The petals fell off of the rose, and Serena watched as the wind
carried them away, one by one, flying away into the distance...

"I love you, Darien!" Serena cried as she held his head against her,
"Don't leave me, please!"

But he couldn't hear her.

"I love you, Darien..."

..
..
Insecurity
by Phantasy Star
--------------------

Chapter Four
..

"Darien..." Serena whispered, "Darien..."

Amy looked at her leader, crying and holding Darien's battered body.
She looked up at Wicked Lady with determined eyes. She had to
protect the Princess.

Then, to her surprise...

"What... what's happening to me...?" Wicked Lady cried angrily as her
body seemed to fade and then reappear again, only to phase out once
more.

Serena clutched Darien's body close to her

"I'm sorry, Darien..." she murmured.

"What's going on?" Wicked Lady screamed as she clutched her chest,
"I... I'm disappearing!"

Amy gasped.

"It's Darien," she said softly to the others, "Because Darien died...
Rini was never born..."

Lita bit her lip, "Oh no..."

Suddenly, laughter rang through the sky.

"How entertaining to watch!" a deep breathy voice rasped, "A daughter
killing her past father so that she herself would cease to exist!"

"Wiseman," Lita muttered.

"Wrong," the figure said as it floated down from the sky, "I... am...
Chaos..."

"Chaos?" Mina whispered, "I've... I've heard of you."

"What is he?" Lita asked, turning to look at the blonde scout.

"The ultimate evil," Mina replied, "I don't know much about it, but...
It supposedly started the Sailor Wars... long time ago. Artemis told
me it was probably a legend... I guess it's true then."

Lita looked up at the figure and narrowed her eyes, "Whatever it is,
it's still our job to take care of it."

She closed her eyes, "Nobody messes with my friends..."

"I'm with you," Amy agreed.

"Jupiter... Oak... Evolution!"

"Mercury... Aqua... Rhapsody!"

A streak of ice water emerged and swirled towards Chaos, filled with
green, electrical energy.

An explosion sounded, but when the mist was gone, Chaos still hung
in the sky as before.

"Silly girls," the voice rasped out, "You can't stop me."

The hooded figure threw down a stream of black energy, striking the
ground and splitting it open.

"Amy, Lita!" Venus cried.

The ground opened up and swallowed Mercury and Jupiter.

- - - - -

Raye gasped, her blood suddenly running cold.

'No!' she thought, 'Something's happened already! I may be too late...'

She trudged on, limping down the crosswalk.

'I've got to try anyway...' she thought, 'I'm almost there...'

She coughed and felt faint.

'Wait for me, Princess.'

- - - - -

Serena's mouth hung slightly open, staring at the crevices of the
ground, where Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter had just stood.

Then she heard a faint voice calling her, in a distance.

'I'm with you, Princess,' Amy whispered.

'Fight hard for us,' Lita's voice came softly.

"No, Amy! Lita!" Serena cried.

She froze in horror when she saw the dark figure floating towards
her and Mina.

"Your turn, Moon weakling..." it breathed.

Without warning, Chaos released a globe of dark energy which flew
down towards Serena.

"Mars... Flame... Sniper!"

A red, fiery arrow hit the black energy and separated it into a
thousand directions.

"Thought you could use my help!" Raye announced.

"Good," Venus said, "I need you to get Serena out of here."

"What?" Serena demanded.

"You've got to go," Mina said, "There's no way we can beat this thing,
not yet anyway."

"Then we go together," Serena said.

"We won't make it very far," Mina pointed out, "Now come on, I think
I can take care of it. Raye, hurry up. Go find Luna and Artemis."

Sailor Mars nodded and grabbed Serena's arm, pulling her away.

"No!" Serena screamed, "No, Mina! It's not going to work!"

Raye refused to let go as Mina ran off, towards the dark figure in
the sky.

"I'm ready for you, Chaos!" she shouted.

"You wish to play, little girl?"

"You bet! Venus... Creasant beam..."

Mina held the energy in her fingertip and raised her other hand.

"Venus... Love chain..."

'This has to work...' Mina prayed, her arms raised above her.

"Venus... Love and Beauty..."

She focused all three attacks on the hooded figure above her.

"Strike!"

Immediately, a giant beam of glowing energy emerged, surrounded by a
chain of golden hearts and diamonds.

The whole sky lit up with a bright yellow and white colour.

Mina screamed as the blast knocked her to the ground.

- - - - -

Raye and Serena gasped when they heard the huge explosion. The sky
glowed an eerie golden colour.

Then Serena heard Mina's voice.

'Good luck, Serena...'

"No, Mina..." Serena whispered as she dropped to the ground, covered
in sobs.

"We don't have time for this," Raye said impatiently, "We've got to
keep moving."

"We should go back!" Serena cried through tears, "Maybe Darien's okay,
maybe Amy and Lita are fine! Maybe Mina-"

SMACK!

