Crescentia's Story

I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the characters from the Mange Series or anime…but I do own this storyline, any other characters outside of the original works of the Sailor Moon franchise, and any other fictional environment outside of the original Sailor Moon.

Chapter 14 – New Friends

Monday morning dawned bright and early for Serena. She was up, dressed, and ready to face the day before the rooster crowed. There was a lightness to her heart this morning, a bounce in her step, and a twinkle in her eyes. She stood before her open balcony door and inhaled deeply. When she exhaled, her lips tilted into a little smile. She watched the half-moon for a second before letting her smile broadened slightly.

"It's going to be a good day!" She stated, hoping against hope that it would be so. Closing her balcony door and letting the curtain hide her room from the outside world, Serena exited her room with a grace she was completely oblivious to. Down the stairs and through the kitchen hall, she'd almost made her escape when her mother's voice reached her ears.

"Aren't you going to have breakfast?" She asked. Serena's good mood all but shrank away. When had this woman ever cared whether or not there was food in her stomach? Serena shook her head, a sudden anger emerging out of the recesses of her mind. She closed her eyes, and pushed it all away.

"No." She said simply and made her escape before Irene Tsukino could have the chance to pursue the subject. When the door closed, Serena leaned against it with closed eyes, counting back from twelve. She didn't understand where the sudden anger had come from and it scared her just a bit. She exhaled and opened her eyes to find liquid gold eyes staring back at her with concern and a little apprehension. Serena blinked, making sure she wasn't seeing things.

"Raizen?" She asked tentatively, as if she couldn't be sure what she was seeing. A lopsided grin lifted the corners of his lips and made him more beautiful than was fair. He walked the few steps toward her and reached out to wrap his hands around the back of her head. Because she was standing on the little stair platform in front of the door, she was just a few centimeters short of his height. He leaned in and dropped a firm but gentle kiss on her temple. Her body vibrated with emotions. She closed her eyes and absorbed his kiss, the gentle caresses of his fingers at the back of her head, his cool fresh breath, and his loving gentleness.

When he withdrew his lips, her eyes were still closed in reverence. The softness of her face, the rapture in her response to him, and the perfectly natural long lashes of her eyes drew him once more and before Serena could respond, his lips were kissing one eye, then the other. Her eyes fluttered open and her lips found his in a gentle greeting. He was shocked that she'd initiated the kiss but he was more than happy to extend it. He kept it light, knowing very well he did not have the strength to keep away from her if he tasted too much of her, and he needed to get his head back to teacher mood. This was his student after all.

"Good morning." He breathed, his forehead resting against hers. She smiled shyly at him.

"Good morning." She replied shyly. He smiled adoringly at her. After a minute of basking in each other, he stepped back and took her hand, leading her to his car which was parked in the shadows.

Serena didn't protest or ask questions. She just enjoyed her hand in his and let him guide her to his car, which he opened and helped her inside. When he seated himself and started the vehicle, he grinned boyishly at her.

"I want to tell you that I am here to take you to breakfast, but the truth is that I went to bed missing you and woke up needing to see you." He said cheerfully. Serena nearly choked at his bluntness. She recovered soon enough to tease, "So I don't get to eat breakfast?"

He laughed.

"We are going to eat breakfast, but breakfast or not, I would have been at your door." He replied. Serena just grinned at him.

"How did you know when I would be awake?" She asked curiously.

"Rune." He replied simply.

"So you were using your bird to spy on me?" She asked, not sure how to feel about that.

"Yup!" he said enthusiastically, as if he had just figured out the secret to life. Serena looked at him then burst out laughing. She could never be angry at this man. He just grinned wider, wishing he could bottle up the sound of her laughter.

"How was your night? Did you sleep well?" he asked conversationally, happy to make small talk just to hear her beautiful voice

"I slept really well. I feel very well rested." She answered.

"Did you dream of me?"

"Raizen!"

"Whattt? It's a fair question!" he protested. Serena just laughed. He proceeded to regal her with stories of dreams and daydreams he'd had of her. By the time he parked in front of the brightly lit 3-story mansion, Serena's ears were burning and her cheeks were blazing fire. This man had no filter and he was not ashamed to share his desires for her. It didn't help that her body refused to listen to her mental commands to not get excited about the pictures of intimacy, lust, passion, and love Raizen had so brazenly shared. He ended his sentence just as he parked and turned to find a beet red Serena trying to avert her gaze. He smiled gently at her.

