Rekindled : A Classic Sailor Moon Twist

by PrincessSerenity1976

Prequel to What If : A Sailor Moon R Twist. Serena Tsukino suddenly finds herself thrust into the life of a super hero. She fights against the Dark Kingdom with help from Tuxedo Mask while searching for the other scouts and hiding her secret life.

25. A Dark Obsession

A/N I know all of you have been waiting patiently for this, and I hope that you're not disappointed. I have just found myself up to my eyeballs lately when it comes to writing since I have this story, Bad Boys, and GT all creeping toward their conclusions. Plus I have already begun the beginning stages of revamping What If because I would like to launch it's new form soon after Rekindled ends so that we can move on to Stolen Hearts. On top of that I have about three other fics that I have started that are going to need some major work if I ever hope to post them and, according to the poll I have on my profile, it is almost unanimous that the readers of my Lunar Princess saga want it to continue after GT. So, yeah, lots going on.

Anyway, moving on. Get ready for a roller coaster of emotions in this chapter. Endymion and Serena go through so many mood swings here that even I am thoroughly disgusted with both of them. It is getting so bad that I am almost thinking that I should change the category of this fic to angst. Serena and Darien both laughed at me when I mentioned it to them, but they always seem to laugh at me when I get frustrated. I think the only thing that stops them from openly ridiculing me is the fact that I hold the power to kill both of them off if I get mad enough. Beryl doesn't have anything on me! Now let me get my hugs out so you can get started. BIG HUGS TO:

silvermermaidprincesskerry

GoldenDragon326

Atem's Sister Atea

KatanaPrincess

sabina21

MeganLeBlanc

saveme57

JuliaGulia17

Chibi Kitt

Tiny2008

Sailor Saiyan007

CharmedSerenity3

jade2nightwing

Shinobi of life

afallenblackrose

Seredhiel05

R.I.P. Jake AmaraMichelle

SlackerDee

rainbabie

Jenbunny

Phenitial

Bluemoon3

Ginormous thank yous to you all! You guys are the best. Now, on with the story.

ENJOY!

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Rekindled : A Classic Sailor Moon Twist

Chapter 25

A Dark Obsession

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"I wish you would just tell me where we are going already!" Endymion snapped as he jumped after Sailor Moon.

The blonde girl spun around as her feet touched down on the roof and rolled her eyes at him. "I told you, you'll see when we get there. Don't be such a Mr. Impatient-pants!"

Endymion was shocked at her behavior. She might be a princess herself, but he was the prince of Earth and they were on his planet! Such actions would have never been tolerated back during the Silver Millennium. The most important thing that was drummed into the heads of every royal from the time that they were babies was the need to conduct oneself properly.

Okay, so he hadn't exactly followed that code himself recently. It hadn't been very gallant of him to sit by earlier and watch Serenity fight that youma without offering any assistance, and he had definitely been out of line for sneaking into her bedroom and forcing his attentions on her. But this was war, and war was ugly sometimes. And until he found a way to figure out exactly what was going on, he had to consider the moon princess his enemy.

She, on the other hand, seemed determined to do the exact opposite. Sure, she had turned quite haughty and had frozen him out a few times, but she only seemed to do that whenever he was being particularly nasty. Other than that she seemed open and genuinely concerned for him. She treated him like…like a friend. And nobody had done that for him since his generals.

'It could still be a trick, so keep your guard up,' he cautioned himself. Serenity may seem genuine in her words and actions, but when push came to shove he wasn't entirely convinced that he could trust her any more than he did Beryl. The years of dealing with the women of the court as they vied for his attention merely because he was the crown prince had taught him that some of the most calculating manipulators in the world existed behind the guise of a beautiful woman.

"Hey!" Are you coming or not?" a voice interrupted his thoughts. He looked up to see that Sailor Moon had jumped to the next roof and was standing there with her hands on her hips as she looked at him with an expression that was half amusement, half exasperation.

"Yeah. I'm coming," he muttered as he jumped over to join her. She surprised him when she took his hand in hers and pulled him behind her as she leapt to the next roof.

About two blocks later she stopped and turned to him with a smile. "This is the place. Come on!" She led him to the edge of the roof and they both dropped down to the sidewalk below.

Annoyance began bubbling up inside of Endymion again as he looked around to see that they were on a street that was lined with businesses. It was deserted at this late hour, but there didn't seem to be anything particularly special about the spot.

"What are we doing here?" he growled. "Don't tell me that you want to go on a shopping spree in the middle of the night.

She shook her head and giggled. "Of course not, silly! I told you that I wanted to show you something. Now come over here." She began walking toward one of the buildings.

His patience was wearing thin. He felt the dark part of him that had been corrupted by Beryl's energy lunge to the surface as he reached out and grabbed Sailor Moon roughly by the arm. He gave her a harsh shake. "I'm tired of playing games, Serenity."

Sailor Moon gulped when she saw his blue eyes flash back to that cold, hideous black, but she refused to let any fear show on her face. "Let go of me!" she gritted out between clenched teeth as she jerked her arm away from him. "You need to stop being such an ass! You said that you were confused about who you really are, and I'm trying to help you with that. But I can't do it if you keep acting like such a jerk!"

Endymion clenched his fists at his side to keep from yanking her back up against him. She had to be the most infuriating person, besides Beryl, that he had ever met. But while he wanted to kill the red headed witch, he didn't feel that way toward Serenity. True, he felt like throttling her sometimes, like right now for instance for leading him on this wild goose chase, but he didn't really want to hurt her. In fact, he would be perfectly happy if she invited him to continue what they had started on her bed just a little while ago.

"Stop looking at me like that!" she snapped as she rubbed her upper arm where he had grabbed her. Red marks in the shape of his fingers had already appeared to mar her pale skin.

His knees almost buckled and his stomach felt like it had twisted into a knot as a wave of guilt and remorse surged up from somewhere deep inside of him. For a moment he thought he was going to be physically sick and he slammed his eyes closed as he fought back the nausea. Then, one of those random memories that he wasn't sure was real or not flashed through his head.

He was jumping through the night sky, dressed as Tuxedo Mask with Serena cradled in his arms and wrapped in his cape. He chuckled as he looked down at the top of her blonde head. "I wouldn't move around so much if I were you. It's a long way down if I drop you."

She stopped squirming and gripped the lapels of his tuxedo jacket firmly in her hands as she growled, "Don't you dare drop me!"

He pressed his face against the top of her head and whispered, "Don't worry, Serena. There's nothing in this world that could ever make me hurt you."

He snapped back to the present when he felt a pair of tiny, gloved hands cup his face and an anxious voice crying, "Darien!"

His eyes popped open to meet a pair of crystalline blue ones that seemed to suck him in. Feeling like he was drowning, he murmured, "Serenity," and dipped his head down, dying to taste her pink lips once more.

"Whoa there, buddy!" Sailor Moon said shakily as she jumped back to put some distance between them. She was grateful to see, however, that his eyes had turned back to blue. Blue-eyed Endymion she could handle. It was when his eyes turned black from the negative energy inside of him that he frightened her. He became so cold and calculating then, nothing like the Darien she knew or the Endymion she had once known. It was at those times he became Beryl's creation, a dark, twisted version of the earth prince. But even then she didn't think she could bring herself to fight him. Not as long as the Darien she loved was still trapped inside of him somewhere.

Endymion took a step toward her, and she unconsciously took a step back. She saw his eyes darken again, but this time in pain and confusion instead of from the negative energy. She took another step backward and felt her back hit a wall. She stood frozen as he approached her and then flinched when he raised his hand. She expected him to grab her again and prepared herself to have to push him back.

Instead he reached out and trailed his fingers lightly over the reddened skin on her arm and whispered, "That's probably going to leave a bruise. I'm so sorry, Sere. I promised that I would never hurt you. And yet I did it anyway. And now you're afraid of me."

Sailor Moon's head shot up. He sounded so sad that her heart cried out for him. She offered him a tentative smile. "I'm not afraid of you, not the real you anyway. But I have to admit that this new person that Beryl has turned you into…intimidates me a little bit."

He shook his head. He didn't want her to feel intimidated by him. He wanted her to…

'You want her to what, love you?' a voice sneered inside his head. 'Why should you care if she loves you? She is the princess of the moon, and right now she is the biggest threat to your planet. The only thing you should be concerned with right now is taking the Silver Crystal from her. After you have her weak and powerless you can worry about what you want to do with her next. Make her queen of Earth and have her in your bed every night if that's what you want. But first you must remove her as a threat, no matter what it takes.'

'NO!' a second voice screamed as another presence seemed to thrash to life inside of him. 'I promised that I would protect her. I can't hurt her. I won't!'

Endymion groaned as a splitting pain sliced through his head, much like it had the night before when he had cornered Serena in her kitchen. It was as if there were more than one person inside his body and they were battling for control.

Sailor Moon grew concerned when she heard the tortured moan vibrate deep in his throat and his body suddenly slumped against hers, pinning her firmly against the wall. He rested his forehead on the bricks just above her shoulder, but his face was turned slightly toward her. She could see that his eyes were clenched tightly shut and his face held a rigid expression as if he were in pain. A fine sheen of perspiration had also broken out across his skin.

