This is my very first story so I hope the reader will be gentle with me :)
Disclaimer: SM is not mine. Surprised? Didn't think so...The characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi and various others, not me.
Email is always welcome: caoilte.la-canadienne@laposte.net
CHAPTER ONE - Serena's Accident
Walking down the main street on his way to the bookshop, Darien heard a familiar voice.
"Wait up, Lita, I'm on the way," he heard Serena call from the other side of the street.
He looked up just in time to see the car hit her, catapulting her over the hood and into the street.
"No!" he cried in anguish, running over to where she was laying on the pavement, Lita just barely behind him.
She looked at him strangely as she knelt down beside her fallen friend.
"I thought you didn't like her," she hissed at him.
Ignoring her, he frantically assessed Serena's condition.
"Did anyone get a make on that car that hit her?" he heard someone ask.
Without replying, he held Serena, performing CPR as he was trained to do, silently begging her to hang
in there. When the EMT arrived to take over, he held her hand, calling out to her and using the healing
energy he had as Tuxedo Mask to give her a better chance of survival. With Lita looking on, they loaded
her into the waiting ambulance.
"I'm going with her," she told them firmly. "You can't stop me," she added, getting into the back before
they could stop her.
"I'm going too," Darien said, with a look that dared Lita to say something.
He was almost disappointed when she just glared at him but held her peace.
"You're lucky we're using the large ambulance today then sir, or you'd have to follow us some other way," the
EMT told him.
"I don't care, I am going with her," Darien replied just as firmly as Lita had. "One way or another."
Throughout the long ride to the Juuban District Hospital, he held one hand while Lita held the other as
the EMT worked to stablize her. Every once in a while she would look over at him with a puzzled look on
her face. 'Let her wonder,' Darien thought after intercepting one of the many odd looks from her.
'I don't care about anything right now. All I want is for Serena to be ok.'
Lita wondered what was going on. 'He's always teasing her and now he's acting very oddly...I wonder what
is going on with him, I really do. I hope Serena's ok. I'll have to call the others....and her parents,'
she thought morosely, not looking forward to it at all.
At the hospital, they quickly took her into the first available surgery unit.
"I'm sorry but you can't go in there," the nurses told Darien and Lita. "You'll have to wait in the
patients' family waiting area."
She pointed to a room off the main doors.
"I don't think you realise who I am," Darien said angrily, pulling out his hospital identification.
The nurse glanced cursorily at it and replied, just as firmly, "Nonetheless, you're not part of the surgical
team and you will wait as I asked you, or I will have you removed."
Faced with the possible consequences, he gave in with an angry mutter and a sigh. Sinking into a chair,
Darien let the threatened tears fall. He didn't realise he was in shock from witnessing the accident, but Lita
did. Giving his arm a gentle squeeze, she went to call the other girls, then called Serena's parents.
The Tsukinos were understandably upset and told her they'd be right there. She didn't mention that there
was a young man also waiting for news of Serena. Even the usually unflappable Lita quailed in the face of
Kenji Tsukino's wrath where his daughter's love life was concerned.
Returning to the waiting area, she gave Darien another strange yet sympathetic look and sat next to him.
"Thanks Darien," was all she said. "I think you might have saved her life, you know."
Lost in his own pain, he didn't hear her.
"Darien, Earth to Darien," she poked him in the side gently, trying to get a reaction from him.
"What!" he snarled at her with tears in his eyes.
"Look Darien, I don't know what your problem is, but MY FRIEND is in surgery now. I don't need this from
the likes of you!" she snapped back, her voice and composure breaking.
She collapsed into his arms suddenly, the pain more than she could stand, tears streaming from her eyes.
"It's all my fault too," she cried. "'If I hadn't been going too fast, not waiting for her to catch up
safely, this wouldn't have happened."
She felt the guilt crushing her more and more with every passing moment. Darien covered her hands with his
own in a gesture that was unfamiliar to the normally aloof young man.
