by: silvermoon
"I'm sorry but I have to go." Serena muttered as she turned her back from Darien and ran away. She was getting uncomfortable with Darien's scrutinizing gaze and she knew she had to get away from him before she do something she would regret later on…like kissing him all over again.
Serena continued running her way towards her condominium, oblivious to the people staring at her. Emotions seem to have burst forth when Darien kissed her, overwhelming her. For the first time in her life, Serena Silvermoon found herself confused.
'Why do I have to feel this way? Why the hell did you kiss me Darien!? Am I falling in love with you?'
Serena jerked herself back to reality just in time to realize that she has reached her destination. She went in the building and used the elevator to her unit.
She tumbled in her room and immediately went to her closet. She stripped off her "girly" clothing and switched back to her baggy attire.
She plopped down her bed and got a pillow only to stuff it her face.
"Damn you Darien! Why the heck did you have to do that?" she kept on screaming until she felt her throat starting to get sore.
She then proceeded to punching the pillow until exhaustion finally took over her body. She collapsed back in her bed and tried to sleep. But it was impossible. All she can think about is a certain man with mesmerizing sapphire eyes with the name of Darien Shields.
Giving up her futile attempt of catching some shuteye, she got up from her bed and decided to go to the park to clear her mind once and for all.
People stared at her as she trudged down the street, but she took no notice of it for her head was cast downwards. No longer did she have the bearing of a proud socialite or a stubborn gangster but rather the bearing of a dejected woman.
Unbeknownst to her, a man with flaming red hair was following her.
Darien stared at Serena's retreating back and felt a strong urge to run after her.
'Cut it out Darien! It's only her! Remember you're a Shields, girls kill to have the chance to date you' He mentally scolded himself.
'Yeah but it also happens to be that she's the only girl that made me feel this way' he thought, finally admitting to himself the truth.
'Ugh! This is driving me insane!'
He went back to the Arcade and saw that Andrew was waiting for him by the counter with a concerned expression etched in his face when he saw Darien walk in.
"What's bothering you Dare?"
"Nothing. Can I have a cup of coffee?" Darien said as he sat in the stool parallel to the counter.
"Sure. Coming right up!" Andrew started preparing Darien's coffee and returned only to see Darien staring in space.
"Darien! Snap out of it!"
"You didn't have to scream in my ears Andrew. I can hear you perfectly fine."
"I know! Just felt like screaming. So spill. What's bothering you?" Andrew ordered, dropping his cheerful attitude. Darien merely raised his eyebrows at him.
"What's this? The Gossip Hour?"
"Yes." Andrew said using a tone that meant business and trouble for Darien.
Letting out a sigh, he finally admitted the truth. "I kissed Serena."
Andrew's eyes bugged out, not believing what his best friend was saying. "You're kidding…right Dare?"
"No."
"You like her?"
"Of course not. How can you say that?" Even though Darien sounded convincing with his stony and 'I don't care' expression, Andrew knew he was bluffing because his very eyes were betraying him. Darien's eyes conveyed a look that only madly in love couple had, a look that was very unDarien.
"Darien, I hope you don't expect me to believe you." Andrew said and grinned.
Serena has been wandering around the park for the thirty minutes, mindless of her surroundings.
She didn't notice that a group of men dressed like delinquents emerging from the shadows, slowly encircling her.
Serena only sensed the coming when they were already ten feet from her, already in a full circle with her right smack in the middle.
She alerted herself and in an instant she reverted back to the girl who was feared by everyone.
"Who are you?" Her voice was so cold that it was enough to send shivers down to her opponents' spines. The delinquents now knew why Serena Silvermoon is the most dreaded person in the street.
It was then that the small circle comprising of ten gangsters parted in front of her to reveal a badly bruised man.
Serena just stared at the man with all the hatred she could muster. She wasn't stupid, she knew that the man before her is the reason why she was wasting her time glaring at all of them.
"I'm hurt you don't even remember me, Silvermoon." The man said in mock hurt.
"It's really not that hard to forget with a face like yours. Let me be the one to tell you the harsh reality in here buster, you look like a nobody." She said dead on. The man growled in frustration.
"Are you turning in to a dog mister?" she asked feigning innocence.
"Cut the crap Silvermoon." He snapped.
"Skunk?"
"The one and only." He said smugly as he smirked. But the smirk disappeared with a look of pure annoyance when Serena started laughing out loud.
"Sure! The one and only Loser! Skunk!"
Skunk just glared at her and snapped his fingers. His fellow gangsters started closing in on her, obviously getting ready to fight.