"You're not used to a man desiring you are you?" He asked and regretted his words as soon as it left his mouth. The sudden change in Serena was akin to ice water dumped on a hard penis.

"I'm sorry, I should not have ask…"

"He never wanted me." She answered, looking straight ahead, no emotion whatsoever.

"I was just a placeholder for the past and the future. He never wanted me."

Raizen felt his anger rekindled at the pain he knew she felt. How long had this girl suffered the rejection of the man that was supposed to love her the most?

"He is an idiot. I-D-I-OT! He never deserved you." He said fiercely. When Serena did not react, he got out of the car and found his way to her side. He opened the door. She did not move, just kept staring out through the windshield. He crouched to her level and touched her face. He firmly turned her head to face him and when he was sure she was paying attention, he spoke.

"At school, I will do my best to act as your teacher so we don't get in trouble. Well to be honest, I don't want YOU having any complications because of me. But an act is only that, an act. I am not your teacher, I am a man wholly and fully in love with you. Don't let my act make you think anything different. Additionally, there is no way I can keep up the pretense of being only your teacher for eight hours every day. The only way to not get caught is to find moments during school hours that I can see you and not have to act. Come to me in your free moments. Even if all I can have with you is a minute, that minute will go a long way in keeping me from throwing caution to the wind and ravaging you in front of everybody. You are mine and I am not afraid to show you or the world that." He waited a moment for the words to penetrate her subconscious before touching his lips to hers in a searing kiss that left no doubt in her mind that this man desired her and was not ashamed of her. She threw her hands around his neck, he rose slightly, crushing her to the seat and to himself. Their tongues danced, fingers feeling skin and sinew so tight, it was a wonder the car didn't explode.

Long after the shared kiss and hearty breakfast of rice pudding, eggs, veggies, and pancakes, Serena found herself in her first class, head down on her desk, her heart beating like an African drum. She was deaf to all the buzz and commotion around from her overly excited classmates, tuned entirely into her inner heart which was beating much louder and deeper and heavier than she'd ever heard it. For the first time, the heavy emotions assaulting her weren't entirely negative. To be sure, she felt terrified, like a deer caught in the headlights. There was a despairing sensation in the pit of her stomach she was desperately trying not to give into. But stronger than the despairing emotion was a feeling of hope, a feeling of more…something she couldn't quite name. Something that felt perilously like home, like security, like joy. Could she dare to hope? To believe? She felt like crying, tears pulled at her eyes but she pushed it back. Though she wasn't sure what the tears and the stabbing pain in her heart meant, she was certain that she'd begun to heal and perhaps maybe this was part of the healing. Moments of irrational tears, pain and fear, followed by moments of euphoria.

'It took years to create this mess in me, I suppose it's only normal that healing will take time too.' She counseled herself.

'I want to see Raizen.'

"Serena"

'I want to touch him, hug him.'

"SERENA"

'I want to see him.'

"SERENA USAGI TSUKINO!" Serena jumped, her thoughts shattered by the screaming of her name. She looked up, heart racing, eyes wide to the eyes of her classmates and strangers all looking at her.

"Yes?" She squeaked out.

Ms. Haruna sighs.

"I was trying to introduce you to our new students." Serena's wide eyes moved from her teacher to take in the amused faces of two young women similar in age to herself but very different in their physical appearance.

'They look like models.' Serena thought widely, her jaw dropping to the table. Their obvious amusement turned into wide grins as they regarded her warmly. They both approached her, one tall and dark, the other small and light, the perfect picture of every Hollywood cliché and yet so radiantly simply there was nothing contrived about them. They stopped in front of her desk, the shorter girl extending her hand out to her in greetings.

"Hi Serena, it is very nice to meet you. My name is Alethea" She said warmly, her face bright with genuine interest. Alethea had silver blue hair with icy blue eyes and a thin framed glasses perched upon the bridge of her nose. She had a warm welcoming smile on her face but Serena swore the girl could freeze anything with a mere glance. There was something dangerously beautiful about her small stature, very much the same height as Serena but leaner with sharper features. For a minute, Serena looked at the offered hand as if she couldn't comprehend what it wanted then her brain started to function. She reached out nervously and took the girl's hand gingerly.

