Past Promises part 3


Serena shot up in bed, trembling. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying.

Darien sat up next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders to comfort her. "Shhh, it's all right," he whispered soothingly.

"I remember that. The Moon Kingdom, Mother..." She shuddered. "Beryl. Everything."

"The dreams were helping us remember our past. How could we not remember?"

"We were reborn without those memories so we could have a normal life," Serena answered softly. "And we made it."

"Of course we did." He kissed her forehead.

"Just like you promised so long ago in the Moon Kingdom. You came back to me. We're together again."

"Forever this time. I love you, Serena," he told her, kissing her tears away.

"And I love you." She paused. "Do you think the dreams will stop?"

He thought a moment. "I would imagine so. I mean, I think we know everything."

"Yeah..." Serena's eyes fell on his table clock. "Oh, no! It's already one!"

"What? You're kidding! We've been sleeping for over sixteen hours?"

"Ohhh, my parents are going to kill me!" She jumped out of bed. "Where are my clothes?"

"They're laid out on the kitchen table to dry--" he trailed off as she dashed out of the room.

She returned fully dressed shortly after, hurriedly slipping her shoes on. "I have to go."

"Well, my car is in the shop so I can't drive you in that, but we can take my motorcycle."

"And give my parents another reason to punish me? I don't think so!"

"Wait, I'll walk with you." He slipped on his shoes. "Let's go."

On the way out Darien grabbed his keys off the bookshelf, locking the door behind
them.

"I'm going to be grounded for life," Serena moaned as they strode down the sidewalk. "My mother likes me to call her in the morning when I'm at a sleepover."

"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll let you off with a warning."

As they rounded the corner someone ran into them.

"Sorry!" the person apologized. She looked up. "Serena! I was looking for you!"

"Mina? Why?"

"We need to talk about what you wanted me to do yesterday. Alone," Mina added, glancing at Darien.

"Oh, don't mind him. What's up?"

"I just wanted to tell you that I called your mom for you and told her you were still sleeping. She expects you home in an hour."

"Mina you are a lifesaver!" Serena threw her arms around her friend in a hug. "I owe you."

"I know. And you owe me answers. Where were you last night?" she demanded.

"I'll tell you later. We can meet at Raye's tonight!" Serena called as she and Darien took off again, this time leisurely strolling.

Mina stared after them in surprise, watching as they joined hands.


"Since we have some time to kill, do you want to go get a soda?" Darien asked.

"Sure, I could use the caffeine," she answered, pulling him into the arcade. They sat down side by side in a booth in the back.

Andrew walked up to them. "Hey, guys, what'll it be?" he asked cheerfully.

Neither heard him, as they were lost in their own little world.

Andrew cleared his throat loudly.

"Hey, Andrew!" Serena greeted him, looking up.

"Hey Serena, Darien," Andrew repeated, "what can I get you?"

"Two soda sound good," Darien replied. "Do you want anything else, Serena?"

"Actually, I want to try and tackle the Sailor V game. I'll be back!" She flashed them a smile before bouncing off.

"Isn't she so cute?" Darien murmured dreamily.

"Yeah, she's cute." Andrew sat down across from him. "What's going on with you two?"

"What kind of question is that?" He turned to his best friend. "There's nothing going on with us!"

They both glanced over at Serena. Noticing their stares, she blew Darien a kiss.

"That sure didn't look like nothing." Andrew grinned. "You like her, don't you?"

"No..."

"What?!" he fell back against the hard plastic seat.

"I love her," Darien corrected, his eyes twinkling.

Andrew couldn't hide his shock. "Love? You-- love he?"

"Yes, I love her."

"But-- but I didn't even know you were dating!"

"We weren't sating."

"Then how can you--"

He was cut off by Serena, who plopped down beside Darien. "Miss me?" she smiled sweetly.

"Of course I did," Darien answered, suppressing a smile. "How was your game?"