"We'll see who'll get the last laugh later on Silvermoon."
Serena tossed all her fighting ethics aside and started her assault. She dashed to her right with her right hand raised and punched thug 1 squarely in the face. Thug 1 retaliated with a punch of his own but was unsuccessful since Serena was much faster than her and was able to step aside just in time. Serena grabbed his outstretched arm and twisted it until she heard it snap. Thug 1 howled in pain. Serena then grabbed his shirt and pushed him to thug 2 who was standing beside him. Thug 2 and the badly beaten thug 1 tumbled down the ground with a grunt.
Just then Thug 3 grabbed her from the back momentarily startling her but she was nevertheless prepared. She held on till the last possible moment and elbowed thug 3 in his solar plexus. She then stepped in his foot and shifted her body only to knee him in his groin. Thug 3 whimpered in pain as he collapsed in the ground, gasping for air.
His fellow gangster seeing his distress took a step back in fear. But one brave soul decided to test his luck and attacked Serena from the back.
Unfortunately Serena felt a presence in her back and she instinctively somersaulted away from her attacker. She noticed a knife was being thrust to her direction and escaped just in time. Thug 4 continued his futile attempts of stabbing her. After several unsuccessful attempts for thug 4, Serena finally saw her chance and grabbed his hand. She forced the knife from him and jabbed it to his shoulder. Thug 4 shirked back to the shadows where his fellow beaten brothers were recovering.
She was trying to regain her breath when she noticed a new thug in her line of vision. When he was barely four feet away from her, she performed a roundhouse kick to thug 5. Thug five stumbled back a bit but straightened up soon after.
'Shit! I'm already worn out but half of them aren't even down yet!' Serena chided herself for her lack of stamina. She knew that this fight might be her last fight.
She was preparing to execute her final attack on thug 5 when she heard a grunt from her back. She turned her head only to see a fist going straight to her jaw. The punch sent her staggering back almost knocking her to the ground. It was so strong she can already feel it starting to swell.
The gangsters took advantage of her predicament and started attacking her simultaneously. Serena got punched, kicked but she did not scream nor cried out in pain. No. She would not give them the benefit of seeing her in pain.
She lay in the ground, writhing in pain but it seems that her misery is not about to end any time soon. A man with a scarred face approached her carrying a double-edged knife. The man stabbed her by her left arm and she screamed in pain. It was then that Skunk called his brothers off that they stopped their assault.
He grinned at her when he saw the crumpled form of Serena Silvermoon, the most feared gangsters in the ground.
Although Serena was in deep pain, her senses were still up. She noticed Skunk reach for his pocket and knew from that moment that she was in deeper shit. She knew Skunk had a gun with him and would most likely use it on her. And she was right. Skunk took out his hand holding a magnum in his hard.
He pointed his gun at her and sneered.
"Any last wishes/requests Silvermoon?"
"Yeah go to hell." She croaked out.
Skunk kicked her stomach and she winced in pain.
"Better yet see you there." Skunk pulled the trigger.
"Arghhhhhh!!!!!!!!" Serena screamed in pain as blood poured out of her abdomen.
"This time I won't miss Silvermoon. Better say your prayers because I'm going straight for your head." Skunk was about to pull the trigger again but stopped when he noticed cops heading their way through his peripheral vision.
"Shit! Cops! Scram!" He hollered. He along with his fellow brothers scrambled out of the way in hopes of escaping. But it was useless because the cops have already circled the perimeter. There was no way for an escape.
Serena was trying hard to stay conscious when two medics carrying a stretcher appeared beside her.
"Stay with me in here. Got that?" One of the medics murmured as they lifted her from the ground to the stretcher. The medics ran past the cops to the awaiting ambulance that would take them to the hospital.
Serena tried to stay in conscious but she knew for a fact that she was fighting yet another losing batter for she felt herself slipping off to darkness.
The hospital emergency room was in frenzy when they saw the state of the girl that was rushed in.
Blood, wounds and bruises marred the girl's body, her clothes soaked in blood.
They transferred her to the operating room and immediately took the bullet that was in her abdomen. At the same time, a specialist was stitching the deep wounds that were inflicted in her body by the gangsters. Everything seemed fine but it was then that the machines started beeping signaling only one thing. Serena Silvermoon is in critical condition.
The hospital doors opened with a bang and in a flurry, Mr. & Mrs. Silvermoon along with Serena's friends and 'boyfriend' appeared.
"Where's my baby?" Ilene Silvermoon asked the receptionist. She was in hysterics since the time the hospital called and informed her of her daughter's condition.
