It's short. But I didn't want to stick the final scene onto the end of Chapter 18. and I tried to make it longer, but that really didn't work.

I want to thank everyone who has stayed with me, returning to read new chapters. It's taken a year to complete this story. It began as a remake of a NR story, but took on a life of its own. I'd like to think that I've grown as a writer in the creation of this story. Special thanks to my darling Greg, and to Anne, if she ever gets around to reading this.


Chapter 19


Darien softly closed the screen door behind him and moved across the small patch of grass, his eyes never once leaving the form asleep in the hammock.

It was rather funny, he mused as he moved quietly to sit on the grass beside the hammock. It would seem that they had come full circle. It wasn't so long ago, really, that he had rudely entered a dinky apartment room to find Serena asleep on a bed. Then, all he had wanted was a contract. Exclusive right to her art.

Now, all he wanted was her.

A solitary bird chirped somewhere off in the distance. Looking for a mate. He had found his, but he didn't know if he would be allowed to keep her.

There were shadows under her closed eyes, deep purple bruises that he knew he had caused. The spaces beneath her cheekbones were gaunt, making her look even more like a little beggar girl then when he had first met her. Even in sleep, she looked haunted. Broken.

He had no horses, though he had many men. He was richer then a king, but didn't know if he could put them back again.

Darien laughed softly. He had never liked nursery rhymes. They were foolish things, and he had always aimed for sense and efficiency.

Serena had taught him to appreciate foolishness.

She had been sketching, apparently, before she fell asleep. Idly, for he didn't want to wake her from the needed nap, he picked up the sketchpad that had fallen to the ground and flipped slowly through it. Most of the pages were blank, interrupted here and there by pictures drawn in graphite or charcoal. Somehow, that disturbed him more then anything. Serena had allowed him to look through her sketch books before, and he was always amazed by the wealth of color that rioted across the pages. This small, spare collection of black, white and grays made his heart ache.

He came to the final page, and gasped. There was a picture of him, lying in bed with the blankets pulled up to his waist. In sleep, he reached out toward the artist. Toward Serena.

The sketch was blurred here and there, as though water had dribbled on it.

Tears. Serena's tears.

Beside him, the hammock rocked slightly. The movement jolted his elbow, and he looked up to meet Serena's neutral face.

"What are you doing here, Darien?"

Her cool blue eyes bored into his own, and he spoke the first words that came to mind. "I hung the orb in my office."

"And you came all this way to tell me that. I'm touched."

"I tried to throw it away. I got as far as holding it over the trash can, but I couldn't. It felt as though I was holding my own heart."

She looked away and gazed at something he couldn't see. "That seems suitable, somehow, as you managed to drop mine."

"I'm sorry. I overreacted, that day in your apartment."

"That's an understatement. I'd like you to go, Darien. I'm sorry you drove all the way here for nothing." With a restless movement, she pulled the sketchpad from him and drew a pencil from where it had been tucked behind her ear. "I told you I didn't want to see you again."

"I know. But I needed to apologize. I came here to ask for a second chance."

She still refused to look at him. She held her pencil poised but didn't touch it to the paper. All of the sudden, the forms that always floated through her head were gone. All that she could see in her mind was his face. "I"m not in the habit of giving second chances to men who hurt me."

Suddenly angry, Darien sprang up and, throwing the pad to the ground, grabbed her face in his hands. "Damn it, Serena! I was out of my head when I told you off! Being apart from you is killing me, and I know you feel the same! Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't love me anymore! Tell me you want me to leave. Feelings as deep as ours don't just disappear!"

She met his furious gaze calmly, almost apathetically. "No, they don't. I won't lie to you, Darien. I still love you, yes. But I can live with that, and I can live without you. The feelings don't disappear, but they can be twisted all too easily. Love and hate aren't all that different from each other, and I feel both for you. I don't want to see you again, Darien. Go away."

The anger left as quickly as it had risen, and Darien dropped bonelessly to the ground beside the hammock. Wordlessly, he picked up the sketchpad and flipped to that last picture. He handed it to her.

Serena stared at the sketch she had drawn only that morning. It had been a test, to see if she couldn't banish what she felt. She had failed miserably, as the dried tears proclaimed.

Where was her self-righteous anger?

Movement caught the corner of her eye, and she glanced up. The blinds of her sister's window still twitched from being closed.

Malachite. At least everything was all right there. A small smile twisted one corner of her lips.

"I don't want to hurt anymore, Darien."

"I know, and I 'm sorry. I don't know how to fix it. I wish I did." He grasped her hand and held it until she turned her head to look at him again. "If I thought my leaving would help, I'd leave right now."

"It would."

"No it wouldn't." Light dawned in the back of Darien's mind as he stared up at the woman he loved more then life itself. "I'm an idiot. Here I've been sitting on my ass, trying to talk you back to me, when what I should be doing is acting."

"What?" Serena gaped up at him as he rose swiftly to his feet and reached for her.