"Look I am sorry Lita, I really am. I am supposed to be a doctor, or at least training to be one and I
couldn't do anything more for her. I know it wasn't your fault either. She was just in the wrong place
at the wrong time. I am sure she'll be just fine, just you wait," he said bravely, not daring to speak, or
even think of the alternative.
Lita just nodded, not trusting her voice.
Ami, Rei and Mina arrived just then with Luna and Artemis in tow, hidden in gym bags carried by Mina and Rei.
Crowding around the pair, they bombarded Darien and Lita with their questions.
"Slow down girls," Artemis said, his voice muffled from his hidden spot in Mina's gym bag. "Give them room."
They all stopped talking at once.
Darien spoke quietly.
"It's still too early to say what the prognosis is. She's only been in surgery for about half an hour now.
These things take time to deal with."
Finding their seats, they all sat staring blankly at one another until the Tsukinos arrived.
"Where is she, where's my baby girl," they heard her mother's frantic voice.
Ami spoke up.
"I'll go see to her family."
"Thanks Ami-chan," the others replied sadly.
Serena's parents and little brother came into the room and suddenly it felt too small. The girls got up
and went into the common waiting area after greeting the Tsukinos, leaving Darien with Serena's parents.
Ami had told Kenji and Ikuko Tsukino about the young man who had tried to save Serena after the accident.
She didn't tell them the relationship between the two, feeling it better to leave it to Darien to tell them.
"I understand you tried to help our Serena this afternoon," Serena's father said in a choked voice.
"Yes, sir,'Darien said softly, with his head bowed, not looking at him.
"Thank you," her father said, putting his hand on Darien's shoulder. "I'm sure you did the best you could for
her and I hope she pulls through."
Looking up at her father, Darien replied quietly, "I hope so too, sir."
Kenji Tsukino wasn't so upset that he couldn't see the young man he thought to be merely Serena's saviour
had an interest in his daughter quite apart from helping to save her.
"Come over here a minute and sit down with me. I think we need to have a talk."
He led Darien to the corner opposite where his wife and son sat waiting for news of their daughter.
"Now, I think you'd better tell me from the start. What's the story about you and my daughter?"
Kenji Tsukino spoke firmly but kindly to the young man. Darien started.
"Why should there be anything between myself and Serena, sir?" he choked out in surprise and mild embarrassment.
"Fathers can tell these things," Kenji chuckled tiredly. "Serena's been acting stranger than usual the
past few months and I knew there had to be a boy involved somehow. I didn't expect a polite young man to
be honest though. Not from what little I've heard her telling her friends on the phone. She talks about you a lot
actually."
Darien stared at him.
"She talked about me on the phone with her friends?" he blurted out, blushing slightly.
He didn't realise he'd made such an impact on her, though he admitted that he'd given her plenty of
not-so-nice things to talk about. Under her father's stern gaze, he started from the very beginning,
from the day when Serena's crumpled test paper had hit him on the head, up to the sad events of that day.
He hadn't had anyone to confide in and under the circumstances, felt the need to confess everything to
her father, whether he understood or not.
"I just can't help it sir, I never meant to be really nasty. I didn't know what to do; didn't want her to find out
that a man like me loved a beautiful, lively girl like her. All she'd do is laugh at me anyway, she's quite
good at that," Darien finished sadly.
Kenji Tsukino sat lost in thought.
"I remember when I met her mother," he told Darien. "We met at the Hot Springs down at the coast and I felt
much the same way as you do now."
He looked to where his family sat at the other end of the room.
"Serena has her mother's beauty and energy, but unfortunately not her brains," he smiled sadly. 'My daughter means
more to me than anything else in the world and I can see she means the same to you. If it makes you feel any
better, I would be pleased for her to find a man such as you to marry, settle down with and have take care of
her."
I will tell you this though," and here he gave Darien the sternest look he could muster up. "If you ever hurt
my daughter in any way, shape, or form, you will wish you had never been born."
Darien looked at him in shock. From what he'd heard from the Sailor Scouts who were Serena's closest friends,
Serena's father was a terrible dragon when it came to his daughter and her love life and he never thought he'd
get approval from Kenji Tsukino.
