Author's Note: this is Serena speaking to someone telepathically.

This is Li speaking to someone telepathically

This is a dream/flashback sequence

- this is sign language of some sort-

_ this is texting_

Earth, Wardington:

Dan stretches lazily as he starts to stir, even as the form next to him snuggles in closer, still sound asleep. The brown haired eighteen year old had a smile on his face, he'd finally had enough uninterrupted time with his fiancée. Of course, they couldn't stay on Earth for too long, otherwise the senshi could find them, but he did not want to move from where he was. Drago and Lunara had left the room to give them some privacy.

Hope Island:

Gaea sighs as she tunes into her hopefully new Earth Prince, at least she hadn't tuned in while the pair were otherwise indisposed. Daniel Kuso was important to the Earth's survival. Of course, he still needed to face Endymion, or rather Mamoru as he was known in this lifetime but time with Serena was equally as important, if not more so.

Vestal, Klaus' Place:

Shun chuckles when he realizes that Dan and Serena never came back the night before. Dan had to have teleported them somewhere for some time alone. Rini looks at him, " I don't want to know, I really don't want to know, or rather I don't want to think about it. "

" Can't blame you for that. Do you brawl? " Shun asks her.

" I'm the oddball of my siblings, I'm not a brawler. " Rini says.

" Oh, then what do you do for fun? "

" I sketch. " Rini admits, " Dad and Selena, when those two get to brawling each other, well, they're so intense and I've managed to capture that. I even have my sketchbooks with me. I keep them in subspace at all times, want to see? "

Shun stares in amazement at the black and white sketches she had done, though the ones with Dan and whom he assumed was Selena were done in color. The work was phenomenal, " Well, you can make a living with this, that's for sure, do you show your work to anyone? "

" You. " Rini says.

Shun rolls his eyes, apparently he was Rini's outside of family support, not that he could blame her. " Selena, she looks like Dan. "

" She got Mama Li's personality though. " Rini says.

" Ah, that means she'll only listen to her father then as Li only backs down for Dan. " Shun says.

" That and I used to blame her for everything I did, the only times she wasn't punished was when she was with dad when I did something and she started heading straight for dad immediately after school. I don't know why I chose her to blame, the only other family member she talked to during that time was Phoebe, the sister in between us. She never went to our older siblings because they never stood up for her. " Rini says.

Shun looks at her, " When did you start blaming her, how old were you? "

" It was right after I came back the first time, I was like six then making Selena eight. Selena is the only one of us that goes to dad for everything, or if it's girl stuff she'll go to Runo or Alice. She hasn't forgiven mom for never believing her or investigating my claims, she barely tolerates my existence and I can't blame her for it. " Rini says.

Why would someone want to alienate Dan and Serena's third child, unless there was something special about her, " Rini, is there anything special about Selena? "

" Yeah, she's dad's heir, Princess of the Bakugan. She has to brawl or the power she has will build up too much and could kill her, Mama grounded her from brawling for a month and the last two weeks she couldn't leave her bed, she had a fever due to the power she had building up too much. Dad, you, and Spectra had to brawl her all out in order to get the energy build up dealt with. That was the only time I can remember Dad yelling at mom like that. "

Shun could only imagine how scared Dan had to have been for his heir to actually yell at Serena. Sure they'd had a few shouting matches in French of all languages, but nothing serious, the welfare of one of their children, that was serious.

Baron looks at Hotaru, " What are you thinking about so intensely, Hotaru? Maybe I can help. "

Hotaru sighs, " It's just Serena's reaction to Rini now that she's not around the other senshi. It's like she has no maternal connection to Rini at all. Rini's my best friend, for the longest time she was my only friend, the only one whom wasn't scared of me simply because I'm different, or in the eyes of my peers, a freak. "

" You don't know how things were the first time Rini came back though. Even she admitted she was horrible to her mother, plus the fact that Serena had to live with her parents again when she had basically been living with Master Dan would be a heavy blow to her. " Baron says.

" I wish she had at least trusted me with all of this. "

" She probably would have if she could have gotten you alone, Hotaru. There was no way she would reveal stuff like that in front of the rest of the senshi. Mars especially would tell her to stop being a whiny baby. " Baron points out.

" Was Lita really her only true defender amongst the Inner Court, Luna didn't even come with us. "

" Luna was along the same vein as Mars from what I've been able to gather. She actually confided in me the few times we ran into each other on Earth because Master Dan trusted me implicitly. She told me how her advisor Luna and Rei were always coming down on her for her grades, her punctuality, they wanted to change her. Dan was her only harbor in all of that, he knew everything, and she could vent to him in safety as they could open the field and slow down time around them. "

" Did she have anyone else? " Hotaru asks.

