Disclaimer: Do not own Sailor moon or any of its characters…but wished that I did…sigh

Chapter 1: Finding Destiny

Darien thought he needed to get out of the city. He needed to get away from the memories. Run away from the hurtful truth that haunted him every time he thought of Serena.

But it was impossible not to think about her.

You are free…

He had felt it before she had even finished the sentence. He had felt it in the stiffness of her body and the reluctance of her eyes to look at him, even as she was on the brink of death.

Then it had hit him.

The sudden sting of utter emptiness.

When he had looked at her again, in the vain hopes of telling her everything before it was too late, she was gone…

He had lost her.

With her sudden departure came the return of the bitter loneliness that had long existed in his heart and mind before he had ever met Serena. And with her final breath, gone were the promises of an everlasting love, a sense of security and the warmth of a family to call his own…

It was darkly comical the way that his life had worked out. If this had been one year ago, if it had been someone else, if he had never met Serena, he suspected he might have laughed before patting the poor fool on the shoulder while muttering, 'No girl is worth all that.'

But then it had happened to him. And he was the guy who was sure beyond a doubt that she…that Serena was worth all that and more.

Serena had been like a breath of fresh air, storming into his life and heart when he least expected or wanted it.

No, scratch that. He smiled ruefully at the thought despite the attempt not to.

At the time, he had thought she was an angel of retribution, who had fallen out of the sky and into his life, with the sole purpose of wrecking havoc into his once ordered life with a vengeance.

A vengeance that he could now admit that he had thoroughly enjoyed…

Before he had ever met Serena, he had resigned himself to a life of solitude. Had been practically anticipating it. But after that fateful day, he had found himself more and more drawn toward her light, and like a moth to a flame, he had followed it. It had given him the strength to abandon his once reclusive lifestyle and to seek the simple joys that sharing a life with Serena could bring. Before he knew it, it was hard to imagine that he had ever truly existed before her…

And now, he felt like he was ceasing to exist without her…

There wasn't even the luxury of pretending that he had never met her. But no, even if given the chance, he wouldn't have traded a single second of his time with Serena for a moment of not having to feel this kind of emptiness…

He didn't even have the reassurance of knowing that she had passed from this world knowing that he still loved her and always would.

'Where do I go from here?'

Darien opened his deep blue eyes to gaze over Tokyo. A city that stretched out as far as he could see to a view that portrayed a picture perfect moment where the earth and sky touched and melded together harmoniously; the dark, irregular shapes of the city buildings blending into the pink tinged colours of a sun set sky.

It was moments like this which reminded Darien why Serena had loved this city, had loved this world. So much that she had repeatedly risked her own life on a daily basis as Sailor moon, fighting against the evils of the Negaverse.

But all for what? For a world which seemed to have ultimately forgotten its finest champion?

Darien rubbed his fingers over his tired eyes. Sweeping away the loose strands of hair that whipped over his face, he sighed deeply before turning his back on Tokyo.


Sliding shut the glass screen door behind him, Darien walked into the eerie stillness of his thread-bare apartment.

Before he had meet Serena, he thought he never needed anything. Never needed the silly cherished mementos of either the family he had forgotten or of the few friends that had managed to break through his iron-like barriers. But now, looking around his apartment, he wished for it with all his being…for anything that would remind him that he was never truly alone…

He walked over to the bookshelf overlooking his desk and thumbed through his medical books to pick out a slim, silver-framed picture of Serena and him that he had, remorsefully, wedged between two files after that night.

She looked happy. Her blue eyes bright and exuberant. It had been their first real date.

'Oh Darien, when I'm with you, I feel like I'm in a dream.'

He fingered the long crack that ran through the otherwise flawless glass, seeming to forever separate the two figures encased within the frame.

"Serena…"

He ran his trembling fingers over her still face.

"Where do I go from here?"

A sharp breeze broke out against him. He turned his attention from the picture to the glass sliding door. It was open.

"Didn't I close it when I came in?"

Placing the picture back down on his desk, he walked towards the open door and shut it, making sure this time that he heard the gentle click that signalled that the lock was indeed in place.

He walked back over his desk.

Covering the picture of him and Serena was a plain, crumpled black and white leaflet. It had obviously been through a lot of rain and shine, most of the black printing now almost illegible except for two words...

to Kyoto…

The idea, although surprising in its randomness, had quickly anchored itself securely in his mind and tugged at his soul so that he had no alternative but to follow the path that destiny obviously wanted him to follow.

to Kyoto…


Darien had jumped the first flight out of Tokyo to Kyoto and had now been driving aimlessly up and down the hilly roads of …only God knew where…for the past 5 hours, feeling that, despite the amount of time that had passed, he was still nowhere near where he was supposed to be. His luggage, which he had thrown haphazardly into the trunk of his car, signalled noisily to him that the road was bumpy.

