Hi everyone! Here's a new chapter! It's a little shorter than usual, but the next couple chapters should be quite a bit longer, as we discover the "Moon Princess" and the SereXDar relationship progresses. This chapter should've been out a week ago, but I've been distracted with the idea for a new story... so I kind of put off editing this one (and replying to reviews... and eating... and sleeping) But I've been working on chapters 38-40 for the past 2 years now, so they shouldn't take too long to post.

In other news, I've created a facebook account, since I'm so horrible at replying to reviews. The link is up on my profile, so please add me... I currently have like 5 friends and get lonely talking to myself hahaa. Add me... ask me questions... post up some pictures... pester me about the next chapter update... I promise I won't spam you with game requests =P

Thanks to: pinkkitty1988, cat, l1s44p, diellemabelle, Silver Star, Wonderwomanbatmanfan, bluebutterfly2006, smfan4ever72, moon86, Kasienda, Miss Moon Rose, Nich31, MissJay, KittyKat, 4fireking, Selene Jade Rose, trish1573 (Happy belated birthday!), lyss010387, Twiggirl006, Princess Moonie of the moon, Anonymous Angel (Happpy belated birthday to you too!), CharmedSerenity3, SailorMoon489, Guest, Miss Katrina Malfoy, Severn, natashasurgirl, kara69love and MinnieMoosi for reviewing the previous chapter.

Title: Summer Rain
Author: Crystal Saturn
Rated: T
Chapter: 37 – The Last Rainbow Crystal – Warrior in White?

. . .

Serena roared as she yawned, stretching her arms high above her head. She stepped out into the hallway, just as Andrew walked out of the bathroom.

"Did you fall asleep in Darien's room again?"

"I..." She blushed profusely, fidgeting her fingers. "I guess I did..."

"If you really miss him that much, then you should just call him." Andrew rolled his eyes at his cousin's stubbornness. He wasn't sure if it was a genetic trait, or if Darien has just rubbed off on her too much.

"I-I-I don't miss him! I just... I like his room. It gets a nice sunset view." Serena lied. "Why is his stuff even still in there? Couldn't we just rent out his room to someone else since he's gone?"

"Uh... no." Andrew shook his head decisively before continuing to dry his sandy blonde hair with his towel.

"Why not?" Serena shrugged. "Wouldn't it help out with the rent?"

"Well..." Andrew began. "I guess it would, but we can't because... this is Darien's apartment." Surely he had told her this before, right? Someone would have mentioned it.

"It... is?" The petite blonde blinked, suddenly feeling a little out of place.

"Yuuup."

"Then... Why do you have the main bedroom?" Serena looked back into Darien's bedroom. It was spacious enough for all his belongings, but it didn't have a private bath, like the main bedroom.

"Darien's generosity, I guess." Andrew scratched his head, not too certain himself. "Just like when I told him about you needing a place to stay, he offered his study room, Diana's old room... and when he found out that you, the infamous Dumpling Head, were my cousin, he waived your share of the rent too."

Serena took a moment to try to let it all sink in. "But he didn't know about papa... Why would he do that?"

"He didn't want you worrying about finances... just your grades. He also didn't want to be profiting from your family's grief and loss." Andrew explained, watching the little invisible cogs turning in Serena's head.

"I never knew..."

"'Rena," Andrew sighed once again before watching as a glazed expression overcame Serena's face. "Romance in real life is never as grand, obvious, or elaborate as it is in the fantasies of women."

Andrew was right. Although Darien had always teased her, he was also always there for her... whether she wanted him to be or not. He may not have showered her with rose petals and sonnets, but he had been by her side, unconditionally supporting her from the very beginning. He offered her music when she couldn't sleep the first night. He always walked her home from work. He tagged along to dance classes when she asked him. He protected her... from spiders; from storms; from monsters; from loneliness; from the grief of losing her father; from having to eat carrots. He was the keeper of her secrets, the guardian of her insecurities and the protector of her dreams. He motivated her to be better. He cared for her when she was ill. He gave her his Star Locket and Rainbow Crystals. He was her first kiss and her first love. She was stronger with him by her side. What more could she ever want in a romantic relationship?

