Moonlight Dark Knight

By: Sandreline

Hello everyone! I couldn't believe all the responses I got from the last chapter- maybe I should leave such cliff-hangers more often! Ha-ha.

Please see my special surprise note for you all at the end of this chapter! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 10: Communication is Key

Serenity was not certain if her heart was beating so fast that she couldn't feel it, or if it had stopped altogether. In any event, the Lunarian could do nothing but stand helplessly with wide eyes as she stared at the man that stood beside her father, looking every bit the billionaire businessman that he was. His dark blue eyes were unreadable for her, despite the fact they were piercing her own as he wore a charming smirk on his face.

"Sere," Her father began, "I must admit that I am disappointed in you. How could you neglect to inform us that Mr. Wayne would be here this evening?"

Because I didn't bloody well know he would be! She mentally cried out, even though she still remained as stiff as stone.

"It was not at all her fault, Mr. Tsukino." Bruce began, finally taking his eyes off the deer-in-the-headlights face of the Moon Princess. "Her invitation held no specific time, and when I found this to be her last known residence, I could not stifle my desire to see her again and wished to surprise her."

"Well, I must say that worked out wonderfully, Mr. Wayne!" Ikuko smiled at the younger man. "My daughter is very surprised." Without hesitation, the blue-haired woman turned to her daughter. "And close your mouth, Sere, it is not very appropriate behavior, and I know I taught you better than to stand there with an open mouth." Serenity flushed a bright red as she snapped her mouth shut, and Ikuko turned a pleasing smile back to their guest. "Kenji and I shall set up the table, and leave you two to talk."

Her husband looked like he was prepared to argue the point; however before his mouth could open his wife pulled him down the hall and into the kitchen. The door closed behind them, muffling the argument the married couple were about to have about leaving the playboy with their innocent daughter.

Bruce turned blue eyes back to Serenity, his eyes landing momentarily on the black feline that was on her shoulder who an equally shocked expression. Lifting his gaze to meet Serenity's once more, he gave a dark smirk. The smirk deepened when he saw the flush on her cheeks spread down her neck.

They stood there in silence for a minute longer, the Moon Princess having found her ability to move and began to fidget under his gaze. She had begun to ring the bottom of her shirt nervously in her hands before his deep voice rocked her back to the situation at hand. "Serenity."

"Bruce." She responded to him, her voice wavering slightly.

"Luna." The cat spoke in sarcasm as she said her own name in a way to jest about their talk, in turn moving the attention back to her. "What are you doing here?" The feline asked, her maroon eyes lowering slightly at Gotham's playboy.

"Getting answers." He spoke, taking a few steps closer to the silvery-blonde. His Batman persona came forth as a mix of anger and confusion and warmth spread through him. His eyes lowered as his voice took a quieter tone, aware of her parents in the other room, but it laced with the anger of the Bat. "Did you enjoy playing games with my mind, Princess?" He spat the title. "Did you enjoy watching me search for you, trying to find you only to have you run away?"

"What...?" Serenity sputtered in shock.

"You will not address her highness like that, Lord of Titan!" Luna hissed.

Bruce's eyes snapped to the cat. "So you remember who I am?"

"Yes, I do." Luna snapped. "I remember well your ways of frightening an enemy, but the Princess is no such thing."

"Bruce, I..." Serenity began, before being cut off.

"Do you know how frustrating it is to see you in my mind all these years, yet not know who you are?" Bruce's cold blue eyes went back to her.

"Yes." Her voice was just as cold as his own as anger suddenly swirled inside of her body. She stood straighter with the regal finesse of her mother as she spoke next. "I have known for years about you, yet I did not know until that night that Two Face attacked that you were even alive. I thought I was going to be alone forever."

"I was alone forever." Bruce spat. "My parents were killed when I was a child; I solving and stopping crimes in the darkest place on Earth with only Alfred-"

"Alfred!" Serenity's eyes widened slightly as a small smile stretched her lips. "He is here? Is he well?" She had always had a soft spot for the kindly old man who, when his duties to the Lord of Titan were complete, would keep her company when Bruce was called away and tell her stories of his master's past.