She wedged her hands between their bodies and pushed against his chest, ignoring the wild thumping of his heart under her palms, to move him back just a little. Then she slid one trembling hand up to his cheek. "Darien! Darien, talk to me! Are you okay?"

Her scared voice crashed through his head and drowned out the other two voices warring inside his mind. Her voice was like an anchor to reality, and he latched onto it like a drowning person clinging to a life preserver. Gradually the voices faded and the pain in his head lessened. He took in a few deep breaths to get control of himself before opening his eyes and pushing himself off the petite girl that was practically holding him up.

"Sorry about that," he muttered, his cheeks heating in embarrassment as he met her concerned blue eyes. He detested weakness, but that was exactly what he had felt for the last few minutes. He'd been scared and weak, and he had depended on a girl that may or may not be his enemy for support. How pathetic! His eyes skittered away from hers.

"Hey!" she said softly, laying a gentle hand on his arm. "Are you…?"

"I'm fine!" he interrupted her harshly, jerking his arm away from her comforting touch. "Can we please just get on with whatever it was you wanted to show me so we can get it over with?"

For a moment he thought she was going to cry. Her eyes widened and shimmered with moisture, but no tears ever fell. Then she raised her chin stubbornly and snapped, "Fine! This way!" She spun and stomped away, her boot heels clacking angrily on the concrete.

He followed her until they were standing in front of a large, plate glass window. She waved a hand toward it and bit out waspishly, "That is what I wanted to show you!"

He looked up, and then froze in shock. There before him was a large, beautifully painted portrait of himself and Serenity together. He was dressed in a tuxedo much like the one he was wearing now, minus the mask, while Serenity wore a long flowing gown of pure white. Her golden tails of hair rippled like silk all the way to the ground.

But what astonished him the most about the painting was the position that they were in. They stood close together. He had one arm wrapped around her waist while she had looped one of her arms around his neck. Her other hand rested palm up in his and in it sat a golden, star shaped locket.

But what astounded him even further were the expressions on their faces. He gazed down at her with what could only be described as a tender, loving look. And she was looking up at him with an expression of such utter love and devotion that it seemed real. In fact, if the painting could come to life, he had no doubt that their painted selves would fall immediately into a kiss.

He realized that he was gaping with his mouth open and snapped it shut. He cleared his throat a few times before asking gruffly, "Who painted this?"

Sailor Moon giggled softly. " A friend of yours named Peggy. Her grandmother runs the orphanage where you stayed after your parents died in the accident and you two got to know each other quite well. We ran into her a short time back and she asked us to pose for her. This is the result."

He shook his head in disbelief. "We posed for a painting together?" That didn't sound like something he would do with his enemy.

An irritated little growl came from her. "Well it wasn't exactly the best half hour of my life either! Peggy kept fussing if I so much as twitched a muscle, and then my arm started falling asleep. On top of that, you spent the whole time staring at me, and that made me feel self-conscious. And then after all of that, Zoicite decided to show up and attack Peggy because she was one of the Rainbow Crystal carriers and you two got into a pretty nasty fight. He almost killed you that day, but luckily I was able to use my Twilight Flash against him. That's not even counting the fact that Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and I were almost flattened into pancakes by the boulder attacks that the youma Peggy turned into used against us."

"Whoa! Whoa!" he stopped her, his head reeling a little with all of the words that had just come gushing out of her mouth. "You lost me there. Why were Zoicite and I fighting?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Duh! Because we were trying to keep Beryl from getting her hands on the Silver Crystal, that's why. Could you actually imagine what the Earth would be like if she took over?" She shivered dramatically. "Brrr! That's a scary thought."

The dark energy inside Endymion reared its head once more at the thought of anyone else being in control of his planet. He snorted condescendingly at the blonde. "And you think the planet would be much better off if you were the one calling the shots?"

She actually giggled at his question. "I wouldn't even attempt it. Ditzy, klutzy me trying to rule a planet, that's a laugh! No, I don't think so."

"Oh, spare me the innocent act!" he sneered at her. "You may be able to fool others with those big blue eyes and bubbly personality, but I know what you're really up to, Serenity. The moon always wanted to be in control of everything. Your mother tried for years to talk my father into joining her little alliance. He consistently refused, which caused war to break out between our planets. Now you're trying to pick up where she left off. You want the Earth for yourself and your little scouts because all of the kingdoms on the other planets have been destroyed."

Sailor Moon reared back and stared at him in shock. "Is that the bull that Beryl's been feeding to you? I know you can't possibly believe her lies. You're too smart for that. My mother never tried to force anyone to join the alliance. Each planet had their own choice about if they wanted to or not. And the moon never went to war with anyone, much less the Earth. The only reason that any fighting happened at all was because Beryl filled a bunch of people's heads full of lies and made them think the moon was evil, all because she was jealous of me and wanted you and the Silver Crystal. Then she kidnapped your generals, brainwashed them, and then attacked the moon. She was the reason why we all died, because of her jealousy and thirst for power."

"I told you before, I'm not a reincarnation. I didn't die that day," he replied automatically, but his voice lacked conviction. He knew that Beryl was definitely lying to him and that Serenity might be as well, but there was no way that he had died and had been reincarnated. If he had lived an entire second life he would remember it…wouldn't he? Sure, his brain was definitely not up to par right now, but other than a few memories he had from this time that Beryl claimed came from his time that he had spent undercover while spying on Serenity and her scouts, the only other memories, vague as they were, were of his life as Endymion.

"Ooo!" Sailor Moon fumed, stomping her foot in anger. "I hate that witch for what she's done to you! She's taken away most of what made you who you are and left behind just the bare essentials that she has twisted around for her own selfish purposes. Let's get a few things straightened out right now mister! Number one, I have no ambition whatsoever to try to take over this planet. I'm only trying to protect it from Beryl. My biggest concerns are trying to stay alive and making it through high school."

"But you are the moon princess and you have the Silver Crystal," Endymion rebuked her.

"Big stinking deal!" she shrieked. "I didn't even know I was the princess until just a few days ago. And I have the Silver Crystal, big whooptie doo! Just because I have it doesn't mean that I'm going to run off and conquer the first planet I come across. I'm not a power hungry bitch the way Beryl is! That's her forte, not mine! I'm not interested in becoming a queen. I just want to be a normal girl! Besides, this is the 21st century. Monarchy is dead except in just a handful of countries. And a lot of those countries are ruled by a parliament or something, not the royal family. That is the world that I'm fighting to protect! I just want to be able to live my life in a world that is not enslaved by the Dark Kingdom. So you need to get the archaic idea that I'm out to steal your precious little planet out of your head right now, because I'm not!"

He opened his mouth to reply, but she cut him off. She was clearly in a high temper and on a rampage. "Just suck it up for a minute and let me finish! The second thing I want to point out to you is that you are most definitely a reincarnation. I know this for a fact because you died in my arms on that last day on the moon. What was supposed to have been one of the happiest nights of my life turned into a nightmare when that witch showed up. You jumped in front of the sword that she tried to kill me with and then you bled to death as I held you and cried while she laughed. I knew my life was over at that point, so I decided to end it on my own terms. Maybe it was cowardly on my part, but I picked up your sword and stabbed myself with it so that I could join you instead of facing whatever torture Beryl had in mind for me. I knew that there was no way that she was going to give me a quick, merciless death; not after she had just accidentally killed you because you had saved me. And I knew that there was no way that I could fight her, not all by myself. You were gone. My friends and my mother were hovering at the brink of death. I was alone. So I chose the easy way out. I will be forever thankful to my mother though. Because of her we got a second chance at life."

She whirled and walked several steps away, but not before he saw the glittering tears that were clinging to her lashes. He stared at her back, unmoving and unblinking for several long moments as his mind rushed to assimilate everything she had just said. Either she was telling the truth, or at least believed that she was telling the truth, or she deserved an Academy Award. But as he watched her and took in the way her shoulders were slumped and shaking and the way she had wrapped her arms tightly around herself he felt a giant lurch somewhere in the region of his heart. Nobody could pull off a performance like that unless they were sincere, and he was starting to believe that she truly was. Serena wouldn't lie to him. He didn't know how he knew that, he just did.

A harsh, rasping sound broke through his thoughts, and it took him a moment to realize that it was coming from Sailor Moon. She was now bent over slightly at the waist and gasping breaths hissed through her teeth like she was trying to keep from either screaming or sobbing, or perhaps both.

He didn't stop to think about what he was doing, he just reacted. A few long strides brought him to her side and he wrapped his arms around her to draw her up close against him. The moment he did she went wild in his arms. She slapped at him and tried to pull away, but he responded by tightening the embrace. He put one hand behind her head and forced it down to his chest before he buried his lips in her soft hair and whispered, "Shh, Sere. Please calm down. It's killing me to see you like this."

Those words broke her. She let out a ragged cry as she wrapped her arms around his waist and melted against him. She buried her face into the starched white fabric of his tuxedo shirt and let the tears flows. In seconds there was a huge wet patch right over his heart.