"Oh, that. Well, it's safe to say that I could use a bit more practice. Stupid game,"
she muttered. "Are you on a break, Andrew? Or are you just avoiding work?" she
teased.

"Neither. I was just having a friendly conversation with Darien." He glanced pointedly at Darien, who returned the look.

"What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"I was just wondering about what you told me. Is... is it mutual?"
Darien thought about the last week, how he had an instant connection to Serena
through their dreams, only to find out that they were meant to be together. He burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Serena wanted to know.

"Andrew is questioning my love for you," he made out through his laughter.

"Andrew!" Serena scolded. "Honestly! How can you ask such a thing? Our love
has survived a war, death, and rebirth. I'd say that counts for something."

"How has your love survived all those things?" he asked, confused.

Serena turned red. "What I meant to say was that our love could survive all those things and more."

"So you love him too?"

"Yes, I do, very much so," she smiled at Darien.

"This is jus so sudden," Andrew spoke cautiously.

"That's not a bad thing," Darien responded, wrapping an arm around Serena's waist.

"No, it's not." Serena leaned over and kissed him.

"I guess you really are in love," Andrew finally said.

"Yes, we are. Now how about those sodas?" She winked at him.

"Sure." Andrew slid out of the booth.

"If it took this long to convince your best friend that we're in love, imagine how hard it's going to be to tell my friends!"

Darien laughed. "Somehow, I think we'll manage. We have an entire past life to back us up. They'll believe."


"I can't believe it!" Lita exclaimed. "She met the guy a week ago and couldn't stand him, then they became friends, and now they're dating? Unreal!"

"Hey, I know what I saw." Mina informed the girls at the shrine. "They were holding hands."

"I think it's great," Raye argued. "Serena hasn't had much luck with her old
boyfriends. Maybe Darien is better for her."

"But does she have time for a boyfriend? When will she study?" Amy inquired, glancing up from her textbook.

Everyone groaned.

"Think about what you just said, Ames. Serena doesn't study now. I'm sure a boyfriend won't make much of a difference!"

Raye's comment made everyone laugh.

"I guess you're right, Raye. She just wants to have fun."

"And what better way to have fun than with a new boyfriend?"


"Look at that, I'm home on time. Early even!" Serena told Darien as they stood on her front porch.

"I hate letting you go even a second before I have to, but this might make up for your not calling your mother this morning."

"Yeah, I hope so. I better go. Can you meet me late at Raye's?"

"Anything for you." Darien scooped her into his arms. "And I do mean that." He kissed the tip of her nose, making her giggle. "I'll see you later."

Serena watched him walk away. She leaned against the door, sighing happily.

"Serena?"

She shrieked as someone opened the door, sending her tumbling to the carpet.

"Serena, are you all right?" her mother asked. "Why were you leaning on the door?"

Serena scrambled to her feet. "Mom! How long have you been standing there?"

"Not long." She looked at her daughter knowingly. "Who's your friend?"

"Who?" she asked dumbly.

"The one who just left."

"Oh, you mean Darien? He's, uh, well... He's my friend," Serena stammered.

"Ah, I see." She leaned in closer to Serena. "Why don't you invite him over for dinner sometime, introduce him to the family?"

"Sure, Mom, I'll do that," she said in a stupor as her mom returned to the kitchen.

She ran up the stairs to her bedroom and slammed the door behind her. Finally safe!

Collapsing onto her bed, Serena gave a huge sigh of relief. 'Mom's not mad at me, I've got a new boyfriend, life is good!' she thought blissfully. 'I just wish I had someone to talk to.'

"Hey, Luna," she greeted her cat, who had jumped on the bed. She picked Luna up, stroking her soft ears. "I know I can talk to you."

Luna purred in reply, nuzzling Serena's arm.

