Hey, ya'll! What's up? Well, part two is finally here! [insert drum roll] Yeah, I know I took a little while, but things are starting to speed up in the fic, which will be really obvious in parts three and four (out very soon, need to type and upload) Well, let me know what you think!
Disclaimer- I don't own Sailor Moon. [sigh] Pioneer and Naoko Takeuchi do.
Well, let's get on with it already!
J J J J J
Serena walked silently through the halls back to her chambers. At last, the small girl was peacefully and blissfully asleep. She smiled, remembering the way her daughter had clung to her for support and love in the darkness of the night. Usagi knew that Rini loved her, and she also knew she would do anything necessary to protect her child.
She
stole a glance at her window to see the inky black sky warming to a rich blue.
Usagi groaned. There was much to be done if the annual reunion of the Senshi
was to occur this weekend, and she had barely gotten any sleep.
"Another
hour couldn't hurt." She said, and crawled into the bed to rest her weary body.
The tears of earlier had dried and smeared on her pale cheeks, her eyes burning
with fatigue and sorrow.
It
was unfair, perhaps, but Usagi would not tell the Senshi until it was
imperative she do so. Makoto would fuss over her, Ami would demand a second
opinion, Mina would cry and become over emotional, and Raye…
Serena
sighed sadly at the distance that had come between her and the raven-haired
girl she had once considered her greatest friend. She had no idea what the Mars
Senshi did now, for they had not met since Rini's birth.
The
tears formed in her ocean-blue eyes again as she thought about that night. The
night her daughter, her beloved Rini, had come into existence and taken her
first breath. They had all been together then, her and Mamoru and the Senshi,
Outers and Inners, working together for peace and a brighter future.
Yet
barely five months later, when the girl was almost sitting on her own, Serena
had heard the heart-breaking words from Mamoru that no one wishes to hear.
"I'm
leaving." He said flatly. Usagi had just walked into the bedroom from the
nursery, where the young Rini lay asleep. Her first reaction was of surprise
and hurt, but it quickly turned to anger and betrayal.
"Don't
try to stop me," Mamoru warned, "I've had enough."
Usagi
bit her lip to hold back the angry retort she longed to throw at her husband.
"Why,
Mamoru?" she said. He gave her a cold stare, his dark eyes free of the warmth
and tenderness he had once regarded her with.
"It
has taken me a long time to realize it, but I don't love you," he watched her
as his words broke her heart.
"So
this is what you want then?" she responded quietly. Darien looked up, his deep
blue eyes meeting her own, unsure of what to do. He had expected tears,
begging, pleading, but this calm acceptance unnerved him.
"Yes,
Usako." He said, more gently this time. "I don't want to be King, and I didn't
want to be forced into a marriage that was to happen thousands of years ago.
Times change," Mamoru sadly shook his head; "people change."
"Then
all the more reason to let you go." Serena said softly. "I won't force you to
stay, Endymion, and I hope you are happy with the one you love."
"Oh,
Usako…" Mamoru felt ashamed of the hurt he caused this pure, loving woman, and
was sorry he couldn't love her the way that she wanted. It simply wasn't meant
to be, and he regretted not understanding it earlier.
He
stepped forward to put his arms around her, one last time, but she held up a
hand to stop him. Sorrow and guilt ran awash over him, and Darien bowed his
head in shame.
"No,
Mamoru. I am yours no longer," she paused, watching him out of her bright,
ocean blue-eyes.
"But I ask you this; remember our child.
Remember Rini."
Abruptly,
she turned to leave, calling over her shoulder-
"Anything
you should need will be available to you." Usagi stopped, then turned to face
him.
"Good-bye,
Mamoru."
"Usagi?"
"Yes?"
"Thank
you." Mamoru gazed at her as she blinked slowly and left the room that they had
once shared.
* * * * * *
Serena
turned over in the bed, remembering that far-away night when her life had
shattered. She had loved him so, he had been her One, her Only, her life, and
he had left. He was gone; he had abandoned both her and their child.
"You
had a choice, Endymion," she snarled into the budding morning, "I have none."
She
sobbed into her pillow, loudly at first, but gradually quieter as the haze of
sleep blanketed her consciousness and she thought no more.
L L L L L
Well,
whadda ya think? Part three is coming out soon, and this one would have been
sooner, but with Easter and all I was busy. See ya'll,
Lady Pluto