Chapter 2: Princess, I Am Not.
"Hello," Serena smiled brightly as she rounded the bend in the bank of booth tables and came up behind a man who had sat down in her section. "I'm Serena, I'll be your server tonight. What can I get for you?" she asked before she even saw his face.
"Whoa, Serena, I didn't even hear you coming. You snuck up on me," Darien stated in shocked surprised as he pulled the ear buds from his ears and tapped his phone to silence it. "Why are you not out saved the world today?" he joked.
"What?" She gasped holding her note pad and looking as if she'd seen a ghost. The comment almost knocked the wind clear out of her.
"It was a joke Serena!" he laughed. "If I remember right, you had a great sense of humour."
"Darien, what are you doing here?" She asked still in shock.
"My shift is over at the hospital and I was hungry," Darien answered with a laugh. "Why aren't you at school?"
"Oh gosh, it's late and you know..." Serena babbled as she turned red. "I keep pretty regular school hours during the day and I work at night. It's just my usual routine. Nothing out of the ordinary, and I'm certainly not saving the world by it."
"And you'll be here all night?" He asked and the concern showed on his face.
"Oh yes, gotta put some money in the bank. Environmental Studies are not cheap, and student debt is piling up because I just can't make up my mind; never really could. And then there is rent, food, shopping. A girls gotta work, and work hard for her money," Serena answered nervously. "And I have a terrible habit of spending too much time and money shopping for things I don't really need, but you know how it is; retail therapy."
"Some things never change," Darien said as he turned fully in the booth and looked her up and down.
"Ha, no. I never could shake that bad habit. So I gotta work, you know, to buy things," Serena laughed a little out of embarrassment, feeling like he was reading her like a book, but more to cover the discomfort of the memories that flooded in around her. This was the love of her life, the one whom she should have married by now, but now they were nothing but strangers.
Darien laugh, "Do you get any down time?" He asked.
"Not really, and when I do, I sleep," She said with a shake of her head trying to clear it.
"You do love to sleep," he nodded his head. "Or rather you did."
"Yes, another habit that I just couldn't break," She confirmed his memory of her.
"Well it sounds to me like you are much busier than you once were. I'd be surprised if you have any time to yourself and I guess I know the answer to my next question," He said with a sigh as another group of people came into the diner and sat down.
They called and waved to the familiar waitress before taking up a place at another table in her section.
Serena looked toward them, waved and mouthed that she'd be just a moment.
There was cheerfulness and familiarity in her looks, and Darien remembered her openness to people and why he's liked her so much back before he'd left. She had a kindness of spirit and an open heart to people of all walks of life. Never judgements and always willing to see the good within them. It was why she had so many friends and made them so easy, because she was the one that stepped so far out of her comfort zone to be the one to initiate the friendship. She didn't stand for other people's opinions or prejudices, and drew her own conclusions based on meetings and conversations. She was a magnet that way, and drew people into her bubbly personality and kind eyes, and he remembered watching that easiness and admiring the ability in her because he'd had a hard time, at one time, being open to other people because he hadn't been open with himself and his heart. Things were different now, and he believed that much of his abilities to be a good doctor stemmed from what he'd learned from her and her people skills.
"Some things never change," Darien said to himself as Serena turned back to him.
"What was that?" She asked cheerily and smiled that smile that always welcomed you in.
"Oh nothing," he said and smiled in return with a dismissive shake of his head. "I guess I'll have a house salad and a cup of coffee, and I won't take up any more of your time."
"Staying healthy, good for you," Serena said as she jotted down a note. "I guess you kind of have to, being a doctor and all. You have to practice what you preach and stay healthy," she laughed nervously. "And I don't mind you taking up my time. It's been a good long while since we've seen each other. So good for you. Stay healthy."
"Yeah, I guess, but sometime even I slip up and I have to have a giant, greasy, burger," He added. "I really gained a taste for them back in America and it's nice to find a diner here that's pretty close to what they have there."
"What was it like?" Serena asked wistfully. "America?"
"It was busy, and fast paced, and really quite a lot like it is here, with the exception of the culture shock, the food and the language," Darien answered. "But even there, with all those people, you can find something familiar."
"Was it hard to leave?" Serena asked as she leaned a hip on the table to face him. She almost slid into the booth bench across from him, but decided the better of it.
"I always knew I was leaving home to study, it was something I'd dreamed about, but I kind of always knew I would come back. So I guess it really wasn't that hard. Once I'd achieved what I wanted to achieve, I knew that I would come back and make my place here. So here I am. It was fun, and it was lonely, and it was a lot of hard work, but it paid off," he explained. "And now it's time to make my place back where I belong."
"That's good to know," she said with a smile that came from deep in her eyes and melted his soul in a way he'd never imagined.
"Why do you ask?" He asked with a smile that covered his concern at the strange pain that crept in at the thought of her leaving.
