Author's Note: this is Serena speaking telepathically with someone

This is Li speaking telepathically with someone

This is dream/flashback sequence

- this is communicating in sign language of some sort-

Vestal, a week later:

Mizuno Saeko looks at the Moon Princess sitting in front of her, " You'll be happy to know that the treatments are working as predicted, Serena. You ready for the next one? "

Serena sighs and nods her head before laying down, the treatments may drain her but if she could get her throat healed and her voice back then it was well worth the trouble. Dan was once again waiting in the lobby for her. The eighteen year old male flicks through a Bakugan magazine and nearly groans at the four page spread on him until he comes across an interview that he hadn't given. With a sigh he steps outside to call Marucho and tell him what he'd found. Marucho promises to deal with the legalities of the false interview and Dan steps back inside. Flipping through the rest of the magazine he sighs when the article says he's available. Now he damn well knew he'd stated he was off the market.

Dan groans and resolves to buy a copy of the magazine or see if Klaus had one just so he could lambast the idiot who wrote that article. Julie would never have done something like that to him. Hopefully he got this settled before Li decided to take matters into her own hands, " Hey, Kisa, any idea on how much longer Re will be? " Dan asks.

" Another twenty minutes at the least, Mister Kuso. "

" Dan, please, I always want to look for my father when someone other than a teacher would call me Mr. Kuso. " Dan says.

" Dan then. Why are you making an effort to get to know the staff here? " Kisa asks.

" I'd like to know this as well. "

Dan looks over at the amethyst haired nurse that had spoken, " Ah, Sira, you weren't working last week, what happened? I get to know you all because you're the backbone of the medical profession. "

" My sister was getting married so I used one of my days off. " Sira answers his question.

" That's cool, family is important after all. What's your opinion of your in law? " Dan asks her.

" My brother-in-law is a total jerk but he makes my sister happy though if I catch him cheating on her I'll send him your way, Dan. "

Dan laughs at this, " I'll be happy to teach him the error of his ways, Sira. "

" I thought you would, Dan. " Sira says as she heads off on her rounds. Dan was getting to know the hospital staff quite well.

" Kisa, let me know when Re is done, I'm gonna go visit the children's ward. " Dan says.

" I'll send someone to go get you, Dan. " Kisa says, " Or I'll page you. "

Dan heads for the children's ward and the kids cheer upon seeing him. He was quite the famous brawler on Vestal after all, especially since he had been the main one to take down Zenoheld, Hydron may have finished the job but he had done the lion's share of the work. " Kids, I won't be here long, I'm just killing time until Serena is done with her latest treatment. "

They collectively sigh at that but make the most of the time they have him for. Drago and Lunara talked with the kids as well, soon Sira is approaching him and Dan smiles apologetically at the kids, " I'll try to come back soon, okay, Serena's done now and her treatments always leave her weak so I need to take her home now. "

" Bye, Dan, Drago, and Lunara. " is the collective conclusion to the play time Dan had with the kids.

" You're good with them, Dan. " Sira says.

" Hey, they need some joy in their lives and if I can give them some then I will. " Dan says and goes to stand by the elevators and steadies Serena on her exit from the elevators. " You good to go, Re? " Dan asks her.

She's out, Danny. I'm starting to feel it as well. Just get us home, okay. I need, we need sleep. Li says to him.

Dan curses internally, Can you two handle all these treatments?

Yeah, we're good, Dan. Have to have a few protein shakes later on and Lita makes extremely good ones, nothing to worry about.

I just don't like how weak this is making your body, Li.

We can handle it, Danny. You'll know if we can't and Saeko is making damn sure to not tax us too much.

All right, Li, please, take it easy, just do katas for now, no sparring, okay, for me and my peace of mind.

Fine, for you, Danny, but you need to keep training hard core, understand me, that way if I'm not back up to speed you'll be able to defend me and my lighter half.

Deal, Li. Dan says and once they've reached Klaus' land he swings her up into his arms, carrying her the rest of the way.

Meanwhile, Baron is thinking a lot on what Master Dan had told him and decides Master Dan was right, he did need to grow a set and ask Hotaru on a simple picnic. Lita could easily make the picnic for them, now he just had to get Hotaru alone long enough to ask her. Ace chuckles, " Finally made up your mind, huh, Baron? "

" Yeah, I did, Ace, though when will you ask Mira out and don't give me the excuse that she's on Earth, you could have easily gone to visit. " Baron points out.