She gasped and lifted a hand to her face where Raye had just slapped
her.

"Serena," Raye said angrily, "Do you think that would be really the
best idea? We'll just die sooner!"

She froze as she felt a presence behind her.

"But why prolong death?" a dark voice whispered mockingly.

Raye turned around and face Chaos.

"Guess it's my turn," Raye said with a determined smile.

"No, we fight him together..." Serena said softly.

"Serena," Raye said, "You're the Princess. It's my job to protect
you."

"But we'll be stronger if we attack at the same time!"

"You're our secret weapon," Raye said, "We don't let you out unless we
absolutely have to. Now, I think I can handle this ugly freak with no
problem, so just leave it to me, okay?"

"Raye..." Serena said softly.

"Let's play!" Raye shouted as she looked up at the dark figure,
"Mars... Flame... Sniper!"

The arrow was about to hit the enemy when it suddenly broke in half.

"What the..." Raye said, biting her lip, "Mars... Flame... Sniper!"

"Give up, little girl," Chaos breathed, as the arrow was bent in
midair again.

"It's not working," Serena said, afraid.

"Third time's the charm!" Raye said, "Mars... Flame... SNIPER!"

This time, rings of fire energy surrounded the arrow, and the Doom
Phantom teleported itself quickly away, but not quick enough to avoid
the arrow piercing its skin.

The cape was pulled away, revealing a skull and a cloud of dark energy
surrounding it.

"You'll pay for that..." the dark voice whispered.

Raye's eyes widened in horror as suddenly, she felt dark energy
coursing through her body.

"Ungh..." she said softly as she dropped to the ground, biting her
tongue in pain. Suddenly, darkness enveloped her. She was trapped
in a pillar of black energy that reached to the sky.

"Raye!" Serena cried, running to her side.

"No, get away!" Raye screamed, "Don't come into the dark cloud!"

In an instant, the darkness had disappeared, and Raye lay on the
ground, hardly breathing.

"Raye, don't leave me!" Serena cried as she ran to Raye's side.

"Be strong, Serena," Raye whispered, trying to breathe, "You... can
beat this..."

"Raye..." Serena whispered, taking her hand in hers.

"I believe in you, Meatball Head..."

Then she gasped again, and her eyes closed.

"Raye..." Serena said softly, tears falling freely now.

"Now, Princess..." Chaos' voice rang out, "Isn't it your turn?"

With a sniffle, Serena stood up. She lifted one hand to wipe away
the few remaining tears on her face.

"I'm going to defeat you, Chaos," she said softly.

"You? Defeat me?"

"That's right," Serena said quietly, "You took away my best friends,
the daughter I haven't had but already love so much, and the man I love
more than life itself."

She looked up at Chaos with determination in her eyes, "I can't let
you take away any more people that I love!"

She gasped as voices entered her head.

'That's right, Serena,' Amy's voice whispered, 'I know you can do
this.'

'Don't tell me we came all this way to get our butts kicked,' Raye's
voice muttered.

'Go get him, girlfriend,' Lita said softly.

'Right,' Mina added, 'We'll be with you the whole way.'

Serena nodded, "Thanks, guys."

'I'm with you, love...' the last voice came.

"Dar... Darien..." Serena whispered.

Then, she looked up at Chaos.

"I'm Sailor Moon!" she cried, feeling her strength restored,
"Champion of Love and Justice! In the name of the Moon, I shall
right wrongs and triumph over evil."

She looked up at the evil figure angrily, "And that means you!"

Slowly, she opened her locket and carefully removed the Silver
Imperium Crystal.

"Die!" Chaos' roared, as immediately, a dark pillar surrounded
Sailor Moon.

When it was gone, Serenity stood there, white dress flowing, the
Silver Crystal ready in her hands.

"Moon... Crystal..."

She felt the warmth of the globe in her hand.

"Power!"

Chaos threw out dark energy of its own, and it descended upon the
Princess.

"I need your help, guys!" Serenity cried.

Slowly, the crystal changed colour. First blue, then green, then
yellow, then red, and finally black.

Serena struggled to focus all of her energy on the crystal, and
everyone else's.

"I will defeat you, Chaos!" Serena shouted.

A huge wave of light emerged from the crystal, and flooded over the
sky and towards Chaos. Finally, it covered the dark cloud up.

"How can this be?" Chaos' voice rang out, "Nooooooooo!"

- - - - -

Luna shielded her eyes with her paw as light filled the sky. Then,
she opened her mouth in shock as she heard a deep cry of pain and
anguish thundering through the whole city.

"That must have been Chaos," Artemis said.

Luna nodded, "The energy... It swallowed up the whole Dark Gate."

Artemis looked down at the floor.

"I guess that means... the Scouts..."

Luna began to cry, "Oh, Serena..."

