Author: Hikari
E-mail: Machi_NO_Tenshi@Excite.Com
Story: Tenderly
Part: Chapter 8
Rating: R


PRE-NOTES:
I have decided to write a little note here
today because of the time that has passed since I
wrote this and since its posting time. I have to
tell you guys that I have almost gone through the
impossible to get this to you and I seriously hope
to get some *MAJOR* feed-back.
Also, to the people that are waiting for
the first Chapter of Geisha... don't worry. Now
that things are getting back to normal, I'll soon
be able to send it out.
A million thanks to Princess Little Serenity,
because, if it hadn't been for her idea of the Mac
being able to accept Microsoft Word and TXT files...
this story would have not come to you so soon.
And so, now I'll shut up and let you guys
read what you have waited for a long time to receive.


Chapter 8:

'Two months have passed... yet everything seems
*so* different.' Serena thought as she looked at the
moving vehicles from the window of the taxi she rode
on. 'I wonder if he's still waiting for me?'


*/^.^\* flashback */^.^\*


A woman in her thirties, with thick black hair,
round green eyes and a scar across her chin cried in
disgust as she retold the story of her abusive husband...

She had been married for three years and ever
since the beginning of her marriage she had been
forbidden to leave her home. Her husband would lock
her in the house and hide the telephone under lock
and key. He would instruct her on her daily duties
and chores which she was to complete before his
arrival. His food was to be hot and on the table as
he sat down. She also had to change his shoes and set
out his clothes both at night and in the morning.

And if all this, or even one of the chores
wasn't done to his standards, she would be punished
in various methods. His most common was the belt;
he would strike her across her hips, legs and back
(usually where people couldn't see her scars). Other
ways he had for punishing her where public humiliation,
the diminution of her food rations, and verbal insults.

The final result of his actions: A submissive
wife that bowed down before him.


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"I really did love him, you know." Began a
thin and pale woman, with light gray eyes and dark
brown hair. "And- I thought he loved me too." She
ended silently.

"Go on, we're listening." Encouraged the
group leader.

And so, the frail woman recounted her experi-
ence with her last lover. A demanding man that thought
of her as a mere 'play-thing' to be used and discarded
whenever he wanted. He had been the perverted sadist
that, through his love of bondage and the extremes of
pain, had turned her into the martyr of his sickening
desirers.

This, forever scaring her from any future
relationships.


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


"Hi everyone!" Called a cheerful young voice
of around eighteen. "My name is Sarah and... This is
the-" she paused as if to find her breath, the glee-
filled tone she had used before was now gone. "This
is the third time that I'm- that I've had to come to
this camp." Sarah bowed her head, her strawberry-blond
hair coming down and covering her features from the
groups wondering looks.

"I-" Sarah's right foot began to move in a
nervous manner back and forth. "I tried to leave my
boyfriend once again." Her head shot-up in plead as
her red, teary brown eyes looked around the room for
comfort. "I REALLY DID..." She sobbed. "But he was
so nice. And he had promised me that *this time* he
*would* change."

"I was wrong." She said as she shook her head
from side to side softly. "He just lied to me again.
Like he always does. And you know what?" Sarah asked
the group in a tone filled with disdain. "Knowing all
this, I still went back to him."


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


Slowly, and with time, Serena had learned
to trust the group of women she met daily in the
sessions. Hearing their stories, their similarities,
their differences, and their sad endings shocked her
to the core. The realization of how these women where
just like her, made Serena think back and try to find
out why she and these women suffered this fate.

And since the best way to face things is to
talk about them, Serena decided to finally tell what
had happened to her and how she had gotten there.
The latter, of course, had been a conclusion that
Doctor Mendat had reached when he had heard the whole
tale of her past.


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


"Hi, my name is Serena Moyers and I'm twenty-
three years old." She took a deep breath before
continuing. "I know I haven't said much every time it
was my turn to speak, but, well... I've been thinking
a lot lately and I think I'd like to tell you all a
little bit more about myself."

