Here's a new chapter- because it's 5am and I should be writing up my assignment instead... Thank the procrastination gods for this chapter, guys! Without my compulsive need to self-sabotage and procrastinate, you wouldn't be reading this... haha!

Thanks to: catty, MOON, jessicanicoleharp, Twiggirl006, Haartemis, natalia, Jinxy, Blue Moon, lyss010387, smfan4ever72, KHLostEmpress, PrincessAnnastacia, mari3all3n, Lady Airly, Miss Moon Rose, Ellesia, kbtjmandy, DragonLadyRelena, LoveInTheBattleField, kera69love, trish1573, dayfreshie, natashasurgirl, amethysth, SailorMoon489, Nancy67, Laurelya (Merci beaucoup pour votre revue fantastique!), sazbelle and Diana000 for reviewing the previous chapter

Title: Summer Rain
Author: Crystal Saturn
Rated: T
Chapter: 35 – Mina's Intervention. A Shared Dream?

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"At times you have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself."
[― Alan Alda]

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Ring Ring, Ring Ring

"Ugh… hello?" Darien partially groaned into his phone as he answered it. He rubbed his bleary eyes and squinted in an attempt to focus his pupils on the time, hanging from some sort of blurry, ticking object on the wall.

"Hey, you!" The bubbly sounding female voice giggled on the other end of the line.

"Sere? Is that you?" In an instant, Darien had sobered completely and was up on his feet. All thoughts of crawling back under the covers were banished from his mind.

"No, silly. It's Mina!" The girl pouted, as though she were offended that he did not somehow clearly distinguish between the two girls over the phone.

"Oh…" Darien did little to hide the disappointment in his voice. "Mina…" He repeated as he slumped back into his bed. "Why are you calling me at 3 in the morning?"

"Is it really that late over there?" A sudden wave of guilt washed over the blonde girl. "I'm so sorry, I didn't think it'd be that late. It's only 4PM here."

"You do know how the Earth works, right?" The dark haired man cringed at how mean he was sounding at that moment, but somehow managed to rationalise it all in his mind. She had, after all, woken him up in the middle of the night. "It's big, and round, and has time zones…"

"Yes…" Mina hissed in retaliation. "I know that much at least." Her drawn out tone of annoyance seemed typical of a girl her age, talking on the telephone. "Sheesh, someone's a grumpy bum in the morning!"

"Mina…" Darien's tone warned. "What is it you want? And how did you even get my number?"

"I have a bedtime story that I wanted to tell you." The bubbly teen began, trying to hide her excitement by attempting to sound mysterious. "Have you heard the tale of the Palace on the Moon?"

"I don't have the time or the patience for this right now. I'm hanging up, Min-"

"No, wait wait wait!" Mina interjected. "Okay, I'll cut to the chase. There was once a Kingdom on the Moon-"

"Impossible. There's no oxygen and very little atmosphere, so-"

"Let me finish!" Mina interrupted her interrupter. "Gosh... Lame... Anyway- This Moon Kingdom looked after the unified Kingdom of the Earth. The Prince of the Earth and Princess of the Moon fell in love even though it was forbidden. A war broke out, everyone died, it was all really tragic; I almost shed a tear, but then the Moon Queen bottled everyone up in a magic time capsule thingy and sent us all to the future."

"This better be worth my lost REM cycle-"

"Ugh, really? That wasn't exciting enough? Seriously, what do you and Serena even have to talk about?!" Mina rolled her eyes, listening for Darien's exasperated sigh before continuing. "Okay, fine. Here's the kicker, right? It turns out, we think that that bedtime story is actually real, and you're the Prince of the Earth, reborn in this lifetime." Mina finally got to the point. "We're still looking for the Moon Princess, but since we've found you, she couldn't be too far away."

"'We'? Who do you mean by 'we'?" Darien slowly sat up in bed again. "Wait, who's the Prince of the what. now?"

"Sailor Soldier intelligence." Mina responded vaguely. "We know you're Tuxie Boy, and we know you gave 'Rena the star locket."

"I don't know if getting all your information from Serena counts as 'intelligence'." Darien murmured quietly. "Go back to where you said I was the Prince of the Earth. Are you sure about this?"

"98 percent sure." Mina nodded her head. "Judging by the research Luna and Artemis have put in to finding the princess, and the information that Serena gave us about your dreams, we're all pretty confident it's you." The blonde girl listened intently as the line went quiet. After a few more moments of silence, she wondered if he was still there. "Darien?"

