Love Me or Forget Me

By- Kukaburry

-Sailor Moon Disclaimer-

Chapter 8- Moments of Faith

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The Sailor Scouts landed with a heavy –thump- in a very small and desolate room. The walls were a grainy white, while the floor was a tiled green color. The dust that had accumulated on the floor was almost five inches deep, so when the girls rose to their feet, they were sneezing and coughing to no end. "Ugh this is disgusting! –Achoo!- Have they never heard of the word 'cleaning' around here?" Lita growled, eyes tearing from her constant sneezing.

Amy whipped out her computer and began typing furiously. A click here, a click there, and she stopped. "Oh goodness. Girls, you're not going to believe this, but somehow we have been transported to the parallel universe I was telling you about. This computer is going haywire with information." As if to prove her words, the computer suddenly blanked and conked out with a small puff of black smoke.

"Looks like we're going to have to survive by seeing," Rei said gloomily, staring sadly at the forlorn computer. They all pricked their eyes up as the thick metal door was pushed slowly open with a groan. "Welcome ladies, to my humble castle."

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Darien and Serena walked side by side silently. Each thinking of what they could say to the other. The shock of finding out each others true identity was still too fresh in their minds.

Darien kept finding his eyes traveling down to Serena's stomach where her shirt was torn to shreds. He saw her shiver every once in a while as the wind changed from warm to chilly. "Here," he said, taking his cape off and handing it to her, "You need it more than I do."

"Thanks," she said numbly, grabbing the cape and wrapping it around her body. It was so large that managed to wrap it around her tiny figure twice. "Why do you stay like that? Why don't you de-transform?" This question had been nagging at her brain for the longest time now.

"I want to be prepared in case something jumps out at us." He said plainly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You know, I'm worried about the other scouts. What if something happens at home and I'm not there to help them. I haven't felt them transform yet… have you?" Serena asked, looking at him expectantly.

Darien gave her a surprised look, "I only feel when you transform Serena. I was sworn to protect Sailor Moon, none of the other scouts." This caused Serena's insides tighten unexpectedly and her body temperature to rise. "Oh…I didn't know.." she trailed off, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Who are the other scouts anyways? I always had a sneaking suspicion that Rei was Sailor Mars. I mean, they both a really fiery temper, don't they?" Darien cracked a smile and Serena giggled. "Yes, Rei is Sailor Mars. Amy is Sailor Mercury. Lita is Sailor Jupiter and Mina is Sailor Venus."

Darien smirked when she said Mina's name, "Sailor V eh? Andrew's going to have a lot to look forward to." Serena smiled half-heartedly and they fell back into a somber silence.

"Darien?" Serena began timidly, not really knowing how to her question, "Do you think Serenity really died? I mean, it would be a waste to live here if she did, because we've been searching for her for a long time now."

Darien grunted, unsure of how to answer, and combed his hand through his hair. This simple action caused Serena's insides to jump and she had to look away for a moment to calm her self down. "I don't really know Serena. That was my mission also, to uncover the Moon Princess. If she's really dead, then you're right, staying here would be pointless."

"If you two find the princess, order would be restored and so would the silver crystal." Both of them jumped when they heard Tybald's voice, forgetting that he was there. "So you're not sure she died." Serena said, hoping she had heard correctly.

"I never saw her body, if that's what you mean. She could have escaped with her prince to another planet for all I know. I only know for a fact that they gave Queen Selenity a proper burial and everyone who was anyone, came to mourn." Tybald explained in a hushed voice, as if the conversation was too unbearable to speak of loudly. The pain in Tybald's voice was enough to erase Serena's questions.

After hours of walking, when the daylight had finally faded, Tybald came to a halt and sat down on his haunches. "I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. It's not easy being small, you know. You don't have the stamina you do when you're a human." Serena and Darien shifted awkwardly in their shoes and looked anywhere but at the little sparrow. "We'll rest here for the night. It's relatively safe. It might be a good idea to start a fire, Darien; I feel a cold night creeping up on us."

Cold was not the best way to describe the wind that roared through the trees. Tybald would have been blown into oblivion if Darien hadn't had the sense to pick up the little creature and climb the nearest tree. Barely ten feet up the tree, the wind was suddenly non-existent; yet they could see the ferns below twisting this way and that with the freezing gusts.