" Molly Osaka and Andrew Furuhata, they were in the know about her being Sailor Moon which made it so she could get to youma faster. " Baron says, " Plus, the fights that she's late to, she's generally either on the opposite side of Juuban, or after we saved New Vestroia, she'd be with Master Dan, or she was fighting another youma and yet no one ever let her explain, she was just told to save her excuses. "

Hotaru sighs, " She trusted Dan's judgment more than her own then when it came to people as everyone she was supposed to be able to trust essentially abused and used her. "

" She's had Master Dan in her corner since she was like seven, Hotaru. Miyoko, Dan's mother had to give her the talk, her own mother wouldn't. "

Hotaru shudders, " Papa had to give me the talk. It was horrifyingly embarrassing for the both of us. "

" I received the talk when I was eleven, a year before I became the Haos brawler for the Resistance. " Baron says, shuddering, his father had given a presentation with diagrams and a porno.

Earth, Wardington, Kuso Home:

Dan smiles when he can sense his golden haired beauty finally start to wake up, " I am just so glad my parents kept the house, our first time wouldn't have been right otherwise. "

Yeah, but when are we going to head back to the others, Danny?

Dan sighs at this, " Do we have to head back just yet, it's not often I just want to laze around in bed all day and if we go back I'll feel obligated to train. "

You're saying that I wouldn't be able to convince you to stay in bed?

Dan rolls over, pinning her to his bed, " Oh, you'd be able to, but this way we have privacy. No need to worry about being disturbed. "

You do realize that we finally solidified the soul bond, right, in ancient terms we're married, modern, not so much.

Dan nibbles lightly on her ear, " Re, we've essentially been married since we were sixteen and you know it. "

Dan, most of your schoolmates considered us to be dating when we were ten.

" Ah, those were the days, mostly carefree for both of us, seeing as how I was the one that generally had to patch you up again, Re. "

Flashback:

Dan sighs as he looks at his watch, Serena was late and that generally meant she had run into trouble and was hurt. He just wished she'd let him help her more. Sure Serena could be late, like him, but never when she was meeting him. A scuffing sound has him whipping his head around and the ten year old curses under his breath before going over to his best female friend. His schoolmates teased him about her being his girlfriend but he ignored that because frankly the idea didn't repulse him like when he was teased about him and Runo like that.

Hanging out with Serena felt right for some reason, " Re, what happened this time? "

" Parents found me, dragged me home. " Serena murmurs.

" Want me to call Mizuno-sensei to come look at you? " Dan asks her.

" No, I'll be fine, just need a safe place to crash for a few days, your 'rents won't mind, will they? " Serena asks him.

Dan looks at her even as he runs his fingers lightly over her ribs, " Well, none of your ribs are broken but judging from your winces they are bruised, we'll have to wrap those up later. What did he use this time, Re? "

Dan was probably the only ten year old that could apply a field dressing to a stab wound in Wardington, at least he hoped he was. Serena mostly stayed in Juuban when she didn't have plans with him. Dan had even learned how to stitch wounds up, which he may have to do. " A whip with spikes imbedded in it, Danny. "

That right there was another reason why his schoolmates thought of them as a couple, Dan only let her call him Danny, " Did she help you to escape? "

Only Dan knew of her other, darker personality, and knew she often came out when Serena was in more danger than she could get out of. " No, they both had to leave and Shingo was at a friend's house, I managed to escape on my own and then I came here, Danny, to you. Molly would freak out if she were to see me like this. "

Dan nods at this, knowing she spoke the truth, Molly had never been exposed to the nastier side of the streets and humanity like Serena had been. Dan took it in stride because he knew Serena would come to him if it was safe for her to do so. She would never put him and his family at risk. It concerned him some, her utter lack of regard for her own well-being, then again she'd never really had anyone that genuinely cared whether she was all right or not until she'd met him and Molly. To think they'd all met due to getting lost on a joint school field trip.

To make matters worse they'd gotten caught in a malfunctioning elevator and that was when Dan had found himself being a life sized seven year old teddy bear for a terrified little blonde girl. Molly had been shaky but Serena had nearly been out of her mind with fear. Dan had found himself working to calm her down, distract her. From that day forward the three of them had been friends. Dan leads her to his place, thankful his mom always got so involved in her yoga routines that he was able to fix Serena up without having to answer any awkward questions.

