Author's note: Thank you SO much for the reviews. I hope you enjoy this update - there's a few little surprises in this chapter. Please leave me reviews to let me know what you think! I'd love to receive them to know how you're liking it!

Please check out my one shot stories First Heartbreak and I Was Made To Love You for Serena/Usagi and Darien/Mamoru. The latter has had no reviews and I'd love to know if the Sailor Moon community like it or not! Love to my fellow, Moonies! - R

Chapter 16

"Where is she?" Serena complained.

Amy glanced at her watch on her wrist and raised her eyebrows.

"It's not like Raye," she agreed. "It's half past ten already."

"Half an hour late," Lita mused. "Do you think something happened?"

Mina peered through the windows of the temple, straining on her tiptoes.

"I don't see anyone," she said.

"Hey, girls," Chad's voice interrupted them as he came round the corner of the building with a broom in hand. "Do you need anything?"

"We're just looking for Raye," Amy told him. "Have you seen her? She's late to our study buddy session."

"And I actually got here on time," Serena whined. "I could have stayed in bed!"

"You're only here on time because I came to your house to get you an hour in advance," Lita reminded her.

"Yes, and I'm still tired!" Serena retorted.

"Anyway," Amy stressed, "have you seen her?"

"Not since last night, no," Chad answered with a shake of his hand. "I heard her shout through to Grandpa that she had to head out to take care of a friend. We haven't seen her since."

"Are you not worried?" Lita asked, furrowing her brow.

"It's not the first time she's disappeared at night," he replied, pressing his lips together. "But of course, I worry. Just don't tell her that."

The girls glanced at each other, alarmed. They hadn't considered that people would notice their absence at night when they were defending the city from evil.

"Do you mind if we go through to study while we wait for her?" Amy asked.

"Not at all," Chad shrugged. "Go on through. I'll bring you all glasses of lemonade."

"Thanks, you're a peach," Mina smiled, leading the way through.

After Chad brought them the cool drinks, he left them to their own devices with the intention to get out their books and start studying, only Amy was the only one to do so.

"Guys, where is she?" Lita pressed, staring hard at her communicator. "I can't get in touch with her at all."

"Well, it doesn't help that her communicator is right there," Serena pointed out, nodding at the Mars communicator sat on the desk stand in the corner of the room.

"Damn," Lita cursed.

"Do you think we should patrol the city?" Mina wondered.

"Not necessary," Raye's voice answered from the doorway.

The girls turned round in shock to find Raye leaning against the doorframe with her right arm in a sling, a plaster across her right cheek which covered a heavy graze and unknown to the girls, stitches in her side where she had been injured.

"Oh, my God!" the girls exclaimed in unison. "Are you okay?"

"Well, I've been better," Raye smiled weakly, crossing the door's threshold, and steadily getting down to the floor to join them at the table.

"What happened?" Lita demanded, right as Serena squealed.

The girls looked at Serena with raised eyebrows, narrowing their eyes at her.

"Raye, your side!" she cried.

Raye glanced down, stretching her t-shirt out to see the blood bleeding through. She pulled a face.

"Just great," she grumbled. "I must have pulled a stitch." She pulled her shirt up to reveal her ribs where multiple punctures could be seen down her side. She ran her fingers under the puncture that must have opened with the pulled stitch and she sighed.

"Oh, Raye," Lita muttered, visibly cringing. "What happened?"

Amy handed over a damp cloth and a towel over to Raye so she could clean up, and Raye gratefully accepted the bandage to stick over the wound. Raye carefully wiped the blood from her skin and dried off before pressing her bandage over it, then pulled her t-shirt back down.

"Thank goodness this top is black," Raye sighed. She looked at the girls gravely before snatching up a glass of lemonade sat in front of Serena before gulping back a few throatfuls. "Well, I came across the evil that I'd been sensing around the city. I just didn't expect to find it on sacred ground here last night."

"And were you able to…" Serena hesitated.