Ace glares at him, " Dan's been a good influence on you, Baron, unlike your father. Don't get me wrong, your dad's a good guy but he has no spine. "

" I know, which why I'm kinda glad I met Master Dan when I did, Ace. As you know I'm the oldest in my family and it's hard not having someone I can turn to for advice. Dan gives me that, an older brother type figure. " Baron says.

" What about me? " Ace asks, offended.

" Ace, back in the resistance you weren't that approachable, Dan was. " Baron points out.

" I guess you do have a point with that. I did brawl him for over three hours because I didn't trust him. "

" You two never did settle that, although you still seem to be evenly matched in terms of stubbornness. " Baron states.

" I just can't believe he wouldn't give in. " Ace says.

They both hear a snort, " Dude, in all the time you've known me, have I ever given in, in a brawl? " Dan asks Ace.

" Didn't know you back when we first met. " Ace tells him.

" Okay, true, but seeing as how I had helped to save New Vestroia from Naga you should have known that I had the Bakugan's best interests at heart. " Dan points out to the Darkus Brawler.

" You could have been faking it or in it for the glory. " Ace fires back.

" Oh, please, you were just worried that he would steal Mira away from you and that's it. " Baron says deadpan.

Ace face faults at the way Baron said this, " Our little Haos Brawler has some teeth. "

Dan chuckles, " Good to see you're growing up, Baron, now I need to get Li, and yes, Li is in control, some place where she can sleep, then I'll be back to brawl you into submission, Ace. "

" You wish, Dan. " Ace says.

Dan smirks and teleports into the living room, gets his girlfriend settled and teleports back out, " Yeah, that's right, I can teleport now. "

While Dan and Ace brawl Shun and Julie are working with Lita on her brawling skills while Marucho works with Hotaru. They had to get their new brawlers up to speed and fast. Baron backs away from Dan and Ace's brawl and marks the time, they had brawled for over three hours the last time and Dan had kept brawling competitively ever since taking down Zenoheld, he and Drago would have only gotten more powerful since.

" Ability activate Dragon Exploder. "

" Ability activate Darkus Thunder. "

" Not enough, Ace. "

Baron groans, neither one of them was going to give in, again and that would make for a very long brawl. Baron backs further away and leans against a tree, he might as well get comfortable, this would be a long brawl. As the battle continues on Baron sighs, Dan had once again taken to throwing Drago in with a curve and neither he nor Ace were willing to let one shoot their Bakugan in before the other. Baron checks the time and sees that they have already been brawling for close to four hours.

Shun comes up just then, " How long have they been going at it anyhow, Baron? "

" Close to four hours, Master Shun. " Baron answers.

" They're both too stubborn for their own good, but they push each other as well, which is a good thing. " Shun says.

" Double Ability Activate, Dragon Blade and Dragon Tornado. "

" Gate Card open! " Ace calls out, " Brain Control. "

" Aw, snap, someone's been taking lessons from Alice. " Dan says.

" That's right, Dan. "

Dan smirks, " Have you forgotten about Mechtogan Destroyers, Ace, and Drago happens to have one. Bakugan Brawl, Dragonoid Destroyer, stand. "

Ace curses this, he'd forgotten Dan had kept brawling while he'd only brawled to keep Percival in shape. Ace snarls and activates a double ability managing to bring him and Dan to a draw again. " Snap, you are just too off the rim still, Ace. "

" So are you, Dan. " Ace admits.

" Four hours, you two were battling for four hours. Are you both insane? " Baron asks them.

" Nah, Li's given me orders that I need to train hard core and what's more hard core than battling Ace, whom I've never had a decisive victory against. " Dan says.

" I really hate to admit this but Dan raises a very good point. " Shun says.

Dan sighs, " I'd love to stay and hash this out but I should go check on Li, and yes, Li is still in control. "

With that being said Dan teleports away and kneels down to check on his girlfriend. Thankfully she had yet to develop a fever from these treatments, Mizuno-sensei had said it was possible she could. Dan brushes a strand of hair back behind her ear and gently kisses her on her forehead, " Dormez bien, princesse( Sleep well, princess). " Dan murmurs softly and heads to the kitchen to get a snack.