"One day, I'm going to go away and see it all myself. One day when I have money and I'm finished school, I'm going to take off and explore. I need to get away and just get out of here for a little while, to find myself," she said wistfully.
"You could have been done a long time ago," he said skeptically. "You should have been finished school by now."
"Yeah, then I picked up this subject or that discipline. I still don't know what I want to do with my life and school just seems like a safe place, but one day..." She said and her voice trailed off to a place beyond the stars and the moon as her mind wandered.
"How many degrees do you have now?" He asked to bring her back around.
"Only two and I'm working on graduate studies," Serena answered. "I have more miscellaneous courses that don't actually go to any degree or other, but it was safe and familiar, and I wasn't ready to leave my comfort zone," she explained.
"You been in school almost as long as I have," Darien said with a shake of his head. "It's strange for someone who hated school so much."
"I hated subjects, most of the time, not school," She corrected him, "and I guess I grew out of that. But school was where my friends were, and still are, so I guess I stay to feel safe, but I do want to go and get away."
"Well you should. Go out into the world, one of these days, and really experience it. It really is a great adventure," He said pushing his desires to tell her to stay with him away and encouraged her to go. Why was this feeling so strong with her? It broke his heart and he'd only just been reunited with her.
"I'm sure, but for now, I'd better get back to work. I kinda desperately need this job," Serena said with a giggle that was like a balm to his soul, and then she headed off toward the kitchen with a heavy heart and a vow to continue to avoid Darien at all costs.
Later that evening as the sun had set and Serena neared the end of what had turned out to be a very long night, four familiar people came in and sat down in her section. They were the only people in the diner, by this time, and she was glad it had become so quiet.
"Hey Princess," one of them said with a wink.
"Don't call me that," Serena stated, but smiled all the same, as she came to the table with a serving tray under her arm. "You all look like you're settling in quite well."
"After years of wandering the galaxy for a suitable planet, we decided this would be the best place to stay and settle," Princess Kakyuu said, in her new costume of street cloths and toned down hair style, "it's been fun to learn the ways of these earthly people!"
"We have friends here and our planet was completely destroyed," Yaten added added darkly.
"And we figured you could use some company," Seiya winked, "or protecting, whichever happens first."
"You have no idea," Serena sighed as her mood changed dramatically.
"Is everything all right, Serena?" Taiki asked and looked at the Moon Princess as if he could read her sorrows in the lines on her face.
Serena shrugged. "It's just nice to have someone remember what we went through, someone to really talk to," she answered.
"You can have your friends back, Serena, you know that," Yaten said and placed the menu he'd been perusing back down on the diner table. "You have that power."
"But I can't be that selfish," Serena sighed in reply. "The power of the crystal gave them their lives back, I gave them that, and yes, I can reawaken the sailor scouts if this planet needs them, but for now we are at peace and they deserve to live their lives as they make them. They all deserve to forget because no one should know what their future is really going to look like. Not that it is like what it was supposed to be anymore, but the adventure of building it fresh is far more important then my feelings of loneliness."
"Time changes if you mess with it," Taiki commented. "Who knows if it's a good thing or a bad one."
"It does, or seems to stay on a course that you never thought it would take," Serena added thoughtfully as she touched a chain that hung around her neck.
"You still wear the ring?" Seiya questioned.
"I probably shouldn't. How am I ever going to forget if I can't put that away?" she admitted. "And what if he sees it?"
"Is that why are you so glum?" Kakyuu asked. "Or is it because of something else?"
"It is because of Darien. He is back, after having finished his education in America, and he keeps coming around. I saw him by accident one day about two weeks ago, he didn't see me, and then he came in here today. He's set up at the hospital down the street, and he'd doing really well, but he's back and he doesn't remember anything other than the fact that at one time we were friends, maybe more than friends. I really can't tell and he didn't bring it up, and I won't for fear of looking like a fool," Serena confessed. "It's really hard to see him and keep my composure, but he made that choice to go, and I still wear his ring because I am a fool; a sucker for the emotional punishment. He went away. Why did he have to come back here?"
"Is it because your connection with one another goes far beyond the power of the crystal?" Taiki asked. "Maybe he was drawn back to this place by something far more powerful, like love, perhaps?"
"Maybe, I really don't know," Serena answered with a shake of her head. "I can't pretend to understand all of the powers of the crystal, it surprises even me. Like, I can't explained why the crystal didn't affect you when you came back to this planet."
"We were never a part of your court, Princess," Yaten said with a shrug. "Why would it affect us?"
"Though we are loyal to you now," Kakyuu added, "and we are very grateful that you have welcomed us and accepted us into your world, I believe that Yaten is right. Perhaps, now with our loyalty, your use of the crystal may affect us, but we were beyond your reach before."