"Marry me, Serena Kyle." With a grin, Darien slipped an arm under Serena's legs and scooped her up against his chest. "I should have asked you that ages ago."

"Put me down!" With a small shriek of rage, Serena bashed her clenched fist against his shoulder, but Darien only laughed. "You stupid pig, put me down right now! I want you out of my life!"

"No you don't!" Balancing his precarious load, Darien reached out and managed to open the back door. Striding into Mina's house, he called out toward the bedroom. "Mina, Malachite, I'm stealing Serena. I think we should be able to find someplace where they'll marry us in Vegas. Where's the nearest airport? I need to call my pilot."

Mina came bundling out of the bedroom, a robe hastily wrapped around her body. "what the hell? What are you doing?"

"What I should have done a long time ago. I'm marrying Serena. Thank you for letting me into your house. We should be back in a few hours." He grinned as Malachite poked his head around the door. "Forgot your robe? Never mind. Wish us luck!"

Malachite looked at the squirming woman held firmly in Darien's arms and a slow smile grew on his face. "'Luck, boss. Since you've got yours, I'm taking next week off and staying here." He grinned over at the bewildered Mina.

"Sure. Bye!" And with that, Darien walked out of the house and to his car.

Serena regained her voice and muttered loudly into his ear, "You're making a fool of both of us! Mina has to live here with these people1 What are they going to say?"

Darien struggled with the door handle. "If Malachite's smart, he'll convince her to move in with him, and she'll never have to see any of them again."

"I'm serious, mister. I don't know what's gotten into you, but I'm not going anywhere with you!" Serena glared at the man who seemed to have lost all traces of sanity. "Did you hear a single damn word I said? I don't want you! I hate you!"

"And I love you." Darien turned the car on, then turned to look at her. The laughter and gaiety of moments ago had disappeared. "Serena, I never realized how empty my life had been before I found you. All I had was the gallery. If you really want out right now, I'll let you out, drive away, and never contact you again. I'll even release your gallery contract, if you want. But I don't think I can live without you." His eyes bored into hers, seeking out the truth.

To her horror, Serena's eyes began to fill with tears. "You hurt me," was all she could tremble out. "How can you make such a big joke out of this?"

"You think I'm joking?" Darien placed his hands on her shoulders and pressed his forehead against hers. "I've never been more serious in my life. I want to spend the rest of my days with you, Serena. I don't know why I couldn't say it before."

Serena hiccuped. "My head's all in a whirl," she whispered brokenly. "I don't know what I want anymore."

He wiped the tears away with his thumbs as they trailed down her pale cheeks. "I think I do. You want your art, and you want your family, and you want your man. Me. The person who loves you, believes in you, and understands you better then anyone ever will. And I nearly ruined all of that for you." He kissed her once, and looked at her. "You make me a better man, Serena. I can't bear to think that after all this, you could send me back to being alone. I know I certainly can't leave you. I don't ever want you to be alone again."

Serena sighed. The ache in her heart that had held her frozen for almost two weeks was gone, just like that. Should that be odd? Should she trust this?

"I want to say yes," she murmured, her eyes locked onto his. "I want to marry you, and live with you for the rest of my life. But how can I trust you when you hurt me so badly?"

Darien drew back, sensing her need to space. "I think the key word there was 'trust'. Serena, I want you to close your eyes and focus on what you feel for me. I look at you and I can feel your soul next to mine. I'm not a religious man, and I don't believe in fate, but I think we were meant for each other."

Serena closed her eyes. What did she feel? Where was the hate that had been there? Had it even really existed? Or was it merely a figment of her own imagination, a desperate bid for protection against him?

"I always used to think that I needed proof of everything," she said. "I had to be sure of things; I had to know." A smile blossomed over her lips as she opened her eyes and met his gaze. "But it's not really that important, is it. I don't have know for certain that you'll never hurt me again. I don't know that our life will be perfect together."

Darien held his breath, afraid to move, to break eye contact. Was she saying what he hoped? He had never realized that entire worlds, lives, could be lost in the space of precious seconds.

Serena lifted her hand and placed it over his. "But I don't need to know. I know what I feel, and that's love for you. I could live without it, but I don't want to. I shouldn't have to."

"Serena." Darien drew her to him and covered her lips with his. He wasn't quite sure how long that kiss lasted, but it held every moment of need that he had felt from the moment he had walked in on a sleeping angel, in an ugly apartment months ago.

Serena pulled back and looked at him, a huge smile on her face. "I'm not getting married in Vegas," she stated.


FIN



Well, that's it. Again, thanks to everyone who has read, and reviewed.

I won't be writing any Sailor Moon for a while. If you like my writing, I'm about to begin a completely original romantic series, which will be posted on FictionPress.Com. I can't tell you when the first chapter will be up, but hopefully in the next month. So, keep an eye out for Book One of Tears of the Goddess: Celeste.