"You want to talk too, huh?" Serena laughed. "Well, do I have a story for you." She sat back against her pillows, Luna curling up on her lap. "I never would have imagined
that life could get so complicated, yet so exhilarating, in a matter of days. How am I supposed to keep this secret from my parents? I don't know what to do," she moaned.

Luna let out a tiny meow, as if she understood.

"Thanks for the advice, but you haven't heard all the facts yet," Serena said wryly. "What do you do after learning something so completely farfetched about your past that you know must be true because it's not a tale that could be fathomed by someone? No answer for me, huh? Well, what would you do if you found out you were royalty?"

She was startled when Luna's claws dug into her arm as her ears pricked up.

"Luna, that hurt!" Serena cried. She looked strangely at the cat. "My being royalty isn't that strange! I could pull it off," she pouted. Then her expression softened. "In my dreams, I met the most perfect man. Even though our love was forbidden, that didn't stop us. We would have married someday, but something intervened. Or someone, I should say. She destroyed everything: my palace, my friends, and my love. We were sent to Earth with no memory of our past lives. Thanks to her, she allowed us to live again."

"Serenity..."

Serena froze. 'Did I just hear...'

"What was that?" she asked timidly, afraid of an answer.

"Serenity," Luna repeated.

"My cat talked!" Serena screamed, jumping up and sending Luna flying to the floor.

"I could've lived without that," Luna grumbled, climbing back onto the bed. She looked at Serena, shaking her head. "I should have known it was you."

"What- what do you mean?" Serena finally asked when she found her voice again.

"I was sent to Earth by Queen Serenity to find and protect her daughter and court. When you found me a couple of months ago, I had my suspicions that you were the one, but they were never confirmed. So I didn't speak, for fear of scaring you out of your mind. But now that it is you..."

"Luna," Serena murmured. "I remember. You were my guardian in the Moon Kingdom! But wait, what about Artemis?"

"Artemis was also sent to Earth to protect you, but he was guardian of Venus. He has probably been searching for Lady Venus like I have been searching for you."

"Lady Venus, the one from my dream. She's the one who squealed to Mercury about Endymion, and my mother overheard!"

Luna thought a moment. "Wasn't Endymion also reborn?"

Serena smiled. "Luna, so you know anything about a guy named Darien?"

"Only what I've heard you tell other people about him. Your words weren't very flattering. You must not like him much."

"Well, Luna, that's not entirely accurate." Serena told her slowly. "I guess there's no good way to say it other than to just say it." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Luna, Darien is Endymion."

"What?" Luna gasped.

Serena could hear the surprise in Luna's voice. She opened one eye a crack.

"Are you positive that he's the Earth prince?"

"Yes, I'm completely sure."

"You found your old flame before I confirmed your identity? My instincts must be getting rusty," Luna moaned, trying her best to cover her face with her tiny paws.

"You're not getting rusty," Serena assured her. "Wait. Did you say 'old flame'?"

"Yes."

"Well, that part isn't entirely accurate either."

"What do you mean?"

"He's not my old flame. I mean, he is, but he isn't. He's my current flame."

"What?"

'Poor Luna,' Serena thought wonderingly. 'I'm going to give her a heart attack from shocking her so much.'

"I love him," she stated calmly. "I really do. I love Darien, and he loves me. Our dreams helped push us together, although we might have headed that way anyway.

"These dreams you keep mentioning, what were they?"

"Here, I'll tell you on the way to Raye's."


"Serena should be here soon," Amy reported.

"Good. Then we can weasel some information out of her," Lita said slyly.

"Maybe she wants to keep it a secret," Mina suggested, popping a cookie into her mouth. "Although I don't know why. Hey, do you think there's some reason she shouldn't be with him, like he has a criminal record or he's the leader of some cult conspiracy group?"

"Oh, cut the melodrama, Mina," Raye groaned. "Darien isn't a criminal. Serena has more sense than that!"

"Well, let's just hope so."

"Talking about me, are you?" Serena teased as she joined the girls.