Once Serena was asleep Dan places a call to Molly, she needed to know how bad things were getting for their mutual friend and Dan needed her to bring over a change of clothes for the blonde. When Molly comes into his room Dan shuts the door, " I could almost see her spine, Molly, it's getting worse. I know she wants you shielded from all this, but we both love her. She needs to know that she actually has people that care about what happens to her. " Dan says.

" She may not tell me, Dan, but I have eyes and ears, I've noticed things. I understand why she comes to you though, I'm the one she goes to for people problems, you, you're her strength, I saw it that day three years ago, you give her a reason to keep on fighting to stay alive, more than just I would be able to do. Before we all met and became friends all I'd ever see in her eyes was sadness, longing, desolation, she was miserable, since you came into her life, her eyes have more life in them, she's actually somewhat happy sometimes. That says a lot right there, Dan. " Molly admits.

Dan hadn't thought he'd had that big of an impact on Serena's life, but then again he'd probably been the first person to ever show her kindness. He hadn't shoved her away because he could clearly see how terrified she was. It was through his help that she'd mostly gotten over her claustrophobia, she would never like small enclosed spaces but she could tolerate them now thanks to him. " She needs to be able to completely disappear for a few days, it's summer, what would your mom say to a camping trip. My dad's been wanting to go on one for a while and it would get Serena away for some time. I'd rather get her out of the country but, even away from Juuban would be good for a little while. "

" When? " Molly asks.

" Ask her first and let me know if she'd be willing, then we'll work out the details. " Dan says.

Molly nods at this, Dan only wanted to keep Serena safe and she couldn't blame him. The blonde just had this way of growing on a person. Molly would never even dream of throwing away her friendship with either of them. She treasured them both dearly in different ways. In some ways she saw Dan as the brother she would never have and she knew he viewed her as a sister. " Keep her here for as long as you can, Dan. Her soul is in turmoil even now. Three years ago it was almost at a fever pitch, the kind that comes from someone ready to end it all. I'm hoping we became her friends before she even tried to kill herself, no seven year old should feel like that. "

" I suspected and she had tried before, several times since she was six, Molly. She heals that fast. The fact that she wanted to die so desperately just to escape from the pain in her life only to be denied said escape, it wasn't fair. It still isn't because I believe both of us can sense that she has something important to do, right? "

" I know it, Dan, I think she knows it too. You ever heard the legend of the Silver Millennium. "

" You mean that story where the Princess' mom bethroved her to that pathetic excuse of a male and seemed to think she would happily go along with it? " Dan asks, his brown eyes hard.

Molly laughs at this, " Well, what do you know, someone who shares that opinion, I must admit that is refreshing. Serena is that princess, Dan, and me, well, I'm the Sailor Senshi of the Soul, Sailor Psyche, but I have yet to be fully awakened. "

" Tell me everything you can that isn't personal to Re. " Dan says softly, he needed to know so he could help her when she needed it.

End Flashback:

Hunger managed to convince them to get out of bed, whether they wanted to or not. Dan really didn't want to though, as he rarely felt like having a lazy day, Call Molly, have her bring food over. Serena says, she had slipped into an old shirt of his and Dan had to wait for his brain to reboot before he could respond.

Dan was immediately on the phone with Molly asking for her to bring five strawberry watermelon smoothies and six egg sandwiches from the golden arches along with a large orange juice for him. Molly teleports in to see the pair just barely dressed, " Finally got left alone long enough, huh? "

" Oh, shut it, Molly, I fully plan on taking her back to bed so I can have a lazy day. Do you know how often I just want to laze around in bed all day? " Dan retorts.

Molly smiles, " You're just pissed that there was no food here so you could just forage. "

Serena has already drank down two of her smoothies while she watches her best friend and her fiancé needle each other. It was nice to have some time for just the three of them, they hadn't had that in a while. Of course, Dan actually wanted a lazy day, he generally only stayed in bed when he was sick and even then she had to sit on him to keep him down. Once they've eaten their fill Serena drags Dan to the attic, the place the three of them had gone when they wanted privacy. She shoves him down on one of the bean bag chairs and joins him on his lap. Molly laughs, " See, you can still laze. "

" Yeah, but not the way I wanted to. " Dan whines, he really missed the feel of her bare body against his.

Serena rolls her eyes at him before giving him a light thwack upside the head. Dan whimpers, " You're so cruel to me, Re. Don't you love me anymore? "

Danny, I would demonstrate but I've missed Molly, behave yourself.

Dan sighs but settles comfortably in the bean bag chair, " Fill us in, Molly, what been going on from your perspective. "

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, Bakugan Battle Brawlers, or Gaea and Hope Island.