"Th - Thank you, sir. I only hope Serena comes to feel that way some day and I can tell you now, I would never
hurt her, I love her too much," he put his face in his hands. "I just couldn't bear it if she doesn't...." he
said, his voice muffled.
Kenji put his hand on Darien's shoulder.
"Bear up, son, she'll be ok. She's always ok. She'll make it, I know she will," he told the young man, "Just
take your time and come and sit with us."
He went to sit with the rest of his family and took his wife's hand in his. Just then, the surgeon appeared at
the door.
"Kenji and Ikuko Tsukino?" he asked.
"We're here," Serena's father replied as they all looked at him expectantly.
"Serena's certainly a strong girl. She made it through the surgery but she's in a coma. She has a broken left
leg from where the car hit her, her right arm is broken in two places, and her collarbone is broken. She also
sustained serious head injuries and we had to shave her hair off in order to operate. We don't know if she's
got brain damage yet, it's still too early to tell. We won't know until she comes out of the coma, if she comes
out...." he trailed off at the horrified looks the family gave him.
Darien slouched deeper into his chair. He'd saved her, only to find out she may end up as little more than a
shell hooked up to monitors and respirators. He began to cry softly, trying hard not to be noticed while doing so.
He didn't see the understanding looks her parents and the doctor gave him.
"You can see her if you like but please, don't do anything to upset her right now. We need to keep her stable.
I'll send a nurse to show you the way," the doctor told them.
Kenji stood up and went to Darien, who hurriedly wiped his eyes with a tissue from his pocket.
"You're welcome to join us if you like," he told the young man.
"No, I'll wait until you've seen her," Darien replied.
"As you like, though you're still welcome to come with us when we go to see her," Kenji said.
"Thank you, sir," Darien said, "I'd like to sit here for a bit and collect my thoughts first if you don't mind."
Mr. Tsukino nodded understandingly and returned to his family who waited nervously for the nurse to come.
The nurse appeared shortly after.
"If you'd like to come through now..."
She guided the Tsukino family to Serena's room.
Left alone with his thoughts, Darien thought back to his adventures with Serena, her various test papers and her
shoes, and the various times they'd made connections with his head. He absently rubbed his head and smiled
sadly to himself. Little did she know...the man she loved as Tuxedo Mask was her nemesis Darien Shields in real
life. And that he loved her with all his being and teased her unmercifully to hide it, not only from her, but
from himself. He couldn't keep it hidden any longer. Darien hadn't actually known he loved Serena quite so much
until he told their story to her father but he knew it was the clear and unvarnished truth. What he didn't
yet know was how Serena really felt about him. It was one thing to tell her friends about his teasing her,
but quite another to admit she liked him, let alone was in love with her sworn enemy, Darien the Jerk. What
would he do if she really and truly hated him? He didn't know but he had to find out. Going to the door of
the waiting room, he saw the Sailor Scouts still waiting in the common waiting area.
"Lita, girls, Serena made it through the surgery ok but she's in a coma right now," he told them.
Lita looked up at him with eyes filled with tears. They'd all been talking amongst themselves, hoping and praying
that Serena would make it through the surgery and though their prayers had been answered, they recognised
she still had a ways to go in her recovery.
"That is not really a good sign, you know, Darien," she said sadly.
He looked at her blankly, uncertainty written on his face.
"At least she's still alive and that IS a good thing," Ami said to her.
They all looked at Ami. Her mother was one of the top doctors in the hospital and Ami looked to follow in her
footsteps, so she should know.
"The longer she stays alive, the better her chances are," Ami told them hopefully, "but there could also be a
chance of serious brain damage too. They'll only be able to tell once Serena comes out of her coma."
"That is what the doctor said," Darien told them. "It wouldn't be good to get our hopes up just yet, but she's
just gotta be ok...." He trailed off, his voice breaking.
Rei put her arm around him awkwardly. Much as she liked the young man herself, she knew Serena liked him even more,
and suspected the pair went better together than she and Darien would ever have been.