'God! She's so tiny!' Endymion thought as he rested his chin on top of the head that barely reached his collarbone. How could someone so small contain all of the emotion and passion that flowed through her? Surely she would explode.

"I hate this!" her muffled voice grumbled a few minutes later after she had brought her panicked breathing under control. "Why did Beryl have to come back? I liked my life the way it was before I became Sailor Moon. Sure, you were a jerk to me most of the time, but back then I was just plain old Serena Tsukino. I didn't have to worry about crystals and youma attacks. The biggest problem I had then was trying to get to school on time so that I didn't wind up in detention and whether or not you were going to pick an argument with me. I don't regret growing closer to you, but sometimes I wish I could go back to my normal, uncomplicated life. Things were so much simpler back then."

The words she uttered were serious, but the way she was grumbling reminded him so much of the way a five year old might whine over a broken toy that he couldn't help but chuckle at her. "You would really choose to be a regular girl over being a princess?"

Her head rose up so that she could look at him with her watery, red rimmed, blue eyes. "You better believe it!" She pushed away from him when he smirked down at her and raised a mocking brow. "Ooo! You make me so mad when you look at me like that! If you're mean enough to pick on me now I'll…I'll…Well, I'll do something!"

He laughed then, a real, true laugh. "Meatball Head, the only thing you'll do is trip over your own feet and go sprawling out on the ground. Then you'll wail loud enough to damage the eardrums of everyone in a five-mile radius. That is your specialty after all."

The both froze as those words tumbled past his lips.

Finally, Sailor Moon broke the dead silence between them. "What did you just say?" she demanded in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

Endymion's forehead was creased in concentration. "I don't know. I have no idea where that came from."

A loud squeal erupted from Sailor Moon and she twirled in a circle, hugging herself. "It's working! I hoped that showing you that painting would help you remember who you really are. It has to be working because only Darien would have ever said that to me!"

"Um…" Endymion muttered apprehensively as he watched her with a confused look. "Could you please stop spinning like that? You're making me dizzy just looking at you."

Her laughter rang like bells, but she did stop twirling around. She seemed to be a little swirly-eyed herself from all of the spinning, but it didn't dim the excitement burning in her crystal blue orbs. Then another squeal tore from her throat as she grabbed his hand and began pulling him behind her. "Come on! There's something else I want to show you!"

Taken off guard, Endymion allowed himself to be jerked along. When she jumped up onto the roof of a building, he followed easily after her, asking, "Where are we going now?"

She merely smiled at him. "You'll see. If that painting began jogging your memory, then what I'm going to show you next will blow your mind!"

---

"Would you like me to apprehend them now, Lord Kunzite?" the youma asked the platinum haired man standing next to her on the dark roof.

Kunzite's gray eyes never left the embracing couple below them. "Not yet. I'm hoping that they will go someplace that is a little more confined. This is too open of an area for you to attack them. They would be able to escape us easily out here and we want to deal with this as quickly an as efficiently as possible. We'll continue to watch them until a suitable time presents itself."

As he said this, the general reached up with a gloved hand to wipe away the trickle of sweat that was running down the side of his face. Venus hadn't been kidding before when she told him that he was no good at hiding his aura. The former resident of the body he was in hadn't excelled at it either, preferring to focus more on physical than mental exercises. That was why he had been the perfect choice to take over the body of the former head general. They had a lot in common, including a fascination with the golden haired princess of Venus.

In fact, she was the reason why he was exerting so much mental energy at the moment. As much as he wanted to see her again, he knew that involving her in tonight's activities would only complicate matters. So he was doing everything in his power to keep her from sensing that he was there so that she wouldn't come running.

That was also why he was waiting before he gave the order to attack Endymion and Serenity. He knew that the moment the youma attacked that the negative energy it gave off would be detected by Sailor Mercury's damn computer, and then she would alert all of the other scouts. So if he could wait until the prince and princess were in an enclosed area, he would have a better shot at hitting them hard and fast. And if luck and surprise were on his side he would be able to drag them both back to Beryl before the scouts even had a chance to figure out what was going on.

"They're on the move," the youma hissed next to him.

Sure enough, the two young royals had once again taken to the rooftops. "Let's follow them," he told the youma as they jumped after their clueless prey.

A few minutes later the two of them landed on a roof and watched as Endymion and Serenity disappeared inside a building. Kunzite's eyes gleamed in victory. He was fairly familiar with this building…and it was the perfect spot to launch an ambush.

"Let's give them a few moments to relax," he informed the youma. "Then when they are feeling all safe and secure we will strike."

The youma backed up a few steps in shock. She had never seen the tough, no nonsense leader of Queen Beryl's forces ever show any emotion before, but right now there was what could only be described as a sinister smile on his face. Talk about creepy!

---

Amy had always been a light sleeper. So she shot up in the bed almost immediately, her hand automatically reaching for the Mercury computer on her nightstand, as the small handheld device began beeping. She took just a moment to read the information on the screen before scrambling to snatch up her scout communicator and press the emergency call button.

She was already out of the bed and heading for her window as three anxious faces appeared on the small screen…just three. After what she had just seen she hadn't really expected to see a fourth, but she had hoped.

"What is it, Amy?" Mina mumbled around a yawn.

Lita was rubbing her eyes. "Yeah, considering that it's the middle of the night, I know this can't be a social call."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Very astute of you. We've got some Dark Kingdom activity going down."

The three sleepy faces were suddenly wide-awake at her words.

"Hey!" Raye exclaimed. "Where's the Meatball Head at? If we have to wake up for this, then so does she."

Amy swung her leg over the windowsill before stating in a tight voice. "Well, considering one of the energy signatures I'm picking up on looks to be Darien's, where do you think she is?"

"Shit!" Lita swore loudly.

Mina sighed heavily and closed her eyes for a moment.

"Damn it! I'm going to strangle her!" Raye hissed.

Amy transformed as she slid out the window to stand on the narrow ledge a few feet below her window, thanking god for the hundredth time that she wasn't scared of heights because she'd be screwed if she were. But even most people that weren't bothered by heights would consider it to be suicidal to stand on a four-inch wide ledge on the side of a thirty-story building with nothing between them and the ground. She didn't think about it though as she made the short jump up to the roof above her.

As her blue booted feet landed safely on the roof, she heard scuffling sounds coming over the communicator. She looked down at it to see Sailor Venus, Sailor Mars, and Sailor Jupiter now looking back at her.

"Where are we headed?" Venus asked her.

Mercury told them the location, which incited another round of curses, and then signed off as she began jumping from roof to roof. She only prayed that they could get there before something bad happened to Serena.

---

Endymion had been looking around the living room in a daze for the last few minutes. There was nothing fancy about it. In fact, it was very plain and simple with white walls and serviceable black furniture. It was nothing like he was used to since the opulent royal palace was the only place he could remember living. But something about this place screamed familiarity to him and he felt…comfortable here.

"Well?" Sailor Moon asked from where she stood nearby, watching him carefully. "What do you think?"

"I…lived here?" he said slowly. The words coming out sounding more like a question than a statement.

She nodded as she reached to switch on another lamp to brighten the room a little more. "Yep! For a little over two years now. When you started high school you decided that you'd rather be on your own than stay at the orphanage, so you filed for emancipation and bought this place. I've always thought that it was a little large for a teenage boy living alone, but I guess you can afford it with all of the money your parents left you. I'd give you the grand tour, but I've only been here a few times so all I've seen is the living room, kitchen, and your bedroom."

He arched an eyebrow at her and grinned. "My bedroom, huh?"

A blush flooded her face. "It wasn't like that, you hentai! You brought me back here once when I passed out after I healed a bunch of people that Zoicite almost sucked dry and you let me sleep in your bed."

She slapped her hands to her burning cheeks. "Not like that! Geez! That sounded a lot less sordid in my head. I was unconscious so you let me have the bed while you took the couch. Nothing happened!"

A hint of black swirled through his eyes as he smiled devilishly. "But would you have complained if something had happened?" He began to stalk her slowly.

She let out a startled squeak and ran around the coffee table, careful to keep the piece of furniture between them. "Stop that! We're here to try and get your memories back, not to do, well…anything else."

Endymion felt amused as he looked at the flustered blonde, but he halted his pursuit. If he really wanted to he could just teleport behind her. But she looked so beautiful in all of her blushing, stammering glory that he didn't want to ruin the moment.

She was relieved by his actions and felt slightly less jumpy when she saw the swirl of blackness fade from his eyes once more. She was still a little nervous about being alone with him in the apartment, especially after what had happened in her bedroom earlier, but she felt like this needed to be done. Darien's memories were fighting to be set free, and perhaps being here was just the key they needed to unlock them.

"Um…why don't you look around and see if anything jogs your memory," she said with a wave of her hand. "I'm just going to pop into the kitchen and see if you have anything to drink. Do you mind?"

He blinked hard. "Uh, no. Help yourself." She said that this was his place, and he had no reason to doubt that. This apartment did feel familiar to him. But it felt strange to be acting as host in a place he couldn't remember living in.

