A/n: I do not own Sailor Moon.

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Serena was so late. 'Rei is going to kill me' the blonde haired girl thought as she continued her run to the temple. She had been so determined to be on time, but then her mom said they were having chocolate cake for dessert since her dad had gotten a new promotion. Who could turn down chocolate cake? Certainly not Serena, and then Rini had to have her help her take a bath. It was if the world was conspiring against her to be late. Serena had pulled back her long hair into her usual hair-style and it helped with being able to see since it was out of her face. She finally arrived to the temple nearly twenty minutes late. She caught her breath before she walked in, because she knew Rei was going to have a speech for her.

"What is he doing here?" Serena yelled immediately when she walked in. Her eyes went straight towards the couch where her ex-boyfriend was seating on next to Ami, and Lita. There was an empty spot between Lita and Darien which meant someone had been occupying the seat not too long ago. "I thought we were having a sleepover. You lied to me."

"I thought we were supposed to be discussing our battles and these new enemies after Rini." Darien said with anger in his voice, because he hated being lied to.

"We are doing both," Rei explained as she tried to calm down the two exes. "We didn't lie to either of you. Serena why don't you go have a seat?"

Serena groaned as the only seat left was the empty spot on the couch next to Lita and Darien. Serena sat down, but she did something no one expected. Instead of leaning more towards Lita, she had leaned her body more towards her ex-boyfriend. Neither of them had realized how half of their bodies were touching one another. Serena even accidentally placed her hand on Darien's left knee briefly before she pulled it off and uttered a quiet 'sorry'. Now the exes were fully aware of their contact, but still neither of them moved.

"We know things are slightly awkward," Ami started the conversation about what the Scouts felt the urgency to discuss between their Princess and Prince.

"However neither of you can let your emotions get the best of you," Mina added.

"We will not put our lives in danger-" Lita tried to add, but was cut off by the fiery priestess.

"So you two better be able to fight together or neither of you will be allowed at the battles." Rei finished.

"I don't see the point to this," Serena said confused of why the Scouts felt this was necessary, because Tuxedo Mask wouldn't be aiding Sailor Moon. "Because in case you are not informed, Tuxedo Mask will not be aiding Sailor Moon. I think fighting off two youmas by myself should be all the proof you need."

"He is the only person who can save you with a life-saving kiss," Ami said as she stood up so Serena could see how sincere she was being. She didn't want to lose her Princess over a silly breakup. "I am sorry, but I don't think any of us girls will being kissing you anytime soon or in this millennium. We all know how hard this breakup has been, but you need him. We can't let you die, because of a silly breakup."

Now Serena was furious. She jumped up from her seat. "How do you know he could save me now?" She asked them, because it had been a long time since Darien had revived her with a kiss. The last time he had still loved her. "He doesn't love me. He is only helping me, because it is his duty to protect the Princess. I am not her. He fell in love with Serenity first, and he was probably hoping I would become her, but I didn't. He would care if I died as plain old Serena." She could feel the tears as they streamed down her face, but she couldn't hold them back anymore. Serena also knew how much Darien hated when someone referred to him in the third person when he was in the room.

Darien stood up in a fit of rage. His ex-girlfriend surely knew how to get under his skin. How could she think he wouldn't care if she would die? Obviously he would care. It was the reason why he broke up with over a dream where she ended up dying. "Meatball Head if it wasn't for me everyone would have discovered your secret," Darien said as he called her by the nickname she hated the most. "I swept in quick enough so no one saw the de-transformation. I took you in, instead of leaving you out on the streets. And in case you have forgotten I have saved your life more times than I can count. Obviously I care about you. I do not wish you dead."

"Calm down you guys," Mina said as she wedged herself between the two extremely pissed off exes. Obviously the couple needed to talk, but this wasn't the place to do it. "Hey Rena, why don't you think you are like Serenity? After-all you are her reincarnation." It was question the Scout of Love wanted to be answered. She never knew how insecure Serena truly is about herself.

"Serenity was elegant, smart, beautiful, and she was loved by everyone."

"You know everyone loves you, Rena."

"He doesn't. Endy would have never broken Serenity's heart. He believed in her and their love. Endymion died for her-"

"Darien died for you too." Ami had cut her off as she corrected her Princess.

"No, he died for the Princess not for Serena."

"You really are a Meatball Head, aren't you?" Darien asked her with hurt and anger in his voice. How could she think he died for the Princess? He would sacrifice himself if she was in danger as just Serena.

"I am sorry, but I can't do this." Serena said with sadness in her voice before she ran out of the temple in the middle of the night.

It took Darien only a minute to realize how much of a jerk he was being to run after Serena. For someone who is supposedly a "klutz" she could certainly run very far in a short distance. He tried to use their bond to sense her, but she had shut him out. He ran to the rose garden knowing she loved to visit it when they were together. He spotted a blonde haired girl crying on a bench by herself. Slowly he walked over to her and took a seat next to her.

