Thomas had returned from their hometown, and had refused to let Serene be by herself.

Now, however, she sat at the edge of the dock, her feet dangling in the water. Remy sat next to her, smoking in silence, studying her contemplatively.

(What is it, my darling?)

Remy gave a mental shrug. "Wonderin' ¡¦w de name o' LeBeau would suit y'."

Her grey eyes grew wide as she regarded him incredulously. "Say what?"

He withdrew a ring from his pocket, a simple princess cut diamond with sapphire side-stones. "Would y' do me de honour o' marriage, Maya Nakamura?"

Serene stared at him with the same look of shock, then flung her arms around him. "You know I will, Remy LeBeau," she whispered, happiness permeating her very being.

He gently placed the ring on her hand, then drew her to her feet and kissed her. "Dat make me so happy, chere," he said softly, his crimson eyes glowing. He had to laugh when she kissed him again, and tucked her hand into his elbow. "Who shoul' we tell first?"

Serene appeared to ponder this seriously as they crossed the lawn. "Shadow will want to know," she said, half seriously. "Cougar will tear you up, probably. Falcon likes you. Fire Hazard will cheer. Frostbite will sympathise with you. Wolverine will just shrug. Jubilee will cheer." She gazed up at him. "I don't know."

Then her world went black.

*****

The first thing she was aware of was her arm. More specifically, the colour of her sleeve. She no longer wore grey; her clothes were white. And they were the clothes she'd worn before she had absorbed Jaden. She also became aware of the fact that she no longer sensed Jaden in her mind.

"How about telling me first, Serene?" Jaden asked leisurely. He had separated from her, and he was now inhabiting his own body. Gambit lay on the ground a few feet from them, sprawled unconscious.

"Jaden," Serene hissed, pushing herself up.

"Your fiancé over there made a great host for me. I used him to recreate my body, then abandoned him." Jaden smiled, his violet eyes malicious. "He's wonderfully resilient, Serene. And incredibly strong-willed." His smile faded. "That wasn't nice, Serene, destroying me like that. I'll have to punish you."

"I follow the will of the Silver Lady."

"That was also very foolish. The Lady doesn't care about us. We have all of Her power at our fingertips, and you bow and scrape to some deity?"

"It is not our job to take the place of the Silver Lady or Her Golden Consort, Jaden. It never was." Serene carefully pushed herself into a standing position, watching as her counterpart did the same. "That's why we were made the Priestess and the Priest. To be the caretakers of Their domain."

"You know, I don't think I'll ever understand why you chose that one, Serene. He's nothing like me."

"Exactly."

Jaden's eyes grew dark. "Fool," he hissed, raising his hand, a dark band of death energy expanding outward. Towards the prone Gambit.

Serene instantly raised her hand, a white band of life energy rushing towards Jaden's power. The two powers met, clashed. The sound echoed in the still night air, waking Gambit and bringing the rest of the team outside.

A dome of black and white energy circled around the Priest and Priestess, swirling, clashing. Rogue and Wolverine headed towards the dome, but was stopped by Cougar's air bubble. "This is her fight," he said softly.

Remy glanced at his fiancée's twin. Cougar's blue eyes were filled with a bitter regret and sorrow. He knew that this would be a fight to the death. "Non," Remy said softly, defiantly, and sprang towards the dome. The backlash of energy threw him into Cougar's air bubble.

None of them could even breach the dome to help the Priestess. She was on her own.

"How could you have forgotten the covenant we made with the Lady, Jaden?" Serene cried, circling the black clad man cautiously. "The covenant that you made fifteen centuries ago, when you were still Richard of Westerchire. The covenant that I made this generation when I was still Maya Nakamura?"

"Perhaps I grow tired of being a puppet, Priestess. I am Death, and I cannot die!" Jaden circled Serene as well, his entire demeanor a stark contrast to her. "Every generation, Priestess, you die so that I can live! Perhaps I tire of living a lie, and I want to die!"

"No." Serene straightened up, and started walking towards him. "You do not want to die, Jaden Blacktouch. You want absolute power, you want to rule."

"And why shouldn't I, Serene SkyDancer? I've ruled in proxy for fifteen centuries already."

"Because the covenant forbids it. You know that we have a balance to keep. And you know the price of that balance. Every generation, Serene SkyDancer dies so that Jaden Blacktouch can live."

Remy stared at the dome in horror. What was she saying? And who had he fallen in love with? "Non¡¦ he whispered helplessly.

"You need me, Jaden. Just as I need you. Life needs death, and Death needs life." Serene started walking towards him, her arms opened. "Accept that, Priest. You cannot win."

Jaden's only response was to unleash a band of death energy towards her. The band hit her square in the chest, causing her to stagger. Wounds opened up, blood staining her pristine clothing. When she continued towards him, he unleashed another band. And another. And another.

