A/N Hey guys! It's update time! I know the last chapter went straight into angst hell, and I have to admit the first part of this chapter still carries a heavy vibe of it, but it evens out a little bit later on. Oh there's still tension for sure, but it's not quite as thick. So let me give out my hugs and you can get on with it. BIG HUGS TO:
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Thank you guys from the bottom of my heart. And now I'm going to let you get on with it.
ENJOY!
Rekindled : A Classic Sailor Moon Twist
Chapter 14
The First Day Back
He groaned low in his throat as he kissed her. He rolled until she was beneath him, his mouth never breaking contact with hers. Her fingers trailed up and down his back, light as a feather one second, urgent and grasping the next. He pulled his mouth away from hers only to drag his lips down her neck.
She moaned in his ear. "Darien…"
He pulled back slightly to stare down into her big blue eyes and gently swept away the long golden strands of hair that clung to her flushed cheeks. "I love you, Serena."
She smiled her beautiful smile up at him as her hands came around to cup his face. "I love you too, Darien."
He began lowering his head, but before his lips could meet hers again a fog fell across her face and soft voice whispered, "Endymion…"
Whoa! He jerked awake so quickly that he rolled out of the bed and landed on the floor. Thank goodness he had thick, plush carpet or it would have hurt a lot worse than it did.
He ground the heels of his hands against his eyes and growled, "Damn it, Serenity!"
Was it too much to ask for him to get one decent night's sleep? School was starting back today and he was going to have a hell of a time getting through his classes at the rate he was going.
He had stayed in Serena's tree New Year's Eve, hearing the sound of her muffled sobs and begging her through the glass to talk to him until Andrew had called him. His friend had been concerned when he had gone outside and found Darien's car running and the driver's side door wide open. He had gone and retrieved his car and taken it home before transforming and hurrying back to Serena's house. He had barely landed on the branch when she had ripped the curtains open and had screamed at him to go away.
It had been all he could do to keep from smashing that damn window and going in anyway when he saw her red, swollen, tear streaked face, but her emotions had rushed through the bond they shared and hit him like a sucker punch to the gut. Surprisingly there had been no anger, except for what she directed at herself. Instead her predominate emotions had been hurt, disgust, and a deep self-loathing.
Sensing that his presence was only making things harder for her, he retreated. He had gone home and sat up until dawn, trying desperately to come up with a way to make things better between them. If he could just get her to talk to him, he was sure that they could work things out.
He had finally dozed off, intending to nap for only a few hours. Then he would go to the arcade and hope that she would show up like she always did. But once he fell asleep, it was a constant battle to make it restful. Serenity constantly hovered at the fringes of his mind, crying and begging for his forgiveness. Every now and then she would manage to infiltrate his dreams, and he stubbornly redoubled his efforts to push her out again. When he woke up he found that he had slept for much longer than he'd wanted to. The clock was pushing noon.
He had taken the quickest shower of his life and thrown on the first clothes that he found before running the few blocks to the arcade, hoping against hope that Serena would show up. But when he got there Andrew told him that Serena had come in early that morning and helped with the after party clean up. Then she had claimed to be feeling bad and had left.
The girls had come in then for lunch and they all shot him venomous looks as they silently took a seat in their favorite booth. He sat there for several minutes, nursing a cup of coffee and waiting for one of them to tear into him so that he would have an excuse to ask about Serena, but when none of them approached him he made up his mind to go to them. He didn't care that Mina was with them at that point. If she was whom he was seriously starting to suspect her of being, she probably already knew all about everything anyway.
But Andrew had saved him the trouble by asking first. He eavesdropped shamelessly as he heard the girls say that they had gone by Serena's house and had been told by her mother that she was sick with the stomach flu and wasn't up to receiving any visitors.
"Mrs. Tsukino said that she's been holed up in the bathroom for hours tossing her cookies," Raye had said snidely and looked at him for a moment with burning eyes.
Lita had glared at him too. "Yeah, she must be pretty bad off. She's not opening the door for anyone."
Amy's gaze had stabbed into him like icicles. "She probably got a hold of something bad at the party last night."
Mina had said nothing, but her eyes had smoldered like blue flames as she turned a contemptuous look on him.
Unable to handle the accusing atmosphere any more, he'd fled back to his apartment where he paced restlessly for the better part of the day. Once he tried the sense Serena through their bond and the wave of sick nausea that hit him almost sent him running for the bathroom as well.
That night he had returned to her window to find it closed up just as tight as the night before. As he sat there on the tree branch he could hear her moaning and crying in her sleep. She had woken up with a muted shriek and had stumbled to the bathroom where his sensitive hearing picked up on the sound of her being violently sick.
Luna had appeared at the window and asked him quietly to go. The feline hadn't been rude. In fact, she'd seemed to feel genuinely sad for him. But she'd said that Serena needed time to process some things and that he should leave her be for now.
The next day he had actually caught a glimpse of her. He had jerked awake from another uneasy nap in which Serenity had been screaming in the background of his dreams of Serena to a horrible pain in his chest and a ball of dread sitting in his stomach like a lump of concrete. As soon as he realized that it meant that Serena had become Sailor Moon he transformed and hurried toward where he felt her.
He'd arrived just in time to see Sailor Moon using her wand on a crazy looking youma that had surprisingly turned into a teenage boy before he fell unconscious to the ground. Sailor Jupiter had been at her side. As soon as the light of her power had faded she had begun staggering away. He'd tried to follow her, but found his way blocked by Jupiter.
"Not a chance, Shields! She doesn't need to deal with your shit right now!" she'd snarled.
Piss off, Lita!" he'd growled back. They had both been so angry that they might have started exchanging blows if Mars and Mercury hadn't chosen that moment to show up.
Jupiter launched into an explanation of what had happened. He had only been half paying attention to what she was saying as he contemplated ways to get away from the scouts so he could go after Serena. But he pulled up short when he heard the words "rainbow crystal".
"What did you say?" he'd demanded.
Jupiter had rolled her green eyes at him. "I said that the Dark Kingdom has gotten their hands on the first rainbow crystal, Mr. Genius. Weren't you paying attention? I was following him," she gestured to the unconscious boy on the ground, "because I got some really strange vibes off of him. He was at the arcade earlier and he was doing some weird telekinetic thing to scam prizes from the machines. But something didn't feel right so I decided to figure out what he was up to. Then Zoicite showed up and zapped him with some dark crystal and the red Rainbow Crystal came flying out of his chest. I tried to stop Zoicite, but that boy turned into a youma and attacked me, so he got away. Then Serena showed up and did some kind of Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo thing with her wand and the dude turned back to normal."
"So the Dark Kingdom is one up on us. That's not good," Mars muttered.
"No, it's not," Mercury agreed. "We have got to find a way to get it back from them and we have to locate the other six before it's too late. If Beryl manages to get her hands on the Silver Crystal…" her voice trailed off meaningfully.
"On a different note," Jupiter drawled. "What happened between you and Serena, Shields? She hasn't left her house or answered her phone in two days. I thought you were supposed to be making nice with her, not sending her into hiding."
He had pinned the three scouts with a glacial glare. "I was until she let something slip. Which one of you told Serena about Endymion? When she found out I knew my past identity she ran away from me. I haven't been able to get her to talk to me since."
The three girls had surprisingly sympathized with him and assured him that Serena had discovered that information on her own. Mars had even gone so far as to touch him on the arm, something she hadn't even done during the short time that they had dated, and told him softly to not lose hope that Serena would come around.
He had felt a little bit better that he still had the scout's encouragement and when he left them he had even been bold enough to go by Serena's house and knock on the front door. A surprised Ilene had answered and told him that Serena was doing much better and had even started eating again. She felt confident that she would be able to go to school when classes resumed the next day.
He had stayed away from her window last night, not wanting to upset her and possibly set back her recovery. Serena might be able to avoid him during their free time, but she wouldn't be able to when they were both in school.
Finished with his reminiscing of the last few days, he pushed himself up off the floor and looked at his clock. It was almost time for his alarm to go off anyway, so he may as well start his day.
He decided to forego his morning jog this morning and headed straight for the shower instead. This was one of the mornings that Andrew had to go in early and help his parents open the arcade, so he would have been alone for his jog. And if he was alone he knew that the temptation to go by Serena's would be too much to bear.