Mina turned red. "No, of course not!"

Serena laughed, sitting down beside Lita on the floor.

"Serena, you brought Luna?" Raye asked as Luna jumped into Serena's lap.

"Yeah, well, she hardly ever gets out. So, what were we talking about? Although I get the feeling that I already know."

"You caught us," Lita admitted. "What?" she said defensively when the others glared at her. "She knows anyway." She turned to Serena. "So tell us already!"

"Tell you what?" Serena asked innocently.

"About you and Darien!" Mina cried impatiently.

"Yeah, what's going on with you two?" Raye wanted to know.

"Actually, I'm curious too," Amy spoke up.

Everyone looked at her in surprise.

"Well, I care about my frien'd happiness!"

"Of course you do, Ames," Lita told her encouragingly. "We all do."

"All right, enough squabbling!" Serena intervened. "Now, what would you like to know?"

"What's going on between you and Darien?" Mina shot out. "Why were you holding hands?"

"You saw that, huh? Well, it's kind of a long story. I don't think you'd believe me anyway."

"Try us."

Before Serena could say another word, a white cat came flying into the room, startling the girls.

"Artemis! What are you doing here?" Mina picked up her cat.

"Artemis? Of course!" A wave of realization washed over Serena. "The Artemis?" she asked Luna, who nodded. "Then that means Mina..." She stared at her friend.

"That's right," Luna said.

Everyone gasped.

"Serena, your cat talked!" Lita screeched.

"But, how?" Amy wondered aloud. "It's scientifically impossible!"

"Nothing is impossible," Artemis piped up.

"Aaah!" Mina screamed, dropping him. "They both talk!"

"That was quite unnecessary." Artemis rubbed his head with his paw. "Hello, Luna, long time no see."

"No kidding," she agreed. "Now then, where should we begin?" She looked at the four girls expectantly. When no one answered she sighed. "All right, how about with your memories?"

She jumped onto the table and faced the girls, a look of concentration on her face. In a matter of seconds a yellow beam shot out of the crescent moon on her forehead and his each girl on their forehead.

Their eyes were wide and unblinking as their memories slowly returned, revealing all the events of the past.

The yellow beam faded. "Better?" Luna questioned.

"Serenity?" Raye asked uncertainly, glancing at her friend.

"Yes, it's me," she replied softly, embracing her friend.

The rest of the girls joined in the hug.

"We're together again, the royal court and our princess," Luna spoke happily to Artemis, who nodded.


"So the queen sent us to Earth to save us, and we were reborn?" Amy asked, trying to keep her facts straight.

Serena had just finished her tale of their last day on the Moon Kingdom. "Yes, that's right. My mother saved us."

"But what about Endymion? How are we supposed to find him?" Lita wanted to know.

"We don't have to. I already found him."

"What?!"

"Yes, it's true."

"Well, who is it?" Mina persisted.

"It was actually a big shock when I found out--"

"Just tell us already!" Raye exploded.

"All right." Serena paused for dramatic measure. "Endymion is--"

Someone knocked. "Am I interrupting?" Darien asked, popping his head into the
room.

Everyone groaned.

"No, of course not," Raye said pleasantly. "Come in, join us."

"Thanks." Darien closed the sliding door behind him and took a seat next to Serena.

An awkward silence followed.

"Oh, I'm so rude!" Serena burst out. "You haven't been formally introduced. Guys, this is Darien. Darien, these are my friends Mina, Amy, Raye, and Lita."

"How do you do?" everyone exchanged greetings, then fell back to silence.

"So, where were we? Oh yes, I was finishing my story."

"Serena, maybe we should finish that later," Amy suggested, throwing a glance at
Darien.

"Oh, no," she dismissed the idea with a wave of her hand, "he won't mind."

"I won't mind what?" Darien spoke up wearily.

"Hearing the end of my story. I think you'll enjoy it. I was, after all, just about to reveal the identity of my prince."