"Who am I to turn anyone away? You are very welcome here," Serena was genuine in her adoration of the four before her. They'd been good friends, fierce fighters, and loyal almost to a fault. She was glad to have them back. "Look at me. I'm just a students and a waitress at a diner. I haven't got any authority over this place. And, personally, I'd never turn your away because you are too good to not have as allies. But I'm no ruler, not now, nor do I want to be. Darien is back, it's his planet, he can lead."
"But one day you will be a leader," Kakyuu said, almost in a motherly kind of way. "And then, you'll have to do what you can for the fate of so many. I do not envy you that responsibility, but I know what it is like because I watched my planet fall to the powers of evil. I will be by your side, pledged to you and your court, when you need me."
"Hopefully, it won't be too soon," Serena said and shook her head again. "As much as I miss my friends, I do not miss the fighting, and I don't want to be a princess, or a ruler, not now at least, and honestly maybe not ever."
"You can leave the fighting to us," Seiya stated and his friends nodded their agreement. "Come what may, we have adopted this planet and so we are here to protect it, and you."
Serena sighed but wasn't about to argue. "Well, back to reality, I should take your order before I get myself into trouble. What can I get for the four of you."
"You're just like the rest of us, aren't you Princess?" Seiya joked.
"I've got to pay my way through school, I have been for years, and I'm no princess," Serena said with a sigh. "One day I'll really make a decision and figure out what I want to be when I grow up, but for now, I just don't know. So I drift."
"Being a princess really doesn't mean anything in this day and age, does it?" Taiki asked as he stretched his arms over his head. "You know what you are going to be, but you've got a lot of time to get there."
"And maybe even change the course of your future," Yaten added.
"But for now, you're stuck in this present state of who-knows-what," Seiya continued. "We're just lucky people remember us and like our music. We just stepped right back into the spotlight but even that scene has changed so much in the time we've been gone."
Serena and Kakyuu nodded their heads.
"It's a strange world to be a princess in," Kakyuu said.
"A world where no one knows you're a princess," Serena added.
"Why didn't you use the crystal on yourself?" Yaten asked. "I mean, if things are bothering you this much, why not just slip into oblivion with the rest of your friends and just be a normal woman in this world?"
"I tried," Serena confessed. "So many time, but it just didn't work. Like I said, the crystal surprises even me."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Serena," Seiya said sympathetically.
"Thanks, but it's not all that bad. I have you guys, right?" Serena said and her mood changed once again because she was the master of herself and she made it so.
"You do," Kakyuu smile. "And a knack for seeing the good in every situation. Gloominess doesn't suit you, bubbly, bright, Serena. That's who you are meant to be."
"Thank you," Serena blushed.
"And now I'm starving!" Seiya stated.
"Cheese burgers all around?" Serena asked with a laugh. "Fries, gravy, and milkshakes?"
"You've got that right," Seiya nodded and held his rumbling stomach. "On the double, I'm famished."
Serena got back to her duties. At the late hour the four transplants were the last to remain in the diner as the time neared the midnight hour. They carried on together in perfect contentment while Serena fielded the odd order from a straggler who came and went, and her boss shouted orders through the open kitchen window at her.
"What was that?" Joss, the line cook and primary owner, asked as there came a loud crash and the ground shook.
Serena was startled by the sound and buckled as the ground shook under her feet.
"Is it an earth quake?" Joss asked as he came out of the kitchen and caught her before she fell.
"No, Joss, don't go out there," Serena shouted as she put herself between her boss and the wall of windows that looked out into the street. "It's not safe."
"What is that?" Kakyuu asked as she, and her three followers, rushed to the window.
"Seems like a really strange meteor shower to me," Seiya stated.
"Strange and meteors shouldn't be in the same sentence," Yaten whispered under his breath
"Perhaps the Stars should check this out," Taiki added.
"There are people hurt out there, call the police, Joss! Get help!" Serena ordered as she rushed toward the doors and watched as people scrambled about in the street, and rushed to get out of the way.
"No, Serena, you stay here," Taiki said as he jumped in front of the Moon Princess. "We'll check it out and report back to you. It could be just a freak meteor shower."
"If it's not, we'll contact you," Yaten added. "For now, stay oblivious," he continued and ran after his companions into the street.
"They paid for their meal, right?" Joss asked as he slammed the phone down and reappeared in the dining room.
"Yes," Serena stated as the ground stopped shaking.
"Well, damn, we may as well close for the night. We aren't going to have any sane customers now. You may as well go home, Serena," he said as he doused the lights and hung the swinging closed sign in the door.
"Are you sure? Are you all right to be here alone, Joss?" She asked.
"I may be old, Serena, but I'm not useless," Joss stated, and because they were alone, he actually smiled at her.
"I can stay and help you clean up," Serena offered one last time.
"No, no, go home and be safe. If there is damage to the diner I'll call you, if not I'll see you at your next shift."
"All right," Serena smiled half heartedly and gathered her things from the back room before leaving.