"Yeah, it's gone for now," Raye assured her. "But Amy also faced it and then I did, so I doubt it's gone for good."

"So, how did you get into this state?" Mina asked.

"Well, truthfully…"

She dropped her broom and ran across the courtyard. Around the corner, that's when she spotted a tall figure standing over a motionless form on the ground which ground her to a halt. It turned but what looked at her lacked eyes. It was just a hole of nothingness boring into her. Her violet eyes widened in shock as a countless number of tentacles reached forwards towards her from its torso, twisting and thrashing in every which direction. She leaped out of the way but wasn't quite fast enough as the tentacles whipped round in random directions and caught her in the side, where she felt three tentacles pierce her skin sharply.

"Ah," she groaned. She looked down at her torn white kosode, noting the red staining spreading from her wound. "Damn." She reached into her robes and pulled out her Mars transformation pen. "Mars crystal power!"

In a beam of red light, Sailor Mars now stood in front of her opponent. She winced at the pain in her side as she cartwheeled out of the way of the creature's hands coming out to swipe at her. She brought out an ofuda from the shrine and held it in front of her, chanting quietly into the talisman, feeling her powers as a priestess amplify with her powers as a sailor guardian, charging her attack.

"Rin, Py ō, Tō, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen!" She opened her eyes and threw the ofuda to land on the enemy coming at her again. "Evil spirit, be exorcised!" she yelled.

For a split second, the Croatoan appeared to stand perfectly still, then it calmly reached up to swat the ofuda away. Mars watched in horror as the ofuda fell to the ground.

"You're supposed to be paralysed!" she exclaimed.

Before she could react, the sharp tentacles shot out towards her neck and she yelped as she made to duck out of the way, but the tentacles struck her across the cheekbone, ripping at her skin. She fell to the ground and rolled a few times before coming to a standstill. Her head shot up, her eyes wide.

"You're immune to magic," she murmured under her breath.

She leaped to her feet, calling on her home planet to summon fire to surround around herself, then bringing her hand out to absorb the flames into her hand.

"Mars snake fire!" she yelled, throwing the fire from her which took the form of a snake which slithered towards the Croatoan in flickers of blazing flames before wrapping itself around the creature's form.

She covered her ears as she heard its ear-splitting screeches of pain. She heard a moan behind the Croatoan, and she saw the figure on the floor move to get to its feet.

"No, stay down!" she shouted.

Distracted, she didn't notice the creature turn to her, shooting its tentacles out to grab her arm. She gasped as she struggled against its grip. Then she watched in horror as it turned to face the figure who turned to look at her. Her mouth dropped open in shock at who she saw.

"Jadeite?" she called out in disbelief.

Those same grey eyes flickered over to gaze at her as he brought his hand up to use the heel of his hand to brush his blonde hair back from his face. His brow furrowed at her in confusion, then his eyes shot back to the creature that was still clinging to her. She watched as the Croatoan opened its mouth to reveal razor-sharp deadly teeth, but it wasn't this that she should have feared, as it proceeded to open its mouth and shoot an acid-like saliva directly towards him.

"No!" she screeched, as she dived towards him, her left arm outstretched as she landed on him, narrowly avoiding the lethal saliva. Then she felt something in her right arm snap as she felt the sharp tug pull her arm in the opposite way that she fell, and she cried out in pain. "Get down!"

She shot her hand out, the mark of Mars glowing in her palm, flames coming to life spreading up her arm until the Mars Arrow materialised against her flattened hand pointing towards the monster stepping forward towards them, the tentacles writhing haphazardly.

"Mars flame sniper!" she cried, releasing the fiery arrow which hit the Croatoan bullseye in the mouth.

She breathed heavily through the pain coursing up the bones in her arm, the burn in her cheek and the dull ache in her side that was weeping blood, staining the leotard of her sailor suit. She watched as the Croatoan was turned into ashes, the wind blowing the remains away in the breeze. She turned back to find Jackson lying where she last left Jadeite, unconscious and a little bruised.

