Old Friends
The Guardsman Chronicles, Chapter Seven
by Rick Federle
Azmaria paced back and forth, some of her warriors
watching her nervously. She knew that the Negaforce had enough
energy to make the transition to Earth and she knew it would when
it was ready. It was absorbing energy as fast as it could, but
wouldn't cross over unto it had fully healed from the damage it had
taken several years before when Beryl had fought against the Moon
Princess. The current estimate was that it would take at least
another year before the Negaforce would be fully healed and ready
to make the transition.
Azmaria's last ploy to eliminate the resistance that the
Sailor Scouts would present had been foiled by the timely
appearance of Sailor Venus, who had exploited a hole in the force
wall and forced Azmaria to drop it, causing the loss of another
dozen of her rather valuable warriors. Warriors such as Hurricane,
or those she had lost to the Scouts already, took time to train and
Azmaria needed several months to prepare them for the next
mission.
Azmaria bit off a curse as she recalled the events of the last
attack. If Beryl haddened had the bulk of the Negaverse army in
her throne room when it collasped, she wouldn't be wasting so
much time trying to eliminate the Scouts now. She continued to
pace as her mind worked on the details of another plan.
* * *
"YAAHHH!!!" Serena yelled as she leaped up from behind
the snow wall they were using as a barricade, a snowball in hand.
Her yell was abruptly cut off as four accurately placed snowballs
slammed into her, sending her flailing, landing in a cloud of
snowflakes.
"Man, we're getting creamed." Raye commented, glancing
over at Serena, who was in the process of picking herself up off the
ground.
"And you had to get Susan involved, didn't you?" Lita
glared at Amy, who just shrugged.
Serena crawled over to where the other three were
crouching behind the snow wall. "How bad is it?"
Lita poked her head up and quickly pulled it back down.
Four snowballs whizzed by where her head had been a second
before. "They're just standing there waiting."
"Inners verses Outers; whose idea was it, anyway?"
"Yours!" The other three girls reminded her.
Serena cringed. "Right, I forgot." She straightened back
up in her crouch. "On the count of three we charge." The other
three exchanged glances. "Come on, guys." Serena urged them,
packing a snowball. They hastily began to pack snowballs as
Serena began to count. "One, two, three, GET EM!"
The four leaped to their feet, a flurry of snowballs crossing
the space dividing the two groups as Serena and the others waded
through the snow toward where the Outers waited. Curious
onlookers hastily ducked whenever a stray snowball flew their way.
The barrage abruptly stopped as a snowball launched by Serena
crashed into the face of a black haired young man coming toward
them.
He wiped the snow off of his face. "Watch where you're
throwing those, Meatball Head."
"MUFFIN!" Serena yelled while the other girls turned in
surprise while she ran to him, throwing herself in his arms, sending
him toppling over in surprise while she covered his face with kisses.
"I missed you, missed you, missed you." She got out between
kisses.
The other girls hastily averted their eyes for the moment. "I
missed you, too." Darien reassured her after a moment, getting
back to his feet, drawing Serena up with him. "Wasn't exactly the
reception I expected." Darien commented.
"I'm sorry." Serena apologized. "Did I hurt you?"
"Not that I noticed." Darien kissed her once for
reassurance.
"We can go to the temple. We need to warm up and dry off
anyway." Raye offered.
"Thanks."
They had shed their coats and were sitting in one of the
back rooms of the temple where it was fairly warm to dry out.
"How long have you been back?" Serena asked after
everyone got comfortable.
"I just got back." Darien answered. "Now, you want to tell
me who's living in my apartment? And what's with the pictures of
Mina? There must be five or six of them. I like her, but not that
much."
"You mean you don't know?" Amy asked.
"No." Darien shook his head.
"What!?" Raye yelled. "Serena, you were supposed to tell
him!"
"I'm sorry, Raye." Serena cringed back into Darien's arms.
"I forgot."
"You forgot!" Raye let off. "You'd probably forget your
meatball head if it wasn't attached!"
Susan laid a hand on Raye's shoulder to still her. "Never
mind, Raye." Susan looked up at Darien. "We ran across a
survivor of the Moon Kingdom several months ago. We needed
some place to put him, so we ended up putting him in your place.
