The next chapter is here! Enjoy :)

Oh please excuse any grammar errors (past or future errors). Hopefully I caught them all but some escape me. I hope they don't deter from what I'm trying to convey.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon.

Chapter 11

All Serena could do was run. Run as fast as and as far away as she could. This was not all how she wanted things to go. What did this mean? Was she willing to forgive him? No! Maybe? What about Jason? And Rei?

She had to stop thinking. She had to run faster. She was thinking too much and that's the last thing she wanted to do. She had to escape her own thoughts. Faster until her muscles ached.

Her house came into sight. She strained herself to run even faster until she reached her door. Walking in, she almost collapsed. She was exhausted. Her knees trembled, as well as her whole body,

"Serena? Is that you?"

"Yes mom."

"Well goodness, I was beginning to worry. Where were you?"

"Oh you know just at the park…running."

Her mother crossed her arms, looking at her like she didn't believe her.

"Running?"

"Yep."

"Mmhmm…well Ami came looking for you. She said you were supposed to meet her?"

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that. Is she still here?"

"No, she left. She just came to drop off Luna."

"That's great. I'm going to go see her ok? Good night mom."

"Good night."

Once in her room, Serena collapsed on her bed. All she wanted was sleep. A deep sleep in which she could escape and forget.

"Careful."

Luna jumped from the bed and landed gracefully on the floor.

"Luna! Oh I've missed you so! I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?"

Serena picked Luna up and hugger her tightly. Tears fell down her eyes, which seemed to be happening more often than not. So much for not crying anymore.

"Don't cry Serena. All is forgotten."

"Oh Luna I don't know what to do anymore. Everything is so messed up. Nothing makes sense."

"Tell me what happened Serena. From the beginning."

Serena placed Luna beside her and hugged her knees. She rested her head there and began her tale. Luna curled herself around Serena's feet and listened.

Thirty minutes later and Serena was coming to an end.

"I haven't even talked to Rei yet and I'm already at a loss. What happens when I do talk to her?"

"Once you talk to her, I'm sure you'll know what to do. She is your friend after all. You'll know."

"If she had been my friend, I wouldn't have been in this mess in the first place, now would I?"

"Fair enough. Let's concentrate on Darien and Jason then. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know."

"The question is whether or not you are going to forgive Darien. Depending on your answer, you'll know what to do with Jason."

"I just don't know. What I told Darien is true. How can I forgive him after what he did? Should I forgive him?"

"That's for you to decide Serena. However, maybe you should give this Jason a chance."

"How? I may never see him again."

"You never know, maybe you will. From what you said, he sounds like a decent guy. There doesn't seem to be anything 'wrong' with him, right?"

Hugging her knees even tighter, Serena whispered, "He's not Darien."

Serena curled into a ball, got under her blankets, and laid her had on her pillows. Luna looked at her sadly and said, "Maybe you should get some sleep."

"I guess…night."

The next morning, Serena woke with a headache. She felt as if she hadn't slept. All night long she had been twisting and turning. Images of her and Darien played in her head. In the shadows Jason would appear, never far behind.

"Wake up Serena. You don't want to be late for school" said Luna.

Serena just mumbled a reply and pulled the covers over her head.

She hadn't even been thinking about school. In fact, she had forgotten all about it. Her thoughts were consumed by Darien and Jason. Round and round they went, chasing one another. She didn't feel like going to school yet she knew she couldn't stay. She had been away for too long. Perhaps going would be a good thing. She could talk to Ami, Lita, and Mina. Maybe they would have some advice that would help her choose what to do.

At School

Serena was in a daze. Time seemed to move slowly. Mina and Ami kept giving her worried glances. It matter. Soon enough she would tell them what was going on. Just when Serena thought class was never going to end, the bell rang. She gathered her things and met up with the girls for lunch.

"Okay Serena, what is going on?" asked a concerned Mina.

"Did something happen yesterday? You were suppose to meet me but I couldn't find you anywhere" commented Ami.

"I talked to Darien yesterday" Serena said.