"They won," Artemis said with a sad smile, "They beat the ultimate
evil..."

"I..." Luna said as her tears wet her fur.

"Luna..." Artemis whispered.

"I just want to see that silly girl again!" Luna whispered.

"You guys..." Artemis said as he looked at the sky filled with stars,
"Please... find some way to come back to us..."

- - - - -

The white beam of energy slowly grew wider, swallowing up every rock
and loose piece of land around the Dark Gate.

Before the beam could reach the Sailor Scouts' bodies, a white light
emerged and transported them away. White energy surrounded Darien's
body, before he too vanished completely.

Slowly, the light began to fade, and the sky returned to its original
black colour, leaving a barren wasteland where the Dark Gate used to be.

------
EPILOGUE
------

"Arrughhh! I'm late for school!"

Serena grabbed her bag and put a sandwich in her mouth, "'Bye mom!
Thanks for lunch!"

Before her befuddled mother could reply, Serena had disappeared
through the doorway and was speeding down the street.

"Hey, watch it!" an angry voice cried.

------
------

"Uh, sorry..." Serena said to the black-haired priestess, who was
coughing as she struggled to see through the thick layers of smoke
Serena had kicked up as she ran.

"Watch where you're going, you wacko!" she said. Then she turned
and walked the other way, muttering something that sounded like
'meatball brains'.

Serena stared after her for a second. Then, she shook her head and
picked up her feet.

'I've got to hurry!'

Then she spotted a blue-haired girl walking slowly, half a block in
front of her.

"Amy?"

------
------

"Huh?" she said as she turned around, "Oh... Your name's Serena, isn't
it?"

"That's right," Serena said with a smile, "Wow, you don't seem to be
afraid of being late..."

"Oh, I've got a free block," Amy said as she returned the smile,
"The Principal gave it to me when I agreed to take the extra advanced
calculus course offered after school."

"Uh..." Serena said, scratching the back of her head, "What was that?"

"Anyway, you'd better hurry if you don't want to be late," Amy said
good-naturedly.

------
------

"Right!" Serena answered as she continued to rush down the road, "See you
around!"

Amy nodded and waved.

'I'm going to be fine!' Serena thought as she sighed in relief, 'I still
have five minutes to get to the-'

"Ow!" she cried as she ran into something hard and fell backwards,
landing on her rear.

She looked up and gasped.

The dark-haired young man who she had crashed into slowly removed his
sunglasses.

------
------

"Meatball Head," he exclaimed, then laughed, "You're such a klutz!"

"Can it, Darien!" Serena said angrily, "I'm late for school, and Miss
H. is going to kill me!"

"I guess being late is really going to ruin your reputation as the
best student in the class, huh?"

Serena glared up at the smirking young man.

"You're such a jerk, Darien," she retorted, "For your information,
Miss H. said I'm one of her favorite people even though I don't do
that well at school."

------
------

With a huff, Serena walked past Darien and down the street.

Then, she gasped as strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist.
A smile etched over her lips.

"Who can blame her?" Darien's said with a chuckle, "Now, can't I get
a kiss from my girlfriend even when she's late?"

Serena giggled, "Then you tell Miss H. why I'm not on time..."

She turned around slowly and let Darien capture her lips with his...

------
------

"I'm so glad you remember me," Serena said softly as he pulled away
reluctantly.

"How can I forget?" Darien whispered, "It's happened once and I won't
let it happen again..."

"I just wish the girls would remember me too," Serena sighed.

"They probably will," Darien said, "But even if they don't, you can
always become friends with them. It'll all be the same again, I
promise."

Serena nodded, letting him take her hand as they walked down the
street.

"Now come on," Darien said, "My car's right over there. I'll drive
you to school..."

------
------

"'Bye, Darien," Serena said as she leaned over to give him a quick
peck on the cheek.

"See you after school," Darien said affectionately, and watched as his
girlfriend ran into the building.

He sighed and looked at the scenery outside the windshield. It was
a beautiful day.

------
------

He watched as Serena turned around and waved one last time before
disappearing into the school doors.

Smiling to himself, he stepped on the gas pedal, looking at the
amazing sunrise in front of him.

It was true he still didn't know why she loved him. She was everything
he could ever want, and he felt he could offer little back.

But he wouldn't spend his time worrying about that. She loved him and
he was lucky that she did. Now, he could only work towards being more
deserving of that love.

And he knew too, that he loved her just as much.

Whistling, he drove towards the bright orange sun in the sky.

It was a beautiful day indeed.
..
..
THE END
..
..

- Author's Notes:

Finally finished this 'fic! Now I can focus
on "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough"...

The song I used for the epilogue is Miriam
Yeung's "Joy and Sorrow". I thought it sort of fit...

Anyway, thank you for all the support you
wonderful readers have shown me during this 'fic.
Hope to see you again in my other works:)

..
Phantasy Star
September 10, 2003