We weren't sure if we could trust him at that time."
Darien thought it over for a moment. "So, you rescued a
survivor of the Moon Kingdom."
"Actually, he rescued us." Michelle told him, drawing a
glance from Darien. "He shows up just in time to blast this
Negamonster to oblivion right before it could tear Venus to
shreds."
"And where is she?" Darien asked, glancing around. "I
don't see Mina anywhere."
"Probably out on a date." Lita snorted. "She spends more
time with him than with us."
Darien raised his eyebrows. "I take it that you still don't
entirely trust him."
"Lita doesn't." Alexandra put in. "The rest of us trust
him."
"Then who is he?" Darien asked.
"His name's William. Formerly of the Imperial Moon
Guard."
"About Lita's height and my build? Dark hair?" Darien
asked.
"Yeah." Serena confirmed. "Know him?"
"Yes." Darien told her.
"What!?" Everyone else cried.
"He was one of the Guard I knew from the Moon. I spent a
lot of time with him, when I wasn't with you, Serena." Darien
began to explain. "When I first got to the Moon, Serenity assigned
part of her Guard to protect me. The first one of them was a guy
named William. He had some rather unusual talents, even for a
Guardsman, and I probably learned more about the Moon Kingdom
from him than just about anyone else. He used to sneak me out of
the palace so I could wander around more or less at will." Darien
chuckled. "Never got caught, either." His eyes took on a sober
look. "But what about Mina? What's he doing with her?"
"They were in love on the Moon." Raye said.
"Or so they say." Lita added.
"Makes sense." Darien nodded. "I always wondered where
he disappeared to when I was with Serena. Now I know."
"So you actually know who this is, then?" Amy asked.
"Yes." William's voice interrupted the conversation,
drawing all eyes to the doorway where he and Mina stood, hands
clasped. He spoke again when Darien looked at him. "Well met,
my lord Endymion."
"Well met indeed, William." Darien said as he let go of
Serena, got up, and walked over to where Mina and William stood.
He offered William his hand.
"It's been a long time." William said as he shook the
offered hand.
"Yes." Darien agreed as the handshake broke. The trio sat
down in the circle, Serena ducking back into the circle of Darien's
arms. "Where have you been all these centuries?"
William wrapped his arms around Mina's waist, resting his
hands over her stomach as she leaned into him. His eyes darkened
as he answered. "The Negaverse."
Darien winced. "Must have been rough."
"You have no idea." William stated. "Torture then solitary
for a millennia."
"How did you make it?" Darien asked.
"My love for her kept me going." William patted Mina's
stomach fondly, drawing a smile from her.
"So, you're the one staying at my apartment, then."
"Yes. I hope you don't mind a roommate for a little while."
"You, my friend, no."
"Well, I'm hungry." Serena interrupted. "Let's go eat."
"Some things don't change." Darien said with a laugh, then
kissed her.
"You really do know him, don't you?" Mina asked as they
trailed everyone as they walked toward the restaurant Serena had
suggested.
"Yes." William told her. "With all the pictures of Serena
around the apartment, I figured that's who it belonged to. I
couldn't see Princess Serenity with anyone but Prince Endymion."
"And you didn't tell me." Mina pouted.
"I'm sorry, I forgot." William apologized, stopping and
taking her in his arms. He leaned down and kissed her. "Can you
ever forgive me?"
"Only if you kiss me again."
"Done." The two broke off at the sound of someone
clearing their throat.
"William, I need to talk to you for a few minutes." Darien
said. "Privately."
"Of course." William agreed. "Go catch up with the
others, love. We'll be along in a minute."
Mina gave him a smouldering look. "I want the rest of that
kiss later."
"All right, now get." He smacked her playfully on the
bottom and she gave a giggle then hurried after the others.
"You really do love her, don't you." Darien asked after a
moment, waving a hand in the direction they were to go to indicate
they should start walking.
"Yes, probably as much as you love Serena." William
declared, falling in step with him. "What name do you go by,
anyway?"
"Darien." Darien supplied. "Tell me what happened. From
the minute I disappeared into the ballroom up until about five
minutes ago."