"Yeah…" His voice seemed flat and carried a tone of disappointment.

"Is that not awesome news?" Mina asked cautiously.

"No… not really." Darien sighed, resting his face against the palm of his hand. "It means I can't be with Serena after all." His feelings of dejection slowly began to give way to frustration. "Mina, when I left Tokyo, I gave up my search for the Moon Princess, thinking that that was something I had a say in. But now you're telling me that my fate is pretty much sealed. I'm the Prince of the Earth, sent here from the past to relive my destiny with some unknown Moon Princess."

"Darien, I know this might sound like trespassing-" Mina began, before being interrupted.

"-Do you mean 'treason'?"

"Whatever!" Mina huffed. "Look, I'm only saying what everyone else is thinking. Destiny's a funny thing. It wouldn't have brought you and Serena together if you weren't somehow meant to be. You two are good together, there's no denying that. So I say 'screw destiny', maybe you were sent to the future to correct a mistake made in the past. Maybe this is your second chance." The blonde teen channeled her inner goddess of love. "History states that the Moon Princess needs to awaken for the final battle against the Dark Kingdom, but it doesn't say your relationship has to pick up where it left off."

"If the Princess awakens, her presence will awaken the spirit of the Earth Prince, right?" Darien offered a counter argument, "What if all my memories and feelings for her awaken as well?"

"Well, I guess you'll have to weigh up your thousand-year-old feelings for the princess, against the ones you have for Serena right now." Mina reasoned, "Either way, it's for you to decide. But seeing you and 'Rena together, I don't think the Moon Princess could blame you for wanting to start again."

Darien nodded his head silently before frowning slightly, realising that she had some very valid points. "This talk has been strangely encouraging, Mina."

"Great! Thanks!... I think." Mina hesitated for a moment, wondering if she could hear sarcasm from seven thousand miles away. "I'll call again soon to check up on you and give you an update on the situation."

"Thanks." Darien felt the conversation winding down and knew that this was probably the best time to ask the question that was eating away at his mind. "Hey, Mina?"

"Mhmm?" She responded almost instantly.

"How is she?"

The blonde teen paused in thought as she weighed up her response, wanting it to be honest, yet not too hurtful. "She's pretty cut up about you being the Prince. I think she has the same thoughts as you, running through her mind." Mina confessed, "She's putting on a brave face, but I think she really misses you. I don't think she feels it's appropriate to talk about it though."

"Mina," She could hear his voice straining as he tried to keep his emotions in check. "I don't want her to give up on me… on us."

Mina drew in a deep breath. She could sense he was hurting. She could detect it in his tone and the way he asked about her, but what could she do? He was half a world away and Serena winced like a skewer pierced her flesh every time his name was even mentioned. Regardless, she was still the embodiment of love, and it pained her to see her friends so far apart, and yet still longing for one another. She sighed gently at the thought of their dilemma, "I'll do what I can."

Serena woke up that Saturday morning to the sound of Darien's laughter filtering down the hallway. She sat up in bed, and rubbed her eyes, straining her ears, trying to check if she was mistaken or not. There was a faint murmur of conversation. She could make out the sound of Andrew's voice whenever he spoke, but what she could also hear was the distinct prosody, tones and vocal contours of her former housemate. Rising out of bed, she slowly opened her room door and cautiously padded her way down the hallway.

"-It really is such a great campus. It's so full of energy, and everyone's pretty friendly here. The semester hasn't officially started yet, so the campus is still pretty quiet, but as you know, postgrads don't really have semesters... so I've been in the lab and have already met my supervisors. They were a little startled when I told them I was starting my PhD at the age of 21-"

She wasn't mistaken, she could hear his voice clearly now. Her heart began to beat wildly in her chest as she slowly made her way to the edge of the living room. She saw Andrew first, facing the television screen, and it took her half a second to realise that he was having a video call. Waving her hands and shaking her head, she motioned to Andrew not to acknowledge her presence. Slowly, she made her way around the outskirts of the living room area so she could see him, yet eagerly tried her best not to be detected by the webcam.

There he was; face and torso on the big screen television, enthusiastically talking about how he was settling down and getting to know the area. He looked happy, and Serena began to feel guilty that a part of her wished he would still be a little miserable.

Darien noticed a fleeting distracted expression wash over Andrew's face as he spoke. A second later, he could see Serena tip-toeing toward the back corner of the room, before turning around to watch him. She had clearly underestimated the range of the webcam.

