Title: Winter Snow
Author: Crystal Saturn
Rated: PG
Chapter: 22- Tiny Miracles.
Last time on "Winter Snow"…
Every single memory of Crystal flashed in his mind. From every battle, to raiding the fridge at midnight. He remembered the first time he found out that Crystal was in fact "Sailor Crystal Saturn" and on that same night, she had found out his alter-ego. He remembered all the times he had confided in her with his secrets and thoughts, and how she had always been there for him and tried to help him out. He also remembered all the times he had purposely annoyed her, just to get some sort of reaction. A solitary tear escaped Darien's eyes
He was then snapped back to reality by the sound of loud sobs and a blonde girl, kneeling in front of him, desperately voicing her apologies. His gaze once again fell upon the petite, pale girl behind Serena and he closed his eyes momentarily
*This is NOT happening!!* Darien thought to himself, still in shock.
"Umm…" Mercury cleared her throat. She had her little digicom sitting on the palm of her hand. Darien and the other scouts except for Moon all looked up at the blue-haired girl. "I just thought that you guys would like to know that Crystal is still alive, barely." She informed, tapping a few keys on her digicom. Moon's sobs sobered as she looked over at Mercury.
"How can that be? That blow surely must've killed her! It killed the monster! That's how powerful it was!" Jupiter reminded.
"Yes, but apparently, Crystal had some sort of energy boost from a reserved source, and that's what's keeping her alive for now." Mercury frowned deeply in thought, looking at the screen. Darien then remembered that night when he walked into Crystal's room and she had a purple gem in front of her. She told him that she was storing energy for safe keeping.
"She," Darien's voice cracked a little as he cleared his throat. "She needs medical help. We need to get her to the hospital as fast as we can."
"You're quite right. I don't know how long this energy source will sustain her." Mercury nodded. Darien and the Scouts rose to their feet, all except for Serena who continued to stare into thin air. She was still sitting dejectedly on the ground. Silent tears occasionally escaped her eyes.
"Sailor Moon? Are you coming?" Jupiter asked, tilting her head to one side. She remained silent for a while before whispering another muffled apology.
"I'm sorry…" She whispered so softly that it was barely audible. "I'm sorry" She repeated, just as quietly. She continued to whisper her apologies, while staring at the air in front of her. Venus frowned and knelt down beside her. The other scouts formed a little semi-circle behind Venus.
"Sailor Moon… you have to stop saying that." Venus sighed.
"I'm sorry…" Sailor Moon repeated, not paying any attention to the scout in front of her. Darien momentarily closed his eyes, standing behind Sailor Moon. He looked down at her and sternly walked over. Venus instinctively stood up and took her place with the other scouts. Darien knelt down in front of Sailor Moon. Another tear rolled down her cheek but she didn't move. She didn't even acknowledge Darien's presence. He cupped Sailor Moon's chin with his right hand and lifted it so she was facing him. She blinked a few times.
"It's all my fault Dare, I'm so sorry-" Sailor Moon began as another tear rolled down her face and trickled onto Darien's warm hand.
"Shhh…" Darien gently brushed away the wet trail that the tear had made with his free hand. "It's not your fault. If it was anyone's fault, it was mine for not protecting you both. You can't blame yourself." Darien soothed.
"But it is my fault, and I do blame myself. If I wasn't so clumsy and if I wasn't so slow and stupid then she'd still be here…" Sailor Moon moved her head away from Darien's hand. She just couldn't look at him. Darien sighed and motioned to caress her cheek. He lifted her chin up once again, and looked into her eyes lovingly. He couldn't help it. She was hurting, and he did still love her, after all.
"Listen Sere, you're not slow, clumsy or stupid. You were just at the wrong place at the wrong time and Crystal is one of your Sailor Scouts. Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the Sailor Scouts meant to protect you, the Princess of the Moon?" Darien asked. The scouts nodded. "And I am supposed to protect you and the scouts. It was my fault and I take responsibility for not being there. I don't want you to blame yourself for this, alright?" Darien asked quietly. Sailor Moon nodded with tears in her eyes. Darien pulled her closer to him, for a hug.
"Now we have to get Crystal to a hospital as soon as possible so they can look after her properly now. I need you to be strong, ok?" Darien whispered into Sailor Moon's ear. She nodded once again and they both stood up.
"Moon Healing!" Sailor Moon gathered the energy of the Silver Imperium Crystal to protect her fallen scout. Serena and Darien looked at each other and for a moment, just one moment. They were so lost in each other's eyes that they had totally forgotten that they weren't a couple any more. Darien leaned over and caressed Sailor Moon's cheek with his thumb. Sailor Moon closed her eyes involuntarily, relishing the comfort of his touch. He pulled her closer into his arms, and they both met in a passionate kiss.
