Chapter Eight

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Darien awoke to the soft weight of Serena shifting on his chest. Smiling down at the top of her head, he worked with her own movements to move her off him and onto the couch beside him. Though he was loath to leave her he had to, and lucky for him he always woke up early, so he didn't have to worry about the fact that his alarm clock was in his bedroom. Moving slowly he stood up, leaving Serena behind him on the couch. Looking back down at her one more time, he smiled to see that as soon as he had stood, she had rolled over to lay on the spot warmed by his body. Grabbing the blanket that they had both forgotten about the night before off the floor, he draped it over her before going to get ready for work.

Standing under the hot water of his shower, he closed his eyes and focused on the water sliding down over his skin. He could think of no better way to wake up in the morning other than having all the bodies tension washed down the drain with the dirty water. 'Except for maybe waking up to a beautiful girl in your arms, who loves you.' He had to smile at the thought, and he couldn't doubt it was true. Serena had only said she loved him one more time since the first, but she had said it at such a time that he couldn't doubt her words. There was no way anyone could ever deny the emotion that shined in her eyes whenever she looked at him, particularly when she smiled.

Shaking his head to clear it of its wayward thoughts he turned off the water and stepped out onto the shower mat. With the water stopped, he could now hear the beeping of his alarm clock. Cursing the fact that he had forgotten to turn it off so it wouldn't wake Serena, he wrapped his towel around his waist and opened the door to his room. Standing on the other side of the bed, hand hovering over the clock, was Serena. Darien smiled at her, amusement bubbling up inside at the blush that turned her face a pretty shade of red. "Are you going to turn it off?" His words broke her out of the trance that held her eyes to him. Her blush grew even deeper in color and her hand slammed down so hard he couldn't help but wince.

"I was just... I'm sorry.... I was only.... I'll go and start breakfast." With that attempt, she ran from the room, her sleep worn ponytails trailing behind her.

When Darien finally followed her out to the kitchen, he was dressed and ready for work. Sitting down at the table, he asked her, "Are there any headaches planned for today that I should know about?"

Serena looked at him in confusion for a moment but when she caught on, she laughed. "We don't plan the battles and there is no training today that I'm aware of."

"Good thing," he teased, "It's hard to think about you if I'm always getting

interrupted by having to go save you."

They stood up and were starting the dishes before Serena answered. When she did, it came in the form of a twisted towel hitting him in the thighs. Growling he began to follow her, stocking her around the kitchen and into the living room. She wasn't watching where she was going and he planned around that. With one last playful lunge to grab her she took one step back to far and he got to watch the surprised look on her face as she tumbled backward over the arm of the couch. Her legs still stuck off the end of the couch and he stepped up in between them, leaning down, he placed a hand on either side of her head.

"You think of me?" she asked. He hadn't expected her to say that and he answered her a little more thoroughly than he liked.

"At first I would wonder what it was about you, that even though I fought with you every morning, just the thought of you seemed to make everything all right. Then I would think about coming home, seeing you here, and knowing that I couldn't touch you. That you wouldn't let me. Now I spend my day thinking about coming home, walking up to you," he paused to pull her up so she was seated on the arm of the couch, with him still between her thighs, "and gathering you in my arms. Knowing that you won't stop me and no one else could. I dream about," now his lips were suspended just over hers and he could feel her breath as he spoke, "kissing you. Loving you." He spoke the last two words in a whisper just before his mouth reached hers. He wanted to linger but knew that if he did, he would get very close to being late for work. So instead, he cut the kiss off sooner than either of them liked. Lifting Serena by the waist, he helped her back to her feet. Holding her a little longer than necessary, he gave her one final, brief kiss. Then saying goodbye he hurried out the door for work.

True to his word, Darien did think about her most of the day. At least whenever he had a free moment. Mostly he thought about the amazing fact that all along he had known Sailor Moon and never even known that he did. Not that he minded. Knowing Serena first, he was able to relate her to the hero, instead of the hero to her. If he had known who she was to begin with, he probably would have expected her to do everything with the same efficiency that she fought the negaverse. He knew himself well enough to realize that and feel only a twinge of shame.

The day finally ended, though not quite as soon as he would have liked. He went through his duties at the end of his shift with a lot more enthusiasm than usual. So much so that his supervisor even commented on it.

"It's good to see you've finally gotten a life outside of this hospital," Brian joked, coming into the office just as Darien was getting ready to leave. "Who's the lucky girl?"

Darien's expression stayed indifferent but inside he was beaming. He was definitely the lucky one. "Just a girl I've known a while. Only, I didn't really notice her until now."

Brian chuckled, "She must be special if she's managed to take your mind off your work for the past week, like the nurses have been telling me. You may not know it, but you've just broken quite a few hearts."

Darien couldn't pass up the chance to get back, "Is yours one of them?"

