Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love

By Chibi J

Rated G

Alternate Reality

Edited by my darling Sailor Sista!

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or the characters. The "Bohemian Ideals" of truth, beauty, freedom, and love are known by many and are mentioned many times in books, songs, and movies. I, however, started writing this after watching Moulin Rouge. So, I suppose that I should credit the movie for sticking the ideals, which I believe highly in, back into my mind once more.

This is dedicated to everyone who ever believed that love would over come all obstacles.

*~*

TRUTH

Two hours later, the nurse pushed a man, half delirious-half awake, out into the lobby. Darien sighed to himself. Although the rest in the warm bed was a welcome change from sleeping in the streets, he secretly wondered about the woman whom he was told was taking him home. However, his mind was not with him completely and the room would not stop spinning. He registered being lifted from the wheelchair and placed into a car, but after that, his mind left him completely.

Serena sighed. How was she suppose to get a man that was taller than her into her apartment when he was asleep in her backseat? Although she guessed that he didn't weigh as much as a man his height would normally, there was no way that she could lift him.

Closing the door to her car, Serena trudged into her apartment building. Although she lived on the second floor, she walked up to a door on the first floor. Knocking for a moment, she awaited an answer. After a minute, she heard a sound behind the peephole. The door opened quickly after.

"Serena. What are you doing here?" A groggy voice asked. The woman that answered the door was a tall brunette with an athletic body. She appeared to have just woken up, although in was near 1:00.

"Hey Lita. Rough night last night?" Serena asked with a slight chuckle. Lita worked as a chef at a local hot spot. More or less, she also entertained. All of the girls employed at the restaurant/bar known as "The Hourglass" were beautiful. They not only served food and drinks, but also danced. One of the few clubs in the city that had female dancers that did not strip, the Hourglass was a place were anyone could come to unwind and watch a spectacular show.

"Yeah, Mina called off sick and I had to cover her portion of the show." Lita said as she wiped some of the remaining sleep from her eyes. "Hey, when you gonna come back and work again?"

Serena simply blushed. She had worked at the Hourglass a couple times as a waitress. Although she found it fun to dance and hang with her friends, she didn't like trying to leave the place. Unlike Lita, she wasn't strong and couldn't defend herself from the more over-eager cliental.

"Lita, I really need your help," Serena finally spat out. "I need help getting a guy out of my cab." She said, quickly realising that she should have rephrased her words.

"Really Serena, I didn't know you had it in you." Lita said with a chuckle. She quickly slipped on a pair of shoes and entered the hallway with Serena.

"You're a laugh a minute, Lita. Come on." Serena said with a sarcastic smile. They walked out of the building together, although Lita was surprised to see a man asleep in the backseat of Serena's taxi.

"Should I ask?" Lita asked, very unsure of the situation that her friend had going on.

"Some guy found him in here when I stopped to pick him up. I took him to the hospital and he has no where to go." Serena said quickly.

"Only you, Serena, only you." Lita said laughingly. "Well, he doesn't look to heavy. I'll take the upper body, you take the legs."

"Rodger that chief!" Serena said with a laugh as the two woman pulled the man out of the car.

"Feels like old times, doesn't it?" Lita asked Serena as they dragged the man up the stairs to Serena's apartment.

"Yeah, except Rei snores." Serena said laughing. Lita's laugh quickly joined as the two passed through the apartment door. "I think she's a little heavier too."

"Yeah, no kidding!" Lita said with another chuckle. "To the bed?"

"Sure. Guess I get to break out the sleeping bag." Serena said, more to herself than to Lita. Her thoughts were once more centered on the man that she had adopted. What was she thinking? Why had she decided to bring this man to her home?

"Well, I need to go get up for the day." Lita said, looking down to the nightclothes she was still wearing.

"Yeah, see ya later Lita." Serena said with a smile as she closed her front door behind her friend.

Serena stepped away from the door to the apartment and looked around. Really, her place didn't look much different, other than the body that was lying on her bed. Sighing to herself, Serena walked over towards him.

"Well John Doe, shall we make you a little more comfortable?" She asked, although the lightly snoring man would provide her no answer. She removed his shoes and jacket and placed them aside. Looking at the man, she realized that she knew nothing of him. The thoughts of him being a murderer quickly flashed through her mind.

