I promise I will get back to "When I Foreverly Leave" as soon as I can figure out where to take it. By the way, if you have any suggestions for WIFL, feel free to share them! Here now is another story of Serena leaving Japan, this time for Jolly Ole' England. Guess who she meets there?
I do not own anything to do with Sailor Moon, British Airways, or the poem featured at the end of this chapter.
Sitting on British Airways Flight #6 from Tokyo to London as it taxied onto the runway, Serena Tuskino let out a sigh of relief. She had done it; she had managed to leave Tokyo without much fanfare. There had been no massive amounts of crying on either her part or her family, and none of the Scouts or Darien had blown up at her for abandoning them. Of course, the Scouts were only now becoming aware of her departure through a letter she had had her brother take over to the temple once her family had left the airport.
So what had caused this childish girl to take the ultimate adult step of leaving home for a new country? It had all started when she arrived late to a meeting of the Scouts. It wasn't her fault that that old woman had tripped over the bottle on the sidewalk. Serena couldn't have just left her lying there, could she? She had tried to explain the situation to all of them, but they wouldn't have it. Raye had berated her, calling her an airhead with no priorities. Lita had suggested that she made the whole affair up, covering up for a loss of time caused by gorging herself out on candies at the arcade. Ami had just shook her head, saying something about studying and Serena's bad habits, for the meeting had actually been supposed to be a glorified study session. Mina hadn't said anything, but her lack of words had been more then made up for by Luna and Artemis. But what had hurt the worst was the cool look from Darien, the man who was supposed to love her unconditionally had acted anything but.
Serena could remember the way her body had become unbelievably hot. Her heart had started beating at an uncontrollable rate. She had simply stared in horror at all of her supposed friends, before casting aside all her Scout paraphernalia and running away from the Temple.
She had spent the next week either in her room, or at school. None of the girls had bothered her, and Luna had been staying over with Mina and Artemis. It was during this time that she began to feel a diminishing in her powers, as if they were slowly fading away. In her troubled state, she really didn't care much, thinking a lack of powers and responsibilities would be a good thing for her. She wondered if the girls and Darien were experiencing the same feelings, but she certainly wasn't going to ask them.
It was during this time that Serena's teacher had come to her about an opportunity. It seemed that a study-abroad program had been interested in students with limited abilities in English to test an immersion program on. The idea was to take students to London, and have them attend classes in Japanese, as well as sessions filled with English. It was a program that Serena's teacher thought she would be good in, thinking that a more structured environment with fewer distractions would be a great help in Serena's education.
In a normal situation, Serena would have balked at the suggestion, not wanting to leave her family and friends. However, she wasn't in a normal situation, and within hours of finding out about the program, she had told her parents she wanted to do it. At first they were hesitant, thinking it was a choice that she was making in the heat of the moment. She convinced them otherwise, in a moment of uncharacteristic maturity and wisdom, that it was something she really thought would be good for her. Although it broke their hearts to do it, they agreed to let her go.
The decision set a whirlwind of events into action. Instead of sitting in regular classes, Serena attended classes getting her ready for going to London. She was bombarded with information about the English culture, and found herself learning English surprisingly well. While the classes only lasted two weeks, as that was how long she had before leaving, she managed to grasp a great deal of information and felt confident that the transition would not be that hard.
Focusing on schoolwork and packing, she never noticed the Scouts and Darien stopping by her house once a day, sometimes knocking, sometimes just looking at the house. Her parents and Sammy knew that they were to blame for Serena's vastly different attitude, and while they were somewhat grateful for the turn towards the responsible in her, they were more upset with the loss of vibrancy it caused her. Needless to say, they never let them in.
Before anyone knew it, it was time for Serena to go. The morning of October 1st saw Serena and her family packed up their car and head to Narita International Airport. Once there, the tearful goodbyes were shared, and then Serena boarded the plane where she found herself now.
As the plane took off, Serena began to think of a poem that one of her classmates had said out loud in class before they left.
Today I step into a new world, -joana bluementhal
old memories to you I bid farewell.
Today I come out of my shell,
hidden pain and dismal thoughts farewell.
Today a fresh hope I have felt,
to you unfulfilled dreams farewell.
Today I am born new you can tell,
my past to you I bid farewell.
She really was bidding farewell to a lot in her life, but at the same time she felt that she was welcoming a great deal as well. As Japan got smaller and the horizon got bigger, she leaned back in her seat and put on her headphones. Drifting to sleep, she was lulled by the sounds of her "Learn English Fast" mp3 and the regular noise of the airplane.
Okay, I used a poem again… sue me. I love this poem and it will really play a great deal in Serena's story. Little homework for you guys, who has a birthday nine days before Serena's? Find out the individual, and give me your thoughts on this being the new man in her life. Just remember, it won't be the EXACT person, but a fictional character based on him.