But that did give him an idea. He would just head to the arcade early and hang out with Andrew for a while. He could have breakfast there while he waited. The girls always passed by on their way to school, and if Serena were going to school today she would be with them.
'And what if she doesn't go to school today?' his inner voice asked as he stepped under the hot spray of the shower.
He thought about that for a second before he made up his mind. If she didn't show up for school today then he was going to skip. He would transform and go hang out by her bedroom window all day if he had to. He didn't care if Ken Tsukino came out and tried to shoot him down with a sub-machine gun. He had to get Serena to talk to him somehow.
His decision made, he hurried through his shower. When he was done he quickly dressed in his school uniform, brushed his teeth, and tried to comb his stubborn hair before throwing the comb down in disgust. Then he grabbed his coat and backpack as he headed out the door.
He and Serena would be back on speaking terms before the end of the day, even if it killed him.
"Come on, Serena, or we're going to be late!" Mina shrieked as she sped down the sidewalk, dragging her friend behind her. "I've seen fat, lazy hippos move faster than you are right now! I know you can run faster, so pick up the pace!"
"Have some pity on me, Mina. I've been sick," Serena pleaded as she was jerked along.
A delicate, ladylike snort erupted from her friend. "Sick, my Aunt Frannie's Fanny! You weren't sick. That was just your nerves getting the better of you because of whatever's going on between you and Darien Shields and we both know it."
Serena dug her heels in and ground to a halt. Mina screeched as the sudden stop nearly wrenched her shoulder out of socket and sent her slamming backward into her friend. For once Serena kept her balance instead of falling down. In fact, she stood as firm as a brick wall as she stared at the ground.
"What makes you think that there is something between me and Darien?" she finally muttered after about ten seconds of silence.
Mina rubbed her shoulder with a grimace. "Are you kidding me? A person would have to be blind to not see how things are between you two. You always sit together at the arcade, I've seen you riding around with him in his car, and when neither of you think that the other is looking you watch each other with goo goo eyes. You guys are hot for each other. It's as plain as the nose on my face."
Serena visibly recoiled at her friend's impassioned words. She knew it was true, at least on her part. She took every opportunity she could to watch Darien. She never grew tired of watching the way his eyes crinkled up at the corners when he laughed, the tiny lines that would crease his forehead when he studied, the way his throat moved up and down when he took a drink…
Whoa! She mentally slammed the brakes on her rampant thoughts. She shook her head. "It's not like that between us, Mina. Darien's an okay guy, but he's not for me. There's someone else that I think he belongs with anyway. I know she likes him a lot and I think they'll be perfect for each other."
"What!" Mina screeched. "Some other girl is trying to move in on your man and you're just going to give up? Have you lost your ever-loving mind?" She seized Serena by the front of her coat and shook her. "Who is it? Just tell me who it is and I'll sic Lita on her. There is no way that I am going to stand by and let some hussy trespass on my best friend's territory!"
"Geez, Mina! Don't have an aneurism!" Serena exclaimed, a little swirly-eyed from the shaking. "What does it matter anyway? I don't have any claims on Darien."
"It does matter!" Mina insisted. "You saw him first, so you get first crack at him."
Serena chewed on her bottom lip. "Actually, this other girl has known him a lot longer than I have, practically his whole life. It's like they're supposed to be together."
Mina's nose wrinkled. "Ew! You mean like an arranged marriage or something? Look girl, I don't know what century your brain is stuck in, but nobody does that sort of stuff anymore."
"That's not what I meant!" Serena snapped, her nerves beginning to fray. "I just mean that I think she's better for him. He's smart and sophisticated. What do I have to offer him?"
Mina's whole body jerked and her eyes glittered as she pinned Serena with a hard stare. "You did not just say that! What do you have to offer him? Do I really have to point out the obvious to you? You listen to me, Serena Tsukino; you are a beautiful person, both inside and out. So you may not be the top student in the class. Who cares? It's your loving heart and personality that makes people want to be around you. You can have any guy you want. So if the guy you want is Darien then I say go get him!" She panted as she ended her tirade.
Serena put a hand on her shoulder. "Wow, Mina! How much caffeine have you had this morning? You're more worked up than a hyperventilating antelope!"
Mina's eyes stayed firm for another two seconds before they melted back into their usual softness. She put a gloved hand over her mouth and giggled. "Hee hee! I guess I lost it there for a minute. But seriously, Serena, I wouldn't give up on Darien if I were you. So what if some other girl is crushing on him. It's his decision who he wants to be with, and right now it's pretty obvious he's interested in you. Just have faith. Love can conquer any obstacle."
Serena's head whirled and for just a moment she thought she was going to pass out. The slightest glimmer of a vision flitted through her mind. She saw Mina in a long, light orange dress sitting on a bench in the middle of a garden full of pale flowers. She looked up at the dark sky above her with a shimmer of tears in her blue eyes and whispered, "Love can conquer any obstacle."
"Oh my god!" Mina's shriek snapped her out of her reverie. "We are so going to be late if we don't move it now!" She grabbed Serena by the hand again and began running like a pack of rabid raccoons were chasing them.
Two blocks later, at the corner just before the arcade, she finally stopped. She peeked around the corner and grinned when she saw Darien and Andrew just stepping out of the arcade to greet Raye, Amy, and Lita. A big smile appeared on her face as she smoothed her rumpled hair down and then turned to Serena and did the same to her windblown pigtails.
"We finally caught up to the others," she told Serena as her friend looked at her like she had lost her mind. "I guess we aren't running as far behind schedule as I thought we were. There! Now you look perfect!"
"I better!" Serena grumbled as Mina dragged her around the corner. She hadn't slept well since the night before New Year's Eve when she had woken up from that steamy dream about Endymion. Since then not only was the stubborn prince constantly making appearances in her dreams, but also her nightmares had returned. She had almost forgotten about the horrifying images of blood and Endymion lying dead before her, but now they were back with frightening clarity. After waking her parents up twice that first night, she had learned to muffle her screams whenever she did manage to fall asleep. But the ravages of her sleeplessness was clearly showing on her features, and remembering how bad her friends had freaked out when she had gone through this before she had made sure to use the Luna Pen to make herself appear normal. So she better look like she was in tiptop shape or she would have a serious bone to pick with Luna.
She blew around the corner behind Mina and almost stumbled and fell when she saw Darien standing with Andrew and the girls. She wasn't ready to face him yet. What could she say to him? "I'm sorry I almost let you kiss me when I know you and Serenity belong together?" Or how about, "Look, Darien. I know there's some kind of an attraction between us. It was the same way a thousand years ago when you and I decided to make whoopee behind the princess's back."
Oh yeah, that would go over really well. It did make her wonder for about the hundredth time in the last few days whether or not he knew about the affair they'd had together in the past. It would certainly explain his sudden interest in trying to kiss her. But she was far too chicken to ask him?
She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Darien spin on his heel and began walking away from the others. She had run away from his presence the day before when Zoicite had attacked that boy, and she knew that they were going to have to talk at some point. But now she could put off coming face to face with him for a little while longer.
That was until Mina opened her mouth. "Hey guys! Wait for us!"
Darien stopped and turned around. Serena almost moaned aloud when his eyes locked with hers. His gaze was serious, but there was a flash of something else in his midnight depths that made her feel like every bone in her body had just turned to jelly. He walked briskly back to the others and got there at the same time she and Mina did.
"There you two are!" Raye snapped. "We were wondering whether you two airheads had finally managed to float off into the stratosphere when you didn't meet us at our usual spot."
Mina's characteristic giggle pealed out. "Serena had a little trouble getting motivated this morning. And then Mrs. Tsukino had made these cinnamon rolls that were to die for. She offered me one and I would have been crazy to turn her down. So we were running a few minutes behind. Right, Serena?"
Serena had finally torn her eyes from Darien's and was looking down, but at Mina's words she looked up and pasted what she hoped was a natural smile on her face. "Yep! You guys know me. I'd lose my head if it weren't attached to my body. Besides, who wants to go back to yucky old school anyway? I wish they would outlaw it."
Andrew tossed an arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. "So how are you feeling, Bunny? Your mom told my mom that you were tossing your cookies left and right."