"So, how's everything at home?" Darien asked just as Serena moved out of the range of the camera, presumably to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. As soon as Serena had her back turned, Andrew subtly tapped the camera, realigning it to partially face the kitchen, so Darien could see. The dark haired man struggled to hide his smirk. His best friend had his back.

"Oh… you know…" Andrew shrugged, leaning back on the couch. "It's all much the same here."

"How's Serena?" Darien asked and watched as the petite blonde froze in her tracks at the sound of her name, and put her cereal bowl down.

"She's…" Andrew glanced over briefly. Serena's eyes were glazed over, seemingly deep in thought as she stared at man on the screen. "She's good." Andrew added simply. "She's determined more than ever now to become a nurse, and has taken your advice to enroll in Biology class. She's also volunteering at the hospital… which is keeping her plenty busy."

"That's really great to hear." Darien's small smile gave way to a slightly playful grin. "Does she ask about me?"

"Uh-" Andrew chuckled slightly before being interrupted by Serena's hushed whispered protests.

"Drew-" She hissed quietly, trying to gain his attention. He glanced over to see Serena, frowning deeply and waving her hands about frantically like a maniac, trying to indicate that she would chop his head off if he said anything even remotely close to 'yes'.

"Uh, no… no she doesn't, man." Andrew lied, suppressing his laughter, knowing that Darien could see her clearly.

"Oh…" Darien feigned a hurt expression. "That's a little disappointing, especially considering I can't stop thinking about her."

The ease at which he let that line slip made Serena drop her spoon with a loud clatter.

"Boston's a really beautiful city. I really wish I could show it to her." Darien added. "There are so many places I'd like to take her one day… but it all seems so lonely without someone to share your experiences with."

"Yeah, I know how it feels. Reika is always jet-setting all over the world, discovering new archaeological digs. She says it doesn't compare to the feeling of coming home though." Andrew sympathised.

"I won't lie… it's hard." Darien absentmindedly ran his fingers through his dark hair. "I'm pretty miserable sometimes and it's made even harder because... I can feel when she transforms. I know when Sailor Moon is in a fight, but I have no idea if she's okay. I'm not used to not being able to protect her if anything goes wrong. It terrifies me."

Serena meekly walked over to the couch and sat down beside Andrew. "Hey…" She greeted the screen, feeling oddly nervous.

"Sere…" Darien smiled warmly. His plan had worked. She was talking to him again.

"I'm still not talking to you yet…" The blonde teen frowned slightly and pouted. "I just wanted to say 'hi', and to see if you were settling in okay."

"I'm… managing." He shot her a genuine smile, and Serena felt her heart begin to melt at the sight. Her face began to grow warm with a faint blush as she watched him smiling back at her. Nibbling on her bottom lip, a few moments of silent admiration passed before she caught herself practically gawking, and she swiftly jumped to her feet before he was given the opportunity (and satisfaction) of seeing her cheesily smiling back.

"Good." She stammered awkwardly. "That's good." She repeated before bowing toward the screen in a strange display of polite respect. "I- That's all I wanted to know. I'll be going now. Still not talking to you." And just like that, she bolted back down the hallway and locked herself up in her bedroom.

Andrew waited until he was sure Serena was out of earshot before he let out a small laugh. "She's gone."

"Drew, I know this is asking a lot, but seriously, man… take my place." Darien slipped from the couch on to his knees, clasping his hands together desperately. "I don't want to be the Prince of the Earth. I'll trade destinies with you."

"I don't think that's how it works, buddy." Andrew shrugged helplessly. "If only 'Rena was the Moon Princess. That would fix everything up."

"There's no possible way… could there?" Darien's voice trailed away as he played around with the thought in his mind. "No, she couldn't be." He answered his own question decisively. "She's the princess's head guardian, and leader of the Sailor Senshi."

"Yeah, I suppose not." Andrew nodded his head in agreement. "It would be incredibly risky to be throwing the Princess into battle night after night, searching for herself, wouldn't it?"

"I'm screwed." Darien dropped his head in his hands in dismay.

"I don't see what the big deal is." Andrew frowned slightly. "Since when did you even believe in things like fate or destiny, let alone allow it to rule your life?"

