Author's Note: This one shot takes place during Sailor Moon S, right before the big fight with Mistress 9 and Master Pharoah 90. I've taken some creative licensing and changed events around. I just thought it would be different if Serena dumped Darien for once out of sacrifice, and how he would react.

Please read & review!

Empty spaces fill me up with holes

Distant faces with no place left to go

Without you within me, I can find no rest

Where I'm goin' is anybody's guess

I tried to go on like I never knew you

I'm awake but my world is half asleep

I pray for this heart to be unbroken

But without you, all I'm going to be is incomplete

"Darien, are you OK?" The dark haired Darien Shield's was staring into his coffee like it held all the answers to his problems. The man asking the questions, blonde haired Andrew Foreman, was starting to get concerned. Darien had been his best friend for as long as he could remember, and he had never seen him like this. He knew Darien's girlfriend Serena Tsukino had broken things off with him more than a week ago, but he had never imagined Darien would shrink into himself so much. Darien's anguished dark eyes met Andrew's concerned ones, shaking his head.

"I just don't know why she broke up with me. Things had been going fine for us, and then BAM! She just dumps me. The worst part is, I don't even see her around anymore. It's like she's avoiding me." He sounded broken, and he looked like a shell of himself. He hadn't shaved in several days, so a rough stubble was beginning on his cheeks while dark circles were forming under his eyes.

"What happened right before she dumped you?" Andrew gently prodded, still not knowing the complete details. The first he had heard of the break up was when Darien pounded on his door at three in the morning, smelling strongly of vodka and crying. It had scared Andrew half to death, thinking someone had died. Little did he know, someone had died, it was the part of Darien that Serena had opened up.

"We were at my apartment…."

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Darien opened the door to his apartment and smiled widely seeing his blonde haired girlfriend at the door. Her blonde hair was uncharacteristically double French braided instead of her usual buns, but he had to admit, it looked good on her. Her blue eyes twinkled at him, but there was also something else lurking in the depths, possibly uncertainly. Her usual mile wide smile was absent, replaced by a smaller smile. He leaned in to kiss her but was surprised when she turned her head away a little bit so he only grazed the corner her mouth. He looked at her; confused.

"Serena, is everything ok?" She cocked her head at him at his words, suddenly wondering what she was doing.

'The right thing' a little nagging voice in her head said she stepped into Darien's clean and tidy apartment, drinking in the sight of it one last time, knowing that she would probably never see it again.

"Darien, I think we need to talk." Serena's voice was even different, colder somehow, more detached than he had ever heard it.

"You're starting to scare me Sere. Please tell me nobody is hurt." He felt dread in the pit of his stomach, a cold feeling starting to spread. She closed her eyes, a single tear forming.

"I think we need to see other people Darien." Her voice sounded strangled and the words came out sounding strangled. For his part, Darien just looked at her as if she had grown three heads.

"What? Serena, where is this coming from?" He took a step closer to her and was alarmed when she took a step back from him. She wished he could understand that she wasn't scared of him, but scared of herself. She knew if he touched her right now, she would crumble and all her resolve to end this relationship would just go away. She would fall into his arms and she would never be able to leave them again.

"I…I've been doing some thinking Darien, and I just don't think we're right for each other." Her eyes looked as broken as his did shocked.

"Tell me why we're not right for each other Serena. Is there someone else?" His heart dropped to the ground at the possibility but felt only minute relief when she shook her head no. She closed her eyes as his hands found her shoulders and he pulled her close to him.

"Serena, if I've done anything wrong, please tell me. I can't bear to lose you. You're my family." At those words she looked up at him, knowing more and more what she was doing was right. There was a fight looming on the horizon, one that was bigger than they'd ever faced before and she had to protect him. What if she wasn't able to stop the Great Silence from happening without sacrificing herself? At least if they were already apart, and he'd had time to heal he wouldn't be as hurt, as broken as he was now.

"I promise Darien, it's not you. You're perfect." She reached one hand up to touch his jaw line and almost cried on the spot when he nuzzled his cheek into her hand. She stood on her tip toes to place a kiss on his cheek before she took her leave but he had other ideas. He moved his head at the last second and captured her lips. For a split second she fought the kiss then melted into his arms. What could one last kiss hurt?

It wasn't until she was buttoning her shirt after going farther than she had planned to that she realized what that kiss had hurt. Instead of knowing just his kisses, she now knew what it was like to physically be with him. She could feel his eyes boring holes into her back.

"Darien, you should know….this doesn't change anything. We still can't see each other anymore." And it was with those words that she slowly walked to his door, pausing for only a moment to look back at him and place something on his table by the door. After the door firmly clicked behind her, he walked up to the table for closer inspection. On the table lay a single pink house key, the one he had made specially for her. He knew what that symbolized; it was truly over between them.

"And that's the last time I saw her." Darien said quietly and Andrew couldn't help but feel sorry for the pitiful man in front of her.

"I obviously don't know Serena as well as you do, but I can tell you this. If she broke up with you, there was good reason. She loves you more than you can ever imagine and I have a hunch there is still hope for you two." Andrew said, his eyes firmly fixed on something behind Darien's head. Darien twisted around only to see the object of his heart break staring into the arcade windows at him; a wistful look in her eyes. It wasn't until Amara, the tall blonde Sailor Scout of Uranus, seeing what she was looking at softly nudged her and Serena mutely nodded before walking on past the Arcade.

"I hope so Andrew. When I'm not with her, it's like something in me is just gone. And I don't what it is, it's my heart." And with those words, Darien went back to staring into his coffee cup, willing it to give him the answers he desperately needed.