"Nice to meet you too Alethea." She replied, and the new girl got even brighter if possible. As she made to withdraw her hand, she was suddenly yanked into a death grip hug by the taller girl. In her peripheral, Serena saw Alethea sighed affectionately and shrugged her shoulders as if to say, 'I can't help you.' The class watched in stupefied fascination, confused about the sudden interest of the new girls in their classmates. From the middle seat in the middle role, three sets of eyes watched the exchange with growing suspicion and an emotion of dread they couldn't account for.

Serena on the other hand worked hard to extricate herself from the death grip hug, her eyes wide, and her mouth open. Disbelief clearly written all over her face. The taller girl just grinned at her, a look of utter triumph on her beautiful Amazonian face. The girl was easily six feet. She had green hair and electrifying brown eyes. The green was dyed, it had to be, Serena decided. But it looked so natural she was tempted to run her hand through the girl's hair. It was a beautiful shade of dark forest green from the root until the last inch of the hair where it lightens up into a vibrant emerald. Her warm chocolate colored eyes sparkled with a sort of light that gave the impression of lightning.

"Lava!" Every head in the room turned to the door which was wide open revealing the displeasure face of a familiar gold eyed silver haired teacher. Lava let go of Serena's shoulders and bounded up to Raizen and pulled him into an embrace. Alethea sighed again. Serena tried not to hyperventilate. Watching the tall beautiful girl in the arms of Raizen brought to the fore all her insecurities. Who was this girl? What was she to Raizen? Serena felt sick, she sat in her chair, wrapped her arms around her shoulders and tried to take in deep even breath. Seconds later, Raizen was crouching in front of her, his eyes wide with worry.

"Serena" he spoke her name gently. Her eyes opened, the pain of betrayal in them staggered Raizen. It took him a solid minute before he worked out the math and understood the cause of Serena's immense pain. A very sad smile crossed his face as Raizen realized how far he still was to gaining his princess's trust. In a split of a second, she'd gone from starting to trust him to complete distrust and resentment. He sighed, knowing he had few precious seconds to right the situation before it became unresolvable.

"Don't worry, love, they mean you no harm, they are my sisters." he whispered to her softly, making sure his voice doesn't carry over to any listening ears. He stood up and bowed respectfully to the class.

"Please take care of my sisters."

There was a momentary pause as the whole class digested the information. In the ensuing Chaos, Serena finally grasped Raizen's words. Shame filled her and tears threatened. Taking advantage of the chaos in the class, she snuck around and out the door, three sets of worried eyes trailing after her.

Once again Serena found herself in a bathroom, trying to breathe out her hyperventilation. She finally let her tears out, loud cathartic sobs wracked her body. How had she thought she was healing? She'd immediately jumped to the worst conclusions about Raizen in a heartbeat. She wasn't ready, not for another relationship. Not as she was. Doubts will lead to resentment and soon self-destructive tendencies. She was far too raw, wounds too visible for her to be in any form of a healthy relationship.

I'm not good enough. Not for him.' the sobs kept coming as she let doubt talk her to the edge of her sanity. When the tears were spent and her throat dried up, she stood to face the mirror to see her swollen face. Had she been in a less stressful situation, she might have noticed that it's been over an hour and no one had come to the bathroom. She washed her face with cold water, hoping she'd have enough strength to get to the school gate and hopefully disappear.

'To where?' she wondered. As she stared absentmindedly in the mirror, a ripple surfaced. She blinked but the ripple continued to reveal a beautiful full moon.

'Home' she thought. 'Yes, I can go home. I can disappear there for a couple of years. People can't live there but I can. The moon is my home. I will go home.' Before she could talk herself out of that idea, she turned from the mirror and headed to the door. She was out of the bathroom before she realized that someone was leaning against the opposite wall. She looked up into liquid gold eyes that regarded her thoughtfully. She stood still, a deer caught in the headlights look on her face. They faced each other silently for several moments.

"I know you want to run. I know you've already given up on me...on what could be an 'us'. I realize I could give you all the assurances in the world and it wouldn't keep you near me. I'm not giving up on you, I just don't know if I have you at all to not give up on. I'm not hurt that you thought the worst of me when you misunderstood the relationship between Laverna and I, I'm just hurt that even after the misunderstanding was corrected, you took an hour to decide to destroy what I've been trying to establish between us in the past two months. Perhaps you need more time, perhaps you're just not ready. If I believed you were going to tell me this, I will tell you that I will wait for you. But you weren't even planning on saying goodbye. You were just going to disappear, and leave me wondering forever. That's what hurt. That I mean so little to you, that you didn't think for a minute how your decision to runaway would affect me." He leaned forward from the wall and on silent feet walked away, leaving the distraught girl to deal with the consequences of her own actions.