"Not a chance," Brian laughed appreciably, "See you tomorrow."

A half an hour later Darien pulled into his parking spot and shut off the engine. It was only once he was in the elevator did he remember that Serena had said something about there being a scout meeting in his apartment, so that they could find out who he was. He knew she wasn't lying when he opened his apartment door and could hear the sound of teenage girls giggling, plus two other voices he wasn't familiar with. "Serena?"

His call was answer by a blond streak throwing herself into his arms. After a brief hug, she was tugging on his arm, pulling him into the living room. "I haven't told them a thing yet, I was waiting for you to get home. Sit," she commanded, then plopped herself on the floor at his feet.

"Serena! What is going on?" Raye demanded to know.

"Hold on." He couldn't see her eyes but he could tell she was looking each of them in the eye, including the two cats that were lounging on his pillows. "Remember, you guys promised not to say anything, not until I've explained everything."

"We remember Serena," Amy said for all of them.

"Okay, here goes," taking a deep breath she began, "Darien, I would like for you to meet the Sailor Scouts, warriors of love and justice." When Raye looked as if she was going to yell at Serena, the blond gave her a stern look that shut even her up. "Raye is Sailor Mars, scout of fire. Mina is Sailor Venus, scout of love. Lita is Sailor Jupiter, scout of the lightening and thunder. Amy is Sailor Mercury, scout of water and knowledge. Those two," she pointed at the cats, which were both looking at her with large yellow eyes, "are Luna and Artemis, our kitty protectors and advisors." She must have read his mind because suddenly she added, "And even though this is the one thing that you wouldn't believe me about last night, yes they can talk."

Darien looked over at the four girls that were sending hostile looks in his direction. Before he could say anything Serena was continuing, "Scouts, I would like to introduce to you, Tuxedo Mask." She looked up at him and he felt all his misgivings melt away in the light of her smile.

"Serena!" Raye yelled, "Will you stop dreaming!"

"Yes Serena," Amy agreed, "The probability of Darien being Tuxedo Mask are," she pulled a small blue computer and started typing, "very near impossible."

Darien saw Serena's shoulders slump and he reached down to wrap a comforting arm around her. Before he could though she jumped up and faced her friends, disbelief and anger shining in her eyes. "You guys don't believe me? I've never lied to you and now you can't trust me. Fine, I'll prove it to you!"

Sensing what it was she was about to do, Darien caught her arm. "Serena, there is no need for you to transform to provide proof."

The look on her face was clearly confused. "But I thought you could only transform if I did," she said, gazing down at him.

"No," he told her, "I can transform on my own. But there is no need; I have another kind of proof."

"What?"

"Watch," he glanced over at the girls, "All of you, watch." Cupping his hands together, he started to concentrate. Before they could see anything, he saw the vague shape of a rose appear in his hand. So that he could be sure they would see everything, he went slower than usual. Instead of just making the rose appear, he built it petal by petal. He could hear gasps from all of them, even Serena, but he paid them no attention. When he was done he held in his hand a blood red, long stem rose which just happened to be devoid of any thorns.

Looking up at Serena, he took her hand and placed the rose in it, "For you, my lady."

"I guess that is our proof," a male said. Darien looked over at the white cat, his eyes wide. "She was telling you the truth. We can talk, though with these girls, a lot of good it does us. Half the time they don't listen to us anyway."

All Darien could do was stare. Not only could it talk, it, or obviously he, had a sense of humor.

"Told ya, Darien," Serena sang in his ear. Then she turned on her friends. "As for all of you. How dare you not believe me!" Looking over, Darien say they all looked a little shame faced.

"Go easy on them Serena. If I hadn't seen you detransform right in front of me, I probably wouldn't have believed without proof either."

"Now I'm hurt," Serena joked.

"Not as hurt as your going to be," Raye threatened. "You could have at least warned us instead of just starting to tell Darien who we were. I thought you had finally gone crazy."

"Yes Serena," Amy added, "There was no need to be so secretive."

Mina was absolutely beaming, "Give her a break you guys. This is perfect. Not only does Serena fall in love, she finds out he's her dream guy."

"Mina!" Serena cried, clearly discomfited. She looked down at Darien, who

smiled at her reassuringly.

"So, I'm your dream guy?" he asked, feeling totally pleased with himself.

"Now look what you've done Mina. I thought he was bad before. He'll be intolerable now." She sighed dramatically and wiped an imaginary tear of hardship from her eye.

"Serena, I think it may be a good idea if we plan some training sessions, so that Darien can join us," Luna said, looking to Artemis to see if he agreed. The white cat nodded his head.

"I think that's a good idea," Darien agreed. When Serena groaned at the thought of another pain filled training session, Darien laughed. "I'll get to watch you run around in that short skirt without having to worry about any cardians."

This time the other girls groaned and Serena stuck her tongue out at him.

The whole room filled with joyful laughter.