"OVERCOMED FEARS AND HEARTS UNITED"

I DO NOT OWN SAILOR MOON!

This is my first fic so please bear with me.

Comment: Good or bad I want to know.

Sad, baby blue eyes stared back at her through the reflection in the mirror. She gazed at herself as she stood naked in front of the full length mirror in the bathroom. Her eyes took in the bags under her eyes, her pale complexion, and the thinness in her cheeks from the weight that she had lost. She ran her fingers through her dulled, hip length hair. It was because of her paleness that the bruises, which were along her neck, arms, legs, and everywhere else that was visible, stood out so much. Her make up wouldn't hide them any longer. New bruises were forming over the old bruises. She ached all over, and yet there was nothing she could do. If she left, HE would find her, and it would only get much worse. He always found her, and he made sure to rub it in her face that he would always find her, as he would hit her over and over again.

She missed her friends, and family, even her annoying little brother Sammy. He made sure that she lost all contact with them. That way she wouldn't have anybody to run to, no one to confide in. Slowly, Serena let her mind wander to when she had first started dating Thomas Bishop. Back to when he was kind and gentle, always wanting to please her. How he would be the perfect gentleman, whether they were alone or not. He helped her to move on from her silent crush over Darien Shields. Whether he was back from America or not, she didn't know. She wasn't allowed outside of the house without his permission. She didn't know what Andrew, Darien, her family, or the girls were up to. Now she remembered how Thomas slowly changed. Becoming angrier more often, how he was always being possessive of her, like she was a trinket to be showed off. How he managed to put distance between her and the ones she loved. How when, he had finally become in her father's good graces, he convinced her to move in with him.

That was when everything had changed. That was when the yelling and screaming and the beatings began. Eventually he wanted more than the satisfaction of just hitting her senseless, he wanted everything from her. She shuddered as the memory of when he had forcefully taken her virginity washed over her.

Tears began to well up in her eyes, though she tried not to let them escape. She put herself in this mess, so there was no use crying over her life. Now she must deal with what she had. Maybe this was how all men were. Perhaps her father and maybe even Andrew hid their aggressiveness from others, like Thomas did. The longer she stayed with Thomas, the more she believed it. The more she became fearful of all men. Even Andrew and her father, though she never saw them anymore.

Serena jumped at the sound of the front door slamming shut. She grabbed a towel from the rack and tried to shakily wrap it around her as she heard footsteps walk towards her room. She began to visibly shake as she heard her bedroom door open and she saw him walking towards her. Her eyes became fearful, and he just smiled wider. She was cornered, and he would do with her as he wished.

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­­­­­"Darien, you didn't stick around long enough the other week to tell me how things went in America. You just snuck off and left me to hang!"

Darien Shields looked at his long time friend Andrew Furuhata as he glared accusingly at him while pushing a steaming cup of black coffee towards him.

"Sorry Drew, I was tired from the jet lag. I barely made it back to my apartment let alone my couch." Darien chuckled in reply.

"Don't you mean bed?" Andrew corrected.

"No I mean couch, I didn't make it to my bed until early the next day. Not to mention I had to get all my affairs in order before I tried being social again. The only good thing about coming home though, is that nothing's changed. Serena's friends are still hanging around as usual."

"Yeah, they're my regulars. I have to admit I missed your arguments with Serena. I kept expecting you to come in calling her a Meatball head. Then again, I just plain out miss Serena." Andrew finished in a whisper, as he got a far away look in his eyes.

Darien didn't miss the worry and concern that shone in Andrew's eyes. He had been wondering why the cheerful blonde seemed to be absent. Before he left for America to finish school he would run into her almost constantly. Now, she was nowhere to be seen, not even with her close-knit friends.

"Andrew, where's Serena? Has something happened to her?" Darien asked, suddenly worried about the klutz queen.

"Um, I should go take some people's orders. Look, if you want to know what's going on with Serena, you should ask them." Andrew said as he nodded in the direction of the girls. "They know more about it than I do."

Darien nodded and began to get up to move towards the girls, when Andrew grabbed him by the elbow. Darien looked back at his friend, and what he saw in his eyes, made Darien feel more uneasy than ever before.

"Darien, I… look from what little I know, it's …it's hard. It's hard to imagine our happy, cheerful Serena, the way she is now. Just hear them out and digest it before you do anything rash. Okay?"

"What's going on Andrew? I've been gone for four years, and now you guys are acting like Serena has changed into… into the exact opposite of Serena. Tell me Andrew!"

"Just promise, okay?" Andrew pleaded with Darien one more time.

Darien nodded only once before he marched over to where Amy, Lita, Mina, and Raye sat in a booth by the window.

They were whispering about some boy that Amy was talking to in her college physics class, while Amy just blushed profusely. They all jumped in surprise when Darien grabbed a spare chair and slid it into the table. He sat down in the chair backwards and rested his arms on the back with his legs straddling the seat.

"Darien! What a surprise, how was America?" Mina spoke up as the girls tried their best to ignore his penetrating stare.

"Cut the crap! What's the deal with Serena?"

"What do you care? You left her four years ago!" Raye demanded.

"We weren't dating, Raye. Besides I left to finish my medical degree at Harvard. That was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Serena heard me talk about leaving; she even came to see me off. Last time I saw her, she was smiling and cheerful."

"Well she wasn't! She cried for nearly a week after you left. Not to mention half a year later she was still moping around about you. She cared a lot about you, maybe even loved you, but you were too blind to notice!"

"What are you talking about? All we ever did was argue. The one time we didn't argue was when…was when she came to see me off." Darien sighed.

"That's the way Serena was, Darien." Amy said, as she put her hand on his shoulder. "She always put others before herself. Whatever it was, she made sure her friends had everything, before she thought of herself."

"What do you mean was, Amy? Please tell me, what is going on with Serena?"

The girls all looked at each other, before Lita began recounting to Darien what happened after he left. Each girl added in their own tidbit of information here and there, but mainly they just let Lita retell it. By the end of the recounting the girls were in tears. And Darien felt damn well close.

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Author's Note:

So tell me what you think? Should I add or change anything? Let me know!