The night was quiet, the anger burned out. In its place depression festered like an untreated open wound. In the stillness and darkness of his solarium, Raizen sat as a statue, waiting. Waiting...always waiting. The glass walls of the solarium were pulled back into hidden crevices, translucent curtains blowing in the wind that ruffled Raizen's hair, and still he sat. Waiting. As he'd been doing for the past four days. She had disappeared on him. She'd left him no clue, no words of assurance...she'd just disappeared. Search as he might, he couldn't find her. Even her parents didn't know where she was. He'd comb the town upside down, searched the edges and the countryside surrounding Juban. Nothing. His princess had pulled a Houdini and no one knew where she was. They were trying to play it cool, trying not to let the school and even her family know that she'd run away. He'd hoped to find her that Monday night but he'd failed. After day 2, he had one of his sisters call the school and Serena's family to let them know that she was recovering from a fever and would not be back to school until the following week. He hoped they would find her by then. Yet four days had passed with no sign of her.

At first, he'd been angry at her. Mad that she'd acted so cowardly. Mad that she'd abandoned him. But as the hours churned on and no sign of her appeared, his anger fizzled out into depression and self-loathing. He'd known she was unstable! He'd known she was still under the influence of fear and he'd lost his temper with her when perhaps he should have been understanding. Why or why had he said those words to her and walked away!? He should have known better! But he'd been unable to hold in his hurt, he'd been unable to look past her decisive decision to run, to leave him, without a goodbye. He lost his mind at the thought and rebuked the teenage girl who already had enough drama to deal with. And now she was gone, and he was alone. He felt so cold inside, so lonely. His sisters were right there with him, searching alongside him, trying to console him. He'd never felt alone when his sisters were around before. But now even their comforting presence couldn't lift the veil of loneliness he felt in his soul. He missed her so much.

So he quit his job. To be precise, he was letting one of his elder sisters cover the music teacher role. During the day, from 6 am to the setting of the sun, he searched fervently for her until his muscles hurt, his belly ached with hunger, his mind over wroth with concern and sadness, then he'd come home to sit at the Solarium to wait for Rune who had better night vision. Rune had taken to searching at night, checking in at 3 am to report anything, any trail that might lead to finding Serena. After school, his sisters would join the search, returning home earlier than him to prepare for school the next day. They wanted to create a sense of normality at school, they didn't want people sensing that something might be wrong. An instinct he couldn't understand was telling him to keep Serena's disappearance a secret. He hoped it was because they would find her in time and she would go back to school and he didn't want to create a situation in school where she was the center of attention for all the wrong reasons.

And so he sat waiting on his avian companion, praying and hoping he'd come with some good news. 3:15am found Raizen pacing the floor in agitation.

'Where are you?!' he echoes in his head for the hundredth time. The bird was late. He'd never been more than a minute or two late. The bird had an excellent perception of time. He paced back and forth in front of the open glass walls, worry gnawing at his stomach. The food his sisters had brought him long ago sat ignored on the side table. He'd only drank some wine and munched on the crackers. He didn't have it in him to hold down a real meal. Before he lost his mind entirely, he heard the flap of wings as Rune sailed through the billowing curtains to land on the seat he vacated. Raizen scrambled to him, his eyes adjusting to the dark shape of his avain friend and realized he held a rolled piece of paper in his beak.

"Rune?" he asked hopefully, unbidden tears coming into his eyes. Rune dropped the paper and to Raizen's surprise, took off through the door and out of sight. It took a minute for Raizen to lift his slacked jaw off the floor. He gingerly reached for the paper. A notebook paper torn out of a book and on it were the most beautiful words he'd ever read.

'I am ok. I just needed time away to think.

I miss you. I will come back soon.

Serena -'

Raizen slid to the floor and cried, relief finally releasing the pain and tears he'd held in check. From the door, several pairs of eyes watched with a mixture of relief, sadness, pity, and worry. They stepped away to give the sobbing man privacy and when they'd walked far away to be sure not be heard, the sisters converse.

"We knew where she was all this time. Why didn't you want us to tell him!?" the green haired girl who had hugged Serena at school asked. Sparks of lightning danced in her eyes as her irritation at the situation became apparent.

"Yea, it is deceitful. We are hurting him. We are hurting the both of them." Alethea added, looking as perturb as her green haired friend.

"There's more going on here than you understand." The one called Cassandra answered.