She scrunched her nose up at him. "Thanks for that wonderful imagery, Drew! That's exactly what I want to remember, how I spent a whole day lying on the bathroom floor so that I could have easy access to the toilet."
"But you're over it now, right?" Lita asked quickly.
Serena waved a dismissive hand. "Yeah, yeah! It was just a little twenty-four hour bug. It's all gone now."
"I don't know," Amy muttered. "You still look a little pale to me. Perhaps you should have taken another day to rest."
Serena shuddered. As much as she didn't want to go back to school where she knew that she would have to face Darien, it was almost preferable to staying at home in bed where she knew that she would fall asleep and the dreams would come. "Don't be silly, Amy. I feel like a million bucks!"
Darien finally spoke up. "She's right, Serena. You do look a little paler than usual."
Andrew jumped at the sound of his voice behind him. "Whoa, Dare! How about a little warning when you sneak up on a guy? I thought you were going back to your place because you left your Chemistry book at home."
He shrugged. That had only been an excuse because he thought that Serena wasn't coming. "I double checked my bag and found out that I had it after all."
Serena forced out a shaky laugh. "Ha ha! Only Darien would have his schoolbooks out over vacation. I haven't even opened my backpack since the last day of school."
Darien opened his mouth like he was about to say something, and then closed it as he sighed and shook his head. Then he muttered, "We should get going before we're late."
As they began walking down the sidewalk, Serena made sure to keep herself between Andrew and Mina. She knew that if Darien managed to get beside her that he would start bombarding her with questions. So he walked on Andrew's other side. And even though she forced herself not to look at him, she felt his eyes cut toward her several times.
She felt better once they reached the school. Now they would have to split up. The guys' lockers were downstairs while the girls' were on the second floor. She quickly told Andrew goodbye and scurried toward the stairway. She had barely taken five steps when a hand grabbed her wrist. Awareness flowed through her. She didn't need to turn around to know whom the hand belonged to.
"Not right now, Darien," she pleaded softly.
His voice was low, but she could easily hear it even over the noise of students talking and lockers slamming. "We have to talk, Serena."
She shook her head, still refusing to turn around. "Maybe later. I have to get to class. Haruna will land me in detention for sure if I'm late."
His fingers tightened minutely. "Look at me, Serena!"
She sighed and turned, reluctantly raising her eyes to meet his.
"We are going to talk about what's going on," he stated firmly, but gently. "We have to work together and you can't keep avoiding me forever."
She nodded slowly. "I know. Just not right now, okay."
He let her go. "Okay. But later, all right?"
"Later," she promised, and then practically ran for the stairs.
The cafeteria was crowded and loud, providing the perfect cover for the four girls that sat with their heads close together having a whispered, but intense conversation.
"So what is up with Serena and Darien?" Lita demanded. "The two of them barely acknowledged each other this morning."
Mina sighed. "It's Serenity of course. Darien has decided to throw caution to the wind, but Serena is fighting him. She's still convinced that she can't make a play for him because he's supposed to be with Serenity."
"That's just like that Meatball Head," Raye growled. "This isn't the stinking Dark Ages. In this time boy and girl meet each other, boy and girl fall in love, and then boy and girl hook up. It's not rocket science."
"But Serena takes this mission seriously," Amy interjected. "I know exactly what she's thinking. She knows that we have at least part of our memories back, and she knows that eventually Darien and Serenity will too. Then she figures once they remember their love for each other they'll fall back into each other's arms."
Mina nodded. "She's pushing him away now thinking that she'll save herself a broken heart later."
Lita cracked her knuckles. "All the more reason why we have to hurry up and get our hands on those Rainbow Crystals so we can get the Silver Crystal restored to her. I don't know how long I can take her fake smiles without spilling the beans."
"Same here," Raye agreed. "I don't want to compromise her safety, but her happiness is important to me."
"If only Zoicite hadn't gotten away with that crystal," Mina muttered.
"I wish I'd had a chance to pound that little snot!" Lita snarled. "No offense, Amy."
Amy waved a hand. "None taken. I wish I'd had a crack at him myself. It does make me wonder how he tracked that one down so easily. I've been trying for weeks, but I can't get any accurate readings."
Raye twirled a straw with her fingers. "It's probably because the shadow warriors are locked inside them. Beryl probably has a way to track them since they are her little pets. But since it took them so long to find the first one it makes me think that it may not be as easy for them as we think."
Lines furrowed Mina's forehead. "But if that's true, shouldn't that also be true for Serena? The Silver Crystal is inside of her. It may be dormant, but the Rainbow Crystals are part of it. Isn't there some way that she could sense where they are?"
"I've thought about that," Amy confessed. "I think she might be able to, much like how she can usually tell whenever there are youma around, but she would probably have to be in fairly close proximity to it. And Tokyo's a big city."
"Maybe we'll get lucky," Mina sighed. "Selene knows we need something to go right for us."
"Hey! What's with all of the glum faces?" Andrew's voice asked as he joined them. Then he looked around at all of the empty chairs. "Where's Serena and Darien?"
Serena picked at her lunch as she sat in the quiet stairwell. She knew that she'd probably get the third degree if a teacher happened along and found her spending lunch here instead of in the cafeteria, but she didn't care. She knew she was a coward.
Her morning had gone smoothly enough. She had dashed from class to class, thankfully not encountering Darien in the hallways in between. She had only caught sight of his dark head once next to Andrew's blonde one as they had left their English class together. Luckily she had ducked into her Literature class before he had seen her.
But when lunchtime had rolled around she knew that it would be hard to avoid him. They always sat together in the cafeteria. And while she didn't think that he would do any heavy questioning in front of their friends, she knew that he would find some way to interrogate her just a little.
She popped a potato chip into her mouth and chewed mechanically, not even tasting it's salty flavor. Then she leaned her head against the wall beside her and closed her eyes, wishing that she could turn back time. She knew that she couldn't give up being Sailor Moon; they had to save the world from Beryl. But if she could just go back to before she'd found out about Endymion. Her life had been so nice then.
If she had a choice of when and where she could go back to, she would go back to that first day that Darien had taken her that empty warehouse to train. Things had been easy and lighthearted between them as he had instructed her and she had been able to touch him and let him touch her without this overwhelming feeling of guilt. She wished that she could return there and freeze that time forever.
"There you are."
The sound of that smooth, husky voice had her eyes flying open. She should have known that she couldn't hide from him. He had that uncanny ability of being able to track her down. It wasn't as easy to do when they weren't transformed, but leave it to Darien to be good at it anyway.
He stood at the bottom of the stairs staring up to where she sat at the top. He began climbing up, one slow step at a time. His gaze staying locked with hers.
She sat frozen in panic. Half of her demanded that she jump up and run away. She was just the teensiest bit faster than he was. He wouldn't be able to catch her, unless she did something stupid like trip over her own feet, and that was highly probable. The other half of her wanted to drag him down on top of her and kiss him senseless until they were both nothing but a puddle of goo on the floor. But she did neither and sat there motionless until he sat down on the step beside her.
Then he did the unexpected. He bumped her shoulder lightly with his and asked gently, "Are you okay?"
She turned a blinding smile on him. "I'm fine. I just wanted to have a quiet lunch without a hundred voices jabbering away around me."
His eyes narrowed as he took in the too bright smile. Serena couldn't lie to save her life. "You don't have to pretend with me, Serena. I know you're not fine."
The smile turned brittle and then disappeared. "What do you want me to say, Darien?"
He ran an agitated hand through his hair. "You can start off by telling me why you ran away from me the other night."
Her eyes widened in disbelief. "You know why. Things were getting way too intense between us and I had to get away."
"Do you know what that did to me?" he growled. "You ran from me like I was a youma out to steal your energy and then shut me out without listening to what I had to say. I thought you said we were friends."
She felt a flare of irritation. "I thought we were too. But friends don't go around trying to kiss each other."
"You wanted me to!" he fired back. "Don't sit there looking all innocent, Serena! You wanted it as much as I did. I could see it in your eyes. They were begging for me to kiss you. If I hadn't been stupid enough to point out your little slip up with my name you would have let me."
Her face flushed dark red. "Yes, I would have. And it would have been the worst mistake of my life."
"Because of Serenity," he sneered.