*It feels like I haven't kissed her in a whole Millennium! How I wish this would last forever. I just want to hold her, kiss her, to be near her. I just want to be with her again and love her* Darien thought to himself
*Why?* Serena thought to herself *Why are you doing this? I know you still love me so why did you lie to me and tell me you didn't?*
All four of the other Scouts gasped. They had heard all about the break up and knew that he still loved her, or at least a part of him still did. It was now confirmed that he loved her but the mystery remained as to why he played this senseless charade. Darien pulled away from Serena as soon as he heard the gasps.
*This isn't fair…* He thought to himself and silently walked over to his little sister's body. He lifted her up quite easily and was astonished at how cold her body was. It was as cold as the first time he found her at the park, in amongst the white, crisp snow. He remembered that day as if it were yesterday. A lot had happened, but more importantly, he found his only family, his sister, and if he didn't get her treated as soon as possible then she would be gone as fast as she came.
"I'll take her to the hospital." Darien swiftly transformed into his masked counterpart. "We need to hurry…" Tuxedo mask whispered coldly and strongly, with his back facing the other scouts. He paused, not hearing any objections, so he leaped onto the rooftops and began the fastest sprint of his life, to the hospital with the scouts dead on his tracks.
They arrived at the hospital rooftop and leaped down back onto the ground where they powered down and de-transformed back into their plain, human forms. Amy ran into the emergency ward first, asking for her mother. Amy's mother was, after all, a doctor, and it was by chance that she was on duty at the moment. Dr. Anderson came rushing out in a matter of seconds and began to order people around, calling for a stretcher. It arrived and Crystal was rested gently, before swiftly being whisked away.
"Amy, what happened?" Dr. Anderson asked her daughter as they moved toward the Emergency operating room.
"Mom, it's a long story that we'll explain later." Amy replied as Dr. Anderson nodded and checked Crystal's pulse. Crystal was rushed into the emergency room where Dr. Anderson and highly professional doctors and nurses tended to the pale young girl.
Darien paced around the waiting room, slightly trembling with nervousness, but he kept a strong face. The girls sat down on the gray blue padded seats of the quiet waiting room. Mina sat on the far right seat and leaned over so her elbows her leaning on her knees. She clutched her hands together in a desperate prayer as she looked straight ahead of her, teary-eyed. Lita sat next to Mina with her right arm sitting across Mina's shoulders comfortingly. She had her head looking intensely at the emergency door, a slight frown appearing on her face as she silently prayed that Crystal was alright. Raye was beside Lita. She had her eyes closed tightly and was trying to concentrate as a transparent tear rolled down her left cheek. Raye was leaning back onto her chair as she placed her hands lazily in her lap and leaned her head back onto the wall behind the chair. Amy sat next to Raye, showing no sign of movement. Amy stared at the Emergency ward door. She had confidence in her mother and her abilities, but the fact that the monster had used Jupiter and Venus's attack along with Crystal's made Amy feel uncomfortable. She knew the strength of the attack combined and she also knew that the only reason Crystal was still alive was because she kept stored energy, but that still wasn't enough. Crystal was running dangerously low on energy resources. The fact that she knew all this scared Amy but it scared her even more to know that there was nothing she could do to help her youngest friend. Serena sat on the floor next to Amy, with her knees brought up to her chin. Silent tears trickled down her cheeks and either fell onto the cold, solid white tiled floor beneath her or was soaked into the thin fabric of her blouse. Serena hugged her knees, hoping that Crystal would make it out alright.
Serena and Crystal had become the best of friends in the short time they had known each other. They laughed, cried, shared secrets, babysat, shopped, studied together and talked with each other about everything. Although Serena was older than Crystal by a couple of years, Serena still thought of Crystal as being the same age, even like sisters. They shared so much in common it was almost unbelievable. Serena didn't like the thought of losing Crystal one bit and so she prayed with all her heart that Crystal would pull through.
Serena's gaze fell upon Darien who was pacing around in front of them. His head was hung, his shoulders slumped and his hands were in his pockets. Serena could see the pain and anguish he was going through. Time passed by so slowly. 9:00…10:00…11:00…Midnight. Suddenly Dr. Anderson came out of the emergency ward, looking very tired. The girls stood up from their seats and looked up at Dr. Anderson. Darien ran over to Dr. Anderson and she looked down to the floor. Darien took that as a bad sign and he also looked down to the floor. Tears began to sting his eyes but he blinked them away quickly. He looked up at Dr. Anderson.
"What's the verdict?" Darien asked solemnly.
"Well…" Dr. Anderson began quietly and sighed tiredly.
Crystal Saturn