She gave him a smile. "Thanks. Now I just hope you have something in there with caffeine in it. I'm kinda tired. In fact…" She pressed a hand to the brooch on her chest and a bright flash of light later she was standing there barefooted and in her nightshirt. "That's much better. Trying to stay in my scout form when I'm already tired is exhausting."

Endymion let the tuxedo he was wearing fade back into the jeans and hoodie he had been wearing earlier as he watched her walk through the door that presumably led to the kitchen. Then he wandered over to the entertainment center that held a fairly large flat screen TV and a modest assortment of DVDs.

It was strange that he couldn't remember ever watching a single movie, but as he traced his fingers along the row of plastic cases he discovered that he automatically knew every one of the movies; the plots, the characters, and who the stars were. It was very odd indeed.

He searched the shelves, and then the tables, looking for anything; a picture, a knick knack, anything personal that would identify this space as being his. But he found nothing. The room had almost a sterile quality to it.

Then he saw a couple of thick books and a few folders sitting on the coffee table. He wandered over to it and found a note that had been scribbled on a sheet of notebook paper sitting on top of them.

Hey Dare – I've been picking up your schoolwork for you while you're gone. I used my spare key to leave it here just in case you come back here first. But you better call me or come by the minute you get this and let me know that you got away from Queen Psycho-Bitch or I'm going to be totally pissed! Hope to hear from you soon – Drew

He picked up the note, wondering who this mysterious person was, and wandered toward the kitchen door. "Hey, Serena…" he looked up from the note and paused.

Serena was standing in front of the refrigerator, a can of soda held loosely in her hand as she stared at a photograph that was stuck to the freezer door by a magnet. Her head whipped around at his entrance and he could see the sadness and longing in her eyes as she looked at him.

She gestured to the picture. "I wish we could go back to those times again. Life was a lot easier back then. Did you need something?"

'You.' He started to say. But then he cleared his throat and held up the now rumpled piece of paper that he had clenched in his fist. "Who is Drew?"

Her expression lightened and she giggled as she pointed to the picture. "This is Drew. Come here so you can see."

He shuffled over to stand beside her and looked at where her finger was pointing to the blonde boy that he had seen her with on a few occasions.

"That's Andrew, your best friend," she told him softly. "The other blonde boy sitting next to him is Kobyashi, another friend of ours. He and Asanuma, who isn't in this picture because he's the one that was taking it, have gone away for a while. But they should be back this summer. The girls you all know of course."

He nodded as he zeroed in on himself and Serena, right in the middle of the shot. "Were we arguing when this picture was taken?"

She shrugged. "Probably. That was the story of our lives back then. You would pick on me. I would get mad and yell at you. The next thing you know we would be having it out in a full-blown verbal war. So don't ask me what we were arguing about that day, because it could have been anything." Then she pursed her lips and tilted her head to the side. "Of course, considering this picture was taken at lunch it's probably safe to say that you were picking on me about my eating habits."

"And yet you still wish for things to be that way again?" he asked in confusion. "That seems a bit masochistic to me."

She shook her head. "I'm not saying that I miss fighting with you exactly. It wasn't always bad though. For the most part it was just picking and teasing, and I think we both knew that. Now sometimes one of us would step over the line and say something hurtful that would cause a big fight. But I sincerely believe that eventually we would have moved past all of the bickering even if we had never turned into Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. It just may have taken us a little while longer to get to that point."

She looked up at him then and was surprised to see that he was studying her intently, like she was an interesting lab specimen that needed to be examined closely under a microscope. His eyes held her transfixed as they bore into hers, and she felt almost as if he were trying to penetrate her mind so that he could read her every thought.

She began to fidget under the weight of his unnerving stare and finally succeeded in tearing her gaze away from his. Desperate to break the silence that had fallen between them, she let out a shaky laugh. "So did you get past the living room in your explorations? There're still other rooms to explore. Besides your bedroom there are a couple of spare rooms. I don't know if anything is in them though. I've never been in them. Let's go see what we can find."

Endymion sighed in frustration, but followed her when she grabbed his hand and pulled him from the kitchen and down a hall. Serenity, it seemed, had more mood swings than a pregnant woman, and her emotions swung faster than a pendulum on a clock. Barely fifteen minutes ago she had been close to having a nervous breakdown in the street. Now she was acting as if that incident had never happened as she plowed ahead with her grand scheme to try to get him to remember the life that he seemed to have forgotten. It was almost enough to give him whiplash trying to keep up with her moods and it was mentally draining trying to figure her out.

Serena pushed open the door to the first room and looked in, wrinkling her nose when she found it empty except for a bookshelf full of books against one wall and a couple of boxes stacked in a corner that were clearly labeled as holding old notes and tests from Darien's freshman and sophomore years of high school.

"Oh my god! You really are a major nerd, aren't you?" she grumbled.

He raised an eyebrow at her statement. "I beg your pardon."

She waved a dismissive hand and quickly shut the door. "Oh, don't get uptight! I've just never known anyone, well, except for Amy, that takes school as seriously as you do."

He frowned at her. "Education is very important. There is a whole, big world waiting out there once you become an adult. And you won't make it very far if you spend all of your time sleeping and daydreaming through class, Meatball Head. You should remember that."

For a moment, Serena looked as though she might throw a temper tantrum at his words, but then the anger fled from her face to be replaced by a wide grin. "Ha! That was a Darien Shields line if I ever heard one! It won't be long now and we'll have you back to normal! I just know it!"

She hurried to the next room and looked in to find it completely empty. "Geez! You really need to buy some more furniture or something. You've got all of this wasted space."

He shrugged but didn't answer her. He had no idea why these rooms were empty. But if Darien was anything at all like him, he probably figured it was a waste to furnish rooms that he obviously didn't use.

Serena sped by another door. "That's just a bathroom. Nothing worth seeing in there." Then she paused at the closed door at the end of the hallway. She licked her lips nervously and then glanced shyly at him. "Um…this is your room." She reached for the knob and opened the door.

Endymion tapped his foot impatiently. Big deal if this was his room. If it was anything like the rest of the apartment then he knew that he could expect more white walls and sparse furnishings. But then Serena flipped a light switch and two lamps flared to life to bathe the room in soft light.

Recognition roared through him as he stumbled through the door in a daze. Sure, the rest of the apartment had felt familiar, but this room he actually remembered. This was his haven, and he had put a lot of time and thought into making it his sanctuary where he could escape and find peace when he needed it.

"It's great, isn't it?" Serena asked from where she still stood in the doorway. "It's a little dark for my tastes, but it suits you perfectly. After all, red and black are your favorite colors."

He looked around, taking in every detail and feeling exhilarated because he could remember putting this room together. He remembered shopping around until he had found the bedroom suit that included the high, king-sized bed frame with head and footboard, two nightstands, a dresser, and an armoire that held a TV and a stereo. They were all made of solid wood and painted a smooth, glossy black. Then he had searched relentlessly until he had found a desk and a bookcase that matched. The walls were the deep, rich red of a newly bloomed rose. In fact, he had conjured a rose and had taken it to the paint store so that the paint could be matched perfectly.

"I remember this room," he mumbled softly. Now that he had taken in the majority of it he started noticing the smaller details. There were a couple of basketball trophies on one of the shelves, a black backpack sat on the floor next to the desk, a varsity jacket hung on the closet doorknob, and a navy blue school blazer was tossed over a chair.

Yes, this room looked lived in. It looked like it actually belonged to someone. And with a start of surprise he realized that it belonged to him. He laughed and threw himself onto the bed where he sank into the fluffy, black silk comforter. "I actually live here! This is my room!"

"I'm glad you finally figured that out. I've only been telling you that ever since we got here," Serena grouched, but in a good-natured way.

Endymion disappeared from the bed and rematerialized in front of her before she could blink. Then he scooped her up in his arms and spun her around. "You weren't lying to me! You really do know who I am! You were telling the truth!"

"Of course I was telling the truth!" she snapped irritably. "Did you honestly think I was making it all up? That's Beryl's forte, not mine. She's the evil one here. I have no reason to lie to you."

Endymion laughed at her irritation. Perhaps it was a little insensitive of him to do so, but he felt so free at the moment that he didn't care. Beryl had been lying to him the whole time. And Serenity, dear, sweet, beautiful Serenity had been telling the truth.

'You idiot!' a voice raged in his head as he felt the darkness rising up inside of him once more. 'This is exactly the kind of trap that you swore that you wouldn't fall into! You are playing right into Serenity's hands! Don't let yourself be swayed by a pair of big blue eyes and a tempting little body. She is only using you the same way Beryl is because she wants to get her hands on this planet and you know it!'

'Shut up!' he growled back at the voice. But he began to panic when the horribly cold feeling of the negative energy inside of him began to spread, clawing at his insides like a rabid animal. Normally he would let it take him over without a second thought. He knew it was wrong, but despite his initial dislike of being infused with the dark power that Beryl had given to him, a small part of him had begun to revel in the new abilities he had. He felt empowered when he allowed the negative energy to flow through him, like he was truly worthy to be the prince of this planet.