With a nod, William told him about the Negaverse, how he
had escaped and arrived on Earth in time to save Mina.
"Quite a story." Darien said as William finished.
"Yes." William agreed. "This time, though, we don't have
to hide our love from everyone."
"It's almost like the roles are reversed this time. Serena's
father doesn't like me very much." Darien said with a chuckle.
William nodded in agreement. "Mina's parents know she's
finally seeing someone, but doesn't know who it is."
"I'm surprised. I would have thought she'd drag you by to
meet them."
"What is she going to tell them? That's she's really a
Venusian princess in love with a thousand-year-old Guardsman?"
"She'll think of something."
"I'm sure . . . " William trailed off abruptly, coming to a
stop.
"What is it?" Darien asked, turning toward him. Darien's
head snapped in the direction they had been walking at the sound of
a couple of explosions. Where the girls had already gone.
"Serena."
"Danger. Mina's in danger." William said as they broke
into a run.
The two ducked down an alley so they'd have time to
transform before they got to the battle, starting their
transformations somewhere in the middle. They skidded to a halt
as they came to the scene of a battle. Walls had been blown out
and in various places the street had been cratered.
The two blinked in surprise.
"What took you so long?" Sailor Moon asked as the Scouts
turned to look at them.
"Are you okay? What happened?" Tuxedo Mask asked as
he took Sailor Moon in his arms.
"I'm fine. We ran across a couple of Negawarriors out
collecting energy and when we attacked them we were ambushed
by a larger group." Sailor Moon explained.
"Almost got us, too." Sailor Venus clarified as the
Guardsman put his arms around her from behind. "I'm not hurt."
She smacked his hand.
"Just checking." He stated, all innocence. "I didn't see
anything, but I wanted to be sure."
"Tell me if this helps." Venus turned around, put her arms
around his neck, then pulled his head down for a kiss. The
Guardsman promptly interposed his cape between the two of them
and the others.
"Which reminds me." Sailor Moon began. She crooked a
finger at Tuxedo Mask, who lowered his head toward her.
"Welcome home." She said and kissed him.
The Guardsman Chronicles, Chapter Seven
by Rick Federle
Azmaria paced back and forth, some of her warriors
watching her nervously. She knew that the Negaforce had enough
energy to make the transition to Earth and she knew it would when
it was ready. It was absorbing energy as fast as it could, but
wouldn't cross over unto it had fully healed from the damage it had
taken several years before when Beryl had fought against the Moon
Princess. The current estimate was that it would take at least
another year before the Negaforce would be fully healed and ready
to make the transition.
Azmaria's last ploy to eliminate the resistance that the
Sailor Scouts would present had been foiled by the timely
appearance of Sailor Venus, who had exploited a hole in the force
wall and forced Azmaria to drop it, causing the loss of another
dozen of her rather valuable warriors. Warriors such as Hurricane,
or those she had lost to the Scouts already, took time to train and
Azmaria needed several months to prepare them for the next
mission.
Azmaria bit off a curse as she recalled the events of the last
attack. If Beryl haddened had the bulk of the Negaverse army in
her throne room when it collasped, she wouldn't be wasting so
much time trying to eliminate the Scouts now. She continued to
pace as her mind worked on the details of another plan.
* * *
"YAAHHH!!!" Serena yelled as she leaped up from behind
the snow wall they were using as a barricade, a snowball in hand.
Her yell was abruptly cut off as four accurately placed snowballs
slammed into her, sending her flailing, landing in a cloud of
snowflakes.
"Man, we're getting creamed." Raye commented, glancing
over at Serena, who was in the process of picking herself up off the
ground.
"And you had to get Susan involved, didn't you?" Lita
glared at Amy, who just shrugged.
Serena crawled over to where the other three were
crouching behind the snow wall. "How bad is it?"
Lita poked her head up and quickly pulled it back down.
Four snowballs whizzed by where her head had been a second
before. "They're just standing there waiting."
"Inners verses Outers; whose idea was it, anyway?"
"Yours!" The other three girls reminded her.