"Oh God," she whispered, shaking her head, feeling like she was losing her mind.

"And that was it," Raye finished, noting to herself that she hadn't told the girls about what she saw in Jackson. She grabbed the glass of lemonade again and took another long drink. "I took Jackson to the hospital and I was told that I had a broken arm and needed stitches, then I left."

"How did you explain your injuries?" Amy asked curiously.

"Car accident," Raye replied. "Luckily, the marks from the tentacles that took hold of my arm didn't need explaining thanks to the bruising that I gained from a broken arm."

"Are you okay?" Serena asked. "And you know, is Jackson alright?"

"I'll heal," Raye smiled. "I'm just glad we heal faster than regular people." She sighed. "And Jackson… he's fine. I believe he was released a short while ago. He had a concussion and has some bruising. He doesn't know that I was the one who brought him in."

"I'd think it might be obvious if a nurse tells him that a miko with long raven hair brought him in," Lita pointed out.

"Girls, are we really going to study with our friend in this state?" Serena asked innocently.

"Ha! Nice one, missy," Raye cracked, nudging her in the side with her good arm. "You're not getting away with this one. I may have some healing to do, but you still have that test on Monday. Not failing can be your gift to me. Now let's get going."

"Oh, Raye!" Serena wailed.

The girls collectively sweat dropped with a sigh, letting their heads fall into their hands.

"Ah, it's so beautiful outside," Lita smiled, raising her face to the sun.

"It is," Amy agreed, as they walked side by side to go to the Fruits Parlour café in the afternoon.

"This is exactly what we need," Lita told her. "Cake and milkshakes. Study buddies was hard going today."

"Yeah, and Serena actually seemed to be engaging today," Amy nodded, surprise laced in her voice.

"I think her study date with Darien later is a bit of a motivator," Lita laughed with an evil glint in her emerald green eyes.

"I'm amazed that Serena is willingly going to study more after already having studied for four hours today," Amy commented.

"I think it's more to do with being in Darien's company than studying," Lita replied. "If it was anyone else, she'd be running for the hills."

"Now, that's true!" Amy chuckled, pushing open the doors to the café.

"It's really encouraging that Darien offered to spend time with her, especially to help her," Lita commented. "You know, I hope it helps them to get close again."

"Me too," Amy said, sliding into a booth next to the window that overlooked the streets below.

"Hey, girls," a voice greeted them. "Can I take your order?"

"Andrew!" Lita exclaimed. "How is it that you always manage to be in the café or the arcade whenever we go into either one?"

"I have a very good-looking twin," he twinkled.

"Ha! Yeah, right," Lita teased.

"I'm not the one that beams every time I see me," he laughed, nudging her shoulder gently.

That set Lita off giggling with a pink tint rising in her cheeks. Amy closed her eyes in disbelief.

"Andrew, can we get a green tea for me and a banana milkshake for Lita?" Amy ordered.

"No problem, Amy," Andrew nodded, scribbling it down on his notepad that he brought out of his apron. "And let me guess," he said holding his finger up in the air, "a chocolate tart for you and a slice of cherry pie for Lita?"

"Bingo," Lita winked. "Thanks, Andrew."

She watched him walk away and Amy stared at her, her eyebrows pushed together.

"Okay, what was that?"

"What?" Lita asked innocently.

"You were flirting with him!" Amy accused. "I thought you were dating that guy."

"I'm not dating Neal," Lita stressed. "He just… wanted to apologise for the nosebleed at basketball, that's all. I haven't seen him since. We've kind of had other things on our minds."

"Unlike Mina," Amy replied. "Hasn't she just gone off to meet Killian for coffee?"

"I'm more surprised that she's going on a second date with a guy," Lita sighed. "They usually don't last more than one date. He must be something special."

"He makes her smile," Amy pointed out. "I'm happy for her."

"Me too," Lita nodded. Her expression darkened. "Do you think Raye is alright?"