Serena's gaze wandered past the doorframe of her bedroom and settled on the small stack of letters on her desk. He was still trying to show her a glimpse of his feelings for her, even though she had rejected him. Unlike her, his feelings never wavered and he never gave up. Serena recalled the first time she caught him looking at her like that and the way her heart skipped a beat and soared higher than the clouds in the sky. Her stomach still tied itself in fluttery knots every time he looked at her with that warm, affectionate gaze. "I don't know, Andy..." She sighed, her fingers subconsciously playing with the charms on her bracelet. "I think romance in real life is better than any fantasy imaginable... once you realise that it was right under your nose all along."

"You should call him." Andrew persisted. "Without affirmation, a real life romance remains a mere fantasy... and one sided loves have a way of fading away into history and regret."

"I should..." Andrew's eyes lit up at Serena's words "...get ready for school. I'm going to be late." The sound of the palm of Andrew's hand smacking against his forehead could be heard echoing around the apartment.

. . .

Andrew glanced briefly at the dual clock on the wall before settling down on the sofa and reaching for the console remote. It was ten in the morning in Tokyo, meaning it would be eight at night in Boston. He dialled Darien's contact through the video call interface and waited.

"Hey man," Darien's face popped up on the television screen, smiling warmly at the sight of a familiar face. "What's up?"

"Ahh, you know. Same old, same old. I just called to check up on you." Andrew leant back in his seat. "The arcade's doing fine, Reika's coming back from Africa soon, Uni's a bore... what about you?"

"Well... all I have is uni, really." Darien shrugged. "And that's going really well. I'm racking up my placement hours at the University Hospital too."

"And how's that going?"

"Uh... A little unnerving at first." Darien admitted, somewhat sheepishly. "It's very busy, but I'm getting the hang of things, and learning more than ever before... especially about how to work through extremely long hours." He slumped back on his couch. "How's your research project? Have you handed in your thesis yet?"

"Yeah, just last week actually." As sad as it sounded, it made Andrew a little happy whenever Darien or Serena remembered the little details of his life. "Now I wait for marking and the peer review."

"Congratulations!" A broad grin spread across Darien's face. "I bet that's a load off of your shoulders. Did you go for drinks afterwards?"

"Yeah, it's great. I can focus on the law part of my degree now." The blonde chuckled in response. "'Rena and the girls took me out to dinner as a bit of a celebration." Andrew watched as Darien seemed to perk at the mention of her name. Of course he did. He always did. "You know, it was actually kind of funny... 'Rena ran into one of her classmates while we were there... Eric or somebody..."

"Eric?" Darien had heard the girls giggling his name in the apartment before. He seemed to squint in suspicion as Andrew continued on with his story.

"Yeah, he and Serena seemed to get along quite well. They had quite an animated conversation. I wonder if they're dating..."

"Dating?!" Darien rose to his feet in an instant, the coffee table in front of him rocked violently from being accidentally kicked by the outraged man.

"Who knows..." Andrew struggled to hold back his laughter as he shrugged and acted completely blasé. If Serena wasn't going to budge, perhaps he could persuade Darien to give it another shot.

"But Drew-"

"Two years is a long time to be away, you know." The sandy blond casually cleaned his nails as Darien seemed to get more and more worked up.

"Yeah, I know but-"

"She's young... got lots of prospects... I wouldn't blame her for wanting to keep her options open."

"Drew!"

Andrew caved and let out a hearty laugh. "I'm messin' with you."

"That's not funny!" Darien ran his fingers through his dark hair to try to settle his nerves.

"It's... a little bit funny. But in all honesty, they really did seem to get along well. She seems to make friends so easily. And she is getting older... it really wouldn't surprise me if she did start dating soon." Andrew could almost see dark rays of depression radiating from Darien's being. The connection flickered slightly as a rumble could be heard in the background. "Are you making it storm over there?"

