DAY SEVENTEEN

Darien had spent the entire night in thought, his mind too busy to let him have any sleep. Serena however, slept soundly in his arms, snoring softly. He had tried to close his eyes a few times, but had no success. He just didn't have Serena's ability to have a good night's sleep. His mind kept going through everything that had happened to them from day one in the chamber, to the unexplainable charred skeleton.

They had buried the skeleton deep in the ground, Darien hoping that it wasn't a human skeleton, but one like the fake skeleton he had in his science class in high school. Whatever or whoever it was, it was gone now, and he didn't want to spare any more thoughts on it. With everyday came new fear and paranoia, wondering what strange event was going to happen.

But we'll just have to accept that we can't do anything about it.

A thought snapped in Darien's mind. He had no idea how long they were going to be on the island for, possibly the rest of their lives. So why fight the island when they could simply embrace it, and accept that they could make this place their home? They could set up home, even have children in the future – a while into the future, Darien noted, remembering Serena's age. After all, it was a pleasant and beautiful place to live, with the ocean and sand and deep lush green forest.

This could be home.

Serena stirred in his arms, and Darien became aware that the cave was now bathed in light, it was morning. She opened her eyes groggily, before turning them to Darien. "Good morning." he murmured as she moved upward and planted a kiss on his lips. "Good morning to you." she replied before frowning at him. "You didn't sleep again, did you?" she asked, watching him carefully. Darien shook his head. His body felt heavy and his eyes hurt from the lack of rest, but for some reason sleep just did not want to comply with him.

"I was too busy thinking." he explained, sitting up with Serena, his arms still around her. "About what?" she inquired, her eyes wide with genuine curiosity. "Have you thought about home?" he asked her, taking Serena aback. "Not much." she admitted, frowning to herself. Surely being on a stranded on an island would cause her to crave home, but as time passed, she actually seemed to be enjoying herself.

"I guess I've just been too busy with everything that's happened... and distracted by a certain man." she gave Darien a wink, causing him to chuckle. "I know what you mean." he replied, leaning into Serena and placing his lips upon hers, in a passionate kiss that caused them to be short of breath when they both pulled away.

"Home seems so far away." Serena thought aloud, and Darien took his chance. "Well... why don't we just live here?" he blurted out, causing Serena to look at him in confusion. "Live... here?" she repeated, not taking her eyes away. "We don't know how long we will be here, so we might as well just accept that it could be forever and move on with our lives." he explained, unsure of how she would take it. "How?" she asked, and Darien tried to choose his words carefully.

"We could make this cave a proper home, and sort out all our resources. And then in the future we could even... have... kids." Darien's gaze turned towards the wall of the cave as he felt his cheeks grow hot, causing Serena's eyes to almost pop out of her head. She couldn't believe that Darien had suggested such a thing, and although she had thought that he was merely joking about the last part, his obvious embarrassment that she had never witnessed before said otherwise.

She stood up, wrapping her sheet-dress around her as she did so. "I think I'm going to have some fish for breakfast." she announced, unsure of what to say. "Would you like some?" Darien's eyes did not leave the wall. "No thanks." he murmured in reply, and Serena sensed that he was feeling quite stupid at that point and wished to be alone.

I've never seen him blush before.

She grabbed one of the already skinned and filleted fish that Darien had prepared earlier, taking it to the outside fire with the box of matches that they had managed to find. She lit the fire and built it up before finding a relatively clean stick and spearing the fish onto it, holding it over the fire to cook. She liked the island, when she wasn't fearing for her own life or Darien's, but she did miss home. The thought of not going back made her sad, especially when she still had a responsibility to protect the city as Sailor Moon.

Her heroine alter ago had almost defined her among her scouting friends, and yet she had not thought of the Sailor Soldier for many days now. She was enjoying just being plain old Serena, a normal girl. She wondered of Darien felt the same. As she thought of him, she could picture their future on the island, the pair standing outside the now overly decorated and furnished cave, a raven-haired baby in her arms, a blonde in Darien's...

The fire crackled, snapping Serena out of her thoughts. She brought the fish away from the fire, observing that it was cooked well enough for her to eat. She took one bite, but the flavour in her mouth was different, and definitely not right, her stomach beginning to feel queasy.

Oh god...

Back inside the cave, Darien was hitting himself in the head for what he had suggested to Serena. She was only sixteen, for Christ's sakes! Much too young to begin thinking about children. And what about marriage? The thought crept into his head, of Serena dressed in crisp white sheets, a bouquet of wildflowers in her hands, a large swollen belly...

His thoughts were interrupted with the sound of Serena being violently sick outside the cave. He got to his feet and quickly ran out to find her throwing up again. "Serena, are you alright?" he asked, keeping his distance in case she was sick again. "The fish was off." she replied, before heading down to the water, followed closely by Darien. "I took one bite, and it tasted horrible, and then I was sick." she explained to him, washing her mouth with the salty water.

She moved closer to Darien, and he was glad that she did not smell like vomit, but instead salty from the ocean. "I was thinking about what you said." she told him, her eyes shining. "Oh, that, you don't have to-" "Darien, I think it's a good idea." she finished, wrapping her arms around his neck, careful to contain her emotions and not kiss him. "Really?" he gasped, amazed at the level of maturity that Serena was showing. "You were right. We don't know how long we could be here, so why not make the most out of it?" Darien gave her a warm smile.

"So, what do you think about getting married?"