His jaw dropped. "You were about to do what?"

"Don't worry," she patted his hand. "I'll fill you in on the parts you missed later."
Serena turned to the girls, who were eagerly waiting. "Well, maybe I should wait..."

"NO!" they shouted together.

"I was just kidding! All right, here we go." She took a deep breath. "Endymion is... Darien."

She looked from one shocked face to the next.

A smile crept up onto Mina's face, morphing into a tiny giggle and finally a full-fledged laugh. "Great joke, Serena, really! But there's no need to drag innocent Darien
into it."

"But I didn't--"

"Really, Serena!" Lita grinned. "Your sense of humor is too much!"
"No, I'm telling the--"

"Serena, you should know better than to try and fool us," Amy scolded.

"But it's the truth!" Darien called over the crowd, who instantly quieted at his words. "Although, I'm not quite sure what all this means to you."

"Darien, I would like to reintroduce you to my royal court, Lady Venus, Lady Mercury, Lady Mars, and Lady Jupiter."

"Now you're kidding, right?" He studied Mina. "Lady Venus. The same Lady Venus that was overheard telling a Lady Mercury about me?"

Mina blushed. "I know, I have a big mouth." She stopped. "Wait, you knew that? Then you must be--"

"My one and only," Serena broke in, taking his hand and kissing it.

"We all made it, and now we're together as it should be," Raye beamed.

'I have my friends, I have my love, what more could a girl want?' Serena thought with a smile as the group laughed and talked, just like it should have been. 'Thank you, Mother.'


A week later found Serena and Darien on a picnic in the park. They had just finished eating a delicious meal he had provided and were now working on the cookies Serena had baked with her mom.

She broke off a piece and fed it to Darien. "Good?" she asked, eating the other piece.

"Extremely good, but not as good as this." Darien grabbed a giggling Serena and kissed her tenderly. "Mmm, you taste like peppermint."

"So do you," she replied, leaning back against him as he wrapped his arms around her.

Darien rested his chin on her shoulder, nuzzling her neck. "I have you back, my princess," he murmured, pulling her closer.

"And you and I will be together the rest of our lives," she whispered ass she drifted off into a peaceful slumber in his arms.

"I'm looking forward to eternity," he returned before closing his eyes.


**************

"Mommy! Mommy!" a little girl cried as she scampered into her mother's arms. "I saw a butterfly! I almost caught it, but Lady Venus scared it away."

"Don't worry, there are plenty of butterflies in the garden," Neo-Queen Serenity reassured her tiny pin-haired daughter. "If you ask your father nicely, I'm sure he'll go with you."

"Yay!" she shouted in excitement as she scrambled to the ground at the foot of her mother's long white dress. "Thanks, Mommy!" she called as she ran off to her father's study.

"Daddy! Daddy! Mommy said you'd take me to the garden." She jumped up and down.

"Whoa, slow down!" Endymion held up his hands. "Now, what was that?"

"I want to go catch butterflies in the garden!" she cried as she grabbed his hands and dragged him out of the room.

"All right, Darling. Go get your net." He watched as she took off down the hallway with tremendous speed.

"Our baby is growing up," he murmured as he came up behind his wife.

"I know," she sighed wistfully. "Can you believe she'll be five soon? It seems like just yesterday she was just a glowing pink bundle that I cradled to sleep every night."

"You're a magnificent mother, Serenity," Endymion told her, kissing her shoulder lovingly. "We are raising a daughter that will someday take over the throne. She'll make us proud."

"She will, Endymion, because she's the best part of both of us." Serenity kissed her husband, fusing their lips together with a love that would outlast time itself.

**************


Serena woke up with a start. She was breathing heavily, as was Darien.

"Our future," she muttered to herself, then turned to Darien with wide eyes.

"Must be. Wait... Then that means we're having a --"

"Baby?" they both finished in shock.