Thanks for reading!
transcendent: Oh don't worry about it. I knew you would come back, sooner or later. Lol. I would bring the generals back, but I have limited knowledge about Sailor Moon (one of the reasons why the outer senshi aren't in this story, too) and I don't try to act like I know more about the show than I really do. Hell, I hardly know anything about fanfiction. For example, I haven't the slightest idea what OOC or OCC or whatever means. And what the heck is a Mary Jane or a Mary Beth or Mary Sue (stop me when I get it right). But—I digress. Thanks for the review.
ForgottenPixie: I'm glad you like my story. I aim to please. I'm sure your writing is better than mine, so don't worry.
Ali: Wow, where to begin? This is probably the greatest review an author has ever gotten in the history of ff.net (well, I don't know, I exaggerate, but it's pretty damn close). You're right, Mina's character was hard to portray in this story, because I didn't want her weak, yet I still wanted her involved in conflict. I personally like writing from her point of view more than Raye's although Raye's always sounds better. I'm trying to keep Lita and Amy as neutral as possible, though they have to say something on the matter, don't they? And score another one for Darien/Raye lovers! Thank you so much for reviewing, I really appreciate it.
Chapter Nine
I watched Darien sit against the tree for a half an hour. I don't know if he realized that I was watching him, or if I was even there, but I watched him and waited to see what he was going to do, because I didn't know what I was supposed to do. Had his feelings changed with the five words said spitefully by Mina? I knew she only said for the purpose of simply hurting him, I wasn't sure if he knew that, however. Serena was gone. As hard as it was to admit, she was not around anymore. I felt like the worst person in the world thinking that just because I did not want Darien to leave me. But I was desperate. Now that I had Darien back, even if it was only for one glorious moment, I wouldn't dream of letting him go again. I was lost with him yet I was empty without him.
After a while, Darien got to his feet and started walking away. I panicked. He's leaving me! Oh gods, he's leaving me!
"Darien." I called to him. It wasn't a frantic wail, like I thought I would have done, I merely wanted him to stop. He did, without turning around.
"What?" he asked softly. A raindrop fell onto my nose. I looked up at the source of the disturbance. I forgot that I had sensed rain. A crack of thunder resounded and the clouds seemed to rip open to release their contents onto the earth. Within seconds we were both drenched. I shivered, longing to be in his warm arms once more. I didn't dare move. I didn't know how he would react if I did.
"Now what happens?" He turned around. Rain plastered his hair to his face and ran in rivulets down his forehead and cheeks. He still looked amazing. I couldn't remember a time when he didn't.
"I don't always know all the answers, Raye. Sometimes you have to figure things out for yourself." He ducked his head against the torrent and kept going. I stared at his retreating back until he disappeared down the stairs. Several emotions flared inside me then, but I just stood there, staring at nothing, soaking wet and cold. Suddenly I let out a scream of frustration so loud the birds alighted from their trees, even in the rain. I lost him again. This time, though, there was no hope of getting him back.
I reached Amy's house right when it began to rain. It was a monsoon-like downpour that made everything you saw blurry. I was grateful for the shelter of Amy's porch.
I knocked on her door with determination. I now had a purpose, and that was to get myself heard, no matter what. I shouldn't have waited so long. Artemis was right.
"Mina! What are you doing here?" Amy sounded shocked and annoyed at the same time. Still, she opened the door wide enough for her to at least see me.
"I have something to tell you," I said solidly. She raised an eyebrow.
"Couldn't it have waited until tomorrow or something?" She glanced over my shoulder at the downpour and frowned slightly.
"No. I've already waited more than a week, that was already too much." Amy looked startled by my forcefulness. I suppose I never demanded anything of her before. And I especially never spoke to her like that.
"Well, I really don't have time—"
"Listen, Amy, I have been pushed around by all of you without so much as a hint of protest. And why? Why Amy?" Amy's eyes darted to Artemis. He glanced back at her, expressionless.
"Mina—"
"Is it because you're afraid of Raye? Is it because she told you to?"
"I'm not afraid of anyone," Amy replied indignantly.
"Are you afraid of the truth?"
"No, of course not."
"Then you have time to listen to me. I thought I was helping, but I was only making things worse." Amy sighed and shoved the door open all the way.
"You should at least have a chance to say something in your defense," she muttered as we walked past her.
"Thank you, Amy. I think Lita should hear this, too." Amy nodded, picked up her communicator, and called Lita. They spoke briefly, Amy simply told her to come to her house because I had something to tell them. Lita said she would come right over. When she was done, she sat down across from me, looking at the floor. I absently stroked Artemis's fur. My mind flashed back to times when we weren't at a loss for words.
"None of us truly blame you, you know," she said after a moment of awkward silence.
"You sure have a funny way of treating people you think are innocent," I said, tersely. I knew it was my mistake for letting this whole mess go on as long as it did, but I couldn't help but be a little bitter. I hadn't expected this sort of harshness from Amy and Lita. Darien and Raye, maybe, but never Amy and Lita.
"We didn't know what to believe. We didn't see what happened; only Raye did. At least that is what she said. So, we believed her. She sounded so sure of what she saw, and you weren't telling us anything to contradict her. We wanted someone to blame, Mina, because none of us wanted to admit that it could have possibly been our own faults," she raised her eyes to meet mine. "I'm sorry that person had to be you. I can't justify how you were treated, though; Luna made us all realize how wrong we were with that. But I'm sorry."
"It's a little late for sorry, Amy," I answered sadly. "From the both of us."
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A/N: Yeah, there's one more chapter after this, unless I decide to stretch it out. Then there are two. So, thanks again to my supporters. Do your thing and I'll be back.
P. Thunder