"Do not stray the subject!" Bruce whispered harshly. Luna fell off of Serenity's shoulder as Bruce grabbed the Lunarian's upper arms, pulling her to him and placing his lips on hers in a demanding kiss.

Serenity's eyes widened in surprise before they closed in bliss, relaxing against the muscled body as memories flashed in her mind's eye. She brought her hands up to rest on his chest as she returned the kiss, inhaling his masculine scent of cologne and the still-lingering scent of Kevlar armor.

The kiss lasted for a few moments before he pushed her away, his expression unreadable. His hands slowly released her arms and returned to his side, and from the corner of his eyes he noticed a glaring feline at his feet. Just as he was about to speak, the door to the kitchen opened and Ikuko walked out with a large smile on her face. In her hands was a large serving dish of potatoes and slices of steak. Kenji walked out behind his wife, carrying a serving plate of grilled vegetables and corn. "Dinner is ready!" Mrs. Tsukino told them happily as she walked into the formal dining room, which was elegantly set up.

Serenity and Bruce did not say a word as they walked over to table, and somehow ended up sitting beside each other. They remained silent until Ikuko took notice of the tense atmosphere. "Sere dear, would you mind filled the glasses with the water from the pitcher?"

"Of course, Mama." Serenity said, standing from her chair and moving to the side table where the pitcher resided. Knowing her mother, it was ice cold with lemon slices floating- and sure it enough, she was right. She poured first for their guest, before moving to fill her father's and mother's glasses and then her own. Apparently, her brother was out at a friend's house for the night, and Serenity was rather glad about that fact. She could only imagine the jokes and comments her younger spore would be making about this whole situation!

As she was pouring her father his glass, Kenji spoke. "So, Mr. Wayne, just how do you know my daughter?" He asked.

Serenity faltered, almost spilling the water on her father's lap as she moved to catch herself. "Sorry, Papa." She told him, grabbing a napkin and lapping up the splash on the table. From the corner of her eyes, she felt a wave of anger surged inside her that Bruce has remained so calm, and gave a charming smile to her parents.

"It's an interesting story, actually." He began. "I was walking by this arcade, being chased by a crowd of admiring females, when she went past me on a jog. It was the fact that she did not take notice to me, which made me take notice to her. She had a coffee brought to me when she noticed how stressed I was becoming with my fan club, and somehow knew just the way I liked it."

"Oh really?" Kenji asked with both his gaze and voice skeptical.

I'm really wishing I had some coffee to dump on his lap right now... She thought as she finally sat back down.

"Our little girl has always been so caring towards others." Ikuko smiled warmly, and Serenity could have sworn the hairs on the back of her neck began to stand on end. She could practically see the matchmaking wheels turning in her mother's brain, and she wouldn't put it past the older woman to attempt to place Serenity in Bruce's favor.

The silvery-blonde turned her attention to her father, her one saving grace. She could always count on her father to scare away the men, but if he managed to keep Bruce away then she would all but worship him on his feet.

However, her bubble of hope was soon popped as her father agreed with his mother. "She is very special indeed."

Bruce nodded, a victorious smirk stretching his lips. "It is why I wished to call upon her tonight; I wanted to get to know her better. She has certainly caught my attention."

I bet I did! She thought while stabbing her fork into a slice of steak and moving it to her plate. She had to smile slightly as she envisioned it being Bruce's arm she was stabbing with her fork.

"How long will you be in Japan, Mr. Wayne?" Mr. Tsukino asked.

"Please, call me Bruce." He told the older man while watching the Moon Princess from the corner of his eye. "I was only going to stay for a few days, but I believe that I shall now be prolonging my visit since a matter of special interest has caught my attention."

Ikuko squealed mentally, allowing a large smile to glow on her face. She could practically see the wedding now!

Serenity continued to remain silent through dinner, sending subtle glances from the corner of her eyes at the billionaire / Bat beside her. She just could not understand what her former fiancé was thinking! Appearing out of no where in her parent's home, charming their pants off, while yelling at her and then kissing her, and then pushing her away before acting like it never happened?

