Three
"I talk of dreams;Which are the children of an idle brain,
Begot of nothing but vain fantasy"
-- Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Serena watched as Rini slept. The child was like a little angel. So many things had happened in the past few days. The situation with Darien was still strange, but at least they were still friends. Serena hugged her arms around herself tightly, suddenly wishing for his warm and gentle touch. What had gone wrong? She kept asking herself. She sighed and looked down at her watch, they'd be leaving in a half an hour. Suddenly, the little girl stirred. She opened her eyes, seeing Serena. She smiled.
"Hello sleepyhead." Serena said smiling.
"Hello Serena." Rini replied.
"I had a weird dream." She finally said again, "It was about us going into the forest."
"That's not a dream, Rini." Serena said laughing, "We are going into the forest."
"Looking for hidden troops?" Rini asked.
The young woman nodded, "Looks like you already know the details then."
Rini nodded; "I also dreamt..." she trailed off.
"What?" Serena asked.
"Something that would never happen." Rini replied.
"What was it?" Serena asked.
Rini looked up, "I dreamt you and Darien broke up. But that's not true is it?"
Serena sighed, "Well, actually..."
"Don't you love each other anymore?" Rini asked.
"I'm not sure." Serena replied, "But it doesn't matter. Darien and I are still the best of friends. And I'm sure of one thing, we both love you very much."
Rini pondered this and then finally shrugged, "I love you too, Serena."
The young woman smiled, "Now come on." She said taking the little girl's hand, "Let's go downstairs."
The others had returned with their few belongings and were in the living room talking when the two entered.
"Hey Rini." They said upon seeing her.
Rini smiled. "Hello everyone!" she said.
"Now, you want to tell us why you were sent back to us?" Serena asked.
"Well," she looked at everyone, "Something very strange has been happening, and it just started a few days ago. Mommy and Daddy told me that sometimes, they find themselves flickering, almost disappearing. It scares me, because now they are very weak and can't seem to hold onto their powers."
"Are they all right, otherwise?" Mina asked anxiously.
Rini nodded, "Yeah, but they sent me back here to check out what is going on."
"Well, we haven't seen anything out of the ordinary, but we'll definitely keep our eyes open." Ami said patting the little girl on the head, "In the meantime, you can have fun with us."
* * *
Serena watched as the others talked with Rini. She got up and went to the kitchen to fix something to eat.
"Serena?" it was Darien, "Could I use your phone? I have to call Emmy."
"Emmy?" she asked turning around, "Was that the girl you were..."
"Yeah." Darien cut her sentence off.
"Sure," Serena said, "She'd probably like an explanation for your disappearance."
She quickly got some sushi from the kitchen and returned to the living room. She was practically mobbed by the other scouts as they realized how hungry they all were.
"Hey!" she exclaimed, "There's more in the fridge. Go get some for yourself." Suddenly, she wished she hadn't said that as they all made a mad dash to the kitchen. Darien quickly walked out of the doorway, sending a quick glance behind him.
"What are they doing?" he asked Serena, confused.
"Getting sushi." Serena replied, holding out her own plate, "Want some?"
He took one of the many piled on the plate and sat down.
"How'd the phone call go?" Serena asked, picking out a colorful one for herself.
"Surprisingly well." He replied, nibbling thoughtfully at his food.
"Oh." Serena replied, looking down at her plate. "You really love this girl, don't you?" she asked quietly.
He looked up sharply at her, "I..." he trailed off, "I don't know yet, Serena. I can't be sure. You and I, we're both so young, how can we truly determine that we're in love? I sometimes wondered if our relationship had purely been for the fact that the Moon Princess and the Earth Prince were destined to be together, instead of for love. I'm not sure who I love, Serena, and maybe you aren't either. I mean, think about it, before we found out our true identities, we hated each other's guts... we were almost forced together."
Serena turned her gaze out towards the window, "So you were forced to like me..."
Darien sighed, "It's not like that Serena. I just... I don't know, Serena. I just don't know. I need a break from this, from us."
By then, the other scouts had returned.
"Eat quickly," Luna ordered, "We will have to start out soon."
* * *
The air smelled fresh and cool in the mountains. Trees of all ages surrounded the three small figures, dwarfing them to look like ants. There were both coniferous and deciduous trees and that added a little special flavor to the wind. It was rather warm, though it would get extremely cold once they began reaching a higher altitude. Luna had thought of pretty much everything and had informed them that there were some thermoses and heavy blankets for when it got colder. Also, she had decided that they would get horses, for they were more surefooted and faster in the mountains. Each person had their own horse, and another one to carry their things. Some of the Scouts had thought this was extremely old fashioned of Luna, but after encountering the thought of travelling on foot, they soon agreed. The two cats had stayed behind in the city, to make sure all was quiet while they were gone. Serena and Darien climbed steadily on up the steep mountain. Here, the terrain was rather pleasant; there was a small woodcutter's path that allowed them to climb rather easily. Rini looked around at the different plants and animals they encounter. Soon, the sun was beginning to set over the trees. Serena stopped, watching in awe as the last golden rays of day were swallowed up by the vast, lush, green forest.
