By noon of their first day Serena was already glad she hadn't been caught earlier. Because they were not allowed to use their powers, they had to have their hands chained behind their backs. Of course then they could do no physical work, so they had to march around the perimeter of the camp. They were quiet as they passed guard houses (Lita had been beaten for talking earlier), but once they were out of hearing distance they would whisper plans of escape.

"Those idiots," Raye muttered. "I can melt these chains away into nothing. If I wanted to escape they could not stop me."

"We need not worry about escaping," Serena said. "Our liberators will come."

"How do you know?"

Serena, who was at the front of their marching line, just looked over her shoulder with a glint of mischief in her eye. It was both unsettling, and good to see it there. They passed a guardhouse and looked down. They feigned fatigue and desperation. Once out of hearing distance they started up again.

"I don't like that look," Mina said.

"Just trust me."

"Tell us, and we'll trust you."

Serena gave them a look. "Air does not tell you if it will be there to breath, but you trust that it will be there. Trust me the same way."

They rolled their eyes and looked away. However, this was not a solution. To look away from the back of the next person's head was to go from a dreamless sleep to a nightmare. They would have to face the people of this camp, the tired, hungry, hard-working innocent people forced to do the labor of their enemies. They quickly turned their eyes back.

Raye wondered to herself how Serena did it, for she had no head to look at. Only people. They'd been marching since before the sun appeared in the sky and now it was straight above them. No shadows were left and it beat down upon their shoulders. Sweat coated their skin, and their clothes stuck to them uncomfortably.

They recieved lunch soon, though they had to stand while eating. If you could call it eating. They got a hot bowl of mud-colored soup, and a chunk mushy bread. It was Mina's good fortune to get a peice of meat in her soup, while Raye lucked out and found a baby carrot.

Then it was back to the boring, grueling task of marching around the perimeter. Their chains were getting more and more heavy, and clanked together in a rhythm that soon got stuck in their heads. They got another round of soup and bread and then were sent back to their cots. They stood in front of the makeshift beds, still chained, and waited to be released from them and sent to sit down. Their legs and feet ached, for they'd surely walked miles.

Commander Olyn came and walked in front of them. Lita took a chance and spit behind him as he passed. It narrowly missed his boot.

He looked at the spot where her spit was sitting then looked up at her. "Aren't you going to share?" he asked. "If you can spit on me, you can spit on each of your friends as well."

Lita turned to them and frowned.

"Well, come on! Spit!"

The whole bunkhouse turned to look at them and craned their necks to see what she would do.

"No," Lita whispered after tension-filled silence.

"What?"

"I said no!" she yelled.

"No?"

"No!"

Commander swung around and cuffed Lita in the ear. She fell, causing the rest of them to topple off balance. She looked up at him and her face wrinkled in anger. Her hair started to raise with static electricity and a faint rumbling of thunder could be heard. It crescendoed, louder and louder, until it seemed to be in the room with them. The women in the bunkhouse hid behind each other, and gripped themselves.

"Lita," Amy said gently. "No lightening."

Lita, however, did not listen. Olyn pulled a baton out of his belt and raised it. He started to bring it down when Serena yelled.

"Stop!" she screamed, and her voice echoed with power. Her own hair start to raise and her aura flared. Olyn stopped, and turned his head to look at her, aglow with magic.

He knew he should finish swinging. The punishment was right, but he could not ignore her. The anger, the hurt, everything inside of her rippled through the air. It hit everyone at the same time their hearts pulsed.

Serena felt stronger than she had even been, and she sent magic through her hands. The metal cracked, then shattered like it was glass. She brought her hands out and stood freely, independent and alone. She let her powers dissipate and her aura disappeared.

"Take not your anger out on them, but me instead."

He shook his head and released the rest of them from their chains. He began to walk out, stopped, and then turned.

"You better get out of here fast," he said. "Because I can't keep you here forever."

They nodded, and he melted into the dark of the night. They all slipped into their cots, and fell asleep almost immediately.

Except for Serena.

Her mind went out across the fields and forests, to the Prince. She found him sitting in his tent once again, for their whole camp was silent. He looked up at her and smiled a small smile.

"We're twenty miles south of Crescent," she said to him. He looked surprised.

"You found out your location?"

"Yes. But you have only two days to get here and then I will be gone."

He nodded. "We're about ten miles north of the village Crescent."

Serena gasped. "My home..." She flew from the tent and looked around the field they were staying in. A hill stood in the distance. She ran, closely followed by the prince, up the hill and over it. There they sat, the guesthouse and her home. She hurried down the hill and into her home. It was still in desolute condition, dust coating the broken chairs and more.

The prince stepped in behind her.

"You lived here?"

She nodded. She walked silently around the home. The memories laying under the dust rose up like ghosts and she savored them. The life that she once had, everything that used to be so good; they were all in this house. She looked over both the up and downstairs, and tears started to fall from her eyes.

Darien watched them cascade over her eyes lashes, then drift down her cheek. He took a step forward and touched her cheek with his hand. He wiped the tears away with her thumb.

"I'll be there tomorrow. I promise."

She leaned into his hand. It was warm and fit her cheek just perfectly. She suddenly found herself with her arms wrapped around him, her face pressed into his chest. He laid his hands tenatively on her back, and stroked her hair. She longed to stay there, for it was comforting, but her body was tugging on her to return. She looked up at him through tears and whispered a good-bye.

And then she was gone.

Author's Note: Sorry it took sooo long. I've been a teensy bit stressed lately. I know it's short, too, but I couldn't go any farther right now. I promise to get the next chapter up ASAP, but I wouldn't expect any time before Saturday night. Please review!

And thank you to XenaTBear for the summary!

Until the next time,

Ai No Senshi