"She'll be okay," Amy said, in as much to reassure herself than Lita. "If she's shaken up, she wouldn't tell us."

"It must have been really quick, or she'd have called us," Lita pondered. Andrew appeared at their side with a tray laden with their order. "Thanks, Andrew." He gave the girls a smile as he disappeared to serve the next table. "I'm a little concerned that whatever this thing is seems to have some sort of immunity to magic, such as Raye's priestess powers."

"I have a theory about that," Amy said. "I think we are able to damage it in some way with our planetary powers. I was able to disintegrate it by using my powers of water and ice, whereas Raye was successful in killing it with fire from the inside out."

"I just hope we don't all end up having one to ones with it," Lita winced. "Poor Raye."

"We'll support her," Amy reassured her. "She already ripped the plaster off her face before we left study buddies earlier and the swelling is already going down."

"Yeah, but there's still one heck of a bruise," Lita countered.

"Fancy seeing you here," a familiar voice rang in Amy's ear.

Amy looked up to see Zane gazing down at her fondly.

"Zane, hi!" she greeted him. "I haven't seen you in a few days. How are you?"

"I'm well, thank you," he nodded. He thumbed behind him. "You haven't met. This is my friend, Neal."

Neal stepped up behind Zane.

"Hey, man," he said, clapping his hand on his shoulder. "What are you doing?"

"Neal, meet Amy," he introduced him. "She's the swimmer I told you about."

"Ah, the girl who was a dolphin in a past life," Neal grinned, winking at Amy. He turned to Lita. "Hey."

"Hey," Lita smiled.

Amy frowned at Lita, her eyes flickering between them. She looked up at Zane.

"Zane, this is my good friend, Lita," she introduced them.

"Charmed," he grinned at Lita.

"Good to meet you," Lita replied. "I've heard so much about you."

"Oh, really?" Zane asked, raising his eyebrow at Amy.

Amy blushed and reached for her tea to take a swig, burning her tongue on the hot beverage in the process.

"Would you like to join us?" Lita asked, flashing her eyes at Amy.

Amy choked on her drink, coughing into a serviette.

"Are you alright?" Zane asked in alarm.

Amy flapped her hands at him to indicate she was fine, the tears running down her cheeks as she coughed on the tea that went down the wrong way. Lita shuffled over, patting the seat next to her.

"Join us," she insisted.

"I'll scoot in next to Amy," Zane announced. "Who knows when we might need to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre?"

"If that was the case, I think Amy would be better off if I did it," Neal laughed.

"Oh, please," Zane retorted, "if you performed the Heimlich, you'd kill her!"

"Not my fault you're a weed," Neal replied with a smirk. He glanced at the plate in front of Lita. "Cherry pie?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What else?" she challenged, raising her eyebrows back.

"Good shout," Neal commended, raising his hand to hail a waiter.

Serena took a deep breath, reaching out to press the doorbell. She heard the ring of the bell chime through the apartment within and she stepped back waiting. Within seconds, the door opened, and she found herself face to face with Darien.

"Hello, Meatball Head," he greeted her. When a frown appeared on her face, he quickly retracted. "I'm sorry. I'll behave." He stepped back. "Come on in. Dinner is just about ready."

"Great," she smiled, whipping her bag off her shoulder, and pulling her jacket off.

"You can just take your bag through to the sofa and hang your jacket up with my coat by the door if you like," Darien suggested.

Serena heard Darien clatter about in his kitchen as she stood in front of his coat rack by the door. She ran her fingers down the sleeve of his jacket, inhaling the sweet scent of roses that always seemed to be around him. She took it off the hook, hugging his jacket close to her, burying her face into the material. She raised the corners of her mouth just a bit as she felt the warmth of his jacket against her. She missed his embrace. She sighed, hanging it back up on the hook and hung her jacket up on top of his coat. She walked through into his living room and dropped her bag next to the sofa, sitting down. A few minutes passed and she heard Darien's footsteps shuffle through into the living room.

"Hey, dinner's ready if you'd like to join me," he offered.