"Yes yes, we get that but don't you think our actions, although done with the best of intentions, can be the very thing that causes her to doubt us? Our secrecy may possibly result in her never trusting us?" A young girl with cotton candy colored hair and electrifying purple eyes questioned, not happy at the duplicitous actions they were taking. Something in her gut was telling her that this was not the way to earn the trust of the moon princess. Standing beside her was an exact copy of herself.

"Let's not forget that this is not about us. I know we all want a place in the princess's life, but the ultimate goal here is not us. It's them." A black haired teenager spoke up, her eyes as dark as her hair.

"Yes, we get that Hera but…."

"She has to choose him." Cassandra interrupted, bringing all attention back to herself and forestalling the argument that she knew was coming.

"All this is to prepare her for when she has to make a choice. She has to get used to choosing him and feeling the rightness of it. This whole thing is about that. If Crescentius is going to stand a chance at winning this war, she has to learn to choose him. It will not help anyone for him to keep going after her. She has to learn that any possible future with Crescentius will only be possible through the decisions she makes. If we keep leading him to her every time she runs away, what will we do when we can no longer go where she runs to? How will she understand that this is her life and she has to be as active in it as the rest of us? If he keeps finding her first, she will never learn to trust herself or her decisions. She will keep letting others make decisions for her because that is more comfortable for her. It will be no different than what happened in the past." With those sobering words, the ladies parted to their respective rooms, their thoughts and heart heavy with the responsibilities they've carried for far too long.

It was a sunny Friday morning. Though the suns ray heart her eyes, Serena was grateful for the warmth as she sat beside her uncle's grave. She looked up into the sky, using a hand to block out some of the sun's rays. She looked terrible she knew. Five nights and four days without a shower would do that to a girl.

'I don't smell like potpourri I'm guessing.' She thought irrelevantly. She wanted to stand but her spine felt stiff. She felt dirty, and she was sure she looked it too. But inside something had finally worked itself out. She felt light. The pains and hurts of the past were there, her burdens were heavier than ever, she'd probably created more problems for herself with this little disappearing stunt but it needed to happen. Too many memories she'd held onto had led her down a path of unhealthy disappointments. True healing could not start until she delved down a path that went way before she ever met Darien. To an uncle who died protecting her?

She'd meant to run away. Even after Raizen called her out on it. She'd cried her way out of the school building, unknown destination but moving nonetheless. She hoped she could run away from herself. She'd kept walking even when her school shoes fell by the wayside, she kept walking even as blisters crusted her feet and blood flowed and dried, she walked through the day and darkness of night, stumbling over roots and grass and trees. She didn't even remember pushing open a rustic creaking cemetery door, she didn't remember stumbling over graves marked with names of people she never met. But when she stumbled upon the white granite stone, she finally knew where she was. She'd been exhausted, her awareness of hunger unrecognizable. She stumbled onto the granite and let sleep its due course. She'd woken up when the sun was setting Tuesday evening, delirious with thirst and hunger, confused by her surroundings, her eyes blurry and inflamed. She'd moaned with every movement, her name forgotten, her identity indistinguishable. She felt like an indefinable slobby liquid thing. She wondered if she was even a living thing.

Then a sort of high pitched giggle like sound pierced the silence and the fog in her brain, directing her attention to an Eagle sitting about ten feet from her with a bag in his beak. They regarded each other solemnly, her thinking she's crazy and him thinking she is crazy too. She tried to crawl to him but her internal commands had no effect on her body functions. The bird made a sound that sounded suspiciously like laughter. She glared at him. He hobbled over, dragging the content of the bag until he stood right in front of her. She reached inside the bag, wincing at all the aches and pain. She round a bottle and realized it was water but she didn't have the strength to open it. Watching her helpless attempts, the bird sighed in exasperation and poked its beak straight through the body of the water. It started to overflow. Way beyond caring how she get water into her body, she clumsy sucked at the punctured hole, drinking like a baby suckling on its mother's breast. When the bottle of water ran out, she took out an apple and did her best to consume it, her jaw getting sore from the crunchiness. She ate whatever she could find in the bag until she finally passed out. Rune sighed with the impatience of a father watching his son make the same mistake over and over again. Crescentius unfolded himself out of his avian form, taking the sleeping girl into his arms, he cradled her and healed her battered feet and body.

"What am I going to do with you?" he sighed as he rocked her back and forth. He held her the whole night until the sun began to rise in the east and she stirred. When her eyes opened, she found herself on the granite floor, Rune staring blankly at her.