"Yes!" she almost shouted. "Because of Serenity! I knew that you belonged to her, and yet I let things go farther between us than I should have. Do you know how dirty I feel knowing that I came within inches of betraying my princess?"
Anger snapped in his eyes. "Serena, I don't give a…" he said a really bad curse word that made her gasp, "about Serenity! She and I may have been together a thousand years ago, but that has nothing to do with now. The only reasons why I am trying to help her is because we need her to defeat Beryl and I feel like I owe it to her since she has helped me out over the years. That's it!"
"You can't mean that," she whispered. "You two are supposed to be together."
"Why, because we were, once upon a time? Because we're suppose to be some kind of star crossed soul mates?" he demanded. "I don't believe in any of that destiny crap! I am the only one that makes decisions in my life."
He leaned forward and Serena shrank away from him, back into the wall behind her as he slapped a hand on either side of her head. "I don't love Serenity, Serena. And I'm going to prove it to you."
Just as he dipped his head down, she looked up at him, tears pouring from her eyes. "Please don't kiss me," she begged brokenly. "I don't think I could live with myself if you did."
Her words sent him reeling back from her. Rage bubbled up inside him at her rejection. "You are more maddening than Serenity! What exactly do you want from me, Serena? I'm tired of all of these mixed signals I'm getting from you."
She sucked in a shaky breath. "I won't deny that there is a certain…attraction between us, but we can never be anything more than friends. And I want that, Darien. You've become too much a part of my life for me to cut you out of it."
Resentment flowed through him and he shook his head. "I don't know if I can do that, Serena. Feelings can't be turned on and off like a light switch. It would be hard to spend time with you and try to think of you as just a friend. It would be easier to go back to fighting with each other."
Her heart shattered in her chest, but she nodded. She had known that the severing of their newfound closeness could be a casualty in this whole fiasco and she was prepared to accept it. But it still hurt. "Perhaps you're right. Maybe being friends is too much to ask of either one of us."
He jerked like he had been slapped and then jumped to his feet. "I've gotta go cool off!" he growled and stomped up the next flight of stairs toward the roof.
Serena managed to hold in her sobs until she heard the roof's door bang open and then slam shut. That was when the dam burst. Tears poured in constant rivers from her eyes and deep, gut-wrenching sobs tore from her chest until she could barely breathe. She fell over sideways until she was lying on the landing she had been sitting on and buried her face in her arms.
If she had bothered to look up she would have seen that she had an audience to her emotional breakdown. Darien had stopped just before going out onto the roof and had slammed the door in disgust at himself before going over to the railing and looking down at the girl he had just walked away from.
When the first sounds of her cries reached him he steeled himself against them. He wanted to hate her. He wanted her to hurt just as much as she had hurt him. Maybe that would make the painful, aching hole in his chest easier to bear. But when the sounds of her sobs grew more hysterical and she fell over in a boneless heap, he felt himself crack. His hands tightened around the metal railing until he actually felt it begin to bend and mold into the shapes of his fingers.
He couldn't hate her. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't. Now that he thought about it, he could almost respect her refusal to betray her princess. Her loyalty was one of her many qualities that had drawn him to her in the first place. He just wished that she would let go of it this one time.
Mentally calling himself a sucker and a glutton for punishment, he went back down the stairs and knelt down next to Serena. He took her by the shoulders in order to sit her up, but the moment he touched her she shot up on her own and batted his hands away.
Her face was red and tear soaked and what little air she was managing to draw in hiccupped in her chest. "Don't…hic…touch me…hic!" she shrieked. "I know…hic…that you hate me now…hic! So please…hic…go away!"
He closed his eyes for a moment as more pain swept through him. How could he have ever thought for one second that he wanted to see her hurting? The burning ache in his heart was worse now than it had been when she'd rejected him.
He reached for her and she tried to struggle away, but he easily overpowered her and pulled her against his chest. He buried his face in her hair and whispered, "I don't hate you, Serena. I could never hate you. I just wish that you weren't quite so stubborn. If it means that much to you, we'll try it your way. I can't take seeing you like this."
She sniffled hard and then raised her head from his chest. A little glimmer of hope was beginning to shimmer in her eyes. "You…you mean…"
"I mean we'll try being friends," he told her as he used his fingers to wipe away her tears. Then he smirked. "You're a mess, Meatball Head!"
"Ooo, you…" she fumed though she was now smiling. She used the sleeves of her shirt to scrub at her face.
He laughed. "Yeah, you better try to clean yourself up. There's only about ten minutes left until lunch is over."
"What! Only ten minutes!" her shriek echoed in the stairwell. "But I haven't finished eating yet!" She fell on her abandoned, untouched lunch and began inhaling it like it was the last food she would ever have.
"Easy there, Meatball Head," Darien cautioned and patted her back as she choked on a cookie. He popped the top on her unopened soda and handed it to her.
"Jerk!" she muttered once her coughing had subsided.
He crossed his arms and pouted. "Hey! Is that any way to talk about your friend? Especially one that goes around saving your butt from youma attacks."
She stuck her tongue out at him and giggled, feeling like things were going back to normal for the first time in days. Well, normal for them anyway.
"I'll see you after class," Molly Osaka said as she kissed her boyfriend, Melvin, on the cheek and ducked into her 5th period Science class. A quick look around told her that the teacher hadn't arrived from lunch yet as she took her seat in the middle of the room.
Over the next few minutes the rest of the class filed in, most of them noisily grumbling about how this first day back to school was dragging like it was never going to end. Just as the bell rang the teacher stepped in.
Their regular teacher must not be back from her trip yet, Molly thought when she saw that it was the same substitute that they'd had before the holidays. His eyes roamed the room until they landed on her.
A shiver ran down her spine as a tiny smirk appeared on his face. She had a quick flash of a vision of him smirking at her like that before he grabbed her arm and everything went dark. She didn't know why she thought that; she just knew that his presence unnerved her.
Panic fluttered in her chest and she raised her hand to ask to be excused to the nurse's office. She wouldn't be lying, she really felt sick and all she wanted was to be as far away from this man as she could get.
But before she could speak a fog seemed to wrap around her head and the vision disappeared. 'You will remember nothing,' a voice echoed in her head. All anxiety fled her body and she settled back in her seat as she pulled her supplies out in preparation for the class.
Nephrite grinned as he saw the fear and uncertainty fade from those cobalt blue eyes. It had taken time, and a lot of memory modification and hypnosis, to get the faculty and students of this school to forget his involvement in the disruption of the winter dance. But he had thought that it might prove useful to reassume the same cover that he had used before.
He wasn't sure if the sailor scouts were in this school or not. They could be cloaking their auras now that they knew he was around. All he knew was that the scouts had shown up quickly the night that he had attacked the dance. And Sailor Moon in particular had seemed to be frantic to save Molly. She could be a friend of hers. If so, then Molly may be able to lead him to Sailor Moon, and then she in turn could deliver the rest of the scouts and the moon princess right into his hands.
Queen Beryl would be pleased if he was successful, and he definitely planned on this being a victory. He sure didn't want to go out the way Jadeite had.
So for now Molly would be his unknowing pawn.
The next period was PE, which the whole group had together. Serena groaned when she and Darien walked into the gym to find a volleyball net set up across the middle of the court. She stunk at most sports, and volleyball was no exception. The ball never seemed to go the way she hit it. It usually ended up out of bounds. And if she was lucky she didn't take someone's head off with it.
"What's the matter?" Darien asked in concern.
"Of all the things they could have pulled on us the first day back, they choose volleyball," she moaned in despair.
"It won't be that bad," he replied, trying to sound encouraging.
She arched a blond brow at him. "Have you forgotten what happened last year when we covered this? I almost gave that poor guy sitting in the bleachers a concussion."
He winced at the memory of Serena smacking the ball and it shooting like a rocket into the head of one of their classmates. In fact, the boy in question was staring at Serena in fear as he made his way into the boy's locker room.
Then Darien smiled. "Maybe it will be different this time. You've changed a lot in the past year."
She rolled her still slightly red and puffy eyes. "Oh it'll be different all right. With my luck I'll be able to separate someone's head completely from their shoulders this time instead of only braining them."
A whistle shrilled and the PE teacher yelled. "Okay people, let's move it! I want everybody dressed out and in line for roll call in five minutes!"