Darien slumped back, seemingly exhausted. "Logic and reasoning fly out the window when you can conjure roses and transform in the blink of an eye." He sighed for the umpteenth time. "But you're right. None of this has any sway over how I feel right now. I'm going to grovel and beg and do whatever it takes to make things right with Serena again."

"Good, good. But don't forget to focus on your studies while you're there, otherwise this whole distance apart thing would have been heartache for nothing." Andrew reminded.

"Will do," Darien nodded, understanding. "Anyway, it's getting late here, I'm going to sign off, and hopefully Mina won't call me again tonight."

"Artemis," Luna pawed her computer screen, turning it toward the white feline. "Are you sure this data is correct?"

"Yes, Luna. I checked it myself last night." Artemis walked over from his newspaper archives. "Why?"

"There are a few discrepancies." Luna tapped her keyboard, bringing up other articles and research. "In all of the legends, it states that the Moon Princess only had four guardians. This is consistent with the data you've presented on the Moon Wand's Silver Millennium energy detection readings, but the energy readings only account for fifteen spirits."

"If seven are reincarnated with fragments of the rainbow crystal, two spirits account for you and I…" Artemis tallied up the data, "One represents the Earth Prince, One represents the Moon Princess, then the remaining four…" Artemis stumbled on his words as he tried to make sense of the readings. "There are only four signature energy readings for the five guardians… that can't be right."

"Can you detect which energy signature is unaccounted for?" Luna watched her companion expertly tap the modified computer keys.

"That's the strange thing." Artemis frowned. "Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus… and Moon. All energy signatures match."

Luna furrowed her brows, deep in thought. A long moment paused before she spoke once more, "Are there two Moon signatures?"

Artemis stared at his data spread sheet, trying hard to decipher the differences in the energy spikes. "It's hard to say… but it looks like there isn't."

"What does that mean?" Luna slowly began to fit together bits and pieces of the metaphoric puzzle before her. Darien was the Earth Prince reincarnated. In his previous life, the Earth Prince gave the star locket to the Moon Princess as a symbol of their love. In this life, Tuxedo Mask gave it to Sailor Moon, and in this life, both Serena and Darien had fallen in love with one another. There was only one energy signature representing the spirit of the Moon, and only reports of four Lunarian guardians. Her fur stood on end as realisation dawned upon her. It seemed too convenient, yet the evidence was too strong to deny.

Artemis leant back on his hind legs as he tried to make sense of the situation. "Either the Princess wasn't reincarnated…"

The idea seemed absurd at first, but the more Luna thought about it, the more she couldn't shake the feeling that both she and Artemis had discovered something big. "-Or we've already found her."

Serena watched the second hand ticking around the classroom clock. 2:13:15... 16... 17... Science had never been her strong suit. She could never really get her head around the concept of how the structure of something as small as a molecule could be known. It was something that she had to get used to, however, if she was going to successfully study the medical sciences.

She sniffled, feeling her nose seeping with fluid. A metallic taste coated the back of her throat and she lifted her fingers to her nose, pulling it away to reveal blood. In an instant, her eyes were blinded by a white hot flash of light before it faded back to normal. The petite blonde looked down at her fingers. Oddly enough, they were clean; not a trace of blood to be seen. She glanced up at the time again.

29...30...31...3-

The second hand stopped ticking. Serena turned her head to look around at the rest of the room. Something wasn't right. It was as though time had completely stopped. Students were frozen in their seats, the teacher's mouth gaped in mid-sentence. Even the birds were completely stationary, suspended in the air outside.

Serena rose to her feet, only to struggle at the feeling of slight constriction. Looking down, she was dressed in a white silk gown. Her desk had vanished. "What in the world is going on?" She lifted her head, only to find her classroom had been completely re-landscaped. She stood beside a large water fountain which towered over her. A bright, unseen light bathed the land with a strange blue glow. Was it night time? Why did the air seem so thin? Where was the moon?

"Princess..." His voice called out to her from behind. As Serena swiveled around, she found herself face to face with a dashing looking Darien. He was dressed in battle armour, or what looked to be a sturdy chest plate, at least.

"Darien?" The silver-haired girl questioned, still surprised and clueless as to what was going on.

"Dumpling?" The armour-clad prince returned her confused expression. It all seemed so surreal. Were people in dreams supposed to sound so sentient and self-aware? Why did he sound almost as confused as she was? "What are you doing here?"

Another blinding light distracted Serena, making it impossible to keep her eyes open. When she did manage to pry her eyelids open once more, she found herself lying on the floor of her classroom surrounded by a number of concerned students and the teacher.