"Drew..." Darien's voice was quiet, masking the deep agitation that he obviously felt, "How do you do it?"

"Atmospheric instability and convection are usually how storms-"

"I mean..." Darien interrupted his smart-ass best friend. "The long distance thing..."

"Well, usually... you have to be in a relationship to have a long distance relationship." Another flash of lightning followed by a rumble of thunder disrupted the connection. This time, it was on Andrew's end. "What the heck?" He looked about the apartment. "It was just sunny three minutes ago!" Andrew's attention turned to the window, where dark clouds began to amass above the apartment block. "So I see your Earthly powers are growing, your highness..."

"When I regain my throne, I swear, you'll be the first one I'll throw into the dungeons, Drew." Darien deadpanned. "Why do you always have to make me feel bad?"

"Because she's my cousin. Family comes first." Andrew walked over to the balcony, shutting the door to stop the windy gusts of air from wreaking havoc with the blinds. "That... and you kinda bring it upon yourself." Another flash of lightning by the window caused Andrew to wince. "Trust. Trust and honesty are pretty important factors, alongside communication, of course."

"Sure... communication." The dark lines of depressive sulkiness began again.

"She's still reading your letters." Andrew offered a bit of encouragement.

"Does she ever ask about me?"

"No... not anymore." Andrew drawled slowly. "But I don't think she's seeing anyone either. She seems to be pretty serious about becoming a nurse, although I think her motivation behind it is just so she can throw it all back at you and say 'I told you so'."

Darien laughed, shaking his head slowly. "How is she coping?"

"Not well. I've had to pick her up from school twice just this week because she passed out from dissecting animals and analysing blood samples."

Another small laugh erupted from Darien's lips, yet the mirth never reached his eyes and eventually his voice slowly faded away to silence.

Andrew decided to pick up the conversation once again. "You miss her, huh?" His question was met with silence, as though it was obvious. "You know, she misses you too." The blond continued. "Sometimes I find her asleep on your bed. She swears it's because your room has the air conditioner and heater, but half the time when I see her in there, neither one is on."

"I miss all of you guys." Darien eventually tried to deflect the conversation slightly. "I miss the familiarity of the place. I miss the food. I miss the apartment. I miss the arcade. I miss my car." He added, drawing in a deep breath before continuing. "I miss walking her home from work. I miss waking up and seeing her happy face in the kitchen before she runs off to school. I miss walking in to the shower after her and having the bathroom smell of her soap."

"That last one's a little creepy, bro." Andrew broke the depressive mood, and Darien couldn't help but laugh a little. "So today's the middle mark, huh? You've exactly one year left of your Harvard scholarship." Darien nodded slowly in response before Andrew continued, "Summer break is coming up... you should take a break and come home."

"Mmm... we'll see." Darien too, gave a non-committal answer, much to Andrew's disappointment. "I'm pretty busy."

"But-"

"It's getting pretty late here, Drew." Darien interrupted, awkwardly. "I've gotta get up early..." He excused himself, chuckling a little sheepishly. "Good talk! Chat with you again soon, okay bye!" He ended the call before Andrew could protest any further.

Darien looked up at the wall clock in his laboratory. It read 8:14PM. He had been there for almost 12 hours already and knew he was probably going to be in the lab for at least another three; preparing gels and checking on his cultures. It was tiring and tedious work, but he enjoyed it and knew that in the end, it would all be worth it if he could save lives. Darien rubbed his weary eyes and sat down momentarily. He felt exhausted and rested his head down on the bench-top, just to give his bloodshot eyes a momentary time-out.

Less than ten minutes later, sirens could be heard blaring in the distance as the local police station became swamped with reports of a 'masked bandit dressed all in black, with a cape and top hat', breaking into houses and stealing heirloom jewels. A number of large and small jewellers and pawn stores were also targeted throughout the night, cleared of all large and precious gemstone pieces. The bandit, also dubbed the 'Phantom Jewel Thief' broke in to properties indiscriminately, in an almost flawless and graceful manner. He was quick to travel, leading the authorities to believe that it was the job of a crime syndicate, rather than the act of merely one man, but witnesses reported seeing the Phantom Jewel Thief display supernatural powers, often soaring through the night sky and bounding in and out of buildings with lightning fast speed and physical strength not possessed by any normal human.

