Author: Dea Brynhild Ensomhet
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is owned by Naoko Takeuchi and various others excluding me. I am making no money off of this nor do I intend any infringement.
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Prologue
The child sat on a hospital bed, his legs hanging over the side. The hospital pajamas he was wearing were a light blue but slightly wrinkled, and his jet black hair was tousled. A soft whimpering come from his rocking form, and tears had left a trail down his face. He was being abandoned again. First his parents were killed, and now his best friend was leaving. "Why do you have to go, Fiore?" he whispered to himself through the tears. As time passed, the boy's whimpers quieted as the rocking slowed. With a final sniff, he slid off the bed and to his feet. He couldn't just sit there crying; he had to find a going-away present for his best friend.
Wandering through the hospital halls, he glanced in the open doors on the way to the elevator. His eventual destination was the gift shop, but he paused at one door and stepped inside.
The bed seemed to dwarf the tiny figure curled up amid the sheets and blankets. Her pajamas were similar in style to his, except they were a soft pink. Her blond hair had been gathered into two odango-like round buns, one on either side of her head, with the remaining strands falling loose. Her light blue eyes were vacant, staring into space. The calm, apathetic expression on her face had drawn him to her; that expression seemed too mature and out of place on her six year old face. It spoke of the sadness of a lost soul becoming resigned with their fate, and he remembered a similar expression on Fiore's face when they first met.
"Hi." he said, standing at the foot of her bed. Slowly her head turned and her eyes focused on him.
"Hello." she replied, her voice quiet. He stepped closer until he was standing next to her bed. "Who are you?"
"My name is Darien. What's yours?" Now that he was near her, he could make out the fierce purple bruises coloring her visible skin and the bandage around her right arm.
"Serenity." As he watched her, her left hand reached up and touched his cheek gently, like an angel's caress. "Why were you crying?" she asked.
The boy wiped the last traces of his tears away with the back of his hand as he sniffed. "My best friend is going away." he explained, his young voice breaking with the swell of raw emotion. "He's my only friend and he's going away. I'm going to be all alone!" he rubbed his sleeve against his nose, willing himself not to cry again.
He almost didn't hear her speak, her voice was little more than a whisper. "No you won't." He looked up, blinking at her. She was sitting up in bed now, her gaze locked on him... and then she smiled.
It was a breathtakingly beautiful smile that revealed the depth of kindness in her soul. Had there been any adults present, they would have said that the radiant smile hinted at the ethereal enchantress the child would grow up to become. It was this entrancing smile that Darien was rewarded with, and instantly he felt the pain and sadness clutching at his heart subside.
"I'll be your friend." she promised. A grateful smile full of hope slowly appeared on his face. Casting a glance around her room, she seized a single rose from its vase beside her bed. The rose was healthy, its bright green leaves showing no insect bites, and its dark red blossom was beginning to open, revealing the multitude of petals inside. She held it out to him. "I want you to have this. It's a present."
He slowly reached out his hand to accept the blooming flower from her grasp. He held it under his nose and closed his eyes before inhaling deeply. Eyes opening, he smiled shyly at her. "Thank you." he murmured.
His gaze caught for a moment on the clock by her bed, and he stared at it, startled. He was supposed to meet Fiore on the roof to say goodbye in five minutes! He glanced at the door; if he ran up the couple flights of stairs he could still make it. Giving one last friendly smile to the young girl, he said, "I gotta go. Thank you for the gift. I'll see you tomorrow, Serenity!" before jogging out her door.
"Tomorrow." the girl sighed to herself as she watched the boy race away to meet his other friend. The couple who called themselves her parents were taking her out of the hospital tonight. She might never see the boy again, but she vowed never to forget him. Who knew, maybe they might meet again someday. Lying back in bed, she let her gaze unfocus and stare into space as her mind returned to mulling over the thought of living with complete strangers.
Still trying to catch his breath, Darien stood on the hospital roof, gasping from the effort of climbing all the stairs, watching a cloud of sparkles where his best friend had been standing moments before. Fiore had seemed so delighted to get the rose, and it made Darien feel good that he made his best friend happy. As he walked back to his room, he passed Nurse Jenny who noticed the melancholy look on his face.
"Where's your little friend, Darien? Did he have to go back home?" For the past week the two young boys had been inseparable. Darien had told all the nurses that Fiore was one of his friends from back home come to visit. Even being only eleven, he knew better than to tell them that Fiore was an alien he had found sleeping in the rain outside; the adults would think he was crazy, or try putting Fiore into an orphanage too.
"Yeah, Fiore had to go home." Darien replied. Or, at least, figure out where home was. Nurse Jenny nodded and continued on her duties, and Darien slipped back into his room and crawled into bed. As he fell asleep, he comforted himself with the promise Fiore had made, to return again someday.
The next morning, after a quick stop past the hospital gift shop to pick up a small box of chocolates, he raced to his newest best friend's room. After all, girls like chocolate, right? He wanted to give her a gift in return for the rose she had given him the day before. "Good morning, Serenity!" he called, running into her room and skidding to a halt.
Walking backwards out the door, he checked the room number. It was the same room Serena had been in the day before. Taking a deep breath and clutching the chocolates in his hand, he walked back into the room again.
The bed was freshly made, and empty. All trace of the girl who had been there were gone. Afraid that maybe the girl's injuries were more severe than he had thought, he looked up as Nurse Jenny entered.
Jenny recognized the look of shocked horror and questions on his young face, and quickly reassured him. "Oh, her family took her home last night." Darien looked back at the bed and stared, illogically hoping that maybe if he looked long enough, she'd reappear. Jenny continued, even though Darien wasn't really listening anymore. "Poor girl too. Was riding her bike and was hit by a car. They say she has amnesia, didn't even recognize her parents." She sighed, remembering the melancholy look on the young girl's face. "She was so sweet, I hope she gets better soon." Ushering Darien out of the room, she paused in the doorway to look back at the empty bed. "It's a pity, really," she murmured to herself, "that tragedies happen to such young children."