The summer went by slowly…too slowly in everyone's opinion

Too Much Time Alone

The summer went by slowly…too slowly in everyone's opinion. Serena's been gone for five months, and everyone is still heartbroken. Summer was coming to an end and everyone was enjoying a dinner at the Tsukino residence. No one could get the site of Serena out of their minds. She had bruises covering her arms, legs, and face, and her face held so much sorrow.

"What is he doing to my daughter?" Ken asked himself.

"I'm gonna kill him…I swear I'll kill him. The next time I see him, he's dead."

"Now Darien, we can't get Serena back then have you going to jail." Ilene stated calmly.

"Fine." He grumbled.

"Darien, why weren't you attending college last year?" Amy asked.

"I was waiting. Serena and I were gonna go together." He sighed. "We were going to go this fall." He forced a smile on his face. "Where are you girls going?"
"We're staying close." Lita said.

"Just to the University downtown." Raye added.

"Why are you staying so close?" Ken asked.

"Well we planned to stay together, and we wanted to stay close in case of any news on Serena." Mina said.
"You girls shouldn't hold yourselves back because of Serena." Ilene said.
"She wouldn't want that." Darien added.

"Look who's talking." Andrew said.

"Hey, we already discussed this. Serena and I already talked and plan on attending together."
"I was kidding."

"We talked about it and agreed on it. I told her that I'd wait until she graduated, and we'd go to college together, and I plan on keeping to that."

"You guys are so close." Lita commented.

"Yah. Like I said, we became the best of friends after the whole alleyway thing."

"So why don't you just marry her already?" Mina asked.

Darien, Ken, Ilene, and Sammy looked down. Darien put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a box, and placed it in front of Mina.

"What's this?"
"Open it."
She did and all four plus Andrew gasped.

"Darien, this is beautiful."

In the box was a gold ring. On the band was a ruby in the shape of a heart and surrounding the heart were several small diamonds.

"At the start of her senior year, Darien came over and asked for my blessings." Ken stated.

"He was hesitant, but then we agreed, he could after she graduated." Ilene added.
"I was planning on doing it the night of her ceremony." He sighed. Mina closed the box and handed it back to him. "Now I'm gonna have to wait until she returns…whenever that is."

"We'll get her back Darien." Sammy said.

"I know, I know. I'm just tired of waiting. We're sitting here doing nothing while she's going through God knows what."

"What ever happened with the PI you hired?" Amy asked.

"Nothing. He found absolutely nothing. Apparently they drove to the airport that day, and they have their own jet and private pilot so no one knows where they went."

"I think," Andrew started, "that you'll be the one to find her. You know her better then anyone else, and somehow, someway…you'll find her."

"How?"
"It's just a feeling I have." Andrew said. "Something in my heart is telling me that you'll be the one to find her."
"Weirdo."

"You won't be saying that when I'm right."

0.o

Three months later…Thanksgiving

Missing: seven months

"Got any plans for tonight?" Andrew asked as he wiped the counter…again.

"Not really. Having dinner with Ilene, Ken, and Sammy. You?"
"Nothin much. Hanging around here."
"Why don't you join us? I'm sure they'd love to have you over too."

"You sure they wouldn't mind?"

"No. They love you."

"Fine, I guess I'm coming then."
"I'll let them know."

They sat and listened to the quiet.

"It's lonely here without the girls." Andrew said.
"I never realized how much noise was created by them."

"I know…it's weird having it all quiet."

"Well how about a surprise visit?" A female voice asked from behind.

"Now that's better." Darien smirked.

Mina smacked him lightly in the back of the head.

"We come to pay a visit to our favorite guy friends and we get insulted." Raye said taking a seat.

"Makes me wonder what else they've been saying about us." Lita added.

"Oh, nothing much, just how peaceful it is here now that four of the loudest girls are gone from my arcade." Andrew said.

"And how relieved we are that they're away at college." Darien added.

"Fine, we'll be leaving then."
"We're kidding. How's college life?"

"Ok. We're glad to be home."
"Just wait, you'll get used to it." Andrew said.

"Then why did you come back?"
"I missed you guys…and I didn't really want to do anything special. I just wanted to take over this job someday."

"So how are you holding up Darien?"
"As good as I can."
"Good. So what are your plans for tonight?"
"We're going over Serena's. Wanna join us?"
"Nah. Our parents want us home."
"Good point…"

"We have been gone for like three months."

"I didn't think. Stop harassing me!"

"We're kidding. But yah, we can't."

0.o

"Dear Lord, we ask only one thing of you on this wonderful Thanksgiving evening." Ilene said as everyone bowed their heads and clasped hands. "We ask you for the return of my beloved daughter, Serena. We ask you to safely return her to us. Amen."

"Amen." Everyone repeated.

They spent the rest of the night eating in silence.

0.o

"Darien, why are you packing your bags?" Andrew asked.

"I'm going back to America."
"Why?"
"To visit my parent's grave site. I do every Christmas with Serena. I had planned to do it this year, just didn't plan on doing it alone."

"Why don't you have someone go with you?"

"I don't mean it that way. It's a personal thing. My parents grew very fond of Serena and her them, so it was a tradition we did every year."

"They were close?"
"Very. She was like the daughter they never had." He sighed. "They were glad when I found someone as nice as her." He said closing the suitcase.
"When does your flight leave?"
"In about five hours. I'm going to say farewell to Ilene, Ken, and Sammy before heading off to the airport."

"How are you getting there?"

"Ken is driving me."

"Well you'd better get going."
"Yah, I'm getting ready. Why did you stop by anyways?"
"To see what your plans were for the holidays."
"Well that's it." He said lifting up the suitcase.

"Need some help?"
"Yah, there's another suitcase on the bed. Can you grab it?"

"Sure."
…

"You are coming back right?" Ilene asked.
"Of course."

"Have a good holiday Darien."
"You too Sammy. Enjoy the break. I'll come here first when I get back. I promise."

"Darien, we'd better get going." Ken said.
"Have a good Christmas." He called before walking to the door.

"You too."