Serena cringed. "Right, I forgot." She straightened back
up in her crouch. "On the count of three we charge." The other
three exchanged glances. "Come on, guys." Serena urged them,
packing a snowball. They hastily began to pack snowballs as
Serena began to count. "One, two, three, GET EM!"
The four leaped to their feet, a flurry of snowballs crossing
the space dividing the two groups as Serena and the others waded
through the snow toward where the Outers waited. Curious
onlookers hastily ducked whenever a stray snowball flew their way.
The barrage abruptly stopped as a snowball launched by Serena
crashed into the face of a black haired young man coming toward
them.
He wiped the snow off of his face. "Watch where you're
throwing those, Meatball Head."
"MUFFIN!" Serena yelled while the other girls turned in
surprise while she ran to him, throwing herself in his arms, sending
him toppling over in surprise while she covered his face with kisses.
"I missed you, missed you, missed you." She got out between
kisses.
The other girls hastily averted their eyes for the moment. "I
missed you, too." Darien reassured her after a moment, getting
back to his feet, drawing Serena up with him. "Wasn't exactly the
reception I expected." Darien commented.
"I'm sorry." Serena apologized. "Did I hurt you?"
"Not that I noticed." Darien kissed her once for
reassurance.
"We can go to the temple. We need to warm up and dry off
anyway." Raye offered.
"Thanks."
They had shed their coats and were sitting in one of the
back rooms of the temple where it was fairly warm to dry out.
"How long have you been back?" Serena asked after
everyone got comfortable.
"I just got back." Darien answered. "Now, you want to tell
me who's living in my apartment? And what's with the pictures of
Mina? There must be five or six of them. I like her, but not that
much."
"You mean you don't know?" Amy asked.
"No." Darien shook his head.
"What!?" Raye yelled. "Serena, you were supposed to tell
him!"
"I'm sorry, Raye." Serena cringed back into Darien's arms.
"I forgot."
"You forgot!" Raye let off. "You'd probably forget your
meatball head if it wasn't attached!"
Susan laid a hand on Raye's shoulder to still her. "Never
mind, Raye." Susan looked up at Darien. "We ran across a
survivor of the Moon Kingdom several months ago. We needed
some place to put him, so we ended up putting him in your place.
We weren't sure if we could trust him at that time."
Darien thought it over for a moment. "So, you rescued a
survivor of the Moon Kingdom."
"Actually, he rescued us." Michelle told him, drawing a
glance from Darien. "He shows up just in time to blast this
Negamonster to oblivion right before it could tear Venus to
shreds."
"And where is she?" Darien asked, glancing around. "I
don't see Mina anywhere."
"Probably out on a date." Lita snorted. "She spends more
time with him than with us."
Darien raised his eyebrows. "I take it that you still don't
entirely trust him."
"Lita doesn't." Alexandra put in. "The rest of us trust
him."
"Then who is he?" Darien asked.
"His name's William. Formerly of the Imperial Moon
Guard."
"About Lita's height and my build? Dark hair?" Darien
asked.
"Yeah." Serena confirmed. "Know him?"
"Yes." Darien told her.
"What!?" Everyone else cried.
"He was one of the Guard I knew from the Moon. I spent a
lot of time with him, when I wasn't with you, Serena." Darien
began to explain. "When I first got to the Moon, Serenity assigned
part of her Guard to protect me. The first one of them was a guy
named William. He had some rather unusual talents, even for a
Guardsman, and I probably learned more about the Moon Kingdom
from him than just about anyone else. He used to sneak me out of
the palace so I could wander around more or less at will." Darien
chuckled. "Never got caught, either." His eyes took on a sober
look. "But what about Mina? What's he doing with her?"
"They were in love on the Moon." Raye said.
"Or so they say." Lita added.
"Makes sense." Darien nodded. "I always wondered where
he disappeared to when I was with Serena. Now I know."
"So you actually know who this is, then?" Amy asked.
"Yes." William's voice interrupted the conversation,
drawing all eyes to the doorway where he and Mina stood, hands
clasped. He spoke again when Darien looked at him. "Well met,
my lord Endymion."
"Well met indeed, William." Darien said as he let go of
Serena, got up, and walked over to where Mina and William stood.
He offered William his hand.
