Serena ran as fast as she could. Half blinded by tears, she stumbled and tripped over roots and small rocks. Finally, no longer having the energy to continue, she came to a large boulder in a small clearing and collapsed against it as she cried. Her kimono had torn on bushes and branches and was soiled in places where she had fallen. Her hands, feet and legs were slightly scratched up, leaving angry red marks on her pale skin. Somewhere along the way she had lost a sandal.

Frustrated, she tore off the remaining sandal and threw it into the darkness surrounding her. Serena closed her eyes and sighed warily. Her hands came up to clasp her locket and she opened her eyes in horror as she realized it was missing. The only reminder she owned of Darien was gone. Fresh tears filled her eyes and she wiped at them furiously. Suddenly, her Senshi training kicked in and she was aware of someone watching her. She froze and stared in the direction her instincts told her to look.

Prince Endymion stepped out of the shadows and slowly walked towards Serena. He handed her the locket and ran his fingers through his hair, more out of habit then nervousness.

"You should learn to be more careful, Sailor Moon." Curiosity gnawed at him. "Or should I call you by one of the other names? Serenity? Serena? Perhaps Meatball Head?" He looked her over in disapproval, eyes flitting over her various scratches and disheveled state. "I guess right now it's Serena."

"Yes," she whispered. He's playing with me. Why does he have to be so cruel? Serena looked away in an attempt to hide the pain in her eyes. Compulsively, Endymion crouched down and reached out, placing a hand under her chin and turning her face to his.

He stared at her. She was pressed against the rock, seemingly trying to push herself into it. Her hair had come loose and a few strands were hanging in her face. Looking into her eyes, he brushed the loose strands of hair behind her ears. More memories began to surface, hitting him like a ton of bricks, and all of a sudden Endymion's armor disappeared and Darien was in normal street clothes.

"Serena," he whispered, leaning his face closer to hers. She's still so beautiful, he thought.

Serena stared at him. A tentative hand reached up and she traced her fingers along his jaw line. "Darien…do you remember?" she asked hopefully.

"I…I'm beginning to." As she looked into his eyes, she could see the confusion fade away and realization surface. Abruptly, Darien stood and turned from Serena. "What have I done?" he asked in a shaky voice, remembering all the times he had tried to hurt her. All the times he had broken her heart. "I'm sorry Serena. I'm so, so sorry." His voice cracked and he hung his head in shame.

Serena rose shakily to her feet, grabbing his arm and turning him to her. Their eyes locked and they stared at each other in silence for a tense moment. Suddenly, Serena threw herself forward and embraced Darien tightly, pressing her lips against his. She wrapped her arms tighter around his neck, pulling him even closer.

Darien's hands traveled around her back, caressing her lightly as one wrapped around her waist and the other traveled up to the back of her neck. He took his lips off hers, much to her disappointment, and started trailing butterfly kisses along her jaw line and onto her neck. His arm around her waist tightened briefly when she let out a breathy gasp and he lifted her up slightly and pushed her body against the boulder behind her so she was eye level with him, forcing her legs to wrap around his waist to maintain the position.

He continued to kiss a trail along her neck, pausing at a spot on her collarbone. Serena moaned when she felt his tongue against her skin, her legs tightening around him. She ran her hands through his hair, her head thrown back and eyes squeezed shut. Darien moved up from her neck and when she moved her head down he kissed her gently on the lips, urging her mouth open with his tongue. He kissed her deeply when she complied, for the first time since the Silver Millenium, and shivers ran down her spine.

Pulling away, Darien looked deeply into her eyes. "I love you Serena," he murmured.

"Oh Darien. I love you too." Serena kissed him again, passionately, desperate to show how much.

(^_^) ~~ (^_^)

Above the forest, Malachite watched the scene before him unfold. His grey eyes narrowed in disgust and strands of silver hair blew around his face. He folded his arms across his chest and frowned. Just great. Watch Queen Beryl blame me for this. He smirked as his thoughts wandered. Well, she won't be too mad when I finally get what we were really after all those years ago. Slowly, a hazy blue smoke surrounded him and he disappeared.