The counselor smiled at Serena, trying to give
her the courage she might be in need of. "We are all,
I'm sure, ready and willing to hear anything you might
want to share."

"Well then," Serena began again. "I guess I'll
start by my past... were my psychiatrist says it all
started." Placing her hands on her skirt, she pulled
the fabric nervously towards her knees. "When I was
very young, my dad and my mother got divorced. I don't
remember too much of him. What I do remember were the
men that came into my mother's life after him."

"The first man that took my father's place
in the family was a very stern man." Serena looked
up at the ceiling. "He loved perfection and demanded
it from both me and my mother. And I suppose that
since he was the only one sustaining the family, my
mother tolerated anything he did."

Serena shut her eyes tightly as she recalled
Michael. His hard hands and his strong words. He
was the first of a long line of men who would come to
abuse her and her mother. He was the one that had
started her on the path of this fate.

She shook her head from side to side. "After
he left us- He had been several years with us and I
suppose that my mother got used to that type of life-
style, because from then on it seemed like those where
the only type of men she would attract." Serena laughed
at the last words she said, trying to lighten her whole
story.

"When I was about fourteen or fifteen, I had my
first boyfriend. He seemed the normal type of guy; you
know- smart, funny, good looking... but he had his dark
side. He was very stubborn and always had to get his
way. That was when I lost my virginity."

"I don't know if it was rape, or if I wanted
it to happen. But I do remember being forced." Serena
licked her lips. "It's funny... when ever I think of
him, I can see my first time but I can't hear any of
his words."

"Relationships like that came and went for me.
So did my mother's. I believed for a while that was
those where the only type of men in the world." Then,
a bitterly sweet smile crept upon Serena's lips. "That
was, at least, until I went to college."

A small tear slid down Serena's smooth cheek.
"I met the most wonderful man I had ever known during
my freshman year. He was the embodiment of tenderness
and he had seen in me something he had liked. So we
started going out and he asked me to be his girlfriend."

"In the beginning, he would only hold my hand
in his and lay soft kisses on my lips. He would treat
me as if I was made of porcelain. At night, sometimes,
I would sneak into his dorm and we would read to each
other until we fell asleep."

"He was a gentleman through and through. He
never pressured me into doing anything, and it was
actually I who enticed him into having sex with me."
Serena's voice wavered as she tried to wipe away her
tears with her hand. "I was me, unworthy in every
sense, that had coerced him into giving up his inno-
cence for me." She broke down at this point trying
to suppress her sobs.

Someone from the group handed her a tissue,
and seeing that Serena was unable to take it, she
began to help her wipe way her tears. The woman was
Sarah. "It's alright." She whispered to her in a
soothing manner. "Calm down. Look at me." She said
as she raised Serena's face. "You're not 'unworthy.'
And if he decided to sleep with you was because he
must have thought you were *that* special."

"He was saving himself for his wife!" Serena
screamed as if Sarah and her were the only women there.
"And then I left him, as if everything he had done or
given me had been worthless... I left him for another
man, like those before him!!"


*/^.^\* end of flashback */^.^\*


"Ma'am," Called the cab driver from behind the
wheel. "I said, 'We're here!'"

Serena returned to the present. She was
sitting in the back seat of a yellow taxi, in front
of Darien's apartment building. Soon, the words
spoken to her, finally reached her ears. "How much
do I owe you?"


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


Riding in the cold elevator, Serena hugged
herself. Pretty soon she would see him again. Could
she face him? Could she tell him her past? Would he
believe and accept the things she had to tell him?

The elevator came to a stop. The doors opened
and she stepped out into the long corridor that would
lead her towards Darien's apartment. She took a deep
breath as she raised her hand and rang the doorbell.
She heard someone's footsteps approach, and soon the
door opened before her.