"I could use more water if you have any." She croaked out. The bird shook its head as if to say 'I don't have anymore, then he spread his wings and took off. She knew he would return with more food for her. Then she promptly vomited everything she'd consumed the night before. At some point early that morning, she pulled herself against the gravestone of Rejin Herosa. She didn't know when she began talking to him. She went in and out of the conversation, not really sure what was happening because it looked like her uncle was sitting right in front of her and they were having a talk like old times.

Rune returned again and again, bringing food and water. She wasn't even aware of the passage of time but she was very aware of the words she was speaking to her uncle, her dead uncle. The truths she'd never faced, the realities she'd sought and never attained. Love was a gift of the moment, She'd wanted it too much, and sought it from all the wrong places. She'd forgotten her uncle's selfless gift, his life sacrificed for her own. His admonish to live every day loving and believing in herself. She'd forgotten what real love looks like.

"Love is not forced baby girl. It is given, received, and returned in many forms. Everyone loves differently. It is ok to love as many times as you must to find the love that makes sense to you." These words of her dear beloved uncle had been soundly forgotten in the emptiness his death had created.

When Thursday evening rolled by, the fog in her brain finally cleared. Her tears spent.

"I am not a bad person. I just got lost along the way." She whispered, feeling at ease for the first time in ages.

'It's going to take time, but I will get there.' she thought as she watched the splendor of the setting sun. Then something dropped on her lap, she looked down to find her school bag and looked up to find Rune circling above. As she continued to look at the bird, she remembered the man who was probably going nuts looking for her, remembered the selfless gifts he'd given her, and understood that if she didn't get her fears under control, she'd lose. And she was rather tired of losing the people she loved. First her uncle, then Seiya, then Darien...she was really rather tired of losing.

"Raizen, I am sorry. I will see you tomorrow."

As she watched Rune aero play for her benefit, she thought of everything Raizen had ever said to her, remembered every touch, every look, every motion, and knew she'd never lose Raizen. The world could turn against her, but he'd always always choose her. Of that one truth, she was sure.

He hadn't meant to sleep in but after receiving that piece of paper from Serena, his heart was so grateful the stress of the past days fell away and when he crushed, he slept extremely well for the first time in days. When his eyes opened, the sun was already climbing up the horizon. Jumping out of bed with all the energy of an athletic kangaroo, he dashed out of his room and dashed down the stairs, a wide grin brightening his face. His entrance was no surprise to the sisters who sat around the huge kitchen island, they had heard him thundering down.

"Good morning."

"I see you finally woke up."

"I was worried about you for a second."

"Come grab something to eat." and so the morning greetings enveloped him further in a cocoon of warm welcome and acceptance, the loneliness of the night chased away by the hope of seeing his beloved and reconnecting with his sisters. He took their offered seat and sat to eat breakfast with them. He'd been famished. He'd barely eaten since Serena's disappearance. He was so hungry, he surprised himself with three servings of food as he conversed with his sisters and told them about the note he got from Serena.

"Let's go pick her up." Cassandra said.

"Pick her up?" Raizen asked, confused.

"Yeah, let's go get her and bring her home." Lava enthusiastically agreed. Raizen blinked and looked momentarily sad.

"I don't know where she's at. She said she'd return soon but she didn't write down where she was."

"Don't worry about that. We know where she is." Hera spoke up. Raizen blinked at them.

"We used the drone to follow Rune last night after he left you." Cassandra said, the twin cotton haired girls snickering at the obvious lie. Perking up, Raizen stood, excitement hardly contained.

"Let's go!" he urged.

"You need to shower first." One of his sister's said. He looked at himself and saw that he was still in his pajamas. He dashed up the stairs and run to his room while screaming at the top of his lungs, "Fifteen minutes!"

His sisters just laughed. An hour and a half later, an irritated Raizen sat in a black medium size moving van converted to a high end transportation vehicle of comfort.

"We should have already left by now." Raizen grumbled again. He'd been saying that since he came down the stairs fifteen minutes later, hair soaking. But the sisters had taken their sweet time, curling their hair, putting on makeup, deciding how to look like millionaires. He wanted to rip his hair out. Finally they finished their endless grooming and dressing. As the van traveled toward its destination, Raizen became more and more nervous, his excitement fading slowly into uncertainty. What if she doesn't want to have anything to do with me anymore? What if she's mad at me for what I said? What if...she said she missed me but she didn't say she'd return to me. She just said she'd return. The more 'what ifs' he contemplated, the sicker he felt. His sisters watched him in various degree of amusement, well aware of his thoughts.