"It's been a long time." William said as he shook the
offered hand.
"Yes." Darien agreed as the handshake broke. The trio sat
down in the circle, Serena ducking back into the circle of Darien's
arms. "Where have you been all these centuries?"
William wrapped his arms around Mina's waist, resting his
hands over her stomach as she leaned into him. His eyes darkened
as he answered. "The Negaverse."
Darien winced. "Must have been rough."
"You have no idea." William stated. "Torture then solitary
for a millennia."
"How did you make it?" Darien asked.
"My love for her kept me going." William patted Mina's
stomach fondly, drawing a smile from her.
"So, you're the one staying at my apartment, then."
"Yes. I hope you don't mind a roommate for a little while."
"You, my friend, no."
"Well, I'm hungry." Serena interrupted. "Let's go eat."
"Some things don't change." Darien said with a laugh, then
kissed her.
"You really do know him, don't you?" Mina asked as they
trailed everyone as they walked toward the restaurant Serena had
suggested.
"Yes." William told her. "With all the pictures of Serena
around the apartment, I figured that's who it belonged to. I
couldn't see Princess Serenity with anyone but Prince Endymion."
"And you didn't tell me." Mina pouted.
"I'm sorry, I forgot." William apologized, stopping and
taking her in his arms. He leaned down and kissed her. "Can you
ever forgive me?"
"Only if you kiss me again."
"Done." The two broke off at the sound of someone
clearing their throat.
"William, I need to talk to you for a few minutes." Darien
said. "Privately."
"Of course." William agreed. "Go catch up with the
others, love. We'll be along in a minute."
Mina gave him a smouldering look. "I want the rest of that
kiss later."
"All right, now get." He smacked her playfully on the
bottom and she gave a giggle then hurried after the others.
"You really do love her, don't you." Darien asked after a
moment, waving a hand in the direction they were to go to indicate
they should start walking.
"Yes, probably as much as you love Serena." William
declared, falling in step with him. "What name do you go by,
anyway?"
"Darien." Darien supplied. "Tell me what happened. From
the minute I disappeared into the ballroom up until about five
minutes ago."
With a nod, William told him about the Negaverse, how he
had escaped and arrived on Earth in time to save Mina.
"Quite a story." Darien said as William finished.
"Yes." William agreed. "This time, though, we don't have
to hide our love from everyone."
"It's almost like the roles are reversed this time. Serena's
father doesn't like me very much." Darien said with a chuckle.
William nodded in agreement. "Mina's parents know she's
finally seeing someone, but doesn't know who it is."
"I'm surprised. I would have thought she'd drag you by to
meet them."
"What is she going to tell them? That's she's really a
Venusian princess in love with a thousand-year-old Guardsman?"
"She'll think of something."
"I'm sure . . . " William trailed off abruptly, coming to a
stop.
"What is it?" Darien asked, turning toward him. Darien's
head snapped in the direction they had been walking at the sound of
a couple of explosions. Where the girls had already gone.
"Serena."
"Danger. Mina's in danger." William said as they broke
into a run.
The two ducked down an alley so they'd have time to
transform before they got to the battle, starting their
transformations somewhere in the middle. They skidded to a halt
as they came to the scene of a battle. Walls had been blown out
and in various places the street had been cratered.
The two blinked in surprise.
"What took you so long?" Sailor Moon asked as the Scouts
turned to look at them.
"Are you okay? What happened?" Tuxedo Mask asked as
he took Sailor Moon in his arms.
"I'm fine. We ran across a couple of Negawarriors out
collecting energy and when we attacked them we were ambushed
by a larger group." Sailor Moon explained.
"Almost got us, too." Sailor Venus clarified as the
Guardsman put his arms around her from behind. "I'm not hurt."
She smacked his hand.
"Just checking." He stated, all innocence. "I didn't see
anything, but I wanted to be sure."
"Tell me if this helps." Venus turned around, put her arms
around his neck, then pulled his head down for a kiss. The
Guardsman promptly interposed his cape between the two of them
and the others.
"Which reminds me." Sailor Moon began. She crooked a
finger at Tuxedo Mask, who lowered his head toward her.
"Welcome home." She said and kissed him.