AN: Sorry for the long wait! It's midterms week and I'm swamped with work, but I'll keep updating, and reviews are appreciated! Special thanks to Loveinthebattlefield & Artemis the Moon Maiden for consistently reviewing 3

Serena woke up the next day just in time for school. Luna was at Amy's since there she could investigate more and talk freely because Amy's mom was usually at the hospital. She was out the door and walking to school even before Sammy!

School started off rather uneventful. It was funny to see Haruna's reactions to her improved attitude. She did not fall asleep in class and even raised her hand to answer a few questions.

She had lunch with the girls who kept apologizing, and Lita even brought Serena cake.
Of course she wanted to know where they had been, but she couldn't stay mad at them, everything had turned out fine and that had been the last thing on her mind. She was trying to think of a way to let them know about Ken/Kunzite. Actually, she wasn't sure if Ken wanted them to know.

"We'll tell you everything after school, at our usual place. I don't think we can discuss scout business here" Amy gave her a weak smile, and Serena whole-heartedly returned it. She didn't want them to think she was mad.

"Yeah, I still feel awful. Let's meet Rei after school. I'll tell her to meet us there since she gets out earlier than us"

"Okay Leets. Tell her to order my usual cause I'm starving!" Serena's stomach growled at that moment and the three of them laughed. The bell signaling lunch was over rang and they began to head back to class.

"SERENA!"

They all turned around to see who was yelling out to Serena. Serena instantly recognized her.

"Mina!"

They ran towards each other and hugged. Amy and Lita gave each other confused looks because they had never seen this girl before, but she looked sorta like Serena. Minus the meatballs.

"What class are you in? How was your first day?" Serena began to bombard Mina with other questions and they began talking. Amy remembered they had to get back to class and called out for Serena.

"Serena, we're going to be late!"

"Oh! Sorry Ames! I totally forgot." She asked Mina where her class was and coincidentally, they had the same class.

"I would have been there sooner but I had other paperwork and all that to finalize, but I'm officially in your class"

They all walked towards class and sat down, except Mina, who had to talk to Haruna.

Haruna was also thrown off by the resemblance to Serena and told her to sit wherever she liked, and Mina sat next to Lita who had an open seat next to her.

"Okay class, let's begin today's math lesson with a pop quiz"

Mina looked over at Serena and they both shared a look that said 'I'm going to die' and laughed to themselves. Haruna heard them and looked between each other wondering to herself how she got stuck with these two girls. She knew they would be trouble together.

After the math test fiasco, they only had science to go. The rest of the day went by pretty quickly, and Serena remembered to keep her behavior under control, she did not want to get detention.

The bell went off and school was over. Serena did not want to isolate Mina, but she knew they had scout business to take care of as well. She decided she would tell her they had a previous commitment and that would only be a small lie.

All four girls began to walk out of class together and began to talk about how Serena and Mina had met previously. They were all getting along great and they seemed to fit together, like sisters.

"Oh I almost forgot! I'm so sorry but I have to go! My parents still need help back home and then we're going out for dinner. Our house is still a mess from the move. I haven't even finished unpacking, but then again I do have lots of clothes. And I need to feed Artemis! I forgot to give him breakfast…" Mina chuckled softly, and the girls sensed that poor Artemis was probably forgotten about sometimes.

"Okay, we'll see you tomorrow then!"

"Bye everyone!"

Mina was off in the opposite direction and then Serena and the girls continued walking towards the Crown, they didn't want to keep Rei waiting.

"Let's hurry! I need a milkshake!" Serena raced off and Lita and Amy had to chase after her, but they got to the Crown in no time.

They walked in and saw Rei sitting at their usual booth, with drinks ordered. They all sat down and talked about school because Andrew's sister Lizzie was cleaning the table next to them. They were finally able to talk about their scout business and Rei was the first to speak.

"At the last battle, we were absent because we were at the shrine. I've been getting weird fire readings and Amy and Lita were curious. I was going to tell you, but I knew you were spending the day with Ken, and since he's only here for a bit I didn't want to steal you away. But I'm really sorry that we missed the fight. Are you mad Sere?"

Serena looked at Rei and saw genuine concern over whether or not she was mad at them. She started laughing. Amy, Lita and Rei looked at her like she was crazy.

"You guys are too serious. Being mad at you didn't even cross my mind. I wasn't hurt, but next time be there, getting chased around by youmas is not my favorite sport."

They all looked at her with smiles, but Rei wasn't done.