"Don't worry Raizen, if she didn't want to see you, she wouldn't have sent the note." Alethea said, hoping to ease Raizen's misery.

"Yeah, and besides, who can resist you?" One of the cotton haired sisters said.

"She's resisted me at lease on three different occasions." Raizen replied unhappily.

"And yet she still ended up with you. Have some confidence brother, you are a good catch and a good man. As you've said many times, she's been through a lot, she just needs a little more time to affirm her growing affections for you." The other twin sister stated. Raizen took all their positive assurances and tried to believe that everything will work out ok.

Arriving at the cemetery gate, Raizen looked confused.

"Why are we here?" he asked.

"To pick up your princess of course." Laverna answered.

"But...here? At a Cemetery!?"

"Yup, she's visiting the grave of an important person." Cassandra said. Raizen stopped asking questions and followed his sister deeper into Higarashi Cemetery. They nearly missed her, a small figure curled into herself on a gravestone. The sight broke all their hearts. Heart pumping and squeezing, Raizen gently reached for his princess, tears falling down his cheeks.

"Sweet girl." he whispers. "Sweet girl, I'm here. Wake up." she stirs, lifting her elbow up to shade the sun so she could see what was disturbing her sleep. When Raizen's face came into focus, she blinked.

"Raizen?" she asked sleepily.

"Yes love, how are you feeling?"

Serena pushes herself up to lean her back against the stone as she sat up. She gave him a small smile.

"Hi."

"Hi." He replies, his lips trembling. Then Serena saw that he wasn't alone. She bowed her head in greeting at them and they responded likewise. She turned her attention back on Raizen.

"Your sisters?" She asked and he nodded. She looked back at them, trying to not let their incredibly beautiful selves bring her down.

"Hi" she said to them. Cassandra moved forward gracefully and bent down to have eye contact with the rather haggard looking moon princess.

"Hello Serena." She greeted back warmly, causing Serena to envision melting chocolate. Serena stared at the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen. The woman had long dark her. Not brown, black or blue…just dark…a timeless indistinguishable kind of dark that framed a sharp face. Was it not for her smile, she would seem too cold, like a very very sharp blade. Her skin was a brilliant bronze brown color that glowed but what really captured Serena's attention were her eyes. She had a pair of dark almost black eyes but Serena could see the whole spectrum of colors rotating within its depth. Serena could not help but stare. The woman stared kindly back at her.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Ms. Serena. Our brother speaks highly of you." Her voice was as smooth as butter, crème brulee. Serena wondered if she was salivating listening to the woman. It took her a minute to realize that the woman had extended a hand for a handshake. Suddenly nervous, Serena reached a shaking hand into the woman's. She wrapped both her hands around Serena's and delivered a megawatt smile that left Serena stunned. There was something about this woman that felt old, ancient, deceptively calm, like the minutes before a storm…dangerous.

"My name is Cassandra Steele." She said again when Serena continued to stare in mute fascination. Serena nodded as if she'd been asked a yes and a no question. Someone giggled.

Coming up beside Cassandra was another modelesque figure, but unlike Cassandra who was slender and tall, this new lady brought to mind all the old stories of sirens Serena had ever heard. She was not big but she was not slender either. She had a physique so alluring, Serena had to shake her head to clear it. She was curvaceous in all the right places. She had toned long smooth legs that rose to connect gracefully to an ass that was round and perfect. Her hips flared and tapered off to a skinny waist and an obviously toned abdominals that connected to the largest, most perfect round breasts Serena had ever seen. There was no way to look at her without noticing the enticing bundle of gloriously overflowing boobs.

'Hourglass' Serena thought even as feelings of adequacy started to surface. She'd been born in a society that praised and uplifted women of small skinny stature, but looking at this woman, Serena couldn't help but feel like this lady was truly the definition of femininity. She exuded confidence in a way Serena knew she would never be able to. The woman was obviously comfortable in her own skin. Her skin was beautifully tanned, her hair a rippling grace of teal water cascading down her back in waves to her mid back. She was perfection personified. She had sea blue green eyes and long lashes.

'The sea, she's like the sea at rest.' Serena thought, wondering if she was hallucinating.