"She's got a hard head Darien. We know from...well, we just know from experience," Rei said with a wry smile.
She didn't want to reveal Serena's secret, unaware that Darien was Tuxedo Mask and already knew their identities
as the Sailor Scouts. He looked at her and she removed her arm, blushing. Darien didn't notice. His eyes went to
the door where Serena's parents had just come from seeing Serena and her mother's eyes were red with crying. Even
her normally obnoxious little brother Sammy was subdued.
"You can go in now Darien," Serena's father told him.
The girls looked at each other in confusion. Mr. Tsukino was actually nice to Darien? Didn't he know about Darien's
treatment of Serena?
"Ahem, girls, can we leave Darien alone with her please," Lita said, clearing her throat awkwardly.
"I'd like to talk to you about him without him hearing," she said quietly to the others as Darien slipped from
the room and walked down the hallway behind the nurse to Serena's room.
The Tsukinos said their goodbyes to the girls and went out, Serena's mother weeping into her husband's shirt front
as they left.
"Ok, spill it," Rei said to her. "What's this so-important news you have to tell us?" she asked.
Lita told them about Darien's strange behaviour at the time of Serena's accident.
"Yeah, whatever, maybe he feels guilty about how he treated her," Rei scoffed, not inclined to be charitable.
"No Rei, it's more than that. I...I think he actually...loves her," Lita said uncomfortably.
The other girls looked at her in shock.
"Darien...loves...Serena?" Mina choked, then looked thoughtful.
"Yes, and he's been acting really oddly since the accident actually. I think that explains Mr. Tsukino's attitude
towards him as well. They must have been talking in there otherwise he wouldn't have stood for Darien being in that
room, much less here at all, even if he did help to save her life. You know how protective he is about Serena,
especially around guys. Remember the incident with Melvin after he tried to take her out for sodas? ' Lita told them with
a small laugh.
Rei didn't look convinced but Mina looked speculatively down the hall where Darien had disappeared. Things could turn out
very interesting she thought to herself.
Darien stood at the door of Serena's room. 'How small she looks, hooked up to all that stuff,' he thought to himself. He
shifted uncomfortably.
"Go ahead, you won't break anything," the nurse told him kindly.
Darien entered the room quietly and knelt down beside her bed, carefully moving the various bits of equipment out
of the way. His heart breaking at the sight of the livid bruises on her face and arms, he took her small, delicate
hand in his, talking to her softly. He told her about his day and that the Sailor Scouts were at the hospital
waiting for their chance to see her as well. His soft voice choked up. He couldn't bear to see her lying there,
not knowing if she was going to make it whole or if she'd be like that for the rest of her life. With his medical
training, he knew she could exist indefinitely but in his heart, he hoped she would wake up soon and look at him
again with those beautiful, bright blue eyes. Even in anger she was beautiful. That was why he teased her so
unmercifully. He loved the way they sparkled when they fought. He loved the way she smiled at him when she thought
he wasn't looking, and the way she blushed when he caught her looking at him. Darien found himself telling her all this
but didn't care. He loved her and wanted her to snap out of it. To go back to being the ditzy, loveable Serena that
everyone knew and loved. Not this shell of a girl hooked up to the various monitors which were keeping her alive.
A slight blip of the monitor startled him and he looked up. Nothing...His shoulders slumped. He didn't know if he
could take this. Giving her hand one last squeeze and giving her a gentle kiss, he got up and went to the door.
Looking back at her slight body dwarfed by the medical equipment, he suddenly smiled as he thought of something.
He strode back to her bed, materialized one of his signature red roses and placed it beside her on the bed. He
silently vowed to give her a new rose every day until she came back to him. Then he had a sudden thought. Maybe
he could use his healing power to bring her back. After thinking about it for a few moments, he thought better of it.
He knew that healing took energy not just from the person doing the healing, but also the person being healed,
and he knew Serena didn't have any energy to spare right now. Holding back his tears, he left, walking silently
back to where the Scouts waited for their chance to see Serena.