"What happened?" Serena's head was pounding. It was almost like she had a miniature jackhammer lodged somewhere in her brain.

"Your nose started bleeding, so you got up to go to the washroom, but then you fainted." One student informed.

"It was really odd too, just before you passed out, you kept mumbling something about 'needing to warn the Queen' and 'preparing the palace guards'. It looked like you were in your own little world." Another student added.

"We should take you to the infirmary." Ami slowly helped the confused teen up to her feet, with the assistance of Lita.

. . .

Darien's eyes fluttered open and he slowly sat up in bed. "Ugh... I have to stop thinking of Serena as possibly being the Moon Princess..." He shook his head to clear his thoughts of any remnants of the dream he just had. "It's starting to affect my subconscious thoughts, and now I'm dreaming of her too..."

"Serena? Really?" Artemis paced back and forth across the underground headquarters. "She's the most lacking out of all of the Sailor Soldiers. She lacks in motivation, leadership, strength, intelligence, basic hand-eye coordination…"

"But she's improved leaps and bounds since I first found and recruited her." Luna defended. "Her skills are improving every day. Yes, she still has her lapses in concentration and klutzes out every now and then, but it's been far less concerning lately than it has been before."

"She lacks the grace, charm and refinement of the Princess." Artemis added.

"Princess Serenity had a century to refine her skills and etiquette. Serena's only 16." Luna reminded. It struck her as odd, but she had watched each and every one of her girls grow into their roles and responsibilities, but Serena was her first charge, and the one who had showed the most improvement to date. She hated to admit that she had a favourite, but living with the clumsy, airheaded blonde teen for a while had opened her eyes to Serena's many generous and endearing qualities. "How else would you explain the anomalies in the data and the strange instance of history seeming to repeat itself?"

"There's got to be a reason why you awoke Serena as Sailor Moon and not the princess." Artemis ruminated. "Maybe we have it wrong. Maybe she really isn't the Moon Princess."

"But if she is, then we're putting her at risk every night by needlessly throwing her into the line of fire." The desperation of the situation tugged at Luna's heartstrings. She had previously reprimanded Serena for falling in love, when in all possibility; it could have been their fate. In fact, she may as well have tried to convince the Moon itself to try to escape the orbit of the Earth. "Until we figure out this riddle, we have to make sure to keep all our girls safe."

"That means we can't utter a word about this to them." The white cat warned.

"Not even Serena?" Luna's ears pricked with nervous tension.

"Not even Serena." Artemis reiterated. He knew they were both in a sticky situation. They needed to withhold this vital information for the safety of their wards. "It could jeopardise her safety, especially if we end up being wrong about this. Even if we are right, the Silver Crystal hasn't been found. We'd be painting a target on a sitting duck." He sighed, feeling the burden of their secret weighing heavily on his own heart. "In fact, it would be best if we continued to dissuade Serena from starting a relationship with Darien."

"To save their love and protect their lives, we have to keep them away from each other?" Luna rested her body along the desk. "It just seems too cruel."

"Only until we can find out more... Just enough to stop history from repeating, and to keep the Dark Kingdom from winning this time around." Artemis reassured.

"Andy, I'm fine... really" Serena sat up, trying to stop her older cousin from fussing over her. He ignored her protests, placing a cold compress on her forehead and pushing her back in to bed.

"You had a nose bleed." Andrew began, "That's a sign that you're not okay. You're probably exhausted from all the Moonie butt kicking, work, volunteering and studying you've been doing lately." Turning the compress over, he then proceeded to place another blanket over the teenager, despite the fact that it was a balmy late-Spring evening, and the weather was quite warm. "I understand what you're going through, and I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to keep yourself busy so you don't have time to think about Darien, but you really need to stop running away from the situation and think things through."

"I'm not running away, I'm just-"

"I'm serious, 'Rena." Andrew interrupted, "I've seen you do this before, you know. You didn't deal with your grief, and instead, you put on your shiniest, brightest smile, got yourself a job and soldiered on with life... and then what happened at Christmas time?"

"I broke down-" Serena lowered her head before she was interrupted by her cousin once again.

"You broke down. And now you're working yourself to the bone again, and for what?-" Andrew continued his lecture, vigorously tucking the sheets in tightly around Serena's legs.

