Title: Dream Diary Rating: PG Written by: Mistic (Misticlady) misticlady@hotmail.com

Chapter 6

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"Phew, it's just you."

"What do you mean, 'it's just you,' " retorted the peeved young man standing in the hallway, "Gee, man, you look terrible. Rough night?"

"Not in the way you are thinking; pervert," Darien growled under his breath. "What are you doing here? I thought you had a class."

"Ah, Darien, what day is today?"

"Friday-"

"Wrong-it's Saturday or had you forgotten that yesterday was Friday?"

For a moment Darien could only stare at his friend, dumbstruck by the simple statement. Had he somehow lost a day in taking care of Serena? Had they slept through Friday or was his memory just playing tricks on him? Could it be that he had just gotten so wrapped up in his own world the day before that he had forgotten the date. A nervous smile played across Darien's lips as he stated, "Oh, yes, Saturday and that means-what exactly?"

"Botany-you were going to help me with my botany," Andrew stated, his eyes sweeping over Darien's apartment, "Uh, Dar, can I come in or are you hiding something in there?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry, come it." Darien moved aside to allow his long time best friend entrance into his apartment, "Make yourself at home; just don't go anywhere near my bedroom." Andrew spun on his heel and raised a suggestive eyebrow, inching his way to the bedroom. "I-It's not what you think!" Darien cried, rushing forward and steering his friend to the kitchen, "I- it's just a mess in there; I haven't had a chance to clean up all the bandages-"

"What! You're hurt! How come you didn't call me! I could have helped you, maybe cleaned out your wounds-"

"Andrew! Andrew!" Darien exclaimed, exasperated, "I am not-I mean-I did not need your help. The injury was handled, and it has already healed-"

"Darien, how is that possible? Even the Great Tuxedo Mask has to have time to heal. You've never healed in one night-not if the wound had to be bandaged," Andrew stated, suspicion in his voice and eyes, "What are you hiding?"

"N-nothing," Darien squeaked, "I'm not hiding anything."

"Okay, I'll back off," Andrew stated settling down on Darien's plush leather couch, "for now."

A sigh of relief whooshed passed Darien's lips as he settled down next to his friend. For the next hour or so, Andrew was as good as his word; the two young men went over Andrew's notes. Darien explained the concepts, and Andrew listened-er-attempted to listen. However, his eyes kept wandering around the room. His focus lost to the idea that Darien hadn't needed his help. Sure the concept wasn't uncommon, but it was uncanny. Darien had never shown any healing abilities before-well besides healing scratches and scraped knees with the waive of a hand, but those injuries had never required a great deal of care. All Darien had had to do was concentrate and the injury would be gone. However, for larger injuries, Darien always needed help, and even with his friend's healing abilities it usually took a few days. Granted most of the injuries Andrew patched up would kill a normal human or at least knock them out of commission for a time.

"What is he hiding," Andrew muttered under his breath when Darien had left the room. "There has to be more to this than he's telling me."

And with that in mind, Andrew slithered slowly towards the bedroom door. There he paused, weighing the consequences of his actions against his curiosity-did the answer warrant the cost? And what would the cost be? A lost friendship? An argument? What? Did he care to find out?

Andrew glanced over his shoulder; Darien was still in the kitchen quite oblivious to his friend's inner turmoil.

"Surely, it can't be that bad," Andrew decided, lifting a hand to the door knob.

"Don't even think about it." The words sliced through the air like a perfectly aimed arrow. "If you value our friendship, you will not open that door."

Stunned, Andrew's door fell from the handle and just in time too for at that very moment the door swung inward revealing curious azure eyes and unruly blonde hair.

"I didn't do it."



~*~

Tension hung heavy in the air as Andrew took in the sight before him; he had known Darien had been hiding something but her? Why would he be hiding Serena of all people and more importantly-why was she wearing only Darien's shirt? So many questions and no answers were forthcoming. Serena seemed almost as confused as he was but how was that possible?

Abruptly, the sound of the telephone sliced through the apartment, causing all parties present to jump in fright and freeze in place. A second ring yanked Darien out of his stupor, and a shaky hand shot out for the receiver before it could ring a third time.