But now it disturbed him. That dark part of him was powerful, but it wanted to harm Serena. The negative leviathan that resided inside of him wanted to dominate her, possess her; to strip her of her power and beat her down until she bent to his will like a trained puppy. And that was what he'd thought he'd wanted too, until she had proven to him that she was worthy of his trust. Now he only wanted to protect her.

He pushed back against the swell of darkness rising inside of him, determined to beat it down. He knew that if he let it take him over that Serena would be hurt, and he would die if he hurt her. He looked around anxiously, trying to find something, an anchor that would keep him firmly grounded to this reality. And he found it in Serena's blue eyes that were looking at him with such trust and devotion that it almost made his knees buckle.

Serena panicked for a moment when she saw the warring emotions that flitted across Endymion's face and his eyes kept flickering back and forth between midnight blue and soulless black. Her first instinct was to tear herself out of his arms and put as much distance between them as she could, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She was so close to getting Darien back, and he was fighting inside. She owed it to him to be as strong and as supportive as possible.

His eyes were darting around like a frightened animal, so she reached up to lay a gentle hand against his cheek, hoping to get his attention. His eyes snapped to hers immediately and she felt the bond between the two of them jerk to life in a way that she hadn't felt since before he had been taken. His emotions slammed into her, almost making her stagger under the weight of his confusion and anger, but she refused to back down.

She stroked his slightly whisker roughened jaw lightly as she pleaded softly, "Please, Darien. Stay with me. Don't leave me again." She focused on her own emotions and tried to send them through the bond to him, hoping that he would be able to feel her love for him.

His eyes stopped flashing and remained blue. Then they dropped a few inches down to her chest.

Serena looked down quickly, sincerely hoping that nothing embarrassing, like her shirt coming unbuttoned, had happened. She would die of mortification if it had. But instead she saw that the shirt had only gaped open enough to reveal the star locket that she wore around her neck. That was what he was looking at.

As if in a trance, Endymion trailed his fingers down the column of her neck, then they brushed her collarbone before hovering slightly over the golden star. "This is the locket from the painting," he whispered.

She nodded. "Yes. I gave it to you once, in another life. You had to leave me for a while, but you promised that you would come back to me. I gave you this locket so that you could look at it and think of me. Then somehow it found you in this life, and you returned it to me."

He gently placed his hand over it. And the moment he did a vision appeared in his head.

He stood on a balcony of the moon palace, looking out over the pale, rocky landscape. Then he sighed and turned to the woman beside him. "I have to go."

Serenity bit her lip to keep from crying, but nodded. "I understand. You have to protect your planet from Beryl. If she's not stopped she will take over the Earth. You must do what you can to prevent that."

He smirked at her. "Will you miss me while I'm gone."

She turned to glare at him. "What kind of a question is that? Of course I'll miss you! I'll cry into my pillow every night, wishing that you were there beside me."

He pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. "I'll miss you too, Sere. But hopefully this won't take long. I'll have Kunzite, Nephrite, Jadeite, and Zoicite with me. With them by my side I'm sure that we'll make quick work of Beryl and her rebels."

Her words were muffled against his chest. "I sure hope so. But no matter what, don't forget that you have to come back here a month from now. That will be when my mother makes the official announcement of our engagement and she's planning a grand ball. I don't want to attend my own engagement party without my betrothed."

He chuckled and hugged her tightly. "I'll be here, never fear. I just want you to promise me that you won't come down to Earth while I'm gone, no matter how much you miss me. Beryl is already jealous of you and there are rumors flying around that she is now setting her sights on capturing your mother's Silver Crystal. So it's too risky for you to be on Earth right now. I hate to think of what she would do to you if she managed to get her hands on you."

"Hmph!" Serenity sniffed. "I'd like to see her try it! Even if you aren't around to protect me I still have my scouts. I doubt even Beryl could stand up against Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury all at the same time."

"But they would have to be with you in order to protect you," he retorted. "And let's face it, my love, you are very adept at giving your scouts the slip. So for my peace of mind I want you to promise me that you will stay here where you will be safe and guarded."

Her head jerked up and she muttered, "Everybody always treats me like I'm helpless, but I'm not! I may not have inherited the Silver Crystal's power yet, but I do have power of my own and can take care of myself."

When he remained silent and merely gave her a look she raised her hands in defeat. "Fine! I'll be a good girl and stay here where I will be bored out of my mind. Are you happy now?"

He laid the back of his hand against her flushed cheek. "Yes I am. I'm not doing this to be mean, Sere. I just want you to be safe. You are the most important person in the universe to me. My life would have no purpose if you were gone."

Tears sparkled on her lashes as she whispered, "Endy…"

He bent his head down and kissed her gently.

When they parted several seconds later, Serenity reached up to unfasten the golden star locket she wore around her neck. Then she placed it in his hand and closed his fingers around it. "I want you to take my locket with you. That way you'll have something of mine to look at and remember me."

"Like I could ever forget about you," he joked.

She slapped playfully at his shoulder. "I'm serious, Endy!" Then her expression sobered. "Now I want you to promise me that you will come back to me."

He pulled her body up flush against his and stared into her eyes. "I will come back to you, Serenity. I will always come back to you. No matter what."

Then he claimed her lips in a fiery kiss.

Endymion jolted as memories began pouring into his head. Not his memories of being Darien Shields, but his memories of his life as Endymion. They were his true memories, the ones that Beryl had either locked away or twisted for her own uses. Some of them were still hazy and vague, but he remembered enough to remind him of what exactly had happened in the Silver Millennium.

Anger and elation surged through him simultaneously. The anger he felt was for Beryl. That evil witch had destroyed everything! She had kidnapped his best friends and had brainwashed them into fighting for her. She had killed his parents and torn his kingdom apart. Then she had decimated the moon, forced his generals to kill the scouts, fatally wounded the queen, and attempted to murder the love of his life. She'd killed him as well, but that mattered very little to him. Serenity's life was what was important to him.

But as he looked down into those crystal eyes that he loved so much he felt a wave of pure bliss roll through him. They had both died, him by Beryl and Serenity, according to what she had told him earlier, by her own hand. The news that his intended bride had ended her own life with his sword still rattled him, but here they stood now, alive and together once more.

He slid his hands up to cup her face gently between his palms and whispered reverently, "Serenity."

Serena gasped as she felt a flood of emotion flow through their bond from him to her. There was relief, joy, contentment, and love that was so pure and untainted that it brought tears to her eyes. She felt a spot on her forehead grow warm and knew that her crescent moon birthmark must have appeared, but she didn't care. Everything took on a dreamlike quality as she drowned in the sapphire depths of his eyes.

"Gods, Serenity! I love you so much!" Endymion murmured in a husky, emotionally cracking voice before he bent down and took her lips in a kiss so hot that she literally stopped breathing.

All coherent thought flew out of Serena's head the moment his lips touched hers. She had been able to resist him earlier when he had been under the control of Beryl's negative energy, but this was different. He was in control of himself now. Something that she had been holding in her hand slipped from her fingers to hit the floor with a dull thud, but she paid it no attention as she went up on her tiptoes and flung her arms around Endymion's neck so that she could tunnel her fingers into his thick, silky hair.

Belatedly, a warning voice from somewhere inside her mind popped up and began screeching at her, 'What are you doing? You are supposed to be trying to bring Darien's memories back, not taking a time out to have a hot and heavy make out session with Endymion! Geez! The guy may not be under the control of negative energy right this second, but he's stuck in the consciousness of his past self. This isn't fair to Darien! I thought you loved him!'

'Oh my god! What AM I doing?' Serena thought as the voice, which had sounded a lot like Raye for some reason, brought sanity crashing back inside her muddled brain. But deep inside she knew what had happened. She was still adjusting to having Princess Serenity's thoughts and memories inside her head, mixing and mingling with her own. And being in such close proximity to Endymion had brought all of Serenity's emotions to the forefront of her mind, making her lose focus on her true mission for just a moment.

But she was back in control now, and she pulled her lips away from his just as the backs of her legs hit something. Without her realizing it, Endymion had backed her across the room to the bed. Heat rushed to her cheeks as memories of Serenity and Endymion's many…intimate encounters played through her mind. But they weren't the moon princess and the earth prince anymore, and she wanted her Darien back before she gave any thought as to where their relationship would go from here. They hadn't even been on their first date yet!

She moved her hands to Endymion's shoulders and pushed gently against him to put a few inches of space between them. "Endymion, stop. We need to talk."

He looked down at her in confusion as he placed a hand on the side of her neck. "What is bothering you, my love?"

Crap! Those eyes of his were borderline hypnotic. Falling under his spell could be so easy. But she forced herself to stay strong. She licked her suddenly dry lips nervously. "Um…as nice as being with you is, we still have some problems we need to take care of."

His eyes had followed the trail of her pink tongue and were now fastened on her glistening lips as he mumbled in a low voice, "Such as?"

She let out a frustrated noise and pushed him back a step. "Uh, Beryl is the biggest problem that comes to my mind. There's the little matter that she wants to kill me so that she can take my Silver Crystal and conquer the world. Not to mention we still need to get you back to normal."