"Goody, goody!" Serena muttered sarcastically under her breath.
Darien gave her a sympathetic look before heading toward the boy's locker room.
She slipped inside the girl's where she found Mina, Amy, Raye, and Lita already in the process of changing. They all shot her curious looks, but none of them asked her any questions. This surprised her a little since she had expected them to be crawling all over her and demanding to know where she had been during lunch."
She shimmied out of her uniform and into her PE clothes, grateful beyond all relief that they were allowed to wear sweats during the winter months instead of shorts and t-shirts. Playing sports was bad enough in her book, but if she had to freeze to death while doing it…she shuddered to think about it.
She grabbed a few bobby pins from her locker before she slammed it and followed her friends out. She began twisting her long tails of hair up and pinning them in place as she listened to their chatter.
"I mean honestly, what was that woman thinking?" Mina was complaining. "How could she give us that much homework on the first day back? Aren't they supposed to ease us back into things slowly?"
"I don't know," Raye grumbled. "But somebody must have pissed in her Corn Flakes for her to be in such a bitchy mood."
"I heard that somebody in her third period class complained out loud about the assignment and she doubled it for the entire class," Lita told them.
Amy shook her head. "Really, you guys, it's to be expected. The workload is always heavier in the second semester than it is in the first."
"Not on the first day back!" Mina, Raye, and Lita exclaimed together.
Serena stifled a giggle at their antics as she slid the last bobby pin into place and then gave her head a shake to make sure her hair was secure. The last thing she needed was for it to come down in the middle of a game and get in her way. She was going to have a hard enough time as it was.
Darien and Andrew were at the other end of the gym tossing a basketball around and shooting baskets with a couple of members from their team that had this class with them. Serena took a moment to admire the way Darien moved when he played. He made it look so easy as he turned and jumped up to shoot the ball. It sailed through the air and whooshed through the basket without even bouncing of the rim.
She was so caught up in watching him that she didn't even realize that Mina had fallen back to her side until she whispered. "Goo goo eyes alert!"
She started and then smiled guiltily at the blonde. "It's not like that, Mina. We are just friends."
"Do my ears deceive me?" Raye butted in. "Did I actually just hear Serena admit that she and Darien are friends?"
"I believe you did," Lita said with a grin.
Amy took pity on Serena when she saw her face go pink with embarrassment. She put an arm around her friend's shoulders. "Leave her alone guys. Serena needs to have her head together to get through this class so we don't have a repeat of what happened last year."
Raye immediately sobered. "Oh yeah! That's right! I'd almost forgotten about that."
"Why, what happened?" Lita and Mina asked in unison. Neither one of them had been at this school the year before, so they didn't know Serena's disastrous history with volleyball. Raye whispered the story to them quickly.
They had reached the other side of the gym now. The teacher blew his whistle and yelled for everyone to line up. Darien and Andrew had stopped their impromptu game and came toward them.
"Hey, Tsukino!" a voice called out.
Serena turned and saw that two members of the football team had come out of the locker room with their pads and helmets on.
"We're ready for you!" they called out together.
Serena slapped her hands over her burning face. "Somebody, please, just shoot me now!" she moaned.
"That's enough horsing around!" the teacher bellowed. "Now everybody on their numbers now before I start handing out detentions."
Everyone scurried into place. Serena dragged herself to her assigned spot and stood there mortified, knowing that everyone in the class had their attention focused on her and were wondering what kind of a catastrophe she would pull off this time.
She felt the weight of someone's eyes on her and looked up to find Darien looking at her in concern. Since their last names were relatively close together in the alphabet, his spot was only a few places in front of her.
"Are you okay?" he mouthed to her.
She shook her head vigorously. In all actuality she felt sick again. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth she would lose her lunch. Oh why had she scarfed down that food so quickly after having a breakdown? Curse her and her emotional eating habits! She would have never touched a bite if she had known what torture awaited her. Somebody up above seemed to really hate her nowadays.
"Okay everyone!" the teacher said loudly. "As I'm sure you all can see we're playing volleyball today. It will be full court, so I want you break up into teams of nine. No exceptions! If you yahoos can't handle that then I'll assign teams myself."
People began scrambling around to hook up with their friends. Serena stood there staring down at the floor until she felt someone take her arm.
"Come on," Darien told her and began leading her over to where the girls and Andrew had clustered together.
She pulled away from him, her stomach still rolling, and ran toward where the teacher was picking up a clipboard from where he had set it on one of the bleachers.
"Coach," she gasped. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
The man looked up and visibly flinched as his eyes passed over her. "I know what you're going to say Tsukino, and the answer is no. Despite your past…accidents, you will participate in this class."
"Please, Coach!" she wailed as she hadn't in the last few months. "You can't seriously turn me loose out there. Think of everyone's safety. I could concuss the entire class in less than five minutes and you know it."
The tall, beefy coach folded his arms. "I'm sorry, Tsukino, but rules are rules. Everyone must participate in order to be graded. Now go join a team before I assign you to one."
Coach turned and walked away from her, leaving her to stare after him for a long, hopeless moment before throwing back her head and screeching, "This is so not fair!"
She trudged back over to where her friends were with her head down, her cheeks and her eyes both burning.
"Geez, Meatball Head, did you have to blare like an air horn? My ears are still ringing," Raye complained.
"Go stuff yourself, Raye!" Serena muttered back.
Andrew put an arm around her and hugged her close to his side. "It won't be that bad, Sere. You were always good at dodge ball when we were kids. Just treat it like that."
"Hey, that's not a bad idea," Lita mused.
Serena sniffled and looked up. "What do you mean?"
Darien chuckled. "What they mean is if the ball is coming at you then get out of the way and let somebody else get it. That way nobody becomes your victim. You move fast, so I bet you can avoid the ball."
His eyes twinkled and he grinned mischievously. Of course he would know exactly how fast she could move, he had witnessed it dozens of times over the last three months.
She met his gaze boldly. "I can do that."
The coach stepped out of his office wearing a goalie mask and carrying what looked like a police riot shield. "All right! Let's get the hard part over with. I want Tsukino's team on the court. And you will be playing against, hmmm, that team." He pointed toward a group mostly made up of football jocks and cheerleaders that groaned at his proclamation.
"Let's just do it," Serena grumbled and stepped onto the court. With her, Darien, Andrew, Mina, Raye, Lita, and Amy, they had seven people. Darien and Andrew had roped their two teammates that they were playing with earlier into joining them. She felt pretty confident in the team. They had four basketball players, one of whom moonlighted as a super hero, and, not including her, three sailor scouts. She also knew from the trophies that she had seen in Mina's room that she was an experienced player. So as long as she stayed out of the way they may have a shot.
The first several minutes of the game passed without too many incidents. For the most part Serena darted around, to the left, to the right, any way she had to go to steer clear of that ball. The moment she would step out of the way someone else would take her place.
The only iffy moments they'd had were when it had been her time to serve. She had been so scared to touch the ball that she had barely tapped it and it never made it over the net. They had ended up forfeiting control back to the other team, but at least no one died.
But the good luck had to run out at some point. The score was tied 15-15. Whoever scored the next point would win. The tension was high as the other team served the ball. It sailed toward Andrew, who bunted it straight up. Lita was beside him and she smacked it over the net. A member of the other team dove for it and hit it back to their side where Raye volleyed it into perfect position for Darien to send it back.
Then a guy in the front row of the opposing team jump up and spiked the ball, right at Serena. She didn't have a chance of getting out of the way so she threw her hands up over her head. She felt the ball smack against her palms and then bounce away.
"Perfect!" a triumphant voice declared and looked up just in time to see a flash of gold beside her as Mina jumped up and hit the ball with a closed fist and sent it plummeting to the ground on the other side.
"Ooo, it looks like the famous Sailor V might actually be able to do something without the aid of cameras and a production studio after all," one of the football players taunted. "I figured you always had a stunt double fill in for you whenever it came to anything physical so that you wouldn't take the chance of breaking a nail."
Indignation on her friend's behalf welled up inside of Serena, but before she could say anything a hard voice spoke up from behind her. "Why don't you back off, Jackson? I thought you usually stuck with bullying freshmen for their lunch money, not picking on teenage girls just because they happen to have talent and you don't."