(^_^) ~~ (^_^)

Lita bit her lip nervously as she looked around the resort gardens. "Where do you think she went? Her family said they haven't seen her for a long time." She scanned the area with her brilliant green eyes, chewing on one of the loose strands of her chestnut brown hair that was always left out of her usual ponytail.

"I don't know Lita." Rei shook her head as she looked around at the group, making her long black, thigh length hair swish behind her. Her violet eyes seemed to focus on nothing in particular. "Whatever she came out here for I'm sure she would have come back hours ago. Her family hasn't seen her since 3:00 and it's going on 10:30 now. Probably got herself into trouble again."

Rei, Lita, Amy, and Mina had driven to the resort in Amy's new car. It was a present from her grandmother almost half a year ago. They had come down to give Serena her birthday presents and take her out for some fun, but when they had arrived Serena was gone. After looking everywhere they could think of and not finding her, they had gathered in the gardens to figure out what to do next.

Lita and Rei were impatiently pacing in front of Mina and Amy, who sat on a small stone bench. To the side of the bench, a stack of presents sat in a bag.

Amy, who had decided to see if she could find anything on her Mercury computer, blinked shockingly bright blue eyes in surprise as it started beeping. Amy smiled and ran a hand through her short cropped bluish-black hair in relief. Rei and Lita jumped from the sudden noise and stopped in their tracks.

"What did you find Amy?" Mina moved closer to Amy and looked at the small screen. Her long blonde hair, as long as Rei's, fell over her shoulders but stayed out of her face thanks to a red bow she always wore to tie up the sides. Her blue eyes were pale compared to Amy's. When Serena and Mina were younger, people had often thought that they could be twins. As they had grown, it had became evident how different they actually were. Andrew had once stated that Mina was more the beach beauty type well Serena had a moon goddess look about her. They had both had a good laugh over that comparison.

Amy's smile faded. "I have a signal on someone or something from the Negaverse. It's patchy, but it may be a lead." Amy turned to Rei. "If Serena is in trouble, she'll be near the signal. Either way, the Sailor Senshi are needed." Standing up, Amy crossed to where Lita stood "Lita I need you to do something you won't like."

"Okay..." Lita raised a brow expectantly. "What's up?"

Amy pulled out her car keys and handed them to Lita. "I want you to look for Serena in town. Maybe she went home or to the arcade."

"Are you kidding?!" Lita yelled. "You want me to miss out on the action well you go kick some Nega-scum butt? No way!"

"Please Lita?" Amy shook her head and looked imploringly at her friend. "What if we're wrong and she isn't near the enemy? If she isn't and we confront it, we may need Sailor Moon! She doesn't have her communicator on. If we find her we'll let you know immediately, and we'll need you to do the same."

Lita crossed her arms and scowled at Amy. "Why does it have to be me who goes?"

"I need to go because I'm the only one who can pinpoint the signal's location. Rei can use her psychic powers to see if she can sense Serena or more dangers nearby, and Mina is the only one who has an attack that could help her if this creep has her. If any of us tried ours, she'd be caught in the blast as well." Amy grabbed Lita's arm in a subtle begging gesture. "Please Lita, if anyone could find her in time if she isn't there, it's you."

Lita sighed and chewed on a strand of hair. Grudgingly, she nodded in defeat. "I'll go, but I'm not happy about it."

Rei smiled at Lita. "You're doing the right thing. I have a feeling it's important you join us later."

Mina put a hand on her shoulder and winked. "If you hurry we'll leave some fight in this scum-bag for you!"

"We'll be headed to the west of the forest behind the gardens," informed Amy. "You better take the gifts too."

Lita smiled and nodded her head. "Well, see you later." She turned and ran to Amy's car, gifts in tow.

Looking at the remaining two girls, Amy put her Mercury computer away. "All right the trace is locked. We just have to follow the beeps. Better transform girls."

Rei nodded and lifted her henshin wand into the air, followed by the other two girls.

"Mars power!"

"Mercury power!"

"Venus power!"

When the girls finished transforming, they nodded at each other in grim determination. "Let's go," Sailor Mercury said as she started to run towards the signal. Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus were close behind.

TO BE CONTINUED