Irritation bubbled up in Endymion, causing the hold he had on the negative energy inside of him to slip. Cold spread through his body as he glared down at the blonde princess. "You prefer my weaker reincarnation to me? You used to love me as I am. I can protect you from Beryl better than he ever could. If your precious Darien had been capable of taking care of you we wouldn't even be in this situation right now. But obviously he was so pathetic that he went and got himself captured, leaving you alone with only the scouts to stand between you and Beryl. What kind of protector does that?"

Serena froze in shock for a moment before rage, unlike any she had ever felt before, fell over her, covering her vision in a red haze. Before she realized what she was doing, she raised her hand and brought it cracking across Endymion's cheek in a stinging slap.

"You bastard!" she screamed at him. "How dare you make yourself out to be so superior to Darien? He is just as much of a man as you ever were! Maybe even more so! The only reason why he was captured by the Dark Kingdom was because he sacrificed himself to save me! Is that any different than what you did to save Serenity, huh, IS IT? So you need to climb down off of your proverbial high horse, your highness, because Darien is the one that I love and I WANT HIM BACK!"

Endymion's head had jerked to the side from the force of her unexpected slap, making it impossible for her to see his eyes. But as he slowly turned his head back so that he was facing her, a jolt of fear crackled down her spine just like one of Jupiter's lightning bolts. His eyes were blacker than obsidian and burned with an anger so hot that she swore she felt the heat from it scorch her skin.

He grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and jerked her up against him. "So you want to play like that, do you? I have to admit, you almost had me fooled, Serenity. True, you may not be after the Earth the way Beryl is, but you are still just as treacherous as that witch is. You have the face of an angel, but your motives are greedy. I am nothing to you but a tool to try and get your little boyfriend back. Admit it!"

Serena's teeth rattled as he shook her, but managed to glare at him. "That's not it at all! You said it yourself earlier that you and Darien are one and the same, and you were right. You are a part of Darien the same way that Serenity is a part of me. That's what makes us who we are today. It's not a matter of loving one part of you more than the other. I love all of you, the part of you that is Darien and the part of you that is Endymion. I always have, even before we found out about the past."

Endymion stopped shaking her, but maintained his tight grip. "Pretty words, Serenity," he sneered down at her. "But do you honestly expect me to believe you now?"

"Yes, I do!" she cried in desperation. But she couldn't stop the whimper that slid past her lips a moment later as his hard fingers dug even deeper into her tender skin. "Darien, please stop! You're hurting me!"

WHAM! Her plea hit him like a punch to the gut. He actually doubled over slightly as his fingers released her. The coldness of the negative energy faded away and Endymion felt his own consciousness grow fuzzy as that other presence inside of him thrashed violently to life and began pushing him down.

It took Serena a shocked moment to realize that Endymion had let her go. But when he moved back a couple of steps and she found herself no longer pinned between him and the side of the bed her sense of self preservation kicked in and she began to edge away from him slowly, trying to keep from drawing attention to herself. She bit her lip though to keep from crying at the tortured sight he made as he wrestled internally with himself. Her poor Darien! She had thought that she might be able to bring him back to himself again, but now she could see that whatever magic Beryl had used to manipulate him was just too strong.

In her mind she was already formulating a plan. Step one was to get out of the apartment and away from Endymion. Once she did that she was going to hightail it to Amy's. She had planned on talking to the Mercurian scout tomorrow, but now she felt like she couldn't wait. She had done some thinking earlier before she had fallen asleep. If the Silver Crystal could be used to heal the victims of the Rainbow Crystals, maybe it could be used to banish the dark energy from Endymion and return him to normal.

She cursed inside her head at the thought of how little she actually knew about the Silver Crystal. She had trained with it very little during the Silver Millennium because she had still been young and her mother had planned on ruling for many, many more years to come. They had thought that they had plenty of time for her to learn the ways of the crystal. If only they had known what the future held.

Luckily, Amy had complete, detailed reports on the Mercury computer about the Silver Crystal and what its powers were. If anybody could answer her question about if and how the crystal could be used to save Darien it would be her quiet, blue haired friend. She just needed to get to her.

She had managed a few shuffling steps and had put a couple of feet of distance between her and Endymion without him noticing, or so she thought. She was preparing to make a break for it and run when his hand shot out quickly to grab one of hers. A sharp squeak tore from her throat.

"Damn it, Serena!" he growled. "Didn't I tell you last night to stay the hell away from me? You never listen to anything I say, do you, you silly Meatball Head?"

She froze. She knew that tone of voice all too well. That was Darien's 'You're in trouble for putting yourself in danger and now I'm going to give you a lecture' tone. It was the one that he always reserved for when he was upset with her for throwing herself in the path of a youma or something of that nature. And she had been on the receiving end of it more times than she could count in the last couple of months.

Her head turned, eyes widening as they clashed with a pair of still angry, but thankfully blue eyes. And as she stared into them she noticed the difference between Darien and Endymion's eyes for the first time. While both of them had the killer sapphire gaze that had the ability to suck her in, there was a slightly haughty look in the earth prince's eyes that never completely disappeared. She had never noticed it before, until it was gone like it was now.

"Darien?" she barely breathed. She hardly dared to hope that this was really him. She had been disappointed so many times tonight already. Each time she thought she was getting through to him the dark energy inside him would flare up and he would turn into Beryl's creation again. His mood swings were highly unpredictable, and it gave her new respect for her father and brother. They always disappeared and tried to stay out of sight whenever she and her mother were going through their time of the month because they said that the mood swings scared them. And while she was pretty sure that neither hers or Ilene's PMS was anywhere near the level of Endymion's ever changing emotions, she could respect Ken and Sammy's reluctance to engage in any confrontation.

But as much as she wanted to believe that this was Darien standing there, she remained wary. With all of the nasty tricks that Endymion had pulled, she wouldn't put it past him to pretend that he was Darien just to try to catch her off guard. She shook her head. "Unh uh! I'm not falling for any more tricks. There's no way you're Darien."

His expression was irritated, but the sides of his mouth twitched like he was holding back a smile. Then he chuckled. "Of all the times for you to become logical, you pick now. What am I going to do with you, Meatball Head?"

Her determination wavered a little. He sounded like Darien and he was acting like Darien, but she couldn't be sure. "How do I know it's really you and not a trick?"

He rolled his eyes. "Because I know you probably better than anyone. Go ahead, ask me anything."

She thought for a moment. "What's my favorite school subject?"

He clucked his tongue. "That's a trick question. You don't have a favorite subject. You view school as being only one step above hell and you despise all of your classes equally. Although you do seem to harbor more resentment toward Algebra and English just for the simple fact that Miss Haruna teaches those classes. You call her the 'Dragon Lady' because she's always slapping you with detention."

"Lucky guess!" she fired back, not completely convinced yet. "What did you give me for Christmas?"

He smirked. "That depends. Are you talking about the stuffed bunny that I fixed up to look like you, or the locket that you kept refusing to accept?"

Hope began bubbling in her, but she had one more question for him. And it was something that only the two of them would know. "Where were we when we kissed for the first time?"

His smirk turned into a genuine smile. "Well, if you want to call that brief encounter of the lips a kiss. We were in the chemistry lab during the winter dance. I kissed you, and then I told you that I was Tuxedo Mask and that I knew you were Sailor Moon. You got upset and walked out on me. Then Nephrite attacked and everything went haywire. Later on I drove you home and you asked how I found out about you." He let go of her hand and turned to open the drawer in the bedside table and pull out a white handkerchief with two pink embroidered bunnies in the corner. "I still have it."

The combination of his answer and his heart-stopping smile melted any resistance left in her. "Darien!" she cried, bursting into tears as she threw herself at him.

Darien caught her up in his arms and held her close, taking a moment to revel at the feel of having Serena in his arms again. But it wasn't safe for her to stay here with him, and he knew that. So all too soon he set her back from him gently. "Serena, you have to go."

She looked at him like he had lost his mind. "Are you crazy? I'm not leaving you."

"You have to," he growled at her. "I'm the one that's in control at the moment, but I don't know how long it will last. Whatever Beryl did to me split Endymion and I into two separate consciousnesses. She thought that she had banished me, but instead I was closed off in a corner of my mind. Endymion's the one that has been corrupted by the negative energy, and he's strong, too strong for me to hold back for very long. I don't think he would hurt you, but it's hard to say. When his anger is fueled by the negative energy it's like someone else entirely takes over and neither one of us are in control. And I would die if you ended up hurt or in Beryl's hands."

Serena fisted her hands in the fabric of his hoodie at his chest. "I don't care. I'm still not leaving you." Then her eyes brightened. "Come with me. I'm going to see Amy. I had an idea earlier that I want to talk to her about. I think I can use the crystal to turn you back to normal, but I need her advice first to make sure I do it right."

He shook his head. "Serena, I can't trust myself around you right now. But it is a good idea for you to go to one of the girls' house. I don't want you staying alone at your place. And don't worry about trying to heal me. You and I both know that using the crystal is dangerous. You could die if it takes too much of your energy. You just concentrate on getting rid of Beryl and Metallia for now. We'll worry about me later."