She had to refrain from letting her head fall onto her plate, even though she did so mentally a few times. She had a feeling that once dinner was ready, her parents would disappear into the kitchen again and leave her to fend for herself.

What in the name of the Moon had she been thinking when she began this fiasco?

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Traitors! She mentally grumbled. What happened to the 'no boys near Usagi' rule, Papa? Oh, how far you have fallen...

Serenity was sitting on the couch in the living room, facing forward as from one Bruce Wayne as he sat beside her. Now that her parents had left them alone, she could feel when his charming mask fell away as the room dropped a few degrees. So she sat there, regal and tense, for a long period before she finally spoke. Her mother had even kicked out Luna, saying that it was more polite to put the cat in another room with company over despite Serenity's protests.

"Why did you kiss me?" She asked while looking at her lap.

Piercing blue eyes turned to the right to look at her. "I could not stop myself."

She finally brought her gaze up to meet his own. "You went from yelling at me to kissing me; how could you not stop yourself?" She asked, her chest puffing out slightly in indignation.

Bruce growled under his breath, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "You don't understand what it has been like for me..." He looked across from him at the wall, his eyes showing him images of his past. "I have been seeing you for a few years, your form suddenly appearing as if you were a ghost." He paused. "I thought I was going crazy, until someone informed me they were memories, brought them back to me so I knew everything..."

"That's what J'onn-"

Serenity squealed as rage-filled eyes turned to her. "I knew it!" He snarled.

Serenity leaned back slightly in fear with wide eyes. "I wasn't expecting him to come find me, you know!" She replied back, just as angry. "He just wanted answers! Your friend was worried about you!"

Bruce scowled, returning to glance at his previous place on the wall. Serenity relaxed slightly, a small feeling of guilt filling her. She could understand that he felt slightly betrayed that she had kept herself hidden from him, knowing he was looking for her and yet kept company with his friend. Slowly, she reached out a hand and gently placed it on top of one of his. "Bruce... I didn't mean to upset you. I just had to know if it was really you, if you remembered..."

"I do." He told her flatly, turning to once more look at her.

"Your reputation-" She tried to say.

"Is false, and I know that you had already assumed that." He told her. "You are not stupid, Serenity, despite the stupid things you have done."

"Name one!" She challenged, taking her hand back to cross her arms over her chest.

"Leaving my sight at the royal ball of Saturn, despite the fact that I told you not to," He pointed out. "Which resulted in your near-death, and then your stay in my castle."

"Which is what led to our romance and engagement, so don't call it stupid!" She snapped back.

Her words caused silence to ensue after that, as if her words were a slap to their faces. It was true.

Suddenly, the past few days of cat and mouse didn't matter. Bruce pulled her flush against him, claiming her lips for his own in a desperate hunger. It had been over a thousand years since he was with his Shining Light, and she with her Dark Knight.

A silvery, purple glow emitted softly from the couple as their souls rejoiced in the reunion after so long. It wasn't until several minutes later that Bruce and Serenity separated, both of them breathing heavily. In a rare show of affection that only she had ever been privilege to, he kissed her forehead as well, her crescent-moon mark glowing in response as he did. Slowly, she looked up at him. "What now?" She asked.

Bruce stood up, offering his hand to her. "I shall speak with your parents about my intentions. Then, we should probably inform the Justice League of your membership."

Serenity's eyes brightened. "Really?" She cheered, taking his hand and allowing him to help her up. He pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her smaller frame.

"Yes."

"On one condition..." She told him.

"That is...?"

She smirked. "You have to tell the Senshi." She laughed at his expressionless face, knowing full well that he was mentally swearing up a storm. She danced out of his arms and out of the room, Bruce scowling and moving to follow her.

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Ok, I changed my mind. This is not the last chapter. Ha-ha. SO MANY of you reviewed, I just couldn't let it go yet with so many of you asking for more.

So, your wishes are my command, and I shall extend this for a few more chapters. I hope that you all enjoyed it!

~Sandreline