" When did you realize you truly loved her? "

Dan smirks, " It'll take more than that to startle me, Lita. As for when I realized I loved her, truly loved her would be after the resistance dealt with Zenoheld and just after she had gotten done dealing with Master Pharaoh Ninety. She came to me and that was when I realized the danger we both faced was all too real. "

Lita sighs, " Unlike Mamoru I trust you with her. I have never seen her so relaxed and happy around anyone else, ever. "

" Comes from her practically living on the streets. I'm the only one she ever lets her guard down around completely, the only one that ever sees her vulnerable. " Dan states matter of factly.

" There were times when she was fighting that I could swear there was fire in her eyes. " Lita says.

" There would have been, I'm a Pyrus Attributed Brawler. If I could help her out by lending her my fighting spirit then I would. "

" I guess that does make sense. Did she tell you everything? " Lita asks.

" Of course, she needed someone whom could help her out, give her a strong shoulder to lean on. I don't think any of you ever realized how damn hard it is to be a leader, how much pressure it puts on someone. Shun understands because he tried to be the leader of the Brawlers while we were dealing with Mechtavius and I hadn't gotten Drago's new power under control yet. He crashed and burned. Not everyone is cut out to be a leader. Is it really true that Mars seems to think that she would make a much better leader? "

" Yeah, it is. " Lita says.

Dan snorts at this ludicrous notion, " That girl wouldn't last more than ten minutes. I've been a volunteer at the shrine a few times and she's nothing more than a bully. You can't get anywhere as a leader if you just act like a dictator. Would you follow her if she were your leader? "

" Hell no, I'd be more likely to break the bitch's nose than to obey her in battle. Serena knows what she's doing as she makes sure that there are no civilians in the way before she launches an attack, unlike most of the others. Saturn and I always made sure the civilians were out of the way as well. I did hear that Luna managed to keep Mars from blowing up a jet when she, Mercury, and Moon faced Jadeite for the final time. " Lita says.

" Ouch, that would have been hard to explain. I've actually shouted her down, not to mention kicked her ass for coming down on my Re. I may not look like it, but I can fight with the best of them. Just ask Shun what happened the last time we sparred seriously. " Dan says.

Juuban:

Hino Rei once again sits before the Great Fire trying to divine the future or where the hime happened to be. Once again she sees the hime kicking her ass and this time she saw the interloper challenging Mamoru-sama for his throne, his birthright. She comes out of her trance in a state of shock, had the Earth turned away from Mamoru-sama, but why?

Hope Island:

" Gaea, where are you? "

" Demeter, you should have more sense than to just pop up. I really do not want to explain you to my Planeteers. Dan needs more time, he won't leave Serena while she is vulnerable. " Gaea says.

" I hate the fact that I can understand that. He'll probably head to Neathia to be trained in the noble art of sword fighting once Serena is able to travel again, right? " Demeter asks.

" Yes, as he is a Neathian Castle Knight, one on standby admittedly, but he is still a Castle Knight. Helios has contacted him and Dan is determined to defeat Endymion and put a stop to Serenity's machinations. " Gaea says.

" He may be a fresh soul, Gaea, but Dan Kuso is not one for backing down, ever. He saved Vestroia twice, Earth several times and stopped the war between Neathia and Gundalia, he is not an individual to be trifled with in any way. " Demeter states.

Elsewhere:

The Mistress looks highly disturbed when she sees the corpse of one of her minions along with a clinging violet aura, " Shit, the Shinimegami is pissed. Shimatta, this was the last thing we needed, Shinimegami-sama getting wind of our activities. "

The Mistress curses some more, Shinimegami was said to be a fierce and loyal protector of the Moon Princess, this could not be worse if the situation tried. Then she sees the note, stating that they knew who she was and to DODGE. She tosses the note away and throws a shield up only to curse as the divine kunai puncture it. Dammit, the reaper of rapists had been the one to deliver the message, damn former kunoichi.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, Bakugan Battle Brawlers, Gaea or the Planeteers, or Anko, nor do I own Demeter.