Disclaimer: SM is not mine. Surprised? Didn't think so...The characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi and various others, not me.
Email is always welcome: caoilte.la-canadienne@laposte.net
CHAPTER ONE - Serena's Accident
Walking down the main street on his way to the bookshop, Darien heard a familiar voice.
"Wait up, Lita, I'm on the way," he heard Serena call from the other side of the street.
He looked up just in time to see the car hit her, catapulting her over the hood and into the street.
"No!" he cried in anguish, running over to where she was laying on the pavement, Lita just barely behind him.
She looked at him strangely as she knelt down beside her fallen friend.
"I thought you didn't like her," she hissed at him.
Ignoring her, he frantically assessed Serena's condition.
"Did anyone get a make on that car that hit her?" he heard someone ask.
Without replying, he held Serena, performing CPR as he was trained to do, silently begging her to hang
in there. When the EMT arrived to take over, he held her hand, calling out to her and using the healing
energy he had as Tuxedo Mask to give her a better chance of survival. With Lita looking on, they loaded
her into the waiting ambulance.
"I'm going with her," she told them firmly. "You can't stop me," she added, getting into the back before
they could stop her.
"I'm going too," Darien said, with a look that dared Lita to say something.
He was almost disappointed when she just glared at him but held her peace.
"You're lucky we're using the large ambulance today then sir, or you'd have to follow us some other way," the
EMT told him.
"I don't care, I am going with her," Darien replied just as firmly as Lita had. "One way or another."
Throughout the long ride to the Juuban District Hospital, he held one hand while Lita held the other as
the EMT worked to stablize her. Every once in a while she would look over at him with a puzzled look on
her face. 'Let her wonder,' Darien thought after intercepting one of the many odd looks from her.
'I don't care about anything right now. All I want is for Serena to be ok.'
Lita wondered what was going on. 'He's always teasing her and now he's acting very oddly...I wonder what
is going on with him, I really do. I hope Serena's ok. I'll have to call the others....and her parents,'
she thought morosely, not looking forward to it at all.
At the hospital, they quickly took her into the first available surgery unit.
"I'm sorry but you can't go in there," the nurses told Darien and Lita. "You'll have to wait in the
patients' family waiting area."
She pointed to a room off the main doors.
"I don't think you realise who I am," Darien said angrily, pulling out his hospital identification.
The nurse glanced cursorily at it and replied, just as firmly, "Nonetheless, you're not part of the surgical
team and you will wait as I asked you, or I will have you removed."
Faced with the possible consequences, he gave in with an angry mutter and a sigh. Sinking into a chair,
Darien let the threatened tears fall. He didn't realise he was in shock from witnessing the accident, but Lita
did. Giving his arm a gentle squeeze, she went to call the other girls, then called Serena's parents.
The Tsukinos were understandably upset and told her they'd be right there. She didn't mention that there
was a young man also waiting for news of Serena. Even the usually unflappable Lita quailed in the face of
Kenji Tsukino's wrath where his daughter's love life was concerned.
Returning to the waiting area, she gave Darien another strange yet sympathetic look and sat next to him.
"Thanks Darien," was all she said. "I think you might have saved her life, you know."
Lost in his own pain, he didn't hear her.
"Darien, Earth to Darien," she poked him in the side gently, trying to get a reaction from him.
"What!" he snarled at her with tears in his eyes.
"Look Darien, I don't know what your problem is, but MY FRIEND is in surgery now. I don't need this from
the likes of you!" she snapped back, her voice and composure breaking.
She collapsed into his arms suddenly, the pain more than she could stand, tears streaming from her eyes.
"It's all my fault too," she cried. "'If I hadn't been going too fast, not waiting for her to catch up
safely, this wouldn't have happened."
She felt the guilt crushing her more and more with every passing moment. Darien covered her hands with his
own in a gesture that was unfamiliar to the normally aloof young man.