Taking a few steps away from the bed, she rethought what she had done. Knowing that she had no choice but to harbor the man, she decided to be as safe as possible in the situation. She checked the pockets of his coat, finding only toilet paper and a half eaten biscuit. Satisfied with his coat, she did a quick pat down of his baggy clothing, again coming up with nothing. She sighed deeply, feeling bad for the man who didn't even carry a wallet.

Walking to the kitchen, Serena decided to take one last precaution and lock up her expensive jewelry (which was very little) and the knives. Finally feeling safe, Serena decided to get on with her day. It was overly apparent that she could not go back to work, so she decided to work on the painting she had wished to work on the night before. Slipping into an old white medical jacket with paint splattered upon it, she placed a set of headphones on her ears and began to paint.

Darien awoke to a pleasant smell. It wasn't the sterile smell of the hospital, but a refreshing smell, like flowers. Opening his eyes slowly, his vision adjusted to the room around him. It was obviously someone's apartment, but whose? As if someone had heard his silent question, the answer danced into sight.

Serena loved to paint while listening to music. Although classical was often her favorite, she often found it fun to listen to modern musicals. Currently, she was listening to a powerful song that would inspire any person to dance. Her paintbrush in her hand, she danced around the canvas in the middle of her studio. Every so many steps, she would pick up her paint pallet, apply a stroke to the canvas, and then resume dancing to the up tempo song.

From his view, Darien had sworn that he had died. An angel was dancing to welcome him to heaven. Although he found heaven to be a little different than he had imagined, he was happy all the same. His angel, although a little different than he'd imagined an angel to look, was dancing happily.

Serena stopped dancing and gave a soft sigh. The music on the CD had come to an end and a quick look to her watch indicated that it was time for dinner. Placing her paintbrush into a glass of cleaner and setting her CD player onto the table, Serena removed her painting coat as she walked towards her small kitchen. Taking a quick look into her near empty cupboards, Serena decided on chicken soup as opposed to another night of macaroni and cheese.

After placing her soup on the stove, Serena walked towards to her bathroom to freshen up. Passing by her bed, she saw a pair of eyes meet her own.

"Good evening." She said very nonchalantly, proceeding into her bathroom. Darien looked at her strangely, yet unable to find his voice. About three seconds passed, then...

"Ahh!" Serena screamed from her bathroom. Quickly dodging out, she looked at the man on her bed. "You're awake!"

Darien simply looked at the blonde angel. He wanted to speak to her, but felt that he couldn't make the words come from his mouth. So instead, he nodded.

"Oh, well, um...hi." Serena stuttered out, very unsure of what she should say to this man. "My name is Serena."

He simply stared at her. Serena wasn't sure if she should feel very nervous or unnerved. His eyes open for the first time since she had "met" him, she found herself looking into a bottomless blue ocean. Always one for eyes, Serena found herself momentarily lost in them.

"I..." Darien tried to speak, yet the attempt made him began to cough violently. Fearing for him, Serena immediately rushed to his side. Not knowing what to do, she reached for a tissue on the bedside table. She gave it to him, before remembering that she also had a glass of water there from the previous night. Serena reached over and grabbed the glass. In a hurry to give it to him, she spilled a little on the floor.

Darien reached for the glass and quickly swallowed down the water. His coughing subsided and his head fell back onto the pillows on the bed. He closed his eyes and Serena wondered if he had fallen back asleep again. She began to walk away when she thought she heard him. Quickly turning around, she found his eyes open again.

"Thank you." He whispered quietly, afraid to fall into another fit of coughing.

"No problem." Serena said nervously. Although this man had no more energy than that of a newborn kitten, something about him stirred her emotions. His voice, though quiet and rough, held a tone of appreciation and his eyes shone with sincerity.

"Are you hungry?" Serena asked quietly, afraid to make too much noise around her ill guest. He nodded his head yes and shut his eyes again. Serena had doubted that he fell back asleep, but figured that his eyes were probably too heavy to keep open for long in his weakened conditioned.

Returning to the kitchen, Serena removed the warmed soup from the stove and placed it into two bowls. Filling another glass with water, Serena placed the food items onto her Hourglass-serving tray (she had stole it as a souvenir) and carried everything towards the bed in the corner of the room. Setting the tray onto the chair by the bed, she went to her living area (the corner by the kitchen where the TV was) and grabbed one of her TV trays. She set it up next to the bed and placed the small meal on it.