Ken Silvermoon tried comforting her wife but it was useless when he himself was a wreck. When Serena's life is on the line, their lives were in shambles.
Deciding to take matters in her own hands, Ami took the initiative of asking before Ilene completely lost it. "Excuse me miss. In what room is Serena Silvermoon in?" Although her voice sounded calm, it was very much obvious through her eyes that she was in pain. The pain that was due to the severe injury or possible cause of death of her one of her best friends.
"ICU"
The group hurriedly made their way to the intensive care unit. People littered the halls looking, stressed or harassed. They noticed that some were crying, grieving the death of a love one.
Upon peering through one of the windows, they saw Serena lying in bed with dozens of tubes and machines connected to her body. She didn't look anywhere near fine at all. The girls cried in dismay when they saw the state Serena was in. Battered, badly bruised and in a terribly bad condition.
A doctor left Serena's room and the group took the opportunity to launch their barrage of questions but the doctor paid them no heed and continued analyzing the charts that he had.
"Doctor! How is my daughter?!?" Ilene asked frantically.
"Good evening. Mrs. Silvermoon I presume?" The doctor asked not even bothering to look up from the clipboard he was analyzing.
Ilene nodded but the doctor seems to have entered his own little world. This of course annoyed the Ilene. No one ever ignores a Silvermoon.
Ilene grabbed the man's collar and slammed him to the wall. The doctor looked up at her startled and tried to break free from her grasp.
"When I ask you answer." Ilene said in a threatening voice. Darien and the girls now knew where Serena got her genes.
The doctor nodded his head meekly and told them about Serena's condition.
"All right. Apparently, Serena got shot in the abdomen. She lost a lot of blood on the way here, which would explain why she's having a blood transfusion. Aside from all that, it seems that the bullet has hit one of her organs that would require medical attention immediately. Unfortunately we do not have the equipment or the specialist for her condition. Her body is also covered with bruises and wounds from head to toe. The good news however is that she is no longer in critical condition.
"Where can she be treated?" Ken asked automatically.
"In the United States. They have a lot of equipments that could help her recover as soon as possible."
"All right. Do everything that is necessary. Money is not a problem." Ken said. The doctor nodded. "There will be a helicopter that would be arriving in twenty minutes. From there, it will take Serena to the airport wherein she would board a plane going to the United States."
"Can we see her right now?" Mina interrupted.
The doctor nodded and left.
The group entered the room with Serena's parents leading the pack and Darien in the back in deep thought.
Ilene and Ken went to Serena's bedside just in time to see her eyes flutter and finally open.
"Mom? Dad?" She croaked out. Her voices sounded harsh even to her own ears.
"Serena sweetie. How are you?" Ilene asked softly as she blinked back the tears that were threatening to escape her chocolate brown eyes. She never felt relieved, seeing that her daughter's life was no longer in danger.
"Like Hell."
Ken managed to smile a bit knowing that nothing changed with her daughter. "Did the doctor tell you about your condition already?"
"Yes dad."
"Are you okay with it?"
"I don't have a choice."
"I'm sure everything will be fine Sere. Your Dad and I will leave you with your friends to say your goodbyes. And Serena better prepare yourself for a very long lecture."
"I'll try my best mother." Ilene and Ken each kissed their daughter's bruised forehead lightly, careful not no cause any more pain that she was already feeling and left the room quietly.
"Hey girls." Under normal circumstances she would have been laughing out loud on the state her friends were in. Disheveled.
"Sere!" Mina cried out. She was about to launch herself to Serena to give her a big hug when she felt her shirt being pulled back. She turned her head to see Lita nodding her head sideways.
"Mina. Serena's bruised from head to toe and not to mention badly wounded. Show some mercy to the girl. The hug would just add to the hell she's feeling right now." She scolded and Mina cringed, finally remembering why they were in the hospital in the first place.
Serena chuckled but winced in pain when her abdomen started throbbing in pain.
"Stop moving Serena." Rae barked as she noticed Serena's face contorted in pain.
"Yes master."
"Sere? Are you leaving for good?" Ami asked softly.
"Of course not, silly!" Serena said, trying to smile for the sake of her distress friend.
"Sere?" Rae said her voice barely audible. The girls took this a signal and left their places in the perimeter of Serena's bed so that Rae could say her goodbye in private. Among the five of them, Rae has always been the one closest to Serena despite their constant bickering.
"Goodbye Serena." Rae said softly as tears escaped her amethyst eyes. She gently squeezed Serena's hand.
