A/N: This story was inspired by my wonderful grandparents. May they R.I.P. Their love was timeless and eternal as proven by their unwavering dedication to each other in the 50 plus years they shared as man and wife...inspirational and rare. It reminded me of the unbreakable bond Darien and Serena share. This is a reminiscent P.O.V. of Serena and it's just something I've been dabbling with for a while. A short except from the ramblings in my brain. A bit of a tribute to my favorite real life couple as well as one of my favorite Anime couples. This is a simple Fanfic one shot that I hope will provide some enjoyment to anyone nice enough to read it. Thank you for taking the time and I how you enjoy.

*I do not own Sailor Moon*
**If this resembles any other stories or likeness of any actual persons (outside of my grandparents of course) it is merely coincidental**

December 7, 1941 was the day America entered World War 2. The horrific attack on Pearl Harbor shook the world and my quiet little town was no exception. A fresh blanket of snow covered the ground and dusted the Christmas decorations all around our quaint little town. Although once America entered the war, Christmas naturally didn't seem so joyful. With the upcoming draft and the shipping out of loved ones overseas imminent, it felt rather ominous. I was nearly 16 years old. Just a girl on the brink of womanhood in a once simple world. Love was something I knew in regards to family and friends but never romantically. My closest experience was living vicariously through my friends gushing about their suitors. While I had been out on chaperoned outings, no one had ever really left am impression on me. I just always had a feeling that something was missing.

It's certainly not that the male gender did not find me attractive, quite the contrary in fact. Slender with long blond hair, crystal blue eyes and my girlfriends told me I had curves in all the right places. This made the males seemingly too eager at times.

Momma liked to say I was created in an angel's image. She often reminisced about my birth and the first time she held me. She recalled how a total peace and calm enveloped her. She said that was why she gave me my name of Serenity. Of course most people called me Serena. While I was certainly daddy's little angel, he would often joke that God was perhaps getting him back for any wrong doings in his past by giving him such a beautiful daughter. At times I felt as if perhaps my looks were wasted on someone so shy and innocent as myself. Of course my friends would reassure me that was nonsense and remind me that everything happens for a reason.

The 4 years of being at war inevitably took its toll on friends, families, neighbors, communities and the Country as a whole. So many loved ones lost to war, leaving permanent and irreparable damage to individuals and families. I helped any place I could taking care of neighbor's children, cooking , cleaning and volunteering at the hospital. Providing any service I could to help those who had lost so much. In those 4 years during the war I learned so much about people, the world and myself. Hearing the cries of the fatherless children and seeing the devastating realization in the widow's eyes that they would never again see their beloved husbands. It left it's indelible mark and taught me to truly cherish every moment. In witnessing the best and worst of humanity, my maturity well surpassed that of a young women my age.

By the time the war ended I was 19 years old. America was just starting to pick up the pieces and get back to normal activities.
One of those normal activities being weddings. After the war they seemed to be more of a regular occurrence. Weddings provided a bright spot, allowing the sun to finally shine through the invisible haze of the aftermath of war that still lingered. A moment to remember that life did still have beautiful and uplifting moments. After the war it seemed everyone was desperate for those moments, a distraction from the pain, a moment of normalcy...a little balm for the soul.

One of those weddings was that of one of my very best friends. She had naturally enlisted me as her maid of honor.
It was a small intimate affair in a neighbors backyard with close friends and family. Simplistic yet beautiful was the order of the day. I didn't know it at the time, but that day was fated. That seemingly simple and inconsequential act of standing in my dearest friends wedding was the day my life changed forever.

It was a cool spring day, I had just turned 20 and nature was finally waking up from winter's slumber. We were waiting for the groomsmen as well as the best man to arrive. When they did arrive I immediately noticed a slightly taller dark haired man and instantly felt butterflies in my stomach. As he walked towards me I couldn't help but notice his dark blue eyes, chiseled jaw, broad shoulders and a physique that could be a tribute to all of a man's best physical aspects.

Before I knew it I heard my name being called and embarrassingly realized it was him saying my name. 'He knew my name? How does he know my name?' I thought.
As I came out of my reverie, he was extending his hand as he introduced himself. As I shook his hand my pulse sped up as if my heart were trying to fly away. I know I turned several shades of red at my flustered actions and clear appreciation of him.

His name was Darien Shields. He recently returned from overseas while serving in the Army during the war. He was not only one of the fortunate few to return, but to return intact. He was a man of few words and serious. However, as stoic as he was, when he looked at me, his eyes seemed to soften ever so slightly.

He was the best man in the wedding so, to my nervous excitement, he would be standing in the wedding with me. What a small world that his best friend was marrying my best friend. I thought it might be my imagination, but we seemed to be staring at each throughout the wedding. After the ceremony I found out it wasn't just my imagination. Even if we hadn't been paired together in the wedding party, I don't think it would have made much of a difference. We continually seemed to gravitate toward one another.

That night was the start of a meaningful yet whirlwind courtship.
He was the epitome of everything I'd ever wanted in a man and even things I didn't even know I wanted. He listened, he cared, he truly understood me and my heart. He became the one person I didn't want to be without. The one person that occupied all my thoughts. He had permanently taken up residence in my heart and in doing so filled the missing piece to my soul.

In 1946 just a few months after meeting, we were married in a courthouse civil ceremony. I wore my best dress in light blue with a bouquet of peonies. Darien in his Army uniform looking dapper and every bit the man of my dreams.
Our wedding photo was taken on the steps of the courthouse as we walked outside for the first time as man and wife. We bought a little house and a year later we became a family when our little Rini was born.

In a post war world you tend to look at life differently. You don't take for granted the time you've been given. You truly grasp the severity of reality that it can all be taken from you at any moment.
Yes, we were young and yes we'd only known each other for a few months. However, when you meet that one person you can't fathom living without...what would you expect? When you finally find the missing piece of your soul...would you wait? When you know, you just know.

He had fought the war overseas and I had kept the home fires burning. Even though at the time we didn't know one another, I think we knew we would always find each other. When one heart calls out, another will eventually answer.
I suppose my friends were right after-all, everything does happen for a reason.

The End

Thank you for reading.