"Look I am sorry Lita, I really am. I am supposed to be a doctor, or at least training to be one and I
couldn't do anything more for her. I know it wasn't your fault either. She was just in the wrong place
at the wrong time. I am sure she'll be just fine, just you wait," he said bravely, not daring to speak, or
even think of the alternative.
Lita just nodded, not trusting her voice.
Ami, Rei and Mina arrived just then with Luna and Artemis in tow, hidden in gym bags carried by Mina and Rei.
Crowding around the pair, they bombarded Darien and Lita with their questions.
"Slow down girls," Artemis said, his voice muffled from his hidden spot in Mina's gym bag. "Give them room."
They all stopped talking at once.
Darien spoke quietly.
"It's still too early to say what the prognosis is. She's only been in surgery for about half an hour now.
These things take time to deal with."
Finding their seats, they all sat staring blankly at one another until the Tsukinos arrived.
"Where is she, where's my baby girl," they heard her mother's frantic voice.
Ami spoke up.
"I'll go see to her family."
"Thanks Ami-chan," the others replied sadly.
Serena's parents and little brother came into the room and suddenly it felt too small. The girls got up
and went into the common waiting area after greeting the Tsukinos, leaving Darien with Serena's parents.
Ami had told Kenji and Ikuko Tsukino about the young man who had tried to save Serena after the accident.
She didn't tell them the relationship between the two, feeling it better to leave it to Darien to tell them.
"I understand you tried to help our Serena this afternoon," Serena's father said in a choked voice.
"Yes, sir,'Darien said softly, with his head bowed, not looking at him.
"Thank you," her father said, putting his hand on Darien's shoulder. "I'm sure you did the best you could for
her and I hope she pulls through."
Looking up at her father, Darien replied quietly, "I hope so too, sir."
Kenji Tsukino wasn't so upset that he couldn't see the young man he thought to be merely Serena's saviour
had an interest in his daughter quite apart from helping to save her.
"Come over here a minute and sit down with me. I think we need to have a talk."
He led Darien to the corner opposite where his wife and son sat waiting for news of their daughter.
"Now, I think you'd better tell me from the start. What's the story about you and my daughter?"
Kenji Tsukino spoke firmly but kindly to the young man. Darien started.
"Why should there be anything between myself and Serena, sir?" he choked out in surprise and mild embarrassment.
"Fathers can tell these things," Kenji chuckled tiredly. "Serena's been acting stranger than usual the
past few months and I knew there had to be a boy involved somehow. I didn't expect a polite young man to
be honest though. Not from what little I've heard her telling her friends on the phone. She talks about you a lot
actually."
Darien stared at him.
"She talked about me on the phone with her friends?" he blurted out, blushing slightly.
He didn't realise he'd made such an impact on her, though he admitted that he'd given her plenty of
not-so-nice things to talk about. Under her father's stern gaze, he started from the very beginning,
from the day when Serena's crumpled test paper had hit him on the head, up to the sad events of that day.
He hadn't had anyone to confide in and under the circumstances, felt the need to confess everything to
her father, whether he understood or not.
"I just can't help it sir, I never meant to be really nasty. I didn't know what to do; didn't want her to find out
that a man like me loved a beautiful, lively girl like her. All she'd do is laugh at me anyway, she's quite
good at that," Darien finished sadly.
Kenji Tsukino sat lost in thought.
"I remember when I met her mother," he told Darien. "We met at the Hot Springs down at the coast and I felt
much the same way as you do now."
He looked to where his family sat at the other end of the room.
"Serena has her mother's beauty and energy, but unfortunately not her brains," he smiled sadly. 'My daughter means
more to me than anything else in the world and I can see she means the same to you. If it makes you feel any
better, I would be pleased for her to find a man such as you to marry, settle down with and have take care of
her."
I will tell you this though," and here he gave Darien the sternest look he could muster up. "If you ever hurt
my daughter in any way, shape, or form, you will wish you had never been born."
Darien looked at him in shock. From what he'd heard from the Sailor Scouts who were Serena's closest friends,
Serena's father was a terrible dragon when it came to his daughter and her love life and he never thought he'd
get approval from Kenji Tsukino.
