Chapter 4: Meeting the Tsukino's – The Moon's Coming Out Tonight
"Mom I'm home!" Serena's voice rang through the Tsukino house.
"Serena! Did you have a nice day with….oh Darien! Hello!" Her mother said walking to the front door to see not just Serena but Darien also standing in the doorway.
"Hello ." Darien bowed respectfully, feeling slightly awkward. He'd only been to Serena's house on few occasions.
"Hey Darien's here?" Sammy came running to the front door. "Hey Darien!"
"Hey Sammy." He put his hand behind his head awkwardly smiling.
"What's with the ruckus in here?"
Serena's dad emerged from the kitchen.
"Darling Serena and Darien are here." Her mother smiled in his direction while providing a distinct warning that he should behave himself. She was good at those looks.
"Well what is the special occasion to have him come to our house?" He said grinding his teeth behind a smile. Serena noticed her dad's restrained behavior. Honestly what could he do to Darien? I mean she wanted her dad's approval of Darien, but he wasn't nearly as strong as Darien…or as tall…or even well as…manly. She giggled silently to herself.
"Well uh…" Darien looked down at Serena, still trying to act casual.
"I like your car Darien!" Sammy blurted out, remembering the red sports car that had dropped Serena off the night before.
"Sammy!" Serena scolded at her brothers sudden outburst.
"What Serena? Just because he can drive and has a cool car while you can't even manage to walk without tripping?" Sammy teased, laughing in Serena's direction. Serena instantly got angry, while Darien formed an embarrassed dew of sweat over his head as he looked at his feet.
"Quiet the both of you!" scolded her mother. "Come inside! We can all sit in the living room; I just made some coffee and hot chocolate."
"Wow thanks mom!" Sammy said walking happily to the living room, satisfied with his insult to Serena.
"Darien, what would you like?"
"Coffee please."
"I'll have hot cho-"
"I know Serena" Her mom stopped her before she finished her order.
Darien and Serena sat together on the sofa, while Sammy sat on the floor, and her dad sat reluctantly on the chair, wishing it was him sitting beside his daughter, not Darien. He was staring hard at the two, specifically Darien.
"Here." Serena's mom came in with a tray of two hot chocolates, and three coffees all in mugs.
"Thank you." Darien said.
"Yea thanks mom!" Sammy said, agreeing.
"So what pleasure do we have of having you come over Darien?" She continued smiling at him, while sitting on the arm rest of her dad's chair.
"You better not have done anything to Serena!" Her dad suddenly blurted out.
Darien almost choked on his coffee, while the rest of the family's faces dropped embarrassed by their father.
"No of course not." He said while resting his coffee cup onto the coffee table.
"Dad!"
"Darling!"
"What? I was just…" He looked from Serena to his just as angry wife sitting beside him. This time he had a sweat drop forming over his head.
"I'm sorry Darien." Her mother apologized for him.
"It's alright, really Mrs. And uh Mr. Tsukino…" Darien persisted.
"So what's the reason you came to visit?" Sammy asked, now curious himself.
"Well, uh, there is something we need to tell you…" Darien looked to Serena. Her dad's eyes widened with horror.
"Uhm, here, I have to show you this…" Serena bent down to grab her purse and pulled her out moon broach, hoping Luna would get her little kitty tail down into the living room because she knew this was going to be a bumpy ride.
"Hey sis, how did you get a thing like that?" Sammy asked.
"Its beautiful darling, did Darien get it for you?" Her mom asked oblivious.
"What do you mean how did I get it?" Serena asked her little brother.
"Well that looks just like something Sailor Moon would have!" Sammy said. He was a complete fan of Sailor Moon, even though sometimes he was reluctant to admit it.
"Because it is!" Serena persisted.
"Hah, Serena! Don't make me laugh!" Sammy said.
"But I don't mean to make you laugh!"
"Now Serena darling…" Her mother started.
"But mom!"
"You're mother is right Serena." Her dad started to persist her childish insinuation.
"But…" She started to form tears in her eyes.
"Serena's not lying!" Darien suddenly shouted over the arguing family. They all went silent.
"Hah, Serena owning something like that? Sailor Moon is way too cool to be…" Sammy said breaking the silence.
"That is it!" Serena screamed out who was now fuming. This surprised everyone as she suddenly stood up off of the couch. "PURE MOON ETERNAL MAKEUP!" She called out holding her broach above her head.
That is when she transformed in front of her family. Her family began to studder between her transformation in unbelief as their klutzy little Serena turned into the famed Tokyo superhero Sailor Moon.
"No way! My klutzy sister is Sailor Moon!" Sammy said just as she finished transforming.
"So what do you think?" Sailor Moon said, standing in front of them in their livingroom. Her parents just stood there awe-struck for a moment.