"Andy, please! You're smothering me!" Serena pouted, wriggling out of her tucked in sheets to stand at the end of the bed. "I'm fine, I really am. You really don't have to do all this for me. I'm not a little kid, I will deal with my issues in my own time... but not right now. I'm not ready to think about him right now. And besides, it's just a nose bleed. It's not the first time this year..."

"You've been having them too?" Andrew scratched his head in thought. "Is it something in the apartment?"

"Knock knock!" A sing-songy female voice flittered through the air. "The lobby door was open, so I thought I'd let myself in." Mina weaved her way through the apartment and ducked her head into the doorway of Serena's room. "I heard you were ill, so I came to look after you." She smiled, lifting up some take away soup boxes, before frowning slightly and yanking Serena's elbow, dragging her back to bed. "What are you doing up? You should be getting some rest."

"Mina I-" Serena groaned at the thought of yet another overly protective carer trying to tie her to her mattress.

"This came in the mail for you." The ribbon haired blonde handed Serena a letter. "I walked past the mailman downstairs, and he thought I was you." She turned around to face Andrew, thrusting another fat bundle of letters into his hands. "These are for you. I sticky beaked through them all, but they're all boring bills."

"That's... really nice of you, Mina." Andrew could only stand back and watch the whirlwind blonde rush about. "How about we go and prepare some of that soup while 'Rena rests, hmm?" He nodded toward the open door and Mina nodded her head, following him out.

"So..." Andrew waited until they were both in the kitchen and out of earshot before leaping straight to the topic on the forefront of his mind. "This isn't her first nose bleed..."

"No, I know." Mina nodded, her bubbly personality now a little more subdued as she unpacked the bags. "She had another a few weeks ago, during a battle." The blonde affirmed, turning toward Andrew. "but it's the first time I've heard of her fainting. Do you think something's wrong? Should we take her to a doctor?"

"I don't know if they'd find anything." Andrew shrugged, leaning against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed. "Darien's been having nosebleeds lately too. Ever since Christmas."

"You don't think it's an S.T.I, do you?" Mina poured the soup into a clean bowl before heating it in the microwave.

"What?!" Andrew slammed his fist down onto the counter, mortified at the thought. "Of course not! Nose bleeds are not a common symptom of a sexually transmitted- wait... Why do you ask? What has Serena told you?"

"N-nothing." Mina shook her head vigorously. She had never seen Andrew in any other emotional state other than happy and conniving. "I swear I haven't heard anything like that from Serena, and the box of condoms hidden in Darien's sock drawer still has its tamper-proof seal intact!"

"Woah, how did you-"

"Of course, that doesn't really mean anything if it's a brand new box to replace the previous box that they finished..." Mina frowned in thought, wondering why she hadn't thought of that before.

"Mina!" Andrew hollered, bringing the ditzy blonde back down to Earth.

"Sorry." She apologised, cheeks turning a bright shade of pink. "I don't think 'Rena and Darien are at that stage of their relationship..." Mina watched as Andrew's shoulders relaxed once more. "...yet." She playfully winked and stuck her tongue out, turning the tables to intentionally torment the protective man. "So do you think it's somehow connected?" Mina changed the topic quickly.

"Well," Andrew drummed his fingers on the counter top. "You're all from a different lifetime, right? Maybe it's like my textbook cases of repressed or blocked memories. They say that emotional or mental trauma can manifest itself in physical ways. Perhaps Serena and Darien's past memories are fighting their way to the surface."

Mina liked the idea. It sounded plausible, but there was one flaw, "But why not mine? Or Lita's or even Luna's?"

Andrew raised an eyebrow curiously, "Serena's cat?"

"Why is it only 'Rena and Darien getting the weird nosebleeds and headaches?" Mina pressed on.

"Seriously, 'Rena's cat was from the Moon Kingdom too?" Andrews mind struggled to comprehend how a cat came to be reincarnated, "Was I there?"

"Yes she was, no you weren't." Mina shook her head, giving Andrew a flat stare.

"Why do I always miss out?" Andrew grumbled under his breath. He hummed briefly to himself as he ran Mina's questions through his mind.

"Do you think them living together and getting close to one another had something to do with it?" Mina queried.

"I would say, a resounding...yes." Andrew nodded his head, stroking his invisible beard. "They seem to be struggling with their memories. Perhaps now that they've both accepted that they have feelings with one another, their past... selves, let's just say... are fighting against it. Maybe somewhere in the back of their minds, they know that this shouldn't happen."