The one descriptive detail of the bandit that all witnesses seemed to agree upon, were his eerie eyes. Although he wore a white domino mask to shield his identity, the Phantom Thief possessed the most startling cobalt blue eyes that seemed electrically charged. They glowed in the darkness, much like a cat staring back at a set of headlights. Although his eyes smouldered with blue leaping flames reflected within his irises, they remained an icy shade of indifference and apathy.

His actions showed a ruthless determination and he seemed to display a wanton disregard for the safety of anybody who stood in his way. It didn't matter whether or not they were male or female, young or old, if they stood in his way, he would fight them until they no longer proved to be a threat to his objectives. His every step was fluid and calculated, yet his eyes held no emotion and at times, it seemed almost like he was stuck in a trance-like state. Manipulated. Robotic. Possessed.

"Luna, it's been almost a year, and we still haven't been able to find the last rainbow crystal." Ami analysed the golden Star Locket with her hand scanner. "Do you think it could be located somewhere outside of Japan?"

"Perhaps... Perhaps Darien has the right idea." Luna mused, as she and Artemis both looked up from their research. "What if the last rainbow crystal carrier is in America, which is why he left?"

"But Darien left to study at Harvard." Ami interjected. "If he's right, then surely that has to be a coincidence. All the other crystal carriers have been located in Japan."

"We've searched every corner of Japan, Ami." Luna shrugged. She couldn't help but feel a little helpless. They were all exhausted from searching for the ever elusive Moon Princess, but none more so than Artemis and Luna. Both had spent endless nights poring over old manuscripts and backtracking from dead end leads. It seemed that no matter how hard they tried, they always ended up going around in circles. All the while, the Dark Kingdom was amassing an army of daemons in the darkness, corrupting the souls of innocent civilians and spewing waves of monsters in an endless strike to distract the Sailor Soldiers whilst their dark leader, Queen Metallia gathered her strength.

"Fate works in mysterious ways..." Artemis sighed, rubbing a paw over his weary eyes.

Ami analysed a cluster of algorithms scrolling down the screen, stopping at one in particular. She isolated a small segment and copied it into the script of her program before clicking to run it. The screen flashed a dark purple and the computer's processors seemed to roar, straining to compute the strings of data Ami had pre-programed. Beside the computer sat the star locket, which mysteriously flipped open at that moment, playing its haunting melody to the anxiously silent room. Somewhere beside Artemis, an invisible force began to pull him closer, but he resisted, grabbing hold of Ami just as a strange sliver of light appeared in mid-air. It stretched and swirled, growing ever larger as it engulfed a large portion if the control room.

"What in the world is that?!" Luna extended her claws, gripping on to the desk as she felt the gravitational pull of the swirling vortex.

Ami transformed before analysing the anomaly through her Mercury visor. "It seems to be some sort of doorway or portal."

"To what?" Artemis watched as the glowing portal grew larger exponentially, looming closer to the three of them at an alarming rate.

"I- I don't know," Sailor Mercury admitted, her visor displaying a number of irrational, constantly changing readings. "But I'm pretty sure we're about to find ou-"

Beep beep beep beep

"What's that noise?" Mina looked up from her magazine to eye down Serena's handbag curiously.

"Has it really been that long since we've detected a rainbow crystal carrier? It's my Moon Wand." Serena leaped, pouncing at her bag. She rummaged through it momentarily before turning it upside down and letting its contents spill onto the carpeted floor of her room. "I wonder why it's going off all of a sudden."

"Uh... I'm guessing because it's detected a rainbow crystal carrier?" Mina continued to thumb through her magazine for a brief moment, like the beeping alarm didn't bother her in the slightest bit. "That's what that noise is supposed to mean, right?"