He sighed melodramatically, his fingers tapping impatiently on the heated-plastic steering wheel of his rented vehicle. 'Figures', he thought forlornly, 'that the one time I throw caution to the wind and follow my heart, I end up getting myself utterly lost.'

Just as he finished on that train of thought, a flash of light caught his eye. He peered through the light of the noon-day sun to see another shining object, emitting an even stronger golden glow about it and shining brighter with every passing moment.

But something was definitely amiss. Something very strange and very wrong.

This object seemed to be getting bigger.

And closer.

And heading right for him.


The golden ball of light spun pass his car with such ferocity, that Darien could see where it had torn up the smaller rocks and debris which now lay loosely scattered along the cliff roads. The winds that followed were pulling his car dangerously out of control as he struggled against the elements to keep the car on level ground. However, his vain attempts to press on the brakes were thwarted when he heard the roaring screech of his tired followed by the sharp snap of his brakes.

He looked up and saw the oncoming curve of the road that looked over a treacherous slope into a valley. Darien, assuming the worst, closed his eyes and braced himself.

His last thoughts as he felt the car begin its spiraling decent into the valley below were of Serena.

'I'll be with you soon, Serena.'

Years from now Darien would remember with absolute certainty that he had felt her in those moments that he had thought would be his last. That he had felt Serena's shielding embrace, followed by the faint aroma of vanilla and strawberries…

Not yet...


Darien opened his eyes after he had felt the sudden joint of the car on land, indicating to him that perhaps the worst was over.

He looked over the dash of his car to see that he was right. The car had landed. Damaged. But with him safe and intact. His slim fingers frantically flew over his face and chest to check he was indeed still there. He pinched himself. He could feel it.

He was alive!

Darien pushed hard against the battered car door, which gave way with a groan and 'thunk' as it fell off its hinges and rolled onto the wet grass beneath it.

'But how?' he thought as he peered back up at the road where his car had come flying off. It was at least 600 feet between where he had come from and where he had landed. There was no way he could have escaped that unscathed. Using the logic that had been instilled in him since he could remember, he quickly calculated that such a feat was practically impossible!

But what had happened between when he had closed this eyes to when he had opened them?

All he remembered was a blazing bolt of light which had flew past his car, veering his car off the curvy road and into the grassy knoll where it now lay.

"Please…help me….."

He heard it. Soft and pleading above the musical rustle of tree leaves.

"Please…"

He knew that voice!

He closed his eyes and tried to distinguish where the voice was coming from, straining to hear it above the sudden and rapid thumping of his heart which almost dared to hope the impossible. Almost.

"Help me…"

Trusting his senses, he turned towards the large silent forest looming dangerously before him. And ran.


And that's where he found her. In a small glen, at the heart of the woodland, with the sunlight breaking through the green foliage of the trees that surrounded the secluded area, lay a young girl covered in scratches and dirt. The light shone down on her, like a beacon in the darkness, highlighting the extraordinary redness of her hair.

He quickly knelt beside her, gathered her into his arms and checked her pulse which softly pulsated beneath his shaking fingertips.


She felt someone lift her gently and fingers silently brush over her face to finally rest on her wrist. She heard a deep sigh of relief.

She turned towards her rescuer and, although her body screamed for rest, she opened her eyes weakly.

It looked as though an angel had rescued her. He was absolutely beautiful- with those deep blue eyes framed by a canopy of wispy ebony-black hair. Those same eyes, which were staring at her in concern as his gentle fingertips continued to skim over her face.

She stared in wonder as his sensuous lips moved… but she couldn't hear a thing.

A flash of remembrance flew across her mind.

A young black-haired warrior, with brooding blue eyes and a solitary aura about him standing in the dim light of a castle, amongst the darkness that spread across the shadowy garden. From behind him appeared a silver-haired princess, with smouldering grey eyes. "Endymion, you are here", she whispered, her eyes conveying the full magnitude of her pleasure that her words did not say. Her slim fingers lightly began to curl about his arm. He turned to her. The change was incredible. His eyes softened considerably, the darkness in his aura gone. The harsh lines of his mouth curving into a slight smile…

"Serenity…"

Then she spoke. One word. The soft sound of it floated to his ears, resonated in his mind and pierced through to the core of his soul.

"Endymion…" she murmured, before the darkness claimed her and she went limp in his arms again.

'I've found you…'

Author's Note: Sincere 'Thank Yous' to everyone that reviewed the first chapter of this story. I do hope that this chapter lives up to your expectations but feel free to send me any reviews, thoughts or flames so that I can continue to improve this story in the future.