"What do we do about it, then?" Mina stirred the soup absentmindedly. "I mean, they're both going through some serious stuff with all these repressed memories. Is there anything we can do to help?"

"We could try hypnotherapy. That could only really help Serena though since Darien's so far away and would never consent to any 'psycho mumbo jumbo'." Andrew scratched his head in frustration. "I guess the only thing left is to do what you've been trying to do for a while... find the rainbow crystals and the Moon Princess."

"It makes me sad though." Mina continued dejectedly, "I mean... they're both in pain, ill and struggling now, but isn't it sort of better than the alternative? Isn't holding back their memories better than them remembering their past lives and knowing that they can't love one another or have a future together?"

"Mina, you know what 'Rena's like." Andrew smiled gently, placing a reassuring hand on the blonde girl's shoulder. "What you may or may not know, is that Darien is an incredibly stubborn man. Once he sets his mind on something, he'll never give up. I don't think you'll have to worry about them not having a future together, or at least giving it a try." He watched as a small smile crept across Mina's features. "It's not like Darien to let something like destiny get in the way of his plans."

. . .

Serena sat still in bed and turned her attention from the doorway, where Andrew had just escorted Mina away, to the envelope perched in her hands. She knew his handwriting. She knew how he wrote her name in that semi-cursive style. She knew even without looking at the return address or the immaculately aligned stamp in the top right hand corner, that it was a letter from Darien. She looked around her room for a letter opener, even though a voice in her head told her that she had never owned one. No one owned letter openers these days... except, perhaps, Darien. It annoyed her slightly that she knew he had a letter opener in his room... in the third slot of his pen holder... sitting on the top right corner of his study table. It was such a small detail, but it irked her.

Turning the envelope in her hands a number of times, she examined it briefly before her clumsy fingers attempted to gently tear away at the seal. Reaching in to the freshly opened envelope, she pulled out a letter and a few polaroid pictures. She didn't know what to expect, and it made her feel strangely uneasy. Opening the letter, she let her eyes roam across his handwritten note. She read the first line: Dumpling, Welcome to this week's installment of "Stupid-Head's Pictorial Guide to Boston", and she couldn't help but laugh a little. Each polaroid film was labelled with a corresponding description in the letter, and she took her time to flick through them in order.

1. A Typical Suburban Street - Funny, isn't it? All the houses in this area look similar and they're all so neat, with perfect little fences and immaculately groomed lawns. Do you think we could ever find a place like this in Japan?

2. My Shoebox Studio Apartment - I manage... but it's not the same without your annoying alarm in the mornings.

3. Harvard – Where I go for a nap. Seriously... (not really)

4. The University Hospital – Where I make a difference in peoples' lives.

Serena's stomach churned as she held the picture of the hospital. She missed him so much, but his caption brought home a simple truth and realisation within Serena. It changed her whole perspective on him being so far away. It was a simple statement that could not have been phrased in any better way. Somehow that one picture made her feel a little less melancholy, and a whole lot more hopeful. She was genuinely happy for him and proud of the work he was doing.

5. Because I Know You Miss This Morning Hair.

It was a picture of him, pulling a silly face. His hair was tousled, his face seemed pale and dark circles were etched under his eyes. Even though he looked exhausted, he had taken that silly photo of himself to send to her, knowing that she would probably one day use it to tease him, and tease him she would.

I hope this letter reaches you well, and I hope the pictures have managed to bring a smile to your face, even if only for a little while. I won't ask you to not be mad at me, instead, I'll send you a letter every week and try to make you happy.

Counting the days 'til I come home...

Yours truly,

Stupid-Head.

"Darien... You really are a stupid head." Serena wiped a stray tear from her eyes. "You make it really hard for me. I can't be mad at you if you keep giving me reasons to love you more."

. . .

So... I tried to use the "cutaway scene" method in story telling here. Hopefully it worked effectively. Nevertheless, the story seems to be taking a life of its own again, since I only planned for 20% of what actually happened above. I read a lot of your reviews that said "Seriously, how can they NOT piece together that Serena is the Moon Princess" And I thought... hmmm... they're right. So I've modified my story, and I think it's better, and all thanks to your reviews!

Anyway, I've updated my blog again to answer the PM question I received of "If you were to cast a real life Mamoru, who would it be?" so feel free to check it out- my blog link is on my author page or punch in [w w w . crystalsaturn. weebly. c o m] The next chapter might take a little longer to write up- please bear with me!

Crystal Saturn