"Good morning lovely, I am Maeve. It is a pleasure to meet you bunny." Her voice was a throaty purr that unconsciously caused Serena to flush, a sudden memory of Raizen devouring her flashing in her mind. And being that she was Serena and couldn't fully hide her reactions, her blush colored her entire body, leading to interesting speculation by her audience. Maeve smiled and winked at her. Coming up behind her was a silver blonde woman with a wide grin. She had a pixie cut hairstyle, flatter in the chest area thank good, but tall and well built. She had an air of mischief about her, but she was just as arresting as the two women who'd introduced themselves to her. Her eyes were the palest amber, almost colorless and her perfect megawatt smile made her irresistible. She walked passed the two women and sat on the gravestone right beside Serena.

"Bunny, you have no idea how long I've waited to meet you. You are as beautiful as I imagined." She whispered to Serena. Serena didn't know how much more shock she could take before her body short-circuited. Considering her state of filth, she figured the lady was just being generously nice.

"I am Alexandra, Xander for short. Let's never part ways Moonbeam." She said, her voice husky and raw with emotion. Serena just nodded, not understanding anything but wanting to ease the pain she could sense in the woman. Xander smiled widely, about to throw herself at Serena but was caught at the back of her shirt by Maeve who promptly pulled her back.

"If you let her, she will hug you all day." Cassandra said by way of explanation. Stepping aside, five young women took the place of the three. These five were obviously younger than Cassandra, Maeve, and Xander. Two of them Serena had already met but the twin girls shocked Serena extremely with their eerie resemblance to a certain future daughter she was never going to give birth to.

"Hi!" Lava's overly excited voice pulled her out of her growing sense of unease as she looked at the twins whose resemblance to Rini made her want to run. Lava crouched right in front of Serena and took her dirty hands into her own.

"I am sorry about what happened at the school. I must have startled you, throwing myself into Raizen's arms like that when you had no knowledge of who I was to him." She said, her voice sincere with no accusation. Serena just stared, at a loss for words.

"Let's try this again properly ok? My name is Lervana, Laverna Steel but family calls me Lava. Because you are dating my brother, which makes you family!" she said in a way that sounded like a statement and a command. Alethea crouched next to Lava to gaze at her new friend.

"We were properly introduced I believe." she said lightly, smiling kindly at Serena. Serena just nodded, her brain struggling to retain all the new names and faces she was being bombarded with. She was so hungry, which also made it very difficult to focus. How many sisters did Raizen said he had? She tried to remember but her head was pounding and her stomach was screaming for food. Raizen noticed her discomfort and raised his hand to forestall any further introductions.

"Can we finish the introductions at home, I think she's about to faint." he said as he caressed Serena's face.

"You must be so hungry. Let's go home ok? Please, come home with me." He pleaded and she nodded. He sighed with relief and gently scooted her into his arms bridal style. He led his lady and his sisters out of the cemetery back into their parked van and tried to position Serena so she could rest comfortably. He opened the mini fridge in the van and found a cold bottle of water. He opened it and helped her drink it slowly as Xander drove them home.

Arriving at the house quicker than their trip to the cemetery thanks to Xander's 100 mile speed, the sisters quickly made themselves useful in the kitchen. In the van ride, they'd decided that soup was the best way to rehabilitate Serena back to health and strength. As they worked frantically in the kitchen, Raizen made a bedding of large soft bed covers on the porch and laid Serena on it so she could soak in the sun. She was shivering and he bet it was more from hunger and dehydration than from physical cold but it didn't hurt to give her warmth. He laid down facing her, caressing her mud stained face, wanting to put her in a bath so she can relax but knowing that feeding her was a priority first. Soon the sisters surrounded them with a tomato based soup and grilled cheese. Slowly, they helped the weakened moon princess eat and when she could take no more, sleep over powering her ability to stay awake, they let her sleep. Raizen ran a bath and carried her to the bathroom where his sisters took over and washed the sleeping girl. When she was dried, her hair wrapped in a towel and her body covered in a robe, they placed her on Raizen's bed and covered her with a blanket. Raizen climbed into the bed with his princess, vigilantly watching to make sure she'd wake up instead of slip into a place he could not follow. After two hours of watching her sleep, he let himself fall asleep with his arms wrapped around his most precious person.

Proofreading and editing is not my strong suit and sometimes that's what makes it so hard to post chapters. I can take a day to write up a chapter and take weeks trying to proofread it, then I'd get bored and forget about it lol. Anyways, forgive me for the lateness. Enjoy.