"When?"

"What did he say?"

"Where?"

All three said simultaneously. So Serena recounted everything that had happened after she had left the arcade yesterday. When she was done, there was silence. They were trying to process what Serena had just said. The first to recover was Lita.

"What are you going to do?"

"Like I told Luna yesterday, I don't know."

"I agree with Luna. First you have to decide if you are going to give Darien a second chance and forgive him. Depending on what you decide, you can decide what to do with Jason" commented Mina.

"Maybe before you decide on Darien, you can deal with Jason first" stated Ami.

"What do you mean Ami?" said Serena.

"Well thing about it. Do you think you'll see Jason again? How will you have a relationship with him if you don't see him?"

"He doesn't necessarily have to live here so they can have relationship. They can have a long distance relationship" said Lita.

"Perhaps, but relationships in themselves are hard enough. Now imagine long distance relationship. Besides, they hardly ever last" rebuttal Ami.

"Not true. Some of them work out you know" countered Mina.

"Making that the exception not the rule. Furthermore, wouldn't you like to see the one you love every day? You can't do that if you are in a long distance relationship" stated Ami.

"Ami's right. I mean," began Serena, "I really want to believe Jason when he said that would see each other again, but…realistically no. No I don't think I will. I haven't even heard from him. I emailed him the other day and even tried to call and nothing."

"I'm sorry to hear that Serena," said Mina, "So then what will you do now?"

"I don't know. Any suggestions?"

"Actually yes, but you might not like it. Plus it's pretty out there" said Lita.

"It's okay. Whatever it is you can tell me. I won't get mad or anything like that."

"Well maybe, and I mean a big maybe, you might want to consider working things out with Darien. I'm not saying you have to get back together right away or anything like that. You guys can take it slow. Sort of like starting from the beginning. See if he meant what he said. Let him prove it to you."

Serena was quiet, pondering what Lita had just said. It did kind of make sense.

"We know that he hurt you Serena. There's no excuse for what he did. At all," said Mina, "However, we also know that you love him and care about him. Just like he loves you. I don't know, maybe you should consider what Lita saying. I mean it's you and Darien. Besides, you did say you didn't think you would see Jason again."

"Of course, ultimately, you decide Serena. We just want you to be happy" added Ami.

Serena still hadn't said anything. Lita, Mina, and Ami were looking at her, waiting for her response. After what felt like forever, Serena said, "Okay maybe. I'll think about it."

"Are you sure?" they asked her.

"Yes," she said with a smile, "It does make sense. But I don't know yet. I'll think about it. And hey, I now have some sort of plan."

They laughed at that. Hopefully things would work out.

"We better start walking. We don't want to be late for class" Ami said.

Serena, Lita, and Mina sighed.

"Why can't we just stay here?" grumbled Serena.

"Come on, let's go" said Ami.

They gathered their things and started walking to their class.

"Oh before I forget, do think you guys can accompany me over to Rei's?"

"No problem" said Lita.

"Thanks. We can go after school. Is that okay?"

"Sounds good" said Mina.

At the Temple

They were standing outside on the steps. Waiting.

"Here we are. You ready?" asked Lita.

"Uhh…yes?" replied Serena in an unconvinced tone.

"It's going to be okay. Take a deep breath and go for it" said Mina.

"We'll be right here waiting for you" added Ami.

Serena nodded. "Right okay. I'll be back."

Taking a deep breath she began walking up the steps. Ami, Mina, and Lita sat down on the steps trying to make themselves as comfortable as they could. Once at the top, Serena glanced at her friends again. They smiled encouragingly at her and she walked in.

Rei was rearranging some things when she saw Serena.

"Umm…hey" she said awkwardly.

"Hi…uhh I wanted to call you so we could talk but didn't know if I should. I figured it wouldn't have been a good idea…" said Rei.

"Yeah probably not."

They stood there in an uncomfortable silence. All Serena was thinking was that had had one too many of these conversations. She really hoped this would be the last of the awkward conversations. Rei, on the other hand, hoped that this went better than the last time they saw each other.