"But, it hasn't sounded for almost a year now." Serena gingerly held her moon wand in her hand, staring at the object curiously.

"You don't think it's broken, do you?" The red ribboned blonde watched as Serena flicked at her Moon Wand, tapping to check if it was a false alarm. "Where's the signal coming from?"

Serena pointed the wand in front of her as she slowly turned around, listening to the pitch and frequency of the beeps. She stopped, noting the signal was stronger when she pointed south.

Eventually, Mina slowly closed her glossy magazine, sitting up from her spot on Serena's bed. "What's that way?"

"A lot of things, Mina." Serena frowned in thought, before realisation dawned upon her. "But more notably, Haneda Airport is that way."

"The airport?" Mina scratched her head before a bolt of genius hit her. "That might explain why the Moon Wand's only reacting now, after a year. The carrier has been out of the country!"

"We need to hurry." Serena grabbed her coat before running for the door. "Andrew's at the airport as we speak. Reika just came home from being in Africa for a year."

. . .

"Rei, Lita, we need back up a.s.a.p. I can't get in touch with Ami, but I've detected the last rainbow crystal carrier at the airport. Mina and I have only just arrived, and it looks like the Dark Kingdom's beat us once again." Serena contacted her fellow Sailor Soldiers through her communicator.

"Venus power!" Mina hollered in the background as she transformed and leaped straight into battle, aiming her golden chain at the unleashed Dark Kingdom warrior. It was then that she noticed Andrew lying unconscious nearby. She was so distracted by her finding that she didn't see Rikoukeidar collect her attack in an oversized flask only to hurl it back at the blonde warrior of love and justice. Venus shrieked in agony as her own chain engulfed her and she fell to the ground.

Andrew slowly roused, regaining consciousness from being attacked by Zoisite earlier. Taking the next open opportunity and using Zoisite's gloating overconfidence against him, Andrew abruptly leaped to his feet, hurling himself at the Dark Kingdom General to knock the blue rainbow crystal away from his grasp. Zoisite roared in shock as he hurled a dark energy orb at Andrew, hitting him square in the chest and sending him flying halfway across the carpark to land at the feet of the creature that used to be his girlfriend.

"Rikoukeidar, kill him." Zoisite ordered as he turned his attention to the ground in search of the blue crystal that had been tackled out of his possession. Rikoukeidar obeyed her master's commands, picking Andrew up by the neck and holding him up above the ground. Andrew groaned, sputtering and choking as he desperately gasped for air. Her fingers squeezed tightly in response.

"R-Reika..." Andrew called out to the Dark Kingdom warrior. "It's me... it's your Andy... please remember me, Reika"

Serena threw her hand up in the air, yelling out her transformation phrase. At this point in time, she no longer cared who was around to hear or see her. Alter ego be damned, her cousin was about to die at the hands of his girlfriend and Venus was lying unconscious on the ground, bleeding from the head. Crimson ribbons surrounded her body as her clothes seemingly vanished, only to be replaced with her Sailor uniform.

"Hold it right-"

"Sailor Moon." Zoisite interrupted her token speech with a whirlwind of paper thin, razor sharp cherry blossoms. "I've been wondering how long it would take for you to show up." She was trapped. The more she struggled, the more she stirred the petals into a frantic slicing frenzy.

"Sure, fight it some more. Just like quicksand, you'll only kill yourself faster." He let out an ear splitting laugh as he watched the chaos unfold.

"Reika..." Andrew continued to plead, trying to get through to his girlfriend. Sailor Moon watched, desperately helpless as Andrew struggled to his knees after being thrown against a wall. "Reika, I won't give up on you..." Rikoukeidar, unfazed by his words, hurled a test tube at Andrew's feet. Almost immediately, his feet became engulfed with a swarm of microorganisms, holding him down to the ground firmly as Rikoukeidar prepared her final attack. Her right hand transformed into an enlarged scalpel, and with a heartless smirk, she lunged toward the injured and defenceless Andrew.

