Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

A Past Imperfect

Chapter 2

"Because she hasn't changed one bit since the day she became Sailor Moon. She was late again and didn't have a decent excuse for being late." Lita explained to Darien as he sat down.

"We are just tired of having to protect a leader who is not doing what she is supposed to." Mina continued, her usually laughing face serious now.

"I understand. I am so tired of having a girlfriend who acts like she is five years old instead of eighteen and a future queen. Ever since Rini went back to the future, I was hoping that Serena would grow up, even just a little bit, but that hasn't happened." Darien replied, surprising them all. Amara, who was standing just outside the doorway, had seriously thought he would defend his future queen, just shook her head again sadly at his statement.

Amara was pretty sure no one had seen her standing by the door, so she quietly left the temple. Getting into her car, she sped away, needing time to think about what she had just witnessed. She knew how Serena seemed to be, but she also knew that there was much more to the girl that she let people see. Her hand tightened around the steering wheel as she remembered some of the comments that the scouts had made about their princess in the past. She would just wait for the princess to call for her as she always did.

Serena ran the whole way home after she had saw Darien. She closed the front door quietly behind her, turned around, and wasn't surprised to find her father standing in the front hall with his arms crossed, angrily awaiting her arrival.

"I told you one hour, Serena." He snapped menacingly. "You are three minutes late! I told you I need help in the backyard this afternoon. Now, let's go!" Ken Tsukino grabbed his daughter's left arm, pulling her through the house to the backyard. To Serena's good luck, her father didn't see her wince in pain as he grabbed her arm. He pulled her over to a corner of the yard and told her to get started. She knew what needed to be done and didn't need to be told what to do. Serena sighed in relief when her father went to the other side of yard and left her to her work. She looked down at her arm and sighed as she saw that it was now swelling again.

Three hours later, Ken pulled off his gloves and looked at his daughter. She was busy pulling weeds in the garden. He walked over to her. She looked up at him when she saw his shadow cast by the late afternoon sun.

"Serena, you may have the rest of the afternoon to do as you please. If you do leave, inform you mother where you are going, but be back in time for dinner." He said firmly, but with no anger in his voice. Serena rose to her feet, brushing the dirt from her pant legs.

"Yes, Father. I am going to go take a shower and then I think I will go to the park for a while. I will tell Mama before I leave."

"Don't be late for dinner." Ken warned her again. Serena just nodded and moved past her father to go into the house. Once she reached her bedroom, she pulled out her communicator and called Amara.

"This is Uranus." Amara's voice came through quickly.

"Amara, please meet me at the park in a half hour. Alone." Serena said the last word firmly.

"Of course, Princess." The call disconnected and Serena headed for the bathroom.

Amara stood impatiently by the water fountain as she waited for Serena. The princess wasn't late, but Amara knew that something was very wrong this time by the way she had acted earlier. Most of the time, Serena just shrugged off the scouts' comments because she was used to them, but she hadn't even tried to defend herself this time. A few minutes later, Serena walked up the path.

"Hi." She said without smiling. "Can we find a quieter spot? I need to tell you something." Amara just nodded and followed Serena to a more secluded area of the park. They found a bench under an overgrown willow tree and sat down. Serena didn't speak right away; she just looked at their surroundings, like she was trying to take it all in before she had to leave.

"What is going on, Sere?" Amara finally asked, not being to hold back her curiosity any longer.

"I have decided to leave Japan." Serena stated bluntly. Amara stared at her for a moment, not sure if she had heard correctly.

"You're leaving? Why?"

"So many reasons. Mostly because I think it is time for me to move on. I am eighteen, out of high school, and everyone around, expect you, seems to want me gone, so I might as well grant their wishes."

"Serena, you can't just leave!" Amara exclaimed. Serena smiled sadly at her companion.

"You guys will be fine. There will be no new enemies and it is better this way."

"For who? You or them?"

"In some ways, both. I get to lead my own life, one that is not dictated by destiny or whatever you want to call it, and so will all of you. I have had a feeling that this was coming for a while now and it's probably partly my fault for keeping up the cheerful charade for so long, but I thought it would be better for the rest of the scouts to not know the truth. Now, there is no need for them to know why I did the things they think I did. I will just go and start a new life away from all of this." Serena explained. Amara was the only one outside her family who knew what her life was really like.

"But where will you go?"

"America, I think. Darien speaks very highly of the States."

"You shouldn't listen to anything he says." Amara said. Serena looked Amara in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Serena asked.

"It's not important if you are really going to leave." Amara stated, trying to shrug off the subject. She didn't see any reason of exposing Darien for the snake he apparently really was.

"I am really going to leave, Amara." Serena replied, deciding to not pursue the subject of her boyfriend.

"Well, I can't stop you, but I will miss you."

"Yes, but you will have Michelle, Trista, and Hoturu to distract you. You will be fine." Serena smiled. "Please don't tell anyone, not even Michelle, where I have gone. I will let you know where I am as soon as I have settled somewhere."

"But, Serena…"

"I will miss you very much." Serena rose to her feet. Amara did the same and pulled the princess in a quick hug. "Good-bye, Amara." She hurried off down the path then, not wanting Amara to see the tears in her eyes. She didn't notice Michelle hiding behind the willow tree as she past her. Michelle glared at Amara as she just stood by the bench watching Serena walk away.

Please review!