She jerked him down so that their noses were almost touching as she ground out in a furious voice, "Don't you tell me what I should and should not be worried about right now, Darien Shields! I know that using the crystal is risky, but it's a risk that I'm willing to take if it means getting you back. I know that I'm going to have to face Beryl eventually, and I'm going to need you by my side when I do. I'm going to need everyone, you and the scouts, if we hope to beat her."

He stared into her indignant eyes, surprised at her outburst for a moment, before he chuckled. "Do you always have to be so…"

A hissing sound interrupted what he was about to say, and they both looked up to see what appeared to be a snake-like whip made of black hair speeding toward them.

Darien grabbed Serena around the waist and launched them across the bed. They rolled off the mattress and landed on the floor on the other side, but instead of sprawling they both landed in a defensive crouch.

The bed shuddered and they looked up to find a youma standing there looking down at them. She had the pale blue skin and perfect super model body that a lot of the youmas seemed to have and was dressed all in black leather, from her skimpy corset style top and barely there micro miniskirt to the thigh high stiletto boots she wore. Her eyes blazed bright blood red and her long black hair slithered around her like living snakes.

When she spoke, her voice hissed like a snake. "Ssssoooo, you evaded my sssurprissse attack. That'sss not a problem. I will ssstill get you both. You can't essscape me."

"Gorgona!" Kunzite snapped as he walked into the room. "Don't waste time toying with them. Beryl wants them both delivered to her as quickly as possible and we don't want to stay here long enough for the scouts to show up. So just grab them and let's get on with it."

"Asss you wissshh, Lord Kunzite," Gorgona hissed, and strands of her hair shot toward the two stunned teens.

Darien lunged out of his crouch and ran for the door, dragging Serena behind him. As they ran down the hall his tuxedo materialized around him. "Serena, transform!" he demanded as he pushed her against the wall to avoid one of the hair whips chasing them. An enraged screech echoed down the hall when it missed.

Serena's hands flew up to her chest, but it wasn't until they encountered nothing but smooth cotton that she remembered that she was wearing a sleep shirt and not her school uniform with the bow on the front where she normally kept her brooch pinned. Her forehead wrinkled. Where was her brooch anyway?

Then horror struck her as she remembered the sensation of the brooch falling from her fingers as she'd kissed Endymion. How could she have been so stupid? Now, not only could she not transform, but also the Silver Crystal was inside the brooch!

"What are you waiting for?" Tuxedo Mask practically yelled at her as he peeled her away from the wall and continued to jerk her behind him down the hall. "Now is not the time to hesitate! You need to transform now!"

They entered the living room and were heading for the balcony doors that were still standing open. He turned slightly as he ran and pulled her up into a bridal hold in his arms in one fluid movement. She could feel his muscles bunching up as he prepared to jump through the door and out into the night sky.

Then a swirl of dark energy appeared before them as Kunzite materialized, blocking their way. "I don't think you'll be leaving just yet," he snickered. "This party is just getting started."

Tuxedo Mask considered just barreling into the general and knocking him out of the way, but the presence of the long, light purple energy blades that Kunzite was holding in each hand made him rethink that decision. There was too much of a risk that Serena could get hurt by the glowing weapons. And why hadn't she transformed yet?

He quickly reversed directions, whirling toward the front door instead. He had to get them out of the apartment. As long as they remained there without room to maneuver they were confined and trapped. But the youma, Gorgona, was blocking that exit as well, her tendrils of hair writhing in anticipation.

He tried going back down the hall again, thinking that if he could just make it into one of the bedroom they would be able to escape out of one of the windows. But several strands of Gorgona's hair shot forward, attempting to grab them and cutting him off from his destination. So he ducked into the kitchen instead.

Serena was trembling violently in his arms and he whispered frantically to her. "Sweetheart, I know you're scared, but I really need you to transform and help me right now. I don't think I can get us out of this alone."

Her arms tightened around his neck, and her voice, when it answered, was so low that he had to strain to hear it. "I can't transform."

He gave his head a hard shake; sure that he had misunderstood her. "What do you mean? Of course you can transform. We'll fight our way out of here together and then we'll get you someplace safe. Okay?"

She lifted her head to look at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "No, I can't. I don't have my brooch. I dropped it in your bedroom."

Damn! That was not good. He tried to think quickly. "The crystal! You do have the Silver Crystal, don't you?"

She was already shaking her head before he finished. "No, I don't."

"Shit!" he groaned. They were in trouble. They were cornered like rats with nowhere to go. And he didn't even bother asking her if she had her communicator with her. He was pretty sure if she did she would have called the scouts by now. This was so not good.

He set her on her feet and pushed her behind him, pinning her between his back and the cabinets as Gorgona appeared in the doorway. Several steel tipped red roses appeared in his hands.

Gorgona cackled. "You can run, but you can't hide, my little trinketsss. Queen Beryl wantsss to sssee you."

"Tough shit!" Tuxedo Mask snarled, never wavering from his protective stance in front of Serena. "You'll just have to go back and give our regrets to Queen Bitch. We're not in the mood for socializing tonight."

Gorgona smirked. "I'm afraid you have no choiccce." A dozen of her hair snakes snapped forward.

Tuxedo Mask flung his roses at them. He was successful in severing several of them, eliciting a scream from Gorgona, but one of the writhing serpents slammed into his stomach. He flew across the room where he crashed head first into the refrigerator before falling to the ground. Although he was dazed, adrenaline fueled him, and he pushed himself up immediately. Then Serena screamed.

His blurry eyes snapped up just in time to see two of the hair tendrils wrap around Serena's legs and jerk her feet out from under her. She fell back, head cracking against the edge of the countertop, before her body slumped to the floor. Then the hair began dragging her across the slick linoleum toward Gorgona and the portal that Kunzite, who had come up behind her, had just opened.

"No! Serena!" Tuxedo Mask yelled as he scrabbled across the floor toward Serena. Her eyes were open, but she seemed to be on the verge of unconsciousness. His hands tangled in her hair that was trailing across the floor behind her as he reached desperately for her hand. He almost sobbed in relief when his fingers closed around her limp ones.

Kunzite chuckled darkly. "You may as well give it up, Endymion. Beryl wants her and there is nothing you can do to stop it."

Tuxedo Mask glared up at the youma possessed general. "You can go to hell! There's no way that I'm going to allow that bitch to sink her claws into Serena! She'll kill her!"

Kunzite's expression turned smug. "That's the general idea. Once Beryl has the Silver Crystal and little Serenity is dead there will be no one to stand our way. Beryl will take over the Earth, and I will have my own little piece of it to lord over and the fair princess of Venus in my bed. Sounds like paradise, doesn't it? Of course, you may not even realize it once Beryl gets done with you. She's not exactly happy with the way you have been acting." He snapped his fingers. "Gorgona! Make sure that Prince Endymion accompanies us."

"Of courssse," she hissed, and more hair serpents sprang to life.

Tuxedo Mask kept one hand tightly clasped around Serena's, even though they were both being dragged across the floor, and with the other he conjured several more roses. But before he could throw them one of the snakes of hair wrapped painfully around his neck and began to squeeze. He tried to draw a breath, but his airway was constricted. Then a sudden yank tore Serena from him.

He was beginning to feel lightheaded and blackness was creeping in around the edges of his vision as he and Serena were both pulled into the dark void. The last thing he registered before the darkness swallowed him were several voices screaming, "Serena!" and four shadowy figures that had just rushed into the entry hall.

Then he was freefalling through blackness. He felt as though hours had passed, but in reality it was probably only a few seconds. The choking pressure released his neck, and he sucked a huge, grateful breath into his burning lungs.

That breath was knocked out of him soon after as he stopped falling and his back smacked into something hard. His poor lungs were further abused when a weight plowed into his chest. He felt paralyzed for several long moments, but then he slowly regained the ability to breath.

After pulling in a few experimental breaths, he slowly opened his eyes, only to find that something was lying over his face where he couldn't see. He clawed it away from his eyes and looked down to see that what had been blocking his vision was Serena's hair, and that she was evidently what had fallen on him.

Her body was splayed across his with her head resting just below his collarbone. Her eyes were closed and that scared him. Had she passed out from the pressure and vertigo of traveling through the portal, or was her unconsciousness caused from hitting her head when Gorgona had grabbed her?

He shook her gently, being very careful in case she had other injuries. But he needed her to wake up. "Serena! Can you hear me? Come on, let me see those baby blues."

She squirmed against his chest for a moment before her eyes fluttered open. Then she raised her head a little bit so that her cloudy, slightly dilated gaze could meet his. "Darien?" she murmured, slurring a bit. Then she winced and put a hand to the back of her head. "What happened?"

He had already taken a look around and seen where they were, but before he could respond to her question and give her the bad news a grating female voice sneered instead.

"Endymion, Serenity, it's so nice of you to join me."

---

"Damn it!" Venus shrieked as Kunzite dove into the portal that the youma had just dragged Serena into and it vanished.

"That effing bastard!" Jupiter snarled next to her.

For once, Mars looked lost as she stared at the spot where the portal had been and whispered, "No, Serena!"