"Th - Thank you, sir. I only hope Serena comes to feel that way some day and I can tell you now, I would never
hurt her, I love her too much," he put his face in his hands. "I just couldn't bear it if she doesn't...." he
said, his voice muffled.
Kenji put his hand on Darien's shoulder.
"Bear up, son, she'll be ok. She's always ok. She'll make it, I know she will," he told the young man, "Just
take your time and come and sit with us."
He went to sit with the rest of his family and took his wife's hand in his. Just then, the surgeon appeared at
the door.
"Kenji and Ikuko Tsukino?" he asked.
"We're here," Serena's father replied as they all looked at him expectantly.
"Serena's certainly a strong girl. She made it through the surgery but she's in a coma. She has a broken left
leg from where the car hit her, her right arm is broken in two places, and her collarbone is broken. She also
sustained serious head injuries and we had to shave her hair off in order to operate. We don't know if she's
got brain damage yet, it's still too early to tell. We won't know until she comes out of the coma, if she comes
out...." he trailed off at the horrified looks the family gave him.
Darien slouched deeper into his chair. He'd saved her, only to find out she may end up as little more than a
shell hooked up to monitors and respirators. He began to cry softly, trying hard not to be noticed while doing so.
He didn't see the understanding looks her parents and the doctor gave him.
"You can see her if you like but please, don't do anything to upset her right now. We need to keep her stable.
I'll send a nurse to show you the way," the doctor told them.
Kenji stood up and went to Darien, who hurriedly wiped his eyes with a tissue from his pocket.
"You're welcome to join us if you like," he told the young man.
"No, I'll wait until you've seen her," Darien replied.
"As you like, though you're still welcome to come with us when we go to see her," Kenji said.
"Thank you, sir," Darien said, "I'd like to sit here for a bit and collect my thoughts first if you don't mind."
Mr. Tsukino nodded understandingly and returned to his family who waited nervously for the nurse to come.
The nurse appeared shortly after.
"If you'd like to come through now..."
She guided the Tsukino family to Serena's room.
Left alone with his thoughts, Darien thought back to his adventures with Serena, her various test papers and her
shoes, and the various times they'd made connections with his head. He absently rubbed his head and smiled
sadly to himself. Little did she know...the man she loved as Tuxedo Mask was her nemesis Darien Shields in real
life. And that he loved her with all his being and teased her unmercifully to hide it, not only from her, but
from himself. He couldn't keep it hidden any longer. Darien hadn't actually known he loved Serena quite so much
until he told their story to her father but he knew it was the clear and unvarnished truth. What he didn't
yet know was how Serena really felt about him. It was one thing to tell her friends about his teasing her,
but quite another to admit she liked him, let alone was in love with her sworn enemy, Darien the Jerk. What
would he do if she really and truly hated him? He didn't know but he had to find out. Going to the door of
the waiting room, he saw the Sailor Scouts still waiting in the common waiting area.
"Lita, girls, Serena made it through the surgery ok but she's in a coma right now," he told them.
Lita looked up at him with eyes filled with tears. They'd all been talking amongst themselves, hoping and praying
that Serena would make it through the surgery and though their prayers had been answered, they recognised
she still had a ways to go in her recovery.
"That is not really a good sign, you know, Darien," she said sadly.
He looked at her blankly, uncertainty written on his face.
"At least she's still alive and that IS a good thing," Ami said to her.
They all looked at Ami. Her mother was one of the top doctors in the hospital and Ami looked to follow in her
footsteps, so she should know.
"The longer she stays alive, the better her chances are," Ami told them hopefully, "but there could also be a
chance of serious brain damage too. They'll only be able to tell once Serena comes out of her coma."
"That is what the doctor said," Darien told them. "It wouldn't be good to get our hopes up just yet, but she's
just gotta be ok...." He trailed off, his voice breaking.
Rei put her arm around him awkwardly. Much as she liked the young man herself, she knew Serena liked him even more,
and suspected the pair went better together than she and Darien would ever have been.