"My little Serena is Sailor Moon?" Her dad started.
"Oh darling this is amazing!" Her mother started to tear up, in a sudden warmth of happiness.
"Hehe, that's not all." Sailor Moon said putting her hand behind her head sheepishly before looking down at Darien.
He got up and pulled a red rose out from the inside of his jacket.
"No. Way." Sammy said.
His parents looked questioningly at their son. That was when Darien started to transform, as Sammy narrated perfectly for them; "Darien is Tuxedo Mask! No way! This is super cool!"
Now the whole family was rendered speechless.
"Oh this is amazing!" Her mother was the first to speak.
Tuxedo Mask took his hat off, trying to be polite, and grabbed Sailor Moon's hand.
"You should be proud. Sailor Moon, or Serena, has just fought off the last of our enemies. The earth is finally free." He said smiling down at her.
"He is right. She is also the Princess of the Moon and Darien is the Prince of the Earth." Luna appeared leaping onto the coffee table in the middle of the room.
"Did Luna just talk?" Sammy asked.
Mrs. Tsukino clutched Mr. Tsukino's arm slightly scared.
"Yes I can. I am Sailor Moon's guardian. Listen to me, now you must know; Rei is Sailor Mars, Ami is Mercury, Lita is Jupiter, and Mina is Venus. They are all Princesses of their respective planets. Serena is Princess Serenity of the Moon. She as Serena is her new identity on the Earth, from the Princess millions of years ago on the kingdom of the moon. Prince Darien and Princess Serenity were to get married in the past, but the negaverse attacked our kingdom destroying us. Now we need to reunite the Silver Millennium with the future as the new Crystal Tokyo."
"But…"
"How…"
"What…"
"Oh dear I'll have to use the Luna Mind Meld on you; I just hope it works." Luna's crescent moon on her forehead lit up and shone a light to each of their foreheads, giving them the flashes of the past, present and limited parts of the future to fill her family in on their daughter's hidden life.
"Oh Serena," Her mother started to cry happily and embraced her moon daughter with a large hug.
"I'm so proud." Her father said to her watching the two hug.
"This is SO COOL!" , is all that Sammy could say.
"You need to help us unite the future. I've said and done enough now, goodnight." Luna said smiling as she yawned and pounced back up to Serena's room .
"Thanks Mom." Sailor Moon said.
"Can I talk to you ?" Tuxedo Mask asked Serena's father, taking advantage of the situation at hand.
"Uhm sure tux- I mean Darien." He replied. Somehow knowing that Darien was Tuxedo Mask made him more intimidating to talk to.
They both walked into the kitchen, and Darien sat down before looking up at the father of Serena.
" Look… I know now you've seen our past, and well the future of the Earth and the Moon will unite; and we can finally unite our world with peace. Most of all … I really love Serena so i'd like to ask... I know Serena is still 18, but I'd like to ask your permission to ask her to marry me... "
"Ah…." Her father was going to persist, but suddenly thought better. He watched as he had taken off his mask, and he saw in Darien's eyes, the way they lit up at Serena's name.
"You know Darien, I used to think that you were taking my baby girl Serena from me…but now, I see you can protect her just as well as I did if not better…" He said somewhat embarrassed to be admitting it. "I saw what you did for my daughter…Luna showed us a lot about what you two have been through…I should have realized that before; so I give you my permission." He smiled and patted Darien's shoulder.
"Thank you Mr. Tsukino." Darien got up surprised, as they shook hands. At that they went back out to the living room. He saw that Sammy was taking a picture with Sailor Moon, as she persisted, like she wasn't his sister but a comic book superhero, as her mom watched proudly.
"Darien!" She instantly ran over to him as soon as he entered the room.
"Serena I think I should leave now," He smiled to her. "It's getting late."
"We'll I'll walk you out." She smiled back at him grabbing his arm.
Her father was going to walk out behind them, when her mother stuck her arm out to stop him. They both smiled as he held his wife as they watched the young couple leave the house.
"Goodnight Serena."
"Goodnight Darien."
He held her shoulders as she looked up at him now in the moonlight just before they began to kiss. With that, they transformed back into their regular apparel. They finished kissing, and with a quick hug, Darien began to walk into the darkness back to the arcade where he would then drive to his apartment. She watched him walk away into the darkness of the starry night. Suddenly she heard a familiar music coming from the pocket of her shorts. She looked down and put her hand in her pocket to surprisingly pull out the star moon locket. She felt warmth on her shoulders and looked to her left to see her mom place a blanket on her shoulders.
"Serena, where did you get such a beautiful locket? Now did Darien give that to you?"
Serena looked at it before looking up at the large full moon.
"It's something we share; like a memory, a long time ago."