"H-hello?"

"Darien, it's Rei. I'm sorry to bug you, but Serena's missing. She didn't come home last night, and her parents are really starting to worry. I-I was hoping that you might be able to help."

Rei's concerned voice awoke a kind of guilt in Darien that he didn't even know existed. He should have called somebody last night; told them where Serena was. At least Rei-but then again the Senshi are so fiercely overprotective they probably would have taken her to the temple or worse yet the hospital. Then how would they have explained her wound? It was going to be hard enough explain to Rei and she knew about Serena's double life-what could they have told a complete stranger that they would have believed? Serena was far too young to be in police work; the hospital officials would never have believed that.

"Darien-Darien-" Rei's frantic voice broke through the guilty thoughts swimming within the confines of Darien's mind, "Are you still there?"

"Huh-yeah, I'm still there. I just spaced out," Darien stammered, trying to gather his courage for the Arian's reaction to his next statement, "Serena's here; I found her lying in the park last night. Something attacked her-"

"WHAT! AND YOU DIDN'T CALL US????"

Darien cringed, holding the phone away from his ear as Rei continued to scream into the receiver. She was livid just as he had suspected. Despite everything she had ever said to the contrary, Mars was the most fiercely loyal of all of Serenity's guardians; if push came to shove, she would be the first to die for her princess. Therefore, her reaction was both expected and normal; what was not expected was the volume with which she was screaming into the phone. The force of Rei's wail could almost give Serena a run for her money-almost.

"Rei-Rei!" Darien cried into the phone, trying to get the livid girl's attention, "Everything is alright; I'll take Serena home when she is ready. Just call off the search and tell her parents she is safe. Can you do that?"

"Yes, but why aren't you bringing her home right now? Why haven't would brought her home yet? What are you waiting for," Rei asked, suspicion dripping from her voice.

"We shall speak later, Mars," Darien stated taking on the commanding tones of his alter ego, Endymion, "for now know that she is safe." And thus, Darien slammed down the receiver, leaving a stunned Senshi of Mars staring at her phone as the dial tone rang in her ear.

"Mars?? As in, the Sailor Senshi of Mars?"

"The very same," Darien stated firmly, leveling a steady gaze on Andrew, "Turns out they've been looking for her all night."

"You mean the Sailor Senshi-but why? Why would they be searching for Serena-" "Think about it."

"How," squeaked Serena's small voice from across the coffee table, "How did you find out."

"Do you remember last night," Darien inquired gently, taking Serena's small hand in his own, "Do you remember what happened?"

"I-I was attacked; Nephrite-no-Zoicite attacked a priest that Molly and I had been speaking with, but he didn't know who I was. I-I don't know how I got away, but I did; I found a place to transform and ran back to the battle. Just before the wand healed the man, one of his razor sharp boxing- gloves grazed my side-I don't remember anything after that-only blurred images of your face."

"You truly don't know what happened after that?"

"I just remember waking up here, making my way out of your bedroom and collapsing." Azure eyes glazed over in confusion, "Why am I here?"

"I found you last night-you almost died before I could get you here-God, Sere, don't ever battle a youma on your own again; I couldn't bare to lose you-"

"I GOT IT! Serena's Sailor Moon!"

"No shit Sherlock," Darien roared, frustrated by his friend's lack of finesse, "I thought we already established that."

"But that would mean-"

"Don't even go there," Darien stated with enough force that he might as well have shouted it, "Don't even complete that thought."

"Gee, you're no fun," Andrew muttered suddenly finding the floor very interesting. "Hey, Dare? What's this?"

Two pairs of eyes flew to the black object in Andrew's hand. It was opened to the page that Serena had drawn only the morning before. It was the picture of her and Endymion standing outside the Moon Palace; the star locket clutched in her frail hand and his lips on her own.

"My diary," Serena whispered.

"A diary, huh? That's what you have been protecting so fiercely?"

"Yes, now put that down," Darien commanded again adopting Endymion's commanding tone, "if you value our friendship, you will put down the book and leave us for a while. Sere and I have some things to straighten out."