"She's got a hard head Darien. We know from...well, we just know from experience," Rei said with a wry smile.
She didn't want to reveal Serena's secret, unaware that Darien was Tuxedo Mask and already knew their identities
as the Sailor Scouts. He looked at her and she removed her arm, blushing. Darien didn't notice. His eyes went to
the door where Serena's parents had just come from seeing Serena and her mother's eyes were red with crying. Even
her normally obnoxious little brother Sammy was subdued.
"You can go in now Darien," Serena's father told him.
The girls looked at each other in confusion. Mr. Tsukino was actually nice to Darien? Didn't he know about Darien's
treatment of Serena?
"Ahem, girls, can we leave Darien alone with her please," Lita said, clearing her throat awkwardly.
"I'd like to talk to you about him without him hearing," she said quietly to the others as Darien slipped from
the room and walked down the hallway behind the nurse to Serena's room.
The Tsukinos said their goodbyes to the girls and went out, Serena's mother weeping into her husband's shirt front
as they left.
"Ok, spill it," Rei said to her. "What's this so-important news you have to tell us?" she asked.
Lita told them about Darien's strange behaviour at the time of Serena's accident.
"Yeah, whatever, maybe he feels guilty about how he treated her," Rei scoffed, not inclined to be charitable.
"No Rei, it's more than that. I...I think he actually...loves her," Lita said uncomfortably.
The other girls looked at her in shock.
"Darien...loves...Serena?" Mina choked, then looked thoughtful.
"Yes, and he's been acting really oddly since the accident actually. I think that explains Mr. Tsukino's attitude
towards him as well. They must have been talking in there otherwise he wouldn't have stood for Darien being in that
room, much less here at all, even if he did help to save her life. You know how protective he is about Serena,
especially around guys. Remember the incident with Melvin after he tried to take her out for sodas? ' Lita told them with
a small laugh.
Rei didn't look convinced but Mina looked speculatively down the hall where Darien had disappeared. Things could turn out
very interesting she thought to herself.
Darien stood at the door of Serena's room. 'How small she looks, hooked up to all that stuff,' he thought to himself. He
shifted uncomfortably.
"Go ahead, you won't break anything," the nurse told him kindly.
Darien entered the room quietly and knelt down beside her bed, carefully moving the various bits of equipment out
of the way. His heart breaking at the sight of the livid bruises on her face and arms, he took her small, delicate
hand in his, talking to her softly. He told her about his day and that the Sailor Scouts were at the hospital
waiting for their chance to see her as well. His soft voice choked up. He couldn't bear to see her lying there,
not knowing if she was going to make it whole or if she'd be like that for the rest of her life. With his medical
training, he knew she could exist indefinitely but in his heart, he hoped she would wake up soon and look at him
again with those beautiful, bright blue eyes. Even in anger she was beautiful. That was why he teased her so
unmercifully. He loved the way they sparkled when they fought. He loved the way she smiled at him when she thought
he wasn't looking, and the way she blushed when he caught her looking at him. Darien found himself telling her all this
but didn't care. He loved her and wanted her to snap out of it. To go back to being the ditzy, loveable Serena that
everyone knew and loved. Not this shell of a girl hooked up to the various monitors which were keeping her alive.
A slight blip of the monitor startled him and he looked up. Nothing...His shoulders slumped. He didn't know if he
could take this. Giving her hand one last squeeze and giving her a gentle kiss, he got up and went to the door.
Looking back at her slight body dwarfed by the medical equipment, he suddenly smiled as he thought of something.
He strode back to her bed, materialized one of his signature red roses and placed it beside her on the bed. He
silently vowed to give her a new rose every day until she came back to him. Then he had a sudden thought. Maybe
he could use his healing power to bring her back. After thinking about it for a few moments, he thought better of it.
He knew that healing took energy not just from the person doing the healing, but also the person being healed,
and he knew Serena didn't have any energy to spare right now. Holding back his tears, he left, walking silently
back to where the Scouts waited for their chance to see Serena.