"NO!" Sailor Moon screamed at the top of her lungs and as she did, time seemed to slow to a grinding halt around her. She struggled against the pain of the sharp cherry blossoms piercing and puncturing her skin as she stepped through Zoisite's whirlwind attack.

For the briefest of moments, a crescent shape formed on Sailor Moon's forehead, and from it poured the brightest flash of blinding white light. Her hair seemed to shimmer a light silver colour in the moonlight, as her eyes turned a brilliant haunting blue hue, glowing eerily through the darkness. Her delicate fingers traced the form of a long white staff, grasping it firmly in her hands as her experienced fingers twirled it, gaining brief momentum before she slammed it down onto the ground. The force of her attack discharged ripples of energy, flattening everything and everyone within a hundred metre radius, setting off car alarms, tearing down street signs and instantly draining the white dressed warrior of all her energy.

Andrew was the first to regain consciousness and he tried to leap to his feet, stumbling a number of times, feeling disoriented and drunk from the blast. His body ached and in his hands, he grasped the blue rainbow crystal. Falling to his knees, he crawled over to where Reika laid.

"Reika..." He held her in his arms. Her body was almost as battered and bruised as his, but she was breathing. "Reika, I love you." Andrew's voice cracked with unshed tears as he whispered into her hair and held her tight. A movement in the corner of his eyes caught his attention and he released the love of his life, resting her carefully on the ground. Slowly limping over toward Serena's unconscious body, he reached over and picked up the long staff wedged into the earth. As though it could read his intentions, the rod transformed in his hands, morphing into a silver broadsword. Andrew's breaths were reduced to a struggling, laboured wheeze and he knew he had broken a number of ribs. His eyes held no remorse as he made his way to the maimed Zoisite, lifting the sword up and disposing of the Dark Kingdom general once and for all, before collapsing to his knees and falling unconscious once more.

By the time Sailors Mars and Jupiter had arrived, the battle was over. All they found were the unconscious bodies Reika, Andrew, Sailor Venus and Serena, and the disposed Dark Kingdom general, Zoisite. The Moon Wand lay on his chest.

"What in the world happened?" Jupiter turned to her flame wielding counterpart, neither one could tear their eyes away from the scene of destruction and devastation.

"It's like a small bomb went off..." Mars read the cracks in the ground, tracing them back to a single point. "...and it looks like Serena was the source."

Darien groaned out loud as he yawned and sat up slowly. Running his fingers through his dark hair, he looked around, waiting for his eyes to refocus.

"What..." His brows knitted together into a deep frown as soon as he realised he was sitting on the floor of his laboratory. A cool draft wafted through, drawing his attention toward the broken window. Rising to his feet, he leant on the bench top until his wobbly knees were ready to take his full weight. Among the shattered shards of window and broken petri dishes lay a string of pearls.

Had someone broken in? Did they knock him out? Was any of the laboratory equipment missing or damaged? What in the world happened? Why couldn't he remember anything? Darien continued to look around the laboratory. A steady stream of loose gems, pearls and small diamonds lead a path toward the shattered glass window, but the only thing that seemed to be damaged were the petri dishes that Darien had been working on earlier that night. He reached into his lab coat to pull out his pocket watch, only to grasp hold of a cluster of gems and necklaces that had somehow mysteriously been stuffed into his pockets.

"What in the world?" Darien emptied his pockets onto a nearby bench top. His head throbbed but he pressed on, trying to piece together his last thoughts and memories. "Where did all this come from?" His migraine began to pulsate and he clutched at the bench, trying to steady himself before it dawned upon him. The last time he had blacked out completely and woken up with a handful of diamonds was before Sailor Moon had entered the scene... back when his transformations were being controlled by his deep subconscious desire to find the Silver Crystal. He groaned out loud, wondering how many people he had unknowingly injured or even killed this time, before his phone rang, snapping him out of his deeply guilty state. His fingers trembled with uncertainty and confusion as he swiped the screen and held it up to his ear.

