The next day, Serena was up and at it by eight in the morning, which surprised her mother and father. Before high school, Serena's sleeping habits were generally to sleep in until noon no matter what day it was. Fortunately for her benefit, being in college meant getting up early no matter how tired she was and after a month of whining and such she eventually got over it. In fact, she grew to love waking up before everyone else just to see their reactions to her new habit.

This morning was a surprise for not only her parents but also Darien as well. He came down nearly a half hour after Serena did and was surprised to see his girlfriend already hard at work making breakfast.

"Serena? Is that really you?" Darien asked, remembering how much Serena detested cooking. Of course that was years ago.

"Yup, it's me alright, just finishing up breakfast for you," she said, laying a plate full of pancakes with a decent amount of syrup and butter on the top. There was also bacon and eggs, and if before Darien wasn't hungry he sure was now.

"What happened to the old Serena that preferred junk food," Darien teased, just as Serena's mother came walking in, her expression was similar to Darien's when he first came down.

Serena went and placed the frying pan down on the stove, "Morning mom!"

"Oh Serena you didn't have to do all this for us you know," she said as she sat down, and Serena's father came in next and he sat at the table.

Serena smiled, "I swore that I'd put what I learned in cooking class to good use while I am here. So, don't be shy and help yourselves."
Darien took a closer look at the pancake in front of him. It had red spots all over it, but Serena seemed to answer the question with her next statement.

"My own original pancake recipe: strawberries."

Darien mentally gave a sigh of relief, "I was wondering why it looked that way. Most people prefer blueberries."

Serena sat down in her seat, "Yeah well, Rini left a note or two in my room detailing the recipe, but she never did say if it worked or not. So...I gave it a go."

Feeling more assured that he wouldn't regret it later, Darien placed a piece of the pancake in his mouth and started eating. To his surprise his taste buds were on overload with excitement! "Wow, Serena, this is really good!"

Serena did a victory dance in her head, but she couldn't help but pump her fist into the air in triumph. She'll be sure to thank Rini later for the recipe.

Meanwhile the television was turned on and it was a news bulletin.

"Last night, another attack was reported in the park when police discovered a woman unconscious on a bench. There was no sign of a struggle, but the EMTs on the scene have reported that the victim had suffered great deal of blood loss. No arrests have been made and even medical officials are baffled on how a healthy woman could collapse from what they have termed 'sudden anemia'. Details will be reported as soon as they are received."

Serena's father sat down and started to read the paper, "That's the second victim in three days, wonder what is going on."

The father was reading, and the mother was eating, but both Serena and Darien had lost their smiles and found themselves looking at each other. They felt something was wrong and that they might have to do something about it.

Serena remembered the night she came back from college, after Jedite had been defeated once and for all, that an ambulance had made a similar call about blood loss in a female victim. She didn't think too highly about it right away, but Luna had pointed out as usual that it was something to look into in case it happened again. The cat was right, apparently. Good thing for everyone that Serena had secretly confided with Darien about it. He had suggested to not make a big deal out of it unless there were more cases, other wise Serena would be making a big deal out of it for nothing.

Needless to say, Serena knew now was a good time to tell the others about this problem, and that they may need Scout Power to deal with it just in case.

After breakfast, Serena and Darien decided to meet with the others at Rei's grandfather's place. Of course, Darien pointed out that it would be like old times, since Rei usually had study sessions there back in middle school.

When they got there, the first thing that Serena wanted to talk about was the 'sudden anemia' attacks, but once Darien went off to talk to Rei's grandpa Serena was bombarded with questions. The most common was how Darien was surviving her dad, of course.

"Well, let's just say that I had to use a lot of diplomacy..." Serena admitted, though she secretly wished in retrospect that she had asked her mother for help right from the get go. She was grateful though that her dad was kept in check while Darien was around.

"Gee, I always wondered what dad would do when he finally met Darien, my guess was pretty close in the end," said Rei with a smile.

Ami put down the book she was reading, "Actually I always pictured Darien as a part of Serena's family-" She regretted saying that almost right away. Serena's face was all flustered and red, looking like she'd explode with embarrassment.

Truth was, she never told the others about Darien's promise ring, the ring he had given her just before he had left for America. She didn't feel the need to tell them because she felt that they would be like 'we always knew you'd be together in the end', and that was expected. She also felt it was the most personal moment she had ever had with him, and that she wanted to share with just him. That was the real reason she didn't tell them. Unfortunately it worked against her here. Ami wasn't guilty of anything because she didn't know about it.

"A-Anyway! You guys hear? there was another attack made the other night."

Mina, who was petting Artemis as he sat on her lap resting, spoke next, "The 'sudden anemia' attacks? I've noticed that some people are not going out at night due to it."

"Hold on a sec. Ami, what exactly is 'sudden anemia' anyway?" Lita said, passing a plate of her homemade cookies to Serena.

'Always leave it to the smartest girl in the room,' Luna thought to herself, sitting near the door.

Once again, Ami set her book down, closing it this time. "First off, anemia is caused by a lack of blood. Sudden anemia is usually given to those who have lost a great deal in a short amount of time."

Rei pointed out something, "Blood loss? Doesn't sound like anything from the Negaverse we've encountered before. Could this be a different enemy we're faced with here?"

Serena stood up, "Doesn't matter. If the police cannot handle this, then we'll just have to do something about it ourselves, right?"

Rei was impressed, "What do you know, the meatball head sounds like a leader. Whatever happened to the Serena who would just go and whine all the time-"

A pillow that Serena was sitting on went right into Rei's face, and Serena didn't seem pleased with what she had said, "People change you know!"

Rei threw the pillow back, "Hey! It was supposed to be a compliment! Take this!"

Mina and Artemis took off for the door, while Ami and Lita sighed in disappointment. Luna was knocked out cold within the first few pillow throws.

"Lunch anyone-hm?" Darien, who had just finished speaking with grandpa, found himself experiencing a cat fight.