Darien opened his eyes again when he smelled something heavenly. It wasn't the same smell as the taxi or the apartment. This was something different. He bent his head to the smell and felt delirious. He was not truly seeing food, not for him. He had gotten used to seeing others eat in café windows while he had nothing. He had learned to quickly pick up the extra rolls and biscuits left at the tables as the people left. But this was for him.

Serena smiled at the man when his eyes lit up like a small child at Christmas. However, she frowned when he made no move to sit up and eat. After a few moments, she decided that he was probably to weak to manage feeding himself and brought herself closer to the bed and helped him.

Bite after bite of soup, Darien closed his eyes in wonderment. The warm liquid slid down his throat, healing and comforting him in its way to his stomach. It had been months since he had had a warm meal and it was fantastic.

Serena had never seen someone eat in such a way before, at least not chicken soup. She imagined that his face was what she often looked after eating some of Lita's amazing cookies. The thought made her laugh out loud, startling Darien from his eating.

"Sorry, just thought of something." She told him with a laugh.

"This is wonderful." He replied with a little more voice than before. "Thank you."

"No problem. Glad to help." She said with a smile, realizing for the first time since she had arrived at her apartment with him that she was glad to help. Her early fears that she had made a mistake quickly dissipated.

"My name is Darien." He said, feeling more awake than he had in days. His mind was becoming clear, although the last thing he could remember was getting into the cab.

"Well, Darien, welcome. The bathroom is through that door." Serena said with a gesture. "Other than that, you can see pretty much everything from here."

Darien nodded his head, in agreement and appreciation. From the bed, he could see the kitchen, a small living area with a couch and one chair, and a large area with a painting canvas in the middle. To the side, by a window, was a desk with some papers, an old typewriter, and a laptop on it.

"How did I get here?" Darien asked, his voice was returning more towards normal, though it was still rough from the soreness in his voice. Serena quickly retold the tale of how his was found in the backseat, went to the hospital, and came to her home.

"Lita, my friend that lives downstairs, helped me carry you up." Serena finished. As if somehow cued that the story was finished, there was a knock at the front door. Looking quickly at the clock, she noticed it was nearing 7:00. She walked towards her door and looked through the peephole. Giving a sigh, she opened the door.

"Okay girl...dish!" A bright, bubbly blonde that seemed to look a lot like Serena bounced into the room. Following here was a much more quiet Lita.

"Mina, chill!" Serena practically shouted at the hyperactive girl. "What's up?"

"Lita told me that you had a dark, handsome, mysterious guy up here." Mina said with a gale of laughter. Serena slapped a hand to her head and looked at Lita.

"I didn't say anything like that Serena. You know it." Lita said with a sigh and a look of sincerity.

"I'm sure you didn't." Serena said and looked behind her to see Mina sneaking over towards her bed, where Darien lay unsuspecting. "Mina." Serena said pleading, although it fell onto deaf ears.

Mina walked over to where Darien was laying on the bed and crouched down to his eye level, which she was surprised to find open. "Hey Lita! He's awake!" She yelled in a very loud voice, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. Darien cringed at the loud voice and suddenly felt like an exhibit in the zoo that excited little children.

"Mina!" Serena abashed her friend as she walked over to the bed. "Sorry Darien." Serena said with a small smile.

"Darien." Mina said as if she were trying the name out. "Sounds good."

"Mina." Lita said as she reached down to pick her friend up from her squatting position. "He's a human, not a puppy." Lita said as she playfully smacked her friend.

Serena decided that, although she knew the man no better that her friends, she should introduce everyone. After a couple minutes of talking, Serena noticed that Darien's eyes had shut. Motioning to her friends, the other two girls looked down to see him asleep. Nodding their heads in understanding, the three girls walked over to the door.

"Well, enjoy work." Serena said with a smile, knowing that they both liked their job.

"Sure will!" Mina said with a giggle. Then she suddenly sobered. "Be careful girl." She said and reached out her arms to hug her friend. Returning the hug, a smile came to her face.

"I will. Don't worry about me." She said as she closed the door. Checking once more to see that Darien had actually fallen asleep, Serena went and sat on her couch. After watching television for some time, she fell asleep.

*~*