"Why don't you sit down?" suggested Rei.

Serena complied and sat down. Rei sat in front of her.

"Rei I-" began Serena.

"No wait Serena. I should go first. I need to say this. I know I made a mistake. A huge, horribly mistake. I also know that you may never forgive me. If that's the case then I will learn to live with it. But I want you to know that I would never hurt you on purpose. You accused me of being jealous of you and that I wanted to take Darien away from you. You were right, if only slightly. I was jealous. I couldn't understand why he chose you and not me. Especially since you guys couldn't even stand each other. Even so, I could see you were happy with him. Despite that, I was still somewhat jealous but I wasn't going to jeopardize your happiness because of it. Besides, in time I realized I didn't like Darien that much. Well at least not to the extent that you do. I soon found Chad though. He made me so happy. When he broke p with me, I was devastated. I didn't know what to do."

Serena interrupted to say, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you two had broken up."

"Yeah we did, but you don't have to apologize. You are the last person who should be doing that."

"Still…"

Serena could picture Rei all too clearly. She probably portrayed indifference when Chad told her, but Serena knew that inside Rei was breaking into pieces. It had been hard for Rei to admit she cared deeply about Chad. Once she did though, she changed. And it was because of Chad. It broke Serena's heart to learn that they were no longer together. Even though Rei was the reason her and Darien were no longer together, her heart ached for her.

"Yes well…" Rei cleared her throat and began talking again, "Anyway, Darien was at the park but I hadn't seen him. He was so nice to me. I don't know what came over me, maybe I wanted to see what it was like to be loved the way Darien loves you. After that, everything happened so fast. One second you were there and then you weren't. Darien was running after you and me realizing what a horrible thing I had done. I had inflicted the pain that I was feeling when Chad broke up with me onto you. Only worse. Am I right?"

"Yes. There are no words to describe what I felt that day."

"I thought as much. I wish I could give you more, but all I can say is I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. Though, I do know that you should try working things out with Darien. Don't let what happened between us ruin what you guys have. It meant absolutely nothing. He loves you so much. He only has eyes for you. I see the way he looks at you when you're not looking. I can't even describe it."

"I don't know Rei. It's easier said than done. Before this, I wouldn't have doubted what you are telling me about him. His feelings for me. But now…"

"I know. It won't be easy, but don't give up."

"We'll see."

"And us? What's going to happen? Is there any way you can ever forgive me?"

"Maybe. Who knows? For now let's just see how things go, ok?"

"Okay."

"Though, can you promise me something?"

"Anything."

"Promise me that you will stay away from Darien."

"I promise."

"Okay."

After that, neither had anything more to say. They sat in silence for a couple a seconds.

"Well I should probably go…the girls are waiting and yeah…" said Serena.

"Oh. Okay."

"Umm…I'll see you around?"

Rei nodded.

"Alright. Bye."

Outside

"I wonder if they worked things out?" Mina wondered aloud.

"There's no screaming, so that's good right?" said Lita.

"I guess…"

"There's Serena" said Ami.

All three stood up and waited for Serena to reach them.

"Well?" asked Mina.

"It went okay. I'm not sure if I'll forgive her yet but I'm glad we talked."

"That's good, right?" said Lita.

"I guess so. Therefore I propose we go to the arcade. I think I deserve a milkshake."

At that all four laughed and headed towards the arcade.

They were walking into the arcade, talking animatedly when Serena froze.

"What's wrong Serena?" asked Ami.

Just when she thought things were turning around and couldn't get worse. Not that this was necessarily a bad thing...She pointed towards the counter where Andrew was.

All three looked, but still didn't understand.

"What?" asked Lita.

"Jason" whispered Serena.

Well there you. I hope you liked it! Please review^^

Oh also I would like to know what you guys think. I'm debating whether Serena should end up with Darien or Jason. I can't seem to decide. I would love to hear from you guys and what you suggest. Thanks! I appreciate it.

-Girl of Darkness