There he stood. The tenderest man she had
ever met. Serena examined his features as if trying
to engrave in her mind everything about Darien. His
deep-sea blue eyes. His soft yet hard lips that formed
a secretive and seductive smile. The sharp planes of
his face and his straight nose. The tall, rough body
that was hidden beneath a simple blue shirt and khaki
pants.

Unable to hold herself back, she threw herself
into his embrace, holding his shirt as if it was her
salvation. Crystal tears slid from her eyes down to
her chin, and she began to cry. Could he be able to
withstand what she was about to ask of him?

Darien starred silently at the crying girl in
his arms. The sobs that rocked her body were scaring
him. Placing one arm around her waist, and the other
in her hair, he began to caress her softly. "Serena..."

Upon hearing her name, Serena began to recollect
herself. "I'm sorry," she said as she wiped away her
tears. "It's just that I missed you so much."

Something inside Darien filled with warmth.
He led Serena inside the apartment and took her bags
to their room. Then, he sat next to her on the sofa.
"How was camp?"


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


After Serena had told him what had went on
at the camp, she told him of her past. Including her
thoughts, feelings and fears. But as her story came
to a close, she searched within herself for the courage
to say to Darien what she had concluded from the group
*and* from her life.

"I want to be honest with you Darien because
you shouldn't have someone that lies to you." Serena
took a deep breath as she held his hand in hers.
"Right now, I'm in a very unstable emotional state.
And... I don't think I'm ready for a relationship."
She looked into his eyes. "To be truthful, I don't
know if I'll ever be."

Serena cupped his cheek in her free hand. "I
really do like you. Actually, I think you're the best
thing that could have ever happened to me." She
lowered her eyes to his hand as she said softly, "but
I don't love you."

"I don't think I have any concept of what love
is supposed to be, so I'm not capable of loving yet."
A sad smile shaped itself on her lips. "I would really
like for our- whatever we have- to stay the way it is.
But with no labels." Serena began to rock herself
slowly back and forth on the couch. "I- I'm afraid to
fall in love."

Darien placed his arms around her and brought
her in for a hug. He held her gently, yet with under-
lying strength, as if afraid of loosing her. He now
finally understood where she came from and why she was
this way. "It's alright." He told her. "I understand
what you're saying."

He sensed the muscles of her body relax in his
embrace. And in that instance of complete clarity he
knew he could not live without this woman. It didn't
matter if he could not label her as his girlfriend...
as his wife. He knew, somewhere deep within him, that
someday he *would* be able to call her *his*.

"I don't care if I can't tell the world of
what we have." Darien began. "I just want you to be
with me. And if this is what it takes..." he said as
he raised her head and looked into her eyes. "Then
whatever you say is what I'll do."

Serena's eyes widened upon hearing his words.
'Could this really be happening?' Did he really just
say that he would stand by her side and stick things
out? A painfully joyful smile spread across her face.
She launched herself at him, encircling his neck and
bringing his lips to hers. She kissed him mercilessly
and with passion, putting in it everything she felt.

Darien's lips were curved in a smile as they
kissed her. He withdrew from them slightly in order
to catch his breath. Then, placing his mouth near her
ear, he whispered softly. "We shall face the future
together."


?...The End...?


@=6='=9=*=9='=6=@=8=8='=$=*=$='=8=8=@=6='=9=*=9='=6=@

Hikari's Notes:

Well minna, this is it. The end of "Tenderly."
Did you like it? From all the e-mails I've gotten, I'd
say you have. You guys have no idea how much your emails
have motivated me to keep writing this.
I want to take this moment to thank all of you.
And to apologize to anyone that might have e-mailed me
and did not get a response.
I seriously do hope that no one ever has to go
through an abusive relationship, and if any of your
friends or family are in this position... please don't
give up on them and help them through it.
Like a very wise Buta would say: "Be a shoulder
to lean on. It helps you deal with the pain."

ATT: Hikari-chan.
AKA: Machi no Tenshi.