Tybald jumped from limb to limb, finally finding a comfortable nesting place and curling up into a deep sleep. In the meanwhile, Darien and Serena were having trouble just finding a functional tree branch to lie against. They ended up clambering up several more feet, and relaxing on a thick branch.

'I still can't believe my knight is Darien! How can he be so caring when he's in uniform yet…be a pig-headed jerk in real life? But now that look at him, he has all the features of Tuxedo mask! A strong jaw, perfect lips, thick black hair, mysterious yet sexy eyes; not to mention a to-die-for body. He really is worth drooling over, I just never saw past that smart-ass grin of his.' Serena began to trace his jaw line with her eyes and daydream about her beloved Tuxedo Mask; aka Darien.

'The whiny, annoying, cry-baby, sarcastic, air-headed, clumsy Serena is my courageous, sexy, witty Sailor Moon. How is this even physically possible? I mean, Serena does have a fantastic body and cute face, but her personality is way different than Sailor Moons'. She must get serious when other people's lives are in danger. Meatball-head must have some kind of intelligence in her…you just have to coax it out.'

Their thoughts were interrupted by a loud and very human-like snore from the neighboring tree. Darien and Serena met eyes and began laughing quietly. "How do you do it Serena? How do you juggle school and being Sailor Moon? That has to be a pretty tough job." Serena nodded, but then realized he was being sarcastic. He had the same damn responsibilities as her, being Tuxedo Mask.

"You don't have a right to make fun of me all the time Darien. For your information, you don't show up at every battle we have. I have fought plenty more creatures than you have! I'm sorry I'm not a brainiac like Amy. If you want a girl who's a genius, go date her jerk!" She raged at him, not caring if he thought she was a whiny brat, which she supposed he did.

"You're cute when you're angry, Serena. No, I don't want to date Amy. I like girls who like to have fun and are just fun to be around. Being Tuxedo Mask, I always had a thing for Sailor Moon." With that, Darien raised his eyebrows and gave her a suggestive look.

Serena squinted her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him, causing him to chuckle. 'I like his laugh. It's all deep and rumbly.' She thought deviously in her mind. "Well I always thought Tuxedo Mask was one heck of a hunk," she said, smiling mysteriously.

"Oh, so you like Tuxedo Mask, but hate me, even though we're the same person? You have issues Serena." He gave her a childish smile, and she punched him in the arm. "You're more messed up than me. You're in love with Sailor Moon, a girl who's all grown up, but find me too silly. Isn't that right?"

Darien began to blush when the word 'love' escaped her lips. It was true; he was in love with Sailor Moon, who was also Serena, the girl he couldn't stand listening to. He figured Serena had a similar feeling towards Tuxedo Mask. How could two people so completely different, have two alter-egos that were remarkably similar and in love? Who was punishing them; and what had they done wrong?

Without even realizing it, Serena began to drift off to sleep, and laid her head on Darien's comforting shoulder. He turned his head and softened his eyes. He wrapped a securing arm around her shoulder and allowed her head to rest on his chest. "I don't get you sometimes meatball-head," he taunted, breathing slowly so as not to disturb her. "So what's new?" He heard her mumble into his shirt, and chuckled to himself.

They fell into a very peaceful sleep, being so close together, and dreamed of nothing at all. Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched by a very angry pair of eyes.

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Serena awoke, drool in her hair, in very warm and very protective arms. She glanced up groggily to find a pair of sharp blue eyes gazing at her. "Is it morning already?" She yawned unattractively. "The sun hasn't risen yet, but I think its pretty close." He announced, looking through the branches above quickly. "Wake me when it rises then." She slurred, nestling her head into his stomach and drifted back to sleep.

Darien's heart hummed softly as he looked down on her angelic face. 'Devil by day, angel by night' he thought to himself, brushing back a strand of hair from her face. "Friends! We must be on our way! This area is no longer safe, the hunters are out searching for you! We must leave quickly." Tybald's anxious voice rang.

Darien shook Serena lightly and her eyes lolled open. "Serena," he whispered, "We have to go. It's an emergency." It seemed to do the trick. She was up in a flash, and shimmied down the tree in a cat-like manner, Darien right on her heels. A bone-chilling howl broke the morning silence, causing their hearts to catch in their throats.