The broad boy turned and fixed his beady brown eyes on Darien. "So Mr. Science Fair has become the protector of his little harem of sophomore girls. I never thought you had it in you, Shields."
A growl ripped from Darien's throat and he started forward. Serena stumbled back a few steps at the sight of the feral look on his face. She had seen him mad before, but right now he looked furious enough to rip someone's head off.
She shoved aside her shock and rushed forward to grab him by the arm. She dug her heels in to hold him back before he could tear through the net and punch the smirking senior right in the nose. "Darien, stop!" she cried. "He's not worth it!"
"She's right," Mina backed her up. "Let's just get back at him by beating his team of goons and floozies."
Darien sucked in a calming breath as he shot a disgusted look over the opposing team of snickering jocks and twittering cheerleaders. Then he looked down at the girl still clinging to his arm with a smile. "You can let go now, Serena. I'm not going to beat him up."
"Oh!" she squeaked and dropped the arm that she had forgotten that she was holding.
Coach blew his whistle. "You boys can the testosterone drama and let's finish this game!"
Amy took the ball and served it. It sailed smoothly over the net and right to Jackson. He volleyed it off his forearms back to their side. Just as it cleared the net, Mina was there. She jumped at least three feet into the air and spiked the ball sharply. It sped back toward the jock, catching him unprepared. It slammed into his gut and he fell over as the ball bounced to the floor.
"That's the game!" Coach announced.
Mina walked right up to the net and stared down at the groaning boy with a superior look on her face. "Before you go around passing judgments on people you should get your facts straight. For your information I led my school in London to three back-to-back regional volleyball championships. And furthermore, I performed every stunt in my movies myself. So if you don't want to take the chance of running into Sailor V in a dark alley some night, I would suggest you keep your mindless comments to yourself!"
With that being said she spun on her heel and walked away regally with her head held high, just as gracefully as a queen. As she passed an open mouthed and completely flabbergasted Serena and Darien, she gave them a sly wink and flashed her V sign.
"All right!" Coach yelled. "I need my other two teams out here. Those of you that already played can go ahead and change."
"Wasn't she amazing!" Serena squealed and then hurried off to follow the girls.
Darien stood there for a minute, watching Mina as she disappeared into the girl's locker room. A confused and troubled look marred his face. "Yeah, amazing," he finally muttered.
Nephrite snarled quietly under his breath as he peeked around the edge of the newspaper he was hiding behind to watch the russet haired girl he had been following through the window of the shop she had entered almost twenty minutes before. She had seemed to know what she was after and had picked it up fairly quickly, but she had struck up a conversation with the girl behind the check out counter and had been there ever since.
He had followed her around all afternoon and had delved into the aura of every female she had come in contact with. He had yet to come across anyone whose essence even came remotely close to that of a sailor scout.
He forced himself to calm down. He couldn't expect miracles on his first day of looking after all. And if the scouts were cloaking their energy signatures that would make them ten times harder to detect. Mars would most definitely be hiding hers, and would be the most adept at it as well since she was a spiritualist. Jupiter would be a little easier to find since he was most attuned to the feeling of her aura, even if she was trying to keep it suppressed. But Sailor Moon, she was a mystery. He had only caught a glimpse of her aura the night of the dance, right before she had destroyed his energy absorbing crystal, and it had been a snapping, brilliant silver.
He was so wrapped up in his musings that he didn't see when Molly stepped out of the shop into the path of five girls. Nor did he see the way she greeted one of the blonde girls enthusiastically and take her by the hand as they split from the other four girls at the corner to go in a different direction. All he knew when he looked up was that Molly was gone.
He cursed roundly and threw down the newspaper before taking off at a brisk pace down the street, his eyes sweeping from side to side as he searched for his prey. He finally found her several blocks away, standing outside the jewelry store her mother owned as she waved goodbye to a blond girl.
Nephrite's heart pounded as he took in her friend's long blonde hair that was done up into a style exactly like Sailor Moon's. But he told himself not to jump the gun. This was the third girl that he had come across that day with the same hairstyle. Apparently there were quite a few girls out there that thought it was fun to imitate the young super heroine. But this was the first blonde that he had encountered.
He reached out quickly with his powers to read the girl's aura, but he was disappointed when he discovered it to be a calm, soothing pink instead of raging silver. It looked like he had struck out yet again. But he would have to come up with something soon or Queen Beryl would blow him away just like she had done Jadeite.
Resigning himself to the fact that he had done all he could do for the moment, he spun around and headed down the crowded sidewalk in search of a place where he would be able to teleport. He never noticed that Molly's friend, who was hurrying in the opposite direction, had turned to look back over her shoulder with a concerned expression on her face. Her aura flared blinding silver for a brief moment before settling back into pink. Then she took off running at a blistering pace.
"The guy is nuts!" Andrew exclaimed as he slammed a Mountain Dew down in front of Darien. "I don't see why he's ranting and raving about regionals for, we have to get through the district finals first."
"Uh huh," Darien mumbled robotically.
Andrew snorted. "Okay, so the district playoffs probably won't be that big of a deal since we've already beaten all of those teams this season, but anything can happen."
"Uh huh," Darien muttered again.
Andrew continued, "I mean really, he kept going on and on like he's completely forgotten that we have to get through the district games first."
"Uh huh."
"And I can't believe he made use run all of those drills and then run laps on top of that. I thought my ass was literally going to fall off."
"Uh huh."
"Dare, are you even listening to me?"
"Uh huh."
Andrew heaved a sigh of irritation before saying, "Well look at that. Serena just came in with some guy and now they're making out in the back booth."
"Uh huh," Darien replied automatically. Then his eyes widened and his head swiveled around. "What?" His gaze landed on the back booth, but all he saw were Raye, Lita, Amy, and, he shuddered, Mina.
"Glad to see you're still alive in there. For a while I thought I was talking to a dead guy," Andrew grumbled sarcastically.
Darien turned back to his friend with a guilty expression. "Sorry. I guess I was just lost in thought."
Andrew rolled his eyes. "That much is obvious. Look, I know you get a little broody when Serena's not around, but she'll probably be blowing in here any minute. The girls said that she met up with Molly and decided to walk her home so that they could catch up a little."
"I wasn't thinking about Serena," Darien insisted. Okay, so that wasn't completely true, but she wasn't the only person that he had been thinking about.
"Hold that thought. I'll be right back," Andrew told him and then moved down the counter to wait on a group of middle school kids that had walked up.
Darien swirled the straw in his soda idly as he sank back into thought. Today had been a roller coater to say the least. Not only had he gone through all of the emotional drama with Serena, but also he'd had to deal with that disastrous gym class.
He wasn't the type of person to lose his cool so easily, but anger had bubbled to life inside him when that stupid jock had made those demoralizing remarks about Mina. He didn't understand why. He told himself that he probably would have acted the same way if it had been Raye, Lita, or Amy, he considered them all his friends and he would help look out for them. But when Jackson had made that comment about them being his harem he lost it. It had been a good thing that Serena had been there to calm him down or he would have stomped that slimy slug into the ground.
But what had him most confused of all were his thoughts about Mina. When she had spiked that ball into that overblown jackass and then walked away with her head held high he'd felt proud of her. It wasn't so different from the feeling he felt when Serena mastered a new punch or kick that he had taught her.
And this only made him feel more perplexed. Did his pride in her actions of her taking up for herself stem from a friendly nature, or was he correct about her true identity and a part of his soul recognized her as being Princess Serenity?
"Darien?" a quiet voice spoke close beside him.
He looked up and found Mina standing next to him. Her bright blue eyes bore into his for a moment before he pulled himself together enough to mutter, "Yeah?"
She adjusted her backpack strap on her shoulder and he realized that she had her coat on as well. "I'm on my way out, but I just wanted to thank you for sticking for me today. You didn't have to do that."
His lips quirked up in a grin on their own accord. "Yeah, I figured that out about the time you took that asshole down. You have a mean spike."
She laughed softly. "Thanks. I've had years of practice. It was still nice of you to step in like that, but I'm glad Serena was there to hold you back. I would have felt awful if you had gotten into fight and been suspended."
His anger sparked a little again. "I wish I had bashed his face in! He had no right to say those things about you or to refer to any of you girls that way."