She got up and followed him through. Her eyes widened at the table laden with plates positioned opposite each other and serving dishes full of curry and rice. She sat down, inhaling the delicious scent of spices into her lungs and she smiled appreciatively.

"I presumed you liked curry," he told her.

"You presumed correct," she nodded enthusiastically.

A beeping sounded in the kitchen.

"Help yourself," he invited. "I just need to grab this last thing from the kitchen."

She reached over for a ladle and scooped up two ladles full of rice, then picked up two servings of curry and piled it on top of the rice on her plate. She heard Darien run the tap in his sink, but she couldn't wait anymore for him to join her. She hadn't been able to eat anything since the muffins Lita brought to study buddies because she felt anxiety swirling round in her stomach all day in anticipation of spending time with Darien. But now she was here, she was ravenous. Immediately, she started shovelling forkfuls of curry into her mouth, sighing out the heat that was burning her mouth.

"Wow, you must be starving, Meatball Head," Darien commented, placing a plate piled with pan fried roti bread on the table between their place mats. "Slow down. No one's going to take it from you."

Serena slowed her chewing and swallowed, taking up her glass of water and taking a throatful.

"Sorry," she apologised. She spied the corners of his mouth twitching and she frowned. "What?"

"Erm, you have curry on your cheek," he replied, biting his lip to keep himself from laughing.

"Oh," she grunted, embarrassed. She reached for a serviette next to her place mat and wiped her cheeks, just to be safe.

"You're good," Darien twinkled, taking a roti bread, and piling some curry onto his plate.

"It's good," Serena praised, prompting a smile from Darien, then paused. "Did you put carrots in this?"

"No, I didn't," he replied. "You don't like them, right?"

"I never told you that," she returned, faintly.

The truth is that she had told him sometime before the battle with the Dark Kingdom, but she thought he'd forgotten everything about her after they were reincarnated following their rebirth after they defeated Queen Metalia. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't both taken aback and thrilled that he remembered something so insignificant about her.

"Lucky guess," Darien grinned.

"You're a good cook, Darien," she told him.

"Thank you," he replied. "Do you cook?"

"Lita tells me I could burn water," she said wryly. "But curry is the one thing I can cook!"

"Ah, so I'm feeding a professional," he teased her.

"Well, my curry doesn't look as good as yours, but it tastes good," she defended herself.

"Kudos for trying," Darien nodded. "It's a first step in the right direction. Let's eat up then we'll study. I have a chocolate trifle for later."

Serena's eyes lit up and he had to scoop up a forkful into his mouth to stop him from bursting out laughing at the expression on her face. They continued to eat until the plates had been cleared, thanks to Serena unable to stop herself from having second helpings. Then she helped him to clean up and then she brought her bag through to the dining room so that they could work comfortably at the table.

Darien ran his eyes down her previous math test and his eyebrows seemed to be getting higher and higher on his forehead. Serena was starting to wonder if they were going to shoot off his head entirely like in a cartoon.

"Wow," he said, lacking anything better to say. "Well, I think I see the problem that you're having."

"Math?" she guessed, somewhat sarcastically.

"I mean besides that," he replied. "There are definitely some topics that we can cover today. I notice that you just guess answers on particular subjects which I think you could learn easily. We won't have time to cover everything that you've learned in your classes, but if you're up to it, I'm happy to invite you to study with me tomorrow."

Serena stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Unless you don't want to?" he checked.

"No, no, that's not it," Serena said, shaking her head. "It's really kind of you… and kind of unexpected, but do you have time to help me all weekend?"

"I'm not going to hold your hand every step of the way," he told her. "Really, I'm just your humble guide. I'll teach you and I'll be there to give you help when you need it while you solve problems by yourself."

Serena paled in front of his very eyes.

"Don't look so worried," he assured her. "You can do this. You just need motivation to do this and not get distracted. So today, your motivation is chocolate trifle. I have faith in your, Serena."

She swallowed. He'd called her Serena.