"We probably want to stop in about a half an hour," Darien commenting, stopping to watch the sun as well, "Going at night might be dangerous and we want to avoid it as much as possible.
Serena nodded. She patted her strong, beautifully black, mare, Midnight. Luna had picked out this steed especially for Serena. The mare had a small silvery white crescent moon on her forehead. Though Serena was known to be the klutz queen, she felt quite graceful and agile on this horse. They seemed to grow together, understand each other. Darien's horse was a strong, large, chestnut named Guardian. It was a patient steed with soft brown eyes. The small gray mare that carried Rini was named Cloud, for its hide reflected the color and texture of the clouds. Soon they night had set in and the stars began to appear. Serena looked up at the sliver of new moon that had just appeared. She quickly dismounted her horse.
"This will be a good place to set camp." She announced, looking around critically. She took out her scanning device and frowned, "We haven't found anything today. I think maybe the troops were hidden farther up in the mountain."
Darien nodded, "I agree." He knelt down and began to pitch the tent.
"Can I help?" Rini asked coming up behind him.
"Sure." He replied handing her part of the canvas. Serena decided to start a fire. She found a couple of nice, dry, twigs and sticks. She added some moss and grass to it, as instructed by the kit Luna had provided. She lit them quickly with a match. A small flickering flame appeared. Serena fed it with more dry twigs and sticks, soon she had a nice, warm fire going. By then, Darien and Rini had already finished pitching the tent. Serena's com beeped. She quickly pressed a couple buttons and Mina's clear voice came through.
"Have you found anything?" she asked.
"No." Serena replied, "What about you?"
"Nothing." Mina replied, "Lita and Ami didn't have much luck either."
"All right," Serena said, "Keep in touch. I have a feeling we'll be able to find more tomorrow."
"Right." Mina replied, "Venus Out."
Serena sighed. She felt someone tugging at her leg. She looked down, seeing Rini.
"Can we eat now?" the little girl asked hopefully.
Serena laughed, "All right." She quickly took out the food from her bag. She led Rini to the fire. Soon, Darien joined them.
* * *
"Venom!" Azure commanded, "What's going on?"
"Looks like our little scouts are taking a camping trip." Venom replied.
"We can't have those two together, alone!" Azure replied looking over at her servant, "Do something!"
"I already have," Venom replied slyly.
* * *
The stars were beautiful. Like little lightning bugs they twinkled in the sky, lighting the forest with a warm silvery aura. Serena sighed happily, looking up at them. Now, she could lose herself to the universe. She let go of all her troubles and worries; the only she thought about was the stars. She leaned back thoughtfully against the tree, watching as the stars passed by. The silver new moon lit her face. A beam of light hit her forehead, illuminating the golden crescent moon on it. She closed her eyes, feeling memories flood back, memories of the Silver Millennium.
The pillars were white as snow. She was running through the hallways, she was laughing. Suddenly, she felt someone touch her shoulder. She turned around. A tall handsomely fine young man stood before her, Prince Darien of the Earth.
"There you are." He was saying, "I finally caught up with you, your highness."
"Prince Darien," she found herself replying, "Did you want to see me?"
"I just," he seemed lost in thought, staring into her deep blue eyes. He leaned forward slowly; his arm was behind her now, supporting her lightly at the small of her back. She leaned into his hold, tilting her head back. His kiss was gentle, and light, but was full of love and care.
"Serena!" Rini's voice brought the young woman back to the present. Serena looked over at the little girl.
"What is it, Rini?" she asked.
The little girl didn't answer but instead sat down on Serena's lap. She dug her face into Serena's shoulder again.
"I miss Mommy and Daddy." She finally said.
"I know, Rini." Serena replied stroking the little girl's hair.
"Serena?" Rini's voice sounded small and tender, "Can I call you Mommy?"
Serena kissed the little girl on the cheek, "Of course you can."
"Mommy." Rini repeated again, getting the feel of it. She sighed happily to herself, snuggling deeper in Serena's arms.
"It's getting late," she said quietly, "Why don't we go to the tent and get some rest?"
Rini nodded and got up. Serena took a hold of her hand and led her to where the tent was. They went inside. Darien was already there, studying a map. He looked up when they entered.
"We covered a lot of ground today," he said pointing at the map, "We should be able to find what we need by the end of the week."
"Great." Serena replied coming over and looking at the map herself, "You think we'll be encountering any youmas tomorrow?"
Darien shrugged, "Hard to say." He replied.
"Well," she said beginning to unravel her sleeping bag, "I don't know about you, but I'm going to get a good night's rest."
"That's a good idea." He agreed, climbing into his own. He blew out the candle that had been providing light inside the tent.
"Good night, Serena, Darien." Rini's little voice said sleepily.
"Good night, Rini." They both replied. Soon everyone had fallen into a deep sleep.