"I'm sorry," He said, and Serena looked at him bewildered by his statement. Darien wasn't known for apologies. "I didn't realize how insecure you are. I now need to tell you the truth-"

"I know the truth." Serena interrupted him not wanting to cry anymore over how love of her life loves her past self more.

"No, you don't. I lied when I said I didn't break up with you over the nightmare of you dying-"

"But if you broke up with me because you were protecting me then why did you say it was your duty to protect the Princess?"

"I knew you would want to get back together," Darien paused because he knew he would had to be extremely careful in what he would say next to her. He never wanted to hurt her, it was never his intention. "But I couldn't live with knowing if you died it would have been my fault."

"So do you...want to get back together?" She asked confused. She didn't know what to think anymore.

"No, I used to but now I know it is for the best." Darien said looking down on the ground, because he couldn't bear to stare into her blue eyes knowing he caused her so much pain. However he knew they couldn't go back to how things were before, because of Serena's insecurities. "I don't think we could go back. Obviously your jealous of your former self isn't going away anytime soon. I can't be with you if you are going to compare everything I do to my former self. I made a promise to protect you and I will continue to, but I don't think we should be romantically involved."

Serena felt the hot tears as they burned against her cheeks. She wished there could be something she could say to him about how he is wrong, but she knew no words could fix this. She burned any possibility of them getting back together nearly thirty minutes ago when she confessed her feelings about his love or lack of love for her.

Neither of them had a chance to say another word, because Serena's Scout Communicator interrupted the awkward silence to warn them about a youma at the park about two blocks away. Serena transformed as she ran towards the park not once looking back to see if Darien was hot on her trail. She had a duty to protect Earth as Sailor Moon, but she prayed her mind wouldn't distract her with her recent breakup.

"Hey Fire-breath, you are destroying a beautiful park with your ugly mouth." Serena started her usual introductory speech as she interrupted the fight between the fire breathing youma and the Scouts. "I am Sailor Moon the Champion of Love and Justice, and I will punish you."

The youma merely laughed and the battle raged on. Unfortunately for the Scouts their leader's mind was elsewhere. Serena began to think about every aspect of her relationship with Darien. 'It's my duty to protect the Princess' ran through her mind over and over again. She couldn't understand how he could destroy her heart in order to protect her.

"Moon watch out," Rei's voice pulled Serena from her deep thoughts as a ball of fire was coming straight towards her. Serena couldn't move instead she stared down the flame as it headed to hit her. However she was pulled out of the direct hit of the flame before it could have harmed her.

"Do you seriously have a death wish?" Tuxedo Mask asked her as he kept her pinned on the ground. She saw the anger in his blue eyes. She didn't have an answer for him, because she wasn't sure if she wanted to die or if she had been caught off guard by the youma.

"Moon will you actually do something useful?" Sailor Mars shouted at the couple.

Darien had stood up and offered her his hand to help her up, but she declined. Serena was done with this. All the anger she had pent up inside of her was about to be unleashed.

"Moon. Tiara. Action." Serena yelled as she whirled her tiara towards the youma's stomach which Sailor Mercury had said to be the weak spot.

The youma turned to dust, but now Serena had a bigger problem to face...the Scouts were going to want answers. The Scouts walked up to her and Tuxedo Mask, who hadn't left already like he usually does. The Scouts started to yell at her about how she should have been more focused, and how she is lucky Tuxedo Mask was there to save her.

"I told you I can't do this," Serena said as she cut off Sailor Mar's rant about how she needs to be a better leader. Serena de-transformed back into her civilian clothes, because she was ready to walk away from it all. She wasn't fit for this job anymore. "I Serena Rose Tsukino herby stand down as Sailor Moon. The powers granted to me by the Moon Kingdom as Princess of the Moon will allow you to fight without my aid. I shouldn't have ever been your leader. I only drag you guys down so from here on out, I will be no longer Sailor Moon. You all must protect this city."

"Meatball Head this isn't a funny joke." Sailor Mars said with anger in her voice. It was not the time to joke about quitting.

"This is no joke. As your Princess I demand you to respect my decision." Serena said with authority in her voice. For the first time in a long time Serena had demanded something from her friends.

"As you wish, but don't forget you cannot run from your destiny or past forever." Tuxedo Mask said before he made his exit.

The Scouts watched as their former leader walked away. They stood their speechless as they tried to figure out what went wrong and how they were going to kill off youmas without their leader. Even Rei, who is the more stubborn one knew it was going to be a whole lot tougher without Sailor Moon fighting by their side.

"I think we royally screwed things up." Mina stated, and the three other girls nodded their heads in agreement.

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