"Darien?" He was so wrapped up in his own disjointed thoughts that he barely noticed the concern in Mina's voice, on the other end of the line.

"What is it, Mina? I'm a little busy at the moment..." Darien murmured, staring down at all the jewellery strewn across his lab, and the broken glass window. How was he going to explain this all?

"We've found the last Rainbow Crystal." Mina's statement gained his full attention. "Reika was the carrier. Both she and Andrew were hurt pretty badly."

"How's Serena?" His heart skipped a beat. Something told him that things were no longer within the realm of normal.

"She took a turn for the worst." Mina informed sternly. "She wouldn't wake up after the battle, so we had to take her to the hospital. Andrew told them about her symptoms over the last few months... but not about the Sailor Soldier stuff, obviously. The doctors are worried that she's been suffering from thunderclap headaches or something, so they're running MRI scans as we speak, but otherwise, she's in a stable condition."

"Are they checking for subarachnoid haemorrhaging or thrombosis?"

"Darien!" Mina interrupted the nervously rambling man, "Do you think that I would know what any of that even means?!"

"I'm sorry, Mina... I guess I've been working at the hospital too much." Darien rubbed his temples with his free hand. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Mina admitted. "The Moon Wand sounded, so Serena and I traced the Rainbow Crystal carrier to the airport car park where we found Reika transformed into a monster and Andrew passed out on the floor near her. I attacked her and she sent it right back at me and I was down and out. Apparently Sailor Moon was trapped by Zoisite as Andrew was being attacked, but the last thing he remembered before waking up by Reika's side was Serena screaming and a blinding white light. No one knows who turned Reika back, or what happened after that, but whatever it was, it created a shallow impact crater a hundred metres wide.

"Do you think it could have been the Moon Princess?" Darien drummed his fingers along the lab bench top.

"I... I don't know." The blonde teen shrugged. "I would've thought that if it was, she probably would have hung around a little longer, right? And besides, we haven't even found the Silver Crystal yet." She added before quickly jumping topics. "Andrew told me that you had somehow teleported back to Japan."

"I didn't teleport." Darien replied, "At least, I don't think I did..."

"Whatever it was… do you think you could do it again?" Mina's voice held a certain hopeful tone to it. "Serena didn't seem to have any headaches or strange nose bleeds for a week after you appeared and disappeared again."

"Huh…" Darien paused in thought for a moment, trying to ignore the wreck of a laboratory around him. "Funny you should mention that… neither did I."

"So, do you think you could teleport back?" Mina pleaded. "I think she really needs you to be by her side now. Whatever is happening, it seems to be affecting the two of you, and now that we've found the last Rainbow Crystal, I think something pretty big is about to go down."

"I don't think I could…" Darien admitted. "It's too risky, and I don't think I have any control over it."

"Oh..." Darien listened as Mina let out a small, disappointed sigh. "I see..." She nodded. "Well... I guess I'll just keep in touch then."

"Mina, believe me, I want to help but I kind of have my own important matters to deal with right now. I'll try to be there as soon as I can, but I can't promise anything."

"That's fine, Darien. I'll leave you to it, then." Mina hung up her phone, abruptly ending the call. He had heard that phrase and tone enough from Serena to know that things were not 'fine', but he was already formulating a plan in his mind. It involved calling the police, reporting a violent failed robbery at his laboratory, and finding his passport.

. . .

So... Andrew was a little more kick-ass in this one (yay!) and Ami, Luna and Artemis disappeared (gasp!) I also included a bit of a throwback to manga Tuxedo Mask, as the Phantom Jewel Thief, for those of you who are familiar with the Manga.

Thank you for all your words of encouragement and support re: my lost works and broken USB, and all your warm birthday wishes =D For those of you who add me on facebook, I'll post up a picture of my poor USB... unfortunately, unlike the traditional metal ones, this one was plastic... and unless I can somehow re-connect all the copper chip pathways, it's a gonner. Alas... We'll just have to forge on and write from memory and heart, right? We can't give up now!

Anywho, the next chapter should be up soon =)

Crystal Saturn