A tiny giggle bubbled in her throat. "Whoa! Down boy! I didn't mean to strike a nerve or anything. I just wanted to say thank you."
He inclined his head to her. "You're welcome."
She shuffled her feet nervously for a moment before saying quietly, "I couldn't help but notice that you and Serena seemed to be on better terms this afternoon than you were this morning."
His fingers tightened around his glass. "Yeah. We had a talk during lunch."
A bright smile lit up her face. "That's good! At least it's progress. I told her this morning that she was being an idiot, but she's got some crazy idea in her head that there's some perfect woman out there that's in love with you and that she thinks would suit you better. I tried to tell her that it was absolutely insane, but you know how Serena can be once she gets a thought in her head. She can be so stubborn sometimes. Honestly, I think I would have a better chance trying to carry on a conversation with a cocker spaniel than I would her on some days. At least a dog would pretend to pay attention to what I am saying, even if it doesn't actually understand the words that are coming out of my mouth, instead of ignoring me like I haven't said anything at all. But I still think you can get through to Serena. I have faith. Oh no! Am I rambling too much? People always tell me that I talk too much. But I can't help it sometimes. When I get excited the words just seem to pour out of me like they have a mind of their own. I'm sorry!"
"No, it's okay," Darien gasped, feeling a little dizzy from her flurry of speech. He had heard her go on her rants before, but this was the first time that he had been on the receiving end. It was a little overwhelming.
His slightly bleary mind tried to assimilate her words, and at the same time he was making comparisons between her and the Serenity he knew from his dreams. She had gone off on tirades a few times herself. Nothing quite as long winded as what Mina had just done, but it wasn't enough proof to cast a shadow on his suspicions.
He made a decision right then that he was going to flat out ask her if she was Serenity. What was the worst that could happen? She would look at him like he was crazy. "Hey, Mina…"
Suddenly she grabbed his wrist and looked at his watch. "Oh no! Is that the time? My parents are leaving for the airport in an hour and I promised that I would see them before they left. I've gotta run! Thanks again for everything, Darien! I'll see you later! Bye!"
She was gone in a blur of golden hair, leaving behind dust trails that would have almost done Serena justice. Darien sat there with his mouth still hanging open in shock for several seconds until Andrew chuckled.
"That girl sure is a bundle of energy," the sandy blonde said in amusement. "I never thought I would meet anyone that could rival Serena when it came to bubbliness, but Mina could give her a run for her money. I even asked them one time if they were long lost sisters or something since they both look and act so much alike. They could almost switch places with each other. And if someone didn't know them well enough to know the little differences to look for they would never be able to tell the difference."
This gave Darien more food for thought. His suspicions were starting to make more and more sense. The resemblance between Serena and Mina was uncanny. That only supported his theory. If Serena was the scout of the moon and Mina was the princess of the moon, then there was a possibility that they could have been related in their past lives. Then again, maybe all people that came from the moon looked alike. He really had no way of knowing.
His head was beginning to hurt from trying to figure it out, so he took out his chemistry book in hopes of escaping from it or a while. He had made it about halfway through the new chapter that they had started today in class when he heard the doors whoosh open. There was the clacking of about ten running footsteps, and then the sound of a skid and then a thump.
He sighed and looked over the edge of his book, but Serena was already scrambling up from where she had fallen on the linoleum floor and running toward the back booth. She didn't sit, but stood at the end of the table panting slightly. Her cheeks were pink from exertion and her eyes burned with some emotion he couldn't identify. She was whispering something to Amy, Raye, and Lita in a low voice that caused them to all look immediately concerned.
Unable to stand the suspense, he got up from his stool and went over to them. He put a hand on Serena's heaving shoulder and asked quietly, "What's going on? You look like you've been chased by a pack of hungry wolves."
Her head whipped around and she stared up at him with wild eyes that were almost impossibly large in her tiny face. Then he felt the anxiety that was rolling off of her in waves.
"I wish it had been wolves," she gasped.
"Come on, Serena. Sit down for a moment and try to compose yourself," Amy said, tugging on her friend's sleeve. "Darien, do you think you could maybe get her a cocoa? She had a bit of a shock and something warm would do her good."
Now his concern shot off the chart. "Yeah, sure. I'll be right back."
He returned to the counter where Andrew already had a steaming cup waiting. He was busy waiting on a new flood of customers, but he shot Darien a questioning look. Darien shrugged in return before picking up the drink and hurrying back to the booth.
Amy had moved to the other side next to Lita and Raye, leaving him a spot next to Serena. He slid into the seat and set the cup in front of her. "Here."
She wrapped trembling fingers around the cup. "Thanks."
"So what's going on?" he demanded.
"Yeah, and try to make sense this time," Raye interjected. "I only caught bits and pieces of that garbled mess you were spouting before."
Serena took a long sip of the cocoa and then drew in a fortifying breath. "Okay, so you were all with me when I ran into Molly after school and she asked me to walk home with her because she wanted to talk. You see, her father died when she was little and tomorrow is the tenth anniversary of his death. I go with her every year when she goes to put flowers on his grave and she wanted to make sure that I was still willing to go with her. So after we cleared that up we started talking about first day back to school and all, and she mentioned that her science teacher had been out since before the holidays and still hadn't come back yet. Then she started going on about the substitute and what a hottie he was and how every girl in the school was gaga over him."
The glass Lita was clenching in her hand cracked. "No way! It can't be him again!"
Serena nodded. "I'm afraid it is. When I asked her what his name was she said it was Max Stanton. And that's the same name he used last time. She described him to me; tall, broad, long chestnut hair, and blue eyes. It has to be Nephrite."
"But how is he still posing as a teacher?" Amy wondered. "Doesn't anyone remember what happened at the dance?"
Serena shrugged. "Evidently not from what I can tell. When I mentioned something about thinking that he was in on the attack at the dance she just laughed at me and told me that I had an overactive imagination. Somehow he made everyone forget about what happened."
"That's not impossible," Raye mused. "Since whoever this Dark Kingdom flunky is has retained Nephrite's spiritual powers, he would have the power to erase people's memories and hypnotize them into believing whatever he wants."
"So Molly could be a target again," Darien said.
Serena shook her head. "I don't know. But when we were saying goodbye I got this weird feeling, like we were being watched. I looked around, but there were so many people that I couldn't spot anyone in particular."
Lita crossed her arms. "We have to assume that she's being targeted. That means we need to keep an eye on her in case he tries something."
Her eyes were so heavy. She felt them drooping further and further closed. Sleep was calling out to her, and it sounded so appealing right now. Her head nodded, her chin almost touching her chest. Then her body pitched forward.
"Whoa!" Sailor Moon came awake with a start. She sucked in burning lungfuls of freezing air as she tried to bring her pounding heart back under control. She stared down at the cold, hard pavement five stories below her.
"Way to go, Serena! You almost splattered yourself right into the morning news!" she grumbled to herself.
She pushed herself back from the ledge of the building she had been sitting on across the street from Osa-P Jewelry Store and stood up, groaning as her muscles protested the movement. She chafed her gloved hands against her upper arms as her teeth chattered in the cold night.
Mars had taken the first watch around dinnertime and stayed until about nine when Mercury had relieved her. Then Sailor Moon had taken over at midnight to keep an eye on things. Jupiter would be coming at around 3 AM and would stay until dawn.
That had been perfect for Serena. She had been able to keep herself busy enough to keep from falling asleep until then. Well, almost. She had attempted to do her homework after faking being asleep for her parent's benefit, but had found herself dozing over her Algebra book. She had jerked herself awake at the first glimpse of Endymion standing in the middle of a riotous rose garden and decided to go relieve Mercury early.
But unfortunately she had knocked her desk chair over as she had gotten up clumsily and that had brought her light sleeping father running to investigate and make sure that no one was attempting to break into his only daughter's bedroom. She had laughed it off, saying that she had tripped over it while going to get a drink. He had bought the excuse, but had insisted on walking down to the kitchen with her and escorting her back to bed to make sure she didn't have any more accidents. Then she had sat in bed for nearly twenty minutes until she heard his rumbling snores before transforming and slipping out her window. She had arrived right on time to take her turn.