Mercury was on the verge of tears for a moment, but then choked them back as she whipped out her computer and began scanning. But it didn't pick up on anything now that the portal was gone. She switched programs to track the Silver Crystal's energy. The Dark Kingdom had managed to stay hidden so far, but perhaps the crystal's power was strong enough to penetrate whatever was shielding them. If they could get a lock on where Serena was they would be able to use the sailor teleport to go to her.

But when the computer beeped and revealed the location of the crystal her knees went weak and she couldn't stop the strangled moan that caught in her throat.

Venus's head whipped around, blonde hair flying. "What is it, Mercury?"

Mercury shook her head, pushing past her and the other scouts to sprint down the hallway. After a stunned moment the other three followed her. They caught up with her in Darien's bedroom where she bent over and picked up something from the floor.

Mars groaned as she saw the gold, circular brooch in Mercury's hand. "That stupid Meatball Head! Mercury, you better find out where Beryl's hiding her damn base at pretty quick, because once we get Serena out of there I'm probably going to kill her myself!"

Jupiter sucked in a shaky breath. "Well, Serena may not be able to transform, but at least she's got the Silver Crystal. That will help protect her."

"I'm afraid not," Mercury replied, voice cracking with emotion. She pressed the hidden catch on the side of the brooch and the secret compartment opened to reveal the Silver Crystal nestled inside.

Venus fell to her knees. "Oh Great Selene! This cannot be happening!"

Static electricity crackled and popped around Jupiter. "You mean she's in Beryl's clutches and completely helpless? That bitch will kill her!"

"No," Venus whispered. "She's not completely helpless. She has Darien with her."

Jupiter snorted and rolled her eyes. "Like that makes me feel any better! Darien Shields doesn't happen to be high up on my list of favorite people right now. Not after he just stood by while we fought that youma at the salon earlier. It seems to me that he's chosen his side and it's not ours."

Mars shook her head. "Not necessarily. Whatever Beryl has done to Darien has messed him up badly. I sensed it in his aura earlier. It was really muddled and confused. But from what I saw as he was dragged into that portal I could tell that he was himself, at least for now. We just have to hope that he can protect her."

Mercury had opened her computer again and was typing rapidly. "That's all the more reason why we have to find the Dark Kingdom base as quickly as possibly. Darien's good, but he won't be able to hold off Beryl for long. If only I could get some kind of a lead on where they were."

They all fell silent, each racking their brains to try and come up with some way that they could rescue their princess. The only sounds heard for several minutes were the clicking of Mercury's typing and the occasional frustrated sighs that escaped them.

Then they all jumped when they heard a loud thump from the front of the apartment. After one wide eyed look at each other they jumped up and ran down the hall to investigate, on guard in case Kunzite and his youma had returned to fight them. But what they found instead shocked them more than if Beryl had just walked up to them and offered to be their best friend.

Serena was on her hands and knees in the entry hall, near where the portal she had been pulled through had been, and she was slowly crawling across the floor. Her long hair fell around her, but couldn't hide the fact that the large shirt she wore was sporting a few rips or hide the bloody claw marks on her arm that looked as if they had been left there by an animal of some kind. Ragged sobs were tearing from her throat.

"Serena!" the scouts all shrieked and ran toward her. Venus and Mars reached her first and grabbed her just as her hands slipped from under her and she went plummeting toward the floor.

She thrashed against their hold for a moment, eyes wild as they darted around feverishly. Then she froze, one hand gripping her chest over her heart as she panted for breath. A few seconds later her body jerked like it had been hit by one of Jupiter's lightning bolts and she screamed, "DARIEN!"

Then her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell into the waiting arms of her scouts and best friends.

---

"You!" Beryl screeched as she sent another blast of dark energy slamming into the armored body of Prince Endymion as he lay helpless on the cold stone floor of her throne room. "How dare you help that disgusting little moon slut escape!"

Endymion ground his teeth against the pain, but no sound came from him. Serenity was safe, and that was all that mattered. He had known from the moment he'd summoned a portal and pushed her through that Beryl would probably kill him for it, but he didn't care. By now his princess was back with her scouts and the Silver Crystal where she could be protected. He had tried to follow her, but Beryl had been too quick and had attacked him before he could. Now he would probably die.

And he was okay with that. Just knowing that Serenity was out of Beryl's clutches brought him peace. He could die now with no regrets. He just wished that his last memory of Serenity had been her smile instead of her frightened, tear streaked face, the same as it had been the first time he had died. Alas, it seemed that history had a way of repeating itself. At least this time his princess wouldn't witness his death, and he hoped that her friends would give her the strength to live on. She had to survive this time. She was the only one that could defeat Beryl once and for all. Hopefully she remembered what he had told her before he had shoved her through that portal.

As another energy blast jolted his body, he retreated into his memories, feeling a little thrill run through him that he could finally remember them. To block out the pain he recalled the way Serenity's lips had always tasted of sweet, ripe strawberries when he kissed her. He remembered the way she would twine her fingers into his hair and press herself against him. And how could he have ever forgotten the way that she would whisper in his ear as they made love. He would have loved to rediscover those things with her reincarnation, but some things just weren't meant to be.

Belatedly, he realized that Beryl's attacks had stopped. He cracked his eyes open to find the demented witch standing over him with a look of disgust on her face. And when she spoke, her voice was as cutting as sharp, cold steel.

"Why, Endymion?" she spat. "Why did you betray me like this? All that I have done, I was doing for you."

Endymion hacked out a sound that was somewhere between a cough and a laugh. "No, Beryl. All that you have done was for your own selfish gain. You only care about yourself, and you don't care who you have to kill to get your way…even me."

"That was a mistake!" she shrieked. "It never would have happened if you hadn't decided to protect your precious Serenity from me! We could have had it all, Endymion, the Earth, the moon, the entire galaxy if we wanted it. We would have been strong together. And now when I am trying to correct the mistakes of the past you choose to defy me. I have tried to return everything to you. I took you from that common life you were living and restored your nobility. I was going to deliver the Earth back into the hands of its true king. All I asked in return was for you to get the Silver Crystal from that silly little moon brat and for you to make me your queen. But instead you allowed Serenity to trap you in her spell once more, just like she did when she stole you from me the first time. You are mine, Endymion!"

Although every inch of his body was screaming in agony, he glared up at her. "I was never yours, Beryl. True, there was some talk at one time about a possible betrothal between us, but I refused the idea because I knew you weren't the one for me. You, on the other hand, couldn't take no for answer. You were playing around with magic that you had no business messing with and it warped whatever feelings you had for me into a dark obsession. Sorry, but that's not my cup of tea."

"And Serenity is?" she hissed in a low voice.

A peaceful smile appeared on the prince's face. "Yes, she is. Unlike you, Serenity possesses a pure and loving heart that is untainted by the darkness that rules yours. I was an arrogant rogue before I met her, but she taught me the joys of loving. I will be forever grateful to her for that."

Beryl's eyes flared red-hot. "We'll see how grateful your princess is for knowing you when the end comes. I promise you this, Endymion, Serenity will suffer under my hand like no one has ever suffered before. And when I finally kill her she will die cursing your name and regretting the day that she ever met you. That is the vow I make to you."

To her surprise, he smirked. "Go ahead and try, Beryl. But I think you might be shocked at what Serenity is capable of. I make a vow to you as well. You will fail. I have complete faith and trust in Serenity, and I sincerely believe that she will bring about your downfall."

"Blind trust!" Beryl scoffed. "That little girl is nothing to me! She is inexperienced and immature with no idea the wealth of power she holds in her hands. I will kill her, and then the Silver Crystal and the Earth shall be mine."

Endymion sighed. "Time will tell. Now, if you're going to kill me I wish you would go ahead and get to it. I really hate dragging things out and there is nothing you can do that will make me help you. So you may as well do it now."

A vicious, predatory smile appeared on the dark queen's face as she stared down at the incapacitated earth prince. A devilish gleam lit her eyes and she ran her tongue over her fangs before she cooed in a deceptively soft, silky voice. "Are you in such a hurry to die, my dearest prince? No, I could never bring myself to purposefully kill you, no matter how much you have irked me. I have special plans for you, my darling."

Then she shot him with a massive energy blast.

The last thing that went through Endymion's mind before he lapsed into darkness was Darien's voice inside his head saying softly, 'I love you, Serena.'

---

A/N I know, that was a horrible place to leave things. But it just seemed like the right spot to me. And to those of you that are wondering what happened after Serena and Darien were taken to Beryl, don't worry. It will be explained in the next chapter. So like I said earlier, there were a lot of mood swings here. And just when it looked like Serena was going to get Darien back, the proverbial shit had to hit the fan. The red headed bitch-tress is getting desperate and stepping up her game, and that can't be good for our heroes, especially poor Darien. The countdown clock to the final showdown between Beryl and Serena has been set, and now it's ticking. But more heartbreaks and confrontations are on the way before we get there. Don't forget to drop me those reviews and let me know your thoughts. Without them this story would shrivel up and die a premature death. Lots of love and hugs to all of you! Later gators!

~Sere~