Serene was dying; she could feel it. But rather than fight it, she accepted it. And she closed her arms around Jaden, holding him tightly, as though he were her lover. "Look at me, Priest. Look at me and see your own spirit."

Jaden held her look for an agonising moment, then screamed in pain. The band of death he threw at her drained her of her life, slowly and painfully. But she never hesitated. "Despite the fact you have deviated, I call upon the Lady to correct what you have created." Serene lifted her eyes to connect with Eric's, then with Remy's. "Brighid¡¦ she whispered. "Right his wrongs, and restore the balance."

The dome of energy flickered, then faded. Remy sprang towards them, but was flung back again as a pillar of gold and silver fire erupted, engulfing the Priest and Priestess. "NON!!!!!!!" he screamed, trying to reach Serene.

The pillar vanished, leaving no trace of either of them. In the background, Remy could hear weeping and swearing. But he said nothing as he stared at the blackened spot. He felt nothing.

*****

"Gambit." Eric leaned against the Cajun's doorjamb nonchalantly, dressed for the road.

"Oui?" Remy stared out his window blankly.

"Maya wanted me to give this to you before I left." Eric handed Remy a plain white envelope. "I can't stay here anymore."

"Pourquoi?"

"Because I could have saved Maya. But I knew that it wasn't my place to interfere." Eric rubbed a hand over his haunted features. "I felt my sister die, Gambit. She and I had a bond that existed in the womb, and lasted throughout the last twenty-eight years. And when she died, a part of me died. I can't stay here anymore, knowing that I let her die." When Remy didn't say anything, Eric touched his shoulder lightly. "Maya loved you, Remy. She loved you more than anything else, more than anyone else. She would have died for you."

Remy didn't answer as Cougar slowly walked away, leaving his past behind yet again.

*****

Cougar had left the mansion alone, immersed in his own guilt, stating that he would probably never return. Wolverine had taken Shadow, Jubilee, and Falcon to his cabin in Canada, knowing that Miyako and Michael would want time to deal with the death of Serene and the loss of Eric. Frostbite had gone into a deep shock; he had always thought that his friend would live forever. Fire Hazard had locked herself in her room, seeing only her husband, and apparently writing. Cyclops and Phoenix had gone to Alaska. Rogue, Storm, Beast, and Professor Xavier had gone to Los Angeles, for no apparent reason.

Remy had been left behind, though he had made plans to go back to New Orleans for awhile. But he couldn't go until he read Serene's letter; he had promised himself that much. So he settled himself next to her grave, looking over at Summer's grave. "I tried, p'tite," he whispered to the daughter who wasn't there. Finally, though, he opened the envelope and extracted the three sheets.

Remy ~

By the gods, I love you. Did I ever tell you that? You believed in me when I didn't believe in myself, and you fought for me when I didn't fight for myself. You are a rare treasure, my darling. Never forget that.

I knew my death was coming, and I knew it would be at Jaden's hand. I have always known that. But then, I never forgot the lesson my Lady taught me. Just as death needs life, life needs death. Just as Jaden needs me, I need him.

But that lesson meant more. Death needs to live, and life needs to die. Jaden needed to live, just as I needed to die. But I have faith that the balance has been restored. So my death wasn't vain and pointless.

I had my dream, my love. I was loved by someone who saw me for who I was, not what I was. Someone who saw beneath the skin.

Do not be angry with the Bright Lady, my love. I freely accepted my inevitable fate when I became the Priestess. Live as I have lived, and love as I have loved. Allow light into your life, and release your shadows, the shadows that mar the beauty and purity of your spirit.

A thought has just occurred to me. Perhaps Summer still lives, as I now believe that Creed would have returned her. Perhaps Jaden is the one who broke the link. I pray she lives, and I pray she finds her way back. You are her father, my love, you will always be.

It is early dawn now, and the first rays of light touch you as you sleep. Do you believe in angels, Remy? I used to - I think I do again. But I have always envisioned angels as beautiful as you. You are my angel - you taught me life, you taught me love, you taught me laughter.

Every generation, a new Priestess is born. Jaden is generations old, both physically and spiritually. But Serene SkyDancer is as old as Jaden in spirit only. This generation, Maya Nakamura was Serene's host. Whoever the new host is, she will still remember you. A part of her will still love you.

A letter holds so much meaning - it is a way to link the past to the present. But I still have so much I want to say, and not nearly enough time to say it.

Don't mourn my death, my darling. It was a good death, and I haven't really died. Not as long as you believe.

I can hear you waking - I can feel you waking. I hope you will understand that which I have not said. And I hope that you find the peace that has eluded you for so long; peace that you desperately want, and need.

I love you. I always have.

Maya