"That being said, where were Mercury and Jupiter during the fight from before? I showed up and only Moon was there." She looked at Amy and Lita, fully expecting an explanation. Though Rei teased Serena, she was always concerned for her, they were the closest. Having seen her trying to stop the youma alone made her annoyed, because they were a team and no one should have to face those things alone.

Amy and Lita did not have a valid enough excuse though.

"Well we were still out with Zayn and Nick, and we couldn't leave them. We were in the middle of a movie and tried to think of something, but other than ditching them, there was just no getting out of there without compromising our identities" Amy seemed to have thought this over well enough.

Rei saw that Serena accepted this answer, but she still huffed silently. As scouts, they had to be more alert. They were lucky no one had been severely injured so far.

"As long as it doesn't happen again. We can't leave Meatball brains all by herself". She tugged on Serena's hair, and a tongue war ensued. Rei just wanted to lighten the mood, she had other news to tell them after all.

Amy interrupted them, "Guys, we still need to discuss the fire readings"

"What have you seen pyro?"

"Well at first it was just visions of a palace, and it was empty, like it had been deserted. But the more I concentrate, and the longer I stay reading the fire, the more clear the visions become. They're all still blurry but I can make out shapes of people. The most clear one is one of us four, but there's also a 5th person. I think it might be the princess, since we're her guard. The only feature I can see is that she has a crescent birthmark on her forehead, but I guess that doesn't really help us, since we know she's the moon princess."

Rei seemed to be alleviated at telling them this, it had been draining on her powers to keep up the fire readings.

"So there aren't any more clues?"

"No, but the thing is, I don't think I can do any readings for a while. The sacred flame hardly ever tires me out, but when it has to do with the princess it's like I can't find the answers I want. I don't know what to make of it, because even if the answers are vague, the fire responds to me, except when it comes to this."

They all could tell Rei was tired, and they did not want to force her into another reading. They couldn't really come up with anything else and they left for their homes.

Before leaving, Serena stopped at the counter and saw Andrew was also getting ready to leave.

"Hey Andy have you seen Ken?"

"Hmmm. No. I don't think so. I thought he had gone back home since I didn't see him with you."

"Oh, well I think hes going back home tonight so he might be busy. I'm going to miss him. He's like my best guy friend"

"Hey what about me?"

"Well you too"

They both laughed and soon Serena was off towards her home, she didn't want to miss Ken leaving.

On her way home, she stopped by the park. She hadn't seen Darien all day, and he was never one to skip the Crown. He was too addicted to coffee.

She walked along, kicking a rock and sighing, it was almost time to head home before Ken left. She supposed maybe he was extra busy and there was always tomorrow.

She walked slowly home, secretly hoping that maybe, just maybe, they'd run into each other in the street. She reached her house though, and luckily Ken's car was still there. She walked in and was surprised to see the living room empty. However, she then heard Ken's laughter coming from the kitchen and she made her way there.

"Keeeeeen. What are you doing?"

Serena asked and began to take her hair out of its meatballs, it was tiring after a long day.

She didn't notice that Ken had brought a friend over and this friend was in for a treat.

"Serena?"

She heard the voice of the one she had been waiting to see all day, and here he was, sitting in her kitchen! She wondered why he looked mesmerized, and then she realized he had never seen her without her meatballs. She only took her hair down to sleep or at home, and certainly not around Darien.

Darien was fighting to get up and stroke her hair, it was the most angelic sight he had ever seen. He knew Serena was beautiful, but seeing her with her hair down felt like such a privileged She seemed to radiate purity and beauty, and she was now blushing furiously. He realized he was gawking, and soon their moment was interrupted by loud coughing.

"Excuse, I guess my throat is a little sore." Ken got up and grabbed a glass of water, shaking his head at the sight of those two. They were obviously into each other, he just couldn't see what was keeping them apart. "They're too dense to realize it", he whispered to himself.

"What was that Ken?"

"Nothing Sere. Do you guys want anything to drink?"

"No thank you."

"No, wait do we still have that homemade fruit juice mom made?"

"Yeah, be right there."

Ken fetched her drink and Serena turned to Darien.

"So what brings you to my humble abode?"

"Actually, I was visiting Ken. He was showing me something and we just lost track of time."

"What were you guys up to?"

Darien remembered the book on the table and snatched it.

Serena saw his movements, "Whatcha got there Dare Bear..?" She moved closer and was able to make out the cover of the book and shrieked.

"KENNETH!"

Ken bolted out the door, leaving a fuming Serena behind, and a scared looking Darien in the Tsukino residence.