Darien took Tybald and placed him on his shoulder and grabbed Serena's hand and he took off, Tybald muttering directions to him as he sprinted. "Oh no! They're going to catch us Darien!" Serena sobbed, barely keeping up with Darien's swift strides.

"Stop worrying Serena, with Tybald on our side, we'll be fine," Darien said this with a less-than confident air, yet Serena never noticed. Even after several minutes of hurried running, they could hear their pursuer closing in on them, thrashing through the brush like crazed beasts. (Which they probably were.)

Darien decided that their little friend had helped them enough. He didn't think risking this poor fellow's life was worth it, so he stopped just long enough to place him on a nearby branch. "Farewell Serena, Darien. I will have your good will in my heart. Just continue towards the northern star. She will guide you towards your destination. Good luck!" With another mighty crash only a few hundred feet behind them, Darien tugged on Serena's hand and without a moment hesitation, hurried forwards. Tybald watched their retreating backs and muttered to himself, "May Selenity's spirit be with you both."

"Darien! Why don't we just face these creatures? We're probably strong enough to face them!" Darien gave her a backwards glance and said, "I don't want us to battle anything if we don't have to."

Unfortunately for Darien, that was not one of his options. An ear-splitting howl rang through the forest and Darien looked back to find two wolf-like creatures were rushing, step-in-step, towards them. "Transform now Serena, before they catch us." She nodded and took her compact out, "Moon Prism Power!"

The two wolves yelped, and came to a halt at the blinding flash. Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask were standing side-by-side, prepared for battle. "So here's the moon brat we were sent out to kill. Looks like she has a little sidekick with her, the more for the draining." One sneered, licking his lips in anticipation. If one were to describe these two creatures, one would say they looked like wolf-rabbits. That's precisely what they were, large and dangerous wolf teeth with powerful back legs like those of a rabbit.

"I don't think so. I am Sailor Moon, champion of love and Justice! I get to the bottom of every hairy problem. I will triumph over evil, and that means you!" Serena yelled, lifting her Tiara from her forehead.

The two wolves lunged at Serena, jaws open, ready to rip open her throat and suck her of her energy. "Moon Tiara Stardust!" The tiara flew from her hand, slicing through the first wolf and sending him back to the bowls of hell from whence he came, leaving behind a dazed-looking innocent creature. A strike from a rose that Darien threw was enough to slow down the attack of the second wolf. "Moon Tiara Magic!" With that final attack, the corrupted soul living in the creature was banished.

"Aww, look how cute they are Darien!" Serena squealed, petting the rabbit-wolves with adoration. "You're being nice to them even though they tried to kill us?" Darien questioned her, chuckling at her positive views on life. "It wasn't their fault they had been possessed. They're just poor animals. Go on little fellows, run along." The two wolves licked her hand and hopped back away into the forest.

"See Darien, you just have to get to know me." She winked at him and sauntered forward, pretending Darien was just part of the scenery. Darien narrowed his eyes but his attention was drawn to her endlessly long legs. He had never really noticed just how short her skirt really was. It was meant to draw attention to her figure, which it succeeded in doing extremely well. He swallowed hard and caught up to her quickly.

"We make a pretty good team." Serena said, smiling serenely up at Darien with mysteriously misty eyes. He found himself caught in the sea of her eyes, feeling himself falling deeper into them. He found that he particularly enjoyed this feeling. He realized she was waiting for an answer so he just said, "I guess. Serena, the small but mighty," he teased. Serena stuck her tongue out and flicked him on the head. "As if buster." Things were going back to normal between them, much better than before, in fact. Both Serena and Darien de-transformed and walked together in peaceful silence.

"Oh my gosh! Serena!" A young, female voice reached their ears. Serena couldn't place where the voice was coming from, so she spun in a circle, squinting her eyes against the daylight. She heard a twig crack to her left and she turned her head. "Serena, it's me, Sarah!" The girl said, her head still hidden in the shadows. "Sarah Lino? Oh my gosh! I heard that you were captured! Are you okay? Did anything happen to you? Have you seen Christy? What are you….." her voice gave way to a gasp and a shriek from what she saw when Sarah stepped forward from the shadows. "Oh my god! Your face! Sarah, what happened to your face?"

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Another chapter finished. stretches whew, that took me longer than normal again. Well, I start school again tomorrow… so I hope you guys won't be disappointed if I don't update tomorrow. ;-) R&R please! Kukaburry