"No goodbyes yet Rae because I know that we'll see each other again. I'll make sure of that. Always remember that of all my friends, you are the one that I would miss the most. You have always been my constant companion an I could not imagine living life with out you by my side, constantly bickering with me."
Rae laughed despite the situation. Serena never failed to make her feel better. After giving her a quick hug, she left before a new batch of tears escape her eyes.
Lita stepped in after Rae. Her usual twinkling emerald eyes were clouded with tears.
"Serena. I'll miss you. Take care of yourself and avoid getting in to trouble, got that?" Lita said softly as she gave Serena a peck on the cheek.
"I will Lita. Thanks for everything. And don't forget I'll always be you're number #1 fan. For me, you're the best cook in the world. Always remember that."
Lita nodded as she gently squeezed Serena's hand and left. Mina approached her without her usual mega-watt smile.
"I'll miss you so much Serena! I'll miss having you as a friend, a sister and as a roommate. You have always been my partner in crime."
"Ditto Mina." Mina carefully hugged Serena and left before she started bawling like a baby.
"Serena? Promise me that you'll study hard while you're away. Promise me." Ami said softly.
"Yes mom I promise!" Serena said sarcastically.
"Honestly Serena. You're the only person I know who could be sarcastic at times like these!"
"I'm honored!" Serena replied wryly.
Ami eventually left the room after giving Serena a light hug and promising that she would email her all the time.
It was only then did Serena allowed herself to cry. Life would never be the same again without the friends she considered as her sister beside her. They were the only ones who accepted her for the way she is and not as the rich kid in a country club.
Serena stopped crying when she noticed that she was not alone in the room. A figure appeared in her line of vision. Sophisticated, charming and suave. It was the person she least expected of coming yet at the same time wished to be by her side all the time. Darien Shields.
"Darien? What are you doing here?"
"I'm not a heartless boyfriend you know."
"Uhuh. I'll try to keep that in mind." Serena stared at him. He stood by her bedside, caressing her hand gently. Not a word has been uttered but it didn't matter. They were contented with each other's company.
"Serena? Can I tell you something?" Darien asked although quite hesitant.
"Sure."
"What the heck were you thinking to go against those gangsters? Can you imagine the scare you gave all of us? Are you insane?" Serena raised his eyebrow at him and he sighed.
"All right. I'm sorry I guess I got carried away. What I'm trying to say is that…I love you. And it drove me mad knowing that something bad happened to you and I wasn't even there to help you, to protect you from those people." Darien heard a gasp and glanced at Serena. Surprise evident in her features.
Serena ignored the pain in her that was slowly building up in her abdomen. She tried saying something but her throat was parched.
Taking her silence as a sign of rejection, Darien let out a dejected sigh and stood up. "I understand Serena. Goodbye and take care."
"Darien wait! I think you misunderstood. I think I'm falling in love with as well. Ever since that incident a while ago, I couldn't get you out of my mind. I felt emotions that I've never felt before and that scared me. I was wandering around the park and that was when I realized that I am falling deeply in mad with you."
Darien grinned. He reached up to her and leaned down, capturing her lips in a soul-searing kiss.
They eventually broke apart after a couple of minutes. They both had goofy grins plastered on their face.
"Serena? Will you be mine?"
"No. I'm sorry."
"No?" Darien was stunned.
"I'm sorry Darien but I just can't. Now that I'm moving away and my return still indefinite, it would be unfair of me to tie you down." Serena felt like breaking down to tears when she saw Darien practically falling apart with her own eyes.
"Don't say that. Please don't. When I kissed you back there in the alley, I knew you were the one. Please don't do this to me Serena." Darien begged.
Serena's vision blurred as she shook her head. Tears of longing, despair and heartbreak escaped her cerulean eyes.
"Please don't do this Darien. You have a life to live here in Tokyo." She whispered slowly.
"I love you Serena"
"I love you too Darien. That's why I'm willing to let you go. Maybe if we were to see each other again and our feelings are still the same then maybe we really are meant to be."
Darien got up and brushed the tears off Serena's face.
"I will always love you Serena. Come back to me again." Serena nodded and Darien turned his back from her and left.
"I'll always love you Darien. Always." She whispered to his retreating back.
A new batch of tears escaped her eyes as sobs wracked her body. The pain in her abdomen increased but she didn't notice of it as the pain in her heart was so much stronger.
Authors Note:
So what do you think? Love it? Hate it? Leave a review!
Wow! i finally finished this story after so many months! thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed this fic. You guys kept me going!
~~silvermoon