She sensed his presence before she heard his almost silent footsteps and turned to look over her shoulder. "What are you doing here?"
Tuxedo Mask steeped from the shadows with a wry grin on his face. "I got tired of feeling the sensation of you freezing to death, so I thought I'd bring you something to warm you up." He held up a thermos. "It's hot chocolate."
"O…oh…thanks," she stammered through clacking teeth. "You didn't have to do that."
"What else are friends for?" he asked as he unstacked a couple of Styrofoam cups from the top of the thermos and filled them with the steamy chocolate.
"Thank you," she said as she accepted a cup from him. She took a big sip and almost sighed as liquid warmth trickled into her body. She watched him as he took a drink from his own cup, wondering about the strange undercurrent she'd heard in his voice when he'd referred to them as friends. Was he still bitter about her insistence that they remain only friends?
She tried to lighten the mood by saying, "So you decided to come all the way out here in the middle of the night just to bring me a hot drink."
He shrugged nonchalantly. "Like I said, I could feel you shivering and it was getting on my nerves. And since you and the other scouts decided to shut me out of this little mission by not giving me a shift, I thought you might like some company."
"Hey! You heard me try to convince them to give you a turn, but they outvoted me!" she exclaimed, and blinked. "Wait a minute! Did you just say that you could feel how cold I was?"
He shrugged again. "It shouldn't be that big of a surprise to you. I'm sure you've realized by now that this strange link that we have with each other can allow us to feel what the other is feeling."
"I suppose," she mumbled as she looked away from his eyes. Then she gasped as she was swamped with a heavy emotion. It felt almost like love, but it was tinged with hurt, anger, and disappointment.
Her head snapped up and she glared at him. "Stop that!"
He shook his head. "I'm not doing anything. When you open yourself up to the link the feelings get stronger. That's how I knew you were suffering out here. I broke out in goose bumps even though I was warm inside my apartment."
"It's an invasion of privacy!" she fired back as she pushed away his emotions and tried to slam a mental door on them. "You shouldn't gallivant around inside people's heads to find out what they're feeling. You should just ask them!"
She set her now empty cup on the building ledge and moved a few feet away where she tried to focus on what she was supposed to be doing, watching Molly's place.
He stepped up behind her and spoke softly. "Okay, you're right. What are you feeling right now, Serena?"
She snorted and looked over her shoulder at him in disbelief. "Be serious, Darien!"
He took a step closer. "I am being serious; very, very serious. I want to know what you're thinking right now."
She sighed and looked away again. "Fine! You want to know what I'm thinking? I'm thinking that I'm tired and turning into a human ice burg even as I speak. I'm pissed at Nephrite for dragging Molly back into the middle of all of this and how much I would like to break every bone in his body. And I'm irritated because I've got so many conflicting things between you, the Dark Kingdom, crystals, and the princess running through my head that I can hardly figure out which way is up anymore. There! Are you happy now?"
A violent shiver racked her body and he stepped forward until he was right behind her. He pulled her back against him and wrapped his cape tightly around her. When she began struggling he leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Shh, Meatball Head. I'm not trying to put any moves on you. I'm just trying to share some warmth. You're so cold your lips are turning blue. So don't read more into this than there is."
She stopped fighting against him and relaxed. The top of her head was several inches below his chin, and he couldn't resist the urge to lean down and press his lips to her soft golden hair.
They stayed that way for several minutes, neither one speaking, and he allowed his imagination to run away with him just a little. He imagined what it would be like if they were up here keeping watch together and Serenity wasn't standing between them. He knew for a fact that he would find a much more pleasurable way to warm her cold lips,
"Ahem!" Serena huffed, snapping him out of his daydreams. He wondered what was making her so uptight until he realized that he had his arms around her waist and his fingers were drawing tiny circles on her hips. He immediately stilled the fingers so she wouldn't get mad and move away.
He closed his eyes and soaked up what contentment he could from the moment. They flew back open a minute later when she gasped, "What is she doing?"
He leaned forward to see what had caught her attention and was surprised to see Molly slipping out the door of the jewelry store and heading down the street.
"Does your friend make it a habit of sneaking out for walks at two in the morning?" he asked.
Sailor Moon shook her head. "No. I have no idea what she could be up to."
"Then I guess we better find out," he said, scooping her up in his arms, careful to keep the cape wrapped around her, and took off across the rooftops.
"Put me down! I can follow her myself!" she protested.
"Just shut up and let me do this!" he snapped back. "If we find ourselves in a fight you'll have an easier time if you're warm."
They followed the girl to the park where they hid behind some bushes to watch as she greeted somebody sitting on a bench. When they saw who it was Sailor Moon wasted no time pulling out her calculator-sized communicator and pressing a button on it.
When three sleep clouded voices answered she whispered loudly, "I need all scouts at the park, now! Nephrite's somehow managed to lure Molly here!"
A/N The following is a transcript of an actual conversation that took place when I finished writing this chapter.
Serena : Oh noooo, Sere-chan! You're not actually going to end this chapter with a cliffhanger like that, are you? It was about to get all actiony!
Raye : (groans) Actiony? Is that even a real word, Meatball Head?
Serena : (blows raspberry) It is if I want it to be. Right, Muffin? (turns to Darien with puppy dog eyes)
Darien : (removes reading glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose) Sure sweetheart. Whatever you say.
Rini : (popping up out of nowhere) Ha! See, Pyro! My mommy is smartest mommy in the world. That's why she gets to become a beautiful queen that everybody loves.
Serena : (squeals and hugs Rini tightly) Oh I knew there was a reason I loved you so much. You're the best daughter ever!
Rini : (gasping and turning blue) Can't…breathe…
Darien : (sighs) Serena, let her go. She's gone through every color of the rainbow.
Serena : (blushes and let's go) Oops!
Sere-chan : (claps hands to get attention) Anyway! To answer your question, Serena, I ended the chapter here because it was getting long and I knew if I put the whole next sequence in that it would probably put the chapter over the top. Besides, you and Darien provided enough drama in this installment.
Serena : (nods thoughtfully) That's true. But just tell me one thing. Is Nephrite going to die in the next chapter?
Sere-chan : (grins evilly) Maybe.
Nick : (comes screaming in from out of the blue) Whhaaattt? You're going to kill me?
Lita : (rolls eyes) Not you, you idiot! This is season one. She's talking about the evil thing that possessed your past dead body.
Nick : (sighs in relief) Thank goodness! I was worried for a second. (pulls Lita into his arms) How about a kiss? I haven't seen you in a while. Our slave-driving author has been keeping you over here while I've been whiling away over in season three.
(Smooching noises)
Mina : (hearts in her eyes) Aww…isn't that sweet!
Raye : (steam coming from her ears) Hey, no fair! How come the rest of us don't get to see our guys too?
Amy : (nodding vigorously) Yeah! This is discrimination!
Kyle, Jake, and Zack : (burst in loudly) Did someone call for us?
Mina, Raye, and Amy : (squeal loud enough to raise the roof)
(Lots and lots of smooching noises)
Darien : (slaps hands over Rini's eyes) Do you guys mind? You're practically having an orgy in front of my young daughter.
Rini : (sniffs haughtily) Please! Like I'm not used to them and the way they act. I live with them you know. Besides, you and mommy are worse than they are sometimes.
Serena and Darien : (blush madly)
Sere-chan : (yells) ENOUGH! (points at Kyle, Nick, Jake, Zack, and Rini) All of you, get back over to Stolen Hearts right now or I will delete every bit of that story that I have written and it will never see the light of day.
(Mad scramble as Rini and the guys scurry away. The scouts grumble plaintively.)
Sere-chan : (turns back to Serena, Darien, and the girls) Okay you six, back to work. This story isn't going to write itself. The sooner we can get it finished the sooner we can move on. Got it?
Everyone : Yes ma'am.
So now you see what I have to put up with. It's amazing that I have any hair left on my head. Anyway, coming up; Nephrite's on his way out, more Rainbow Crystals appear, and I'm not sure yet if Sailor V will appear in the next chapter yet or not, we'll have to wait and see how it plays out. And to those of you that have asked about when Andrew will be let in on the secret, it's coming up soon. Don't be shy guys! Leave me some feedback! Reviews are what help keep this going. Lots of love and hugs!
~Sere~