"Gee, sure man, whatever you say, but you owe me one-"

"And keep this conversation to yourself." Darien stated no less menacingly.

"Who would I tell," Andrew asked, looking completely innocent, "No one in their right mind would believe me." And with that, Andrew walked out the door, slamming it behind him and leaving two unsure young adults in his wake.

"How?" It was the only word that Serena's mind could form. "How did you-"

"Find you or find out about your identity?"

"Both."

"I'll tell you over lunch," Darien stated, offering his hand to Serena, "You must be famished."

~*~

"This is really good," Serena stated in between bites of ramen, "I don't think I've tasted better in a really long time. Thank you."

"Oh, you're welcome," Darien stated, pushing his bowl aside and leveling his smiling gaze on Serena's, "I'm glad you like it."

All of a sudden, a tingling sensation raced through Serena's stomach; that smile always got to her. She couldn't explain why, but it always did. Maybe, he was the one. But that would mean.

"How," Serena started slowly, closing her eyes and hoping against hope, "How did you find me last night?"

"You called me."

"Uh, Darien; does the term ambush ring a bell? I didn't have time to call anybody."

"I know," stated Darien with a patient smile, "but you always call me; every time you transform you call me. It's part of the link."

"What link; what are you talking about?"

"Our link; we are linked."

"Darien, you aren't making any sense," Serena whined, her eyes growing desperate, "What are you talking about? What link?"

"Tell me, Sere, does your forehead burn when you transform? Does your birthmark flare to life?"

"Yes, but how do you know about that?"

"That does not matter," Darien stated swiftly, pulling Serena up from her chair and holding her at arms length, "what does matter is the fact that the beam of light is your soul crying out to mine for aide, and the pain is my soul's response to your call-"

"I don't understand. Why would my soul cry out to you; we're worst enemies for heaven's sake!"

"Think about it; think about it really hard, Sere," Darien commanded, tugging Serena into a tender embrace and lovingly stroking her trembling shoulders, "who comes to your aide almost without fail when you are in trouble? Who is always there to catch you just before you fall?"

"I knew it; I've known it for sometime now. I just didn't want to admit it. I guess some part of me hoped it wasn't true, but it is. You're Tuxedo Mask, and he," Serena paused, her body shaking as she pulled back to search within the swirling depths of Darien's sapphire eyes for something- something she couldn't quite explain. "He is Endymion. You're Endymion."

"Can you deal with that?"

"Yeah, I think I can. Can you deal with my identity? Can you deal with Serenity being a part of a klutzy, ditz like me?"

"Yeah, I think I can," Darien replied with a lopsided grin.

"You aren't disappointed?"

"No, how could I be disappointed? You're a beautiful, kind hearted young woman with amazing eyes and a personality that makes people want to know you. Why would I be disappointed?"

"Because I'm nothing like her," Serena replied with a rejected sigh, her gaze resting on Darien's firm blue-clad chest, "I'm not graceful or intelligent or witty. I'm plain and ordinary and-"

"A beautiful young woman with a bright future ahead of her," Darien replied forcefully, "Don't be too hard on yourself. Serenity was older-"

"That's another thing-"

"Shut up."

"Huh," confused azure eyes clashed uncertainly into pools of sapphire. A tender smile broke out over Darien's face as he gently rebuked the young girl again.

"Shut up."

Warm lips crashed upon warm lips and all talking ceased for a very long time.

~*~

Somewhere, in the stream of time, a figure stood watching the kissing couple in an ancient mirror. Amber eyes twinkled with mirth and firm shoulders slumped in relief. She had finally succeeded. The Prince and Princess were together. Abruptly, the image in the mirror changed. The kissing couple was older, dressed in the garb of royalty. They were surrounded by friends and family, and four female warriors stood guard in the background each adorning the colors of their home planet. A sigh of relief rushed past pale lips as the figure closed her weary eyes. They had made it in time. The future was safe-at least for now.

~*~ Fine ~*~

Any questions? Email me at misticlady@hotmail.com. I hoped you enjoyed the story.